Eternal Despair (Harry Potter/OC)

𝟙𝟚: The Beginning Of The End

Quirrell smiled, a sinister calmness replacing his usual twitchy demeanor.

"Me," he said smoothly.

"But I thought-Snape-" Harry began, confusion written all over his face.

"Severus?" Quirrell laughed, a cold, sharp sound that was nothing like his usual nervous giggle. "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 poor, stuttering Professor Quirrell?"

"But Snape tried to kill him, we all saw it!" Enzo interjected, his voice rising in disbelief.

"No, no, no. I tried to kill him. Your friend Miss Granger accidentally knocked me over as she rushed to set fire to Snape at that Quidditch match. She broke my eye contact with you. Another few seconds and I'd have got you off that broom. I'd have managed it before then if Snape hadn't been muttering a countercurse, trying to save you."

"Snape was trying to save me?" Harry's voice trembled with shock.

"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, although not before I kill Black."

Quirrell snapped his fingers. Ropes sprang out of thin air and wrapped themselves tightly around Enzo, immobilizing him.

"Out of all of them, you're the nosiest, Black. I can't allow you to live, scurrying around the school on Halloween like that."

"You let the troll in?" Harry asked, his eyes wide with realization.

"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. Not only did my troll fail to beat you to death, but that three-headed dog didn't even manage to bite Snape's leg off properly."

"Now, wait quietly, I need to examine this interesting mirror," Quirrell said, turning his attention to the large, ornate mirror before him.

"That's the Mirror of Erised," Harry whispered to Enzo, struggling futilely against the enchanted ropes.

"This mirror is the key to finding the Stone," Quirrell murmured, tapping his way around the frame. "Trust Dumbledore to come up with something like this... but he's in London... I'll be far away by the time he gets back...."

"We saw you and Snape in the forest-" Harry blurted out, his mind racing to piece everything together.

"Yes," said Quirrell idly, walking around the mirror to inspect the back. "He was on to me by that time, trying to find out how far I'd got. He suspected me all along. Tried to frighten me as though he could, when I had Lord Voldemort on my side...."

Quirrell came back out from behind the mirror and stared hungrily into it. "I see the Stone... I'm presenting it to my master... but where is it?"

Enzo struggled against the ropes binding him, desperate to distract Quirrell from harming Harry.

"But Snape always seemed to have a personal vendetta against Harry and me," Enzo said, trying to keep Quirrell talking.

"Oh, he does," said Quirrell casually, "heavens, yes. He was at Hogwarts with your fathers, didn't you know? The infamous Potter and Black duo, oh, they loathed each other. But he never wanted you dead."