If one was to venture into the dark depths of Hogwarts castle, they'd stumble upon a most unusual and shocking sight. Harry Potter, the famous Boy-Who-lived, unconscious and possibly injured. The schools DADA teacher with a deformed face reeking of Dark Magic attached to his head, and a young and outstanding first year Slytherin on one knee, prostrating herself to said Professor.
Or more specifically, the parasite connected to him.
Voldemort raised an eyebrow at the infamous Pureblood family name. He was certain there weren't any Rosier's that still carried the surname, the family should only exist in blood. "๐๐ฐ๐ด๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฆ๐ณ?" He hissed questioningly.
Quirrell however, didn't believe a word of it. "This is Ariana Rose, My lord." He confessed. "She is one of my students. Not a Rosier."
Hearing this, the girl in question rushed to defend herself. "I simply chose not to take my fathers last name to avoid suspicion, my family wasn't trusted by many people. Actually, you may have heard of my father." She said.
"๐๐ฉ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ? ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ช๐ด๐ด ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ง๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐จ๐ช๐ณ๐ญ?" Voldemort asked curiously. There weren't many people he deemed worthy of remembering, so he was curious as to the identity of the child's father.
Perhaps he took part in the war?
"Evan Rosier, My Lord."
Voldemort immediately broke into a dark and chilling laughter. It all made more sense to the Dark Lord now. "๐๐ฎ๐ฎ ๐บ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ด, ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ. ๐๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐๐ฐ๐ด๐ช๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ. ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ'๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ญ๐ฐ๐บ๐ข๐ญ ๐ด๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด, ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ค๐ช๐ณ๐ค๐ญ๐ฆ."
Although too weak to use Legilimency, he could still separate truth from lies, and this girl had been entirely honest so far.
Hearing the Dark Wizard's words, Ariana's thoughts couldn't help but wonder to her father in this life. She'd never gotten to meet him. Of course she never desired to. However, it would be strange if she didn't at least wonder what he was like.
She knew next to nothing about him. Not even how he died.
Hesitating for a moment, the young Witch decided she wanted to know. "D-Do you know how he died?" She probed.
"๐ ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ด, ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด๐ด ๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ๐ด๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ. ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐บ ๐ช๐ง ๐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ญ."
Ariana's eyes widened at the answer. To think such a famous Auror had killed her father. She wanted ask more questions, but was interrupted.
"๐๐ด๐ด๐ฐ, ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ซ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ฆ." Voldemort assessed. It wasn't question, rather a fact.
Rising from the ground, she once again offered the stone. "Yes. Now that I know you're not as dead as the world seems to think, I wish to follow in my fathers footsteps and serve you in your mission to cleanse Wizarding Britain." She clarified, her voice betraying her confidence, quivering slightly.
The Dark Lord grinned a cruel grin, taking immense pleasure from her fear.
Not waiting this time round, Quirrell immediately snatched the Stone from her hands and pocketed it himself. Both the Professor and Voldemort visibly rejoiced at the object of their desire finally being in their possession.
Especially the latter. With this, his return was made certain. It was only a matter of time now. The stone would also work to push him further into immortality.
Voldemort caught Ariana's bright green eyes. For the first time in over a decade The Dark Lord was in a good mood. "๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฎ๐บ '๐ญ๐ฐ๐บ๐ข๐ญ' ๐ง๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ด๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ด๐ด." He praised.
She tried to smile at the compliment. "Thank you My Lord. I was onl-" she started, only to be cut off.
"๐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ซ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ. ๐๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ, ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ด๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ด๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ ๐ง๐ข๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐บ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ."
Ariana's widened at that part. A cold shiver danced across her body as she instantly feared what the psycho had in store for her. "W-What do you mean?" She stammered.
He preened at her fear. "๐'๐ฎ ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ง๐ฐ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐บ? ๐ ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด, ๐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ค๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด๐ด ๐ง๐ข๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ด๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐ช๐ฅ๐ข๐บ๐ด๐ด๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐ช๐ต ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ด๐ด." He happily clarified.
Ariana blanched at the revelation. Unconsciously grinding her teeth to prevent herself from saying the wrong thing, she stared right back into his red, snake-like eyes, and realised there was no room for debate.
This was her first official order from her new Lord. If she wasn't willing to give up a single Holiday, then she would be of no further use. Rather, she would go from an ally, to an extremely loose end.
Voldemort watched her reaction in thinly veiled interest. He was intentionally treating her like an adult, and not the 12 year old she was. This was simply because she was clearly not like other children in his eyes.
A powerful stunner? Low level Occlumency? These are things no normal child should have accomplished.
He observed as the Witch came to a decision. "Yes My Lord. I would gladly accompany the Malfoys home this summer." She grudgingly bit out.
His grin took a dark turn for the second time tonight. "๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ." He hissed. "Dumbledore, the senile fool, will be here soon and he mustn't suspect your involvement in the Stone's theft. I trust you are capable of deceiving them?" He scrutinized.
"Yes I can. Deluding people into overlooking my hand in this is the least of my problems."
"We shall see. Quirinus!" He barked.
Before Ariana even realised what he intended to do, it was too late. Professor Quirrell's wand lashed out and a white spell she didn't recognise struck her chest.
Exhausted, she fell into darkness.
...
London, Ministry Of Magic.
Despite it being late into the night, The Ministry Of Magic was still bustling with Witches and Wizards going about their business.
On the 1st Level of the Ministry a rather important piece of business was being discussed between Minster Cornelius Fudge and the famous Hogwarts Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore.
Sat in a luxurious office, walls laced with gold and countless other priceless ores, the two were interrupted as an ethereal blue cat came flying through the ceiling like a ghost.
Dumbledore was the first to react, instantly rising from his seat. He quickly recognised the cat as the Patronus of his Vice-Principle, Minerva. His face darkened at the implications.
Minerva knew just as well as him of the importance of this meeting. It was not to be disturbed lightly. Something serious must have happened.
Cornelius watched in interest as the corporeal Patronus turned to face Albus. From the outside perspective the old man seemed to be an open book, but this was far from the truth and Fudge knew it.
Any opportunity to learn more information regarding Dumbledore and his lot was not to be missed.
Just as the Patronus was about to deliver the message, Albus's finger twitched oh so slightly, just a mere flick. And with it, a wandless Muffliato was cast.
Fudge listened intensely, only to surprisingly hear nothing. He swiftly noticed what was happening, his cheeks turning a deep shade of red in frustration. If there was anything the Minster could do, it was too late.
He could only watch as the Patronus faded away.
Sharp on the uptake again, Dumbledore spoke first. "My apologies Cornelius, but it appears I must cut this meeting short. Something urgent has come and it requires my immediate attention." He explained politely, his voice betraying nothing.
...
Hogwarts
"W-Where am I?" A raspy sounding Harry croaked.
He winced at the bright sunlight shining through the ceiling-tall windows. Taking a moment for his eyes to adjust, he tried to remember what happened.
'We went to stop Snape from stealing the Stone, and the-'
It suddenly hit him like a ton of bricks. 'The challenges, Ron, Quirrell and oh god.' His face paled, and his breathing began to pick up as memories of that night came pouring in.
Just like that his body went into overdrive as he instantly shot up and took in his surroundings.
"The infirmary." He sighed, calming down once he realised there was no evil Dark Lord nearby.
"Mr Potter!"
A shrill voice drew Harry out of his thoughts. Spinning around he spotted a ragged looking Madam Pomfrey. The Healer had clearly been up all night.
Harry made to stand from his bed, however didn't get very far before Madam Pomfrey appeared by his side. "Absolutely not young man! You are not to leave this bed until I've cleared you healthy!" She badgered, forcing him down.
"B-But Mada-"
"Now you stay right here! I am going pop off and grab The Headmaster now that you're awake. Whilst I'm gone take this potion. It will help with the dizziness." She ruthlessly cut him off and handed a wispy, white coloured potion.
Harry could only helplessly watch as she rushed out the infirmary.
He couldn't help the pit that formed in his stomach. It seemed this was a lot more serious then he thought. 'What if they expel me?' He choked internally.
'The Boy-Who-Lived, expelled in his First Year. I'd have to go back to Dursleys.' Tears began to well in his eyes at the thought.
"Psst, Harry." Someone whispered.
Quickly wiping his eyes he scanned the room for the source.
"Put your glasses on you idiot!" Whoever it was didn't bother whispering the second time.
Blushing in embarrassment Harry felt around for his spectacles, finding them neatly placed on the bedside table. He rushed to put them on, noticing the glass had been cracked.
"Ariana?" He exclaimed, seeing the pretty red headed girl that faced Voldemort with him.
Similarly to Harry, she had been bed bound by Madam Pomfrey.
He was happy to see a friendly face. "Thank god you're alright Ariana! Do you remember what happened? We saw Voldemort down there!" He remarked, still not quite believing it himself.
The girl grimaced. "I remember. We were wrong about Professor Snape Harry, I can't believe it. Professor Quirrell of all people." She mumbled depressingly.
"That's my fault Ariana. Hermione and Ron's as well. We're the ones that told you Professor Snape would steal the ston-" Harry froze midsentence. He had completely forgotten about the most important thing, the reason they went down there in the first place.
His face paled. "W-What exactly did happen? The last I remember was Quirrell running towards me, and then I felt something hit my back. What happened to the Stone?" He stammered in worry,
Ariana quietly kissed her teeth at the 'something hit my back' part. She was hoping he felt nothing. "It was You-know-who Harry. He must of used a spell because the last thing I saw was you flying like someone had hit you with a bloody car." She lied.
"The same thing happened to me, and I must of hit my head because I can't remember too much from before that either. As for the stone, well, I don't know. I think You-know-who might have gotten it."
At the revelation of events Harry felt like crawling into a hole. If what his friend said was true, then he'd helped Voldemort!
The Dark Lord had been unable to retrieve the Stone from the mirror, until Harry had gotten it for him!
He was beginning to have a hard time breathing.
Ariana wanted to talk some more, but it was too late. The door to the infirmary suddenly swung open. A white-faced Dumbledore along with Madame Pomfrey, Ron and Hermione came storming in.
All four individuals rushed to Harry's side.
Dumbledore took one look at the boy and sighed in relief. "It seemed you were right Poppy, the boy is fine."
"Of course I was Albus."
Hermione and Ron also smiled at the news. "Blimey Harry, just what happened after me and Mione left?! Did you stop Snape from stealing the stone?" Ron blurted.
Hermione blushed at the nickname, quickly hiding it. "Y-Yeah. What did happen? We were waiting in here when the Headmaster brought you and Ariana in, both hurt."
Dumbledore also wanted know what took place in his castle. "I think it would be best if Miss Rose joined us for this discussion and helped illuminate last nights events." He said calmly.
Ariana shuddered at her name. Swiftly preparing her Occlumency she stood from her bed and joined them.
Not wanting the child to move around too much, Madam Pomfrey grabbed her a small wooden chair to rest on and placed it besides Harry's bed. The Healer proceeded to dismiss herself.
As Pomfrey exited the Infirmary, Dumbledore, Hermione and Ron expectantly turned to the only two who could shed light on he situation.
Harry and Ariana told their story
"What!? Snape's innocent!?"
"It was Quirrell who tried to steal the Stone?"
"Voldemort!?"
"On the back of his head Harry? Are you sure about that? I haven't heard of any magic like that in my books."
Dumbledore remained silent throughout the recount of what went down, however his frown only got deeper as time went on.
He knew what this meant. Voldemort was most certainly alive, and now he had one of the most powerful magical items in the world. With it he could easily forge himself a new vessel.
At best, The Dark Lord would return in a matter of days. The man responsible for the death of over a hundred brave Wizards and Witches, including many close friends of his, was coming back.
'The world isn't ready. The boy isn't ready!'
Dumbledore stood from his seat and took a good look at the four students. "What took place last night will not leave this room. You are not to mention it to anybody. The severity of this matter will not be overlooked, and the adults will take care of it." He said gravely.
"However, do not assume this will go unpunished. There may only be 4 weeks left until the Holidays, but you most certainly will not enjoy them."
....
4 days later, Azkaban
Sirius Black had long since lost count of the years going by. It was hard to keep track of anything with the soul sucking Dementors slowly leaching at any sanity he had left.
Unable to tell day from night, his only 'clock' was when the Dementors brought in food.
Sitting in a dark cell with nothing but a piece of thin, black and white prison wear on, he stared off into the nothingness. The cell had practically no light source besides a small torch, all the way on the other end of his Cell-block.
It was the only thing that illuminated the floor. At times Sirius wondered how the torch never went out. The environment in Azkaban was insanely cold, some prisoners who stayed long enough even died from it.
Slowly standing, the sickly Sirius struggled to support his own weight. Bare, blistered feet slapped against the hard, cold and wet ground. Moving towards the bars of his cell, something had caught his attention.
It was shouting, coming from the lower floors.
This wasn't unusual, far from it actually. Azkaban was chock-full of crazies who thought screaming would help pass the time.
It was rather what they were shouting that had got his attention.
Listening closely, he made out the laughter of Rodolphus Lestrange. "He has returned!"
'What?' He thought in confusion. 'Who's returned?'
That was when Sirius heard the voice of the single person he resented most in this place. "He's back, Blood traitor!"
Fitting his head through the bars, he turned to one of his only living blood relatives left. An equally malnourished Bellatrix Lestrange sat on the floor of her cell. The once beautiful aristocrat was gone.
Her hollow cheeked smile of glee held a visible insanity. "He's back cousin!" She sang mockingly.
Bellatrix slowly raised her arm to show that the once faded Dark Mark, had returned to life. The mark had regained it's vigour entirely, snaking across her skin in excitement.
"He's back!" She howled with psychotic laughter, the cackles sending a chill down Sirius's spine.
'Impossible!'