Chapter Ten: Seven Challenges
Ron now knew that exams were a horrible experience. He couldn't remember all that stuff for History of Magic, it was really difficult to remember how to brew the Forgetfulness Potion when Snape was breathing down all of their necks, and why were they supposed to be able to make a pineapple tap dance? He had no idea what they would need to use that for outside of school. It was stifling hot and all of the exams were charmed with anti-cheating spells.
After their last exam, they went out to lay in the sunshine, something neither boy had had time for in the past two months. The twins were tickling the giant squids tentacles, causing it to squirt black ink everywhere. Blake was sitting underneath a tree reading. Ron lay on his back looking up at the sky and Neville was eating another chocolate frog.
Suddenly Ron sat up.
"What?" Neville asked, concerned.
Without answering, Ron jumped up and began running over to Hagrid's cabin.
"What is it?" Neville repeated.
"Don't you think it's a bit odd," he finally panted as he climbed over the hill. "That what Hagrid's always wanted most of all is a pet dragon, and randomly some stranger in a pub happens to have one? I mean, how many people just wander around with dragon eggs? Why didn't I see it before?"
They finally reached his cabin where Hagrid was sitting on his porch with his sleeves rolled up, shelling peas into a large bowl.
"Hullo," Hagrid said, smiling at them. "Finished yer exams? Got time fer tea?"
"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?"
"I dunno he kept his hood up." The two boys looked at each other stunned. "It's not all that unusual. Yeh get all kinds of funny people in the Hog's Head. He mighta been a dragon dealer couldn't he? I never saw his face."
Ron stood there, still looking stunned.
"What did you talk about? Did you mention Hogwarts?"
"Mighta come up," Hagrid replied, frowning as he tried to remember. "Yeah…he asked me wha' I did an' I said I was gamekeeper…He asked a bit about the sort o' creatures I look after…so I told him an' I said how much I've wanted to have a dragon…an' then…I can' remember too well, he kept buyin' me drinks…an' then he said I could have the egg if I won the game…but he wanted teh make sure I could keep up with a dragon, an' I said after Fluffy, a dragon would be easy."
"Did he seemed interested in Fluffy?" Ron asked, really getting alarmed now.
"O' course he was! How often do yeh come across a three headed dog? I jus' told him that the trick teh any beast is teh know how teh calm em. Take Fluffy for example, all yeh have teh do is play a bit o' music an' he falls right asleep!" Hagrid suddenly looked horrified and the two boys ran up to the castle. Ron then told Neville that Snape must have been under the hood, and now he knew how to get past Fluffy.
Meanwhile Draco came running up to Harish, with Hermione right behind him.
"Harish!" Draco panted. "Harish!"
Harish looked up from his book and Draco skidded to a halt. Hermione stopped beside him and they both panted hard.
"What is it?" Harish asked.
"Dumbledore's gone," Hermione replied.
"And Quirrell received a letter just now. He's going through the trapdoor tonight."
Harish grinned. "Perfect."
The twins then came up and asked him, "What's going on?"
"We're going after the stone tonight. Look Draco, Hermione, I need you two to watch Ronniekins and Longbottom."
"What for?" Draco asked.
"I think they think Professor Snape is trying to steal the stone. I just need you to keep them out of our way, all right?" The two first years nodded. Harish was grinning like a madman now. He rubbed his hands together and said once again, "Perfect!"
Harish gave the map to Hermione and the two first years then waited outside the Gryffindor common room, to make sure they didn't leave. At midnight Harish gathered up the cloak, he and the twins got underneath it, and they made their way to the forbidden corridor. Harish opened the door the sound of a harp playing reached his ears.
He swore and muttered, "Quirrell's already been through here." The twins nodded and they pulled the trapdoor open. "You two go first."
Again they nodded and Fred jumped through, followed quickly by George.
"Are you all right?" Harish asked after he heard two soft thuds.
"Yeah—"
"There's a soft landing. "
"Ok," he said softly and he heaved himself through the whole in the floor. He glanced around before jumping. "This is Devil's Snare!"
The twins looked down to see that while they had been sitting there, the Devil's Snare had coiled its vines around their legs and arms.
"Lumos solem!" Harish exclaimed and a bright jet of light shot out of his wand. He heaved George up. "Come on!" and they went through a stone passageway. Water dripped from one of the walls and hit Harish.
"We must be miles—"
"Beneath the school," the twins whispered.
"Do you hear that?" he asked as they rounded a corner.
"Sounds like—"
"Wings."
They came to a stop at a door and Harish wrenched it open to reveal a room full of colourful winged creatures.
"Do you think they'll attack—"
"If we cross the room?"
"I don't know," Harish said. He conjured a shield and darted across the room, but nothing attacked. He tried to pull open the door, but it was locked. So he tried unlocking it magically, but it still wouldn't budge.
"Harish," George said. "They're keys."
"I bet the one we need is up there!" Fred shouted.
"There!" Harish said. "The big one! The others are much too small for this keyhole." He looked over and saw brooms lining the wall. "This must be Madam Hooch's enchantment." He laughed. "This is too easy."
And Harish grabbed one of the brooms. Instantly the other keys began swarming around him. He gritted his teeth and batted several away before spotting the right key and charging after it. Soon the twins joined him and they were spinning about the room, attempting to corner the key. Finally Harish pulled into a dive and caught it, rumpling its already damaged wing.
The young wizard then stuffed it into the keyhole and unlocked the door. The next room had black and white tiled floor. Sitting on each of the tiles was a giant statue.
"It's a chessboard," Fred said.
And indeed it was. Harish stepped onto the board and the pawns crossed their swords to keep them from walking to the other side.
"We have to play our way across," Harish said, disappointed. He had never been patient enough for chess. They really didn't have time if they wanted to get the stone before Quirrell. He thought for a minute before saying, "I've got a better idea." He pulled out his wand and pointed it ahead. "Get behind me and when I say 'now' cast shield charms above us."
"Okay."
"Sure."
"Ready? Now—Bombarda!"
Rocks flew everywhere and bounced off the shields that the twins had cast. Harish signalled for them to lower their wands and they did so. There was dust everywhere and a giant crater in the centre of the room. All of the pieces were destroyed. Smirking, he made his made through the room and to the other door. The twins walked a little ways behind him, gaping at the wreckage.
"Way too easy," he said before opening the door.
A disgusting smell filled their noses causing them all to bring their shirts up to block the scent. Eyes watering, Harish saw that a troll was lying flat on the floor before them. It was even bigger than the one on Halloween and it had a great big bloody lump on its head.
"Ugh," Harish said as they paused to glance at it. "Come on, I can't breathe."
He pulled open the next door. There was nothing disgustingly frightening in here. There was just a table with a bunch of potions and a piece of parchment sitting on top of it. There were seven potions in total. As they stepped over the threshold, the door slammed shut behind them and a fire sprang up before it and the one on the other side of the room.
"Snape's," he said, picking up the parchment. On it was a riddle. He loved riddles!
The riddle read:
Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,
Two of us will help you, whichever you would find,
One among us seven will let you move ahead,
Another will transport the drinker back instead,
Two of our number hold only nettle wine,
Three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line,
Choose, unless you wish to stay here forever more,
To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:
First, however slyly the poison tries to hide,
You will always find some on nettle wine's left side;
Second, different are those who stand at either end,
But if you would move onward, neither is your friend;
Third, as you see clearly, all are different size,
Neither dwarf nor giant holds death inside;
Fourth, the second left and the second on the right,
Are twins once you taste them, but different at first sight.
"Oh, this is brilliant!"
"Does it make—"
"Sense to you?" the other two asked incredulously.
"Yes, just give me a second." He pointed to the bottles on second left and second right. "These are wine, which means the poison is here," he pointed to three bottles. He pointed to the giant bottle on the end. "This will take us back." And he pointed finally to the smallest bottle, the third one in the row. "This will take us forward."
"It's tiny," the twins said together.
He nodded. "Only enough for one person, and there's—"
"Enough for two people—"
"In this one." George held up the bottle to take them back.
"So you go back and I go forward?" Harish asked, receiving nods. "All right then. See you in the common room."
They parted ways. Harish downed the potion and went through the black fire and the door at the end, leaving his two friends behind.
There he saw exactly who he expected: Professor Quirrell. He was standing in front of the Mirror of Erised.
"So it was you!" Harish exclaimed with a satisfied smile.
"Yes, it was me," Quirrell said. He was facing the mirror and hadn't turned when he spoke to the boy.
"But…" Harish muttered, puzzled. His eyebrows drew together as he thought. "Why did you try to kill me? I mean, you, a professor!"
"That's what my employer seemed to think…Didn't want me to draw attention to myself…no matter. I would've killed you anyway, if I hadn't been distracted."
"You didn't answer my question," the thirteen-year-old boy drawled.
Quirrell finally turned to face him and smiled. The smile didn't quite reach his eyes.
"I know who your father is, that's why," the man snapped. "Blake! Or should I say Riddle?"
Harish froze. Not only did this man know who his father is, he also knew who he once was. No one except himself, Voldemort, Nagini, Bella, and maybe Lucius knew who Tom Riddle was.
"Yes, poor Riddle so far from his daddy. What do you see in the mirror? A real family I expect."
Harish didn't reply but started thinking again. "You said employer…" he muttered. "Who do you work for?" Quirrell didn't say anything but his expression grew dark. "I mean, you taught Muggle Studies last year. You would not have done something like this then. You met someone who changed your mind. Who was it?"
"No one of your concern!" the professor snapped. He then turned back to the mirror.
"Ah," Harish said, smiling. "You don't know me as well as you think."
"What does that matter?"
"Everything. You see, being the son of Voldemort, I am far more advanced than your average third year."
"What do y—"
"Expelliarmus, Incarcerous!" Harish shouted and Quirrell's wand shot across the room. Then, ropes shot out of his wand, binding Quirrel from his shoulder to his feet. The rope snapped so tight around his ankles that he fell over and all he could do was wriggle a couple feet before he gave up on standing up.
Harish then walked up to the mirror and stood in front of it properly. The other Harish in the mirror pulled a blood red stone out of his pocket and winked, before placing the stone in his pocket. Harish was surprised as he felt something heavy actually fall into his pocket.
"Well," he said, turning to his professor. "I have what I want. Now, I am going to let you go and you are going to run far. As far from here as you can."
"Why? I could help you get what you saw! If you give me that stone, we could do impossible things!"
Harish smirked. "I know how to get what I want. I do not need some miserable old man who tried to kill me to get it for me."
He walked past the professor and stopped to pick up his wand. Then, Harish turned around. "Relashio!"
The ropes were cut off of Quirrell and he shakily stood up. He waited a second before lunging at Harish. "Crucio," he said with a flick of his wand. Quirrell sank to his knees and let out a yell. "Now leave."
Quirrell didn't have to be told twice. Harish watched as the professor ran out of the chamber and back to the trapdoor. Then, the boy turned to see if there was another exit. There was a ladder leading out of sight behind the mirror. He quickly climbed up the ladder and came out in a small door hidden behind a suit of armour.
There he saw the twins waiting on him. He beckoned them over and the three of them got underneath the cloak. After a second, Quirrell came running past Fluffy, out of the door, and then down the stairs. They heard two great doors slam open as the man left the building. Then, after another minute or so, a faint crack could be heard as he disapparated.
The twins made their way to move, but Harish stopped them right in time to keep them from walking into Professor Dumbledore. Then, they sidled out of the way when he went down the secret door Harish had come through. A minute later, he emerged and walked down the hallway. There Flitwick came out of his office holding a candle.
"What is this, Albus?" he squeaked. "What's going on?"
"The stone has been stolen. Go get Severus, Minerva, and Quirrell."
"No need," came Snape's voice. "I am here."
Then the three boys could hear that McGonagall had joined them. "What's going on?"
"The stone is stolen!" Flitwick piped.
"Wha' is this, Headmaster?" Hagrid asked. Harish though that this was turning into a party in the corridor where they were hidden. "I jus' saw P'fesser Quirrell disapparating on the edge of the grounds."
"He left?" they heard McGonagall gasp.
"I guess we know who stole it, then," Dumbledore replied after a minute. "We need to call the Ministry and have them send someone after him," and he led them all away.
Harish ripped the cloak off of himself and turned to the twins, grinning. "It worked!" He exclaimed. "They think Quirrell stole the stone!"
He pulled the red stone out of his pocket and showed it to the twins.
"Come on," George said.
"Let's get out of here," Fred said.
"Yeah, before anyone else comes," Harish finished and the three of them left for their common room.