Headmaster Pov - September 1st
Looking around the chamber with weary eyes, his trap was almost set. All too soon he would know the truth for sure. He walked around the chamber carefully examining the runes engraved on the different surfaces.
It had been well over a decade since he had undertaken such a massive project, even with his assistant's help. For months they had been working in secret, gathering the necessary resources, labouring away and refining their trap.
Albus reached into his pocket and pulled out one of his favourite sweets, before popping the lemon drop into his mouth as he reflected on the events that had unfolded earlier that evening. Neville had been sorted as he intended, though he could have modified his plans easily enough; if on the off chance young Neville had been sorted into any other house.
Thankfully that was unnecessary now that the boy was a Gryffindor. Now he could focus on shaping and moulding him into the noble hero the world would need, for when Lord Voldemort finally returned.
All in all, it was a good sign that his plans were developing as intended. Now he just had to wait for Tom to make his move. After all, the Philosopher's Stone by itself would be more than a tempting prize, with its promise of eternal life. Tom had always been obsessed with escaping death, ever since finding out about his mother's death.
Hence, it was the perfect bait, but the chance to kill the boy as well? That would be just too good for the fallen Dark Lord to pass up. The old muggle saying about killing two birds with one stone fit the situation perfectly.
Of course he planned to have boy monitored constantly. Already, the boy had several health monitoring spells and tracking charms on him, which had been discreetly cast during the welcoming feast. Naturally it was not a perfect solution to allow him to monitor Neville, but it was the best available without alerting the boy to fact he was being monitored and watched. At least now he could find the boy at a moment's notice, if need be. After all, it wouldn't do for the boy to be harmed, outside the controlled conditions of the classroom.
He thought again about the boy, whom for over a decade now had been influencing his decisions because of his future role in defeating the Dark Lord. Not that he was 100% sure about the whole ordeal, since the future was never set in stone. But it was clear so far that events were unfolding as the prophecy described. After all, Neville had been marked by Tom. Once again he came to the same conclusion, as he had many times before, of testing and shaping Neville, whilst making his own plans in case the Prophecy proved false.
Of course, it was the only sensible thing to do; he couldn't put all his eggs in one basket, even if a Prophecy said otherwise. All he could do was subtly guide and influence Neville, into a hero the world may need one day. After all, all heroes need a helping hand at some point, to pick them up when they fall down, to direct them, and to send them on their life journey, just like the heroes of old.
He couldn't help but smile fondly at such thoughts; it reminded him of his own adventures in his youthful days. Mentally shaking his head, he snapped his thoughts away from his youth. Now wasn't the time, he needed to focus on the present.
He needed to shape Neville in such a way that the boy would want to stand and fight. Neville would have to face challenges and seek out adventure all on his own, and of course he would be the wise, grandfatherly sage that Neville could come to for guidance.
Albus couldn't help but smile at the idea of his own role in the upcoming years, if he was indeed successful. He could even surpass Merlin himself in fame. Thinking over the traps and challenge set up the in rooms leading to the Chamber, he wondered if Neville would seek the stone out on his own, or if he would need to be encouraged. Would Neville then attempt to protect it, as he hoped? Or keep it for himself out of greed? This would be his first test.
All heroes can fall from the path if the right temptation is offered, hence the need to understand the boy's strengths and weakness, so he could take them into account in his plans. He needed to prevent Neville's possible fall to dark side. However, his thoughts were interrupted as the door opened as his assistant arrived.
Eyeing his assistant and ally in his plans, who had his classic blank expression, "Good evening Severus, I trust your first years are settling in well?" he enquired.
"Indeed Albus," taking his place across from him while examining the room, before turning back to the face him, "Are you sure about this? Is it wise to use the stone as bait? Surly there must be another way," the potion master argued, whilst examining the rune crafting work, which he had assisted the Headmaster with for the last several weeks.
"Severus, we must know," he stressed for the hundredth time. "The stone is the perfect bait to lure him out of hiding. If this traps works as planned, we have some of the answers we desperately need to ensure he dies, permanently this time."
Examining the potions master, whilst he thought over his words he added, "Also, if everything goes as planned we can get our hands on the stone, remember? After all, you yourself Severus, have argued that it would help us with our cause in the years ahead. We will need the gold to counter Tom's promises of rewards to secure allies and equip our fighters.
Also, the stone will give us the advantage of having our youth back. You know as well as I do my friend that my body is getting old and succumbing to age. I need my youth back if I am to stand against the upcoming storm," he stressed, remembering the last war and its demands on his health.
The Headmaster took a breath, before saying in a lower tone, "Your potions are weakening in effectiveness and I need my strength back, will power and resolve can only do so much," he said, admitting his weakness to his friend.
"Also, think about how many of our comrades we can save from certain death. How many of our friends could return to their families? Besides, you want to unravel its mysteries do you not?" Albus questioned, knowing that this was one of the potion master's deepest wishes.
Severus just nodded, accepting the point before responding, "Then I suggest we increase the difficulty of the traps, unless you still plan to use this as a chance to test Longbottom's abilities?"
"Indeed, I intended to test Neville and the prophecy," Albus answered. "The wards, when completed throughout these chambers will be more than enough to protect the stone. And I would rather not risk the chance of a student being killed by mistake.
The mirror itself will be by far a suitable final defence; we just have to wait for it to arrive. Besides, the wards will deny anyone access beyond the door, they are only keyed to not respond to first year students. Everyone else will have to contend with the wards, which would take a team of curse breakers several days to get past," he said, trying to reassure the younger man.
"I hope you are right Albus, I really do," the potion master said seriously, before examining the room again. "I take it you have completed the final set of power draining wards throughout these rooms? After all, if we are wrong we could bring the war about far sooner than we are ready for."
"You are right Severus, but it is a calculated risk. Even a wizard as knowledgeable as Lord Voldemort will be pushed to his limits in his weakened state. Combined with the traps and puzzles, the wards will surely drain our target of his energy, allowing for his capture."
Both of them started walking through the rooms, examining the traps and puzzles, as well as activating the wards as they went. They finally arrived at the entrance room, where a rather tame Cerberus was currently chained up, acting as guard dog.
"Albus, it's just occurred to me. Maybe we can erect a fear inducing ward in this room, to ensure that only the bravest will attempt to seek the stone," Severus said whilst examining the three headed dog. "After all, Hargid's Cerberus is all bark and no bite. The ward will help ensure the wrong first years are not tempted to try their luck. If needs be, we can always reduce the wards effects later to encourage Longbottom."
"Indeed, that is a wonderful idea," the Headmaster replied, deciding to act on the suggestion. He summoned his wand to hand and started making several complex wand movements. After several minutes, he finally finished casting the ward throughout the room, resulting in an unnatural glow to emit from the walls as the room sank into darkness, whilst sending out a feeling of dread and potential danger.
Looking over at the chained Cerberus, his old heart skipped a beat. The beast was now looking far more formidable than before, with its three sets of glowing yellow eyes and saliva dripping off of its' razor sharp teeth.
Leaving the entrance room with his assistant in tow the Headmaster said, "Now Severus, I believe our work is done for this evening. I will cast a detection ward on the door, to inform me if it is opened. There is no point in you staying to watch, you should get an early night and get ready for your classes."
"Don't remind me," Severus snapped back at him, clearly annoyed, before walking silently off down the corridor back to his office in the dungeons.
"Good night," Albus said, his voice echoing down the halls.
Watching Severus walk off into the darkness of the school halls, he finally understood how Severus was thought to be a vampire by the students. 'He really does look like a bat at times like this', he thought, causing him to smile, releasing some of the tension he had been feeling.
He decided to get started; there was still paperwork he had to do before he could retire for the evening. "So much to do, so little time," he said aloud, to no one but himself, before starting to cast some of the final wards.