The Boy The Snake and The Stone

Chapter 28: The Secret of the Stone

Right before the start of the next term, Harry once again found himself in front of the Dark Lord, this time sharing a spot of tea. He was brought here right after receiving an owl requesting him here, Sev was unhappy with it, but after a promise from Levi, Harry could go. Both Levi and Neit went with him, Levi, so that he could hear what this new stranger wanted from his boy, and Neit, well you cannot leave her out of an adventure.

"I am so happy that you were able to make it Harry," The Dark Lord hissed at the boy, he didn't want his fool of a vessel to hear his plans, just in case that a certain Headmaster decided to snoop through his mind. The Dark Lord could only protect his mind, and a little of what he said to his vessel, away from him, but not enough to fool the old man.

"Thank you for having me," The small boy replied, easily slipping into the serpents' tongue. Harry was unsure of what was going to be asked of him, and felt a little out of place here, unsure of what he could speak about and what not to speak about.

Hatchling relax, we are here for you, Levi said to the boy, using their mental link. He was keeping a close eye on the man in front of them, unsure if he trusted the man just yet. He and the Headmaster both smelt of death and lies; but there was something more dangerous to the Headmaster than to the man in front of them. The man in front of them smelt sick, but not the type of sick one was used to, Levi was unsure of what that meant so all he could do was watch afar and make sure that his Hatchling was safe. Harry relaxed knowing that he was not alone anymore, he took the tea from in front of him, letting the warm drink also work its magic, letting it warm him from the inside out.

"Child, I have a favor I need you to do for me," The Dark Lord started, his voice was a soft hiss, "There is a certain stone that the headmaster set up for both of us here; me, to try to steal and to prove I am back. For you, to see if you are really able to be his savior to his little light side." The Dark Lord explained. Harry listened carefully, slowly adding pieces of information he had himself. That is what the Cerberus was doing in the school, the Headmaster put it there to see how they would go about getting information and the rest was a secret to see if they had the power to get across all the obstacles that would be put there. Harry was upset about the Cerberus being here, where it was supposed to safe for children to learn. "I want you to retrieve what was taken and bring it back to me, so I know that you are on my side."

Harry frowned "What was taken? Are you talking about the Gringotts accident?"

Everything was falling into place, the Headmaster placed the Giant there at the bank so that it would be timed perfectly when he went. It would spark an interest in his young mind with a puzzle, and when the "break in" would happen and it would cause Harry to think of the Headmaster saving what was being "stolen". The thing he didn't count on was Harry figuring out that it was the Headmaster taking it. The Dark Lord just smiled at the boy's intelligence. This boy strived to learn and obtain as much knowledge as he could, but kept everything he planned close to himself. Yes, this was the making of a true Slytherin child, all he had to do was wait for the right opportunity and strike like the snake he was.

"That is right child, you are smart and was able to catch on quickly." The Dark Lord said, praising the child. He didn't have to explain a thing to the child, his mind was already working everything out on his own. It was a good thing that this child now belonged to the dark, if this mind was on the light side, things might have turned out too differently.

"I have two questions," Harry said, looking at the DADA Professor for permission to continue on, with a nod he did. "The first is: what was stolen? I know it is nothing too big, since it was in a small package, but that still could be anything. I have been able to figure that out."

"It was the Philosopher's Stone that the headmaster has his hands on, I will leave it to you to get the information of what it does." The Dark Lord answered.

"My other question, I can tell this is important, I have many ideas why, are you going to return it to its owner? I know this is not the real stone that you are speaking of, since the vault was empty beforehand, meaning that the owner had an idea this was going to happen." Harry said, recalling the newspaper saying that is was empty, "I ask this because if you do not think of it, you can return it to the proper owner explaining who took it. Putting Dumbledore into bad light at stealing something from another wizard's vault, and from the Goblins." The boy explained, knowing that the Goblins would still be upset about the break in, even though Harry had the idea that the owner allowed it to happen to a point.

The Dark Lord froze, his mind did not think that far ahead, if what the boy said was right? Then things could start now, but the down side was that his vessel was not going to last that much longer. "That is something to think about child, as of right now I will just give you the progress of retrieving information on the Stone and once you have that I will give you the real mission." With that the Dark Lord waved his hand, signaling that this talk was done for now, and releasing Harry to go on with his day.

* * * * Time Skip* * * * *

It was near night time, and Harry was in the Library, books scattered all around him due to searching for information on the stone. Of course, nowhere he looked seemed to hold any information about the stone, all that was left was Sev's books. Of course, he could ask the man directly, but Harry loved to read and find the information on his own.

Youngling, it is time to go. It is passed curfew. Levi said to his Hatchling when he noticed that the sun had disappeared long ago. Harry's head whipped up from the book that he was reading to see what Levi was talking about, cursing softly at how late he was. He picked up everything he brought with him. Sev is going to be upset with me for being out so late, Harry thought to himself. Levi was wrapping himself around the small boy when Harry brought out the Invisibility Cloak that he had received, and brought it around both of them. This way he wouldn't be caught by anyone else, it would be bad enough with Severus on his case, but worse if he was caught.

They were making slow progress to the Potions Master's living quarters when the cat showed up, and if Mrs. Norris was here, the caretaker was sure to follow. Of course, Harry and the old man had nothing against each other, but that didn't mean that he would let him go easy. So, Harry slipped inside the first door he could when he heard the signs of footsteps and the gruff voice of the caretaker, "My sweets, did you hear a student?" The man asked the cat, who meowed back to the man before taking off on a chase, but away from Harry. Once the footsteps where gone, Harry let out a sigh of relief.

At this point, Harry let the cloak slip off and he got a better look at the room that they had entered it seemed to be a forgotten classroom. Instead of desks and chairs with years of dust, there was a mirror standing as tall as the ceiling, which was saying something, alone in the room. It was a beautiful thing, it had an ornate gold frame, standing on two clawed feet; on the frame, there was writing on it, "Erised stra ehru oy tube cafru oyt on wohsi" but it wasn't the words that captured Harry's attention. It was what was reflected at him, he wasn't alone there in the mirror. Of course he was himself and Levi staring back at them, but beside them was a man and a woman and behind them was Severus and the Malfoy's and many others Harry did not know. It was the man and women that made tears come to Harry's eyes; the woman had dark red hair that waved down her back, and her eyes! Yes, her eyes where almost like Harry's, they were a bright green, dancing with life and happiness, but also sadness as tears pooled around them.

Next was the man, he was tall and thin, with a thick head of black hair that seem to have a mind of its own, much like Harry's before he took the blood adoption potion. He also had glasses on that seemed to match Harry's. He knew that the figures that stood before him was his mum and dad, his real parents. Why where they here?! His whole-body trembled as he tried to fight back tears. He could stay there forever, but at the same time, he couldn't. "I-I-I'm sorry," was all he said before he rushed out the door, grabbing the cloak and going back to his rooms.