Harry was so bloody ecstatic today. The news of the trial of Lucius Malfoy and his subsequent severe punishment was all the talk of the castle today. Of course, the article was half cooing about the heroics and thoughtfulness of the Man-who-Conquered as he arranged the raids and put down the villian Minister, his sidekick toad and the manipulator Malfoy. Honestly, the piece was more of a fiction novel than a newspaper article. But still, ninety-six million galleons! And a lifetime in Azkaban!
But he was more bemused when a letter ended up on his lap during breakfast which did not belong to anybody he knew. He opened it, to reveal a letter in a strange kindergarten writing from none other than the gamekeeper Rubeus Hagrid.
Hey Harry,
I am Hagrid, keeper of the keys and the Gamekeeper of Hogwarts. I'd really like to share a spot of tea with you, being James and Lily's son, after all. Would you mind coming tomorrow at 4? I know you don't have any classes during that time.
Yours lovingly,
Hagrid
Harry looked at the man currently seated near the staff table who smiled at him warmly. He'd heard from his parents and Uncle Sirius that Hagrid was the first to come to their place to see if they were okay. And if he came there, then he must've known the secret. And if he knew the secret, then surely he must be pretty close to his parents. So, he scrambled down a 'Yes, I'd love to' on the back of it and the owl flew off.
He was on his way from today's classes when he saw Neville absent-mindedly walking away on a staircase which was currently aligned to the forbidden third-floor corridor. Which meant that Neville was in some sort of horrible trouble! He called out to him but somehow he wasn't listening. So, Harry went up the flight of stairs and pulled Neville down, but then too Neville was a bit dazed.
"Neville. . . What happened?", Harry asked as he still nudged Neville down.
"Pr-Pro-Professor Snape", the normally confident and headstrong boy was behaving like hell today.
"What? What did he do — after class?", Harry asked as realisation dawned on him.
"He's not what we think he is, you know. I realised it today. He's — he's a broken man, mate", Neville said. Harry couldn't understand what Neville was trying to say.
"But Nev—Ah!", and Harry jumped across as the steps started moving the other way. Now they were stuck for at least 15 minutes on their sot and the start of the forbidden corridor. Hurray!
"He had something — some sort of cauldron or such — filled with mist. There was a bit of water on the floor and I slipped inside", Neville said.
"Cauldron filled with mist — you mean a pensieve?"
"Dunno. But the next thing I knew was watching your father and uncle bullying Professor Snape. They were hanging him upside down in the air and his underwear was visible. They were threatening to tear it through, too"
"WHAT?! No way! That memory is fake!", Harry retorted.
"Once 'gain, I dunno. But then, Aunt Lily came to his rescue a-and. . .", Neville uncertainly stopped.
"And what?"
"Your father started to — you know — yrfthrshmlsslyfltd with her", he managed in a single breath.
"What in the world did you say?", Harry asked.
"Your father started to", he stopped, "shamelessly flirt with her"
"What? What the heck does 'flirt' mean?"
"Let it be, kiddo as always", he quivered under Harry's glare, "Ok I take that back. No kiddo. Just know for now that he told her that he'll leave Snape if Aunt Lily would date him", and just then they heard a purr from below their feet. Mrs. Norris was looking at them with wide eyes.
"Dragonshite!", Harry exclaimed as they ran further inside the corridor. They came across a door in their run. Which was not opening. Brilliant!
Harry waved his hand over the keyhole and it opened with a click. Not having time to reply to Neville's bulging eyes, they moved inside and closed the door behind them as slowly as they could.
They heard Filch's muffled noises and then as their eyes adjusted to the dark setting, they realised exactly how they were about to "die a horrible death"
"The Hound of Hades!", Harry exclaimed in a whisper.
"What in the world?"
The dog sniffed while sleeping and jerked awake at the unfamiliar scent of the intruders. Harry looked around to see what could they use to calm him down. 'The Greek prophet Orpheus had sung a beautiful lullaby to put the Cerberus guarding the Underworld to sleep', he remembered from a book while also defending himself from each fo the mouths trying to tear him alive.
He focused hard with his hand to transfigure a rock on the floor into a xylophone which then flew into his hand. Not knowing what to play, he played what he thought was similar to 'Calm down the cauldron'
'Ok', Harry thought. 'Calm down the cauldron and close your eyes. Go to sleep baby and. . .', he was trying to tap the bars in a correct fashion. Thankfully, the Cerberus was slowing down this time.
"It's working!", Neville whispered.
And Harry continued. The tune wasn't good, but enough to let the Cerberus's heads to yawn and finally go to sleep. Harry stopped and then as they were backing away, he saw a trapdoor just beneath where the Cerberus was earlier. They could go that way too, but Harry thought better and moved away.
"That was real close! With Filch on our back and that three-headed dog in the front, I thought it was the end of our life!", Neville said as they walked to the Fat Lady.
Harry sat down and thought exactly what could it be that the Cerberus was trying to guard. Probably not the Underworld, he mused. It seemed absurd for a school filled with children to have the passage to the realm of the Dead. Wait! If he could summon Death and ask him. . . But how?
"I pray to thee, oh almighty force of the Realms, the destroyer of evil, the Force that balances life. Oh almighty Thanatus, the ever vehement spirit of Death, please grace me with your presence", he whispered to the waning gibbous from the window, thinking it just might be a worthy prayer.
And maybe it was. Because soon enough, the Dementor chill followed, and then Thanatus appeared at the back of Harry.
"What calls the Master of Death to seek me this magical night?", Thanatus asked in his deep baritone voice.
"Why do you always come at the back and never at the front?", Harry asked the first question that came to his mind.
"So that the reluctant souls would not escape if they really require my own presence to come to the Realm of the Dead"
"Do you know that there is a Cerberus inside this castle? The one that guards the passage to your Realm?"
"Yes. But don't fret, Master of Death, there is not any Veil of Death nor any Passage of Hell inside Hogwarts"
"Actually, how can you read Professor Dumbledore's thoughts but not mine? I mean, you could've known right, what I was thinking about at first when you came?"
"Master of Death, our binding is that of mutual trust and friendship. And for those, I need to respect your own thoughts and actions, as you may as well respect mine", Death replied.
"So what exactly is behind that Cerberus?", Harry asked.
"The Charlatan stone", Death replied.
"First of all, what is that? And secondly, if the stone is 'charlatan', then why are they guarding it?"
"The answer to both are interrelated. The Charlatan Stone is called as the Philosopher's Stone by alchemists and wizards in the western . It is simply the purpose of alchemical research, and hence is referred to by them as the 'Materia Prima'. It turns any substance of natural creation into pure gold — and silver in some cases. But what has made the Materia Prima charlatan isn't the nature of the substance, but its esteemed uses"
"What are such uses?"
"An Arab alchemist had derived an elixir by leeching the stone in a particular potion. This elixir could cure any illness of man, and could cleanse a living body of all darkness. But then another alchemist, the French Nicholas Flamel, modified it to produce the so-called 'Elixir of Life'. You may know what it does, am I correct?"
"Yes! The 'Elixir of Life' grants a person biological immortality and slows down or even reverses aging of an individual if drunk in the appropriate amounts as long as the elixir stays in the system. But then, does that mean, you know; to evade Death?"
"No, and that is the reason it is deemed as 'charlatan' by the other realms. It just keeps the body utmost pure and biologically stable, but then it makes them depend on the elixir for all necessary purposes. You cannot evade Death forever, no matter how much elixir is present in your system. Humans aren't made to be pure, Master of Death", and Death chuckled!
"Thank you, Death, for accepting my request for your presence", Harry said. If Death was being diplomatic all the time, Harry thought he must too.
"As Friends of the Realms we must help each other out. And over that you are the youngest to accept the position of being the Master of Death. But I must warn you, Master of Death, that Tom Marvolo Riddle is possessing Quirnus Quirell who happens to be your teacher. He will attempt to steal the charlatan stone, and to keep the balance of your Realm, you must stop him. After your final tests of the year are over would he attempt to do so, and I ask you to stop him from attempting this greedy escapade"
Harry thought for a while. There was already a Cerberus guarding the trapdoor, which probably would lead them down. There maybe many other traps, but they could be destroyed easily by Voldemort. And if he knew the Headmaster well enough, he would set an alarming charm at the traps in between. So probably Voldemort would plan a decoy to keep the Headmaster away. And since Quirell was working before being possessed too, no professor would believe him and he couldn't afford to let them know about his source of information. So the only option left would be to battle Lord Voldemort on his own.
"If I may? You cannot allow Albus Dumbledore to know this information. It was brought to Britain to study it by him himself, and he does so every single night. It will be very useful for you to have that asset, and if Albus Dumbledore knows it from you, then it might cause unwanted issues"
"Why can't you yourself tell him?"
"I cannot face a mortal for more than once without a Friend of the Realm accompanying the mortal at any point in the meet. Otherwise, I will be obligated to take his soul to the Realm of the Dead"
"Ok, I guess. Thank you", and with that, he shaked the warm hand of Death.
"I suck all the heat from the surroundings and that is the reason the surroundings become cold", Death said at Harry's bewildered expression. And then Death disappeared and the room came back to normal.
Harry tucked inside his sheets and stared up. Great! He had to just battle Lord Voldemort now, the one who is responsible for just more than a few thousand deaths of fully trained personnel and normal buffoons alike. And Harry as an eleven year old would set about alone to battle him. Brilliant!