69 The First Steps

After the meeting with the Flamels, Draco returned to Hogwarts just as easily as he had left. However, because the Aging potion's effect was still in place, he couldn't get out of his room unless he wanted to risk someone seeing him in his current seventeen-year-old body.

Although most people would probably assume that he was an unremarkable older student, some could also guess the truth – he looked similar enough to his younger self, and the Malfoy traits were known to the whole Wizarding Britain (or at least to the people who regularly read newspapers).

However, such disguise was good enough for meeting new people – they would have a hard time guessing who he actually was. After all, there weren't many Malfoys, and those that were known weren't of appropriate age compared with Draco's selected look. Thus, most people would have guessed that the person they were meeting was either in disguise or Lucius' secret bastard son.

Then they would rule out the Aging potion first – after all, wasn't it the most obvious thing? Most people would think: if you are hiding yourself, then at least show some sincerity and disguise yourself properly!

And that's not even taking into account that the one who would have to take the potion and cook up the whole scheme should be only twelve!

More cunning thinkers would even speculate that the one who came wanted to implicate the Malfoy family by dressing up the way they did and showing up with the stolen Philosopher's stone. Thus, they would automatically rule out Malfoys as the suspected thieves.

And that was what Draco had been aiming for – a look that was obvious, but made others overthink and get even more confused.

However, it didn't succeed.

• It's probably that woman – she can read thoughts and most likely saw who you were when you still weren't aware of her ability, • speculated Zosar while distractedly trying to smooth out his feathers with the beak.

"Can't be – I would remember thinking about my own name inside my head," refuted Draco immediately and fell into silent contemplation.

After coming back from the meeting with the oldest couple (to his knowledge) in the whole world, his mind couldn't help but spin with many different thoughts.

On one hand, he felt relief – by obtaining Nicolas' help with the issues that were plaguing him since coming into this world, he felt like he was finally moving on with building a better future for himself and his family than the one that the original Draco Malfoy was destined to live.

Removing the Dark Mark from Lucius' forearm was the immediate priority – only then would Draco be sure that Voldemort wouldn't be able to track down his family if they went into hiding or decided to betray him after the Dark Lord's resurrection.

After all, Durmstrang's Headmaster Igor Karkaroff served as a prime example – in the books, he was quickly killed off despite trying his best to hide from the Dark Lord's wrath. And he wasn't even in Britain!

Draco looked into removing the Mark by himself before, however, he was quickly disillusioned of any notion of success in this endeavor - the Dark Mark was made with complex magic, involving numerous Arithmantic calculations, at least seven types of different Runes languages, Dark magic, rituals and some kind of self-invented potion.

It was no wonder that many called Tom Riddle a genius before he went insane – the man certainly lived up to the title.

Besides, during the years after Voldemort's demise, many of his followers tried to remove the ugly and conspicuous tattoo from their bodies – many of them were found dead as a result.

The rest of them certainly got the message (though there were still some brainless cases who tried their luck – the world was a better place without them, in Draco's very humble opinion).

So, who was the most likely wizard to find the solution for this issue?

Of course, it was the oldest wizard in the world, famous for his many achievements in various magical fields - the most well-known of which was, of course, the stone of immortality!

And, if he already agreed to work on this little problem, why not rope him into a few more?

Like, cutting off Voldemort's many strings with the mortal world, and making sure that Draco's own strings remained perfectly intact in this whole rebirth thing.

And then there was another side of the story...

Like the fact that the Flamels were old friends with Dumbledore – even the Chocolate Frog Card said so!

And Dumbledore was a character that would place the good of the many above the good of one person. If he found out about Horcruxes or Voldemort's resurrection before it was time – who knew what would happen?

What Draco was afraid of (and what he dreaded the most in the future) was the necessity of the Dark Lord's resurrection. After all, Voldemort was the only person who could kill the Horcrux in Harry's scar – Dumbledore said so himself in the books.

If all of the Horcruxes were destroyed ahead of time, the only ones that would remain were the one in Harry and Voldemort's spirit, which was currently riding on the back of Quirrell's head.

Who is to say that in its desperation the last soul shard wouldn't possess Harry?

After all, in the last book, Harry was killed almost within moments of Ravenclaw's Diadem being destroyed and Nagini being beheaded. There wasn't enough time to see how the scar would react in response. Sure, it stayed dormant for years – but it was also the smallest piece of soul and there were many others still around at the time.

Besides, Lily's protection was still in effect until Harry's seventeenth birthday. Although the protection on the Dursley's house disappeared the night he turned adult, the one on his scar could have still remained – albeit fading with time.

After all, towards the end of the books Harry was becoming noticeably more cunning, more short-tempered, more intelligent, and even more suicidal. It was apparent just by the way he dealt with his promises to Griphook about the Gryffinor's sword, how he figured out the mystery behind the Deathly Hallows when everyone else was still in the dark, and many other things. There might have been other reasons to explain all these changes - like the desperation of the war - but who could say for sure?

Thus, if all of Voldemort's Horcruxes were to be recklessly destroyed before he was reborn, thus preventing the war – would it really be for the best? In such a peaceful time, would Harry ever find out about his role in the story and would he even be willing to die despite there not being any danger to others?

Draco didn't believe that Dumbledore would be willing to kill Harry at that time – he would probably rather ensure that all other soul shards were destroyed ahead of time and then research how to remove the one from Harry's scar without harming him. But, during that period – anything could happen…

…because the books didn't describe any undesirable effects of only one Horcrux being left untouched in the human host.

But Draco already took the risk of asking for help, and even if there were some regrets - it was already too late.

---

"I can't believe that this happened under our watch! By Merlin, the Philosopher's stone was stolen months ago, the Dark Lord was living as a teacher for the whole year and three first-years took it upon themselves to protect the school!" raged Minerva McGonagall, not for the first time that year.

"How is Mr. Potter?" Asked Filius Flitwick with concern.

"Still unconscious, I'm afraid," replied Dumbledore tiredly. His eyes were slightly dull as they stared unseeingly at an item placed on the desk, the half-moon glasses nowhere to be seen.

"What happened in the last chamber?" The Transfiguration teacher voiced the question that was on everyone's minds.

"...Voldemort tried to make the Mirror of Erised give the stone to him – unsuccessfully, as it was already no longer there. Though I suspect that even if it wasn't stolen, Tom wouldn't have been able to get his hands on it," explained Dumbledore slowly.

"And then?" asked Filius, slightly leaning in and almost toppling off the heightened armchair he was sitting on. "What happened then?"

"And then appeared Harry… Voldemort tried to make him get the stone, but when he realized that it wasn't possible - he decided to kill the child. But, once again, he didn't succeed…"

"That magic… whatever it was – it killed Quirinus," finally muttered Pomona Sprout, the Hufflepuff Head of House. "Not that I am particularly distressed over it - but how will it affect Mr. Potter? Won't he think that he murdered his professor? He's only eleven!"

"We won't mention the details," proposed Severus calmly, feeling vindicated that his speculations about Quirrell, which he had been trying to address all year, were correct. "Just say that he left – it's not like it's the first time that DADA teacher disappears for no apparent reason. Everyone expects it already, anyway. As for Potter – I am sure that he will be able to deal with his woes without too much trauma."

"Yes… that's what we will do," Dumbledore nodded helplessly, looking too old and frail at that moment. "Harry was protected by his mother's love – it was what killed Quirinus in the end. The boy wasn't at fault, and we will make sure he knows it… But the magic managed to only temporarily weaken Voldemort's spirit. I am afraid… He's really alive – and getting stronger by the minute."

Minerva sighed and rather ungracefully flopped on an empty armchair.

"It wasn't V-V-Vol… You-Know-Who that took the stone?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

"If it was him, then he would have disappeared the moment he got it," logically pointed out Filius. "But, I am also curious – who was the one that did it? Albus… is this thing the only clue?"

Everyone's gazes were suddenly directed at one small item peacefully sitting on Dumbledore desk, looking particularly inconspicuous amongst the many silver trinkets, colorful books, and quills.

It was a tiny cube.

The room was silent as the teachers tried to guess what it was.

"There seems to be some residual magic left," finally answered the Headmaster. "However, it is only enough to determine that this object was created to overcome wards – the magic was specifically designed to fade away with time. If only we discovered it a few months earlier…"

"But the traps were untouched – we double-checked everything as much as we could," Pomona voiced the most unbelievable fact.

"They were careful. They somehow knew the time when I placed the stone inside the Mirror of Erised and stole it within a week or two after that. And to think that only a fortnight ago I assured Nicolas that there is nothing to worry about," Dumbledore shook his head and turned his attention to the communication mirror sitting on his desk, staring at it contemplatively, as though weighing on his mind whether he should report the incident now or later.

After all, the stone has been missing for months...

"This cube… If what you are saying is true, and it was designed to overcome wards… Is it possible to find out whether it was supposed to counter the specific wards used by us, or was it universal?" asked Severus with slightly furrowed eyebrows.

"If they are designed to counter only our wards, then we can narrow the thief down to someone from Hogwarts!" Filius nodded enthusiastically.

"It's too hard to tell after all this time," Dumbledore immediately dashed his professors' hopes. "But the list of suspects shouldn't be too long – the theft happened during the Winter holidays, and I wasn't notified on any outsiders appearing on the premises. I will need to ask the portraits and check the school's Ward stone – maybe I just didn't notice the breach of the wards at the time."

The four Heads of Houses exchanged uncertain glances as one collective thought appeared in their heads:

Just how powerful was the thief to overcome Hogwarts' wards unnoticed and steal the most protected artifact right under their noses with nobody any the wiser?