The Bravest Snake

CHAPTER 30

Quirell. Of course it was Quirell.

As Harry stood staring at him, Draco by his side, the pieces started clicking together. Of course, it all made sense now. The reluctance to teach about creatures and dark spells, all because he probably didn't know anything about them. He was just someone's pawn. I bet that stutter is fake too.

"You don't look surprised, Potter,'' Quirell said triumphantly. He didn't twitch or stutter.

''I knew it could be you. With Snape swooping around like an overgrown bat, it would be easy for you to slip through the cracks, right? Bet you thought no one would suspect you and your stupid fake stutter!''

''Wait, am I the only one who actually thought it was Snape?'' Draco asked. ''Didn't Snape try to curse your broom during that first Quidditch match?''

''No, that was me,'' Quirell replied. ''When Granger set fire to Snape, she broke my eye contact with Potter. Snape was muttering a counter curse, trying to save him. Another few seconds and I would've gotten him off his broom...''

''Snape was trying to save Harry? But - but that's so out of character, he's been horrible to Harry!''

''Ugh, use your head, Malfoy! Snape tried to referee that next match so he could stop me from doing it again. But that just made him more of a target. No matter,'' Quirell waved his hand as if he were shooing away a fly. ''those details will be irrelevant when I kill you two.'' As he snapped his fingers, ropes sprung up from the ground and wound themselves tightly around Harry and Draco.

''You two are both too nosy to live, you know that? Scurrying through the school all the time, especially during Halloween. You could've seen me going to look at what was guarding the Stone!''

''You let the troll in?'' Draco's nails scraped against the ropes, but they wouldn't move. 

''Certainly. Didn't you see what I did to the one back there? I have a special gift with trolls.''

''Probably because he is one,'' Harry muttered into Draco's ear. They both giggled.

''Now is not the time for jokes, Potter!'' Quirell growled. ''Do you know what that mirror is?'' Harry instantly recognized what was standing behind them. The Mirror of Erised. ''This mirror is the key to finding the Stone.''

Harry started to panic. Who knew what kind of magic lay in the mirror, magic that could actually give Quirell the Stone? His best bet was to keep him talking, to prevent him from actually doing anything. ''I saw you and Snape in the forest - ''

''Yes.'' Quirell wandered around the mirror, looking at it from all sides. ''He was on to me by that time, trying to figure out how far I'd gotten. Tried to threaten me - as if he could, when I had Lord Voldemort on my side...'' He stood in front of the mirror and stared at it like it was a feast he wanted to devour. ''I see the Stone... I'm presenting it to my master... but where is it?''

Draco kept struggling against the ropes, but he had figured out Harry's plan. ''But Snape always seemed to hate him so much.''

''Oh, he does. No doubt about it. He was at Hogwarts with James Potter, didn't you know? They loathed each other But he never wanted you dead.''

''We heard you a few days ago, crying. Was Snape's threats that scary?''

For the first time, a flicker of fear flashed onto Quirell's face, and Harry knew he had him. ''Sometimes I find it hard to follow my master's instructions - he is a great wizard and I am weak - ''

''Voldemort? Was he in the classroom with you?'' Draco gasped.

''He is with me wherever I go,'' said Quirell quietly. ''I met him when I traveled around the world. Lord Voldemort taught me a lot of things, but especially that there is no good or evil, just power and those too weak to seek it. Since then I have served him faithfully, although I have let him down many times. When I failed to steal the Stone from Gringotts, he was most displeased.''