Harry jumped back at the sight of those eyes. He looked around again but he was the only one here, and he still had his cloak on so there was no chance of someone seeing him. Gathering his courage, Harry once again stepped before the mirror. A man stood before him instead of his reflection. The man had long black hair with red highlights, pointed ears, pale skin, fangs clearly showing with his gentle smile, and those red eyes. They looked at him with such warmth and love that it hurt. Harry craved for so long for someone to look at him like that but had also learned to shove away that desire as it was something he could never have.

The man bent down and placed his hand against the mirror. Slipping his hand through the cloak, Harry put his hand on the mirror against the other's hand. It felt warm, as if he was placing his hand against the others in real life. Looking at the man's face showed him an expression of such joy and happiness that they were almost crying. Removing his cloak got a curious reaction from the man. He looked a strange combination of shocked, worried, and a little bit curious. Why?

Harry knew he wasn't going anywhere for a while so sat before the mirror and was surprised when the man did too. He then started doing something weird with his hands, waving them around and folding his fingers in funny ways. It soon became clear to the man that Harry had no idea what he was doing so slowly dropped his hands to his lap. Though he looked happy, there was a dark shadow lurking in those red eyes. The man must have been sad for a really long time. So Harry just placed his hand back on the mirror and the other quickly placed their hand on Harry's.

Just like before it felt as if his hand was being held by the other. Hesitantly, Harry pushed a little bit of his magic to his hand as if he were using his wand but let it sit on the surface of his palm. He had no idea why he did this but was glad he did. A look of surprised wonder overtook the man before he smiled again and then Harry felt his magic. It was cool like a perfect autumn night caressed by the moon, vast as the open sky, playful like the wind, and as dangerous as hidden terrors in the dark. Yet Harry felt only safety and something else as he touched the other's magic. What it was he didn't know but Harry wanted it. The feeling of safety and love wrapped around him like a warm blanket. He didn't know what this mirror was but it was granting him one of his deepest desires, someone to care for him and love him unconditionally like a parent should.

Keeping his hand on the mirror Harry moved to be as close as he could and had his cloak wrapped around himself like a blanket. The man on the other side also looked like he was trying to be as close as possible as well. He didn't know how long he stayed like that but hours must have passed as the next thing he knew, it was morning. He had fallen asleep against the mirror, the man was still in the reflection. He wondered who the man was.

The sound of a slamming door startled Harry badly enough that he fell back, trying to keep himself up resulted in landing on his left hand wrong and spraining his wrist. Sitting up cradling his hand, he looked at the man who appeared worried. Then Harry heard foot steps getting closer, wrapping himself in his cloak he stayed as still as possible when the door opened revealing Filch and Mrs.Norris. Filch had a broom in hand as he inspected the room, sweeping at a few corners and clearing some webs. The cat though, was prowling towards Harry. He didn't know if she could tell he was there or not but he was trapped.

Warmth surrounded him again and something flowed past him to Mrs.Norris who suddenly had a glassy gaze then walked back to Filch. He finished whatever it was he did with that broom and walked out with the cat. Harry stayed where he was for a little while longer just in case they returned, but they had left. Becoming visible once more he turned to face the man again. He had to leave unless he wanted to be found, but he wanted to stay so much. He looked back at the man and it seemed that he understood Harry's situation as he made a gentle shooing motion with the hand not placed on the mirror with an expression of sorrow. Harry knew he would return but didn't know how to communicate this, so he just placed the cloak beck on and left the room back to the dorms.

Ron was out on the bed snoring away. Harry sifted through his trunk for some of the plants he had foraged for in the summer. He read in the library which plants had medicinal qualities and used ones with pain relieving effects quite often while with the Dursley's. Tearing strips of his bloodied and ruined shirt from Halloween he made a compress with comfrey leaves to treat his sprain. He was just so used to taking care of himself that going to the nurse never crossed his mind.

Finished with caring for his wrist, Harry's thoughts drifted back to the man in the mirror. Who was he and why did he feel so familiar. Harry knew that he had never met the man before but it was terrifying how comfortable he became. It was no use thinking about it now when he knew that he would be returning that night. So Harry cleaned everything up and left to grab some breakfast, leaving Ron to his sleep.

Keeping his promise to himself, Harry returned to the mirror that night. Once the man saw him, they broke out into a large, joyful smile and began to float! This shocked and surprised Harry greatly as he paused taking off his cloak. How was he floating without a broom? The man's smile of joy then shifted to become more mischievous as he saw Harry's reaction. It put Harry on edge, though he didn't know why. The man was on the other side of the mirror and couldn't do anything to Harry, except, he was doing something last night. Now Harry was wondering if he was safe from the other's mischief, only one way to find out.

As he walked closer to the mirror, the man's eyes drifted to his left wrist and became alarmed at something. It wasn't until Harry looked back down at his compress that he remembered it was covered in trolls blood. He tried to convey that it wasn't his blood to the man yet he still demanded Harry to come closer and show his wrist. Carefully unwrapping the compress as he sat, Harry showed his bruised wrist to the man while noting he needed a fresh set of comfrey leaves once back in his dorm. The man inspected his wrist then indicated to hold it to the mirror. Harry was confused at this but still complied. Placing his hand against Harry's, the man sent magic through the mirror just like the night before to Harry's continued wonder. As the magic seeped through his hand and into his wrist, Harry marveled at magic once again. It took some time, but his sprained wrist completely healed.

After Harry had finished inspecting his wrist, he gave the man the biggest smile he could in thanks. No one had ever healed him before. It felt nice. After a moment of the man just looking at Harry, he brought out some parchment and a quill. Harry thought like kicking himself for not thinking about it himself. Once Harry could see what was written, he saw that he couldn't read the language. He couldn't recognize it either. Harry then breathed on the mirror to write out his name to see if the man recognized the writing. Looking at the man, Harry pointed at the name then at himself. The man recognized what he was doing then wrote Harry's name down on his parchment. Then he wrote what Harry guessed was his own name. Harry did his best to memorize the script so he could search for it later.

The man then spent the night trying to teach Harry the language he was writing. It was slow going, but Harry was able to recognize a few basic characters of the alphabet by the time morning came around and he had to leave again. He stole naps throughout the day while he was hanging with Ron. After dinner, he was able to slip away from Ron by saying that he was going to search for more information on Flamel so Hermione wouldn't nag so much when she returned if they didn't find anything. Using the time in the library instead to see if there was anything on the language the mirror man used instead, but found nothing. Once the library closed he went straight to the mirror. He wanted to take it to his tower and wanted to try to see if he could levitate it that night.

Walking into the mirror room, Harry was surprised when he looked in the mirror and saw only an empty room. He seems to have arrived before the man. No matter, he would try levitating the mirror to see if it was possible to move it. Harry dropped his school bag off to the side and stood before the mirror. He took a steady stance then cast the spell. The strain was immediate. With sweat beading on his forehead and feeling like he was trying to pick up the mirror without magic, Harry struggled to just get the mirror to float. He was successful in getting the mirror to hover just a centimeter above the ground for only a moment, that was his limit. Being as careful as possible, Harry set the mirror down then collapsed from the strain, looking as if he had just run a marathon.

He just lay there for some time before he was able to rise again. Looking into the mirror, the man still wasn't there. Harry was slightly concerned but knew he had arrived far earlier than the previous two nights, so he just grabbed his homework from his bag and started working on his charms essay, checking if the man arrived every so often.

Harry finished his draft and started on History of Magic when he looked up again and saw some movement. Pushing everything aside, he stepped right in front of the mirror and saw the man walking through the door into the bedroom, but he was not alone. In his arms was a child. Harry felt a spike of jealousy at this child. The man set down the child and went to the nearby desk for something, but the child turned toward Harry and Harry was a little surprised at the child's appearance. They had dark hair, pale skin, piercing green eyes similar to his own, and a pair of horns on top of their head. They appeared to be around Harry's age and were of a similar size.

The child walked over and leaned against the mirror with excitement in their expression so Harry tentatively waved at them. They waved back. Then the man came over to the mirror himself. He smiled down at the two of them, then sat next to the child with a pair of notebooks and quills in his hands. When he noticed Harry's schoolwork scattered around, he indicated for Harry to get some parchment and a quill for himself. Harry didn't think he was so excited to learn before. He wanted so desperately to communicate with the man and find them.

Over the next few hours, Harry was taught the strange language. The man used pictures and wrote the word in his language and Harry would write back in english. At one point Harry wrote out the alphabet and copied the alphabet of the other language when shown. The man seemed to grasp english a lot faster than Harry their language. The horned child was clumsy in his writing but probably had the advantage of already being able to read this new language. It was difficult but fun, more so than any of his other classes, to learn this language. Wanting to try something, Harry took out a fresh sheet of parchment and with his notes and wrote out a single sentence that he hoped with all his might was correct. 'My name is Harry'.

With a little hesitance, Harry held up the parchment towards the two. When they read what he had written, the child held up their own parchment. It took him a moment to translate what was written and Harry had to look through his notes double checking often, but he believed that the horned child wrote 'I am called Malleus'. Harry mouthed the name a few times hoping that he was pronouncing it correctly. His attention was then turned to the man who held up his own writing leading Harry to translate the new phrase. It was much simpler than Malleus' as there was only a single word which he translated to 'Lilia'. He now had a name for him and could stop calling him the 'man' in his mind. It was slow going, but Harry, Malleus and Lilia were able to have a short and somewhat stilted conversation. There were some characters in their writing that Harry didn't know, but Lilia and Malleus did their best to keep it to what Harry knew. He told them he was at Hogwarts in Scotland, and he hoped that it translated correctly. Lilia wrote they were at Blackthorn Castle in Briar Valley. Harry had never heard of the place and decided to search the library maps soon, and possibly bring a world map for them to point out where tomorrow night.

They had an interesting game of twenty questions between them that went on for a few hours until Harry both ran out of parchment and his hand was cramping up from all the writing. Much to Malleus' disappointment. He then had a thought, a possible game to play with Malleus. Harry had seen the girls in primary play some clapping games and thought maybe he could play with Malleus. Catching his attention, Harry started out with a simple beat. Clap, clap, slap, clap, clap, slap. It took a moment but Malleus and even Lilia caught on. Soon all three were creating beats for the other two to follow. Harry couldn't remember a time when he smiled so hard in his life.

They played together until Harry's eyes were starting to get heavy and his yawns were becoming more frequent. Lilia wrote once more, 'Clean up, go to sleep. Sweet dreams.' Harry so wanted to stay but knew that Lilia was right, he needed to get some sleep. Harry reluctantly cleaned up his piles of parchment into his bag and draped the cloak back around himself. With a final look back at the mirror, he hid from the world and returned to his dorm for some sleep.

The rest of Christmas break followed a similar pattern where Harry would spend part of the day around the castle and library, then spending most of the night before the mirror with Lilia and Malleus. It was a surprise to him when he showed the two a map where he showed approximately where Hogwarts was. Lilia and Malleus were in a different world, and somehow this mirror allowed Harry to talk with them. Yet, Lilia appeared very distressed at this information but wouldn't explain why.

Tonight though was the last night of break before everyone returned and it would become much harder to go to the mirror. As Harry was about to sit before Lilia and Malleus ready to continue with his lessons, a feeling stopped him from grabbing his notebook and quill.

"Fancy seeing you here tonight my boy." Came an old voice from a hidden corner of the room, putting Harry instantly on edge. Lilia noticed the change in Harry and he tried to see around the room for a threat, but he had such a limited view and couldn't do anything.

From the shadows near the door, out walked Dumbledore. This made Harry anxious, what if he saw his friends in the mirror. What would Dumbledore do?

"The Mirror of Erised in an interesting artifact, it can show one what their hearts greatest desire is. Many have gone mad sitting before it, wasting away longing for what they see." Said Dumbledore as he walked towards Harry and stood behind him.

Harry turned to face Dumbledore, keeping the mirror at his back and the Headmaster in sight, ready to move if needed. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Lilia grab Malleus and hold him protectively, baring his fangs at Dumbledore and look worriedly towards himself.

Dumbledore's gaze drifted from Harry and into the mirror, and Harry felt his heart stop. There was no way the Headmaster would miss seeing those two.

"Whenever I would look into the mirror, I would see myself holding a nice new pair of socks."

What?

"It does no good my boy to dwell on that which we could not have."

Could Dumbledore not see them?

"It is unfortunate, your parents passing, but it is in the past."

His parents? What do they have to do with anything?

"It is only natural for one who has lost their family to desire to have them by their side once more."

Dumbledore thought that he sees his parents in the mirror. He couldn't be more wrong if he tried. Lilia was appearing increasingly worried, torn between Malleus and trying to get to Harry, but he can't come through the mirror, he had tried that a few days ago.

"It is due to the danger that this mirror poses that it will be moved to a more secure location later tonight."

Cold horror raced through Harry. If the mirror was moved, he would loose his friends.

"But Headmaster-" Harry tried to plead, stopping at Dumbledore's interruption.

"No but's my boy. This mirror will consume all who look into it's reflection and cause the viewer to waste away before it. Now come," he said, placing a hand on Harry's shoulder. It felt wrong. His instincts were screaming at him to get away but he was trapped.

"Let us leave the mirror, do not go looking for it again as it will no longer be here." Dumbledore's grip tightened almost painfully as he led Harry out. He sent one last desperate look back only to see the desperate look on Lilia and a worried expression on Malleus. It was the last he saw of them as Dumbledore closed the door with a few waves of his wand, locking the door as well with a final click, and took him away.

How dare he,How Dare He, HOW DARE HE, take Harry from his friends, take Harry from what was his. But he wasn't strong enough to do anything. He would search at night still for the mirror. If it stays in Hogwarts, Harry will find it.

Dumbledore left him at a hallway junction that split between the headmasters office and the path to the Gryffindor dorms. Once the headmaster was out of sight, Harry raced back to the mirror chamber, met with the expected locked door. Harry desperately cast the unlocking charm at the door many times, but it wouldn't open. He didn't know enough magic, enough spells that could help him. Hatred took seed in his heart at Dumbledore with this action. He will find the mirror once more, and meet his friends again.

Harry kept to himself in his tower as much as he possibly could. Hedwig a constant companion once he fixed up a broken perch for her. He thought that she liked the tower much more than the owlry. Hermione and Ron's argument never stopped. It was constant and always dragging him into the middle. Harry was getting close to the point of wanting to tear out their throats to silence them. He couldn't escape to Lilia and his calming presence, who was patient in teaching Harry his written language. He couldn't enjoy Malleus' simple acceptance and their games through the mirror. So Harry escaped to his tower, where nobody had found him and his studies.

Professor Sinstra has been talking about how the planets and stars affect the power and stability of rituals. This led Harry to reading up on runes. The books he was able to collect talked about many different runic scripts around the world. Harry started reading and studying the Elder Futhark runes first as they were the most common, but it will take him time to understand. Hopefully he will have a good grasp on them when third year comes around and could take the class on runes. If Hermione ever heard about his interest, he would bet that he would never have a silent moment with her dictating his study of the subject. He will create a ritual to be with his friends again one day if the mirror was never found.

Curled up in a blanket, Hedwig napping on her perch, book in hand as he sat next to a window watching the snow fall with a fire burning merrily nearby, Harry felt peace for the first time in a while. This was probably going to be winters last proper fall as spring began to take hold. Will this spring be a lion or a lamb, he wondered.

Spring had shown herself to be a lamb that year thought Harry as he walked with Hermione and Ron around the Black Lakes edge, listening to yet another one of their arguments. The year was almost gone and Harry would return back to Surrey in less than two months. It just made him wonder where all the time had gone. As they wandered over to Hagrid's hut, Harry noticed more smoke than usual coming from the chimney. It was somewhat odd but maybe he was cooking something, it was getting close to dinner after all.

Knocking on Hagrid's door to check in on the friendly giant, the three first years were happy at the pleasant surprise blooming across Hagrid's face. He seemed to debate something for a few moments before inviting the three inside and they walked right into a wall of heat. Not even in the dead of winter would a fire burn this hot in a space as small as the hut unless it was to de-thaw something. Yet when Ron looked to the fire and yelped in surprise did the trio see the reason why, though only Ron recognized it for what it was.

"Hagrid, why do you have a dragon egg?" asked Ron.

"I won it, off a guy in the pub. Seemed glad to be rid of it too."

"Aren't dragons illegal to own outside of sanctuaries?" asked Hermione.

"They are. Dragons are classed as a XXXXX class dangerous creature. Charlie works as a tamer in a Romanian sanctuary and talks all about them whenever he visits home." Replied Ron.

"Hagrid," started Harry, "What do you plan to do with a dragon anyway?"

"Raise it, I always wanted a dragon." Was Hagrid's proud reply.

"But Hagrid, dragons are illegal for a reason. They don't follow the command of humans, they are highly destructive, and will devour whatever they can. That's why dragons are placed in sanctuaries in the first place. Not to mention the problems that you would face at Hogwarts. What would it eat as it grows or when it is fully grown. You live in a wooden house that is easily flammable. Not to mention what the parents would say when they find out there is a dragon around. It would only take one stupid student coming close to the dragon that would end up with it killed and you in trouble." Lectured Hermione.

As she talked the joy on Hagrid's face fell. While she wasn't exactly wrong, she could have been much kinder about it.

"Ron said that his brother works in a sanctuary, yeah?" Harry said hesitantly, continuing on when Ron nodded, "Maybe we can write him for some help, get the dragon somewhere safe before anything can happen."

"Yeah, and you have some time. When Charlie went on one of his dragon lectures he mentioned that it is dangerous for the egg to be moved before it can hatch, so we have until then to get in contact with him and come up with a plan." Said Ron.

After they left a heartbroken Hagrid, they left for the castle to write a letter sent later that night. A reply came quickly, asking for some specific information about the egg. Charlie's explanation in the following letter was to know how long until the egg hatched. It was believed to hatch in two weeks time, so Charlie and his friends planned to be there and take the dragon immediately back with them to the sanctuary. With the plan all set, they could only wait.

Just before curfew of the expected hatching, Harry, Ron, and Hermione made their way to Hagrid's hut. Once they arrived the trio spotted a pair of brooms near the door. When Hagrid invited them inside, Ron was engulfed in a big bear hug by his brother as Charlie talked about how long it has been since they saw each other and how excited he was to be present for a hatching.

A loud crack from the fire stole everyone's attention and they all watched as small fractures formed on the shell until it split open, revealing the little dragon. Hagrid and Charlie cooed over the dragon, though Charlie with a more critical eye. The other dragon handler was writing quite a bit in their notebook.

"Look at 'em. Norbert's a beautiful little dragon." Exclaimed Hagrid.

"Hate to break it to you mate," said Charlie, "But Norbert's a little lady, you can tell by the spacing between their spines, the female are more spread out than the males."

"Norberta then." Was Hagrid's reply.

During their conversation, the newly named Norberta was looking all around until her eyes landed on Harry. He just stood where he was, watching the little dragon as she stumbled her way over. Once she was at his feet, Harry knelt down to Norberta's level as she started smelling him. With her decision made, Norberta took a mighty leap with a few clumsy flaps of her wings and made herself at home on his shoulders much to the shock of everyone there.

"I've never seen a dragon act that way." Whispered Charlie's coworker.

"Neither have I." Charlie replied.

Harry carefully stood up so as to not dislodge the dragon curled up on his shoulders and walked over to the dragon handlers. Charlie and his coworker took the chance with Norberta being compliant to cast a flurry of spells at the little dragon, talking all the while at what each spell was meant to do and keeping notes at each spells result.

"Well Hagrid, you have hatched a fine little dragon. Everything for her is coming back normal for a hatchling." Said Charlie.

Hagrid positively beamed at the praise.

Casting a tempus, the other handler winced at the time, so did Harry when he saw it was almost 11.

"We have to get moving. The kids have to get back to bed and we have a long flight ahead of us." They said.

With one last hug between the Weasley brothers, Norberta was loaded up in a special crate the dragon handlers had brought with them then walked outside to their brooms and was tied securely between the two. Hagrid, Harry, Ron, and Hermione stayed outside for a bit as they watched the two take off with the dragon, sitting in companionable silence for a few moments until Hagrid shooed them back to the castle to get some sleep. The trio kept their silence as the walked back up the slope to the castle and were silent still as the passed through the doors to get inside. At the base of the staircase back to their dorm though, they were met with a stern faced McGonagall, a smug Draco Malfoy standing by her side.

The gentle light of the moon filtered through thick forest foliage and was barely able to pierce through the mists as they danced through the trees to reveal a pair of boys and a large dog lumbering at their side. The taller of the two had pale blonde hair and was whining about how unfair it was for him to have received detention and how his father would hear about this insult. The other was quiet in every way as they walked by the blonde's side, their steps were measured, avoiding dry twigs and leaves as they walked.

Harry loathed that he was paired with the loudmouth of a Slytherin for detention. While he was near ecstatic to be able to somewhat explore the forest, his partner left much to be desired. Heavy footfalls upon the dry forest floor, loud complaints a constant stream from his mouth, not to mention how Draco waved the lantern around so much as he talked that the little light it provided was near useless. Harry was about to snap at Draco when he caught a glimpse of something through the forest vegetation.

With silent steps, Harry broke off from Draco and Fang. Hiding himself as best he could, Harry peered through the bushes and what he saw made his blood run cold. A black cloaked figure drinking the blood from a still living unicorn. The unicorn was trying to escape but was very weak from the massive blood loss. As Harry was trying to think of a plan to help the unicorn he made one rather large mistake, he kept his attention only on what was before him and not around. Due to this, Harry didn't notice Draco stomp his way over.

"Potter!" Draco cried rather loudly, alerting the cloaked figure to their presence, "Just what do you think your'e doing in the bushes?! Trying to get out of completing this punishment are you? If I have to go through with this then so are you!"

The cloaked figure was quick as it glided over to them. It revealed a pale hand as it pushed aside the bushes that hid Harry and loomed over the boy. Draco, once he saw this figure, released a loud high pitched scream of terror. Tripping over himself in an effort to escape and dropping the lantern. Leaving Harry alone as he ran with Fang before him.

A hiss escaped from the figure as droplets of silver blood fell from its mouth and landing on Harry's robes, the hand not holding back branches reaching for his neck. Quickly drawing his wand, Harry aimed in the general area of the spleen and cast the same spell he had against the troll.

"Perforans Sagitta!"

The spell fired true and pierced through the abdomen like an arrow, blood misting all over Harry where he lay, listining to the pain filled howl the figure let out as it escaped.

Harry stayed on the ground, wand poised to cast again. The only sounds were his and the unicorns labored breathing. Caustiously standing on shaky legs he made his way over to the fallen unicorn. Keeping a watchful eye on his surroundings this time, Harry took off his robe and pressed it to the unicorn's wound in an effort to stop the blood flow. He didn't know how much help it would be though as the unicorn had already lost alot of blood, but it was all he could do until help arrived.

At the sound of hoof beats, Harry knew someone was comming but wether they were a friend or not he didn't know. When a shadow blocked most of the moonlight, Harry looked up to see a centaur.

"Keep pressure on the wound little one, don't want her to bleed out now do we." Said the centaur as he rummaged through a small bag that smelled faintly of herbs. They worked together to stop the blood flow of the unicorn and only once she was patched up and resting did the centaur turn his attention to Harry.

"You did well little one, I am called Firenze."

"Harry."

Firenze just stared at him before bringing his hands to his mouth and making a wierd bird call. A few moments later, two more centaurs arrived and began to carefully take the unicorn away, all while giving strange looks at Harry. It confused him greatly, but centaurs didn't seem the chatty type. Once the others were out of sight, Firenze stood and held out a hand to Harry after he grabbed the lantern. The two stayed quiet on their little walk. When they came across a small stream, they stopped so Harry could clean himself up then were on their way again. Some time later a faint call was heard through the trees. Making their way over, Harry saw that it was Hagrid with the others. Draco looked worse for wear making Harry have to try and hide his ammusement. Ron was openly grinning at the Slytherin. Firenze was explaining to Hagrid what had happened making him frown in worry. With a thanks given to Firenze, Hagrid led them all back to the castle marking an end to the nightmare of a detention.

It wasn't until days later when Harry was reading one of the potion textbooks that he learned what it was that unicorn blood did. Leading him to wonder who would risk such a cursed life. With finals around the corner though, Harry couldn't spare much thought to the mystery. Hermione had become a nightmare herself with all the study schedules she had made for them. He couldn't deny that it wasn't helpful but she was taking it a bit too far and he had no way of calming her down. The rest of the dorm just stayed out of the way and the twins just sent a prayer their way with Ron crying out traitors to his brothers. The only time Ron was able to distract Hermione was with the mystery they were trying to solve. The two believed it was Snape who was behind it all and trying to steal whatever the cerebus was gaurding, but something about that theory didn't sit right with Harry. He didn't know what it was but he didn't believe that it was Snape, no matter how well all their pieces fit together.

As soon as the trio completed their last final, Ron burst out of the classroom crying out "Freedom!" to the ire of McGonagall and ammusement of other students. Harry and Hermione followed Ron out of class at a more sedate pace, just happy that they had completed all their finals.

The trio just enjoyed a walk through the halls watching the sun begin to set when they saw someone fly off on a broom. It was very unusual to see anyone fly outside of class or the pitch. Watching the figure fly off into the distance, a chill ran down Harry's spine. Something was going to happen, and it wasn't going to be good. On their way to the great hall for dinner, the trio came passed Snape and recieved a chilling glare before he went up the stairs to the third floor. The three were frozen in place for a short while as that look terrified them before caustiously continuing on.

"What do think the professor was up to?" whispered Hermione, shaken from the encounter with Snape.

"Nothing good I recon." Was Ron's reply.

"The stairs he took, it was to the third floor. And he was going in the direction to the cerebus." Harry softly stated.

"Something dosen't feel right." Said Hermione. "Should we tell someone?"

"We can go back to McGonagall. She's just up the hall and can talk to Dumbledore or do something." Harry said caustiously.

Truth be told, he didn't think that McGonagall would do anything. Whenever he went to McGonagall earlier in the year for some help, he was just brushed off by her without even hearing him out. Dumbledore though, there were times where Harry felt someone watching him only to discover it was the Headmaster. The way he watched Harry at times set him on edge and wanting to crawl out of his own skin. Something wasn't right though so there was no choice but to go to the two in charge of the school to hopefully resolve this.

Walking back into McGonagall's classroom showed her grading the finals they just took that day.

"Professor McGonagall," started Hermione.

Once she had the professor's attention, she began spilling everything, much to Harry's surprise. She told McGonagall of their theory about the Sorcerer's Stone being in the Castle, that someone was after it, how they thought that person was Snape and why, and that Dumbledore must also be informed about all of this as well. Harry just wanted her to stop. He was watching the professor closely and saw as her expression was just getting stonier. McGonagall was not pleased and was about to take it out on them. He was trying to get Hermione to stop but she was just brushing him off to continue talking.

"Enough." Came a cold voice that stopped Hermione's word vomit.

Professor McGonagall stood from her desk with a near thunderous look making Harry want to sink into the floor and out of her sight. What followed was a lecture about how they shouldn't be wasting their time chasing conspirocy theories instead of focusing on school, accusing a teacher with no proof, and wanting to waste the Headmasters time. She ended her scolding of them by saying that the Headmaster was called away on urgent Ministry matters so even if she entertained their delusion that Dumbledore would not be able to listen until the next day, then dismissed them from her classroom.

Harry was the first out the door closly followed by Ron and Hermione closing the door behind her. After making their way to the end of the hall Ron spoke up.

"If McGonagal won't do anything, then we have to. Snape can't get the stone. Who knows what he would do with it."

"We need a plan though, he has a greater knowledge of magic than us that can and will be used if we are stupid about this." Cautioned Harry.

Ron turned red with anger as he listened to Harry.

"You think I'm stupid!" growled Ron.

"No I-"

"I'll show you stupid! I can take down Snape and save the Sorcerer's Stone all on my own, without you!"

With that sttement, Ron started running to the cerebus' room. Harry and Hermione after a stunned moment from Ron's outburst were hot on his heels, crying out for him to stop. They were horrified when Ron opened the door keeping the cerebus in, only to come to a screeching halt when they saw the dog asleep, faintly hearing a harp playing in the room. Ron was inside, struggling to move one of the large paws off the trap door. He only looked at the two to glare and continued to struggle to move the paw. Silently, Harry and Hermione helped and lifted the trap door to see nothing but a thick darkness below. Harry couldn't be sure, but he thought he saw movement.

Without a second thought, Ron jumped to the horror of the others.

"Come on you wusses, it's not that much of a drop." Called Ron in an almost smug tone.

With one last unsure look at each other, Harry and Hermione dropped into the darkness. They landed with a muted thud on what felt like padded ropes.

"What is this?" whispered Harry.

Hermione was silent as she cast a lumos just in time to see one of the vines they landed on reach out and grab Ron as he was trying to stand. It draged him back down and more vines wrapped around him to everyones horrified cries. Just for the vines to reach out and begin their constriction on Harry and Hermione as well. One vine had made its way around his throat and mouth preventing Harry from making a sound. To his right, Hermione called out "Devil's Snare, cal-" before her mouth was covered as well. But it was enough. Devil's Snare was one of the last plants they had covered in herbology before finals. Picturing himself taking a walk in his woods, Harry was able to calm down enough for the plant to release him. With a pair of thuds, Harry and Hermione were dropped below by the plant, but Ron was still held above them. With her wand still in hand, Hermione cast a light so bright it rivaled the sun causing the Devil's Snare to retreat and drop Ron.

After making sure that he was all right, the three moved foward as they couldn't turn back. At the end of a hallway, the three heard a sound similar to that of a snitch, if there were about a thousand of them flying together. Opening the door revealed to them not flying snitches, but flying keys. The only other thing in the room was one of the old school brooms. Discovering that the other door was locked.

Spotting a single key with a broken wing, Harry mounted the broom only for a swarm of keys to attack him. Taking off, he searched for the broken key and soon found it. Snatching it out of the air, Harry tossed it to his friends while keeping the other keys occupied. When Ron had the door open, Harry made a sharp turn and flew through the door. Ron closing it behind him and they listened to the other keys thunk against the heavy wooden door.

This new chamber that the three had found themselves in contained a massive chess set. Following Ron's instructions, they took their places and began the game, quickly discovering that it was exactly like wizards chess. Placing their trust in Ron, he expertly manuvered the pieces around the board to give them every advantage. Yet he was backed into a corner eventually. Ron was a knight in the perfect position to get them in check and have Harry take the King. So he made the sacrifice move. As Ron crashed down, some debrie hit his head, stunning him and keeping him from protecting himself from the fall. When Ron hit the ground, he didn't get back up.

Keeping Hermione from moving, Harry took the King and won the game. Running over to his friend, Harry saw that Ron had a nasty hit to the head, but was uninjured otherwise. Hermione told him to continue on and to stop Snape from taking the stone. Someone had to stay with Ron and Harry had the best chance out of the two of them. Hugging Hermione tightly, Harry walked through the long hall alone.

Entering a small room with only a table and some potion bottles, Harry took cautious steps foward only to jump in fright as the room was ringed in fire blocking all paths available. With no other options he could see, Harry walked to the table to read a riddle. It took him an emberrasingly long time to figure out which potion would allow him to go foward in his mind. Steeling himself, Harry walked through the flames.

The next chamber he came to reminded Harry of a sunken theater with how the steps went down to a large flat area. In the center of the room, stood the mirror. Harry was overjoyed. He had found it and could talk with Lilia and Malleus again. But somebody else was standing before the mirror. It wasn't Snape like the others suspected though, but Quirrel. There was no mistaking that turban. Looking past the professor, Harry saw Lilia in the mirror, glaring darkly at Quirrel.

"I've been expecting you for some time now, Mister Potter." Said Quirrel, with no hint of his stutter to be heard.

"You're after the stone then." Said Harry calmly, "For what purpose?"

"For my Master of course." Stated Quirrel as he turned to face Harry.

This movement of Quirrel's had Lilia look away from the man and look to Harry. His expression swiftly changed from one of disgust to worry and some fear from what Harry could see. He couldn't spare much of his attention for his friend with a threat in Quirrel standing before him. For a long moment, the two just looked at each other. Harry slightly shifting to be able to move at a moments notice while Quirrel was holding his wand, lightly tapping the tip against his hand. It was unknown how long the two would have faced each other like they were, but the quietly hissing voice broke the tense silence.

"I wish to see the boy."

"But Master," Quirrel exclaimed surprised, "You are not strong enough!"

"Silence! Who are you to order me, your Lord! Now show me to the boy so we may speak."

The voice was quiet but spoke with great cruelty. This voice sent a cold spear piercing through Harry. His instincts, usually urging him to face his opponents was crying for him to flee, but there was nowhere to run. All he could do was watch as Quirrel unwraped his turban. When Harry looked to Lilia, his expression was only of complete and utter horrer. Whatever it was, it wasn't going to be good.

When Quirrel turned around, he revealed a seccond face on the back of his head. This second face would be the source of his nightmares for a long time to come. Fanged mouth turned into a snarl. Snake scales speckeled around the face. Cruel red eyes, slitted like a snakes, looked at him with fury and hatred. Those eyes contrasted greatly to the kind red eyes of Lilia where Harry found saftey. These red eyes only screamed great danger to him. Unnoticed to Harry was his bag, which he had somehow held on too since his last class and all through the trials, slipped off his shoulder and hit the ground with a dull thud.

"Harry Potter. It has been such a long time since we last met." The face softly hissed.

"Who are you." Harry demanded with all the courage he could gather. He wanted to run from this thing. And run he would the first chance he could.

A terrifying chuckle rasped through the creatures lips, snarl turned to a cruel smile.

"It is not unbelievable that you don't remember me. After all, the last time we met you were a mere babe crying at the sight of your corpse of a mother."

Realization hit him hard at this taunt. Voldemort was atached to Quirrel as a leech. Voldemort was most likely watching him the entire year. As fear was trying to consume him, his body began to tremble, a fact that Voldemort noticed an bagen laughing, only making the trembling worse.

"Now you understand who you face boy," Voldemort spat in twisted joy, "These fools of the Isles believed that you had destroyed me as a babe. How ignorant. You shall die here today boy, but I shall tell you what had happened that night before you join your parents. Your mudblood of a mother had access to the Potter family tomes, a great amount of magical knowledge that has been collected from around the world long before the founders. It is no surprise with access to this priceless resource that she could create a ritual that would reflect my curse back upon me, destroying my body and cursing me to become a wraith. That protection of your mother's ends tonight."

Quick as a whip, Quirrel turned back to Harry casting a spell that bound him in ropes and dragged him to them right before the mirror. Looking up, he saw Lilia wearing an expression of rage pounding usesly at the mirror, trying to get through. Then the strangest thing happened. A seccond image of Lilia seperated from him looking calm. This image smiled down at Harry, reached into his pocket and showed him a red stone. He held up a finger to his mouth in a gesture of silence with a wink then placed the stone back in their pocket and dissapeared. Only for Harry to feel a new weight in his own pocket, watching a rage filled Lilia scratch and claw at his side of the mirror.

"What do you see boy." Demanded Quirrel as he draged Harry to his feet, still bound by the ropes.

"I-i-i see m-myself with Dumbledore, holding the house cup." Fear keeping him from a steady voice. He hated that he couldn't do at least that much.

"He's lying" rasped Voldemort.

"TELL THE TRUTH BOY, NOW!" screamed Quirrel as he lifted Harry up to his face.

Face to face with Quirrel and dangling in his hold, Harry did the only thing he could in that moment. He spat right into Quirrel's eyes. With a cry of disgust, Quirrel dropped Harry who took the opportunity to run and search for an exit. After taking only a few desperate steps, Quirrel grabbed him by the collar and threw him hard into the mirror causing a great number of cracks to spread across its surface.

"You foolish boy." Quirrel spat, "Had you just done as my Master had asked, I would have gifted you with a quick death. Now, you shall suffer. Crucio."

Pain consumed him. Fire dancing merrily along his nerves. Nothing Harry had ever felt before came close to the torment he endured now. All he could do was scream. He didn't know how long Quirrel held the curse for but it felt like hours. He had screamed so much that his throat was raw. Harry blearily noticed he was on his side, back to his tormentors and facing an enraged Lilia.

"What?!" exclaimed Quirrel, looking on in horror at the mirror. Through the shattered glass, infuriated red eyes glared straight into his soul. Quirrel barely noticed as a clawed hand was raised at him, hardly heard the furious demands of his Master demanding to know what was happening. Seeing a red glow form at the creatures fingertips on this side of the mirror, Quirrel turned and tried to flee, only to be consumed by cursed farie fire reducing him to ash.

Feeling intense heat above him, Harry curled into himself in an attemp to reduce any damage. Once the flames stopped Harry felt the ropes binding him fall off. Slowly sitting up he turned around to see a pile of black ash that was once Quirrel, dark mist curling around it. Shifting once more with pain shooting through him again thanks to the curse, he saw a mirror on the verge of shattering and Lilia kneeling on the other side.

"Lilia?" Harry croaked, his throat keeping his voice to barely above a whisper.

"Mazus." Came a quiet word through the mirror.

Eyes widening, Harry could only rasp a confused "What?"

Realizing that he could be heard, Lilia tried talking to him. But Harry couldn't understant the language he could barely hear. A soft 'ping' sound stole Harry's attention and he looked at the mirror again, just to see the cracks spreading. Harry looked back to his friend and cried out his name just as the mirror's glass shatter and slice into him. Trying to protect himself, Harry fell back covering his head and neck. With the last of the glass hitting the ground, Harry lifted himself up just enough to see into one of the larger shards that landed near his head, a partial image of Lilia's face was seen and he could only just hear the cry of "Mazus!" before everything fell silent except for the ring of fire around the room.

Dispair clawed its way through Harry at the thought of loosing Lilia. With an empty gaze, he looked up and saw his bag. Without thinking, Harry gathered a few of the larger shards of the mirror and hobbled his way up the stairs. Just a step away, his strength abandoned him and Harry fell hard. He reached out to his bag and pulled it close enough to place the shards inside. When he secured the shards within, Harry just lay against the cold stone, trying to think what to do next through his foggy mind while bleeding all over the steps.

A hissing sound caught his attention and Harry looked on in horror as the dark mist from Quirrel's ashes gathered to vaugely form the shape of Voldemort's face. With a scream of rage, the wraith came at Harry and passed right through him. Crying out, Harry blacked out from the pain. Unnoticed to him though, Voldemort left behind some of his magic in his attempt to end the boy. Something within him though disagreed with this magical intrusion. Something ancient and long forgotten within Harry woke and contained the magic of Voldemort, then began to feed. With his magic woken, it began to slowly heal his wounds and stop the bleeding.

This had bought Harry enough time for Dumbledore to arrive and begin casting spells. Not all of them were healing in nature. Next thing Harry knew, he was waking up in the hospital wing, surrounded by a pile of sweets and cards. The Headmaster standing at the foot of his bed, watching him. This put Harry on edge, as not only was the Headmaster doing something creepy, but there was a dark shadow hidden in his eyes as he watched Harry.

"How are you feeling my boy?" Dumbledore asked.

"I've been better sir."

"Good, that is good. You gave us all a scare with the state we found you in."

"Close proximity to a shattering mirror will do that sir." Harry cooly said.

This caused Dumbledore to heavily sigh, as if dissapointed.

"I will excuse your attitude for now my boy because you just faced Voldemort, but be mindful of it in the future."

"How did you know it was Voldemort sir?" Something just wasn't adding up for Harry and he needed to figure it out.

"I had my suspicions during the year but had no proof until I found you. There were trace amounts of his magic surrounding you."

Harry stayed silent, watching the Headmaster.

"Will you tell me exactly what happened my boy?" urged Dumbledore.

Harry told him how he, Ron, and Hermione made their way through the traps and how hw went on ahead. Harry wouldn't say a word about Lilia so told Dumbledore that Quirrel turned to ash once he touched him. A pleased glint touched the edge of Dumbledore's eyes at this.

"Why did he burn like that Headmaster?" Harry falsly asked.

"It is from your mother's love protecting you my boy. From the night she died. Love is the most powerful magic there is and it lingers even long after one dies."

Harry called bull shit.

"What happened to the stone sir." Harry instead asked instead of what he really wanted to say.

"It has been destroyed child." Dumbledore said with a touch of a superior air. "Nicholas and his wife were in agreement. They posses enough of the elixer to get their affairs in order then they will be off on the next great adventure. Now rest. I do believe that your friends will be here once they hear that you have woken."

Harry watched the Headmaster walk away with an uneasy feeling in his gut. Dumbledore was hiding something that concerned him, that much was clear. He did feel bad that the Flammels would die, but if what Dumbledore said was true, then it was their choice.

A loud bang startled Harry from his thoughts at the sight of Ron and Hermione racing over to his bed. Everything could be figured out tomorrow, for now he had to calm down his friends.

The end of the year came with a victory for Gryffindor in the House Cup, stealing it away from Slytherin. Harry looked over at them as the colors changed from green to red, and none of them were happy about it. As his gaze wandered up to the Professor's table, he saw McGonagall hiding a satisfied smirk behind her goblet as she watched Snape. He didn't look happy either as Snape sent some dark looks to the Headmaster. Harry was just glad that he could avoid the fall out from this as the train back to Kings Cross left in the morning. Six more years at Hogwarts, Harry was desperately wishing for next year to be a calm one.

Once back in the dorms after the feast, Harry double checked he had everything in his trunk and only had to put his pajamas in once morning came. He had to smile a bit to himself though as he looked at some of the books he would be taking back with him to his woods. They were the books he had hidden away in his tower and would offer him more to learn from during the summer break. Closing the lid he crawled into bed falling quickly into a light sleep.

The next morning was slightly hectic as procrastinating students did last minute packing with Ron included in that number. Harry made sure to grab some breakfast for Ron so he could eat on the train as he missed majority of the meal trying to find all of his stuff. Watching as the landscape flew by out the window, he thought that the year wasn't all bad. He had made some friends and had a crazy adventure that never should have happened. At the thought of new friends, his hand drifted to his bag laying at his side. It held the mirror shards from said adventure.

After Christmas Break, he overheard some older girls talking about the gifts they received from their families and how one of the gifts was crafted by the goblins of Gringotts and held powerful enchantments. He was hoping that they could recreate the mirror so he could communicate with Lilia and Malleus again. He didn't know why he was clinging so hard to the two, but he hoped that he would find the answers soon.

Coming into Kings Cross, Harry waited a little longer in the carriage to let the mad rush leave first. He didn't want to get crushed by the masses. Saying his goodbye's was hard but they all promised to write each other. Walking to the barrier and to his relatives, he hoped that they would accept the deal that he could offer them. It would make the next few years easier for all of them.