Hospital Wing

The next day, Ben spent most of his time lazing around the castle, everywhere he went, people were talking about yesterday's Quidditch Match and there were a number of people wondering whether Gryffindor's seeker, Harry Potter would ever wake up.

Since there were a few more days before the exam results came out, Ben found a place with a nice view of the school and sat down with a book, he had a few plans for the coming break and he wanted to be prepared.

As evening approached, Ben saw Hermione and Ron rushing past him towards the South Wing. He hadn't talked to them today, but he knew that they were both worried sick about Harry, who was still lying unconscious in the Hospital Wing.

Seeing the way they were rushing towards the Hospital Wing, Ben got curious, from what he remembered, Potter only woke up a day before the end-of-the-year banquet, which meant that there should still be a day before that. Had he woken up earlier? His curiosity was piqued.

He decided to follow them, keeping himself invisible, once near the Hospital Wing, he could hear some commotion coming from inside.

"Just five minutes," Ben heard Harry pleading.

"Absolutely not," came the voice of the stern nurse, Madan Pomfrey.

"You let Professor Dumbledore in-"

"Well, of course, that was the headmaster, quite different. You need rest."

It seemed that Harry had been awake for quite a while and the Headmaster had already paid his visit.

"I am resting, look, lying down and everything. Oh, go on, Madam Pomfrey,"

"Oh, very well," she said. "But five minutes only," said the nurse letting Hermione and Ron in and Ben too slipped along with them, invisible.

"Harry!" Hermione called out as she rushed to Harry's side.

"Oh, Harry, we were sure you were going to - we were so worried-"

"The whole school's talking about it," said Ron. "What really happened?"

Ben watched as Harry started telling them what happened in the final chamber, he told them everything: Quirrell; the mirror; the Stone; and Voldemort. Ron and Hermione were a very good audience; they gasped in all the right places, and when Harry told them what was under Quirrell's turban, Hermione screamed out loud.

"So, what happened to the stone?" Ron asked.

"I- It's gone missing," said Harry.

"Missing?" Hermione said shocked.

"Yes, Dumbledore was shocked as well when I told him I had the stone in my pocket, he hadn't found anything on me. You see, only someone who wanted to find the Stone - find it, but not use it - would be able to get it, otherwise, they'd just see themselves making gold or drinking Elixir of Life. Dumbledore was shocked when the stone was missing from the mirror, but Quirrell or I didn't have it and Voldemort was- well, he doesn't have hands, does he?"

"So the Stone's gone?" said Ron finally. "Flamel's just going to die?"

"That's what I asked as well, but Dumbledore thinks that- what was it?- 'to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.'"

"I always said he was off his rocker," said Ron, looking quite impressed at how crazy his hero was.

"But where could it have gone? Was there someone else there?" asked Hermione, her brows furrowed with worry.

"No, not that I know of, although- I do remember seeing a dog before I fainted," said Harry, recalling the strange ghostly creature that had appeared before him.

"A dog?" said Ron, looking perplexed.

"Yes, it looked like a ghost of a dog. Dumbledore saw it too. He said it looked like it was protecting me from Voldemort's ghastly form and then disappeared into thin air," said Harry.

"A dog? I don't think there's a ghost like that in Hogwarts, even 'Hogwarts: A History' doesn't mention it," said Hermione, her voice tinged with confusion.

"Dumbledore said it could have been a - a Patronus - I think," said Harry, looking at Hermione for any signs of recognition. But she just shook her head; even though she was smart, she was still just a first-year.

"He didn't say what that was?" she asked, and Harry shook his head.

Meanwhile, Ben, who was still under his invisibility cloak, couldn't believe what he was hearing. 'How could Dumbledore take my ghost familiar as a Patronus?'

'Well, it's not a ghost technically, it's a nature spirit,' he responded to his own question.

Ben realized that it was kind of similar to the Patronus which was also known as a spirit guardian.

'If Dumbledore really thinks it was a Patronus then-' Ben could feel his head hurt thinking of the repercussions as the most likely suspect would be the dog locked up in Azkaban.

"So it was all for nothing then? Someone still got their hands on it," said Ron, looking dejected. Harry and Hermione shared the sentiment, knowing that in the wrong hands, the Philosopher's Stone could cause a lot of harm.

"So what happened to you two?" asked Harry, changing the subject.

"Well, I got back all right," said Hermione. "I brought Ron round - that took a while - and we were dashing up to the Owlery to contact Dumbledore when we met him in the entrance hall - he already knew - he just said, 'Harry's gone after him, hasn't he?' and hurtled off to the third floor."

"D'you think he meant you to do it?" said Ron. "Sending you your father's cloak and everything?"

Harry's expression tightened at the mention of the cloak, and he took a deep breath before speaking. "It's not my father's cloak," he said quietly, his smile bittersweet.

"What do you mean it's not?" asked Ron, puzzled. "You just said it was Dumbledore who gave you the cloak, and he'd gotten it from your father," asked Ron confused.

"He did give me my father's cloak," confirmed Harry, "but someone has replaced it with a different cloak.

"Replaced it? What for? Invisibility cloak's an Invisibility cloak, isn't it?" said Ron.

"Dumbledore said it was a special cloak- my father's, he didn't say how but he said it had been in my family for generations."

"But who could have replaced it?" said Hermione, frowning.

--Dreamscape--

I skipped Harry's conversation with Dumbledore but you'll be able to tell what they talked about using this conversation, Harry also woke up a day earlier as Ben's familiar dragged Quirrell away before Harry was completely exhausted.