in my blood

Chapter 16

"Yes Potter, me" said Quirrell calmly "I wondered when I'd be meeting you here"

"But I thought - Snape -" Harry stuttered, trying to comprehend what had happened.

"Severus?" Quirrell laughed, and it wasn't his usual quivering treble either, it was cold and sharp. I remembered all those times I had told the others that I had a feeling about Quirrell, and now, here we are.

"Yes, Severus does seem the type, doesn't he? So useful to have him swooping around like an overgrown bat. Next to him, who would suspect p-p-poor st-stuttering P-Professor Quirrel?"

"I did" I said, rolling my eyes.

"But Snape tried to kill me!" Harry yelled, he still seemed to be suffering from shock.

"No, no, no" said Quirrell "I  tried to kill you. If your friend Anne here hadn't spotted Snape muttering then maybe her and Miss Granger wouldn't have knocked me over in the process of setting Snape's cloak on fire. She broke my eye contact with you. Another few seconds and I would have had you off that broom. I'd have managed it before then if Snape hadn't been muttering his blasted counter curse, trying to save you"

"Snape was trying to save me?" stated Harry in shock, that made two of us.

"Of course" said Quirrell coolly "Why do you think he wanted to referee your next match? He was trying to make sure I didn't do it again. Funny really, he needn't have bothered. I couldn't do anything with Dumbledore watching. All the other teachers thought Snape was trying to stop Gryffindor from winning, he did make himself unpopular.. and what a waste of time, when after all that, I'm going to kill you"

Quirrell snapped his fingers. Ropes sprang out of thin air and wrapped themselves around Harry.

We were so screwed.

"You're too nosy to live, Potter. Scurrying around the school on Halloween like that, for all I knew you'd seen me coming to look at what was guarding the stone"

I realised something "YOU LET THE TROLL IN" I said loudly.

"Certainly. I have a special gift with trolls - you must have seen what I did to the one in the chamber back there? Unfortunately, while everyone else was running around looking for it, Snape, who already suspected me, went straight to the third floor to head me off - and not only did my troll fail to beat you to death, that three-headed dog didn't even manage to bite Snape's leg off properly. Now, wait quietly, Potter. I need to examine this interesting mirror. This mirror is the ke to finding the stone. " murmured Quirrell, tapping his way around the frame "Trust Dumbledore to come up with something like this, but he's in London.. I'll be far far away before he gets here"

Only one path of survival was visible to me: Divert his attention.

"Why do you smell like garlic? Gred and Feorge said that you stuffed some up your turban to ward off vampires, ya know, like protection on the go" I blabbered, then I burst out laughing "THAT SOUNDS LIKE A CONDOM ADVERT!"

"SHUT UP!" bellowed Quirrell, I think he expected it to have a more dramatic effect. I just rolled my eyes "DO YOU LIKE PANCAKES? YEAH WE LIKE PANCAKES? DO YOU LIKE WAFFLES? YEAH WE LIKE WAFFLES-"

"I saw you and Snape in the forest" blurted out Harry, I think he was taking my route.

"Yes" said Quirrell idly as he walked around to examine the back "He was onto me by then, trying to find out how far I'd gotten. He suspected me all along. Tried to frighten me- as though he could, I have Lord Voldemort on my side" Quirrell came back out from behind the mirror and stared hungrily at it "I see the stone.. I'm presenting it to my master.. but where is it?"