76 It's not him, its me!

"What?" asked Ron with annoyance only to freeze when he saw Harry's face.

"Ron, please stop talking," said Harry with a depressed voice.

"W-What happened, what did I say? Was I right? Did he make you handle it all by yourself because he fainted?! I Knew it." He said adamantly.

"Ron, the person who was useless wasn't him, it was me," he said as his voice got lower. "He saved me," he said. Ron was shocked when he heard that and finally realised what he said. He then spent the next 10 minutes saying sorry to Harry while never even apologising for what he said to me.

Hermione was giggling happily at Ron's misfortune and seemed to forget about lecturing me.

"Anyway, back to the matter at hand, they have the right to know, after all, it concerned the lives of everyone at school," I said catching everyone's attention. Harry nodded seriously at my words. Harry explained his conversation with Quirrell, the Mirror and his final goal. I just sat there listening. Hermione squealed when she heard that there was a face stuffed underneath Quirrell's turban. And even more so when she found out it was Voldemort's.

"So, the stone is gone?" Ron asked.

"I don't know actually. All I know is that according to dumbledore, Voldemort doesn't have it. That is all that matters." He said sighing slightly.

Hermione looked at me from the corner of her eye which stunned me for a moment. There is no way that she would know that I took it would she? But I was destined to be wrong. She leaned her face in until she was right next to my ear.

"You better explain this to me when we are alone mister," she said with a stern gaze.

"How did you know?" I asked. She blushed slightly.

"I-I felt it when I went in to hug you," she explained. I couldn't help but stare at her with my mouth hanging open. It turned out it wasn't due to some kind of genius sherlock homes level detective skills; it was simply by accident. Sometimes I curse my bad luck.

"So, is he still alive then, you-know-who, that is?" Ron asked still remaining objective and oblivious to our little conversation.

"Yes, Dumbledore explained that he will probably try to live on the same way he did with Quirrell, by becoming a parasite within another's body," I said simply. naturally, that wasn't right either. he would later make a body using a concoction Voldemort came up with himself. by mixing Nagini's venom with unicorn blood he was able to give himself that 'I took over a fetus look'.

There was silence before Harry asked what happened on Hermione's end.

"As soon as I got out of the third floor, I ran towards the owlery to contact dumbledore only to encounter him at the entrance hall—he already knew—he just said, 'Harry's gone after him, hasn't he?' and disappeared off towards the third floor."

"D'you think that maybe… he meant for you to go there Harry?" asked Ron in a rare instance of great observation. I was surprised that the question came from him and not Hermione. "After all, we got there with your father's cloak. The cloak he gave you," he continued.

"Well," Hermione stood up and looked slightly angry, "If he did – and I mean IF – then that would be terrible – either one of you could have been killed," she said half shouting.

"No… I don't think it's to that degree Hermione," said Harry with a thoughtful expression. "Dumbledore… he is a funny man. I think this might have been his little test for me. Maybe he wanted to give me… us, a chance. I think he knew about Quirrell from the beginning and had everything under control, and instead of stopping us, he taught us just enough to help. I don't think it was an accident he let me find out about how the Mirror works. It's almost like he thought I had the right to face Voldemort if I could…"

"Well, in that case, it proved you didn't have what it takes. If me and Tom hadn't come with you. You wouldn't have even gotten past the first trap. Let alone all the others." Said Hermione.

Harry was downcast after hearing her words. I agreed completely, it wasn't a problem since Quirrell would never get the stone to begin with, but it did serve to illustrate their lack of competence.

"Anyway, enough of this, listen, you've got to be up for the end-of-year feast tomorrow. The points are all in and Ravenclaw won," said Ron, his face sour and grim. "—you missed the last Quidditch game, we were no match without our seeker." He lamented.

Just then, Madame Pomfrey burst through the doors.

"I thought you would leave after the stipulated time! And here I thought you were decent students, especially you Hermione," she said angrily. "OUT! NOW!" she yelled ushering both Ron and Hermione out the door.

------------------

The next day I was awoken to the sound of footsteps. I tried to open my eyes only to be blinded by the rays of sunlight shining through the windows.

"Professor Dumbledore says that you two are allowed to leave," said an aged female voice. I covered my eyes and adjusted to the sunlight and saw Madame Pomfrey from between the gaps in my fingers.

I nodded stiffly and sat up on the bed before searching for my clothes. I found them cleanly piled on top of the nightstand where the thick book Hermione used to read was. It seemed that Hermione had visited me a couple of times during the three days I was out. The funny thing was the stone was still there in the pocket of my cloak. As if no one cared about it. seems Dumbledore asked Madame Pomfrey to be oblivious to it. or maybe the nurse just didn't know what it was.

Madame Pomfrey didn't stay much longer and left to do her work.

Me and Harry soon got dressed and walked out of the infirmary. We soon split ways though since I still had to go visit Professor Dumbledore's office. I didn't exactly know where it was. So, I had to search for Professor McGonagall and ask her where the office was located. She seemed surprised to see me in her office and welcomed me in warmly.

"It is a pleasure to see you healthy and well Mr Knight. I can only thank you for your service." She said seriously. I was surprised by her change in attitude towards me. But I took it as an opportunity for a clean slate. We talked about what happened briefly before mentioning Dumbledore's office.

"Ah yes. It is located on the seventh floor. Well, due to the ever-changing floor plan, it sometimes appears on the second floor. A tricky thing if you ask me." She said with a soft chuckle. It was the first time I think I have ever seen the Professor laugh even in the books and movies. I think I just made history today.

I walked out of her classroom a little while later and headed towards the office entrance which according to McGonagall was currently located on the seventh floor.