Dubious Protections

"You're going to give the professor a fit like that, Harry." Hermione admonished him as they left the Defense classroom with Neville, "It was one thing with the water jet spell last month, but you were the only one who could turn a knockback jinx into a tripping jinx. We only have a few more weeks until exams, please don't annoy him and make him not want to help us revise."

"I don't know why you couldn't do it too." Harry replied, rubbing his forehead. His scar had ached for the second half of that class, "Just focus on making the spell push only at the legs instead of the whole body; same thing as tripping."

"I tried, just like making Aguamenti into a jet," she answered, frustrated, "but it didn't work. It was also really draining, even though it didn't work right, did you not feel like you were using more magic when you used the more generic spell not for its intended purpose?"

"Huh? Not really." Harry answered with a shrug.

"That's probably the most ridiculous... wait," Neville stopped and muttered under his breath for a second, "have you ever been magically tired? Besides the troll thing, I mean. You cast spells all the time, you even go around and help people in the common room and demonstrate for them, and I never see you tired from it. Just the normal, 'haven't slept in a while' kind of tired."

Harry thought about it as they headed up to Gryffindor Tower, "Once, I think. When I bonded with Najash. I was out for like a day after that."

"Most of our class has had to go to Madame Pomfrey at least once this year for magical exhaustion." Hermione said, "I believe you were at Quidditch practise at the time, but I overused my magic while studying for our first Transfiguration quiz back in early October and she warned me about ignoring when I was nearing my limits."

Once in the tower, Hermione and Neville begged Harry to try and find the point where he started to notice the drain on his magic. He agreed as long as they didn't go so far they couldn't join Dudley when he went to work out before curfew; and began by casting an Aguamenti spell out the open window with his off-hand so he could continue writing answers. He cancelled the spell a half-hour later to get ready to exercise and was only beginning to notice the slightest drain. His friends were amazed, but Harry wasn't sure why it seemed like his magic lasted so much longer; he hadn't really thought about it much since Halloween.

When they arrived at the empty classroom where they normally worked out, after being joined by Parvati on the way, they found Ron waiting for them, but no Dudley or Justin. The Slytherin informed them that the others were going to find a professor to ask about Justin's issues with his spells while Hermione and Neville told him about Harry's seemingly endless magical supply. Ron was just as surprised as the others by Harry's ability to hold up the water charm so long; and just a couple minutes later Harry found himself levitating a table to see if it would tire him before Dudley got there.

"I'm sure he'll understand," Hermione had consoled him, "this is a school for magic. Missing one exercise session with him won't be the end of the world."

o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o

"Don't worry about it Justin, Harry and Neville will understand." Dudley assured his friend as they detoured from their path to the exercise classroom to ask a professor about Justin's problems with water spells.

"Thanks Big D," Justin answered, using Harry's nickname for his cousin, "I've been worried I'll fail a practical portion of an exam because of this." As they came to the base of another staircase, he glanced sideways to his friend, "You think we could start by asking Professor Quirrell? If we climb all the way to Flitwick's office and back down I won't be doing many sit-ups after."

"Sure," Dudley chuckled, "as long as you're okay waiting for him to finish answering."

o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o

"Are you kidding me?" Parvati muttered as Harry continued to casually lean against a wall while levitating the desk, "It's been like ten minutes."

"Merlin's beard," Neville said as he stretched out after finishing his warmup, "how are you standing?"

"I don't know, it's not really that hard." Harry answered before gesturing with his empty hand, "I wonder if it's a question of size?" More desks began lifting from the side of the room, one by one, until Harry began to strain on the third one, and dropped them all in a mess after trying to pick up a sixth. "Whoah," he hissed as they clattered to the floor, "that was a bad idea."

"Harry, that was amazing!" Hermione gushed, "After holding the Aguamenti charm for so long before coming, too!"

"Ugh, I need to stop for a minute after that." He answered as he sat down beside his bookbag, "I wonder what's taking Dudley so long? You think he got held up somewhere else?"

"Maybe," Ron answered, snapping out of his stupor at Harry's display of magic, "you want to go look for him?"

"Or you could just check the Map." Hermione offered, before covering her mouth as she realized that Parvati and Ron didn't know about the heirloom.

To say Ron was annoyed at not being told about it before was an understatement, "No wonder you always knew when I was in trouble first term!" He shouted angrily before calming back down, "Where is that though? It looks like Justin and Professor Quirrel are still with him."

Harry frowned as he studied the Map. Between staircases that moved and rooms that were in different places at different times of the day or year, it was sometimes hard to read what the map was saying since many rooms were depicted separate from the main structure to allow them to fit when they changed locations. The further an area was from the central areas that were trafficked by students, the more likely it was to wander a little.

"No, what are they doing?" Harry exclaimed as he stood up, Hermione was right! "Look! That's under the forbidden corridor! It's right under the trapdoor in the Cerberus' room!"

"Wait!" Hermione shouted, trying to stop him as he bolted out the door, "Harry!" She turned to the others, "Someone go tell a professor, I'll try and stop him."

"I'm faster than you two, I'll go help Hermione catch Harry." Ron said, running out behind her and shouting back over his shoulder, "Go get help."

"Oh crap." Neville said, realizing what Harry thought was happening, "Hermione's been saying he was bad news since the beginning of the first term."

"Tell me about it while we go find Professor Mcgonagal!" Parvati shot back at him as she pushed him out the door. Unfortunately they had not made it more than a dozen steps before something tripped her and she hit her head.

"Hello squib," A Slytherin's voice mocked Neville as he fumbled for a wand he had forgotten in the classroom, "going somewhere?"

o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o

"A harp?" Hermione whispered behind Harry, causing him to jump and cover his mouth not to shout.

The cerberus was sleeping peacefully on the floor beside an open trapdoor, a full size harp magically playing a soft melody nearby. Clearly the myth of Orpheus was based on a true story, as the three heads were snoring in something approximating the meter of the song; it would have been cute if the dog wasn't big enough to just about eat them whole.

"They went down through the trapdoor." Harry whispered back to her and Ron when he turned around, "Is someone getting a professor?"

"Neville and Parvati are." Ron answered, "Lets just step out into the hall and wait Harry, we don't know what else is down there."

"What if Dudley's in trouble?" Harry asked, "We should keep going, and just be quiet unless something happens or we get a chance to grab them. They're ahead of us, so if there's any other traps or monsters then Quirrell will take care of them. Either that or we'll need to be there to get Justin and Dudley out of there."

"Are you daft?" Ron shot back angrily, "I get that you're a Gryff, but now isn't the time for heroes mate."

"Ron I-"

"Guys!" Hermione hissed.

"-gotta help Dudley. He's always looked out for me."

"Guys! Move!" Hermione shouted as she pushed them into the trapdoor and jumped behind them just as a pair of jaws snapped at her, "You loudmouths woke up the dog!"

When the three friends hit the floor, it wasn't the expected hard impact but rather a squishy, springy mess of plants they fell upon. The three heard the dog barking at them through the open trapdoor, the only light in the room, but couldn't hear the harp anymore; whatever transfiguration had created it probably wore off.

"What is this stuff?" Ron shouted as he tried to move and got tangled in the large mass of vines covering the floor, "I think it's grabbing me!"

"Devil's Snare!" Hermione shouted back, "There's a spell that can-"

"Wait!, just stop moving!" Harry shouted over her, "Najash says we're still in the air! Relax and the Devil's Snare will let us go!"

Harry fell through the web of vines first, falling a further five feet but emerging unharmed. Hermione fell after him, though Ron took a moment to calm down before he relaxed enough to also pass through the net composed of dangerous plants. The space beneath the Snare was dimly illuminated by what looked like bioluminescent mushrooms.

"Look there." Hermione said once she'd righted herself and begun looking around the room, pointing to a barely visible rune etched into the stone wall just beneath the level of the Devil's Snare before drawing her finger around to several other locations where that rune was, "I bet those keep the Snare from extending to the floor."

"I can't light my wand." Ron whined, "Is there something here that messes with our magic?"

"No, I can still feel my magic." Harry replied, taking note of the fact that there were multiple different kinds of runes on the walls, "It's probably just light and fire spells that can't be used. I'd bet there are runes up there for that as well as holding the plant in place."

As the trio gathered their wits and located the door, Harry contemplated the 'trap,' above them. It was actually pretty scary, the normal answer to Devil's Snare was to blast it with light, preferably sunlight, or fire; a wizard who found those spells not working under pressure could easily panic and get themselves strangled without realizing that they are still suspended above the ground. What's more, the plant's natural response to stop constricting when the victim stops struggling would mean the plant is actually relatively safe like this. It's more common to die while unconscious, suffocating under the plant, than while it was actively strangling you since it wasn't generally strong enough to damage the windpipe; and that wouldn't happen here.

"This place is giving me the creeps." Ron continued complaining.

"Let's go into the next room," Harry offered, "hopefully there's some light in there."

o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o

"Blimey Harry, I reckon you could outfly anything." Ron exclaimed after Harry stood back up on shaky legs, "You can look now Hermione, he's alright."

The second trap wasn't nearly as clever as the first, at first glance it was just a room filled with winged keys that had been enchanted to float. There was probably some kind of trick to figuring out which key was the right one, but since there was only one key hobbling around on a broken wing it wasn't a bother; there was even a broom resting in a stand nearby. The only hiccup had been when every key in the room except the correct one had spontaneously turned on Harry and begun flying at him trying to unseat him as soon as he mounted the broom in the room. Though he'd been cut on the face several times, causing Hermione to look away and shut her eyes, Harry had managed to not only nick the correct key, but also roll off the broom safely. Once he was unseated the keys left him alone.

"I don't know about 'alright.'" Harry said woozily.

"The adrenaline from before is wearing off." Hermione asserted as she returned Najash to him, "You're exhausted after using magic nonstop for the last hour, we should just hide and wait for whoever Neville and Parvati find to come and get us."

"We need to at least look and see what the next test is." Ron insisted, "Otherwise why did Harry get himself cut up grabbing that key?"

~You are hurt, Harry, and you are tired. Why do you not wait?~

~I have a bad feeling. Hermione and I have both thought there was something wrong with the professor who has Dudley at different times this year. I should have taken you to meet him, you would have known what was off, but his class would have been dangerous for you.~

"It's like this was made for me!" Ron giddily shouted when they opened the door to the next room and found a gigantic stone chess set. The two Gryffindors glanced at each other behind him, it was awfully suspicious that the three 'traps' so far had been designed with an intentional way past; and neither of them had failed to notice that Ron had called the keys a 'test.'

o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o

Molly Weasley was fuming in the family room while her husband and only daughter discussed this scholarship with Petunia Dursley and Remus Lupin. Arthur hadn't wanted her advice or input, and sent her out after her third muttered comment about charity and how it would look to their friends. Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Ginny was being informed of exactly what would be expected of her if she accepted the opportunity.

"So I have to take a class on muggles?" She asked, "Why?"

"Well," Petunia answered, "we are hoping to open up new opportunities. Many magicals consider anything non magical to be a completely different world; we want to show you that it isn't as different as you think." She leaned forward a little and whispered conspiratorially, "And if you spend some time away from magic you might even be able to figure out wandless casting before school like Harry and Dudley."

"Really?" Ginny asked with wide eyes, getting a nod from Petunia. It was unlikely that she would be away from magic for long enough to have an impact, but that wouldn't stop them from trying.

"Oh yes, and if your father would like to join you for the non magical courses this summer he's more than welcome." Remus added with a nod to the man.

"I may just take you up on that." Arthur Weasley said with a grin, before composing himself and bowing his head slightly, "We can't thank you enough for this. My wife and I-"

"ARTHUR!" Molly shouted from the other room, "IT'S RON, COME QUICKLY!"

o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o

"Ron, what are you talking about?" Hermione shrieked, "You're going to get yourself killed!"

"Just trust me," Ron said from atop the stone horse of a knight, "If I put the king in check they have to take me, then Harry moves two spaces and it's checkmate."

Harry and Hermione couldn't believe they had agreed to this. They had briefly forgotten that they were in the magical world, and so forgotten the biggest difference between normal chess and what they played here. In Wizard's Chess the pieces were alive; and destroyed each other when they were taken. Hermione had almost "cheated" the first time a piece was destroyed when she had to dodge flying debris. The pieces on their own side had brandished weapons at her and threatened her if she attempted to "impune their honour" again.

"I thought you said it wasn't the time for heroes!" Harry shouted back at him; this was a terrible idea.

"We're gonna lose if we don't do this." Ron returned.

"How did I let you talk me into this." Hermione muttered, not really needing a reminder. There had been some hectic movement on the Map from the three they were following while they argued over letting Ron try the chess board just for fun; Harry was worried that it looked sort of like Quirrell had attacked the other two. The fact that no adult had caught up with them yet wasn't inspiring confidence at the moment, either. Neville and Parvati had only just arrived at Professor Mcgonagall's office, with Daphne and Tracey for some reason, so that was a long ways away.

Before his friends could try to talk him out of it again, Ron called for his horse to move, and as soon as it was finished he was attacked by the other queen. With two strikes from her giant scepter, the opposing queen shattered the stone horse from under Ron; she then grabbed him, still dazed, by the robe and threw him off the board.

"Hermione, no! Stop!" Harry shouted. She had made to run to Ron, but the direction was a legal move for her piece, "If you step off your square it won't have mattered, just let me end the game!"

"Checkmate!" Harry shouted when he was in position. The king dropped his crown upon the board and all the other pieces became passive. As soon as it was apparent they weren't going to be hurt, the pair ran to check on Ron, who was moaning in pain and delirium and bleeding from a cut on his head.

"Harry, this is crazy!" Hermione yelled at him, fighting not to cry in frustration, "Something must have happened with Neville and Parvati for them to have only gotten to Professor Mcgonagall during the chess game, we need a teacher!"

"Let me look at the Map again and see where the professors are." He answered after making sure the wound on Ron's head wasn't too deep, it was also apparent from the angle it was resting at that his ankle was broken, "I'm not even sure we have a way back without help, how do you plan to get past the Devil's Snare?"

Professors Mcgonagall and Snape were both on their way, one floor above the forbidden corridor now, but that wasn't what caused Harry to push Hermione down onto Ron and throw his invisibility cloak over them while shushing her frantic questions and Ron's cry of pain. Professor Quirrell was about to come back through the door into the chess room; and he was coming alone.

o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o

"Over there!" Tracey pointed out a closet to her friend. Though they couldn't hear any sounds coming from it, the door was shaking like someone was banging on it from the inside.

"There's a wand stuck in that suit of armor." Daphne added, pointing to the length of wood, barely visible, sticking through the eye slit of the armor's helmet before drawing her own wand and pointing it at the door as she advanced. "The idiot must have walked back alone even after we warned him what those boys were planning. Finite Incantatum, Alohomora."

"Wait, Longbottom? Patil?" Daphne jumped back as the door exploded open and the two Gryffindors practically fell out of it, "What are you doing in there? I thought it was Weasley."

"Oh thank Merlin!" Parvati shouted, "Tell me they left my wand, please."

"They didn't take it." Tracey said, pointing to the suit of armor, while Daphne asked Neville why he was in such a hurry to get away.

"Harry think's Dudley is in trouble. He ran to help and Hermione and Ron chased after him." Neville answered in a breathless rush before explaining that he'd left his wand in his bag back in the classroom they were in and that's why they couldn't get out of the closet, "We need to get a Professor. Mcgonagall's office is pretty close."

On the way Neville and Parvati were able to fill the others in a little about what was happening, though they didn't have an explanation for how Harry knew Dudley was in trouble that didn't involve the Map. The two Gryffindors were ready to scream by the time their head of house finally got to her door after they knocked on it. That Professor Snape was with her in the office with her caused them to pause momentarily before each tried to shout their explanation over the other. The professors looked ready to give detentions, but Tracey slammed a hand on each of the Gryff's shoulders to get them under control and told Neville to explain what needed to be said.

"We can talk about your students' misconduct after we check on Mister Potter and the others." Mcgonagall told Snape after they'd heard the story, "But seriously, Professor Quirrell? He is harmless, the poor man has been a model professor since the Halloween incident."

"It was on Harry's Map." Neville replied, frustrated that he also had to tell Snape about it, "We all saw it, ma'am; the Map shows where everyone in the castle is at any time. Quirrell took Dudley and Justin into the forbidden corridor past the Cerberus."

"It is impossible to make a map of Hogwarts." Professor Mcgonagall asserted.

"Harry's father made it with his friends," Neville explained quickly, "it works, I swear. We need to go, maybe even get Dumbledore first."

"The Headmaster is not here." Snape drawled, internally furious at the existence of Potter's map. So that was how Potter and Black were always able to avoid being caught. "He was called away to the Ministry with little notice and will not be returning until morning. Minerva, we should go; the Headmaster and I have had reason this term to suspect that Quirrell is not as trustworthy as he seems."

"Well why didn't you say that first, are you daft?" She shouted back at him, "Children, please go to the Hospital Wing and inform Madam Pomfrey that she might have some injured students coming to her. Professor Snape and I shall go collect the others."

o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o

"I'm afraid I don't understand." Petunia said as she tried to make sense of what the woman was frantically pointing to, a grandfather clock in the corner with entirely too many hands on it, "Oh my! How does one even read that clock?"

She didn't need the brief explanation she was given; after asking she took a step forward to get a better look and realized for herself. Each of the hands was labeled with a name, and the end of each had a smiling face with a ginger mop of hair magically printed on it. The face of the clock was divided into sections such as "At Home," or "Travelling." The hand that sported Ron's name, however, was positioned firmly in the division labeled "Injured."

"How badly hurt do you have to be for it to label you as 'Injured?'" Petunia asked.

"At least a broken bone," Arthur answered quietly, having pushed Ginny back into the kitchen, "I'm sure Madam Pomfrey will have him right as rain."

"Perhaps you should go to the school and check on him, Arthur?" Remus offered, "I'm sure Ron would appreciate it, as would Molly."

"I don't know…"

"You can come back and tell us what happened over dinner." Petunia offered.

DONG! Ron's hand on the clock changed, and the device began chiming a low, mournful sounding bell in regular intervals. Before she could check how the new division was labeled, Petunia was forced to reach out and catch Molly Weasley and guide her to the ground.

"She fainted?" Petunia whispered as chaos ensued around her. Both Remus and Arthur were gathering coats and preparing to floo to Hogsmeade.

"Mrs. Dursley, I'm so sorry about Molly," Arthur said as he glanced in frustration at his unconscious wife, "she has just been rather stressed these last few days. I must ask you to please watch over my Ginny." He added as he readied the floo powder, "Thank you for offering to come with me Remus."

As Remus left with an apologetic look at the unconscious Molly, Petunia finally thought to look at the clock again. Ron's hand was in easily the worst position imaginable. Why would that even be on there?

Mortal Peril.

o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o

"Positive elem-m-mental affinities, where a wizard-d casts spells of th-that element more eas-s-sily, are rare." The Professor explained to Justin while Dudley checked out his iguana behind them, "N-negative affinities, w-where the spell is harder, are more c-common."

"So I probably just have a negative one for water?" Justin asked, secretly he was hoping that it meant he was strong at another element. Most of the year was convinced that that was the case for Seamus Finnegan, who conjured fire pretty much every time he messed up a spell.

"M-most likely Mister F-f-Finch-Fletchley." Quirrell agreed, "Th-these things are addressed in your se-second year. Sometimes it go-goes away, so we wait to see if that happens f-f-first before taking action."

"So he shouldn't have a problem in his practical exams?" Dudley asked.

"No, I sh-should think not."

"Thanks for coming with me 'D.'" Justin said after thanking the professor and making for the door.

"Hey, we're Hufflepuffs; it's what we do." Dudley joked back, "Thank you Professor!"

The only warning Dudley got that something was wrong before Justin was struck in the back by a red spell was a strange syllabant whisper from behind him and a sudden shocking feeling on his wrist from his wand. When he spun around to see what was happening his wand shot a knockback jinx while still holstered that pushed Quirrell, who had his wand drawn, off his feet.

Quirrell quickly righted himself with his wand in-hand, but he was expecting the boy to either be paralyzed in shock or running in fear and thus be an easy target. Instead, Dudley charged the professor, getting inside his wand-reach and punching him in the face before he could stutter a second spell. Quirrell moaned as he staggered under Dudley's fist, but tried to realign his wand; eliciting an attempted second strike from the first year.

His fist didn't connect again, going wide as he heard something that filled him in terror where the prospect of a violent teacher didn't. He hit the floor where the sound seemed to come from, but found nothing except bruised knuckles.

"Fool, you let a child besssst you!" Came a voice, seemingly from right behind the professor. Dudley didn't get a chance to punch again, as he felt an incredible weight hold him in place.

"I'm s-s-s-orry, master!" Quirrell grovelled as he got back to his feet and took over the spell that was holding Dudley in place. He was even more awed as he realized what had happened; his master had cast a wandless, silent spell without even being able to see his target! Standing back up with his wand trained on Dudley to keep him in place, Quirrell addressed the boy, "If you do not want your friend to be hurt, you will be silent and come with me."

Without releasing Dudley from the spell holding him, Quirrell turned to Justin and undid the stunning spell before immediately incanting, "Imperius." Knowing what that spell was from his cousin and mum, Dudley realized his friend wasn't about to try and help him escape.

"Silencio." Quirrell added, pointing his wand at Dudley now, "You will walk in front of me, we are going to the forbidden corridor. If you try and escape, or make a scene, I will kill your friend. Do you understand?"

As soon as he completed the question Dudley felt the weight holding him lessen on his neck and head; but between the creepy voice from the back of the professor's head and the fact that he was no longer stuttering, he couldn't find the courage to do more than nod.

"Expeliarmus," Quirrell cast at Justin, catching the wand that launched from the boy's pocket before turning his wand back to Dudley and doing the same, only to have no wand come to him. Was thatknockback jinx wandless? Only Potter managed to cast a Defense spell like that! "Where is your wand boy?" He asked, releasing the silencing spell temporarily.

"Uh, it's in the room where we exercise!" Dudley lied, crying out and screwing his eyes shut in fear when the Professor brought his face close enough to the first year that he was gagging on the garlic smell. Thankfully, whatever spell was holding him in place meant that his arm hadn't even twitched when his wand holster tried to fly towards the teacher; but that hurt.

"Hmm," Quirrell mused, "very well. Do as I say, and do not make a fuss, and nothing bad will happen to you."

o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o

Standing off to the side as Professor Quirrell made sure the troll was thoroughly unconscious, and having now been taken past several of the "traps and protections" on what was supposed to be a "priceless artefact that made you immortal", Dudley was beyond confident that all of this was some kind of trick or setup. Devil's Snare, flying keys that could apparently be frozen in place with a single spell, and a friggin' chess set? Dudley could already imagine the tirade his father was going to go on when he heard about this!

"Come boy," the professor said as he directed Justin, still under mind control, to follow him towards the next room, "Severus' room is the only one left before the end."

The professor insisted that the three of them enter the room at almost the same time, which confused Dudley until a green fire filled the doorway behind them followed by a second fire engulfing the doorway to the next room, this one a black flame rather than green. For the first time since walking into the room with the cerberus, Quirrell paused and actually examined the trap.

He had casually put the giant dog to sleep with music from an enchanted harp before casting a light spell into the room under the trap door to scare off the Devil's Snare for a moment as he pushed the students in and jumped behind, casting a cushioning charm as they dropped, then instantly frozen all the keys in the next room so he could pass. Then, then, rather than play the chess board he had just blasted the crown off the opposing king with a spell, causing all the pieces to stop until the crown could be put back. Dudley huffed as he thought about how ridiculous this all was, why would you put in such an easy way to skip all the traps? That's so dumb! And why these traps?

There were a bunch of different vials and chalices on a table in the room, but the professor was quietly reading a sheet of parchment aloud that was laid in the midst of them, "I thought you said you'd been through all these rooms already, what gives?" Dudley asked when the silence began getting to him; he had noticed the silencing spell had worn off in the chess room.

"Severus is much more cautious and thorough than the others." The professor answered; shocking Dudley, who expected to just get yelled at like the last time he tried to speak, "I almost poisoned myself at Christmas because I didn't expect him to change things. Since then, he's rearranged the potions and rewritten the clue to be more difficult several times now."

The Hufflepuff could tell by his tone that Quirrell wouldn't brook further conversation, and stayed silent. But a few moments later the professor picked up the smallest vial, maybe containing an ounce of liquid, and let out a sigh after examining it for a moment, "Clever, Severus. Too clever."

With the vial in hand, he walked over to Justin and poured the contents into his mouth, "Do not swallow this until I tell you to," he commanded the boy who was still under his magical thrall before offering the vial to Dudley, "and you do the same. Do not empty the vial, or I will kill your friend."

Once Dudley had complied, but not without a glare from Quirrell when it looked like he might drain the entire vial anyway, the professor took it back and waited for the fluid to refill. Severus had enchanted the bottle to stop refilling if it was completely emptied, but this one was also enchanted to alert him if that happened. Clearly he suspected that someone was getting past the test and was upgrading it whenever he found time.

"Swallow and walk forwards, now." Quirrell said as he took a small swig of the potion in the vial and pushed the boys to walk faster into the fire.

Dudley closed his eyes again as he was forced to walk into the black fire, but never felt the burning that he was sure was going to come. A moment later he opened his eyes and saw the final protection for the Philosopher's Stone, one he had been told about by Harry and Hermione back in December.

The Mirror of Erised.