Chapter 5
Harry and Lily reached Privet Drive just as Dumbledore and McGonagal were apparating away.
"Look at that, how they could just leave you on the doorstep like that, that tells you everything about what kind of people they are right there." said Lily in a disgusted tone of voice.
"Harry, I'm going to have to go in and wake your aunt up, you'll have to stay out of sight while I talk to her."
"Ok Mum."
Lily walked into the house straight through the closed front door and walked up to her sister's bedroom.
"Petunia, wake up." said Lily.
Petunia woke from a deep sleep, startled to find her sister inside her bedroom.
"Lily, when did you get here?" exclaimed Petunia. "Is everything alright? Why are you here so late?"
"We need to talk Tuney, could you come downstairs, please don't wake Vernon up, I need to talk to you in private."
"Sure Lily" said Petunia as she followed her sister to the living room.
"Tuney, Harry's on the doorstep, could you please get him in."
"Why ever did you leave him out there? He could catch a cold" said Petunia as she hurried to the door and fetched Harry.
"There's a letter tucked in with him, whatever you do, don't read it, best if you burn it right away. Could you do that now please?"
"Lily, why are you acting so strange? Why did you keep this letter with Harry if you wanted it burnt?"
"I'll explain everything, Petunia, could you please just burn that letter right away, it's got a compulsion charm on it."
"A compulsion charm? Why is there…"
"I'll explain everything Tuney, please just destroy that letter first."
"Ok, I'll just toss it in the fireplace, will that do the trick?"
"Yes Tuney, now I really don't know how best to tell you this. This is going to come as a bit of a shock to you, could you please come and sit down; I need to tell you some things."
Half an hour later Lily was still consoling a sobbing Petunia who was clutching onto a sleeping Harry as if her life depended on it.
"How could they just leave him on the doorstep like that, are they insane, it's November, he could have gotten pneumonia, what if a stray animal had come by, he could have been mauled."
"They're wizards Petunia, they tend not to think of things like that, and apart from that as long as Harry survives to face Voldemort again, Dumbledore doesn't really care about his health or the state he's in. In fact he wants Harry to be as weak as possible."
"Why? Why would he do that, what on earth could he have against a baby?"
"He wants Harry to be weak and easy to manipulate, as for the rest Tuney, don't ask me to explain how that mans mind works. It's almost incomprehensible to me as well. Now we need to make sure that you're protected from Dumbledore. The blood protection I invoked on Harry will protect this house from any outside magical attack, but Dumbledore's placed some compulsion wards around the house that have to be negated or you'll never have another moment of peace."
"How do we do that?"
"We need to create a ward to protect your family Tuney, since I can't touch or move anything I'll need your help to create it."
"How do I do that Lily? It's not like I can do magic."
"We're going to use runes Petunia, the thing with Runes is that anyone can draw them, as long as they're created with a magical substance it doesn't matter who drew them."
"But we don't have any magical substances, do we?"
"Sure we do, but I know you're not going to like it."
"What?"
"We'll have to use some of Harry's blood, not much; we just need a few drops."
"What, no, no I refuse, there's no way I'm going to take hurt this little baby, we'll just have to use my blood."
"Unfortunately, Petunia, your blood wouldn't work, only a witch or wizards blood is magical enough to be used to draw runes, and Harry's the only wizard here. It's okay though, all you need to do is prick his finger with a needle, it's no worse than when you take Dudley to the doctors, they've taken blood tests from him right, its no worse than that."
"But those were doctors, what if I mess up and hit a vein or something? I couldn't bear to hurt Harry."
"Tuney, don't worry, I'm right here, I'll guide you through it, I promise you nothing will happen to Harry. Now see if you can find a bottle of ink and a brush, any small paintbrush will do."
Five minutes later Petunia was holding Harry's finger over a small saucer filled with ink; she took a deep breath and pricked the baby's finger allowing several drops of blood to drop into the ink.
"Ok, now clear off a place in the middle of the living room and sit down on the floor, this is going to take some time, what I need you to do is follow my finger exactly with your brush."
With that Lily started tracing shapes onto the living room floor making sure that Petunia followed her directions exactly.
"Once this is done, it'll create a ward that will defend the house and your family from any outside magical influences; you'll be protected from any kind of mental compulsion and memory charm. If we do it right someone could hit you with the imperious curse and it'll slide right off you."
For the next hour Petunia drew a series of intricate runes onto the living room floor, once she completed the last rune the ward activated with a bright splash of light that swiftly expanded to cover the entire house before slowly dimming away into nothingness.
"Wow that was amazing, it's like I could suddenly relax from a tension I didn't even know I was under."
"Yes, that was the aggression wards being pushed back, it's a slow insidious ward, slowly makes you tenser and tenser until you're filled with hate, and all that would have been directed against Harry. And you would never even have realized why you hated your own nephew."
"All because they need to control him, what kind of people did you get yourself mixed up with Lily? That they could do this to us, to him, it's horrendous."
"Yes, Yes it is, but don't worry Petunia, I've got a plan in place to make sure they all get what's coming to them."
"That's good."
"In a few years once Harry is old enough to start learning, I've asked a friend of mine to contact you. You remember Sirius right, James's best man at our wedding. I've asked him to start teaching Harry once he's six years old. Apart from him, don't trust any other wizard you might run across, and if someone called Arabella Figg moves in nearby; make sure that you avoid her as well."
"Ok, but are you sure about Sirius, won't it be much safer to keep Harry away from all that kind of stuff."
"It's necessary Petunia, once he gets older there are many wizards out there who mean to do him harm, he has to be prepared to defend himself."
"Couldn't we hide? We could change our names, move to another country?"
"They'll track him down Petunia, no, for now its best you continue to live here, the protections are in place now and you'll be much safer here. And once Harry is old enough he'll deal with those wizards once and for all."
"I wish he didn't have to." said Petunia.
"I know Petunia, I've got to go soon, could you give me a minute to say goodbye to Harry."
"Sure Lily, I'll just be in the kitchen if you need anything. Call me once you're done."
Once Petunia was out of the room, Harry came out of hiding.
"You know it's really quite freaky to see yourself as a baby. What do we do now?"
"Unfortunately this is goodbye Harry, now we're going to put you back in your younger self. Since we won't be able to speak after that, I want you to know that your father and I love you very much, and we'll always be looking over you."
"I know Mum; I'm going to miss you so much."
"I'll miss you more than you'll ever know Harry, I'm just so glad that I got this chance to talk to you." said a teary eyed Lily as she hugged Harry goodbye.
"Now you need to re-enter your body, it should be simple enough after all that's the place your soul knows is home, you should find yourself drawn into yourself quite easily, then I'll perform the last bit of magic that will lock your memories away till you need them."
"What happens to the soul that's already there?"
"Nothing, it's the same soul after all, in effect all we're actually doing is putting your memories inside your younger self, since the two souls are one and the same they'll just sort of blend together."
"Ok Mum, tell Dad I love him."
Harry walked over to his younger self and looked at the baby, he found himself being pulled forward by an irresistible force into the tiny little body, and for a brief moment found himself looking out at the world through sleepy eyes. Lily came and waved her hands over his head whilst muttering an incantation and then Harry Potter knew no more.
"Goodbye Harry" said Lily as she knelt down and placed a ghostly kiss on the baby's brow.
"I've got to go now Petunia" called out Lily.
"Can't you stay just a little while longer Lily" sobbed Petunia, distraught once again at the thought that she would never see her younger sister again.
"I'm sorry Petunia, I wish I could but I don't have much magic left, give my love to Vernon and Dudley. Please take care of Harry."
"You know I will Lily, I'll love him just as if he was my own."
"Thank you Petunia, I knew I could rely on you." said Lily as she faded away leaving a sobbing Petunia alone with the infant Harry.
Chapter 6
Ten Years Later
In a quiet suburban street in Little Whinging a pleasant looking woman was humming happily to herself as she finished preparing breakfast for her family.
"Dudley, Harry get down here now, your breakfast is ready" she called out.
A few minutes later two laughing boys came clattering down the stairs boisterously joking with one another.
"Eat up boys; your father has something he wants to say to you."
"I do?" said a yawning Vernon as he came in to grab his coffee.
"Yes you do, remember" said Petunia as she glared at her husband.
"Oh yeah the Polkiss boy" said Vernon, looking at the two boys who were trying their best to put on their most innocent faces.
"So boys, you want to tell your mother and me how Piers wound up dyed blue from head to toe"
"Haven't the faintest idea" said Dudley.
"Really? Are you sure? So his mother was totally mistaken when she said that you and Harry were to blame?"
"Yep. Total case of mistaken identity." said Harry.
"Boys, Boys, Boys, what am I going to do with you? At least tell me you didn't use magic on him Harry, you know that's against the rules."
"Didn't use magic at all Dad."
"So how did you do it then?"
"Food colori…oops" said Dudley.
"Still want to go with the mistaken identity defense boys? Now how about you tell me what really happened."
"Well…."
"I'm waiting…"
"Okay, see the thing is he was bullying some of the kids and we thought we'd just play a little joke on him. Not like it harmed him any."
"And how did you do it?"
"Food coloring, a bottle of Coke and a Mentos."
"I see, how ingenious" snickered Vernon.
"Ingenious? Is that all you're going to say Vernon? His mother was furious. The poor boy looked like a smurf."
"A smurf…" giggled Vernon before bursting out into peals of laughter.
"I swear you're nearly as bad as the boys" said Petunia.
"You're the one who called him a smurf Pet" choked Vernon still trying to control his laughter.
"Okay but we still need to punish the boys."
"Ground them for a week" suggested Vernon.
"That's not fair, it's my birthday on Tuesday" said Harry.
"Hmmm, how about no video games for a week then?"
"No games, but what will we do then?" wailed Dudley.
"Come on boys, you can't expect to go around turning people blue without any repercussions." said Petunia. "I'd make it two weeks if it wasn't your birthday next week, so consider yourself lucky."
"That's not fair, Piers is a bully, we were only trying to teach him a lesson." whined Harry.
"And now I have to teach you yours. No video games for a week, and that's that."
"Okay Mum" chorused the boys.
"Hmmm, mails here, could you get it Dudley."
"Make Harry get it"
"You've finished breakfast, your brother's still eating, now go get the mail. You finish your breakfast Harry, god knows you're thin enough as it is."
"Now Pet, you know Harry's perfectly healthy, his height's in the 90% percentile for his age."
"He's still too thin though."
"Nonsense, he's perfectly fine, he'll put on some weight once he's done growing vertically is all."
"Hey Harry, there's a letter here for you"
"What is it? A birthday card?"
"Dunno, it's addressed to your bedroom though."
"My bedroom, that's weird" said Harry taking the letter from Dudley.
As he turned the letter over he saw a strangely familiar logo on it back. Suddenly a strange feeling of déjà vu swept through Harry which was followed by a tidal wave of memories. A minute later he had crashed face first into his plate of scrambled eggs.
"Harry" screamed Petunia as she rushed to his side, frantically wiping his face clean.
"Ow.." said Harry, "that felt strange.."
"What happened?"
"The letter, it triggered something."
"This letter? Who is it from?" said Petunia as she started to open it.
"STOP" screamed Harry. "Don't open it. We're not supposed to open it yet."
"What? Why ever not? You're acting very strange Harry. What's wrong with you?"
"Mum, you remember the night I was dropped off? Remember when my other mother showed up?"
"How do you know about that? I never told you about that."
"That's my Hogwarts acceptance letter Mum and well, Mum…that is... Lily, she uh left a little present with me set to go off once I got it, basically it's a complete set of memories of what would have happened if she hadn't interfered that night."
"And…"
"And it was horrible Mum, all of you'll were replaced by these cartoonishly evil versions of yourself. Dad was huge and obese, like an elephant, and so was Dudley, and talk about mean….ugh ugh ugh. And you had this permanent mean angry expression on your face like… like… I don't even know how to describe it; I've never seen you look like that."
"That bad?"
"Worse. And anyway I've got memories of the next few years as well so I know how things are supposed to happen. I think we're going to have to make sure some things happen the same way. That means we've got to keep getting rid of the letters until Hagrid shows up in person to give it to me. Damn Damn Damn."
"Language Harry, what's wrong? "
"Hagrid is supposed to show up the night before my birthday and take me to Diagon Alley on my birthday."
"Bit inconsiderate of him isn't it? You should be with your family on your birthday."
"Mum, don't you get it… We're going to have to cancel my birthday party, this is terrible."
"Can't you just go with Hagrid some other time?"
"No it's vitally important that I be in Diagon Alley on Tuesday, everything depends on it."
"Hold on hold on; Let me think for a sec. Okay, lets do one thing, let's have your party on Saturday instead. We'll just tell everyone that we decided to have it earlier as we wanted to have it on the weekend."
"Thanks Mum, you're the best. Let me see what else, I know I'm forgetting something, Dad can you take Monday off, we need to take a little road trip."
"Why?"
"Well in the alternate set of memories, your evil twin decided to keep me away from Hogwarts so you didn't let me read the letters, but they kept coming so you tried to run away to avoid them, we wound up on some island somewhere."
"Seems a bit extreme, where's this island anyway, how do we get there?"
"No clue, I don't remember how we got there last time, and it was horribly uncomfortable anyway, I was thinking we'll just find a hotel somewhere, or maybe we could go camping. It doesn't matter as long as it's a reasonably far away from here."
"Hmm, Camping could work, could take a couple of days off... Maybe get in some fishing. I'll figure something out."
"Okay what else do I need to do, Sirus, I need to talk to Sirius" yelled Harry as he ran to the phone.
"Come on, come on, pick up already" muttered Harry. "Sirius, we need to talk right now." yelled Harry down the phone as Sirius answered.
"What's up Harry?" said Sirius.
"Okay, remember ten years back, my mother asked you to do some things, did you do them."
"How did you know about …?"
"That's not important right now, I'll fill you in later, just tell me if you did them."
"Yes, Yes I did."
"Great, that's a relief" sighed Harry.
"Ok, so I need you to clear your schedule for the next week, we're going to be going forward with Lily's Plan, I'm going to be in Diagon Alley on Tuesday, before then I need you to do some things."
"Sure, not a problem Harry, you know I'm always available if you need help."
"Great Sirius, now this is what I need you to do….."
"Ok, Sirius is on board, now we just need to prepare for Hagrid's visit. Dad you think you can get a hold of a fat suit?"
"A fat suit? Why?"
"Yeah, you're right, that'll probably be overkill, you do need to work on your look though. Can you try and look angry?"
"Like this…"
"No, that's terrible…You need to look angry…Angry like someone's beating up Dudley in front of you."
"How about this?"
"Better, but not quite there yet. We'll have to work at it. Dudley, Dudley…"
"What?"
"Can you try and look mean. No not like that, not tough mean, like stupid mean, like a moronic sadist. No no no, that's totally wrong. Crap, this is all going to go to hell, isn't it?"
"Harry, maybe we don't have to act exactly like the evil versions of ourselves right? It's not like any of them have actually met them."
"You're right Mum, but remember those wards Dumbledore set up. They would have turned you into nasty people, so at the very least you're going to have to act a little mean and nasty. The meaner the better. If we don't get it right Dumbledore might start wondering why his wards didn't work, and we can't have that."
"We'll better practice then. So how angry was I supposed to look again?"
Chapter 7
Things had gone pretty much as Harry planned. Hagrid had shown up at the family's campsite, Vernon had put on an act of being an overbearing muggle who didn't want Harry to have anything to do with 'that freakishness'. Dudley was even currently sporting a pigs tail which was something that Harry had hoped to avoid this time around. He knew that Sirius would be able to remove it easily so Dudley wasn't too upset. Actually knowing him he was already using it to freak their mother out thought Harry. Currently he and Hagrid were just finishing up their business at Gringotts. As they stepped outside the bank, Hagrid got a glazed look on his face.
"Might as well get yer uniform," said Hagrid, nodding toward Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. "Listen, Harry, would yeh mind if I slipped off fer a pick-me-up in the Leaky Cauldron? I hate them Gringotts carts." *
"Not a problem Hagrid."
"Oh, and could yer hold onto this package for me" said Hagrid as he handed over the small wrapped package they had just retrieved from Gringotts.
"Sure Hagrid."
"Okay, then I'll just come and fetch yeh from Madam Malkin's in a bit, takes a while to get yer robes."
"Okay, see you then Hagrid." said Harry as he walked off towards the tailors. On his way there, he ducked into an alley for a second, and only the most observant of watchers would have seen the small package suddenly disappear from his hand.
The rest of the day went the same as Harry remembered, he ran into Malfoy who was his usual obnoxious self, he got his wand and the whole brother wand gave you that scar shtick from Ollivander, and was gifted Hedwig by Hagrid. As they were leaving Diagon Alley to head back to the train station Hagrid's eyes glazed over again for a brief moment and his pocket suddenly sagged with the weight of the small package.
Hagrid escorted Harry to the train that would take him back to Little Whinging. Harry waited for a few minutes until the station was no longer in sight. He then ducked into an empty compartment and activated the portkey he had been carrying around with him since the weekend. One familiar whirling sensation later he was falling over in the drawing room at #12 Grimauld Place.
"Damn it, what is it with magical travel, do they go out of their way to make it unpleasant or what?"
"Still having troubles with portkeys I see" said Sirius.
"Yep, hate the damn things."
"Your language seems to have gotten a little saltier lately."
"Sorry Sirus, been a little stressed lately."
"I can imagine."
"So, did you get things done?"
"Yep got the items you wanted last week, potions all brewed and I made some gold as well."
"Excellent, how much potion?"
"2 litres."
"Hmm. A standard dose is 50 mils so that's 40 doses. Elixir of Life is not supposed to have much of a shelf life though; did you get the stasis boxes?"
"Yep, got a few, once the lid is closed no time is supposed to pass inside. They're guaranteed to keep things fresh indefinitely."
"Excellent, so we're going to need one dose today, we should keep another 5 in a safe place in your house, somewhere secure where we can get to it quickly in case anyone we know has an accident, let's keep the rest in our vaults at Gringotts. How much gold were you able to create using it?"
"I thought one metric ton was an appropriate amount."
"Great. That should buy us a few friends in the Wizengamot. We should start selling it off slowly in the muggle world."
"Not to the goblins?"
"Nah, the pounds to galleons conversion rate isn't pegged to the price of gold, we'd get a better return if we sell the gold in the non magical world. Careful not to sell too much at one time though, don't want anyone getting suspicious."
"I guess not. By the way you never said how you got the instructions for the potion."
"My mother told me."
"How did she..."
"Remember the night they died, there's not much my mother couldn't do including speaking to you from beyond the grave. Anyway, according to her, there's no keeping secrets from a spirit, she left me the complete set of instructions."
"Lily was amazing."
"That she was. Anyway, are things set up for our meeting?"
"Yep, we'll be having it in the study."
"And the defenses?"
"Put this ring on. It's a portkey, anything happens and you press the stone on the top, it'll take you straight to just outside the wards at Privet Drive. You'll be sitting behind the desk, so he'll have to sit in this chair which is another portkey. Its destination is set to the inside of a furnace at a steel mill. Should be quite unpleasant. The wards are set so that any offensive magic in this room from someone not keyed into the wards will activate the portkey. If you want to set it off manually just tap the handle on the drawer to your right. Now you've got the wandless banishing charm down pat right?"
"Yep."
"Ok, see these dice; they'll be on the desk, just another knick knack right. Nope, they're actually made out of lead. Banish them at him with enough force and they should hit him like bullets. He'll never expect wandless magic from someone your age. If those miss, banish this paperweight, lead covered with steel. Aim for his chest, not his head, heads too easy a target to miss. Remember this is for contingencies only. Your first option is to get the hell out of here using your portkey."
"Right."
"I'll be standing there in the corner covered with an invisibility cloak with my wand trained on him the entire time."
"Is that my Dad's invisibility cloak?"
"Nope that's a Potter family heirloom, I didn't feel right using that, which reminds me, I've got to give it to you before you head to Hogwarts, your Dad would be very disappointed if you didn't use it to play some pranks. I've been keeping it in safekeeping for you ever since I got it back from Dumbledore, and let me tell you, he really didn't want to give it up. I had to threaten him with going to the DMLE and filing a complaint out against him before he gave it up."
"Sirius, you know you're not supposed to antagonize him."
"I know, I know, but there was no way I was letting him hold on to that. As your godfather I have to make sure that you get everything that you're entitled to."
"I know your hearts in the right place Sirius, but you really need to be more careful. Just for a little while longer all right."
"It's been 10 years Harry. Ten years is a long time to wait for revenge."
"Dish best served cold Sirius."
"Yeah yeah yeah. Anyhow, there's one final fail-safe. Once he gets here, the wards will go into complete lockdown. Assuming the portkeys don't work and he gets past me as well, then if he tries to leave the house after that the wards will fry him to a crisp. They're set to maximum lethality."
"Excellent, and we're keyed in so that we can portkey or apparate away right."
"Of course, do you even have to ask?"
"Okay, then I think we're as set as we're going to be. What do we do while we're waiting, going to be another half an hour at least till he flooes in."
"Well, I guess I could show you how to use an invisibility cloak properly."
"What's to know? You just wrap it around you right?"
"Hardly Harry, just because you're invisible doesn't mean that you can't be detected. Okay, quick quiz. How does someone know that you're there?"
"Well, they see you of course?"
"Yeah, but the cloak will take care of that. What else?"
"Sound, if you make a noise they can hear you."
"Yep, So what's the spell to avoid making noise?"
"Uhh, Silencio , no Mufliato."
"Nope, Silencio will prevent someone else from speaking, while Mufliato is used to create a baffling noise that will prevent anyone from overhearing a conversation. No, the one you want is Quietus. The wand movement is a quick diagonal slash followed by a thrust toward whatever it is that you're silencing. So what do you need to silence?"
"Shoes of course, stop anyone from hearing my footsteps."
"Close but not quite. Apart from footsteps, there are your robes. When you move, your clothes can make a rustling noise if they rub against themselves. Then there's your breathing as well. Breathing can be surprisingly loud in a quiet environment. So you need to silence your shoes, your clothes as well as the cloak itself and finally you need to silence your head so no one can hear you breathing. You should still be able to cast spells though as it doesn't stop you from speaking, just stops anyone else from hearing you. Got that."
"Yep."
"Good, now do you think that's enough?"
"Well, I did until you said that. So what's left?"
"Smell of course. Loads of people have sensitive noses, and that's not even counting werewolves, and don't forget about animals. You know the caretaker at Hogwarts has a cat right? Horrible creature called Mrs. Norris. You want to make sure that she doesn't come sniffing around."
"So what's the spell?"
"Nidorio Expulius. Wand movements a quick circle around your head. Dead useful spell this one is. Great for when you're just done exercising or if you haven't had the time to take a shower. Totally eradicates any smell on you. Remember to recast it every once in a while though as it only eradicates the smells that are currently on you. Any odors that you pick up after that will be detectable. It's generally a good idea to use it after a potions class as well, trust me you don't want to go around smelling like Snivellus. There's a reason he's still single and it's not just his horrible personality."
"Got it."
"Give them a go then. Start with Quietus."
oo00oo
A little while later the fireplace at Grimauld Place glowed green and a pale nervous looking young man wearing a turban steeped out.
"Ahh Professor Quirrell, I'm so glad you could make it here."
"W-W-Well the note you slipped me at the Leaky Cauldron was most intriguing Mr. P-Potter. What matter did you have to discuss with me?"
"Shall we go to the study then? Might as well make ourselves comfortable."
"L-L-Lead on Mr. P-P-Potter."
Harry lead the way to the study.
"T-T-This is the ancestral house of Black is it not. I-I'm surprised to see you associating with a family that is so notoriously D-Dark. I'm shocked that Professor Dumbledore allowed it."
"Dumbledore has no say in what I do Professor" said Harry as he seated himself and Professor Quirrell in the study.
"I'm sure you're wondering why I asked you here today professor, but it was extremely important that I speak to you before I came to Hogwarts."
"W..Why Mr. Potter. Did you wish to discuss your d-d-defense classes?"
"Not quite Professor. What I actually wanted to discuss with you was something that happened more than a decade earlier. As you know the Dark Lord He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named attacked my family at that time. My parents were killed and then something happened that resulted in he who shall not be named disappearing and me being bestowed with the rather ridiculous moniker of the Boy-Who-Lived."
"I-I don't think there is a single person in the wizarding world who is not aware of those facts Mr. P-P-Potter." stuttered Professor Quirrell.
"Yes, well what most people don't know is that there was a reason that Lord Voldemort attacked my family's house that night. It seems that he was informed that a certain prophecy was made about me and him. I believe the wording was 'The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ...' Lord Voldemort decided that I was the one who the prophecy referred to which led to the events that followed.
"T-T-That is most fascinating Mr Potter, but why did you wish to inform me about the prophecy?"
"I'm getting to that, if I could just have a bit of your patience. You see Professor, what I wanted to discuss with you was the wording of the prophecy. You'll notice it said that I would have the power to vanquish the Dark Lord. It says nothing about whether or not I would have the desire to vanquish him now does it?"
"I-I-I'm not quite sure I understand."
"To be plain and clear Professor, I have no desire to attack or vanquish Lord Voldemort in any way whatsoever. Now that we have cleared that up, I'm about to say something that may incite you to attack me. If you do so; you would me making a big mistake. It would be far more productive of you to hear me out completely. Do you think you could agree to that?"
"W-Why would I wish to attack you Mr. P-Potter, what could you possibly say that would make me want to attack you."
"Well, the real reason that I called you hear today was so I could talk to Lord Voldemort directly, so if you could kindly remove your turban and turn around I would be most grateful."
"H..How did you know?" stuttered Quirrell as he reached for his wand.
"Please Professor, remember what I said, I am very certain that Lord Voldemort will want to hear what I have to say."
"Let me speak to the boy" whispered a sepulchral voice.
"Of course master" said Quirrell as he removed his turban and turned around.
Where there should have been a back to Quirrell's head, there was a face, the most terrible face Harry had ever seen. It was chalk white with glaring red eyes and slits for nostrils, like a snake. *
"Ah Lord Voldemort, it's so good to finally make your acquaintance, before we get any further let me just say that I currently hold the solution to all your problems and it would be in your best interest to ensure that I continue to be as healthy as possible. So, no attacking me in any manner. Do you agree?"
"I will hear you out Potter, after that we shall see. I fail to see how you can possibly hold any solution, you are just a boy, one who has probably just bought his first wand."
"And yet I knew that you were possessing Professor Quirrell here, I dare suppose you find that quite curious. As to your problems, I know that you have an incomplete possession of Quirrell and that his body is already failing as we speak. I also know that earlier today you failed to retrieve the stone you sought at Gringotts and that without it Quirrell's body will fail before the year is out."
"If you know all that you must know that the stone has been taken to Hogwarts, I will retrieve it from there, why do I need you?"
"Why go to all that trouble when I have a far simpler solution for your problems?"
"What solution would that be."
"I know how to heal Quirrell's body, I also know how you can complete possession of his body so that you no longer have to live in the back of his head hidden by a turban. In return all I need from you is one simple vow."
"A vow?"
"Yes, an Unbreakable Vow to be precise. You will simply make an Unbreakable Vow to me. The vow will state that neither you, nor Quirrell, or any of your Death Eaters or minions will ever seek to harm or attack in any way me, my family and my friends or their families. In return I will give you the solution to your problems."
"And what is to stop you from attacking me once I have made that vow?"
"Lord Voldemort, I am currently eleven years old. What could I possibly do to harm you? But to ease your worries I will also make an Unbreakable Vow to you. I will vow to never attack you unless I am attacked first by you, Quirrell or one of your Death eaters. Any attack on me or my family and friends will free me to respond in kind."
"I have certain ambitions Potter, what is to stop you from declaring everyone to be your friend?"
"Oh rest assured Lord Voldemort, I am hardly friends with everyone, in fact there is one name that will never appear on my list of friends, that name is Albus Dumbledore. Does that ease your mind?"
"You are not friendly with Dumbledore? I would have thought he would have made certain that you were firmly in his pocket by now."
"Albus Dumbledore is as much my enemy as he is yours. In fact I was hoping to form an alliance with you to bring about his downfall. Should you be interested in such a thing of course?"
"I would be very interested in anything that would harm Dumbledore. But explain to me why you feel the same way. Your parents were his followers after all, why are you not following in their footsteps?"
"Dumbledore believes in that ridiculous prophecy. He believes that as long as I am the one destined to kill you no one else will be able to. Why do you think he allowed the prophecy to leak in the first place? He could not wait for me to grow up, so he attempted to have you do away with me, so that he could be the one to vanquish you. Imagine his surprise when I managed to survive. Once he knows that you have survived he will attempt to pit us against each other until I am dead. I have no desire to be used as an old man's weapon."
"He allowed the prophecy to leak? He attempted to manipulate me?" raged Voldemort.
"Yes, and as such, it is him that I currently blame for the deaths of my parents. Not you. So I see no reason why we cannot work together. Can you?"
"No, provided you are saying the truth of course."
"I am, shall we get to the vows then."
"I believe we shall require a Bonder."
"Yes, would you allow me to call in my godfather? Sirius Black. I believe several of his family members are among your most loyal followers."
"They might have been but he never was. However for this purpose he would be acceptable."
"Fine then, Sirius could you please come in" called out Harry.
Sirius walked to the door, took off his invisibility cloak and pretended to be just entering the room.
"Lord Voldemort, meet Sirius Black. Sirius could you kindly act as our Bonder while we make our vows to each other."
"Of course Harry, if you would join your right hands, yes thats good." Sirius placed the tip oh his wand on their linked hands. "Now go ahead and make your vows."
"I, Lord Voldemort vow to never attack Harry Potter or his family members or any such people that are known to be his friends including the families of his friends in any way unless attacked by them first. I also vow that neither Quirinus Quirrell or any off the people that answer to me such as my Death Eaters will be allowed to attack him, his family or friends." A thin tongue of brilliant flame issued from the wand and wound its way around their hands like a red-hot wire.
"I Harry James Potter vow to never attack Lord Voldemort unless attacked first by him or his followers. Any attack on my family or friends will also be viewed as an attack on me."
Another tongue of flame wrapped around the two joined hands.
"Is that acceptable to both parties" asked Sirius."
"Yes, it is." said both Harry and Voldemort.
"Great, now thats out of the way shall we get to my solution to your problems."
"Do tell" said Voldemort.
"Well, firstly, earlier today Hagrid removed the stone from Gringotts to take it to Hogwarts for safekeeping. Now I'm sure you find the timing of this to be as suspicious as I do. Flamel has kept the stone safe for centuries, why is he no longer capable of keeping it safe? In short Dumbledore already suspects that you have returned. The stone is bait for a trap he's setting up for you at Hogwarts. The good news is that we intercepted the stone after Hagrid retrieved it and used it to create some Elixir of Life."
"How did you do that?"
"Imperious, made him think it was a good idea to have me hold on to the stone for safe keeping, I handed it off to Sirius who brewed the necessary potions while Hagrid and I finished shopping, we then returned it to him and obliviated any memory of him ever handing it to me. Now the Elixir will heal Quirrell's body, but that doesn't solve the problem of you being stuck in the back of his head, and no offense but there is only so much you can do while you are in this state."
"How do you propose to fix that?"
"Lord Voldemort, we know about the Horcruxes as well, we know that you have split your soul multiple times, this is the reason your spirit is currently too weak to complete possession of Quirrell's body. Before we go any further though, I must ask, was Quirrell willing? If not perhaps we should look into other ways of getting you a body."
"Quirinus is loyal to me, he willingly allowed me to take possession of his body."
"Okay then, thats one less thing to worry about. Now as I was saying, your spirit is currently too weak so we need to retrieve the bits of soul that you have left in your horcruxes, this will strengthen your spirit enough that you will be able to complete possession of Quirrell's body."
"My Horcruxes are the only thing keeping me anchored to this plane, I will not allow them to be destroyed."
"You only need one to stay anchored, we know of at least five, the diary, Ravenclaw's diadem, Hufflepuff's cup, Slytherin's locket and the Gaunt ring. What I propose is that you retrieve the soul fragment from the diary and one other. The fragment from the diary should be the largest as it was the first one created, that combined with the fragment from any of the other horcruxes should be enough to strengthen your spirit, while the remaining will be more than enough to serve as safeguards."
"You know far more than I am comfortable with but your solution might be acceptable, we will have to retrieve the Diary from Lucius Malfoy."
"Already done, Sirius put him under the Imperius Curse last week, got him to hand over the diary quite easily. I also have Slytherin's Locket here, that one was easy to retrieve as well since you did ask the Black family elf to help you place it in it's hiding place."
"You have two of my horcruxes?"
"Please calm down Lord Voldemort, we have already taken vows not to harm each other, and I am only attempting to restore you back to your former power."
"Where are the rest of my horcruxes?"
"Right where you left them I'm sure, we only needed two so we only retrieved two. Now as far as I am aware the soul fragments are only liberated once the items are destroyed. Is that true?"
"For anyone else yes, however since I was the one to create them, I can easily remove them from the items."
"That's great, I wasn't looking forward to figuring out a way to destroy them, so do you want to give it a go then?"
"Give it a go? Show some respect Potter, you are talking about items that I had to go to considerable trouble to create, one does not simply reverse years of work just on the say so of an eleven year old boy."
"That would be a eleven year old boy who has already proven to you that he knows what he is talking about" said Sirius. "He has given you a solution to your current predicament, take it or go take your chances with Dumbledore. Perhaps his trap will be easily surmountable. Perhaps he will not be waiting for you. Do you think you can take him on in your current state? If not then this is your only solution. Personally as long as you do not attack Harry I do not care what you do, go on and attack Dumbledore, I'm sure I'll enjoy the show no matter what the outcome."
"Swear on your life and magic that my other horcruxes are safe first."
"Fine, I swear on my life and magic that as far as I am aware, Lord Voldemort's other horcruxes are still wherever he left them" vowed Sirius.
"You too Potter."
"Is this really necessary? Fine. I swear on my life and magic that I have not made any attempt to retrieve the remaining Horcruxes. Is that acceptable?"
"It will have to do for now. Now give me my horcruxes."
"Fine, fine, Heres your Diary and here is the locket" said Harry as he retrieved the two items from a locked chest.
Voldemort looked at the items for a long moment while he decided what to do. Finally he came to a decision and placed his hands around both items whilst whispering an incantation over them. A blackish mist seemed to rise from both items, it hung suspended in the air for a moment before darting straight into Quirrell's head. Quirrell took one long breath, he seemed to be in agony for a moment as Voldemorts features seemed to sink back into his skull before disappearing completely. His eyes flashed red and his face took on a totally different expression.
"Lord Voldemort? Are you okay?" asked Harry.
"Voldemort? Who's that? My name is Tom, Tom Riddle. Where am I?" whispered the person formally known as Quirinus Quirrell.
"Take a minute. It'll come to you" said Harry.
"Come to me? What are you..." said Voldemort before suddenly falling to the ground screaming as the spirit of Tom Riddle became aware of his memories. "Oh my god, what have I done." screamed Voldemort as he thrashed around on the floor.
"Quick Sirius, get the Elixir, his body might go into shock, we need to heal him now."
"Well, I wasn't expecting that" said Sirius as he rushed to retrieve the vial of Elixir he had prepared earlier.
Harry and Sirius forced Quirrell's mouth open and poured in the elixir. Although Quirrell's body immediately began to take on a healthier appearance as the Elixir went to work, throughout this Quirrell kept thrashing and screaming in agony.
"I think we'll need a Calming Draught, or maybe we should just give him a dreamless sleep potion" said Harry.
"What just happened? I thought that restoring his soul fragments would just restore his sanity."
"That's what it did Sirius, and now for the first time in years he's completely aware of all of the atrocities he's committed. Obviously this is causing him a certain amount of anguish. The Elixir will heal his body and hopefully help his mind as well, but we need him to calm down before he does himself an injury. Do you have the potions?"
"I'll send Dobby to fetch them."
"Yeah send Dobby."
"Did master call Dobby?"
"Yes, Dobby could you fetch me some Dreamless Sleep Potion, get me some Calming Draught as well."
"At once Master Black" said Dobby as he popped away.
"I'm glad you managed to get Lucius to free him."
"Didn't free him, house elves don't do well if they're given clothes, they're ostracized by the other elves and most of them end up committing suicide. No, I had Lucius sell him to me for a knut."
"Well, that'll do I suppose as long as you treat him right."
"Of course I will Harry, the way Lucius was treating him was a disgrace to purebloods everywhere. That man is utter filth."
Once they had poured the calming draught down Quirrell's throat, they finally managed to get him to quiet down, they then placed him in bed and put him to sleep using the dreamless sleep potion.
"What do you think? Think he'll be okay?" said Sirius.
"Should be, once he's over the shock. Once he's settled down a bit, we'll fill him in on the rest of the plan. I also need to get him to look at this scar of mine, we need to figure out if it really contains a bit of his soul. Damn thing was throbbing the entire time I was talking to him."
"Yeah, best to take care of that as soon as possible."
"Well, I'm exhausted, will you be okay handling things here?"
"Sure Harry, not a problem, he's going to be asleep for the next 24 hours at least."
"Okay, then I'll just use the portkey to get home and get some rest. Oh and that reminds me, could you just pop over with me, I need you to fix Dudley's tail."
"Dudley's got a tail? How did that happen?"
"Hagrid didn't like the way Dad spoke about Dumbledore, decided to teach him a little lesson."
"What the hell was Hagrid thinking? You can't just go around putting tails on kids."
"Who cares? Let's just get home and fix him up okay?"
"Yeah, okay, I'll do that, let me just hold onto the ring there and activate it."
"Wait a sec, almost forgot Hedwig."
"Yeah, go grab your things and we'll go."
"Oh, and remember to let Kreacher know that you managed to destroy the locket. He'll be much happier once he knows that your brother's last command to him has been completed."
"Anything will be an improvement, Kreacher is the worst elf I've ever come across. Just my luck that my family had to have the craziest elf."
"Trust me, give him a chance and he'll be much better."
"I still can't believe you made him an Unbreakable Vow."
"I did leave myself a loophole. Any of his Death Eaters attack me and I'm free of the oath."
"He'll still have to attack you first."
"Remember Snape? How much you want to bet that he's still nursing a grudge against my father. And considering how much I look like him it'll be ridiculously easy to provoke him to attack me, at least verbally. And a verbal attack is still an attack now isn't it?"
"Very devious, better be careful or the hat will put you in Slytherin."
"In the house that Snape is the head of, the one filled with Junior Death Eaters, like I'll let that happen. Not bloody likely."
oo00oo
*Excerpt from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Chapter 8
"Harry, Sirius is on the phone for you."
"Coming Mum" yelled Harry as he ran to the phone. "Hi Sirius, what's happening with your guest?"
"I don't know what to do with him Harry. Ever since he woke up he's refused to get out of bed, he's not eating, not talking, just keeps silently staring at the ceiling."
"He's still not snapped out of it huh. Well, I'll come by later today, guess I should talk to him."
"If you think that will help. Come over as soon as you can."
"Yeah, I'll pop over in just a bit" said Harry as he hung up the phone.
"Mum, I need to head over to Sirius's place."
"Have your breakfast first Harry, and no you can't just grab a piece of toast. Sit down and have a proper breakfast."
"Awww Mum, I've got stuff to take care of at Sirius's."
"Whatever it is can wait for you to eat first."
"Okay, Okay, I never said I wasn't going to."
oo00oo
After grabbing a quick breakfast Harry headed to the train station. Due to Sirius's paranoia or basic security precautions as Sirius called it he had never been allowed to portkey directly to his house from Privet Drive. He always had to head to someplace else first. Today he was headed to the train station, where he would buy a ticket despite the fact that he didn't intend to use it. He would then head to the restroom where he would duck into an empty stall and activate his portkey. Hopefully any watchers would assume that he had simply caught a train. While he didn't think that Dumbledore would be monitoring him that closely at this point in time, he felt that it didn't hurt to take some precautions, even if they were a major pain in the ass.
"Sirius I'm here" called out Harry as he materialized in the drawing room at number 12 grimauld place.
"Harry, thank god, I don't know what to do with him, he's been totally unresponsive ever since he woke up."
"That bad huh? Guess I'll have to try to talk him out of it then."
"If you think it'll help, otherwise we're going to have to call in a healer."
"I'd prefer not to do that at this time, what would we tell a healer anyway? Hi, do you have any experience in healing former Dark Lords? That would be quite the awkward conversation."
"Yeah, tell me about it."
"By the way, I've been meaning to ask you this all week, but with all the other stuff that's been going on I keep getting sidetracked."
"What?"
"Whatever happened to Pettigrew?"
"Wormtail? He was kissed back in '83. After I testified about his betrayal under Veritaserum the DMLE put out an order for his arrest. They gave out his description along with the description of his animagus form. The ministry was inundated with people bringing in rats for months; finally Arthur Weasley brought him in. He'd spotted him skulking around his garden and he stunned him. Ended up getting an Order of Merlin, Third Class."
"Really? Good for Arthur."
"Yep, I think he got a promotion out of it as well."
"That's cool."
"Uhh Harry, something else I've been meaning to talk to you about."
"What?"
"It's Remus, Remus Lupin, he was best friends with your Dad and me back in the Hogwarts days, and well he's mentioned you several times over the years and I know he's asked Dumbledore about you as well. I think that now since you're going to be reentering the wizarding world, it would really mean a lot to him if you could meet with him."
"You haven't discussed our meetings with him have you?"
"No, your mother made me promise to keep them secret."
"Good, keep them that way. The thing is Sirius; I wouldn't mind meeting him as such, but now's not the right time. Maybe after we've dealt with Dumbledore."
"Yeah, that's probably for the best, it's just hard you know; we were the best of friends at one time."
"Yeah but think about this Sirius. I'm sure he must have met both my Mum and Dad at least once at my parents wedding; he knows that they were my mother's closest relatives. It's not outside the realm of possibility that I would have ended up with them. How hard would it have been for him to look up their phone number? He could have done that anytime during the last ten years but he didn't."
"Actually Harry, everyone assumes that Dumbledores placed you with a wizarding family. Placing a magical child with muggles is practically unheard of. It's just not done."
"Yeah, and yet no one has ever bothered to check up on me, even though for all intents and purposes I disappeared a decade ago. Everyone just trusts Dumbledore even though he had no legal right over me at all."
"Yeah, it's been like that for years, anytime he does something questionable most people just let it slide because he's Albus Dumbledore, he must have his reasons etc. etc."
"Makes me sick, the amount of crap they let that man get away with."
"Well, hopefully that state of affairs will change soon, as long as things go according to plan."
"Yep, well, guess I shouldn't put it off anymore, I'll best go talk to our resident Dark Lord."
"Should I come with you? Just to be safe."
"Nah, the Unbreakable Vow's still in place, I'll be perfectly safe, plus I think he might talk more freely if it's just me."
Harry walked up the stairs to the bedroom that Quirrell had been placed in. He knocked on the door and entered to find the room in darkness, the blinds closed tightly.
"Lord Voldemort" he called softly.
For a long moment there was no sound at all apart from a low hoarse breathing and then - "Do you realize I came up with that name when I was twelve? It's a bloody anagram for god's sake. How did people not realize that I was insane once I started calling myself by that ridiculous appellation?" whispered Quirrell.
"I don't think anyone knew that it was an anagram."
"Not that the name itself wasn't laughably grandiose. Lord Voldemort. Bah."
"What would you prefer to be called?"
"I don't know, am I still Tom or am I Quirinus Quirrell? Who am I now?"
"I don't know. Perhaps you can be anyone you choose to be. The question is - Who would you like to be now?"
"I don't know, Potter, I simply don't know."
"Well, I take it you're no longer interested in being Lord Voldemort?"
"No, and I would take it as a personal favor if you never mentioned that name again."
"And what are your views of your former followers, people like Lucius Malfoy, Nott, Crabbe and Goyle for example"
"I-I don't know, much of my memories don't make sense. Why would anyone have followed me, I was clearly insane. The things I did, the people I killed, why would anyone have followed me?"
"They saw you as their route to power."
"Or maybe they were insane themselves, sane people do not act the way that the Death Eaters did. The things they…we did were monstrous. Monstrous."
"They were purebloods, in their view muggles, muggleborns they're all inferior beings. I don't think they even see them as being human."
"They are the ones who are not truly human. Tell me is it true that most of them are still around? How is it that they were not all incarcerated in Azkaban."
"Some were, the rest had enough money and power to buy themselves out of trouble."
"And the Ministry let them? What kind of people do we have running our world?"
"Politicians."
"Politicians, yes."
"I would like to ask you about something, I was given conflicting information about your early years. Could you clarify some facts for me?"
"What would you like me to clarify?"
"Your first Horcrux? Did you create it by murdering Myrtle while you were in school or did that happen later?"
"I never murdered Myrtle. That was an accident, I had just discovered the Chamber of Secrets and in my youthful pride and arrogance I awakened the Basilisk. Before I could control it fully it got away from me, by the time I caught up with it, its gaze had already killed that poor girl. Once I managed to gain control I immediately sent the basilisk back into hibernation, but I could do nothing for Myrtle to my everlasting regret."
"You then framed Hagrid for the crime?"
"They were going to close the school, I was desperate not to be sent back to the orphanage, and I know I shouldn't have blamed Hagrid for unleashing that animal but when I found him with the acromantula it seemed like a godsend - The answer to my prayers. I told myself that it was the only thing to do; after all once the Acromantula had grown it would have been just as big a threat to the students. I told myself Hagrid should have known better, that even though he had not been responsible for the monster that killed Myrtle, he was still responsible for another monster, so he deserved what he received."
"Then when did you create your first Horcrux?"
"It was after I had left Hogwarts. Every orphan dreams of finding his real parents someday. Dreams that they'll tell him they love him, that they regretted giving him up but they had no choice, I was no different. I had finally tracked my mother's family down and from them I found out who my father was. I went to him, told him who I was. I didn't want much, just a chance to get to know him, but he rejected me. He told me that my mother had ensnared him. That he wanted nothing to do with me. He called my mother a tramp, I was furious, I could not control my anger and then..."
"You killed him."
"I didn't mean to. I only meant to punch him, I hit him, hit him as hard as I could, he fell. Fell and hit his head against a table. The next thing I knew he had stopped breathing."
"And then..."
"I was terrified, Dumbledore had already made clear his dislike of me, he didn't like the fact that I had been protesting against the Ministry's anti-muggleborn policies. I knew that if the case went to trial he would push for me to be given the kiss. To be fed to the dementors."
"What did you do then?"
"In the course of my studies I had come across Horcruxes. I knew that they were the darkest magic that there was, but in my panic and fear I felt that I didn't have any other choice but to use my father's death to create one. How else could I save myself from Dumbledore? All I was carrying with me at the time was my wand and an old school diary, and so..."
"You used the diary to create your first horcrux."
"Yes. Post that point none of my memories make sense, they seem like someone else's memories, yet I know it was me doing those actions. How can I live with those actions Potter? How? How do I live with all the blood on my hands?"
"Well, wasting away in a darkened room, isn't the answer, I know that much."
"And yet, I don't know what else I can do? What reason do I have to go on living?"
"You have a chance to make amends. To set right the wrongs you once did."
"How do I do that? What could I possibly do at this point?"
"I have a little plan. A plan that would be considerably more difficult if I do not have your help to carry it out."
"Tell me about it."
"I fully intend to, but first could I trouble you to look at this scar. It's the remnant of the killing curse you hit me with and for some reason it reacts whenever I'm close to you. Even now it is throbbing quite painfully."
"Why should that happen? You received that scar a decade ago; any pain should have long disappeared."
"I don't fully understand it myself, there is a theory that due to your creation of multiple horcruxes your soul was unstable enough that a fragment of it detached the night you attacked me, and created an accidental horcrux out of me."
"An accidental horcrux? How ridiculous, a very specific ritual has to be done to create a horcrux. There is no such thing as an accidental horcrux. Whoever came up with that theory clearly has no idea what they are talking about."
"Yet my scar gives me pain only when we are close to each other."
"True, but then it could simply be a side effect of the killing curse. After all you are the only known survivor of the curse, who knows what effect it had on you?"
"I am also a parselmouth much like yourself; the same person who came up with the accidental horcrux theory also theorized that you somehow managed to transfer that ability to me when your curse rebounded that night."
"You are a parselmouth as well. That is quite the coincidence; it is a very rare ability."
"Tell me about it..."
"Perhaps I should have a closer look at your scar. Could you please come closer and sit by the bed."
Quirrell lifted himself from the bed and waved his wand over Harry's forehead.
"Strange, quite strange, clearly you are not a horcrux, there is no known way you could be, yet there is a remnant of my magical signature still residing within your scar."
"What do you think it is then?"
"Frankly at this point I have no idea, but perhaps..."
"Yes?"
"Perhaps...Tell me Potter have you read up much on the theory of magic."
"A bit."
"Do you know what actually happens when you cast a spell."
"A spell is simply a way to make magic do what you want it to do."
"Simplistic, but true. Spells are simply one way of performing magic, they are stylized rituals that we learn in order to perform various tasks, but in its rawest most elemental form what we call a spell is simply the expression of our will over magic. Magic exists within all living being, in every fiber, every cell of our bodies, the only difference between wizards and muggles is that for some unknown reason more magic exists within us. When we perform a spell we are forcing the magic out of our bodies through our will. Our will expels the magic from within us, it makes the magic perform a specific action before allowing it to withdraw back into our bodies. Some theorize that we are also expelling our will as well, we forcefully project our will out into the world to shape our magic and make it obey us. A killing curse requires a large amount of power. The caster forces magic to do what is anathema to the basic nature of magic. It forces it to kill. Thus the amount of magic and will expelled from the casters body is obviously rather large. Now when the spell is finished the will and magic return to the casters body, but when I cast the spell on you, it was never completed, and the backlash of the disrupted spell destroyed my body as well. Perhaps the remnant I sense within your scar is simply the remains of the will and magic that I threw at you. Since my body was destroyed it could not return to me, neither could it dissipate due to the fact that my horcruxes anchored my spirit to this world. It causes you pain whenever we are near because the fragments of magic and will recognize their creator and the spell cries out for completion. Since it also contains the essence of my will I would not be surprised that it gave you some of my abilities as well. On the other hand Parseltongue while rare does occasionally crop up here and there."
"So you're saying that the scar will continue to trouble me until I die?"
"Perhaps, Perhaps not",Quirrell cocked his head quizzically. "I wonder, if my will exists as a separate entity outside my body in such a way, would it be possible for me to use it to communicate with you or it in some fashion? It should theoretically create some sort of link between us."
"I'd rather you not experiment with it. It does cause me a load of pain when we are near each other after all."
"Of course Mr. Potter, I wouldn't dream of doing anything to cause you any discomfort. Apart from the vow I swore to not attack you, I am also fully aware of the debt I owe you."
"Debt?"
"You returned me my sanity. Truth be told at this point I don't know whether to thank you or curse you, but on the whole despite the pain, I think I would rather have my sanity. I must look into this further. Rest assured Potter I will not rest until I have found a solution to your dilemma."
"Thank you Professor Quirrell or would you prefer Mr. Riddle?"
"I think after all, that I would prefer to be known as Quirrell. At least for the time being."
"All right then Professor Quirrell, perhaps you should get out of bed and get something to eat then. After all you wouldn't be of much help to me if you waste away in your room."
oo00oo
Harry walked back down to the drawing room to find Sirius pacing furiously.
"At last, what happened, is he any better?"
"I managed to get him out of bed at least, Dobby's helping him into the bath right now."
"Some progress at least. What happened? Why do you look so angry, did he do anything."
"Hmmm, no, it wasn't him, I just confirmed that something that I once allowed somebody to convince me off was in fact an utter load of steaming hippogriff crap, and while I knew it was most likely a lie, hearing it confirmed just pissed the hell out of me all over again."
"What are you talking about?"
"I'll explain some other time Sirius, really don't feel like going over it right now."
"Okay then, I'm here for you whenever you need me, you know that."
"I know Sirius, thank you."
"Do you think he'll be capable of doing what we need him to do."
"I think so."