Summary: Peter Pettigrew never became a Death Eater and Voldemort continued to live. Inside Hogwarts, the world seems like a peaceful place, but outside of it, the Wizarding World is in chaos. The Marauders' offspring, Harry Potter, Polaris Black, Sasha Pettigrew, and Rosalyn Lupin, go to Hogwarts expecting seven peaceful years full of pranks and spells. What they receive, however, is an ongoing adventure they'll never forget. It follows the books closely.
Author's Notes: Why Silent Night? Well, Sasha is an exaggerated me and when I thought about putting something to sleep, that was the first song that popped into my head. I don't have any little brothers or sisters or cousins, so I don't know any lullabies and neither does Sasha. Do you think it's a weird ending? I suppose I can see where you'd say that, but I'm quite proud of it myself. I personally thought that if Voldemort was there instead of Quirrell, the dungeons would have been much more a disaster, thus having no need for the some of the rooms. Why did I go and give all of them scars? You'll find out… eventually… And what in the world is with Ginny Weasley and Harry Potter? I thought that if Ginny hadn't been a happy little fan of his then he might have taken his time to actually look at her. No, his crush will not last during the next book, but yes it will be brought up again.
It Could Have Been Like This
Chapter Four: Lord Voldemort
A hundred and fifty points lost. Harry couldn't sleep that night. He had heard both Rory and Sasha break down into sobs as they ran up to the girls' dormitory. He knew they, like himself, was dreading the dawn. What would the other Gryffindors think of what they'd done?
Every single Gryffindor turned on them. True, they weren't very popular by any means, but Harry was the youngest Quidditch player. He was Gryffindor Quidditch hero, and suddenly, he was the reason that Slytherin was going to win the House Cup again. Even the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs turned on him, though the Slytherins clapped and thanked him every time they passed him in the hallway.
Only Polaris stood by him.
"They'll forget this in a few weeks. Remember our dads? They used to lose loads of points when they were here, and people still liked them."
"They never did lose a hundred and fifty points in one go, though, did they?" said Harry miserably.
"Well—I don't think so," Polaris admitted.
It was a bit too late to repair the damage, but Harry swore to himself not to meddle in things that weren't his business from now on. Even Quidditch had lost its fun. The rest of the team wouldn't speak to Harry during practice, and if they had to speak about him, they called him "the Seeker."
Harry was almost glad that the exams weren't far away. He, Polaris, Rory, and Sasha kept to themselves, working late into the night, trying to remember the necessary information that would appear on their tests.
A week before exams, Harry new resolution not to interfere in anything that didn't concern him was put to an unexpected test. Walking back from the library, he heard whimpering quickly followed by Quirrell's voice.
"No—no—not again, please—"
It sounded as if somebody was threatening him.
"All right—all right—" he heard Quirrell sob.
Next second, Quirrell came hurrying out of the classroom straightening his turban. Once Quirrell was completely out of sight, he peered into the classroom and saw that it was empty even though a door stood ajar at the other end.
Harry went back to the library, where Rory was testing Polaris on Potions while Sasha reviewed Transfiguration. Harry told them what he'd heard.
"He's won then?" asked Polaris faintly. "Quirrell's finally told him how to get passed his portion of the enchantments—"
"Don't forget about Fluffy," said Sasha.
"I bet there's a book in this place somewhere about how to get passed a three-headed dog," said Polaris. "He probably won't even have to ask Hagrid! So what do you reckon we do, Harry?"
The light of mischief and adventure was shining in his eyes, but Rory answered before Harry could.
"We just have to tell Dumbledore. If we try anything, we'll likely be thrown out. It's what we should have done ages ago, anyway."
"But we've got no proof!" said Harry.
After a moment's hesitation, Rory and Sasha agreed, but Polaris didn't.
"If we just do a bit of detective work—"
"No," said Harry flatly, "we've done enough detective work to last us a lifetime."
He looked over Sasha's shoulder as he reviewed this term's Transfiguration notes.
The following morning, notes were delivered to Harry, Rory, and Sasha at the breakfast table. They were their detention slips. Harry had nearly forgotten they had detention as well.
At eleven o'clock that night, they said good-bye to Polaris in the common room and went down to the entrance hall. Filch was already there—so was Malfoy. Harry had also forgotten that Malfoy had gotten a detention, too.
"Follow me," said Filch, lighting a lamp and leading them outside.
They marched across the dark grounds. Sasha and Rory kept sniffing and Harry wondered what their punishment was going to be. Ahead, Harry could see the lighted windows of Hagrid's hut. Then they heard a distant shout.
"Is that you, Filch? Hurry up, I want ter get started."
Harry's relief at the though of working with Hagrid must have shown on his face, because Filch said, "I suppose you think you'll be enjoying yourself with that oaf? Well, think again, boy—it's into the forest you're going and I'm much mistaken if you'll all come out in one piece."
At this, Sasha let out a little moan, and Malfoy stopped dead in his tracks.
"The forest?" he repeated, and he didn't sound quite as cool as usual. "We can't go in there at night—there's all sorts of things in there—werewolves, I heard."
Rory spun on her heel. "Oh yes," hissed Rory in a voice that made even Harry shudder, "werewolves roam all throughout that forest, and you know what? They especially like little blond-headed Slytherin snitches to tear apart with their claws and teeth while drinking their blood—" It looked as if she was going to go on, but Filch threw her a reproachful look and she turned back around, but over her shoulder, she said, "Oh, but on second though, werewolves only come out on the full moon, idiot."
Hagrid came striding toward them out of the dark, Fang at his heel. He was carrying his large crossbow, and a quiver of arrows hung over his shoulder.
"Abou' time," he said. "I bin waitin' fer half an hour already. All right, Harry, Rory, Sasha?"
"I shouldn't be too friendly to them, Hagrid," said Filch coldly, "they're here to be punished, after all."
"That's why yer late, is it?" said Hagrid, frowning at Filch. "Bin lecturin' them, eh? 'Snot your place ter do that. Yeh've done yer bit, I'll take over from here."
"I'll be back at dawn," said Filch, "for what's left of them," he added nastily, and he turned and started back toward the castle, his lamp bobbing away in the darkness.
"Right then," said Hagrid, "now, listen carefully, 'cause it's dangerous what we're gonna do tonight, an' I don' want no one takin' risks. Follow me over here a moment."
He led them to the very edge of the forest and held his lamp up high.
"Look there," said Hagrid," see that stuff shinin' on the ground? Silvery stuff? That's unicorn blood. There's a unicorn in there bin hurt badly by summat. This is the second time in a week. I found one dead last Wednesday. We're gonna try an' find the poor thing. We might have ter put it out of its misery."
"I want Fang," said Malfoy quickly, looking at Fang's long teeth.
"All right, but I warn yeh, he's a coward," said Hagrid. "So me, Harry, an' Sasha'll go one way an' Draco, Rory, an' Fang'll go the other. Get yer wands out an' practice now—that's it—an' if anyone get s in trouble, send up red sparks, an' we'll all come an' find yeh—so be careful—let's go."
A little way into it they reached a fork in the earth path, and Harry, Sasha, and Hagrid took the left path while Malfoy, Rory, and Fang took the right. They walked in silence, their eyes on the ground. Harry saw that Hagrid was very worried.
"You all right, Sasha?" Hagrid whispered. "Don' worry, it can't've gone far if it's this badly hurt, an' then we'll be able ter—GET BEHIND THAT TREE!"
Hagrid seized Harry and Sasha and hoisted them off the path behind a towering oak. He pulled out an arrow and fitted it into his crossbow, raising it, ready to fire. Hagrid was squinting up the dark path, but after a few seconds, the sound of a cloak trailing along the ground faded away.
"I knew it," he murmured. "There's summat in here that shouldn' be."
They walked on through the dense, dark trees. Harry kept looking nervously over his shoulder. He had the nasty feeling they were being watched. He was very glad they had Hagrid and his crossbow with them. They had just passed a bend in the when Sasha grabbed Hagrid's arm.
"Red sparks! Look! The others are in trouble!"
"You two wait here!" Hagrid shouted. "Stay on the path, I'll come back for yeh!"
They heard him crashing away through the undergrowth and stood looking at each other, very scared, until they couldn't hear anything but rustling leaves around them. The minutes dragged by. Their ears seemed sharper than usual. Harry's seemed to be picking up every sigh of the wind, every cracking twig. What was going on? Where were the others?
At last, a great crunching noise announced Hagrid's return. Malfoy, Rory, and Fang were with him. Hagrid and Rory were fuming. Malfoy, it seemed, had sneaked up behind Rory and grabbed her as a joke, but she turned around and cursed him. Malfoy panicked and sent up the sparks.
"We'll be lucky ter catch anythin' now, with the racket you two were makin'. Right, we're changin' groups—Malfoy, you stay with me an' Sasha, Harry, you with Fang and Rory. An' Rory," Hagrid added with a grin hidden behind his beard, "do try not to curse Harry, alrigh'?"
So Harry set off into the heart of the forest with Rory and Fang. He was quite glad he wasn't stuck with Malfoy instead, but being without Hagrid made him slightly more jumpy. Harry thought the blood seemed to be getting thicker as there were splashes on the roots of a tree. He could see a clearing ahead, through the tangled branches of an oak.
"Look—" Rory murmured, holding out her arm to stop Harry. Something bright white was gleaming on the ground. They inched closer.
It was the unicorn all right, and it was dead. Rory moaned at the sight of it. Harry moved to take a step toward it when a slithering sound made him freeze where he stood. Then, out of the shadows, a hooded figure came crawling across the ground like some stalking beast. Rory clutched Harry's arm tightly. The cloaked figure reached the unicorn, lowered its head over the wound in the animal's side, and began to drink its blood.
Rory whimpered and then clamped her hands over her mouth as she realized what she'd just done. The hooded figure heard, however, and raised its head and looked right at the two of them—unicorn blood was dripping down its front. It got to its feet and came swiftly toward them—Rory took a step back and pulled on Harry's robes for him to do the same, but he was frozen in fear.
Suddenly his senses returned, and he staggered backward. His suddenly movement started Rory, and she stumbled backward tripping on a root and fell on her back. Harry stumbled to try and help her up when he heard hooves behind them, galloping, and something jumped clean over them, charging at the figure.
The figure—half horse and half man—kicked its legs out threateningly toward the figure, and it looked as if the figure was going to reach for a wand before changing its mind and gliding away. The young-looking centaur turned to face them.
"Are you all right?" said the centaur, pulling Rory to her feet.
She nodded, her face still as pale as death with her mouth hanging open in a silent scream.
"Yes—thank you—what was that?" asked Harry.
"You are the Potter boy and you are the Lupin girl," he said. "You had better get back to Hagrid. The forest is not safe at this time—especially for you two whose fathers are no strangers to our forest. Can you two ride? It will be quicker this way. My name is Firenze," he added, as he lowered himself on to his front legs so that Harry and Rory could clamber onto his back.
As they plunged off into the trees, Rory seemed to have gotten her voice back, though it was still shaking considerably.
"You never answered Harry's question," she stammered. "What was that thing you saved us from?"
Firenze warned them to keep their head bowed in case of low-hanging branches, but did not answer their question. They were passing a particularly dense patch of trees when Firenze suddenly stopped.
"Rosalyn Lupin, do you know what unicorn blood is used for?"
"Y-yes," said Rory. "It's to keep you alive, even if you are an inch from death, but it is also cursed."
"That is correct. It is a monstrous thing to slay a unicorn," said Firenze. "Only one who has nothing to lose, and everything to gain, would commit such a crime. You have slain something pure and defenceless to save yourself, and you will have but a half-life, a cursed life, from the moment the blood touches your lips."
"But who'd be that desperate?" Harry wondered aloud. "If you're going to be cursed forever, death's better, isn't it?"
"It is," Firenze agreed, "unless all you need is to stay alive long enough to drink something else—something that will bring you back to full strength and power—something that will mean you can never die. Harry Potter, do you know what is hidden in the school at this very moment?"
"The Sorcerer's Stone! Of course—the Elixir of Life! But I don't understand who—"
"Oh, Harry!" cried Rory suddenly from behind him. "Think! Can you think of no one that would do that just to wait until they could become immortal—not to mention that they could offer their followers immortality?"
"Do you mean," Harry croaked, "that was Vol—"
"Harry! Rory! Are you two all right?"
Sasha was running toward them down the path, Hagrid was puffing along behind her.
"I'm fine," said Harry, hardly knowing what he was saying. "The unicorn's dead, Hagrid, it's in that clearing back there."
"This is where I leave you two," Firenze murmured as Hagrid hurried off to examine the unicorn. "You two are safe now."
They slid off his back. Firenze turned and cantered back into the depths of the forest, leaving Harry and Rory shivering behind him.
Polaris had fallen asleep in the dark common room while waiting up for them to return. He shouted something about idiot Slytherins when Harry roughly shook him awake. In a matter of seconds, though, he was wide-eyed as Harry began to tell him and Sasha what had happened in the forest.
Harry couldn't sit down. He paced up and down in front of the fire. He was still shaking. As he glanced over at Rory, he saw that she was too, but she had taken her fear different and had her knees drawn up her chest and was sitting on the floor staring off into space.
"Snape wants the Stone for Voldemort… and Voldemort's waiting in the forest… and all this time we thought Snape just wanted to get rich… Firenze knew who Rory and I were because of our dads… he probably would have known you two as well… If Voldemort gets the Stone then he'll start getting a lot more followers… now he won't only have to offer them power, but immortality and gold as well… So all we've got to wait for now is Snape to steal the stone," Harry went on feverishly, "then Voldemort will be able to basically take over the world… Well, I suppose Malfoy will be happy."
Sasha looked very frightened. Rory, however, from her spot on the floor had a small word of comfort.
"Harry, everyone says Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was ever afraid of. With Dumbledore around, You-Know-Who won't and cannot touch you. With Dumbledore around, I'm willing to bet that the Stone is safe, no matter if Snape knows how to get past all of the enchantments or not."
The sun was already starting to come up when they finally went to bed with sore throats. As Harry pulled back his sheets, he found his invisibility cloak folded neatly underneath them. There was a note pinned to it: Just in case.
In the years to come, the four of them would never quite remember how they had managed to get through their exams when they were half expecting Voldemort to come bursting through the door at any moment. They were especially glad when they had their last exam (History of Magic), and even Rory cheered with everybody else when Professor Binns told them to put down their quills.
"We don't have to study anymore," Polaris sighed happily, stretching out on the grass. "You three could look more cheerful; we have a week of complete freedom until we get our results."
Harry was lost in thought, Rory clicking her tongue nervously, and Sasha kept picking at the grass as if hoping it would tell her something.
Harry suddenly jumped to his feet.
"Where do you think you're going?" asked Polaris sleepily.
"I've just thought of something," said Harry. He had turned white. "We've got to go see Hagrid, now."
"Why?" panted Rory, but Harry, sprinting across the grounds toward the forest, didn't answer.
Hagrid was sitting in an armchair outside his house; his trousers and sleeves were rolled up, and he was shelling peas into a large bowl.
"Hullo," he said, smiling. "Finished yer exams? Got time fer a drink?"
"Sounds great," said Sasha, but Harry cut her off.
"No, we're in a hurry. Hagrid, I've got to ask you something. You know that night you won Norbert? What did the stranger you were playing cards with look like?"
"Dunno," said Hagrid casually, "he wouldn' take his cloak off."
He saw the four of them look stunned and raised his eyebrows.
"It's not that unusual, yeh get a lot o' funny folk in the Hog's Head—that's the pub down in the village. Mighta bin a dragon dealer, mightn' he? I never saw his face, he kept his hood up."
"What did the two of you talk about, Hagrid? Did you mention anything about Hogwarts, about Fluffy? Did he seem interested in him?" asked Rory urgently, catching onto Harry's thinking.
"Well—yeah—he asked what type o' creature I look after… so I told him… after all, how many three-headed dogs d'yeh meet, even around Hogwarts? So I told him, Fluffy's a piece o' cake if yeh know how to calm him down, jus' play him a bit o' music an' he'll go straight off ter sleep—" Hagrid suddenly looked horrified. "I shouldn'ta told yeh that!" he blurted out. "Forget I said it! Hey—where're yeh goin'?"
Harry, Polaris, Sasha, and Rory didn't speak to each other at all until they came to a halt in the entrance hall, which seemed very cold and gloomy after the grounds.
"We've got to go to Dumbledore," said Rory, desperately. "Dumbledore's got to believe us with all of this evidence—he's a good judge of character, he'll be able to tell that we aren't lying."
Harry nodded. "We'll just have to—"
"What are you three doing inside?" It was Professor McGonagall, carrying a large pile of books.
"We want to see Professor Dumbledore," said Sasha, quite bravely.
"See Professor Dumbledore?" Professor McGonagall repeated, as though this was a very fishy thing to want to do. "Why?"
"It's sort of a secret," Harry said.
Professor McGonagall's nostrils flared. "Professor Dumbledore left ten minutes ago."
"He's gone?" said Polaris frantically. "Now? But this is important!"
"Look," said Harry, "Professor—it's about the Sorcerer's Stone—"
Professor McGongall dropped her books out of shock, but didn't bother to pick them up. "How do you know--?" she spluttered.
"Professor, we think—we know—that someone's going to try and steal the Stone. Please, we must speak with Professor Dumbledore," said Sasha desperately.
"Professor Dumbledore will be back tomorrow," she said after eying them suspiciously for a moment. "I don't know how you found out about the Stone, but rest assured, no one can possibly steal it, it's too well protected. Now, I suggest you all go back outside and enjoy the sunshine."
But they didn't.
"He's going to go after it tonight, isn't he?" said Rory slowly.
Harry nodded. "He's found out everything he needs, and now he's got Dumbledore out of the way. He sent that note; I bet the Ministry of Magic will get a real shock when Dumbledore turns up."
He paused and looked at the three of them, pale and shaken.
"I'm going out of here tonight and I'm going to try and get to the Stone first."
"Are you crazy?" said Polaris.
"Harry, you can't!" cried Sasha.
"This isn't just about being expelled, Harry—you could die!" said Rory.
"SO WHAT?" Harry shouted. "Do you realize how many wizards will start going to Voldemort's side once they hear that he can give them everything they've ever wanted? Gold? Power? Immortality? He'll start gaining followers in flocks, and the war will be over and we'll lose! I'm just one measly little kid that might die—that's fine, but one thousand measly little kids will die if Voldemort gets this Stone. There will be no Hogwarts—there will be no Ministry of Magic—it will all belong to Voldemort. I'm not going to let that happen!"
He glared at them.
"You're right, Harry," sighed Rory, who looked as if she wished she had a book to hide behind.
"I'll use the invisibility cloak and the map if you'll lend it to me, Rory," said Harry. "It's just lucky I got the cloak back."
"Good thing it covers all four of us," said Polaris.
"All—all four of us?"
"You seriously didn't think that we'd let you go alone, did you?"
"I sure hope he didn't or we would have to worry about his sanity," said Sasha promptly.
"Honestly, how do you plan on getting the Stone without us? We'd better look through Sasha's books, there might be something useful…"
After dinner the four of them sat nervously apart in the common room. Slowly, the room emptied as people drifted off to bed.
"Better get the cloak and map," Polaris muttered, as Lee Jordan finally left, stretching and yawning. Rory and Harry came back down a moment later. "Come on, let's put the cloak on now and check the map—"
"What are you doing?" said a voice from the corner of the room. Neville appeared from behind an armchair, clutching Trevor the toad. "You're going out again," he said.
"No, no, no," said Sasha. "No, we're not. Why don't you go to bed, Neville?"
"I won't let you do it," he said, hurrying to stand in front of the portrait hole. "I'll-I'll fight you!"
"Neville," Polaris exploded, "you don't know what you're doing. Please, just get out of the way!"
"Go on then, try and hit me!" said Neville, raising his fists. "I'm ready!"
Harry turned to Rory. "Do something!"
Rory stepped forward. "Neville, I'm really, really sorry about this." She raised her wand. "Consopio!"
A very dazed look came over Neville's face. He swayed on the spot and muttered something about stopping them before falling to his knees. He mumbled something and then fall flat on his face. A noise like a fog-horn soon followed. Neville was snoring.
"What've you done to him?" Harry whispered.
"I've just put him to sleep. He'll wake on his own in a few hours," said Rory miserably. "Oh, Neville, you left me no choice."
"We're so sorry, Neville," said Sasha.
"We had to, Neville, no time to explain," said Harry.
"You'll understand once this is done, Neville," said Polaris as they stepped over him and pulled on the invisibility cloak.
Several minutes later, they were there, outside the third-floor corridor—and the door was already ajar. Snape had already gotten past Fluffy. As the door creaked, low, rumbling breaths met their ears. All three of the dog's heads were sleeping silently.
"There's no instrument in sight," said Rory slowly. "That means that either Snape sung or…"
"Or what?" asked Polaris.
"Or somebody put Fluffy under a very powerful sleeping spell."
"And since it's hard to do that to a three-headed dog," said Polaris, catching on, "it means that Voldemort's here."
Rory nodded, and this statement seemed to impress upon all three of them what was facing them. Underneath the cloak, Harry turned to the other three.
"If you want to go back, I won't blame you," he said. "You can take the cloak and the map, I won't need them now."
"Don't be an idiot," said Polaris.
"We're coming," said Rory.
"You're stuck with us," said Sasha.
A low, rumbling growl told them that Fluffy was slowly waking up.
"Did anybody bring an instrument?" asked Harry. They shook their head. "Okay, who wants to do the honour of singing, then?"
The two boys looked at the girls. The girls looked at each other. Finally, Sasha nodded and said, "I will. Well, here goes…
Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon Virgin Mother and Child
Holy Infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace."
From the first year word the beast's eyes began to droop. Sasha hardly drew a breath. Slowly, the dog's growls ceased—it tottered on its paws and fell back to its knees, then it slumped to the ground, fast asleep. They slipped out of the cloak, Sasha starting to sing the second verse, and crept toward the trapdoor. They could feel the dog's hot, smelly breath as they approached the giant heads.
Polaris stepped carefully over the dog's legs. He bent and pulled the ring of the trapdoor swung up and open.
"There's nothing—just black—we can't climb down; it looks like we're going to have to drop."
"I'll go first," said Harry as he climbed over it and looked down through the trapdoor. There was no sign of a bottom. He lowered himself through the hole until he was hanging on by his fingertips. Then he looked up at Ron and said, "If anything happens to me, don't follow. Go straight to the owlery and send Hedwig to Dumbledore, right?"
"Right," said Polaris.
"See you in a minute, I hope…"
And Harry let go. FLUMP. With a funny, muffled sort of thump he landed in some sort of dust as it flew up and around him as he landed. He coughed and shook it out of his hair.
"It's okay!" he called up to the light, "it's a soft landing, you can jump!"
Polaris followed right away, quickly followed by Rory. They landed beside each other sprawled next to Harry.
"What's this stuff?" were Polaris's first words.
"Dunno, some sort of dust. I suppose it's here to break the fall. Come on, Sasha!"
The distant singing stop. There was a loud bark from the dog, but Sasha had already jumped. She landed on Harry's other side.
"I know what this is!" Rory suddenly shrieked, and she jumped to her feet. "This is ash! Whatever was here before was burned till it was nothing but ash!"
"What was here before it was burned?" asked Sasha cautiously.
"Some kind of plant," said Polaris. They crowded around him where he was looking down at a vine that had escaped the flames. He reached out to touch it, but it suddenly moved and they all jumped back in alarm.
"I suppose we should continue then," said Sasha, pointing down a stone passageway, which was the only way forward.
The passageway sloped downward.
"Do any of you hear something?" Rory whispered.
Harry listened. A soft rustling and clinking seemed to coming from up ahead.
"Yeah, I do," said Polaris softly. "It sounds kind of like wings."
"Look—there's a light ahead, and something's moving."
They came into a brightly lit chamber full of small, jewel-bright birds. On the opposite side of the chamber was a heavy wooden door. Polaris took a deep breath and ran forward, expecting the birds to attack him, but none of them did. He tried to open the door, but it was locked. He even tried Rory's famous Alohomora charm.
He shrugged at them from across the chamber.
"These can't be birds," said Rory. "They're… glittering."
"They're keys!" Harry said suddenly. "Winged keys—look carefully. So that must mean…"
"Look!" cried Sasha. "Broomsticks! We must have to try to catch the key that goes to the door!"
"But how? There are hundreds of them!" Rory sighed.
"We're looking for one that matches the handle—silver, big, and old-fashioned it looks like." Polaris said as he examined the lock on the door.
Rory stayed on the ground beside the door while the other three each seized a broomstick and kicked off into the air, soaring into the midst of the cloud of keys.
"That one!" Harry called to the others. "That big one—there—no, there—with the bright blue wings—the feathers are all crumpled on one side."
"Polaris, you come at it from above—Sasha, stay below and stop it from going down—and I'll try and catch it. Right, NOW!"
Polaris dived, Sasha rocketed upward, the key dodged them both, and Harry streaked after it; it sped toward the wall, Harry leaned forward and with a nasty, crunching noise, pinned it against the stone with one hand. Polaris, Sasha, and Rory's cheers echoed around the high chamber.
He landed and rammed it into the lock, turning it—it worked and the key flew away looking particularly battered. He pulled the door open. The next chamber was so dark they couldn't see anything at all.
There was a thud, a scream, and then the unmistakable sound of skin slapping against stone. Harry winced.
"Rory, are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just—"
Light suddenly flooded the room to reveal a horrific sight. It looked as if an explosion had gone off. There was rubble of white and black stone everywhere and there was scorch marks on the chequered floor. Rory had tripped over one of the stone pieces and Harry now saw that she was not alright. Her ankle was pointing at an odd angle and her shin and palms were scraped from the fall. Polaris ran to her side.
"Are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine—"
"You are not fine. It looks like you've broken your ankle."
"Well, I'll be fine; is that better?"
"Hey, don't snap at me! I'm only trying to help—"
"Guys," said Sasha suddenly. "I know what this is." She was sanding into the middle of the chamber looking around. She gulped. "This used to be a chessboard. Looks like somebody got impatient, though."
Harry sighed. "I guess there's nothing to do in this chamber then. Let's go—Rory, perhaps you should go back—"
"Don't even think about it, Harry Potter," snapped Rory. "I'm going to be with you till the end—don't even think of trying to get rid of me."
She grabbed onto Polaris's shoulder and heaved herself up. He put his arm around her to help her walk, though at first she resisted, she finally gave him a grateful smile. They walked past the white debris and finally reached another door. Sasha pushed it open.
A disgusting smell filled their nostrils, making the four of them gag and pull their robes up over their noses. They saw, flat on the floor in front of them, a troll that was without a doubt dead. They hurried across this chamber and Harry pulled open the next door. Like the chess chamber, this one was in ruins as well.
"Potion bottles," muttered Rory as she looked at the shattered glass that littered the floor with different colour liquid puddles.
"Wonder what we had to do with those," whispered Polaris.
They walked through a hallway and into the last chamber; there was no door. Lord Voldemort was already there, and he was with somebody—but it wasn't Snape. It was Quirrell.
Voldemort turned toward them and his eyes rested on Harry. He grinned cruelly. "Harry Potter," he hissed, "how good it is to meet you at last." He must have seen Harry's confused face, because he let out a horrible cackle and said, "Did your parents never tell you? I suppose they didn't… They thought they could protect you forever… Seems they were wrong and you will die not knowing why." He raised his wand. "Good-bye… Harry Potter."
Polaris let go of Rory and she crumpled to the ground without the support. He dived at Harry and pushed him out of the way as a stream of green light flew over their heads. They had barely crashed to the ground when he jumped to his feet again and was standing in front of Harry bravely.
"If you want to kill Harry, you're going to have to kill me as well."
Rory held out her hand to him and he pulled her to her feet. She leaned on him, pale and sweating from the pain, "And me."
Sasha stepped forward, pale as well though for a different reason, "And me."
Harry, shaken slightly, got to his feet behind his friends. Voldemort was smiling maliciously at the three of them. He twirled his wand in his hand. Harry had the sinking feeling that Voldemort was trying to decide who to kill first. He decided that he needed to keep him talking in order to get his mind off of killing his friends.
"Why?" he asked. "Why do you want to kill me?"
Voldemort ignored him and instead addressed Polaris. "Such loyalty… your father had it too... He turned his back on his heritage… but you still have a choice… Join me and help me get the Stone… and you will have everything you ever dreamed."
"I don't think so," Polaris said coolly.
"Don't be a fool," snarled Lord Voldemort. "Better save your own life and join me… or you'll meet the same end as so many before you… I can show you mercy… I can show your family mercy… all I ask is for you to hand over Harry Potter and your loyalty…"
"NEVER!" Polaris shouted suddenly.
Voldemort didn't answer. He turned on his heel and spoke to Professor Quirrell. "Have you figured out how this mirror works yet?"
"No, Master."
It was only then that they realized what was standing behind Quirrell and Voldemort. It was the Mirror of Erised. Voldemort walked around the mirror, and suddenly he smiled nastily.
"Use the girl…"
"Yes—of course—which one?"
"The brunette…"
Polaris's hold on Rory tightened as Professor Quirrell rounded on her.
"Lupin—come here."
"She can't walk," said Polaris at once. "I must go with her."
Quirrell flicked his wand toward Rory and she gave a shriek of surprise as a violet light hit her ankle. She stumbled forward and fell face forward. Shakily, she got back to her feet where one of them was wrapped in white bandages though they could tell that it only dulled the pain instead of making it go away.
"Come here," Quirrell repeated. "Look in the mirror and tell me what you see."
Rory limped toward him.
I will lie, she thought desperately. What I want most in the world at this moment is to find the Sorcerer's Stone, but I will lie about what I see. It will be simple.
Quirrell moved close behind her. She saw her reflection, pale, sweaty, and scared-looking at first, but a moment later, the reflection smiled at her. It put its hand into its robe pocket and pulled out a blood-red stone. It winked and put the Stone back in its pocket—and as it did so, Rory felt something heavy drop into her real pocket. Somehow—incredibly—she'd gotten the Stone.
"Well?" said Quirrell impatiently. Lord Voldemort was also watching her curiously as well. "What do you see?"
Rory took a deep breath. "I see myself standing next to my father under the full moon," she invented. "I-I found a cure for Lycanthrope."
Quirrell cursed. "Get out of the way," he snapped. As Rory moved aside, she felt the Sorcerer's Stone bounce again her leg. Dare she make a break for it? But how would she warn the others?
She turned back toward the others and mouthed 'Let's go', but she hadn't limped five paces before Voldemort's cold voice called after her.
"She lies…"
Rory shot a petrified look over her shoulder and she tried to run, but her hurt leg was making it impossible. A spell sailed over her head, missing her by centimetres, and she stumbled in shock from it. Polaris was standing beside her now and helping her get her footing correctly.
"Lupin, come back here!" Quirrell shouted. "Tell me the truth! What did you just see?"
Voldemort held up his hand and silenced him. He began to walk toward the pair and Harry and Sasha ran up to join them.
"Do you not see my just cause?" Lord Voldemort said. "A cause to purify the wizarding community of filth that shouldn't be allowed in… all I need are followers… those that will stay loyal to me… once I have the Sorcerer's Stone, I will be able to offer my followers so much more… I will have many more people on my side… but all I need is that Stone… Now… why don't you give me that Stone in your pocket?"
He knew. Rory heard Polaris gasp beside him as she stumbled backwards.
"It's too bad that you have to bribe people to follow you," said Sasha with more determination then she looked like she had. "It must mean that not many stand for your cause."
Harry gaped at Sasha. What was she doing?
"What would you know for my cause?" sneered Lord Voldemort. "You're nothing by a half-blood."
Then it hit him. She was trying to distract him so that they could get away. He felt Rory lean against him and turned to see Polaris pushing her onto him. They gave him a curious look and he mouthed the word, 'Go.' Their eyes widened and they both shook their heads. A furious look came across Polaris's face and he pushed Harry roughly toward the exit and again mouthed, 'Go.'
Rory and Harry shared a look before nodding. They quietly began to stumble out of the chamber.
"I was commenting on your bribery. It sure sounds pathetic, in my opinion—"
SMACK!
The two of them wheeled around as they heard Sasha scream. The blond headed girl was on the floor of the chamber clutching her cheek as if she had just been burned, but it was Lord Voldemort's reaction that surprised them more. He was clutching the back of his hand and crying out in agony. When he finally pulled his hand away, they saw the back of his hand was blistering before their eyes.
He howled in fury and looked straight at Harry and Rory. He suddenly came at them, neither of them able to move and yanked Rory away fiercely by her arm. She cried out in pain that neither Harry nor Polaris could see, but so did Lord Voldemort. Again, he pulled away, his palm blistering. Rory crumpled to the ground, clutching her arm, which wasn't blistering like Voldemort's hand but might as well have been with the pain she was showing.
Polaris and Harry ran to her, but Voldemort stepped in front of them. His face was contorted in fury. He reached out his pale bony fingers and touched Polaris's cheek. Polaris jerked away as he cried out in pain and once again, Voldemort's fingers blistered before his eyes. Suddenly, he reached over with his other hand and cupped Harry's face tightly. He suddenly understood why everybody had cried out in pain.
The moment Voldemort's fingers touched Harry's skin, a needle-sharp pain seared where the contact was. It felt as if he was being burned. He yelled, struggling with all his might.
"What is this magic?" Lord Voldemort hissed.
He let go of Harry's face, and he fell to the ground, barely conscious. Rory grabbed his right arm and Polaris grabbed his left and they began to drag him out of the chamber when Voldemort screeched, "Kill them, now!"
Quirrell raised his hand to perform a deadly curse, but a voice suddenly rang out from behind him. "Consopio!" He swayed on the spot and then fell over. Sasha was standing behind him with her wand raised. "Thanks for teaching me that one, Rory," she said in a conversational voice.
"Anytime," said Rory, trying to sound calm.
Sasha pocketed her wand and ran up to them. She stood right behind Harry, whose head was still spinning but he slowly starting to get his sense back, and grabbed him by the shoulders before trying to pull him out of the chamber. A shadow loomed over them, and Harry looked up blearily to see Voldemort with his wand out.
"Avada Kedevra!"
"NO!"
There was a blinding pain that spread through his whole body and he heard screaming, or perhaps he was screaming, and then he was falling down into blackness, down… down… down…
Something red was hovering over him. Fire! He needed to get everybody out! He tried to sit up, but his limbs were too heavy. He blinked. It wasn't fire at all. It was a mane of red hair. How strange. He blinked again. The worried face of Lily Potter swam into view above him.
"Oh thank Merlin!" she cried and threw her arms around him.
Harry stared at her. His forehead was burning. Then he remembered. "Mum! The Stone! It was Quirrell! He's got the Stone! Mum, quick—"
"Harry, calm down," said James Potter who was standing behind his wife with a worried expression on his face. "Quirrell does not have the Stone."
"Then who does? Dad, I—"
"Harry, shh!" said his mother soothingly as she messed with his hair. "It's okay; everything is okay."
Harry swallowed, rubbed his aching forehead, and looked around him. He realized he must be in the hospital wing. Across from him, he saw Rory was awake with a swollen cheek and also being shushed by her mother. Beside Rory was Polaris, awake as well, trying to itch his neck but both of his parents had a firm grip on his hands. And beside Harry was Sasha, also awake, digging into a box of Drooble's Best Blowing Gum with a small bandage on her upper arm. All four of them were surrounded by candy.
Harry sighed. "Everybody's okay?"
"Okay as can be expected," said his mother shakily.
He gave her a questioning look, but she didn't elaborate, so instead he asked her, "How long have I been in here?"
"Three days. Polaris has been awake for nearly four hours; Sasha awoke about two hours ago; and Rory has been awake for only thirty minutes." James explained.
"What is all of this?" asked Harry, gesturing to all of the candy that surrounded his bed.
"Tokens from your friends and admirers," said a voice from the doorway. They turned to see Professor Dumbledore standing there, beaming at the four of them. "What happened down in the dungeons between the four of you, Professor Quirrell, and Lord Voldemort is a complete secret, so, naturally, the whole school knows."
"Admirers?" repeated Rory in confusion. "Forgive me, professor, but I don't even know what happened down in the dungeons. What happened to the Stone? What happened to Quirrell and Voldemort? How did you know that we were down there in the first place? And—" She had opened her mouth to ask another question, but Professor Dumbledore had raised his hand asking for silence.
"Very good question, Miss Lupin, I assure you, but please relax or Madam Pomfrey will have me thrown out." His eyes twinkled. "Now, as for your first question, the Stone. Lord Voldemort did not manage to take it from you. I arrived in time to prevent that, although the four of you were doing very well on your own, I must say. Your second question is a little trickier, so we'll save that one for later. How did I know you were there? 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 see the spectacular finale—"
"It was you," Polaris said suddenly. "I knew that somebody had shouted before everything went black, but I wasn't positive."
Dumbledore nodded. "I feared it might be too late."
"You nearly were," admitted Sasha, "I doubt we could have kept them off the Stone much longer—"
"Not the Stone, you all—you were nearly killed. For one terrible moment, I thought I was too late. As for the Stone, it has been destroyed. Nicolas and I have had a little chat, and agreed it's all for the best. They have enough Elixir stored to set their affairs in order and then they will die." Dumbledore smiled at the look of amazement on the young Marauders' faces. "To one as young as you four, I'm sure it seems incredible. To the well-organized mind, however, death is but the next great adventure."
Suddenly Harry looked up. He swallowed. "In the chamber, Voldemort said he wanted to kill me and that my parents," he shot them a furious look, "knew why, but never told me. What did he mean?"
Lily and James looked at each other with panicked expressions upon their face. They both looked like they were going to speak when Dumbledore interrupted them. "That, my dear boy, is no longer a matter."
The elder Potters' eyes widened. "It's not?"
"No, it's not, which is why I need to see all of you—excluding you four—in my office as soon as possible. That is, unless any of you have more questions?"
"Many, sir," said Rory slowly. "You never did answer about what happened to Quirrell and Voldemort, and I wanted to know how did I get the Stone out of the mirror?"
"Ever persistent, aren't you?" Dumbledore chuckled. "Alas, I must ask you once more to wait for your first question before it is answer. Your second question was one of my more brilliant ideas. 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 the Elixir of Life."
"And her first question…?" asked Sasha hesitantly.
Dumbledore sighed. "Quirrell is in Azkaban, and Voldemort is… He is gone."
"Gone?" shrieked Rory.
"As in dead?" Polaris cried.
Even their parents seemed shocked by their revelation.
"Not quite dead, no, but not alive either. He is a kind of spirit, I suppose, but he has no form. He will only have form when he finds a body to share. Not being truly alive, he cannot be killed. However, if he is delayed from returning to power again, and again, why, he may never return to power."
There was a shocked silence.
"But how did this happen, Albus?" whispered Rue.
"That, I believe, only your children can answer."
"We didn't do anything," Rory said at once. "I blacked out."
The other nodded as well.
"Ah, yes, but what was the last thing you remember before blacking out?"
"Voldemort said a spell," Polaris said slowly, "and we were trying to help Harry out of the chamber because he was hurt."
"Even though Voldemort said a spell, you stuck by Harry? You didn't leave him for your own safety?"
"Of course not!" said Polaris, crossly. "He's my best mate; I'd never leave him like that."
Rory and Sasha nodded.
"True loyalty," said Dumbledore. "And you, Lily, what did you do when you saw the children's names go from 'School' to 'Mortal Peril' on that wonderful clock of yours?"
"I did what I've done every other time that's happened, I called everybody over and we sat around the table. When it didn't change after nearly fifteen minutes, we grabbed each other's hands in comfort—and prayed." Lily explained.
"And true love," concluded Dumbledore. "Those are the two things that banished Voldemort and saved your lives. Tell me, do any of you remember the spell that Voldemort cast?"
Harry, Polaris, and Sasha shook their heads, but Rory cleared her throat nervously. "Er… I'm probably mistaken, but I thought—I thought he cast the Killing Curse," she mumbled.
"Yes, indeed you are correct, Miss Lupin," said Dumbledore, but he was smiling, "and it was because of the love and loyalty that you all had for each other that you were able to survive it and rebound it on Voldemort. You may or may not have noticed—depending on how long you've been awake—that the four of you now have four handsome matching scars. Those are not ordinary scars. They are the scars you get when hit with a powerful dark curse. It is a souvenir of your survival."
Harry looked down at his body looking for his scar. He heard his mother mutter something and saw that she had conjured a mirror. He looked in the mirror and slowly lifted the fringe from his forehead to reveal a lightning-bolt shaped scar. Harry looked up to see Rory frowning at an identical one on her right cheek. Polaris was still trying to scratch the one on the left side of his neck. Sasha was also frowning at the one on her left arm which had been covered by the bandage before.
"Now, if the eight of you will come with me—the four of you should rest. No more questions now." He smiled at them all before turning and leaving with their parents in tow.
The four of them made their way down to the end-of-the-year feast after it had started due to Madam Pomfrey's fussing. The Hall was decorated in Slytherin colours to celebrate them winning the house cup. When they walked in there was a sudden hush, and then everybody started talking loudly at once. They slipped into their usual seats between the other first years.
Fortunately, Dumbledore arrived moments later.
"Another year gone!" Dumbledore said cheerfully. "As I understand it, the house cup here needs awarding, and the points stand thus: In fourth place, Gryffindor, with three hundred and twelve 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.
"Yes, yes, well done, Slytherin," said Dumbledore. "However, recent events must be taken into account. I have a few last-minute points to dish out. Let me see. Yes…
"First—to Mr. Polaris Black…"
Polaris whipped his head around so quickly that Harry was surprised that he didn't get whiplash.
"…for unwavering loyalty when things got rough, I award Gryffindor house forty points."
Gryffindor cheers nearly raised the bewitched ceiling; the stars overhead seemed to quiver.
"Second—to Miss Rosalyn Lupin…"
Rory's face went bright red as her eyes widened. She seemed to grip the table in anticipation, but her gaze never left her plate.
"…for the use of her heart instead of her head in dire situations, I award Gryffindor house forty points."
Gryffindors up and down the table were beside themselves.
"Third—to Miss Sasha Pettigrew…"
Sasha buried her face in her arms; Harry strongly suspected that she was about to burst into tears or already had.
"…for quick-wit and strong determination, I award Gryffindor house forty points."
The Gryffindors were jumping and cheering by now—they were a hundred and twenty points up.
"Fourth—to Mr. Harry Potter…"
The room was deadly quiet.
"…for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor house forty points."
The din was deafening. Those who could add up while yelling themselves hoarse knew that Gryffindor was now tied with Slytherin. 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, bust just as much to stand up to our friends. I therefore award ten points to Mr. Neville Longbottom."
It sounded like something had exploded; the cheering was so loud from the Gryffindor table.
"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."
He clapped his hands and instantly the green and silver hangings became scarlet and gold. Gryffindor had won the house cup.
The exam results eventually turned up. Rory and Hermione tied in every subject for the best grades in the year except in Transfiguration and Potions where their other scores made them tied. Both Harry and Polaris had passed with good marks. Even Neville and Sasha scraped though, their good classes (Herbology and Charms) making up their abysmal classes (Potions and History).
All too soon they were packing their bags and boarding the train to head to Kings Cross. People jostled them as they moved forward toward the gateway back to the Muggle world. Some of them called:
"Bye, Harry!"
"See you, Lupin!"
"Are we famous or something, now?" asked Sasha, annoyed.
"Not where we're going; for that I'm grateful," said Polaris.
Harry, Polaris, and Sasha passed through the gateway together and had to wait for Rory. As they did, Harry looked up to see a redhead with chestnut brown eyes and freckles. He smiled at her. She smiled shyly back. Harry brought a hand up and waved dazedly at her just as Rory came through with Ron and Hermione.
Ron walked over to the redhead and hugged her, and that's when it hit him. The redhead girl was Ginny Weasley, his younger sister, but he didn't care. She was waving back at him, blushing slightly.
"Er… I think we've lost him," Rory was saying behind him to Polaris.
"Yes, he's been staring at her for five minutes. I think he's entranced!" he sighed as he saw his fathers walk up to them.
They gave Harry, who still had a goofy grin on his face, a weird look. James asked, "What's with Harry?"
"He took one look at Ron's little sister and fell in love," said Sasha, giggling.
The men followed Harry's gaze to the redheaded witch who was being dragged away by her mother now and grinned. Sirius said, "What is it with redheads and the Potter men?"
"They're fetching, I tell you!"
"Polaris," said Remus, grinning, "I think you better break him out of the spell before his face freezes like that."
"Sure can do!" Polaris said, before whopping Harry in the back of the head hard. "Oi! Wake up!"
"Ouch! What was that for?" Harry asked as the others laughed.
Author's Notes: Why Silent Night? Well, Sasha is an exaggerated me and when I thought about putting something to sleep, that was the first song that popped into my head. I don't have any little brothers or sisters or cousins, so I don't know any lullabies and neither does Sasha. Do you think it's a weird ending? I suppose I can see where you'd say that, but I'm quite proud of it myself. I personally thought that if Voldemort was there instead of Quirrell, the dungeons would have been much more a disaster, thus having no need for the some of the rooms. Why did I go and give all of them scars? You'll find out… eventually… And what in the world is with Ginny Weasley and Harry Potter? I thought that if Ginny hadn't been a happy little fan of his then he might have taken his time to actually look at her. No, his crush will not last during the next book, but yes it will be brought up again.
Chapter Four: Lord Voldemort
A hundred and fifty points lost. Harry couldn't sleep that night. He had heard both Rory and Sasha break down into sobs as they ran up to the girls' dormitory. He knew they, like himself, was dreading the dawn. What would the other Gryffindors think of what they'd done?
Every single Gryffindor turned on them. True, they weren't very popular by any means, but Harry was the youngest Quidditch player. He was Gryffindor Quidditch hero, and suddenly, he was the reason that Slytherin was going to win the House Cup again. Even the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs turned on him, though the Slytherins clapped and thanked him every time they passed him in the hallway.
Only Polaris stood by him.
"They'll forget this in a few weeks. Remember our dads? They used to lose loads of points when they were here, and people still liked them."
"They never did lose a hundred and fifty points in one go, though, did they?" said Harry miserably.
"Well—I don't think so," Polaris admitted.
It was a bit too late to repair the damage, but Harry swore to himself not to meddle in things that weren't his business from now on. Even Quidditch had lost its fun. The rest of the team wouldn't speak to Harry during practice, and if they had to speak about him, they called him "the Seeker."
Harry was almost glad that the exams weren't far away. He, Polaris, Rory, and Sasha kept to themselves, working late into the night, trying to remember the necessary information that would appear on their tests.
A week before exams, Harry new resolution not to interfere in anything that didn't concern him was put to an unexpected test. Walking back from the library, he heard whimpering quickly followed by Quirrell's voice.
"No—no—not again, please—"
It sounded as if somebody was threatening him.
"All right—all right—" he heard Quirrell sob.
Next second, Quirrell came hurrying out of the classroom straightening his turban. Once Quirrell was completely out of sight, he peered into the classroom and saw that it was empty even though a door stood ajar at the other end.
Harry went back to the library, where Rory was testing Polaris on Potions while Sasha reviewed Transfiguration. Harry told them what he'd heard.
"He's won then?" asked Polaris faintly. "Quirrell's finally told him how to get passed his portion of the enchantments—"
"Don't forget about Fluffy," said Sasha.
"I bet there's a book in this place somewhere about how to get passed a three-headed dog," said Polaris. "He probably won't even have to ask Hagrid! So what do you reckon we do, Harry?"
The light of mischief and adventure was shining in his eyes, but Rory answered before Harry could.
"We just have to tell Dumbledore. If we try anything, we'll likely be thrown out. It's what we should have done ages ago, anyway."
"But we've got no proof!" said Harry.
After a moment's hesitation, Rory and Sasha agreed, but Polaris didn't.
"If we just do a bit of detective work—"
"No," said Harry flatly, "we've done enough detective work to last us a lifetime."
He looked over Sasha's shoulder as he reviewed this term's Transfiguration notes.
The following morning, notes were delivered to Harry, Rory, and Sasha at the breakfast table. They were their detention slips. Harry had nearly forgotten they had detention as well.
At eleven o'clock that night, they said good-bye to Polaris in the common room and went down to the entrance hall. Filch was already there—so was Malfoy. Harry had also forgotten that Malfoy had gotten a detention, too.
"Follow me," said Filch, lighting a lamp and leading them outside.
They marched across the dark grounds. Sasha and Rory kept sniffing and Harry wondered what their punishment was going to be. Ahead, Harry could see the lighted windows of Hagrid's hut. Then they heard a distant shout.
"Is that you, Filch? Hurry up, I want ter get started."
Harry's relief at the though of working with Hagrid must have shown on his face, because Filch said, "I suppose you think you'll be enjoying yourself with that oaf? Well, think again, boy—it's into the forest you're going and I'm much mistaken if you'll all come out in one piece."
At this, Sasha let out a little moan, and Malfoy stopped dead in his tracks.
"The forest?" he repeated, and he didn't sound quite as cool as usual. "We can't go in there at night—there's all sorts of things in there—werewolves, I heard."
Rory spun on her heel. "Oh yes," hissed Rory in a voice that made even Harry shudder, "werewolves roam all throughout that forest, and you know what? They especially like little blond-headed Slytherin snitches to tear apart with their claws and teeth while drinking their blood—" It looked as if she was going to go on, but Filch threw her a reproachful look and she turned back around, but over her shoulder, she said, "Oh, but on second though, werewolves only come out on the full moon, idiot."
Hagrid came striding toward them out of the dark, Fang at his heel. He was carrying his large crossbow, and a quiver of arrows hung over his shoulder.
"Abou' time," he said. "I bin waitin' fer half an hour already. All right, Harry, Rory, Sasha?"
"I shouldn't be too friendly to them, Hagrid," said Filch coldly, "they're here to be punished, after all."
"That's why yer late, is it?" said Hagrid, frowning at Filch. "Bin lecturin' them, eh? 'Snot your place ter do that. Yeh've done yer bit, I'll take over from here."
"I'll be back at dawn," said Filch, "for what's left of them," he added nastily, and he turned and started back toward the castle, his lamp bobbing away in the darkness.
"Right then," said Hagrid, "now, listen carefully, 'cause it's dangerous what we're gonna do tonight, an' I don' want no one takin' risks. Follow me over here a moment."
He led them to the very edge of the forest and held his lamp up high.
"Look there," said Hagrid," see that stuff shinin' on the ground? Silvery stuff? That's unicorn blood. There's a unicorn in there bin hurt badly by summat. This is the second time in a week. I found one dead last Wednesday. We're gonna try an' find the poor thing. We might have ter put it out of its misery."
"I want Fang," said Malfoy quickly, looking at Fang's long teeth.
"All right, but I warn yeh, he's a coward," said Hagrid. "So me, Harry, an' Sasha'll go one way an' Draco, Rory, an' Fang'll go the other. Get yer wands out an' practice now—that's it—an' if anyone get s in trouble, send up red sparks, an' we'll all come an' find yeh—so be careful—let's go."
A little way into it they reached a fork in the earth path, and Harry, Sasha, and Hagrid took the left path while Malfoy, Rory, and Fang took the right. They walked in silence, their eyes on the ground. Harry saw that Hagrid was very worried.
"You all right, Sasha?" Hagrid whispered. "Don' worry, it can't've gone far if it's this badly hurt, an' then we'll be able ter—GET BEHIND THAT TREE!"
Hagrid seized Harry and Sasha and hoisted them off the path behind a towering oak. He pulled out an arrow and fitted it into his crossbow, raising it, ready to fire. Hagrid was squinting up the dark path, but after a few seconds, the sound of a cloak trailing along the ground faded away.
"I knew it," he murmured. "There's summat in here that shouldn' be."
They walked on through the dense, dark trees. Harry kept looking nervously over his shoulder. He had the nasty feeling they were being watched. He was very glad they had Hagrid and his crossbow with them. They had just passed a bend in the when Sasha grabbed Hagrid's arm.
"Red sparks! Look! The others are in trouble!"
"You two wait here!" Hagrid shouted. "Stay on the path, I'll come back for yeh!"
They heard him crashing away through the undergrowth and stood looking at each other, very scared, until they couldn't hear anything but rustling leaves around them. The minutes dragged by. Their ears seemed sharper than usual. Harry's seemed to be picking up every sigh of the wind, every cracking twig. What was going on? Where were the others?
At last, a great crunching noise announced Hagrid's return. Malfoy, Rory, and Fang were with him. Hagrid and Rory were fuming. Malfoy, it seemed, had sneaked up behind Rory and grabbed her as a joke, but she turned around and cursed him. Malfoy panicked and sent up the sparks.
"We'll be lucky ter catch anythin' now, with the racket you two were makin'. Right, we're changin' groups—Malfoy, you stay with me an' Sasha, Harry, you with Fang and Rory. An' Rory," Hagrid added with a grin hidden behind his beard, "do try not to curse Harry, alrigh'?"
So Harry set off into the heart of the forest with Rory and Fang. He was quite glad he wasn't stuck with Malfoy instead, but being without Hagrid made him slightly more jumpy. Harry thought the blood seemed to be getting thicker as there were splashes on the roots of a tree. He could see a clearing ahead, through the tangled branches of an oak.
"Look—" Rory murmured, holding out her arm to stop Harry. Something bright white was gleaming on the ground. They inched closer.
It was the unicorn all right, and it was dead. Rory moaned at the sight of it. Harry moved to take a step toward it when a slithering sound made him freeze where he stood. Then, out of the shadows, a hooded figure came crawling across the ground like some stalking beast. Rory clutched Harry's arm tightly. The cloaked figure reached the unicorn, lowered its head over the wound in the animal's side, and began to drink its blood.
Rory whimpered and then clamped her hands over her mouth as she realized what she'd just done. The hooded figure heard, however, and raised its head and looked right at the two of them—unicorn blood was dripping down its front. It got to its feet and came swiftly toward them—Rory took a step back and pulled on Harry's robes for him to do the same, but he was frozen in fear.
Suddenly his senses returned, and he staggered backward. His suddenly movement started Rory, and she stumbled backward tripping on a root and fell on her back. Harry stumbled to try and help her up when he heard hooves behind them, galloping, and something jumped clean over them, charging at the figure.
The figure—half horse and half man—kicked its legs out threateningly toward the figure, and it looked as if the figure was going to reach for a wand before changing its mind and gliding away. The young-looking centaur turned to face them.
"Are you all right?" said the centaur, pulling Rory to her feet.
She nodded, her face still as pale as death with her mouth hanging open in a silent scream.
"Yes—thank you—what was that?" asked Harry.
"You are the Potter boy and you are the Lupin girl," he said. "You had better get back to Hagrid. The forest is not safe at this time—especially for you two whose fathers are no strangers to our forest. Can you two ride? It will be quicker this way. My name is Firenze," he added, as he lowered himself on to his front legs so that Harry and Rory could clamber onto his back.
As they plunged off into the trees, Rory seemed to have gotten her voice back, though it was still shaking considerably.
"You never answered Harry's question," she stammered. "What was that thing you saved us from?"
Firenze warned them to keep their head bowed in case of low-hanging branches, but did not answer their question. They were passing a particularly dense patch of trees when Firenze suddenly stopped.
"Rosalyn Lupin, do you know what unicorn blood is used for?"
"Y-yes," said Rory. "It's to keep you alive, even if you are an inch from death, but it is also cursed."
"That is correct. It is a monstrous thing to slay a unicorn," said Firenze. "Only one who has nothing to lose, and everything to gain, would commit such a crime. You have slain something pure and defenceless to save yourself, and you will have but a half-life, a cursed life, from the moment the blood touches your lips."
"But who'd be that desperate?" Harry wondered aloud. "If you're going to be cursed forever, death's better, isn't it?"
"It is," Firenze agreed, "unless all you need is to stay alive long enough to drink something else—something that will bring you back to full strength and power—something that will mean you can never die. Harry Potter, do you know what is hidden in the school at this very moment?"
"The Sorcerer's Stone! Of course—the Elixir of Life! But I don't understand who—"
"Oh, Harry!" cried Rory suddenly from behind him. "Think! Can you think of no one that would do that just to wait until they could become immortal—not to mention that they could offer their followers immortality?"
"Do you mean," Harry croaked, "that was Vol—"
"Harry! Rory! Are you two all right?"
Sasha was running toward them down the path, Hagrid was puffing along behind her.
"I'm fine," said Harry, hardly knowing what he was saying. "The unicorn's dead, Hagrid, it's in that clearing back there."
"This is where I leave you two," Firenze murmured as Hagrid hurried off to examine the unicorn. "You two are safe now."
They slid off his back. Firenze turned and cantered back into the depths of the forest, leaving Harry and Rory shivering behind him.
Polaris had fallen asleep in the dark common room while waiting up for them to return. He shouted something about idiot Slytherins when Harry roughly shook him awake. In a matter of seconds, though, he was wide-eyed as Harry began to tell him and Sasha what had happened in the forest.
Harry couldn't sit down. He paced up and down in front of the fire. He was still shaking. As he glanced over at Rory, he saw that she was too, but she had taken her fear different and had her knees drawn up her chest and was sitting on the floor staring off into space.
"Snape wants the Stone for Voldemort… and Voldemort's waiting in the forest… and all this time we thought Snape just wanted to get rich… Firenze knew who Rory and I were because of our dads… he probably would have known you two as well… If Voldemort gets the Stone then he'll start getting a lot more followers… now he won't only have to offer them power, but immortality and gold as well… So all we've got to wait for now is Snape to steal the stone," Harry went on feverishly, "then Voldemort will be able to basically take over the world… Well, I suppose Malfoy will be happy."
Sasha looked very frightened. Rory, however, from her spot on the floor had a small word of comfort.
"Harry, everyone says Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was ever afraid of. With Dumbledore around, You-Know-Who won't and cannot touch you. With Dumbledore around, I'm willing to bet that the Stone is safe, no matter if Snape knows how to get past all of the enchantments or not."
The sun was already starting to come up when they finally went to bed with sore throats. As Harry pulled back his sheets, he found his invisibility cloak folded neatly underneath them. There was a note pinned to it: Just in case.
In the years to come, the four of them would never quite remember how they had managed to get through their exams when they were half expecting Voldemort to come bursting through the door at any moment. They were especially glad when they had their last exam (History of Magic), and even Rory cheered with everybody else when Professor Binns told them to put down their quills.
"We don't have to study anymore," Polaris sighed happily, stretching out on the grass. "You three could look more cheerful; we have a week of complete freedom until we get our results."
Harry was lost in thought, Rory clicking her tongue nervously, and Sasha kept picking at the grass as if hoping it would tell her something.
Harry suddenly jumped to his feet.
"Where do you think you're going?" asked Polaris sleepily.
"I've just thought of something," said Harry. He had turned white. "We've got to go see Hagrid, now."
"Why?" panted Rory, but Harry, sprinting across the grounds toward the forest, didn't answer.
Hagrid was sitting in an armchair outside his house; his trousers and sleeves were rolled up, and he was shelling peas into a large bowl.
"Hullo," he said, smiling. "Finished yer exams? Got time fer a drink?"
"Sounds great," said Sasha, but Harry cut her off.
"No, we're in a hurry. Hagrid, I've got to ask you something. You know that night you won Norbert? What did the stranger you were playing cards with look like?"
"Dunno," said Hagrid casually, "he wouldn' take his cloak off."
He saw the four of them look stunned and raised his eyebrows.
"It's not that unusual, yeh get a lot o' funny folk in the Hog's Head—that's the pub down in the village. Mighta bin a dragon dealer, mightn' he? I never saw his face, he kept his hood up."
"What did the two of you talk about, Hagrid? Did you mention anything about Hogwarts, about Fluffy? Did he seem interested in him?" asked Rory urgently, catching onto Harry's thinking.
"Well—yeah—he asked what type o' creature I look after… so I told him… after all, how many three-headed dogs d'yeh meet, even around Hogwarts? So I told him, Fluffy's a piece o' cake if yeh know how to calm him down, jus' play him a bit o' music an' he'll go straight off ter sleep—" Hagrid suddenly looked horrified. "I shouldn'ta told yeh that!" he blurted out. "Forget I said it! Hey—where're yeh goin'?"
Harry, Polaris, Sasha, and Rory didn't speak to each other at all until they came to a halt in the entrance hall, which seemed very cold and gloomy after the grounds.
"We've got to go to Dumbledore," said Rory, desperately. "Dumbledore's got to believe us with all of this evidence—he's a good judge of character, he'll be able to tell that we aren't lying."
Harry nodded. "We'll just have to—"
"What are you three doing inside?" It was Professor McGonagall, carrying a large pile of books.
"We want to see Professor Dumbledore," said Sasha, quite bravely.
"See Professor Dumbledore?" Professor McGonagall repeated, as though this was a very fishy thing to want to do. "Why?"
"It's sort of a secret," Harry said.
Professor McGonagall's nostrils flared. "Professor Dumbledore left ten minutes ago."
"He's gone?" said Polaris frantically. "Now? But this is important!"
"Look," said Harry, "Professor—it's about the Sorcerer's Stone—"
Professor McGongall dropped her books out of shock, but didn't bother to pick them up. "How do you know--?" she spluttered.
"Professor, we think—we know—that someone's going to try and steal the Stone. Please, we must speak with Professor Dumbledore," said Sasha desperately.
"Professor Dumbledore will be back tomorrow," she said after eying them suspiciously for a moment. "I don't know how you found out about the Stone, but rest assured, no one can possibly steal it, it's too well protected. Now, I suggest you all go back outside and enjoy the sunshine."
But they didn't.
"He's going to go after it tonight, isn't he?" said Rory slowly.
Harry nodded. "He's found out everything he needs, and now he's got Dumbledore out of the way. He sent that note; I bet the Ministry of Magic will get a real shock when Dumbledore turns up."
He paused and looked at the three of them, pale and shaken.
"I'm going out of here tonight and I'm going to try and get to the Stone first."
"Are you crazy?" said Polaris.
"Harry, you can't!" cried Sasha.
"This isn't just about being expelled, Harry—you could die!" said Rory.
"SO WHAT?" Harry shouted. "Do you realize how many wizards will start going to Voldemort's side once they hear that he can give them everything they've ever wanted? Gold? Power? Immortality? He'll start gaining followers in flocks, and the war will be over and we'll lose! I'm just one measly little kid that might die—that's fine, but one thousand measly little kids will die if Voldemort gets this Stone. There will be no Hogwarts—there will be no Ministry of Magic—it will all belong to Voldemort. I'm not going to let that happen!"
He glared at them.
"You're right, Harry," sighed Rory, who looked as if she wished she had a book to hide behind.
"I'll use the invisibility cloak and the map if you'll lend it to me, Rory," said Harry. "It's just lucky I got the cloak back."
"Good thing it covers all four of us," said Polaris.
"All—all four of us?"
"You seriously didn't think that we'd let you go alone, did you?"
"I sure hope he didn't or we would have to worry about his sanity," said Sasha promptly.
"Honestly, how do you plan on getting the Stone without us? We'd better look through Sasha's books, there might be something useful…"
After dinner the four of them sat nervously apart in the common room. Slowly, the room emptied as people drifted off to bed.
"Better get the cloak and map," Polaris muttered, as Lee Jordan finally left, stretching and yawning. Rory and Harry came back down a moment later. "Come on, let's put the cloak on now and check the map—"
"What are you doing?" said a voice from the corner of the room. Neville appeared from behind an armchair, clutching Trevor the toad. "You're going out again," he said.
"No, no, no," said Sasha. "No, we're not. Why don't you go to bed, Neville?"
"I won't let you do it," he said, hurrying to stand in front of the portrait hole. "I'll-I'll fight you!"
"Neville," Polaris exploded, "you don't know what you're doing. Please, just get out of the way!"
"Go on then, try and hit me!" said Neville, raising his fists. "I'm ready!"
Harry turned to Rory. "Do something!"
Rory stepped forward. "Neville, I'm really, really sorry about this." She raised her wand. "Consopio!"
A very dazed look came over Neville's face. He swayed on the spot and muttered something about stopping them before falling to his knees. He mumbled something and then fall flat on his face. A noise like a fog-horn soon followed. Neville was snoring.
"What've you done to him?" Harry whispered.
"I've just put him to sleep. He'll wake on his own in a few hours," said Rory miserably. "Oh, Neville, you left me no choice."
"We're so sorry, Neville," said Sasha.
"We had to, Neville, no time to explain," said Harry.
"You'll understand once this is done, Neville," said Polaris as they stepped over him and pulled on the invisibility cloak.
Several minutes later, they were there, outside the third-floor corridor—and the door was already ajar. Snape had already gotten past Fluffy. As the door creaked, low, rumbling breaths met their ears. All three of the dog's heads were sleeping silently.
"There's no instrument in sight," said Rory slowly. "That means that either Snape sung or…"
"Or what?" asked Polaris.
"Or somebody put Fluffy under a very powerful sleeping spell."
"And since it's hard to do that to a three-headed dog," said Polaris, catching on, "it means that Voldemort's here."
Rory nodded, and this statement seemed to impress upon all three of them what was facing them. Underneath the cloak, Harry turned to the other three.
"If you want to go back, I won't blame you," he said. "You can take the cloak and the map, I won't need them now."
"Don't be an idiot," said Polaris.
"We're coming," said Rory.
"You're stuck with us," said Sasha.
A low, rumbling growl told them that Fluffy was slowly waking up.
"Did anybody bring an instrument?" asked Harry. They shook their head. "Okay, who wants to do the honour of singing, then?"
The two boys looked at the girls. The girls looked at each other. Finally, Sasha nodded and said, "I will. Well, here goes…
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon Virgin Mother and Child
Holy Infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace."
From the first year word the beast's eyes began to droop. Sasha hardly drew a breath. Slowly, the dog's growls ceased—it tottered on its paws and fell back to its knees, then it slumped to the ground, fast asleep. They slipped out of the cloak, Sasha starting to sing the second verse, and crept toward the trapdoor. They could feel the dog's hot, smelly breath as they approached the giant heads.
Polaris stepped carefully over the dog's legs. He bent and pulled the ring of the trapdoor swung up and open.
"There's nothing—just black—we can't climb down; it looks like we're going to have to drop."
"I'll go first," said Harry as he climbed over it and looked down through the trapdoor. There was no sign of a bottom. He lowered himself through the hole until he was hanging on by his fingertips. Then he looked up at Ron and said, "If anything happens to me, don't follow. Go straight to the owlery and send Hedwig to Dumbledore, right?"
"Right," said Polaris.
"See you in a minute, I hope…"
And Harry let go. FLUMP. With a funny, muffled sort of thump he landed in some sort of dust as it flew up and around him as he landed. He coughed and shook it out of his hair.
"It's okay!" he called up to the light, "it's a soft landing, you can jump!"
Polaris followed right away, quickly followed by Rory. They landed beside each other sprawled next to Harry.
"What's this stuff?" were Polaris's first words.
"Dunno, some sort of dust. I suppose it's here to break the fall. Come on, Sasha!"
The distant singing stop. There was a loud bark from the dog, but Sasha had already jumped. She landed on Harry's other side.
"I know what this is!" Rory suddenly shrieked, and she jumped to her feet. "This is ash! Whatever was here before was burned till it was nothing but ash!"
"What was here before it was burned?" asked Sasha cautiously.
"Some kind of plant," said Polaris. They crowded around him where he was looking down at a vine that had escaped the flames. He reached out to touch it, but it suddenly moved and they all jumped back in alarm.
"I suppose we should continue then," said Sasha, pointing down a stone passageway, which was the only way forward.
The passageway sloped downward.
"Do any of you hear something?" Rory whispered.
Harry listened. A soft rustling and clinking seemed to coming from up ahead.
"Yeah, I do," said Polaris softly. "It sounds kind of like wings."
"Look—there's a light ahead, and something's moving."
They came into a brightly lit chamber full of small, jewel-bright birds. On the opposite side of the chamber was a heavy wooden door. Polaris took a deep breath and ran forward, expecting the birds to attack him, but none of them did. He tried to open the door, but it was locked. He even tried Rory's famous Alohomora charm.
He shrugged at them from across the chamber.
"These can't be birds," said Rory. "They're… glittering."
"They're keys!" Harry said suddenly. "Winged keys—look carefully. So that must mean…"
"Look!" cried Sasha. "Broomsticks! We must have to try to catch the key that goes to the door!"
"But how? There are hundreds of them!" Rory sighed.
"We're looking for one that matches the handle—silver, big, and old-fashioned it looks like." Polaris said as he examined the lock on the door.
Rory stayed on the ground beside the door while the other three each seized a broomstick and kicked off into the air, soaring into the midst of the cloud of keys.
"That one!" Harry called to the others. "That big one—there—no, there—with the bright blue wings—the feathers are all crumpled on one side."
"Polaris, you come at it from above—Sasha, stay below and stop it from going down—and I'll try and catch it. Right, NOW!"
Polaris dived, Sasha rocketed upward, the key dodged them both, and Harry streaked after it; it sped toward the wall, Harry leaned forward and with a nasty, crunching noise, pinned it against the stone with one hand. Polaris, Sasha, and Rory's cheers echoed around the high chamber.
He landed and rammed it into the lock, turning it—it worked and the key flew away looking particularly battered. He pulled the door open. The next chamber was so dark they couldn't see anything at all.
There was a thud, a scream, and then the unmistakable sound of skin slapping against stone. Harry winced.
"Rory, are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just—"
Light suddenly flooded the room to reveal a horrific sight. It looked as if an explosion had gone off. There was rubble of white and black stone everywhere and there was scorch marks on the chequered floor. Rory had tripped over one of the stone pieces and Harry now saw that she was not alright. Her ankle was pointing at an odd angle and her shin and palms were scraped from the fall. Polaris ran to her side.
"Are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine—"
"You are not fine. It looks like you've broken your ankle."
"Well, I'll be fine; is that better?"
"Hey, don't snap at me! I'm only trying to help—"
"Guys," said Sasha suddenly. "I know what this is." She was sanding into the middle of the chamber looking around. She gulped. "This used to be a chessboard. Looks like somebody got impatient, though."
Harry sighed. "I guess there's nothing to do in this chamber then. Let's go—Rory, perhaps you should go back—"
"Don't even think about it, Harry Potter," snapped Rory. "I'm going to be with you till the end—don't even think of trying to get rid of me."
She grabbed onto Polaris's shoulder and heaved herself up. He put his arm around her to help her walk, though at first she resisted, she finally gave him a grateful smile. They walked past the white debris and finally reached another door. Sasha pushed it open.
A disgusting smell filled their nostrils, making the four of them gag and pull their robes up over their noses. They saw, flat on the floor in front of them, a troll that was without a doubt dead. They hurried across this chamber and Harry pulled open the next door. Like the chess chamber, this one was in ruins as well.
"Potion bottles," muttered Rory as she looked at the shattered glass that littered the floor with different colour liquid puddles.
"Wonder what we had to do with those," whispered Polaris.
They walked through a hallway and into the last chamber; there was no door. Lord Voldemort was already there, and he was with somebody—but it wasn't Snape. It was Quirrell.
Voldemort turned toward them and his eyes rested on Harry. He grinned cruelly. "Harry Potter," he hissed, "how good it is to meet you at last." He must have seen Harry's confused face, because he let out a horrible cackle and said, "Did your parents never tell you? I suppose they didn't… They thought they could protect you forever… Seems they were wrong and you will die not knowing why." He raised his wand. "Good-bye… Harry Potter."
Polaris let go of Rory and she crumpled to the ground without the support. He dived at Harry and pushed him out of the way as a stream of green light flew over their heads. They had barely crashed to the ground when he jumped to his feet again and was standing in front of Harry bravely.
"If you want to kill Harry, you're going to have to kill me as well."
Rory held out her hand to him and he pulled her to her feet. She leaned on him, pale and sweating from the pain, "And me."
Sasha stepped forward, pale as well though for a different reason, "And me."
Harry, shaken slightly, got to his feet behind his friends. Voldemort was smiling maliciously at the three of them. He twirled his wand in his hand. Harry had the sinking feeling that Voldemort was trying to decide who to kill first. He decided that he needed to keep him talking in order to get his mind off of killing his friends.
"Why?" he asked. "Why do you want to kill me?"
Voldemort ignored him and instead addressed Polaris. "Such loyalty… your father had it too... He turned his back on his heritage… but you still have a choice… Join me and help me get the Stone… and you will have everything you ever dreamed."
"I don't think so," Polaris said coolly.
"Don't be a fool," snarled Lord Voldemort. "Better save your own life and join me… or you'll meet the same end as so many before you… I can show you mercy… I can show your family mercy… all I ask is for you to hand over Harry Potter and your loyalty…"
"NEVER!" Polaris shouted suddenly.
Voldemort didn't answer. He turned on his heel and spoke to Professor Quirrell. "Have you figured out how this mirror works yet?"
"No, Master."
It was only then that they realized what was standing behind Quirrell and Voldemort. It was the Mirror of Erised. Voldemort walked around the mirror, and suddenly he smiled nastily.
"Use the girl…"
"Yes—of course—which one?"
"The brunette…"
Polaris's hold on Rory tightened as Professor Quirrell rounded on her.
"Lupin—come here."
"She can't walk," said Polaris at once. "I must go with her."
Quirrell flicked his wand toward Rory and she gave a shriek of surprise as a violet light hit her ankle. She stumbled forward and fell face forward. Shakily, she got back to her feet where one of them was wrapped in white bandages though they could tell that it only dulled the pain instead of making it go away.
"Come here," Quirrell repeated. "Look in the mirror and tell me what you see."
Rory limped toward him.
I will lie, she thought desperately. What I want most in the world at this moment is to find the Sorcerer's Stone, but I will lie about what I see. It will be simple.
Quirrell moved close behind her. She saw her reflection, pale, sweaty, and scared-looking at first, but a moment later, the reflection smiled at her. It put its hand into its robe pocket and pulled out a blood-red stone. It winked and put the Stone back in its pocket—and as it did so, Rory felt something heavy drop into her real pocket. Somehow—incredibly—she'd gotten the Stone.
"Well?" said Quirrell impatiently. Lord Voldemort was also watching her curiously as well. "What do you see?"
Rory took a deep breath. "I see myself standing next to my father under the full moon," she invented. "I-I found a cure for Lycanthrope."
Quirrell cursed. "Get out of the way," he snapped. As Rory moved aside, she felt the Sorcerer's Stone bounce again her leg. Dare she make a break for it? But how would she warn the others?
She turned back toward the others and mouthed 'Let's go', but she hadn't limped five paces before Voldemort's cold voice called after her.
"She lies…"
Rory shot a petrified look over her shoulder and she tried to run, but her hurt leg was making it impossible. A spell sailed over her head, missing her by centimetres, and she stumbled in shock from it. Polaris was standing beside her now and helping her get her footing correctly.
"Lupin, come back here!" Quirrell shouted. "Tell me the truth! What did you just see?"
Voldemort held up his hand and silenced him. He began to walk toward the pair and Harry and Sasha ran up to join them.
"Do you not see my just cause?" Lord Voldemort said. "A cause to purify the wizarding community of filth that shouldn't be allowed in… all I need are followers… those that will stay loyal to me… once I have the Sorcerer's Stone, I will be able to offer my followers so much more… I will have many more people on my side… but all I need is that Stone… Now… why don't you give me that Stone in your pocket?"
He knew. Rory heard Polaris gasp beside him as she stumbled backwards.
"It's too bad that you have to bribe people to follow you," said Sasha with more determination then she looked like she had. "It must mean that not many stand for your cause."
Harry gaped at Sasha. What was she doing?
"What would you know for my cause?" sneered Lord Voldemort. "You're nothing by a half-blood."
Then it hit him. She was trying to distract him so that they could get away. He felt Rory lean against him and turned to see Polaris pushing her onto him. They gave him a curious look and he mouthed the word, 'Go.' Their eyes widened and they both shook their heads. A furious look came across Polaris's face and he pushed Harry roughly toward the exit and again mouthed, 'Go.'
Rory and Harry shared a look before nodding. They quietly began to stumble out of the chamber.
"I was commenting on your bribery. It sure sounds pathetic, in my opinion—"
SMACK!
The two of them wheeled around as they heard Sasha scream. The blond headed girl was on the floor of the chamber clutching her cheek as if she had just been burned, but it was Lord Voldemort's reaction that surprised them more. He was clutching the back of his hand and crying out in agony. When he finally pulled his hand away, they saw the back of his hand was blistering before their eyes.
He howled in fury and looked straight at Harry and Rory. He suddenly came at them, neither of them able to move and yanked Rory away fiercely by her arm. She cried out in pain that neither Harry nor Polaris could see, but so did Lord Voldemort. Again, he pulled away, his palm blistering. Rory crumpled to the ground, clutching her arm, which wasn't blistering like Voldemort's hand but might as well have been with the pain she was showing.
Polaris and Harry ran to her, but Voldemort stepped in front of them. His face was contorted in fury. He reached out his pale bony fingers and touched Polaris's cheek. Polaris jerked away as he cried out in pain and once again, Voldemort's fingers blistered before his eyes. Suddenly, he reached over with his other hand and cupped Harry's face tightly. He suddenly understood why everybody had cried out in pain.
The moment Voldemort's fingers touched Harry's skin, a needle-sharp pain seared where the contact was. It felt as if he was being burned. He yelled, struggling with all his might.
"What is this magic?" Lord Voldemort hissed.
He let go of Harry's face, and he fell to the ground, barely conscious. Rory grabbed his right arm and Polaris grabbed his left and they began to drag him out of the chamber when Voldemort screeched, "Kill them, now!"
Quirrell raised his hand to perform a deadly curse, but a voice suddenly rang out from behind him. "Consopio!" He swayed on the spot and then fell over. Sasha was standing behind him with her wand raised. "Thanks for teaching me that one, Rory," she said in a conversational voice.
"Anytime," said Rory, trying to sound calm.
Sasha pocketed her wand and ran up to them. She stood right behind Harry, whose head was still spinning but he slowly starting to get his sense back, and grabbed him by the shoulders before trying to pull him out of the chamber. A shadow loomed over them, and Harry looked up blearily to see Voldemort with his wand out.
"Avada Kedevra!"
"NO!"
There was a blinding pain that spread through his whole body and he heard screaming, or perhaps he was screaming, and then he was falling down into blackness, down… down… down…
Something red was hovering over him. Fire! He needed to get everybody out! He tried to sit up, but his limbs were too heavy. He blinked. It wasn't fire at all. It was a mane of red hair. How strange. He blinked again. The worried face of Lily Potter swam into view above him.
"Oh thank Merlin!" she cried and threw her arms around him.
Harry stared at her. His forehead was burning. Then he remembered. "Mum! The Stone! It was Quirrell! He's got the Stone! Mum, quick—"
"Harry, calm down," said James Potter who was standing behind his wife with a worried expression on his face. "Quirrell does not have the Stone."
"Then who does? Dad, I—"
"Harry, shh!" said his mother soothingly as she messed with his hair. "It's okay; everything is okay."
Harry swallowed, rubbed his aching forehead, and looked around him. He realized he must be in the hospital wing. Across from him, he saw Rory was awake with a swollen cheek and also being shushed by her mother. Beside Rory was Polaris, awake as well, trying to itch his neck but both of his parents had a firm grip on his hands. And beside Harry was Sasha, also awake, digging into a box of Drooble's Best Blowing Gum with a small bandage on her upper arm. All four of them were surrounded by candy.
Harry sighed. "Everybody's okay?"
"Okay as can be expected," said his mother shakily.
He gave her a questioning look, but she didn't elaborate, so instead he asked her, "How long have I been in here?"
"Three days. Polaris has been awake for nearly four hours; Sasha awoke about two hours ago; and Rory has been awake for only thirty minutes." James explained.
"What is all of this?" asked Harry, gesturing to all of the candy that surrounded his bed.
"Tokens from your friends and admirers," said a voice from the doorway. They turned to see Professor Dumbledore standing there, beaming at the four of them. "What happened down in the dungeons between the four of you, Professor Quirrell, and Lord Voldemort is a complete secret, so, naturally, the whole school knows."
"Admirers?" repeated Rory in confusion. "Forgive me, professor, but I don't even know what happened down in the dungeons. What happened to the Stone? What happened to Quirrell and Voldemort? How did you know that we were down there in the first place? And—" She had opened her mouth to ask another question, but Professor Dumbledore had raised his hand asking for silence.
"Very good question, Miss Lupin, I assure you, but please relax or Madam Pomfrey will have me thrown out." His eyes twinkled. "Now, as for your first question, the Stone. Lord Voldemort did not manage to take it from you. I arrived in time to prevent that, although the four of you were doing very well on your own, I must say. Your second question is a little trickier, so we'll save that one for later. How did I know you were there? 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 see the spectacular finale—"
"It was you," Polaris said suddenly. "I knew that somebody had shouted before everything went black, but I wasn't positive."
Dumbledore nodded. "I feared it might be too late."
"You nearly were," admitted Sasha, "I doubt we could have kept them off the Stone much longer—"
"Not the Stone, you all—you were nearly killed. For one terrible moment, I thought I was too late. As for the Stone, it has been destroyed. Nicolas and I have had a little chat, and agreed it's all for the best. They have enough Elixir stored to set their affairs in order and then they will die." Dumbledore smiled at the look of amazement on the young Marauders' faces. "To one as young as you four, I'm sure it seems incredible. To the well-organized mind, however, death is but the next great adventure."
Suddenly Harry looked up. He swallowed. "In the chamber, Voldemort said he wanted to kill me and that my parents," he shot them a furious look, "knew why, but never told me. What did he mean?"
Lily and James looked at each other with panicked expressions upon their face. They both looked like they were going to speak when Dumbledore interrupted them. "That, my dear boy, is no longer a matter."
The elder Potters' eyes widened. "It's not?"
"No, it's not, which is why I need to see all of you—excluding you four—in my office as soon as possible. That is, unless any of you have more questions?"
"Many, sir," said Rory slowly. "You never did answer about what happened to Quirrell and Voldemort, and I wanted to know how did I get the Stone out of the mirror?"
"Ever persistent, aren't you?" Dumbledore chuckled. "Alas, I must ask you once more to wait for your first question before it is answer. Your second question was one of my more brilliant ideas. 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 the Elixir of Life."
"And her first question…?" asked Sasha hesitantly.
Dumbledore sighed. "Quirrell is in Azkaban, and Voldemort is… He is gone."
"Gone?" shrieked Rory.
"As in dead?" Polaris cried.
Even their parents seemed shocked by their revelation.
"Not quite dead, no, but not alive either. He is a kind of spirit, I suppose, but he has no form. He will only have form when he finds a body to share. Not being truly alive, he cannot be killed. However, if he is delayed from returning to power again, and again, why, he may never return to power."
There was a shocked silence.
"But how did this happen, Albus?" whispered Rue.
"That, I believe, only your children can answer."
"We didn't do anything," Rory said at once. "I blacked out."
The other nodded as well.
"Ah, yes, but what was the last thing you remember before blacking out?"
"Voldemort said a spell," Polaris said slowly, "and we were trying to help Harry out of the chamber because he was hurt."
"Even though Voldemort said a spell, you stuck by Harry? You didn't leave him for your own safety?"
"Of course not!" said Polaris, crossly. "He's my best mate; I'd never leave him like that."
Rory and Sasha nodded.
"True loyalty," said Dumbledore. "And you, Lily, what did you do when you saw the children's names go from 'School' to 'Mortal Peril' on that wonderful clock of yours?"
"I did what I've done every other time that's happened, I called everybody over and we sat around the table. When it didn't change after nearly fifteen minutes, we grabbed each other's hands in comfort—and prayed." Lily explained.
"And true love," concluded Dumbledore. "Those are the two things that banished Voldemort and saved your lives. Tell me, do any of you remember the spell that Voldemort cast?"
Harry, Polaris, and Sasha shook their heads, but Rory cleared her throat nervously. "Er… I'm probably mistaken, but I thought—I thought he cast the Killing Curse," she mumbled.
"Yes, indeed you are correct, Miss Lupin," said Dumbledore, but he was smiling, "and it was because of the love and loyalty that you all had for each other that you were able to survive it and rebound it on Voldemort. You may or may not have noticed—depending on how long you've been awake—that the four of you now have four handsome matching scars. Those are not ordinary scars. They are the scars you get when hit with a powerful dark curse. It is a souvenir of your survival."
Harry looked down at his body looking for his scar. He heard his mother mutter something and saw that she had conjured a mirror. He looked in the mirror and slowly lifted the fringe from his forehead to reveal a lightning-bolt shaped scar. Harry looked up to see Rory frowning at an identical one on her right cheek. Polaris was still trying to scratch the one on the left side of his neck. Sasha was also frowning at the one on her left arm which had been covered by the bandage before.
"Now, if the eight of you will come with me—the four of you should rest. No more questions now." He smiled at them all before turning and leaving with their parents in tow.
The four of them made their way down to the end-of-the-year feast after it had started due to Madam Pomfrey's fussing. The Hall was decorated in Slytherin colours to celebrate them winning the house cup. When they walked in there was a sudden hush, and then everybody started talking loudly at once. They slipped into their usual seats between the other first years.
Fortunately, Dumbledore arrived moments later.
"Another year gone!" Dumbledore said cheerfully. "As I understand it, the house cup here needs awarding, and the points stand thus: In fourth place, Gryffindor, with three hundred and twelve 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.
"Yes, yes, well done, Slytherin," said Dumbledore. "However, recent events must be taken into account. I have a few last-minute points to dish out. Let me see. Yes…
"First—to Mr. Polaris Black…"
Polaris whipped his head around so quickly that Harry was surprised that he didn't get whiplash.
"…for unwavering loyalty when things got rough, I award Gryffindor house forty points."
Gryffindor cheers nearly raised the bewitched ceiling; the stars overhead seemed to quiver.
"Second—to Miss Rosalyn Lupin…"
Rory's face went bright red as her eyes widened. She seemed to grip the table in anticipation, but her gaze never left her plate.
"…for the use of her heart instead of her head in dire situations, I award Gryffindor house forty points."
Gryffindors up and down the table were beside themselves.
"Third—to Miss Sasha Pettigrew…"
Sasha buried her face in her arms; Harry strongly suspected that she was about to burst into tears or already had.
"…for quick-wit and strong determination, I award Gryffindor house forty points."
The Gryffindors were jumping and cheering by now—they were a hundred and twenty points up.
"Fourth—to Mr. Harry Potter…"
The room was deadly quiet.
"…for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor house forty points."
The din was deafening. Those who could add up while yelling themselves hoarse knew that Gryffindor was now tied with Slytherin. 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, bust just as much to stand up to our friends. I therefore award ten points to Mr. Neville Longbottom."
It sounded like something had exploded; the cheering was so loud from the Gryffindor table.
"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."
He clapped his hands and instantly the green and silver hangings became scarlet and gold. Gryffindor had won the house cup.
The exam results eventually turned up. Rory and Hermione tied in every subject for the best grades in the year except in Transfiguration and Potions where their other scores made them tied. Both Harry and Polaris had passed with good marks. Even Neville and Sasha scraped though, their good classes (Herbology and Charms) making up their abysmal classes (Potions and History).
All too soon they were packing their bags and boarding the train to head to Kings Cross. People jostled them as they moved forward toward the gateway back to the Muggle world. Some of them called:
"Bye, Harry!"
"See you, Lupin!"
"Are we famous or something, now?" asked Sasha, annoyed.
"Not where we're going; for that I'm grateful," said Polaris.
Harry, Polaris, and Sasha passed through the gateway together and had to wait for Rory. As they did, Harry looked up to see a redhead with chestnut brown eyes and freckles. He smiled at her. She smiled shyly back. Harry brought a hand up and waved dazedly at her just as Rory came through with Ron and Hermione.
Ron walked over to the redhead and hugged her, and that's when it hit him. The redhead girl was Ginny Weasley, his younger sister, but he didn't care. She was waving back at him, blushing slightly.
"Er… I think we've lost him," Rory was saying behind him to Polaris.
"Yes, he's been staring at her for five minutes. I think he's entranced!" he sighed as he saw his fathers walk up to them.
They gave Harry, who still had a goofy grin on his face, a weird look. James asked, "What's with Harry?"
"He took one look at Ron's little sister and fell in love," said Sasha, giggling.
The men followed Harry's gaze to the redheaded witch who was being dragged away by her mother now and grinned. Sirius said, "What is it with redheads and the Potter men?"
"They're fetching, I tell you!"
"Polaris," said Remus, grinning, "I think you better break him out of the spell before his face freezes like that."
"Sure can do!" Polaris said, before whopping Harry in the back of the head hard. "Oi! Wake up!"
"Ouch! What was that for?" Harry asked as the others laughed.