DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter and its universe belong to JK Rowling or whichever company really has its legal rights. I just fool around with its universe and characters.

DISCLAIMER: Angela and its universe (Inheritance Cycle) belong to Christopher Paolini or whichever company really has its legal rights. I just make a minor use of it for fooling around.

DISCLAIMER: Lorcan, Rowan and its universe (Throne of Glass series) belong to Sarah J. Maas or whichever company really has its rights. I just make a minor use of it for fooling around.

A/N 11/04: Don't worry... just some minor fixes.

I wanna thank my awesome brother for acting as my Alpha and my Batata for proofreading part of my writing.

And I also want to thank every reader who takes that little extra time to review my fic. I really appreciate the feedback you provide.

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The wandering path of a Battlemage

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CHAPTER 013

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11 Jun - Su

Exams were finally over. But unlike the rest of the students at Hogwarts, Harry was anything but thrilled about returning home.

He had finally found somewhere where he belonged. He found a surrogate family amongst Minnie and his housemates. In fact, he has actually found family in Tonks if one didn't care about the countless relatives' in-between. But most importantly, Harry found someone to whom he belonged; someone who hopefully felt the same way as he did. Hermione.

But now everything was about to come to an end. A supposedly temporary one, but Harry had learnt long ago that it was unwise to assume much from them. Anything could happen in three months. Anything could go wrong.

He dreaded the very thought of going back to the Dursleys.

"Harry?" -Hermione interrupted his brooding- "Are you still worried about your final exam results?"

He snorted pulling her into a much needed hug- "Not a chance. Only you are still worrying about that; and I can't even figure out why"

Hermione squeezed him a little tighter- "Then is it… is it because we are all going ho– all leaving on Sunday?"

He sighed and squeezed her back- "Yeah… I wish I could just stay, even if I do so alone. I know how much you miss them, your parents; and I'd never ask you to forsake them. But…"

"You'd rather not go back there" -She spoke softly nuzzling into the crook of his neck- "I still can't believe that Minnie couldn't find a way to take you away from those… people. And I can't even figure out why! I mean… there has to be some law we could use to protect you from them"

Harry didn't say anything. He had little hope of finding a loophole he could exploit. Even less so if Minnie, the raven's head of house, wasn't able to find one herself.

Minutes ticked by in silence as Harry drew as much comfort as he could from her arms and company. He sighed.

"I should feel insulted that you are feeling restless despite my presence" -Hermione teased him- "Do you wanna do something?"

Harry gave her a crooked smile- "Yeah, but I don't know exactly what"

"How about we–"

"No Hermione, we're not going to spend our last weekend hiding in the library" -He groaned while rolling his eyes.

"I wasn't…!" -She huffed crossing her arms- "Okay maybe, but–"

Harry didn't do anything but give her a sidelong look. He laughed- "Of course you weren't"

"What would you propose instead?" -She asked with a raised eyebrow- "And you better not say flying. Because no matter how much I may have improved, I'm still not comfortable with it and quite far from being capable of keeping up with you"

He shook his head- "Nah… despite how much I love it, I wanted to do something worth remembering. Besides, I could always just go and fly around before breakfast if I really wanted to"

Hermione narrowed her eyes looking at him- "Harry, I already told you that I'm not gonna help you get back to Malfoy. Unless you can finally prove to me that he was the one behind your broom acting funny"

"But…!"

"Nah-uh. Even if he did try to expose you, any retaliation against that would only serve to prove him right and then everyone will finally believe it" -She argued before turning into a plea- "Please Harry. We've been through this already and every single time you've agreed with me! You know it's not worth it"

Harry grumbled- "Fine… but I still believe that asshole deserves it… even if he truly had nothing to do with my broom"

Hermione sighed leaning against him- "You are most probably right. But we are not becoming some sort of vigilantes, so just let it be and let the faculty handle whatever he's been up to lately"

Harry rested his head in the sofa's back and enjoyed their time together, cuddling in a corner from the ravens' common room. He had his legs propped up in a coffee table and it wasn't long before he started a restless twitching.

"That bored, are you?" -Asked Neville with a chuckle as he approached their corner.

"Yeah..." -Said Harry without bothering to look up.

"How about some flying?"

"Not a chance" -Hermione declared curtly

"Hagrid?"

"Can't. Hagrid's busy with Sa- some creature of his, appears the poor thing has some sort of magical flu" -Answered Harry

Neville screwed his face in consternation- "Can't imagine what sort of creature could get a flu and let's not even talk about one that needs constant attention" -Neville snorted- "I can almost imagine Hagrid wrapping one of his famous hippogriffs into a blanket and cuddling it into sleep"

Harry chortled and he could feel Hermione trying to hide her knowing smile- 'Oh Nev… if only you knew. Savra is anything but being spoiled right now'

"So…" -Drawled Neville- "If you are that bored and everything else is out… why don't you follow on the Twins' tale of the trials?" -He said mockingly.

Harry opened his mouth to answer that but held his tongue. With a frown in place, he considered the idea. He finally looked up at Neville with a grin, who immediately started paling- "That might actually be a good idea"

"What?!" -Exclaimed Hermione pulling away from him- "Are you nuts?! That's way out of our league and I wouldn't know how to even consider about getting past Fluffy"

"I don't believe it for a second" -Harry said defiantly- "There's no way you would have forgotten when Hagrid slipped that you can lullaby Fluffy with almost any music"

Hermione snorted- "Okay, fine. But you still don't know how to play any instrument and I haven't heard of any spell capable of doing so"

"Oh, but we have something much better than that. Am I right Nev?" -Harry said his way with a devilish grin.

Neville paled at that- "Ha- Harry… I'm not that good with my cello yet and that's not to say anything about that damned dog! How would you even expect me to concentrate enough when we are facing certain death?"

"Actually, you wouldn't be in any danger" -Harry said nonchalantly only to be stared as if he had lost his mind. He sighed in fake exasperation- "I'm being serious now, honestly. I went back there another time and while I was looking around, I realized that Fluffy can't go through the door. They must have done some transfiguration to get him in… anyway, as long as we don't do any we'll be safe from across the door 'till you put it to sleep"

Hermione was about to argue but stopped herself to consider it- "Okay, seems reasonable. But what were you doing back there?"

"It's quite a long story, but I'll tell you about it if you two come with me"

"Fine, but I'm not walking into that room until we're completely certain that the bloody thing is sound asleep" -Said Neville with slumped shoulders.

"And I'm not letting you out of my sight or you'll end up doing something stupid. This way, I can always knock you out and drag us out of there before you do" -Added Hermione giving him a peck on the lips.

"Alright! Let's go find out what's all the fuss about" –cheered Harry.

%%%

"You know, that was a low move. It was a shitty story and one I already knew about" -Said Neville as they approached the forbidden south wing on the third floor.

"Don't care. I just needed you to come along" -Answered Harry.

"Arse" -Said Neville receiving a grin in response.

"And I can't believe that you of all people were so bummed down about the two of us falling apart" -Said Hermione pulling him into a hug and giving him a searing kiss. When she pulled apart, she commented in almost a whisper- "Can't believe I was being so stupid about us; stupid enough to push you away. I should have felt lucky instead"

Harry shook his head- "I'm the lucky one. Not you, you actually got stuck with my craziness" -He said pulling her closer and deepening their kiss as her cheeks tensed in a smile.

"Oh come on! Get a room you two!" -Neville complained- "It's either that or my cello and I, are going back to the tower"

Harry pulled away from Hermione with a smile- "Alright rockstar. Let's get this show on the road"

They opened the door and realized that Fluffy was already aware of their presence. The cerberus laid resting on the other side of the room attentively staring at them with all three of its heads while growling menacingly deep. It didn't attack though, clearly aware that it couldn't reach them on the other side of the door.

"I still believe that this is crazy and I'm not entirely sure whether I want it to work or not" -Said Neville trying not to shake in place out of fear- "I mean… we are calling this off if music doesn't work, right?"

"Relax Nev, everything is gonna be alright" -Said Harry patting him on the back- "But yeah… there's no way we are going in there unless it falls asleep"

"Thank Merlin… okay, here goes nothing"

Neville took a sit in the chair they had borrowed from a forgotten classroom and set his cello in place. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath in concentration, before he started to play what turned out to be Stairway to Heaven.

Harry pulled Hermione closer in a sidelong embrace as they both listened in rapt attention to their friend play- 'He's always acting all nervous and humble, but he sure knows how to play the damn thing'

They both quietly enjoyed the piece in silence, forgetting completely why they were there in the first place. When Neville was finally done, he opened his eyes to find them staring at him; which caused him to blush.

"Well? Did it work?" -Asked Neville as they blocked his view of the room. Harry and Hermione snapped out of their trance and turned to look inside. The cerberus looked irritated if anything.

"It appears that you only angered it" -Said Harry in a vain attempt to sound optimistic.

"Good riddance, we can get out of here" -Answered Neville all but jumping to his feet.

"Wait, hold on a second" -Said Hermione- "Isn't the song you've played Stairway to Heaven?"

"Yeah, why?" -Said Neville with a face of confusion.

"Well… you know that the cerberus mythos says it's the guardian from the hell, right?" -Hermione said gaining a nod of confirmation from Neville despite his reigning confusion- "Okay, so if we take music as another form of magic as the more bohemic consider, we can only assume that a song would have an essence of sorts. Taking that into consideration, Stairway to Heaven could be seen as a Light song; one that would clash against a Dark creature from hell, don't you think?"

"Sweetie, you are a true genius! You know that, right?" -Harry said with a beaming smile as he tightened his embrace of her.

"Dammit Hermione!" -Grumbled Neville- "I thought you were like me on this and you only reluctantly agreed to Harry's insanity"

"Well, yeah but… I've got to say that I'm rather curious about this theory" -She said before turning into a murmur- "And I may be rather curious after all of what awaits below the trap door"

"Okay, fine! But I don't really know-" -Said Neville before being interrupted by Hermione.

"And I mean… considering that we are at Hogwarts and if we give any credit to the rumors… Imagine what we could find at the end of all of it! I mean, it would only be proper for it to be a real trove of knowledge! Maybe long lost books on who knows what! And let's not even consider the experience and wisdom we could squeeze from the trials themselves. Can you im- Hey!" -Hermione finally complained when she realized that both of them were quietly laughing at her.

"Sorry, it's just that" -Harry snorted- "It's just that I've been wondering how come I convinced you so easily to tag along, but now I completely understand" -He said kissing her cheek in a final attempt to subside his laughter.

Soon enough, Neville managed to pull himself back together after letting go of a deep breath- "Alright, I guess we are really doing this after all. And I think I might just have what we need"

Neville took back his sit and with his cello in place he began to play a new tune.

Hermione snorted- "Highway to Hell… yeah, that should do the trick"

Harry and Hermione once more enjoyed the show, but it wasn't long before a damp wind coming from behind started to tousle her hair. Turning around, they found all three heads soundly asleep. Harry couldn't help but smile at the sleeping beast.

Once he was done with the song, Neville spoke a bit too loudly- "Hey! It actually worked!"

Hermione immediately shushed him and whispered- "You'll wake him up"

"Sorry" -Neville

Harry quietly trod into the room, directly towards the trap door while keeping an eye on Fluffy, ready to bolt in case it started to stir awake- 'Sleeping like a log, just like Hagrid said he would'

Harry turned his attention back to the trap door as Hermione and Neville quietly approached him. Making quiet movements, he whispered- "Wingardium leviosa" -Magically pulling from the handle, he opened the trapdoor.

They all tried to peer inside, but the bottom was pitch black, completely shrouded in darkness. Harry noticed Hermione beginning an incantation but held her hand. He nodded towards Fluffy and whispered- "No lights, I prefer whatever is down there than facing Fluffy from up this close. Let's just jump and cast arresto before we hit the ground" -Thankfully, it was one of the few spells taught by Hooch, so they all knew it.

Without waiting for confirmation, Harry jump inside- "Arresto momentum" -He spoke loudly as he fell, decelerating before finally landing without more speed than a regular hop.

Knowing that they would be following soon, he moved aside.

"Arresto momentum!" -Shouted Hermione before landing beside him.

The floor was completely dark, unable to see anything of significance even if down there. He decided to cast some light.

"Arresto momentum!" -Screamed Neville

"Lumos maxima" -Said Harry

Neville hit the ground with a distinct sound of cracking- "Ouch! Goddammit Harry, couldn't you wait a mere moment to summon that light? I lost focus and- Oh no..."

"Sorry about that Nev, you are right. But what's wrong?" -Said Harry

"My- my- my father's wand is broken" -Said Neville with tearful eyes as he lay kneeling on the ground looking at his wand- "I tried to brace myself from falling with my face and I ended up snapping it"

Harry winced with guilt- "Shiiit… look I'm really sorry Nev, I was just trying to figure out where we landed. Do you reckon that Mr. Ollivander or somebody can repair it?"

"No, it's impossible as far as I know… Gran is gonna kill me when she finds out" -Said Neville dejectedly.

"Uh, guys? I don't wanna be insensitive but… what the hell is that?" -Hermione interrupted.

Harry took stock of their surroundings for the first time since he lighted up the place. The walls were made of stone just like in the dungeons; looking up he realized that they had fallen about fifty feet from the trap door. And scattered everywhere across the vast room were thorny thick vines. Looking at the floor he realized that they were standing on loose earth instead of stone. Having one of those vines lying close by his foot, Harry kicked it and jerked back when it started moving of its own accord.

"Woah! What the fuck is that?" -Exclaimed Harry.

"Harry, why did you have to kick that thing?" -Asked Hermione with a feeling of dread

"I- I- I don't know! I'm sorry! Got any idea of what that might be?"

"No… Nothing we've seen this year and nothing in the second year's course book. Nev?"

"What?" -He asked still afflicted over his broken wand.

"You are the best at Herbology from the three of us, any idea what this plant might be?" -Asked Hermione with growing worry before turning into a plea- "Please tell me it's not as bad as it seems!"

Neville finally looked up from his wand and startled jumping into his feet- "Holly fuck! Harry, look at where you got us! And why is it moving? Did any of you touch it already?"

"Uhm… yeah. Is it bad?" -Asked Harry

"Fuck! This bastard is NEWT level and one that Sprout keeps under the locked greenhouses!"

"Okay, but how bad?" -Asked Hermione

"Carnivore bad" -Answered Neville causing Harry and Hermione to stand still- "It reacts to contact, so don't touch it no matter what!"

"Any idea how we can get rid of it?" -Asked Harry.

"Yeah, ice. But it's not that effective anyway, so really do NOT touch it anymore"

"Shit" -Cursed Harry.

"Do you reckon the freezing spell would work?" -Asked Hermione.

"Why? Do you fancy a cold drink about now?" -Tried to joke Harry to ease their nerves.

"No, dummy. I know you've only used it for that, but remember that Flitwick says that it depends on your intent and power behind it" -Replied Hermione while pinching his arm.

"I- I don't know. But I guess that it's our best choice since we don't know any better" –Provided Neville

"What about fire? Or brute force?" -Asked Harry, watching intently as the vines slowly slithered around them.

"Don't you dare to use fire; it will only make it grow wilder. And I doubt we've got the power for the other unless we make it brittle with cold first"

"Gotcha, only glacius then. Do you guys see any way out of here?" -Harry

"There" -Said Neville pointing to the door opposite from him- "Let's get out of here before it slithers our way"

"Right. Sweetie, take the lead. Nev, you go in between since you don't have a wand" -Harry

"Aww, my knight in shining armor" -Hermione scoffed.

"This way if you get caught I can immediately help. Otherwise I'd have to turn and go around Nev before I can come to your rescue" -Harry replied in a deadpan voice.

"Okay, I'll let it slide this time" -She said squeezing his hand once before taking the lead.

"Remember, nice and easy; without touching any of it" -Said Neville.

Treading slowly and with utmost care, the three of them made it to the door in a single line. More than once Harry was forced to reconsider where to step as vines slithered right under his foot.

Hermione bid her time to open the door, careful not to touch any vines while doing so. But with her attention elsewhere, when she pulled her elbow back she unintentionally touched a vine cascading from the wall.

Hermione screamed in pain as the thorns buried in her off-hand arm.

With the door already wide open, Harry shoved Neville across the doorway- "Go! Get out!" -He turned towards Hermione and grabbed her other arm. He pointed at the offending vine- "Glacius!" -He pushed as much magic and concentration into the spell as he could, picturing the vine encased in ice. Once he deemed it frozen enough to become fragile, Harry opted for the severing charm- "Diffindo" -The chilled vine allowed for the physical damage to permeate, cutting Hermione free from it.

Harry quickly pulled Hermione into himself before any other vine could take hold of her and quickly pushed both of them out of the room. As soon as they were on the other side, Neville slammed the door shut.

"Are you alright?" -Harry asked Hermione filled with worry, as he carefully untangled the vine from her arm.

"I- I can't feel my fingers!" -Hermione screamed as she descended into panic and started to cry- "Harry, I can't feel them. It's gotta be poison"

"Relax! Both of you relax" -Said Neville shaking them by the shoulder- "It's just a mild paralytic that it has on its thorns. It'll fade away quickly as the true strength of the Razor Vine lies in its' resistance to anything but frost"

"Are you sure?" -Demanded Harry.

"Yes, I'm certain of it. I couldn't remember all of it at first, but it came back to me when I saw one of its flowers back there"

Having freed her from the vine on her arm, Harry pulled Hermione into a hug and sighed in mild relief before soothing her- "It's okay, it's okay now. Nothing but a scare, let's just wait it out and you'll get your hand back"

Harry stroked the back of her head as she sobbed against his chest. After some further reassurances, Hermione hummed and nodded against his chest as she started to pull herself back together.

"Is that blood?" -Suddenly asked Neville

"Well, of course it is! What the hell did you think that bloody plant was going to do? Give us a kiss?" -Harry asked harshly.

"No dumbass, I meant over there on the wall" -Replied Neville pointing up ahead.

Harry finally took stock of his surroundings, realizing that they were in a hallway that probably connected consecutive trials. He finally spotted what Neville was referring to: a smear of blood along the wall, blood from someone who probably had made it this far before, but not without harm.

"Whoever it was, it must have been someone older" -Reasoned Harry

"Huh? Why?" -Asked Neville

"First of all, there's no year below us" -He teased.

"Oh, really?" -Neville bantered back- "No wonder you've made it to the top 5 in our year then"

Harry laughed at that- "Okay, okay. From the pattern I can only imagine that whoever it was, got hurt on the shoulder and then dragged themself along the wall to the other side. But I'd say that the blood trail is too high for anyone below third year, as I haven't seen anyone remarkably tall"

"Hmm, I guess you are right. I hope that whoever it was has made it out just fine, because that blood looks rather old" -Neville.

Hermione pulled away from Harry to look around.

"Are you alright?" -Asked Harry.

"Yes, the numbness in my arm is already fading" -She answered rubbing her hand- "But don't you think it's strange that we haven't heard any rumours on how to get past Fluffy or about the vine itself if somebody has made it out already?"

"Yeah" -Answered Harry with a feeling of trepidation- "But we better think of it that they just decided to keep quiet to not get in trouble. I wouldn't like to consider our odds otherwise"

"Agreed" -Neville.

"Let's get out of here already, please?" -Pleaded Hermione as she grabbed tightly Harry's hand.

"We'll have to go forward then" -Said Harry pulling her closer- "There wasn't any other way out from the vines but the trapdoor and this corridor. So I can only hope we find an exit before this gets too tough for the three of us"

"Really? Before this becomes too much for us?" -She said pinching his arm- "We're lucky that Nev is such a nerd over Herbology, because otherwise we would be getting shredded by that vine as he said it was NEWT level!"

"Hey! I know we're all afraid but don't take it out on me! You were also intrigued by what we could find down here" -Harry chastised her.

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him in one of her usual bouts of stubbornness.

"Guys, please" -Neville intervened- "We can point fingers once we are out of here, but let's focus for now"

"He's right" -Said Harry and kissing her cheek trying to mellow her out. Hermione feigned to remain annoyed, but he could tell that it was just as an act because she had leaned into the kiss. Harry could only smile at her antics, considering it another of those traits that made her so fun to be with- "Let's keep going"

They reached the next room and carefully opened the door, bracing themselves for whatever danger may come next. They were confused to find an empty room. Or at least they thought it was empty till they looked up, searching for the source of a flutter of wings.

"Are those… keys?" -Asked Neville.

"Yeah, it looks like they are" -Answered Harry- "But how the hell are we gonna find the right one?"

"Hey! That's cheating!" -Exclaimed Hermione drawing bewildered looks from both boys. She pointed to the other side of the room, where the door had apparently once stood- "Someone didn't want to complete the task and blasted the door open!"

Harry snorted- "Well… I guess it can't be cheating since there are no explicit rules as far as we know"

"Besides, we get to skip it as well" -Neville cheerfully remarked.

Hermione huffed- "Yeah, I know but it's just that… Argh, nevermind. At least we were freed from flying and chasing down who knows how many keys before we got the right one"

"If there even was one" -Commented Harry as they walked across the room

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" -Asked Neville

"There are no rules, so maybe the real challenge was thinking outside the box and find an alternative way through" -Explained Harry nodding towards the wreckage of the door- "Which turned out to be an evident success"

They made it across a new hallway before opening a door into the next room. This one was filled with broken statues made of black or white marble. Everything was scattered into pieces across the room, with evident marks of explosive and other brute force spells all over the place. It took them a few moments to notice the checkered floor.

"Is this… a giant set of chess?" -Asked Harry.

"Yeah… it looks that way" -Agreed Neville

Hermione scoffed- "Do you believe that this was meant for some further out of the box approach?"

"Okay, okay. You were right and somebody cheated" -Harry chuckled- "But I wonder who could have done this? I mean… they were packing some serious power to leave such a wreck behind"

"Yeah, but hopefully they kept this up and we'll be able to get out of here in no time" -Said Hermione.

They made through another hallway and into another room. This one had a table with a bunch of different phials and a line of magical fire that divided the room, with the exit doorway on the opposite side.

Harry whistled- "I wonder what this was supposed to be. But whoever our benefactor was, clearly worked around the problem by collapsing that section of ceiling into the fire to act as a bridge"

Hermione walked towards the table- "I guess the challenge here was to identify the proper potions. Some of them certainly look poisonous, so I can only assume that one of them was meant to put out the fire or allow you to cross it"

"Do you reckon you would have been able to tell?" -Harry inquired.

"No… I mean I could discard a few, but it would have been a risk to pick from amongst the rest without any further clues" -She answered

"Oh come on you two" -Called Neville already at the next hallway- "There's no need to understand it. Besides, that room gives me the creeps and I can't figure out why"

Harry grumbled and said- "Probably because it's about potions so it has to have been set by Snape"

Hermione rubbed his back- "Yes it probably was. But at least you already got your chance to prove yourself in his final exam. There's no way he can deduct you points with the potion that you brewed, even mine would be hard pressed when compared to yours"

"Yeah, I guess Minnie was right that all those extra assignments would give me an edge. Buy that still doesn't mean that I enjoyed it"

"I know you didn't. But it did help you become the best in our class and I've noticed that it's gotten on his nerves not just once" -She said giving him a peck on the cheek- "Now let's go"

They both made it into the next hallway right on time to witness Neville slamming the next door shut and leaning against it with a pale face. They rushed towards him as Neville slided to sit on the floor completely trembling.

"What? What is in there?" -Asked Harry as he kneeled beside him and slightly shook him by the shoulder.

"It's a- it's a-" -Neville stammered

"Nev, you've got to calm down! Take deep breaths, come on" -With Hermione's urging, Neville managed to somewhat ease his nerves- "Now try and tell us what you did see in there"

Neville looked up at her with eyes wide open- "Troll. There's a troll in there"

Hermione gasped in shock before jumping back to her feet and retreating from the door. Harry went after her, taking her into his arms and rubbing her back and shoulders to offer comfort.

"Was it awake?" -Asked Harry

"What?" -Neville

"Neville, the troll. Was the troll awake?"

"Ye- yeah. Why do you ask? You are not actually considering fighting it, are you?" -Said Neville.

"No, it's just that… I mean, it didn't come knocking on our door after you slammed it and I can't help but wonder why"

"I- I believe it's because it was busy eating" -Offered Neville

"That's great! Then we just have to wait for the next time they come to feed it! We'll wait around and get out with whomever comes" -Exclaimed Harry.

Neville shook his head- "No Harry, you don't understand"

"What? Why?" -Harry

"I doubt his diet includes school robes" -Whispered Neville

Harry paled at that and Hermione trembled in his embrace. Silence reigned for a while before Harry spoke again- "Fuck"

"Yeah…" -Mumbled Neville.

"We- we have double back" -Spoke Hermione with a broken voice- "There has to be another way out, perhaps even a hidden door… Harry, we can't go through that room!" -She wept before starting to sob again.

Harry rocked them both, hugging her tightly trying to soothe her fears as well as trying to ease his own- "Don't worry, we won't be facing the troll. In fact, you and Nev will go back and double check the other rooms"

Hermione startled at that- "What are you planning? What are you gonna do?!"

Harry rubbed away the tears from her cheek and offered a reassuring smile- "I'll just keep watch over here. I wouldn't want the troll to end up coming after us without us even knowing"

Hermione seemed to doubt his reasons- "You promise you won't do anything stupid?"

Harry nodded before kissing her on the lips- "And you have to promise you two won't be going into the Razor Vine's room without me"

"We won't, I promise" -She said before leaning forward to kiss him even longer.

They parted their kiss but remained in place, their foreheads touching as both drew strength from each other. Hermione sighed once she was sufficiently calmed down.

"Alright, you two better go so we can leave this place" -Said Harry- "And remember that you've only got one wand"

Neville sighed in frustration as he stood back up- "Yeah… please don't remind me of that. It only serves to make me wonder how pissed Gran is going to be"

Hermione squeezed Harry's hand once more before letting go- "Harry, why don't you at least double check the fire room and will begin from the one with the keys?"

"Yeah, sure. It won't be a problem as I'll still be able to keep an eye on the next one"

"Good" -She said giving him a final peck on the lips- "Let's go Nev"

Once they had cleared the fire room, Harry sighed in frustration- "This better works or I'll have to risk luring it into the fire or the vines and hope one of those actually work"

He knew he had little choice in how to proceed and not for the first time he was thankful for Flitwick's monthly tutoring. He pulled a box of matches from inside his robes and mentally went over one of the many hypothetical plans they had discussed.

One of the many consequences from the troll incident had been the two of them reviewing how he had handled the situation. That was immediately followed by a discussion in other possible methods to deal with such a threat, which eventually evolved into a game of sorts. A game in which Harry would try to devise other possible means to subdue a troll or similar creature, ranging from mere confinement to more lethal options.

There was one particular combination he liked, which had been inspired by Hagrid's crossbow and praised by Flitwick for the simplicity of the required spells. It consisted in transfiguring a match into a needle, enlarging said needle and banishing it into the intended target. With sufficient marksmanship, it was capable of incapacitating the target or even land a killing blow if required. The two major drawbacks were that he has been carrying a box of matches everywhere and the banishing needed some extra juice for it to be effective against some creatures with a thicker hide, such as the impending troll.

Harry pulled out five matches, transfigured each into a needle and enlarged them to the size of a bolt. He knew he wouldn't have enough magic to banish with sufficient power more than five bolt-needles, so he didn't bother with more ammunition. If he failed, fire or vines would have to do.

Harry took a deep breath, trying to muster what little courage he could. His hands eased the trembling, but he couldn't get them to completely stop: he could only hope not to miss because of it. Despite of that, his resolve was strong and he wouldn't allow himself to fail. One way or another, Harry would take down that blasted troll. Hopefully before Hermione or Neville knew what was going on.

He slowly opened the door leading to the next room, careful of not making any noise that would draw unwanted attention. His breath choked on the back of his throat as the stench of the room assaulted him. It wasn't just the putrid smell characteristic of trolls, but also the smell of rotten flesh. Harry tried to hastily cast a bubble-head charm on himself and failed every time, the spell being too advanced for him under such a stressful situation.

Accepting the fact that he would just have to endure the stench, he pushed the door open the rest of the way. It was a cavernous circular room, damp and barely lit by a few torches. The place was bigger than any other rooms in the castle, second in size only to the Great Hall.

To his right, he noticed a makeshift bed of straws scattered over the ground, filthy with grime and certainly old straw. A crunching sound caught his attention and he finally spotted the troll in the far side of the room. The creature was crouched over some black and red cloth, it took him a moment to realise that it probably was the corpse of the student Neville referred to. Harry had to cover his mouth and fight back the rising bile; despite being forewarned he was still unprepared for the sight.

'Calm down, you've only got one chance' -He thought swallowing back his own bile.

Deciding to act before he could lose his nerve, Harry whispered the levitation charm and floated one of the bolt-needles in front of him.

"Depulso" -He said under his breath and the bolt-needle shot forward.

He poured enough magic into the spell to guarantee a piercing blow, but his aimed proved to be off and the bolt-needle embedded on the wall past the troll.

'Shit!' -He cursed himself within his mind, not daring to utter a word.

The troll grunted and looked up from its meal, staring at the offending bolt-needle in confusion.

Harry harnessed the momentary confusion of the creature to try and focus himself- "Come on, I've got to actually hit it for this to work. Depulso" -He muttered to himself.

The bolt-needle flew true to its target and with sufficient strength to pierce the troll's hide. It roared loudly, but it was a roar of anger rather than pain. The troll turned around as it pulled free the bolt-needle from its shoulder. Finally spotting Harry, it threw aside the bolt-needle and roared in defiance.

Harry could hear Hermione crying his name back in the Keys' Room. He immediately realized that he would have to hit a vital point if he was to have any hope at taking it down before things got really complicated. He prepared his third shot and hastily cried the spell- "Depulso!"

His shot went straight for the troll's heart, but in his carelessness the bolt-needle flew spinning sideways instead of a straight line. It hit the troll with one of its flat sides.

"For fucks sake!" -Harry cursed loudly as the troll finally charged at him with heavy steps. It was sheer luck that the room was big enough to prevent the troll from immediately trampling him all over despite its increasing speed.

Adrenaline was coursing hard through his body and it was only due to his Occlumency and Quidditch experience that he managed to keep a modicum amount of his focus. Harry took one breath, focused his eyes in the troll's center of the chest without straying his mind away from the spell- "Depulso" -He spoke loud and clear.

The shot was true to its target. But the troll didn't fall; it merely staggered in its charge. Harry reasoned that the shot didn't make enough damage to its heart or that the heart itself was somewhere else; he had never bothered to study a troll's anatomy after all.

On a second thought, he realized that at least he had managed to slow down its run. The downside was that the troll now looked even angrier than before, if that was even possible at all.

'Okay, last round. If I cannot pierce your heart, then I'll better pierce your thick skull' -Harry thought in a rush. Seeing how fast the troll still was, he knew that his chances of luring it into the wall of fire or the Razor Vine were less than slim- 'I'll have to make this count'

"Come and get me, you ugly bastard!" -Harry screamed in challenge.

The troll let out a mighty roar in response and tried to double up on its charge, somewhat hindered due to the bolt-needle still in his chest.

Reality seemed to slow down as Harry prepared his attack. With a flick of his wand, the bolt-needle hovered in place ready to be banished. The troll was fast approaching and he wouldn't stand a chance if he missed the shot. He gritted his teeth in anticipation, tightening the grip on his wand and pooled his magic within his body for that extra oomph.

The troll was ten feet away when Harry knew it was time.

"DEPULSO!" -He shouted a top of his lungs.

His aim was true and the bolt-needle shot right through its open maw. Blood sprayed everywhere due to the sheer force of the shot and for barely a moment, Harry was able to see all the way to the far wall through the troll's skull.

The troll came crashing down with its next step, forcing Harry to jump back to avoid being crushed. He stared in astonishment at the corpse of the troll, as blood poured from his first shot as brain and other innards hung from the hole in the back of its skull.

He had bested the creature. He had survived. Harry burst into deliriant laughter. A short-lived one at that, because some of the sprayed blood found its way to his open mouth and its putrid taste was enough to crash him back into reality. He turned around to the back wall, throwing up as he supported himself with both hands on the wall.

"Harry!" -He could hear Hermione calling his name from the Fire Room- "Oh my god! Harry! What the hell happened!?"

"It's nothing" -He tried to dismiss the experience, but a sidelong look to the fallen troll made him wretch again.

"What the fuck!? By Merlin's beard!" -Exclaimed Neville- "This mess surely don't look like nothing"

"What happened? Why did the troll come after you?" -She said rubbing his back before finally looking up and into the room. She covered her mouth trying not to throw up- "Oh gods! What…? Are those… giant needles? Harry! Did you come looking for the troll on purpose?!"

Harry walked back into the hallway and leaned his back against the wall; Neville and Hermione following right behind.

"I had to. I knew there was no other exit behind, so forward was the only way out"

"Argh! Harry Potter! Why on earth would you decide to fight an adult troll on your own!?" -Hermione screamed in anger.

"Nev didn't have a wand and I know how much of a nightmare the first one became to you" -He said with a strained smile.

Hermione stared at him in fury with tears beginning to trail down her cheeks. She slapped him across the face- "You gigantic dumbass! So instead of asking for help or coming up with a plan between all three of us, you sent us off into a wild goose chase while you face a mountain troll on your own?! Are you mental!? Why didn't you just wait for someone to come looking for us!?"

Harry raised a hand to his burning cheek- "Because… because I cannot allow myself to be expelled. I can take going back for one summer at a time, but not to be permanently cut off from this. Not now that I've met this kind of life. Not after meeting you" -He admitted with closed eyes.

Harry was momentarily startled when Hermione crushed him into a hug without uttering a word. She buried her face into his chest despite the splattered blood on him.

"You are so dense sometimes that you end up acting like an idiot" -She muttered into his chest- "I would have helped you if only you've asked. I would have helped you devise a plan not so reckless at the very least" -She looked up at him with tears welling up- "You are not the only one who found a precious new world. 'Cause I found you as well, you hear me?"

Hermione cupped his cheek and pulled him down into a kiss, intending to show how much she really cared. But Harry pulled away on the last second.

"No, wait! You don't wanna do that. Troll's blood tastes like shit and I've just puked, remember?"

"Oh, right" -She leaned in and kissed his cheek instead, but the troll's blood was still present there and she started to gag.

"Told ya" -Said Harry patting her back while Neville laughed at them not far off.

"You should scourgify your mouth, it'll wash away whatever is left" -Offered Neville in advice

Hermione did so without hesitation- "Thanks Nev. That thing does taste horrible"

Harry was tempted to do so as well, but he was still feeling strained from fighting off the troll and didn't want to risk a spell going bad inside of him. Hermione took notice of this- "Here, open up and let me" -She said doing the spell for him and repeating it once again across his face.

"Don't I get my kiss now?" -Harry joked.

Hermione cupped his cheek- "Only if you promise you won't put yourself in danger without letting me know first. And this time I want to hear you say it, unlike last time" -She said emphasizing the last part by pinching his cheek.

Harry chuckled- "Alright, I promise I'll let you know the next time I'm about to pull a daredevil stunt"

"Good" -She said before giving him a quick but passionate kiss- "But we better go now, I'd like to get out of this place someday"

"You and I, but first… Nev, would you mind making a smokescreen up ahead?" -Said Harry offering his wand.

"Uuhh… you know it's rather personal to borrow somebody else's wand, right? Besides, why would you want me to do that?" -Neville

"For once, I'm drained" -He joked before turning into a more somber tone- "And I'd rather not have a clear look at that bastard's dinner. They say ignorance is bliss after all"

"I can't argue with that" -Said Neville in an equally grim tone.

Neville went to the doorway and performed the spell. Nothing seemed out of place until for a moment, then Neville slumped forward.

"Neville!" -Hermione and Harry exclaimed and rushed towards their friend.

"What happened?" -Asked a worried Hermione helping him stand; while Harry scanned the newly formed and rather thick smokescreen for any threat.

"Harry's wand" -He said with a gasp- "It pulled on my magic more than I would have expected. How the hell can you use that everyday?"

Realizing that there was no threat at all, Harry snorted- "Not a clue, I barely know anything on wands. But I can only assume that you unintentionally overpowered the spell. I mean…" -He said running a hand into the smoke- "We could almost cut this smoke and serve it. It's so thick that it feels funny!"

"I'm glad you are amused by all this" -Moaned Neville

Hermione ran a curious hand through the smoke- "But he's right… it does feel weird to actually be able to feel it"

"Urgh, thanks for the support Hermione" -Neville groaned while gasping for air- "Can we take a short break? I know I don't have a wand but that the thing left me out of breath"

"Sure, it's not like we are on a clock anyway and I'm still rather spent as well" -Said Harry, before sitting on the floor by the hallway where the smoke wouldn't flood in- "Huh, you poured so much magic that you sort of caused a directional barrier"

They sat in silence for a while, long enough for Neville's breathing to even out.

"I think we can go now" -Said Neville- "I doubt I'll get much better without a pepper-up or a good rest"

"How are we gonna find our way to the other side?" -Asked Hermione- "We cannot dispel it and it's too thick to disperse"

"We better follow the wall" -Said Harry- "I think we have a clear path if we follow the left side"

Harry started leading the way over the left side of the wall, with Neville and Hermione following in tow. But a bad smell was growing stronger with each step, up to the point that they started gagging.

"I was wondering where all troll's dung was" -Complained Harry as he coughed.

"And you should, it makes a really good compost after all" -Said Neville.

Harry turned around in astonishment, perplexed when he realized that Neville wasn't even trying to cover his mouth- "How can you stand this stench?!... Oh, I forgot about the dragon dung. I'm also gonna guess that Hermione is using the bubble-head, right?"

"Yup" -Answered Hermione with a snicker from the back of the line, completely hidden by the smoke.

Harry snorted- "Thanks for the heads up you two"

All three of them kept going blindly until the next door, which Harry eagerly opened anxious for clear air.

"Oh come on!" -He complained- "Bloody thing already passed under the door! How much magic did you throw to make this much smoke?"

"I already told you it was your bloody wand's fault, it drained all I had" -Neville

Harry huffed- "I certainly hope it didn't leak this much into the next room or we'll end up going in blind"

They crossed the hallway and entered the next room. Harry cursed existence itself when he found smoke on the other side. Urging the other two to come through, he slowly closed the door shut and whispered- "Alright Hermione, try and see if you can disperse the smoke now"

"Allow me" -Said another voice.

Harry heard no whisper of a word as the smoke cleared out, rushing to the center of the room as if it were being sucked. Taking a quick glance around, he realized they were in another circular room. One a lot smaller than the troll's lair and way more cared after. A few circular steps surrounded a lower landing in the middle of the room, where a golden mirror stood in its center with Professor Quirrell standing in front.

"Professor, w-we -" –Neville.

"Silence!" -Quirrell commanded with an uncharacteristic steely voice. With a blind backswing of his wand, two consecutive spells connected with Neville's chest which sent him flying against the wall. He fell to the ground already unconscious and in chains.

"Neville!" -Hermione screamed and rushed to assist.

Harry for his part didn't dare to turn around, wary of the being they had presumed to be their professor- "What are you?" -Harry demanded, trying to sound more confident than he really was.

"What am I?" -He said in a credulous voice- "Oh such poor manners Mr. Potter. I thought you were raised to be better than that by your exemplary family" -Quirrell laughed perversely as he returned to inspect the mirror- "But oh, that would be rich... Don't tell me you actually bought into my act of the stuttering idiot?"

"With the kind of crap you've been teaching us, I can't really say it was hard to" -Replied Harry, faking confidence for whatever good it could do- "Now what kind of scum are you?"

Quirrell turned around in a swirl of motion throwing a quick spell to Harry's feet that disintegrated the stones in front of him- "Now don't get cocky boy, or you'll pay dearly for it. And you can drop the bravado, I know how little you know. But even if you had known the proper magics, you are no match to us!"

It was at that moment that Harry finally acknowledged that the stuttering fool who he had believed incapable of teaching was merely an act. The man who stood before him displayed the confidence and power he believed necessary to vanquish evil, such as he would expect from a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Albeit that this man had long ago lost his war against darkness, thus gaining his power. In fact, Harry realized that Quirrell's eyes momentarily burned red like embers; in a cruel promise of the terrible magic he was more than capable of unleashing.

"Harry, I can't manage to wake up Neville" -Hermione desperately cried behind him- "We have to go or-"

"SILENCE you filth! Imperio" -Quirrel snapped at her- "No one will be going anywhere, not unless I say so and I sincerely doubt any of you ever will"

"Yes master"

Harry listened to the droned answer of Hermione and he couldn't resist any longer, he tore his eyes away from Quirrell to look behind. For all he had tried to keep Quirrell occupied and focused on him, Neville laid broken and unmoving on the ground whereas Hermione stood abnormally still with a blank face.

"No…" -Harry's voice trembled- "No sweetie, you've got to fight it. Fight him! Cast him away from your mind!" -Tears ran freely. He had read some of the gross theory behind the unforgivables, so he knew that Hermione had to fight off the imperius from her own end if she was to escape unharmed- "Come on love! I can see that he hasn't submitted you yet! Fight it!"

Quirrell scoffed- "Oh, that's endearing. You think she's like that because I don't have her under my complete control? It's only because it's been awhile since my last time" -He said smugly- "Act normally girl"

It was as if a switch had been flipped. Hermione went from being a blank slate to her regular self, happy yet worried over some assignment. Despite how much he wanted to deny it, Harry would have been hard pressed to notice a difference from any other day. But like this? It wasn't hard to tell that her demeanor was at odds with the situation.

"Release her!" -He demanded with all his magic bubbling and burning inside. Quirrell irradiated nothing but perverse amusement at the situation. The evident dismissal caused Harry to snap- "Diffindo!"

Despite how he felt the magic rushing from him, fueling his severing charm out of anger and desperation; the spell didn't accomplish anything but annoy Quirrell as he effortlessly parried it away.

"Now boy, not even attending to that barbaric mockery of dueling did you learn to pick opponents of your own level. Let's try and rectify that, it would hardly be a challenge if I took you on my own"

Quirrell's focus seemed to momentarily shift and Harry soon realized why. A spell landed next to his feet, coming from behind.

"I'll be your opponent for today, love" -Said Hermione as if nothing were wrong.

"No, no, no… you BASTARD! Leave her out of this" -Shouted Harry while walking away from her, circling around the room.

"Oh come on Harry; let's just play for a bit!" -She said nibbling her left index- "I'll tell you what, I'll go first and you can follow. Depulso"

The banishing charm was off target, shooting past Harry and blasting a considerable size of the wall behind him.

Hermione hummed- "I better be careful or there will be nothing left of you for my master. And he does need you after I teach you a thing or two. But it's your turn! So go on, cast away. I promise I won't bite… much" -She said with an unnatural sultry smile.

"No… no I can't! Hermione snap out of it! Fight him back!" -Harry cried out loud- "I can't hurt you, please!"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk" -She said shaking her head- "You are gonna make me force it out of you, are you not? Diffindo"

The cutting charm nicked him in the arm, shredding that side of his robes without causing more than a shallow cut.

Harry stopped walking- "See? You don't wanna hurt me either" -He pleaded with tears in his eyes- "Please, you have to break free"

"Oh love, you can be so stubborn sometimes" –Hermione said with a giggle- "But let's try something more… personal" -Said narrowing her eyes and aiming to his groin- "Diffindo"

Harry couldn't help but flinch this time, as he felt the spell cutting his inner thigh slightly below his boxers.

"Huh… I would have expected that famous Boy Who Lived to carry more of a… package" -She said with a teasing smile.

Harry put away his wand in his wrist-holster and walked slowly towards her- "No, you didn't" -He spoke shaking his head- "You never really saw me that way. And it's just that… you are still you. And you wouldn't allow him to make you hurt me"

"So not only stubborn, but also naive. Is this the champion of fate who was capable of besting my master?" -Hermione said with disdain.

"No love, I'm no one else's but your champion. So come on, push him out from you. Let me help you"

"Not a step closer" -She grumbled, pressing the tip of her wand against his brow- "I know you are probably the key for that wretched mirror, but we could always try first with your unconscious body. Stupe-"

Harry didn't give her the time to finish the incantation. In a swirl of motion, he pushed her wand arm away from him as he took a step aside. He grabbed her by the wrist and struck her arm with a fist, hard enough for her to drop her wand. Letting go of her arm, he stepped behind her and proceeded to lock her in the best choke hold he could manage.

"Let me- go" -She said gasping for air.

"I can't… not until you break free" -Harry whispered from behind, tears running freely.

Hermione struggled against him for a few moments, but her lack of training and oxygen soon did its job. Her strength started to wane and it didn't take much longer for her to fall unconscious- "Thanks" -She softly whispered before her body went limp.

Quirrell burst into a maniacal laughter accompanied by a mocking applause- "Impressive. Seems that despite all of my efforts, you know better than to risk the magical backlash she could have suffered from the Imperio"

Harry watched her unconscious face for a moment, before gently lowering her to the ground with her back resting against the wall- "Why? Why are you doing all this?" -He turned to stare at his former professor with burning fury- "What could you possibly intend to gain from a mirror? Would you at least grant me that much Quirrell?!"

"What?" -Quirrell was momentarily perplexed, but he only needed a second for a new glint of madness shine in his eyes- "Oh I can see now… so Dumbledore's once more about to pay the steepest price for all of his secrecy and machinations"

'Dumbledore? Why…? Could he have known all along?'

"Indeed Potter boy, you've been attending classes with your personal devil in a sheep's skin" -He said calm and collected, buy in an utterly perverse way.

Quirrell casted two quick and silent spells at him. Harry cursed himself for being caught off guard, having been too expectant of finally getting some answers.

"Interesting… I've been half afraid that whatever magic had the filth of your mother employed to protect you would still be in place" -He said levitating Harry's paralyzed and binded body towards him- "I'd rather have you awake for the next part, unlike my little slave expressed herself"

Quirrell levitated his body in front of the mirror, before casting a second spell for Harry to move his head- "Now, tell me-"

"Why? Why are you doing this?" -Grumbled Harry.

"Uncover me" -Rumbled a sinister voice.

Harry was taken by surprise, having believed that they were alone. Greater was his shock when Quirrell undid his turban, tied it across his waist and proceeded to unrobe his torso.

Quirrell's chest appeared to be suffering from decay. Black veins originated over his heart, spreading towards the rest of his body beyond the current halo of rot. Suddenly, two scorching eyes opened over the centre of it all and stared at him with hatred.

"This is why" -Spoke the sinister voice, coming from a mouth on the rotten flesh filled with corrupted blood- "Because this kind of existence is unfit for the great Lord Voldemort!"

Harry was horrified at the discovery. The one reason he had lost it all, one who was presumably dead… still roamed the earth.

"Now gaze into the mirror and tell me where the Philosopher's Stone is!" -Rumbled Voldemort as Quirrell approached him and forced his face to look into the mirror.

"Argh" -Quirrell complained, but Harry was no longer paying attention.

He felt entranced by the magic woven into the mirror, enough to not even react in surprise when his reflection started to move of its own accord. With barely a strain his reflection broke free of its bindings and proceeded to stretch his back and limbs. He hopped a few times in place and grinned back at Harry. He pulled a shiny ruby from his pockets and showcased it around before putting it in his mouth and swallowing it. His reflection made a pantomime of belching before bowing to an invisible public and disappeared. The reflection turned back to reality itself as Harry suddenly felt something unsettling his stomach.

Everything had apparently happened in the fraction of a second, because it was just then that Quirrell was pulling his hand away from him. He tried to shake of whatever had stung him before pausing to take a look at his hand- "Aaa! Master! What is happening?"

"The curse still protects him!" -Voldemort roared- "But the boy has the stone! Quick you worm, disembowel the pest!"

Realizing that he was no longer paralyzed and his bindings were cut loose as they had in the mirror, he jumped aside as a yellow curse sped towards where he stood. Unluckily, the curse impacted on the mirror causing its magic to collapse and explode. The blast launched him against the outer steps as plenty of shards proceeded to embed in his back.

Harry pushed himself to focus on the fight and ignore the pain. He glanced back, bracing himself for an oncoming spell, but stood staring as Quirrell's arm burned to cinders. It was slowly but surely climbing up his arm. Quirrell screamed in pain as he tried everything he knew to stop it from spreading, but nothing really worked. It was already past his elbow when he ran out of options: pointing his wand at the joint of his shoulder, he severed his arm from his body. It fell with a thud, causing it's already burnt parts to come undone as ashes while the curse continued to burn the rest of the limb.

"Now you fool! Get the boy so I can regain my own body!" -Voldemort demanded.

"But wh-" -Quirrell

"NOW!" -Voldemort

Harry got back to his feet careful of not driving any glass further into his body. He tried to raise his wand to cast but a shard in the back of his upper arm forced him to let it go limp instead. Quirrell raised his own wand towards him and Harry knew he was doomed. Harry glanced behind him, finding Hermione still unmoving against the wall with plenty of glass shards across her robes and blood trailing from a cut on her cheek. Looking back, Quirrell's wand began to shine as his magic gathered before being released, but at the last second he flinched and the spell went astray.

"ARGH!" -Quirrell screamed in pain, letting go of his wand to hold the stump of his shoulder.

Harry caught a glimpse of the fallen arm, which had turned to completely ashen by now. Looking back to Quirrell, he realized that the curse consuming him from within was still going rampant.

"You pathetic fool! How could you ruin this!?" -Voldemort roared in anger- "Enjoy your demise then!"

A shadow started to flow from the mouth on Quirrell's chest and he went stiff as if he had been crucified. Faster than the burn spreading from his shoulder, the decay and rot consumed his body as more and more of the shadow flowed out, becoming a murky yet floating darkness by the end of it.

Quirrell's rotten body fell to the ground as the curse continued to burn it away, while the darkness floated in place. The same two scorching eyes opened in its midst, before Voldemort's voice resonated within the room- "You will pay for this!" -It grumbled with absolute hatred.

It sped towards the ceiling, but before it could completely disappear a wisp of dark spectre separated from the whole and rushed towards Harry. He didn't have time to react before it went through his stomach, heating up in the process and rushing into his forehead.

Harry felt a sudden rush of rage as his vision tinted with red, before everything became too much for him and fainted.

%%%

Harry woke up in soft sheets impregnated with the smell of sanitizer. He stirred and groaned in pain, not from his body but from his head. Regardless of it, he tried to sit on his bed as he opened his eyes only to be blinded by the intense whiteness of the infirmary. He could listen to hurried steps from Poppy's office as someone approached.

"Easy, easy Harry" -Soothed Poppy as she gently forced him to lay back- "Where does it hurt?"

"H-head" -Groaned Harry as he pressed a hand against his forehead desperate to ease the pain.

"Anywhere else?" -Poppy

"Can't tell. My head is killing me" -He groaned again.

"Okay, let me bring you something"

It probably took only a moment for Poppy to retrieve the potion from her office and just a few minutes for it to take effect. But to Harry, it all seemed to prolong for ages due to the pounding headache he had. It had felt as if his mind would shatter from the pressure he was feeling inside, regardless of his modest skill in Occlumency.

Once the pain started to fade, he opened his eyes to find Poppy standing by his side with a contemplative expression- "Are you feeling better?" -She asked to which he nodded- "I see… were you under the Imperius at any given moment?"

"Not that I know off, why?" -Asked Harry.

"Because-"

Poppy was interrupted by the infirmary main door being opened. Immediately followed by the clang of a metal tray falling to the floor along the shattering of plates with food. Without a single care for the mess, Tonks barreled across the infirmary in order to crash him into a hug- "Harry! Thank Merlin you are okay"

Harry patted her back, but it only served for her to tighten her embrace- "N-Nym! Let-go" -He pleaded grasping for breath.

"Oh! I'm sorry! Are you hurt? What happened?!" -Tonks exclaimed

"I'm mostly fine, but we were just going over why Poppy suspects the Imperius" -He said turning to look at her.

Poppy opted for raising an eyebrow at Nym instead of explaining- "The compromise with you Ms. Tonks being here was to assist me and care for them. Not making a mess of my floor and strangling said patients"

"S-sorry Poppy. I promise I'll clean up, but I want to hear his condition first… please?" -Nym pleaded with enlarged puppy eyes.

"Tsk, fine" -Said Poppy shaking her head- "For starters, Harry is physically fine. He had nothing beyond the bruising and cuts you and I healed soon after they arrived. His magical core was slightly overcharged, quite the contrast considering Mr Longbottom suffered magical exhaustion and Ms Granger was on the brink from it" -She paused for a moment, seemingly considering things over once more. Poppy picked the empty phial of his latest potion- "However, his mind was considerably overloaded when Harry regained consciousness and quite possibly about to shatter. I administered him with a potion designed to help recover from an Imperius backlash and it has apparently worked…" -She explained trailing into her thoughts.

After a moment of silence, Nym spoke- "Doesn't that mean he was under the Imperius before it was forcefully interrupted? Shouldn't we be looking for someone with the same symptoms? Like… whoever we find with the lesser backlash will probably be who attacked all three of them and put Harry under the Imperius"

"Huh? What are you talking about?" -Asked Harry

"Weren't the three of you ambushed?" -Asked Nym

"Umm… not quite so. We were checking out the Trials when-"

"Hold on a moment a Harry" -Poppy interrupted him, before speaking to the infirmary at large- "Tiggy, would you please summon Minerva as well as the headmaster? We may save Harry some repetition that way"

"Yes Ms Poppy" -A disembodied voice replied from over one corner before they heard the popping noise of a house elf apparating.

"Hey! Why did you send me to fetch our food if we had an elf around?" -Complained Nym

Poppy turned to smirk at her- "So you wouldn't drive the both of us insane with worry. I thought that a walk across the castle might help you clear your mind"

Nym huffed and Harry chuckled at that, as they waited for Minerva and Dumbledore so Harry could tell his story.

.%%%

A/N 01: