Chapter 28: Boss Battle

Ashi didn't know what he was expecting when he walked through the flames, but it sure wasn't this. His footsteps echoed through the vast room; it must have been at least as big as the Great Hall. He stopped.

Silence.

There was nothing in this room. No decorations. No furniture. No doors. No windows. Several crystal chandeliers provided ample light.

Ashi scanned the room slowly. There had to be some trick to this. Some enemy would jump out of thin air and attack him if he wasn't careful.

He jerked his head back to one corner of the room. A mirror, that hadn't been there a millisecond earlier, stood there innocently.

Ashi waited.

Nothing happened.

Slowly, cautiously, he walked across the room to stand in front of it. His reflection stared back at him. Something behind the mirror moved and Ashi jumped back, raising his fists.

Professor Quirrell appeared to the side and smiled at him. "Harry," he said oily.

Instantly, Ashi was on alert. Quirrell had never managed to say his name, or anyone's for that matter, without stuttering at least once. He lowered his hands all the same. "Professor," he said, trying to sound surprised and relieved. "What are you doing here?"

"Hm, I suppose I could tell you some lie about rescuing you from Dumbledore's maze of horrors, but you're too smart for that, aren't you?"

Ashi took a step back. "You're the one getting the Stone, then?"

Quirrell nodded once. "I'm actually surprised you didn't find that out sooner. You're a very smart boy, you know. You're just not very observant."

"I observe what affects me," said Ashi.

Quirrell tsked. He started pacing, slowly circling Ashi. "You should know better, Harry. There are lots of things that could be happening that influence you. And you won't know about them until it's too late."

Ashi kept quiet.

Quirrell paused, tilted his head, and smiled. "Ah, but then you wouldn't be able to do so well in school, would you? If you were always running around, sticking your nose where it doesn't belong?"

"Enough!" growled Ashi. "What are you doing here?"

Quirrell didn't answer until he was standing next to the mirror again. He gestured to it. Looking Ashi straight in the eye, he hissed something under his breath.

Ashi took a step back.

Quirrell hissed something again, with an even nastier look on his face. Ropes appeared out of thin air and wrapped themselves around Ashi's arms and legs before he could blink.

He yelled and tried to step backward, failing completely, and toppled to one side.

Quirrell ignored him. He stepped in front of the mirror and stared at it. After a few seconds, he moaned and gripped his head with both hands. "What am I doing wrong?" he wailed. "I see the stone! I'm presenting it to Master. But where is it?"

He circled the mirror, his nose less than an inch away as he examined it. "Where is it? Where is it?" he muttered. "Is it in the mirror? Do I need to break it? Help me, Master! What do I do?"

Ashi paused in his struggle when he heard another voice, which seemed to come from Quirrell. "Use the boy…the boy," it hissed.

Okay, it was one thing for this guy to be crazy, but now he had multiple personalities, too? Wonderful.

Quirrell dropped his hands to his sides and whirled on Ashi. "Yes," he whispered. He clapped his hands and the ropes disappeared. "Come here." He waved his hands frantically. "Come here."

Ashi cautiously got to all fours, then his knees, then fully stood.

Quirrell kept waving at him. "What do you see here, Potter?"

Ashi hesitated to look away, but when Quirrell gestured again, he looked. "My reflection," he deadpanned.

"Look harder," grunted Quirrell.

Ashi looked. He still saw his reflection. Suddenly, the reflection moved. Or rather, it transformed. Into a black wolf. Grass grew around the wolf's feet and flowers popped up and unfurled their petals. Four more wolves—Ashi's pack—walked out of the edges of the mirror.

Quirrell noticed Ashi sudden tenseness and snapped, "What? What do you see?"

"I—my…family," breathed Ashi. But it wasn't just that. It was Paradise. The place his pack had told him about ever since he could remember. The place only wolves could find. He didn't know how he knew it was Paradise; he could just tell.

"And?!" shrieked Quirrell. "What else?"

"And what? That's it."

Quirrell screamed in frustration and slapped a hand against the wood stand of the mirror. "That can't be all! Where is the stone?"

The stone. What was he talking about? The Sorcerer's Stone? Was that what he was jabbering about? He thought the stone was in the mirror? Did he think Ashi would get it out for him somehow? Well, there was no way that was going to happen.

Ashi lifted his lips in a snarl, preparing to shift and attack, when the reflection moved. The black wolf lowered his head to the grass, his snout disappearing up to the bridge of his snout. When he lifted his head, he had a sparkling, red and orange rock clenched between his teeth.

Was that it, the Sorcerer's Stone? Ashi shut his mouth and swallowed hard. How was he supposed to get it?

The wolf in the reflection stared back at him. The rock in his mouth cracked, sending splinters crisscrossing across its surface until it shattered. The pieces caught the fake light and sent it reflecting all around the valley in the mirror.

Ashi felt a sudden surge of joy when he saw the rock destroyed. It made sense, though. If the Sorcerer's Stone were destroyed, all of this would be over. He would be able to go back to enjoying school and life in general without having to worry about evil wizards getting the slimy fingers on a piece of rock powerful enough to give them eternal life.

"What?! What?!" screeched Quirrell. "That mirror shows you what you want most in this life. You've come all this way to protect it! There must be some connection to the Stone!"

Ashi didn't answer. Before the professor had even finished speaking, he had felt something heavy appear in his pants pocket. He was so busy concentrating on reaching in to find out what it was without alerting Quirrell that he completely missed what was said. "Huh? What?" he fumbled, hand inches away from discovering the unknown object.

Quirrell glared at him suspiciously.

"He lies, he lies," whispered that third voice. Ashi strained his ears to figure out where it was coming from.

Quirrell snarled and raised his hand, pointing his wand threateningly. "Tell me what you saw!" he bellowed, his voice much too high to be threatening, except it sounded like an insane person which was scary in itself.

Ashi stayed silent, taking another step back.

"Sectumsempura!" screamed Quirrell.

They were standing so close together and Ashi was so distracted by his dilemma with the Stone that he barely managed to move. The white spell streaked toward him and he only had time to lean away from it. The light hit his right arm and he could feel it slicing into his skin, right down to the bone.

Ashi screamed and fell to his knees. He reached over with his other arm to gingerly feel the damage. Blood dripped in a stream from cuts all the way from his shoulder to his wrist, collecting in a small pool beneath him. Ashi panted hard, moaning harshly behind clenched teeth, trying to keep quiet and not let Quirrell know just how badly he was hurt.

"TELL ME…WHAT YOU SAW!" shrieked Quirrell.

"I didn't…see…anything," managed Ashi through gritted teeth.

"LIES!" Quirrell's voice had risen several octaves. "Incendio!"

Ashi clearly saw the spurt of flame heading straight toward his face, but he couldn't muster up the strength to do much about it. He flattened himself as much as he could on the floor, which didn't help much. He had thrown himself forward on his right side, on the arm that had just been sliced to ribbons. The millisecond that arm touched the floor, a fresh wave of pain made Ashi cry out and lurch up, putting his left side directly in the line of fire.

It hurt so much. Merlin, it hurt so much. Ashi shivered and held in a groan. He was back on his knees again, tempted to rest his forehead on the cold floor and wallow in his pain.

He didn't dare, though. He kept his head up and watched Quirrel, ready to dodge another attack.

Quirrell was panting now. His wand was gripped firmly but hanging down by his side. Neither of them spoke for long moments.

"Let me…speak to him," whispered the voice.

Instantly the ferociousness dropped from Quirrell's face. "B-but, Master," he simpered, lip almost quivering, "you're not strong enough."

"I am…strong enough…for this."

"Yes, Master." Quirrell lifted his free hand to his turban and grasped the end, unwinding it around and around till it fell on its own. His head looked grossly too small now, and yet…it still had an odd shape. He gave Ashi one last glare before he turned on his heel.

Ashi was so startled by the action that he just knelt there, stunned, for a few seconds. He quickly recovered, though, and slowly stood, cradling his cut arm with his burned one, to brace himself for another attack or to pounce at Quirrell's back, honor be damned…that is, until he saw what Quirrell had wanted to show him.

There was a second face there, almost another head, lengthening Quirrell's own head by almost another half. The face squirmed in the skin, almost making it swirl with its movement.

Ashi's mouth dropped open a few inches. He'd heard of some weird things since he had learned about magic but this outshone all of them. A cold feeling shot through his bloodstream and he almost shivered.

"Harry Potter…" the face whispered. "See what I've become." Now that it was talking continuously, it had to pause more frequently and all the while made gasping noises as though it was catching its breath—how that was possible with no lungs, Ashi couldn't fathom. Then again, there was this wondrous thing called 'magic' that permeated this world.

"Mere shadow and vapor…I have form only when I join another's body…but there are always those willing to let me into their hearts and minds…unicorn blood has sustained me these last few months…but 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?"

Those last words shocked Ashi out of his stupor. This time fire burned through his body and he stumbled back a few steps, not out of fear, no, just a desire to put distance between him and the face and losing his balance in the process.

"Don't be a fool," growled the face. "Better save yourself than die needlessly…like your parents…They died begging me…to spare them."

The hair on the back of Ashi's neck prickled. "How would you know?" he snarled.

The face, Voldemort, didn't answer him. "I always value bravery," it muttered. "Yes, boy, your parents were brave…I killed your father first…he put up a courageous fight…but your mother needn't have died…She was trying to protect you…You wouldn't want her sacrifice to be in vain, would you?...now give me the Stone!"

"Never!" snapped Ashi. He gritted his teeth for what he was about to do, despite his injuries, and forced his frozen legs to move to sprint forward for an attack of his own.

"Seize him! SEIZE HIM!" screamed Voldemort.

Quirrell whirled around just in time for Ashi to tackle his stomach. Quirrell screamed then growled and flailed his hands, flinging his wand away in his struggle. He managed to snatch Ashi's neck in a death grip in one of his hands then brought the other up to squeeze. They both tumbled backward, Ashi on the bottom, landing with a harsh thud. Ashi's head hit the stone floor with a wet smack. Stars began swimming in his vision and he gasped for air, trying to regain his senses.

Another pain, this time coming from his forehead, burst through Ashi's head, spreading to the rest of his body. It felt like everything—his bones, his blood, his flesh—was on fire. Screams echoed around the room, both his and Quirrell's.

"Master, I-I cannot hold him!" cried Quirrell.

Ashi wriggled in Quirrell's grip, trying to see past the pain and gripping Quirrell's hands as hard as he could. His touch seemed to be hurting Quirrell somehow because the professor quickly let go after another few seconds of screaming, stumbling away and cradling his hands to his chest.

"Then…KILL HIM, YOU FOOL!" shouted Voldemort.

Quirrell scooped up his wand and gripped it loosely in one burned hand and raised it toward Ashi.

Ashi was struggling to his feet and just barely raised his head in time to see the wand. His mind went blank with anger and fear. He was no longer thinking rationally, acting only on instinct.

Fur sprouted over his body, fangs dripping saliva, and claws scrabbling to find a grip. His powerful legs lurched, injuries be damned, propelling him through the air to sink his claws into Quirrell's exposed chest and his fangs into the professor's neck.

Warm blood filled Ashi's mouth and he relished it for a millisecond before he released his grip and pushed off to land several feet away, ready for another attack. At least, that was the plan. His front legs couldn't withstand the sudden pressure they were put under and collapsed as soon as he landed on the floor. He was sent sprawling several feet further, leaving streaks of his own blood.

He lay there, shivering through the pain. He knew he needed to get up, to make sure Quirrell was well and truly defeated. But everything hurt too much. His mouth dropped open to pant, dripping Quirrell's blood and his own saliva. He tried to curl his lips in a snarl, to growl, to do anything to deter Quirrell from coming after him again if the professor were still alive.

There was silence though. And when Ashi finally gathered the strength to lift his head, he saw Quirrell laying still, fingers twitching spasmodically in death throes. A pool of red slowly inched its way outward from his neck, staining the floor and his robes.

Ashi let his head flop to the ground, which shot a fresh streak of knives through his brain. He had forgotten about hitting his head. He whined in agony and triumph.

The Milky Way started to appear before his eyes. He just wanted to go to sleep and forget any of this had ever happened.

He closed his eyes and let his exhaustion take over. He would deal with this whenever he woke up.

Something was shining in his eyes. Most likely the sun. It had the most annoying habit of coming up and waking him when he was least ready to get up. He was lying on his side on some of the softest ground he had ever felt, which made it that much harder for him to want to wake up.

He let out a little whine and shifted his paws to cover his nose…like that would actually accomplish anything, but it made him feel a little better. But that slight action made both his limbs ache like never before. Exactly how far had the pack run yesterday? He'd not felt like this since he was a pup, just starting his training.

"Severus," someone whispered. "It moved."

Ashi's ears flicked. That wasn't the voice of one of his pack. It was female. Fear and panic swelled in his heart. His pack wouldn't let an unknown near them, so that must mean something had happened to them. And whatever had taken his entire pack out could easily dispatch him as well.

"Come away slowly, Poppy," murmured a second voice, another female.

Cloth rustled nearby, very nearby, and the brightest of the light slowly faded from his eyes. He still didn't open them, though, unwilling to give the enemy any indication he was aware of them. It was proving difficult to wake himself up without stretching. His body very much wanted to go back to sleep. But the rush of adrenaline that first burst of fear had caused was just enough.

Slowly, just as slowly as the fabric was moving away from him, he regained full consciousness, remembered what had happened. His ears flicked again when the names the voices had spoken registered: Severus, Poppy. Those were his professors. They were also the ones who had found and taken care of him in his wolf form before. He was reluctant to admit it but he had started to trust them.

He flicked his ears a third time and slowly opened his eyes, trying hard not to frighten the humans by making a sudden movement. A great sigh lifted his whole body and he tried to exhale the rest of his fatigue, to no avail. The next breath was harder to suck in. It felt like someone was constricting his chest and prevent his lungs from filling. Panic shot through him for a moment before he quelled it and concentrated on his breathing for a few moments.

He blinked and lifted his head a bit to look around the room. He was back in Poppy's office again, swaddled in a thick layer of blankets just under the window. A few bottles of potions, a large roll of bandages, and a stack of gauze sat next to his left paw.

His burned leg was glistening with something, but it didn't hurt like a burn anymore, just ached like he had run a million miles. A few pieces of gauze were stuck to the top and another was sitting apart from the rest like it was next to go on. His other leg was caked with both fresh and dried blood and stung like someone had poured lemon juice and salt on it.

His head still pounded in time with his heartbeat and the back of it felt like someone had sliced into it with a blunt instrument. Which, technically, they had.

Finished with his self-examination, Ashi turned his attention outward. A small beam of light was just making its way around the room as the sun set. Three professors stood and crouched a few feet to his right, wands out, though only one was pointed in his direction.

"No sudden movements," whispered Professor Snape.

They stared at each other for a long, long moment. Ashi slowly relaxed. If they were going to hurt him, they would have done it by now. Besides, they had helped him out once before. He had no reason to think they wouldn't do so again. In fact, that was probably what the potions and bandages were for. He had probably interrupted his own treatment by waking up.

Ashi closed his eyes and shifted to make himself more comfortable. He kept his ears erect, though, and on the listen for any strange sounds.

"Did it go back to sleep?" whispered Madame Pomphrey.

"Unlikely," muttered Snape.

"We can place it under a sleeping spell again," suggested McGonagall.

That made Ashi slightly uneasy, but he was already contemplating sleep so being forced to sleep would only get him there that much faster. A little voice in the back of his mind kept whispering that that was a bad idea, why would he even agree to go along with such a vulnerable plan. The other 90% of him was too tired to care.

The door banged open and it the opposite wall with a crash.

Ashi's eyes shot open and he lifted himself off the ground in a half-crouch, pulling his lips back in an instinctual growl.

The three wizards jumped as well and swung their wands to point them at the intruder.

"Ah, Mah bad," said Hagrid's booming voice.

"Shhhh," hissed Poppy. "It just went back to sleep."

"Eh, don't look like it," said Hagrid.

They all turned back to Ashi, who started a low growl deep in his chest before he managed to stop it. He stayed in his half-crouch, legs trembling visibly with the strain, but lowered his lips and stopped narrowing his eyes.

Hagrid stepped past the professors, his belt jingling with all the random knick-knacks he had strung on it.

Ashi's body automatically tensed again and his nose twitched.

Hagrid crouched to (almost) Ashi's level and started muttering soothing nothings to him. "'s alrigh, boy. Ah'm not gonna hurt cha." He held out his hand for Ashi to sniff.

There was no need to; Ashi could smell the earth, wood, and animalistic scent wafting off Hagrid from the moment he stepped through the door. Still, Ashi obligingly sniffed it a couple of times.

Hagrid smiled but didn't move.

By now Ashi's legs were nearly at their breaking point. He wanted to sit, but that would give the sensation that he was still ready to spring at the humans to attack. But lying down would make himself more vulnerable to attacks, would increase his escape time by precious seconds…but he was so tired…and the professors hadn't done anything to him so far.

Ever so slowly, Ashi lowered himself back down to lay on the blankets with his back legs curled underneath him and his front paws stretched out before him, like the Sphinx.

Hagrid's grin widened. "Goo' boy," he cooed. "Yah remembah me?"

Ashi flicked an ear and kept watching.

"Are you sure that's the same wolf, Hagrid?" asked Minerva. "It doesn't seem likely he would return after last time."

"Unless the Forest is his home," Poppy suggested.

"There haven't been wolves here in more than thirty years," rebuffed Severus.

"Yeah, bu' Ah've notice' some new tracks and droppins 'round here lately. Ah think there's a new pack takin' over the Forest," said Hagrid, not looking back at his colleagues. He slowly inched his way toward Ashi with his hand still held out.

Ashi flattened his ears and ducked his head but didn't growl. He was interested in what Hagrid was going to do. Probably just come near enough to pet him.

Time seemed to slow down. It took an eternity for Hagrid to move at all. He just seemed to stare at Ashi. Ashi waited and waited. He looked from the standing professors back to Hagrid. He was getting irritated.

Hagrid finally continued his reach, but something about that motion made Ashi's heart lurch in his chest. He tried to ignore it. Hagrid's hand got closer and closer.

Suddenly, Ashi wasn't in the Hospital Wing, laying on a pile of blankets, waiting to have his injuries treated. He was back in that fake room with the mirror, with the emptiness. The person reaching for him wasn't Hagrid wanting to pet him with a single hand anymore, it was Quirrell diving with both hands, reaching for his neck to squeeze the life out of him.

Ashi couldn't breathe. Agony shot through his head and traveled down through his legs. He lurched forward to snap at the hand that was trying to kill him. He would bite it off this time and tear apart the one who thought he could best a wolf. A vicious snarl filled his ears and he felt his teeth jar when they clamped down on nothing but each other.

He opened his mouth again in another snarl and growled. There were other noises around him now, screams and yells. The attacker was gone from right in front of him, but he could see wands pointed at him.

His legs, his head, his whole body hurt, ached, and he wanted nothing more than to lie down and sleep for a week. But there were attackers here, humans that were going to hurt him. If he wanted to get out alive, he needed to protect himself, to keep standing up, keep warning the attackers off.

Through his distorted vision, he saw one wand move and Ashi lunged. Or tried to. His front legs could no longer give the support his back legs needed to jump and he was sent slumping onto his snout. A light shot over his head.

They were attacking him again. Trying to kill him, to make sure he wouldn't live to see his pack, his family, or his friends again.

Ashi rolled to his stomach and tried to get up again, but he was too slow. Another burst of light hit his flank and he howled, expecting pain. But there was no pain, just an overwhelming amount of tiredness. He could barely lift his paws anymore, but he forced himself to move. It took all his strength to even get his feet under him.

The voices were yelling again. They sounded angry. Ashi could see the wands again, but only one was pointed at him this time. He tried to growl at it, to warn it away from him, but it came out more like a whiney moan.

He couldn't support himself anymore and he fell like a limp doll to the floor. The burned leg was being rubbed on and he had just hit his head again. He was so tired and everything hurt.

He let his head flop to one side. He knew he should get up and fight, but he was so, so tired. And he hurt so, so much. The haze started to slowly fall away from his mind. He blinked and he wasn't in the huge room anymore. His ears weren't filled with threatening, raspy voices anymore.

"You'll kill him!" shouted Madame Pomphrey.

"A sleeping spell has never killed anyone before," spat back Snape.

"But it's never been used on an animal in his condition before," insisted Poppy. "Especially not twice."

"Girls!" shouted McGonagall. "Enough."

"Yeh," Hagrid agreed. "Le's jus' all calm down, now. See," he pointed at Ashi, "he's not moved."

All four looked at Ashi. He whined and let his ears droop. He had realized that he hadn't really been back in that room with Quirrell and the thing and he felt horrible for attacking whom he could only assume had been Hagrid.

They had a right to be suspicious of him. It was only fair that they'd want him assuredly sedated before they came anywhere near him again.

Something more than just his body hurt now and he closed his eyes to sleep it off. He deserved anything they did to him, now. And he didn't really care what they did to him.

Hagrid had to spend another few minutes convincing the professors that the wolf really wasn't going to get up again. Yes, he was sure it was asleep. No, they didn't need to use the spell again. Yes, he would be careful when he approached it.

Finally, he stepped toward the wolf. He wasn't too worried. The wolf was in pain and scared and, honestly, he had moved much more quickly than he normally would in this sort of situation, so being attacked was kind of his own fault.

The wolf still didn't move when he was mere inches away. It lay limp where it had fallen. Its chest rose unevenly, breaths ragged with pain even while it was unconscious.

Really, it was better this way. Now they could treat its injuries without causing it more pain.

Hagrid lay a hand on the wolf's head and stroked it a couple of times. It didn't move. Its fur was soft, yet coarse. The tips scratched at his palm. His hand sank all the way down to its body, a good six inches. The hair there almost felt like silk.

He stroked its neck a few times and whispered soothingly to it, more for his benefit than its. When he was sure it was sound asleep, he gently slid his arms under its body, carefully avoiding its injuries, to pick it up.

"Hagrid!" hissed McGonagall.

Hagrid didn't answer. He was already standing up. He was moving too fast again, but he trusted the professors' magic to keep the wolf under control. Plus it seemed much too exhausted to do much of anything. Even its spontaneous attack had been rather mellow compared to what Hagrid had seen wolves capable of. His injuries might have had something to do with that.

The wolf hadn't made it very far in his escapade, so all Hagrid had to do was turn around and take a step and a half before he was placing the animal back down on the wad of blankets.

The cuts on one of its legs had reopened and were dripping a trail of blood down Hagrid's arm onto the floor.

"Poppy," he said softly. He was trying very hard to not break into tears. How could anyone do this to such a magnificent creature? "Would you help him now?"

Poppy sneaked a glance at the other two professors, silently asking their opinion of where the wolf was on the danger scale. They both still had their wands out but neither looked like they were very worried.

"Of course," Poppy said. She slowly inched her way back over next to Hagrid. Hagrid was slowly swiping his hand over the wolf's back over and over again. Its side rose and fell, then paused and shakily, wetly inhaled again.

That wasn't good. The wet sounds meant there was fluid somewhere in his airway and the shaky breathing meant he wasn't fully unconscious yet. This was going to be dangerous. If the wolf woke up…

"Hagrid, I need you to hold his mouth open," she said. "He's got blood or saliva in his esophagus and we need to give it a chance to get out."

Hagrid nodded and started reaching for the wolf's jaws.

"Wait!" exclaimed McGonagall. "What if he wakes up again?"

"We could use a charm instead,' suggested Snape.

Poppy shook her head. "You won't be able to tell when to stop and the slightest movement could dislocate it." She looked back at Hagrid. "Are you okay with this?"

Hagrid nodded confidently. He had been bitten before; he would survive being bitten again. That is if his fingers would fit in the wolf's mouth. Ever so gently, Hagrid pried its jaws open, stopping well before the limit.

Poppy suppressed a shiver as she reached forward, past the gleaming teeth, and grasped the tongue between two fingers. It was slick with blood and spit so she dropped it a few times before it finally came with her when she withdrew her hand. She rested the tip of her wand lightly on the front row of teeth and whispered a spell to gently draw out the blood from his lungs.

A few seconds later, the puddle of blood that had been soaking into the blankets had grown larger, but the nasty wet sound that accompanied every breath was gone.

"Okay, Hagrid," said Poppy as she let go of the tongue and wiped her hand on her robes. "You can let him go."

Hagrid gently lay the wolf's head on the blankets and sat back on his knees to watch Poppy begin wrapping the rest of the wolf's wounds, handing her the odd bandage, gauze, or potion every once in a while. Minerva and Severus stepped forward to hover over the two protectively. None of them said anything for a long while, but soon Minerva couldn't take standing around doing nothing and she began a whispered conversation with Severus about the wolf and his injuries, which soon turned to Quirrell, Dumbledore, and the Stone.

It took several hours and nearly the whole stock of burn slave and pain potions but by the time they were done, the wolf was out of danger of dying and was sleeping rather restfully, but Minerva and Severus were no closer to puzzling out what the wolf had to do with the Sorcerer's Stone.

They were all working together to put away the medicine and change out the blankets beneath the wolf when Professor Dumbledore stepped through the door serenely.

Poppy and Hagrid didn't allow the Headmaster's presence to disrupt their work but Severus and Minerva quickly finished what they were doing to stand by Dumbledore's side as he gazed down at their unusual visitor.

"Do you know what happened, Albus?" asked Minerva. "Is the Stone safe?"

Dumbledore hummed. "The Stone is safe, Minerva. You need not fret. However, I am unsure exactly how this creature managed to get past all our defenses."

Severus didn't quite believe him. "I suppose it might have something to do with Misters Zabini and Malfoy being present?"

A twinkle sparked in Dumbledore's eye but was gone just as quickly. "Perhaps," he replied. "However, I decided to let them rest tonight before we…interrogate them."

"Is that really wise, sir?" questioned Minerva. "Now they have time to concoct a story together."

"Oh, I have a feeling everything will be clear once our friend here regains consciousness."

Dumbledore didn't say anything more on the subject no matter how Minerva and Severus pressed him. Soon, everything had been cleaned up and there was no reason to not go to bed anymore. Before they all left, however, Severus conjured a thick chain set into the wall and connected it to an iron collar around the wolf's neck. Hopefully, now they wouldn't wake up to find the wolf gone and possibly roaming the castle.

I live! Sort of...school very nearly killed me for a while :P

I'm sorry I made you all wait so long for the next update. I promise it wasn't on purpose. Adjusting to college, both as a lifestyle and the coursework was rough and just as I was beginning to have fun, they dumped midterm exams and projects on us T_T

But now we have a little break (great, I just jinxed it, didn't I?) and I got to finish this chapter that has been gathering dust on my computer for the last three months. I shall do my best to use the rest of the 'break' wisely and belch out another chapter before I'm overrun again.

Okay, explanations

Quirrell knew about Sectumsempura because Snape told Voldemort about it (not 100% sure cause I couldn't find anything on the internet to confirm, but I'm pretty sure I heard about it somewhere) and Voldemort told Quirrell about it while was living on the back of Quirrell's head. *shudders*

Quirrell didn't use Crucio because he's too much of a weenie. :P

…and I'm sorry for torturing Ashi so much, but one of my favorite tropes to read about (and write, I guess) is the hero being injured and then cared for by either complete strangers or his friends. There's something compelling about a hero that is not invincible. My second favorite trope is seeing the invincible hero defeated...which is kind of the same thing. What tears it down for me, though, is the training part. Can we just skip that, please? We've all seen it a million times; just surprise us with whatever new move the hero learned during training. That's much nicer.

And thank you to all those who were kind enough to review! Honestly the reviews that popped up every once in a while reminded me I needed to finish this chapter. They made me feel guilting for leaving you guys on a cliffhanger for so long. So, if you want another chapter soon, keep 'poking' me with those reviews!

I'll let you go now. Good luck on the rest of your semester (if you have one. If you don't, you're so lucky). No promises on when the next chapter will be out. But I hope it will be moderately soon. And good news: I think this fic has another two or three chapters to squeeze out of me. I thought maybe this one or the next one would be the last, but it's not looking that way. I'm just kind of letting it string me along for the ride right now. ;P

Till next time

-GH

Words in Chapter: 5,594

Words in Story: 101,470 (Woo hoo! Made it to 100k!)

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