Harry leads the group through a door, into another room. There's strange objects flying around the room, fluttering sounds echoing around the stone walls.
"Are they birds or something?" Ron asks confused.
"No. They're keys." Poppy says, pointing at the large door at the other side of the room.
"I can handle that!" Ron says, determined. He walks up to the door, pulling out his wand. "Alohomora! Alohomora!" Ron repeats impatiently, waving his wand at the locked door.
"Looks like we're going to have to find the right key." Ellie says with a sigh.
"I imagine it's that big one, with the broken wing."
"But how are we gonna get to it?" Harry asks. Poppy merely points at the broomstick that sits in midair in the middle of the room.
"You're the Seeker, Harry. You should get it." Ellie says.
"Aw! But I wanna go on the broom!" Poppy whines, but Ellie just shushes her. "Rude."
"Ok." Harry says with a deep breath. He approaches the broom, gripping it tightly as he mounts it. He kicks off of the ground, and goes whizzing away for the key. The rest of them watch as Harry twists and jerks and turns to avoid the swarm of little keys that tail him. He twirls, flips, zig-zags, and somersaults in any direction you can think of, the key always seeming to be just out of his reach.
"Come on, Harry!" They yell from below, and this gives Harry a sudden burst of determination. His broom speeds up just a little bit more, and he manages to clasp his fingers around the large key. When they see this, the others cheer from below.
"El! Heads up!" Harry yells, slinging the key in Ellie's direction. She instantly catches it, inserting it into the lock and twisting it. The door slowly opens, and it's time for the next challenge.
Laid out in front of them is a... chessboard. Odd. Ron, being very experienced in Chess, leads the group. He tells everyone where to go, and the game begins.
"R-Ron? You don't think this is going to be like... actual Wizard's Chess, do you?" Hermione asks, apprehensively. Ron thinks for a moment.
"You there! E5!" He commands, and one of the pieces confronts another, getting blown apart by the other piece. "...Yes, Hermione. I think this is going to be exactly like Wizard's Chess." This causes fear to settle in the bones of everyone in the room, and the game is under way.
What feels like an eternity later, the game is won, barely. And at what cost. In order to succeed, Ron had sacrificed himself. He now lies on the floor, tears in his eyes.
"Ron!" The others cry, all running to his side.
"Don't worry about me, guys. Harry. You have to go. You're the one that needs to do this. Not me, not Hermione, not Ellie or Poppy, you." Ron says firmly to Harry.
"Ron's right, Harry." Hermione agrees regretfully. Ellie and Poppy remain silent.
"Can one of you two at least come with me? Please?" Harry begs, clearly as scared as everyone else.
"If you really want me to, Harry. I'll go with you." Poppy says courageously.
"And where Poppy goes, I go too." Ellie says, putting an arm around both of them.
"Then it's settled. Let's do this." Harry says, the ghost of a smile on his face. Before leaving, they turn to Ron and Hermione. "Take care of Ron, then go to the owlery. Send a message to Dumbledore. It'll be alright." Harry reassures the two.
"You'll be okay. You all will. You're amazing wizards!" Hermione says with a warm smile. She hugs each of them, and then they're on their way.
The three walk through a high archway, and come into a large room with what Harry knew to be the Mirror of Erised placed in the centre.
"You!" Ellie and Poppy seethe together, pointing at the man stood in the middle of the room. "Harry, we told you it wasn't Snape!" Ellie says, giving him a light slap on the arm.
"What? No! It can't be!" Harry stutters, annoyed that the girls had been right yet again.
"Yes, he does seem the type, doesn't he? Why, next to him, who would ever suspect p-poor st-st-stuttering P-Professor Quirrel?" The man smirked, both of the girls' hair now a fiery red.
"But- but that day... during the Quidditch match, Snape tried to kill me!" Harry stammers.
"No, dear boy, I tried to kill you! If Snape's robe hadn't have caught fire and broken my eye contact, I would've succeeded! Even with him muttering his little counter curse." He says mockingly.
"Snape was trying to save me?" Harry falters.
"Yes! Bloody hell, Harry!" Poppy exclaims, losing her patience.
"I knew you two would be a nuisance to me as well as Harry," he spits, looking at the girls. "With you know-it-alls you made those obstacles an absolute breeze, didn't you?" The girls remain silent.
"Did you let the troll in, too?" Harry asks.
"Yes, very good, Potter. Snape, unfortunately, wasn't fooled. When everyone else was running round the dungeons, Snape went to the third floor to head me off. He, of course, never trusted me again. He rarely left me alone. But he doesn't understand. I'm never alone. Never." He explains, taking on an even darker tone than before. He gazes longingly into the mirror.
"What does this mirror do? I see what I desire. I see myself holding the Stone. But how do I get it?" He asks, seemingly to nobody.
"Use the boy." A voice hisses from behind him.
"Potter, come here." The man demands, and Harry staggers over warily. "Now tell me, what do you see?" Harry stays silent for a moment. "What is it?!" He says, more harshly this time.
"I see... myself shaking hands with Dumbledore. I've won the house cup." Harry answers, hesitantly.
"He lies!" The snake like voice from before says.
"Tell the truth! What do you see?!" Quirrel demands, impatiently.
"Let me speak with him."
"Master, you are not strong enough."
"I have strength enough for this." Two different voices speak with each other, Quirrel appearing to be having a conversation with himself. It wouldn't be the strangest thing the children had seen.
Then, suddenly, Quirrel slowly unwraps his turban, another snake like face planted on the other side of his bald head. This new face glares at the children through the mirror.
"Harry Potter. We meet again."
"Voldemort." Harry spits the word like it's poison.
"Yes. Do you see what I have become? See what I must do to survive? Live off of another. A mere parasite. Unicorn blood can sustain me, but it cannot give me a body of my own. But something else can. And that something lies conveniently in your pocket!" The children exchange a panicked look, turning to run.
"Stop them!" Quirrel snaps his fingers, causing a blazing inferno to start burning all around the room, blocking their exits. "Don't be a fool! Why suffer a horrific death when you can join me and live?!"
"Never!" Harry yells, anger flaming in his eyes. Voldemort chuckles.
"Bravery. Your parents had it too. Would you like to see them again?" Harry stays silent. "Hm. Speaking of parents, Eleanor Persephone and Poppy Roberts." He emphasises their surnames, for a reason unknown to them. "I know your fathers. And Quirrel here has been observing you two all year. You're rather extraordinary witches, correct? Already mastered non-verbal spells at the age of eleven? I could have lots of use for you. Join me! Then I can give you what you want. You want your fathers, yes?" The girls nod reluctantly. "Precisely! Join me and I can give you that!"
"No! How dare you even speak about our Fathers! We never knew them but I'm fairly sure they're still better men than you'll ever be!" Poppy cries, infuriated.
"Fools! Don't you see what potential you have!" Voldemort hisses, turning to Ellie for her answer.
"No! No, no, and no! Not happening! Sorry, wrong number, I won't! I refuse." Ellie shouts, sounding just as angry as Poppy.
"Then you are useless. For now. You two will be mine sooner or later, just like the rest of this Wizarding World." Voldemort says, his voice barely above a whisper. The girls then hear him mutter something inaudible, and then they see Quirrel take out his wand. They see him announce some kind of spell, and their vision goes black around the edges. The feel themselves falling to the floor, and the last thing they hear is Harry's muffled screaming, calling their names.
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You're Such A Weasley (Book 1)
FanfikceDescription inside. Philosophers Stone. Book (2) now available