It was Quirrell.
"You!" gasped Harry.
Quirrell smiled. His face wasn't twitching at all.
"Me," he said calmly. "I wondered whether I'd be meeting you both here, Potter and Y/N."
"But I thought – Snape –" Harry started but was cut off
"Severus?" Quirrell laughed, and it wasn't his usual quivering treble, either, but cold and sharp. "Yes, Severus does seem the type, doesn't he? So useful to have him swooping around like an overgrown bat. Next to him, who would suspect p-p-poor, st-stuttering Professor Quirrell?"
I fucking knew it! I thought.
"But Snape tried to kill me!" Stated Harry.
"No, no, no. I tried to kill you. Your friend Miss Granger accidentally knocked me over as she rushed to set fire to Snape at that Quidditch match. She broke my eye contact with you. Another few seconds and I'd have got you off that broom. I'd have managed it before then if Snape hadn't been muttering a countercurse, trying to save you."
"Snape was trying to save me?" Harry looked at me with a shocked expression.
"Of course," said Quirrell coolly. "Why do you think he wanted to referee your next match? He was trying to make sure I didn't do it again. Funny, really...he needn't have bothered. I couldn't do anything with Dumbledore watching. All the other teachers thought Snape was trying to stop Gryffindor from winning, he did make himself unpopular...and what a waste of time, when after all that, I'm going to kill you tonight."
Quirrell snapped his fingers. Ropes sprang out of thin air and wrapped themselves tightly around Harry. I closed my eyes and waited for ropes to wrap around me, but nothing came. I looked at Harry with a confused expression.
"You're too noisy to live, Potter. Scurrying around the school on Halloween like that, for all I knew you'd seen me coming to look at what was guarding the Stone."
"You let the troll in?" I asked.
"Certainly. I have a special gift with trolls – you must have seen what I did to the one in the chamber back there? Unfortunately, while everyone else was running around looking for it, Snape, who already suspected me, went straight up to the third floor to head me off – and not only did my troll fail to beat you to death, that three-headed dog didn't even manage to bite Snape's leg off properly.
"Now, wait quietly, Potter. I need to examine this interesting mirror."
It was only then that we realized what was standing behind Quirrell. It was the Mirror of Erised. Shit!
"This mirror is the key to finding the Stone," Quirrell murmured, tapping his way around the frame. "Trust Dumbledore to come up with something like this...but he's in London...I'll be far away by the time he gets back...."
We needed to keep Quirrell talking and stop him from concentrating on the mirror.
"I saw you and Snape in the forest –" I blurted out.
"Yes," said Quirrell idly, walking around the mirror to look at the back. "He was on to me by that time, trying to find out how far I'd got. He suspected me all along. Tried to frighten me – as though he could, when I had Lord Voldemort on my side...."
Quirrell came back out from behind the mirror and stared hungrily into it.
"I see the Stone...I'm presenting it to my master...but where is it?"
I saw Harry struggling against the ropes binding him, but they didn't give.
"But Snape always seemed to hate me so much," Harry said catching on with my plan.
"Oh, he does," said Quirrell casually, "heavens, yes. He was at Hogwarts with your father, didn't you know? They loathed each other. But he never wanted you dead."
"But I heard you a few days ago, sobbing – I thought Snape was threatening you...." I said.
For the first time, a spasm of fear flitted across Quirrell's face.
"Sometimes," he said, "I find it hard to follow my master's instructions – he is a great wizard and I am weak –"
"You mean he was there in the classroom with you?" Harry gasped.
"He is with me wherever I go," said Quirrell quietly. "I met him when I traveled around the world. A foolish young man I was then, full of ridiculous ideas about good and evil. Lord Voldemort showed me how wrong I was. There is no good and evil, there is only power, and those too weak to seek it.... Since then, I have served him faithfully, although I have let him down many times. He has had to be very hard on me." Quirrell shivered suddenly. "He does not forgive mistakes easily. When I failed to steal the Stone from Gringotts, he was most displeased. He punished me...decided he would have to keep a closer watch on me...."
Quirrell cursed under his breath.
"I don't understand...is the Stone inside the mirror? Should I break it?"
Harry tried to edge to the left, to get in front of the glass without Quirrell noticing, but the ropes around his ankles were too tight: he tripped and fell over. Quirrell ignored him. He was still talking to himself. I ran towards Harry getting him up.
"What I want more than anything else in the world at the moment is to find the Stone before Quirrell does. So if I look in the mirror, I should see myself finding it – which means I'll see where it's hidden!" Harry told me.
"I can try to look," I told him as he nodded quickly. I started moving when suddenly Quirrell started talking again.
"What does this mirror do? How does it work? Help me, Master!"
And to our horror, a voice answered and the voice seemed to come from Quirrell himself.
"Use the boy...Use my boy..." He said putting Venum in the word my.
"Yes- L/N – come here."
"I will only go if you let harry go of the ropes!"
He clapped his hands once, and the ropes binding Harry fell off. Harry got slowly to his feet.
"Come here," Quirrell repeated to me. "Look in the mirror and tell me what you see."
I walked toward him.
Quirrell moved close behind me. I closed my eyes, stepped in front of the mirror, and opened them again.
I saw Hermione's reflection, pale and scared-looking at first. But a moment later, the reflection smiled at me. She put her hand into her pocket and pulled out Marlow. (If you don't remember Marlow is a Bowtruckle). Marlow made his way to my pants pocket and put the Stone back in its pocket – and as it did so, I felt something heavy drop into my real pocket. Somehow – incredibly – I'd gotten the Stone.
"Well?" said Quirrell impatiently. "What do you see?"
"I see myself with a girl I really like," I invented. "W-we have a little girl next to us and all my friends are here too."
Quirrell cursed again.
"Get out of the way," he said. As I moved aside, I felt the Sorcerer's Stone against my leg. I gave Harry a signal that I had the stone while Quirrell was distracted. Dare we make a break for it?
But I hadn't walked five paces before a high voice spoke, though Quirrell wasn't moving his lips.
"He lies...He lies..."
"L/n, come back here!" Quirrell shouted. "Tell me the truth! What did you just see?"
The high voice spoke again.
"Let me speak to him...face-to-face...."
"Master, you are not strong enough!"
"I have strength enough...for this...."
I watched as Quirrell reached up and began to unwrap his turban. What was going on? The turban fell away. Quirrell's head looked strangely small without it. Then he turned slowly on the spot.
Where there should have been a back to Quirrell's head, there was a face, the most terrible face I had ever seen. Worst than my stepdad's face and that is saying something. It was chalk white with glaring red eyes and slits for nostrils, like a snake.
"Y/N L/N..." it whispered.
"See what I have become?" the face said. "Mere shadow and vapor...I have form only when I can share another's body...but there have always been those willing to let me into their hearts and minds.... Unicorn blood has strengthened me, these past weeks...you saw faithful Quirrell drinking it for me in the forest...and once I have the Elixir of Life, I will be able to create a body of my own.... Now...why don't you give me that Stone in your pocket?"
So he knew. I stumbled backward.
"Don't be a fool," snarled the face. "Better save your own life and join me...or you'll meet the same end as your father and Harry's parents.... They died begging me for mercy...."
"LIAR!" Harry shouted suddenly.
"You lost for a baby for god's sake," I said.
Quirrell was walking backward at me so that Voldemort could still see me and Harry. The evil face was now smiling.
"How touching..." it hissed. "I always value bravery.... Yes, boys, your parents were brave.... I killed your father first, and he put up a courageous fight...but your mother needn't have died...she was trying to protect you.... and you Y/N he was my hardest fight.... Now give me the Stone, unless you want them to have died in vain."
"NEVER!" We shouted in union.
We sprang toward the flame door, but Voldemort screamed "SEIZE HIM!" and the next second, I saw Quirrell's wand pointing at me. At once, he yelled "CRUCIO." I fell to the ground screaming as a pain that was so intense, so all-consuming, that I no longer knew where I was... white-hot knives were piercing every inch of his skin, my neck was surely going to burst with pain. I held tight letting out small screams. When suddenly the pain stopped, I looked up and saw Quirrell hunched in pain, looking at his fingers – they were blistering before his eyes.
"Seize him! SEIZE THEM!" shrieked Voldemort again, and Quirrell lunged, knocking Harry clean off his feet, landing on top of him, both hands around Harry's neck
"Master, I cannot hold him – my hands – my hands!" But somehow he managed to grab his wand and before I could do anything to defend myself, I had been hit again by the Cruciatus curse. The pain was stronger than last time making me scream loudly, I am sure Hermione heard from the other room. The pain in my head was building – I couldn't see – I could only hear Quirrell's terrible shrieks and Voldemort's yells of, "KILL HIM! KILL HIM!" and other voices, maybe in my own head, crying, "Y/N! Y/N!" it was Hermione.
I felt Quirrell's curse stop, I knew they had lost, and fell into blackness, down...down...down...
Something gold was glinting just above me. It looked like the Snitch. I blinked. It wasn't the Snitch at all. It was a pair of glasses. How strange. Did I die a virgin? I didn't even have my first kiss yet. FUCK!
I blinked again. The smiling face of Albus Dumbledore swam into view above me. Okay, what the f-
"Good afternoon, Y/N," said Dumbledore.
I stared at him. Then I remembered: "Sir! The Stone! It was Quirrell! He's got the Stone! Sir, quick –"
"Calm yourself, dear boy, you are a little behind the times," said Dumbledore. "Quirrell does not have the Stone."
"Then who does? Sir, I –"
"Y/n, please relax, or Madam Pomfrey will have me thrown out."
I swallowed and looked around him. I realized I must be in the hospital wing. I was lying in a bed with white linen sheets, and next to me was a table piled high with what looked like half the candy shop.
"Tokens from your friends and admirers," said Dumbledore beaming. "What happened down in the dungeons between you, Harry, and Professor Quirrell is a complete secret, so, naturally, the whole school knows. I believe your friends Misters Fred and George Weasley were responsible for trying to send you a toilet seat. No doubt they thought it would amuse you. Madam Pomfrey, however, felt it might not be very hygienic, and confiscated it."
"How long have I been in here?"
"Four days. Mr. Ronald Weasley, Mr. Harry Potter, and Miss Granger will be most relieved you have come round, they have been extremely worried. Harry woke up yesterday."
"But sir, the Stone –"
"I see you are not to be distracted. Very well, the Stone. Professor Quirrell did not manage to take it from you. I arrived in time to prevent that, although you and Harry were doing very well on your own, I must say."
"Oh yha! I was doing incredible feeling as if I was being stabbed to death! Did you get there? You got Hermione's owl?"
"We must have crossed in midair. No sooner had I reached London than it became clear to me that the place I should be was the one I had just left. I arrived just in time to pull Quirrell off Harry and stopped him from hurting you mo–"
"It was you."
"I feared I might be too late."
"You nearly were, we couldn't have kept him off the Stone much longer –"
"Not the Stone, boy, you – the effort involved nearly killed you. For one terrible moment there, I was afraid it had. As for the Stone, it has been destroyed."
"Destroyed?" I said blankly. "But your friend – Nicolas Flamel –"
"You did do the thing properly, didn't you? Well, Nicolas and I have had a little chat, and agreed it's all for the best."
"But that means he and his wife will die, won't they?"
"They have enough Elixir stored to set their affairs in order and then, yes, they will die."
Dumbledore smiled at the look of amazement on my face.
"To one as young as you, I'm sure it seems incredible, but to Nicolas and Perenelle, it really is like going to bed after a very, very long day. After all, to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure. You know, the Stone was really not such a wonderful thing. As much money and life as you could want! The two things most human beings would choose above all – the trouble is, humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things that are worst for them."
Dumbledore hummed a little and smiled at the ceiling.
"Sir?" I said. "I've been thinking...Sir – even if the Stone's gone, Voldemort's going to try other ways of coming back, isn't he? I mean, he hasn't gone, has he?"
"No, Y/N, he has not. He is still out there somewhere, perhaps looking for another body to share...not being truly alive, he cannot be killed. He left Quirrell to die; he shows just as little mercy to his followers as his enemies. Nevertheless, you and Harry may have only delayed his return to power, it will merely take someone else who is prepared to fight what seems a losing battle next time – and if he is delayed again, why, he may never return to power."
"Sir, there are some other things I'd like to know if you can tell me...things I want to know the truth about...."
"The truth." Dumbledore sighed. "It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution. However, I shall answer your questions unless I have a very good reason not to, in which case I beg you'll forgive me. I shall not, of course, lie."
"Well...Voldemort said that I was his boy and that he killed my father what was that about?"
Dumbledore sighed very deeply this time.
"Alas, the first thing you ask me, I cannot tell you. Not today. Not now. You will know, one day...put it from your mind, for now, Y/N. When you are older...I know you hate to hear this...when you are ready, you will know."
And I knew it would be no good to argue.
"And sir, there's one more thing..."
"Just the one?"
"How did I get the Stone out of the mirror?"
"Ah, now, I'm glad you asked me that. It was one of my more brilliant ideas, and between you and me, that's saying something. You see, only one who wanted to find the Stone – find it, but not use it – would be able to get it, otherwise, they'd just see themselves making gold or drinking Elixir of Life. My brain surprises even me sometimes.... Now, enough questions. I suggest you make a start on those sweets. Ah! Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans! I was unfortunate enough in my youth to come across a vomit-flavored one, and since then I'm afraid I've rather lost my liking for them – but, I think I'll be safe with a nice toffee, don't you?"
He smiled and popped the golden-brown bean into his mouth. Then he choked and said, "Alas! Ear wax!"
Madam Pomfrey, the nurse, was a nice woman, but very strict.
"Just five minutes," I pleaded.
"Absolutely not."
"You let Professor Dumbledore in...."
"Well, of course, that was the headmaster, quite different. You need rest."
"I am resting, look, lying down and everything. Oh, go on, Madam Pomfrey..."
"Oh, very well," she said. "But five minutes only."
And she let Ron, Harry, and Hermione in.
"Y/N!"
Hermione threw her arms around me again, it hurt a bit but I was glad she did it because I missed her so much.
"Oh, Y/N, we were sure you were going to – Dumbledore was so worried –"
"The whole school's talking about it," said Ron.
"What really happened?" said Hermione.
It was one of those rare occasions when the true story is even more strange and exciting than the wild rumors. Me and Harry told them everything: Quirrell; the mirror; the Stone; and Voldemort. They were a very good audience; they gasped in all the right places, and when Harry told them what was under Quirrell's turban, Hermione screamed out loud.
"That's wicked, guys," said Ron finally.
"So the Stone's gone?" said Hermione. "Flamel's just going to die?"
"That's what I said, but Dumbledore thinks that – what was it? – 'to the organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.'" Me and Harry said at the same time.
"I always said he was off his rocker," said Ron, looking quite impressed at how crazy his hero was.
"So what happened to you two?" said Harry.
"Well, I got back all right," said Hermione. "I brought Ron round – that took a while – and we were dashing up to the owlery to contact Dumbledore when we met him in the entrance hall – he already knew – he just said, "They have gone after him, haven't them?' and hurtled off to the third floor."
"D'you think he meant you to do it?" said Ron. "Sending you your father's cloak and everything?"
"Well," Hermione exploded, "if he did – I mean to say – that's terrible – you could have been killed."
"No, it isn't," said Harry thoughtfully. "He's a funny man, Dumbledore. I think he sort of wanted to give us a chance. I think he knows more or less everything that goes on here, you know. I reckon he had a pretty good idea we were going to try, and instead of stopping us, he just taught us enough to help. I don't think it was an accident he let me find out how the mirror worked. It's almost like he thought I had the right to face Voldemort if I could...."
"Yeah, Dumbledore's off his rocker, all right," said Ron proudly. "Listen, you've got to be up for the end-of-year feast tomorrow. The points are all in and Slytherin won, no surprise – you missed the last Quidditch match, we were steamrolled by Ravenclaw without you – but the food'll be good."
At that moment, Madam Pomfrey bustled over.
"You've had nearly fifteen minutes, now OUT," she said firmly.
I asked her if Hermione could stay. After a lot of convincing, she allowed and we slept hugging each other.
***
After a good night of sleep, I felt nearly back to normal.
"I want to go to the feast," I told Madam Pomfrey as she straightened my many candy boxes. "I can, can't I?"
"Professor Dumbledore says you are to be allowed to go," she said sniffily, as though in her opinion Professor Dumbledore didn't realize how risky feasts could be.
I made my way down to the end-of-year feast playing with Marlow. I had been held up by Madam Pomfrey's fussing about, insisting on giving me one last checkup, so the Great Hall was already full. It was decked out in the Slytherin colors of green and silver to celebrate Slytherin's winning the house cup for the seventh year in a row. A huge banner showing the Slytherin serpent covered the wall behind the High Table.
When I walked in there was a sudden hush, and then everybody started talking loudly at once. Lynn ran up to me hugging me tightly. "Meet me at the astronomy tower at 1 am. We have to visit mom". I nodded and slipped into a seat beside Hermione across from Ron at the Gryffindor table and tried to ignore the fact that people were standing up to look at me.
Fortunately, Dumbledore arrived moments later. The babble died away.
"Another year gone!" Dumbledore said cheerfully. "And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully, your heads are all a little fuller than they were...you have the whole summer ahead to get them nice and empty before next year starts....
"Now, as I understand it, the house cup here needs awarding, and the points stand thus: In fourth place, Gryffindor, with two hundred and sixty-two points; in third, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two; Ravenclaw has four hundred and twenty-six and Slytherin, four hundred and seventy-two."
A storm of cheering and stamping broke out from the Slytherin table. The three of them were mad at me because I gave Lynn and a couple of my friends from Slytherin a thumbs up.
"What?" I said. "I am their friend you know but I will like you guys more only losing to Lynn." Making them laugh a little.
"Yes, yes, well done, Slytherin," said Dumbledore. "However, recent events must be taken into account."
The room went very still. The Slytherins' smiles faded a little.
"Ahem," said Dumbledore. "I have a few last-minute points to dish out. Let me see. Yes...
"First – to Mr. Ronald Weasley..."
Ron went purple in the face; he looked like a radish with a bad sunburn.
"...for the best-played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."
Gryffindor cheers nearly raised the bewitched ceiling; the stars overhead seemed to quiver. Percy could be heard telling the other prefects, "My brother, you know! My youngest brother! Got past McGonagall's giant chess set!"
At last, there was silence again.
"Second – to Miss Hermione Granger...for the use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."
Hermione buried her face in my arms; she had burst into tears. Gryffindors up and down the table were beside themselves – we've gained a hundred and fifty points.
"Third – to Mr. Harry Potter..." said Dumbledore. The room went deadly quiet. "...for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor house sixty points."
"Forth - to Mr. Y/N L/N... For extreme courage and going through a strong pain just to help a friend in need." Hermione tightened her hold on me.
The din was deafening. Those who could add up while yelling themselves hoarse knew that Gryffindor now had four hundred and seventy-two points – exactly the same as Slytherin. We had tied for the house cup – if only Dumbledore had given me just one more point.
Dumbledore raised his hand. The room gradually fell silent.
"There are all kinds of courage," said Dumbledore, smiling. "It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends. I, therefore, award ten points to Mr. Neville Longbottom."
Someone standing outside the Great Hall might well have thought some sort of explosion had taken place, so loud was the noise that erupted from the Gryffindor table. Harry, Ron, me, and Hermione stood up to yell and cheer as Neville, white with shock, disappeared under a pile of people hugging him. He had never won so much as a point for Gryffindor before.
"Which means," Dumbledore called over the storm of applause, for even Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were celebrating the downfall of Slytherin, "we need a little change of decoration."
Lynn ran up to me and held my hand pulling me up. "What's wrong Linnie?"
"Mom wants us to go see her right now." I grabbed a piece of chicken about to run off when I noticed the look of confusion on my friend's faces.
"Sorry guys, something came up," I said as Lynn and I ran off to mom.
Mom told us that night that we were going to stay the summer with her at the forest because she didn't want us to go back home to father. She said she had a secret portal that would take us somewhere.
I had almost forgotten that the exam results were still to come, but come they did. To our great surprise; Harry and Ron passed with good marks; Hermione, of course, had the best grades of the first years. Me coming right behind her. Even Neville scraped through, his good Herbology mark making up for his abysmal Potions one.
And suddenly, our wardrobes were empty, our trunks were packed, Neville's toad was found lurking in a corner of the toilets; notes were handed out to all students, warning us not to use magic over the holidays ("I always hope they'll forget to give us these," said Fred Weasley sadly); Hagrid was there to take us down to the fleet of boats that sailed across the lake; Lynn and I ran off to the forbidden forest to stay with mum.
˜˜˜***˜˜˜
WELL, THAT WAS THE FIRST BOOK, GUYS! The second one will be more interesting with more secrets and more Hermione and reader moments. The second book is already on my page. Merry late Christmas and Happy late New Year.