For a while, once Christmas break was over, Harry felt disconnected from Hogwarts and everything in it.
Classes were dull.
The kids he hangs out with weren't interesting.
The schedule was never changing. Same classes, same times, same places, same everything.
He was just so tired of all of it.
Tired of fighting, tired of the games, tired of pretending, and tired of having to watch his back constantly.
He knew, logically, that life in the castle had improved in a lot of ways.
Professor McGonagall was no longer harping on him in class. In fact, she was occasionally praising him for his technique and swore he inherited his fathers natural talent for her subject.
He also enjoyed a lot of freedom in the halls from the whispers and eyes that followed him thanks to the invisibility cloak that Headmaster Dumbledore sent him after he warned him about the mirror.
And wasn't that a nasty shock? That while Harry was crying, like a baby, in front of a mirror over an image of a life he'll never fully get, the Headmaster of the bloody school was spying on him.
He'd hidden all his anger and rage and sorrow down as he shyly asked the man how the mirror worked.
'The mirror shows us our deepest desires, what desire do you see Harry?' Dumbledore had asked softly.
Harry wasn't stupid, he'd seen the burning curiosity in Dumbledore's eyes when he asked him and twisted the truth to fit the persona that Snape told him to use.
'I see my parents,' he'd whispered back. 'They're alive, and happy, and we're a family again.'
Which was partially true.
The man didn't need to know that Harry saw his parents cheering for him as he accepted the position of Minister of Magic.
In the mirror Harry was powerful. Adored. Strong. Loved. Protected. Free.
The only time he could break out of the cold disconnect he currently was drowning in was when he remembered how Dumbledore had smiled so brightly at Harry's false confession.
And he wasn't sure if violent anger was any better of a feeling.
'Harry, my boy, I know your parents would be so pleased to know they are what you desire the most. They truly loved you, and they sacrificed themselves in an effort to rid our world of the dark magic that Voldemort tried to infect it with.'
Harry saw right through that blatant manipulation. He didn't give a damn about dark magic or light magic and he doesn't know why his parents did either. These people were forgetting that they were all magic and who cares what shade it is?
None of them had any appreciation for the fact that they could heal themselves of sickness, disappear across the country, or kill their enemies with just a snap of their fingers.
Ungrateful.
Not him. He was so thankful to be special and magical. He would never take it for granted.
If he could convince himself to care about anything at all, ever again, that is.
***
He was poking at his breakfast one morning, ignoring the conversations from the other students, when Susan slapped her hand down on the table, startling him.
"What'd ya do that for?" He asked her, since she was glaring at him.
"You!" Susan said indignantly. "Something is wrong with you and I'm sick of pretending that you're fine!"
Harry rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. He was fine.
Mostly.
"'M fine, 'm just bored," he told her.
Hermione looked up from the textbook she was reading, scandalized.
"Bored? How can you be bored? We have exams coming up soon!"
Harry just shrugged, he didn't owe her an explanation. And he wasn't worried about exams in three months that he was sure he would pass.
"Wanna go for a walk?" Susan asked him quietly.
Harry shook his head, they'd already seen all the grounds and it was still cold out.
"We could go prank the Gryffindors?" Draco suggested with a smirk towards Neville.
"Or we can borrow the Twins brooms and go flying!" Ron said.
Harry almost considered that one, flying class had been fun, but ultimately he shook his head again.
"Nah, 'm fine," he sighed.
"Want to go see what's hidden in the third floor corridor?" Blaise asked casually.
What.
Harry felt the first stirring of excitement that he'd had since before Christmas.
"No," Hermione whispered fiercely, leaning towards him to prevent eavesdroppers. "Professor Dumbledore said it was closed for repairs!"
Blaise just scoffed and kept his eyes on Harry.
"We have magic," he drawled. "Do you really think 'repairs' would take six months?"
The others looked thoughtful at that remark and Harry remembered that Quirrell had implied Dumbledore was doing something on the third floor.
"Ooh, let's go investigate!" Susan said, her eyes glittering with excitement.
Draco quickly glanced at Harry before saying, "I'll go if Harry is."
"Draco! You can't!" Hermione wailed. "You guys will be in so much trouble!"
Blaise ignored her and lent towards Harry.
"How about it Potter? Wanna go see what Dumbledore is keeping secret?"
That wasn't much of a question was it?
"Yeah," Harry said firmly. "Let's do it."
Susan and Blaise cheered while Neville and Nott exchanged nervous glances.
"Well I'm not going," Hermione declared haughtily. "I'm not going to be breaking the rules."
"Uh... I d-dunno guys," Neville said softly. "It m-might be dangerous..."
Ron rolled his eyes.
"D'you think Harry would let you get hurt?" He asked around a mouthful of waffle. "C'mon, it'll be fun."
"Professor Dumbledore didn't say that we couldn't go there, he just said it was closed..."
"See Nev?" Ron gestured at Nott with his fork. "He's right! So c'mon, it's something to do that isn't studying!"
"Whoever's comin', meet me outside the Slytherin door in ten. I gotta grab somethin'," Harry told them, interrupting the arguments for and against it.
He was about to stand up when he thought of something.
"And whoever's not goin' better keep their mouths shut."
He sent a pointed look at Hermione before heading for the door, missing her resentment at being labeled a possible snitch.
He rushed down to the dungeons, hoping to grab his dads cloak quickly just in case they needed it.
He was running so quickly that he nearly ran into Professor Quirrell, only noticing him at the last minute and stopping avoid a collision.
"Potter, slow down," he told him, in that confident voice Harry had only heard once before from the man.
"What are you up to boy?"
Harry glared at him defiantly, hating that word.
"Nothin'," he spat. "Just wanna get some homework done, don't I sir?"
"You're sprinting to your common room in an effort to do homework?" Quirrell drawled, giving him a look of disbelief. "Tell the truth."
"That's the truth, ya don't gotta like it for it to be true," he quipped, quoting something Susan had said once.
Quirrell laughed, a high pitched laugh that didn't match him at all.
"Very well, have fun 'studying'."
Harry shrugged off the interruption and resumed his jog to the Slytherin rooms.
This is the most alive he's felt in ages, he'll be damned if one weird teacher stops him.
He hastily ran up to his dorm and grabbed his invisibility cloak and his wand both.
He had no idea what he might need the wand for, but better safe than sorry.
***
Once he made it back to the hallway he was surprised that less than half of the kids from breakfast were waiting for him.
"Where's Blaise?" He asked them. "This was his idea!"
"He said that he would safely wait for us to tell him about it later," Draco said with a roll of his eyes.
Harry eyed Draco, Ron, and Susan carefully. Clearly they were the better ones to rely on in the gang.
"Whatever, c'mon then. 'M goin' in my cloak, I don't wanna run in to Quirrell again," Harry told them, swinging his cloak over his shoulders.
"Ooh, me too!" Susan cried, grabbing an edge of it and covering herself.
"No fair!"
"How come she gets to be invisible!"
Harry could see Draco and Ron both pouting while him and Susan laughed.
"You guys have already had a turn," she told them. "It's my turn, so shush up and lead the way!"
"And don't act so suspicious!" Harry hissed at them.
Ron and Draco led them up the stairs; Ron looked stiff and awkward but Draco could have been taking the most boring stroll of his life.
One day Harry was going to master that casually disinterested look.
***
They made it up to the third floor, unstopped, where they all just stared around the empty corridor.
"There's no repairs going on," Susan whispered. "Looks like a normal hallway to me."
Harry wasn't surprised that Dumbledore lied. He was disappointed that there didn't seem to be anything exciting going on up here though.
"Come on, let's look around then," Draco said.
Harry and Susan stayed under the cloak and walked carefully down the hall, peeking inside different empty classrooms.
"Oi! This door doesn't open!" Ron called, bringing the group back together to investigate.
"Of course it does, don't be stupid," Draco huffed.
He pointed his wand at the door, ignoring the red headed boys mumbling about how it might be locked for a good reason, and cast "Alohomora!"
The two boys nervously looked at the now unlocked door.
"Someone gonna open it?" Harry drawled, seeing how Ron and Draco were just staring.
Ron looked up at the ceiling for a moment, then drew a deep breath.
"I guess I'll have to."
Harry snorted at his dramatics, Draco was clearly a bad influence on him.
Ron slowly opened the door, the rest of them crowding behind him to peek inside.
"Holy hell," Harry whispered as Ron slammed the door back shut, blocking their view of the bloody giant three headed dog inside the room.
Draco looked pretty shaken, "Is-is that a Cerberus?"
And here Harry thought he was smart.
"It's a fuckin dog," he laughed.
His comment sent Susan into a peel of laughter. She ducked out from underneath the cloak and lent against the door.
"A Cerberus is a type of dog Harry," she giggled. "They're supposed to be really rare and dangerous."
Draco, who had looked rather pale, huffed indignantly at her.
"They are not dangerous! You just have to know what to do with them! I think they're fascinating!"
"Did you not see the teeth on it mate?" Ron asked. "'Not dangerous', you're mad! That thing could kill us all in one bite!"
Harry considered the other thing he saw in the room.
"Forget the teeth," he told them, shoving his invisibility cloak in his pocket. "Did ya see what it's standin' on?"
Ron looked at him like he had lost his mind.
"The floor?" He asked slowly, glancing at Susan and Draco to see if they knew what Harry was on about.
Harry rolled his eyes at him. He knew that he was used to checking every detail of a room before he went in it, a long time habit of his since he lived with the Dursley's, but surely they weren't all blind?
"There's a trapdoor, ain't there? Bet there's somethin' cool down there."
"Or dangerous," Susan interjected.
"Or valuable!"
"That's the spirit," Harry gave Draco an approving nod.
"But how do we get past the dog?"
This is what Harry liked most about Susan, she never backed down from a challenge. Not from a rude boy in a library, or a wand constantly pointed in her face, or even a terrifying transfiguration Professor.
He had no idea how she wound up in Hufflepuff instead of Gryffindor.
"You can't be serious," Ron cried. "That thing will eat us!"
Draco, who had been looking thoughtful, narrowed his eyes at Ron.
"It will not 'eat us', Weasley. All we would need to do is play music and it will fall right asleep," he said sharply. "Have you never picked up a history book in your life?"
Susan interrupted the brewing argument between the two of them, only caring about the same thing Harry did.
"So we can play it music and it'll fall asleep?" She asked, with a familiar manic gleam to her eyes.
"Well, theoretically, yes..." Draco said slowly. "But we don't have any instruments."
Ron looked strangely relieved and started to speak when Susan laughed again.
"Don't be ridiculous, we don't need instruments. We can sing!"
Which was almost reason enough to make Harry call the whole thing off.
"'M not singin' to no dog," he muttered darkly glaring at Susan.
She stuck her tongue out at him, immune by now to his glares.
"Draco, Ron, it's up to us," she said cheerfully.
Draco scoffed and stuck his nose up in the air, "Malfoy's do not sing."
Harry gave him one of his sharp smiles and clapped his shoulder, a little too hard to be strictly friendly.
"Ya do now."
***
Five minutes, and a butchered rendition of the Hogwarts school song later- the four first-years stared down the open trapdoor.
"'M gonna jump," Harry eventually said, sick of standing around.
"Er- you sure mate?" said Ron. "It looks like a long drop."
Harry rolled his eyes at Ron's fretting, tossed his cloak to Susan, and lowered himself through the hole until he was hanging on by his fingertips.
"If I don't answer ya after I land- Susan go find Snape quick, Draco and Ron keep singin' so the bloody dog don't wake up an make me even more trapped. Got it?"
The other kids agreed so Harry gave them a wink.
"See ya in a minute I hope."
And Harry let go. Cold, damp air rushed past him as he fell down, down, down and —
FLUMP. With a funny, muffled sort of thump he landed on something soft. He sat up and felt around, his eyes not used to the gloom. It felt as though he was sitting on some sort of plant.
"It's okay!" he called up to the light the size of a postage stamp, which was the open trapdoor, "it's a soft landing, you can jump!"
Ron followed right away. He landed, sprawled next to Harry.
"What's this stuff?" were his first words.
"Dunno, some sort of plant thing, I reckon. Draco, jump you chicken shit!"
Harry heard Susan's distant laugh, which was quickly followed by a soft little "oomph," as Draco landed on Harry's other side.
"Where are we?" said Draco, squinting to see better in the dark.
"Dunno, got here the same time you did, didn't I? C'mon Susan! It's safe!"
Susan landed right on top of Ron, which set her off in to laughter as she scrambled to get off him.
"Sorry Ron," she giggled. "I didn't-"
She cut herself off with a sharp inhale and began struggling to get to the edge of the room.
"Look at your legs!" She wailed.
Harry was cursing himself for being so bloody stupid now that he saw that his legs were completely entrapped by the vines of the plant. He began struggling and trying to get loose.
Draco and Ron, who were both hopelessly tangled as well, were also trying to rip and kick the plant off them.
"Stop moving!" Susan ordered, from her spot of safety against the wall. "It'll just make it worse. I think it's the Devils Snare."
"Wonderful," Draco snarled. "How do we kill it?"
"Hurry," Harry choked, trying to keep the vines off his chest and neck.
"Er... light and heat, I think? Lumos Maximus!"
The plant immediately began cringing, crawling, and moving away from the blinding light on Susan's wand. Harry, Draco, and Ron made quick work of scrambling away from the plant over to Susan.
"Good one Susan," Ron panted. "Wait til Neville hears how he missed out on a man-eating plant!"
"How are we going to get back out?" Draco asked nervously.
Harry didn't have an answer for him so he just shrugged and pointed down the passageway they were in.
"Dunno, let's keep goin', maybe we'll find somethin'?"
All they could hear apart from their footsteps was the gentle drip of water trickling down the walls. The passageway sloped downward, and Harry was reminded of Gringotts.
"Can you hear something?" Ron whispered.
Harry listened. A soft rustling and clinking seemed to be coming from up ahead.
"Do you think it's a ghost?"
"Dunno, sounds like wings to me."
"There's light ahead — I can see something moving."
They reached the end of the passageway and saw before them a brilliantly lit chamber, its ceiling arching high above them. It was full of small, jewel-bright birds, fluttering and tumbling all around the room.
Harry saw that against a far wall there were two broomsticks and on the opposite side of the chamber was a heavy wooden door.
"Do you think they'll attack us if we cross the room?" Susan asked.
"Maybe," Harry shrugged. "Guess we'll find out."
He took a deep breath, covered his face with his arms, and ran to the other side. He thought that the birds would swoop down and attack him but they seemed to just be ignoring him. The other three followed quickly behind him.
He pulled on the wooden door, but it was locked.
Unlock the door. Open it.
He grit his teeth in frustration when his magic wouldn't open the door for him.
"Alohomora!"
Ron and Susan both tried unlocking the door, with no results.
"You guys aren't going to be able to unlock it. It's probably got a ward on it to only open with the key," said Draco.
"Yeah?" Harry snarled, annoyed his magic wasn't working on the door. "Then where the hell d'ya think the key is?"
Draco sent a pointed look up at the glittering birds.
... Idiot.
Birds don't glitter. Keys glitter.
"'Kay, Draco grab a broom and catch the key we need then."
Draco gaped at Harry.
"Why do I have to?"
"Ain't you the one always talkin' 'bout bein' a seeker? 'Bout how good ya are with flyin'?" Harry asked incredulously. He figured Draco would jump at a chance to prove himself.
"Well... yeah, I mean yes, but I don't know which key I need and if there are two brooms it's probably because you need two people to catch it."
Ron examined the lock on the door.
"We're looking for a big, old-fashioned one — probably silver, like the handle."
Harry silently summoned the brooms and handed one to Draco.
"Cheers," he said as he kicked up in to the air.
Flying was brilliant.
Harry loved the wind in his face and the feeling of absolute freedom he had up in the air.
After a few loops and spins- he finally got down to looking for the key. He weaved in and out of the keys, carefully avoiding Draco who was doing the same thing, until he saw it.
"There!" He cried, pointing towards a large silver key with bright blue wings.
Harry grinned over at Draco, "Race ya to it," he cried.
He shot off, ignoring the other keys, Draco, and Ron and Susan who were cheering them on from the ground, only focusing on that big silver key.
He was so close.
He leaned forwards, lifted his hand off the broom, and "YES!" caught it.
He quickly landed and laughed at the pout on Draco's face.
"Maybe Harry should try out for seeker next year," Ron suggested with a smirk.
Draco stuck his nose up in the air as Harry used the key to unlock the door.
"He should, I'd rather be a Chaser anyway."
Harry tried not to call him out on the blatant lie but he figured his disbelief shown through anyway because Draco's cheeks got pink.
"Just open the door," he muttered.
"The next chamber was so dark they couldn't see anything at all. But as they stepped into it, light suddenly flooded the room to reveal an astonishing sight.
They were standing on the edge of a huge chessboard, behind the black chessmen, which were all taller than they were and carved from what looked like black stone. Facing them, way across the chamber, were the white pieces. They all shivered slightly — the towering white chessmen had no faces.
"Now what do we do?" Susan whispered.
"It's obvious, isn't it?" said Ron. "We've got to play our way across the room."
Behind the white pieces they could see another door.
"How?" said Draco nervously.
"I think," said Ron, "we're going to have to be chessmen."
He walked up to a black knight and put his hand out to touch the knight's horse. At once, the stone sprang to life. The horse pawed the ground and the knight turned his helmeted head to look down at Ron.
"Do we — er — have to join you to get across?"
The black knight nodded. Ron turned to the other two.
"This needs thinking about..." he said. "I suppose we've got to take the place of four of the black pieces..."
Harry and the others stayed quiet, watching Ron think. Finally he said, "Now, don't be offended or anything, but none of you are that good at chess —"
"We aren't offended," Susan assured him quickly, interrupting Draco before he could protest. "Just tell us what to do."
"Draco, you go be the bishop. Susan, you go be the castle. Harry, you should be the Queen."
"Where you goin' then?" Harry asked.
"I'm going to be a knight," said Ron.
The chessmen seemed to have been listening, because at these words a knight, a bishop, a castle, and the queen turned their backs on the white pieces and walked off the board, leaving four empty squares that Harry, Ron, Susan, and Draco took.
"White always plays first in chess," said Ron, peering across the board. "Yes... look..."
A white pawn had moved forward two squares.
Ron started to direct the black pieces. They moved silently wherever he sent them. Harry felt his hands shaking with unease. What if they lost?
"Draco — move diagonally four squares to the right."
Their first real shock came when their other knight was taken. The white queen smashed him to the floor and dragged him off the board, where he lay quite still, facedown.
"Had to let that happen," said Ron, looking shaken. "Leaves you free to take that bishop, Susan, go on."
Every time one of their men was lost, the white pieces showed no mercy. Soon there was a huddle of limp black players slumped along the wall. Twice, Ron only just noticed in time that Draco and Susan were in danger. He himself darted around the board, taking almost as many white pieces as they had lost black ones.
"We're nearly there..." he muttered. "Let me think..."
The white Queen turned and looked at him.
"Yes," he said softly. "It's the only way. I've got to be taken."
"No!" Susan yelled. "Don't be stupid! There's got to be another way!"
"It's the only move!" Ron snapped. "You've got to make some sacrifices! I'll make my move and she'll take me — that leaves you free to checkmate the king, Harry!"
Harry was trying to decide how badly he wanted whatever it was Dumbledore had hidden down here when Draco chimed up.
"Weasley, what if you went to E4, then I took the Queen at B2- could Harry still checkmate the king?"
Ron studied the pieces, silently mouthing moves to himself, before beaming at Draco.
"Oh thank Merlin, good catch mate."
Draco snorted but Harry caught the pleased look in his eyes.
A couple of moves later and the white King begrudgingly tossed its stone crown at Harry's feet. The chessmen all bowed and moved, leaving the next doorway clear.
"You would have made an excellent lion," Susan told Ron as they walked through the door.
Draco and Harry laughed at Ron's look of bemusement- as if he was unsure whether it was a compliment or insult.
At the end of the next passageway was another door.
Harry was pretty sick of these damn doors.
"My turn to open it!" Susan said brightly.
As soon as she opened it, a putrid stench made them all groan and cover their noses.
"Uh Harry- y-you're up," Ron stammered, staring at the troll in the room that was much larger than the one they faced on Halloween.
Harry grinned, "Brill, step back, been wantin' to see what happens when I do this..."
Lightning. Straight to its head.
The troll roared and swung its arm down to smash Harry with its gigantic fist when it was struck by three lightning bolts, one after another, right to its head.
The troll shrieked, a high pitched, wounded, horrible sound, before falling to the ground with a mighty THUD causing dust and debris to cloud the air.
"Harry," Susan cried, "are you okay??"
Harry watched the troll as it twitched and moaned for a moment.
"'M fine," he said casually. "Ready then?"
The other kids gaped at him- even Draco had his mouth wide open.
"Did- did you just... Merlin, did you just kill a troll with lightning?" He asked.
"Well, I dunno if it's dead or not, but it's good I didn't try that out on Parkinson, ain't it?" Harry smirked.
Ron laughed, albeit a little nervously, and Susan got an uncharacteristic angry look in her eyes.
"If she keeps bothering you then lightning is going to be the least of her worries," she said darkly.
Draco tossed his arm around her shoulders and winked at her conspiratorially.
"Maybe we'll anonymously send her this memory."
Susan, mad witch that she is, looked cheered by the idea.
She really was a good sort to have on his side.
"C'mon then, let's see what's next."
Harry peeked through the next doorway, and was both relieved and disappointed to see it was just a table with seven different little bottles on it.
"No trolls," he announced.
Susan rolled her eyes as she stepped in with him, "Don't sound so disappointed Harry."
The other two boys stepped inside too and immediately a fire sprang up behind them in the doorway. It wasn't ordinary fire either; it was purple, without needing to check Harry was sure that water wouldn't put it out. At the same instant, black flames shot up in the doorway leading onward. They were trapped.
"Fuck," Harry whispered.
He could feel sweat breaking out on his forehead. Magic fire wasn't an enemy that could be beaten, it wasn't a chessboard to move past or a troll to kill- fire would just burn them to death.
He'd seen buildings burnt down in London- smoke thick in the air, people screaming, sirens blaring.
Sometimes all they could do is let it burn out.
Fire can't always be fought.
Susan and Draco carefully walked up to the table and Harry was jolted from his impending panic attack when Susan told him, "We aren't trapped."
"We ain't?" He asked shakily, stepping up beside them to inspect the bottles lined up.
"No, look."
Draco handed Harry a parchment that was sitting on the table in front of the bottles.
'Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind, Two of us will help you, whichever you would find,
One among us seven will let you move ahead,
Another will transport the drinker back instead,
Two among our number hold only nettle wine,
Three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line.
Choose, unless you wish to stay here forevermore,
To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:
First, however slyly the poison tries to hide
You will always find some on nettle wine's left side;
Second, different are those who stand at either end,
But if you would move onward, neither is your friend;
Third, as you see clearly, all are different size,
Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides;
Fourth, the second left and the second on the right
Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight.'
"There better be something wicked at the end of this bloody maze," Ron grumbled after reading the parchment over Harry's shoulder.
"I dunno what this means," Harry said, tossing the paper back to Draco. "Want me to try and put the fire out?"
He didn't think he could, but it was a simpler idea than whatever this puzzle is.
"Hmm?" Susan asked distractedly, shifting bottles around. "No, hold on please."
The boys silently watched as she moved bottles around, looked at the poem, then moved them again. This went on for a while before Susan eventually clapped and gave them a bright smile.
"Got it!"
She held up a tiny bottle, "This one will take us forward, and this one," she pointed at a bigger purple bottle, "will take us back."
Ron eyed the small bottle doubtfully, "There's only enough for one of us to drink it... maybe two if we take small sips."
"How sure are you Susan?" Draco asked, glancing nervously at the black flames.
Susan looked at Harry, her teal eyes burning with determination.
"Do you trust me?" She asked seriously.
Harry looked at his first, and best, friend for a couple moments before nodding.
"Yup."
It wasn't a particularly eloquent response but Susan still looked happy.
"Here then," she handed him the tiny vial. "This will take you forward."
"Brill," he said. "Who wants to come?"
Susan immediately put her hand up but Harry ignored her, better for her to get back somewhere safe.
He sized up the two boys and made a quick decision.
"Ron, with me. Draco, take Susan back. Grab the brooms from the key room and use 'em to fly back through the trapdoor. If we ain't back in the dorms by dinner then grab Snape. Got it?"
"Have Ron go with Draco, I'll stay with you," Susan told him.
"No, I don't want ya gettin' hurt or bein' stuck down here."
Susan glared at him, with her hands on her hips. "Because I'm a girl?"
Harry rolled his eyes, honestly if he didn't give a damn about any of the other nonsense these people judged each other on then why would he care about her being a girl?
"No, you prat. 'Cause you're my best friend, ain't ya?"
"Oh," Susan turned a faint pink color and she gave him a shy smile. "Well that's okay then."
Harry held up his little bottle in a mock salute towards her.
"If this is poison though Draco's got my permission to curse you. Cheers."
He drank about half of the bottle and let out a shiver.
"Nasty, but I ain't dead. Alright Ron, bottoms up."
Harry was impressed by Ron's composure, he swallowed the rest of the bottle as casually as he would water- despite the tremor of fear Harry saw causing his hands to shake.
"See ya later," Harry called over his shoulder to Draco and Susan as him and Ron stepped in to the next room.
Ron shuddered as soon as they were clear of the flames.
"That was bloody terrifying."
Harry agreed, but was distracted by the undeniable proof that Dumbledore had set up this little course.
"Whatever he's hidin', it's here," Harry murmured to Ron.
Ron gave him an incredulous look.
"What are you- ARGH!"
Ron was unceremoniously cut off by the arrival of Susan and Draco, shoving past him in to the room.
"It worked!" Susan crowed. "Draco you're a genius!"
"What the fuck?"
Harry stared at them. Susan was bright eyed and excited while Draco was preening from her praise.
"How'd ya do that?"
"Susan pointed out how stupid it was that whoever drank that potion couldn't come back-"
Susan interrupted Draco's explanation with a wave of her hand, "Self refilling bottles. What's this then?"
She made to move towards dais in the center of the room and Harry grabbed her by the back of her jumper.
"Wait," he hissed at her. "It's dangerous."
"What?" Draco laughed, "How is a mirror supposed to be dangerous?"
"Shut up," Harry whispered, looking around the room carefully. "It's a fuckin' trap."
Susan, who was looking around just as diligently as Harry, whispered back, "But how do we move on then?"
Harry didn't see a single other thing in the room, including another door, besides the mirror.
This must be the final challenge.
"Nothin' else to do I guess," he sighed.
They all crept carefully up to the mirror and the other three all gasped at what they saw.
Harry kept his eyes on Susan, pointedly ignoring the mirror.
"Wow," Ron whispered. "What is this thing?"
"The Mirror of Desire," Draco responded promptly.
"How'd ya know that??" Harry asked him.
Draco huffed and pointed at the script over the top of the mirror.
"I show not your face but your hearts desire."
Damn.
"D'you think it shows the future?" Ron asked quietly.
"No," Susan said sadly, frowning at whatever she saw in the mirror. "There's no way. Just what you wish you could have."
Harry remembered the first conversation him and her had in the library over the summer.
'My parents were murdered, by Voldemort, like yours, when I was a baby.'
He felt a swoop in his stomach and didn't need to ask what it was that she saw.
"S'alright," he whispered to her, patting her arm awkwardly. "Ya still have your aunt."
Susan gave him a grateful smile and her eyes had a commiserating look that Harry figured only kids without parents could truly understand.
She stepped away from the mirror and wrapped her arms around herself.
"So what's next... or is the mirror the prize?"
Harry shook his head, the mirror was just a trap Dumbledore had set up. He wasn't sure how, but he knew that it was just as much an enemy to be beaten as the dog and the troll were.
But... if there wasn't anything else to do about it... maybe he should just treat it like the troll?
And even if there wasn't some grand prize, or rare item to be found, at least that mirror would be gone and hopefully Dumbledore would be upset about it.
Serves him right.
"Oi, you lot," he called to Draco and Ron, both of which were still staring in the mirror. "C'mere."
Both boys let out mournful sighs, taking one last glimpse each at the images they saw, before backing up where Harry and Susan stood.
Harry smirked at them, "Ya ready?"
Ron shook his head no, while Draco opened his mouth to protest, "Ready for what?"
Harry ignored him and looked at the mirror, drawing up his magic.
Dumbledore's a bastard. Blow his stupid mirror up.
It was beautiful.
The mirror responded as if it was feeding off Harry's anger. Glass immediately exploded out- creating a shimmering whirl of chaos flying all around them.
Only at the last second did Harry think to throw up a shield, protecting his gang from the majority of the flying shards of glass.
He turned his head to grimace in apology to Susan, who had gasped when a shard initially cut her cheek, when something red flying towards them caught his eye.
"Duck!" He told the other kids, dropping his shield so he could catch the red thing.
As soon as the shield was down, Harry jumped in the air to grab the small shining object.
He felt some cuts from the glass tear up his robes and his arm- but more importantly- he caught the...
... rock?
As the glass from the now shattered mirror settled on the ground; Ron, Draco, and Susan stared at Harry as he clutched the rock and laughed hysterically until he felt tears pooling in his eyes.
"Er, mate? Alright there?" Ron asked hesitantly.
"D-Dumble-Dumbledore is an arse," Harry gasped, trying to control his laughter. "Look!" He held up the rock. "We-we almost got ate by a fuckin' dog, choked by a plant, Ron 'bout died on a chessboard, we coulda been squashed by the troll, or died if Susan picked the wrong potion... for a fuckin' rock!"
The others still stared at him, as if worried he had lost his mind.
"I mean, to be fair, I don't think Dumbledore would be very happy if he knew we were here or that we had that... rock," Susan said slowly. "Maybe we should put it back and leave?"
"Yeah, Harry, it's probably getting late. I bet we missed lunch. We should probably go," Draco added.
Harry, finally finished with his laughing fit, agreed.
"Yeah, let's get out of here before the bloody Headmaster shows up."
Draco raised a single blonde brow at Harry, who grinned knowingly at him.
"What?" He asked innocently.
"You're keeping the rock, aren't you?" Draco asked.
"Yup."
Ron and Susan laughed, while poor Draco's lips seemed to be torn between twitching in amusement or curling with a rebuke.
"Forget it," he sighed. He handed Harry the tiny vial of potion that let them pass the black flames. "Drink up Potter."
***
Once they exited the corridor Harry smiled brightly at the other kids, patting his pocket happily.
He can't believe how cold and unfeeling he had been this morning.
This is how he always wants to feel- excited and alive.
He didn't know what the red rock was for, or why Dumbledore hid it in an obstacle course, but he hopes it's important and he hopes the Headmaster panics when he finds out it's missing.
He was so caught up in his fantasy of the Headmaster freaking out and crying over his stupid rock that Ron's sudden whimper of surprise, in the middle of his tirade on how they should have kept the brooms, made him jump.
"Bloody hell Ron," he grumbled. "What'd ya do th—"
His question died in his throat as he looked where his gaze was and paled at the man standing in front of them.
"Well, well, well... what's going on here?"
Professor Quirrell was leaning against the banister for the stairs, twirling his wand, effectively blocking the exit for the floor.
"Now..." he spoke softly, locking eyes with Harry, "What kind of homework results in four students being covered in blood and scrapes?"
Fuck.