Aftermath.

[Gryffindor common room]

"So let me get this straight. You saw you-know-who in the forest and Professor Quirrell came dressed as Headmaster Dumbledore and he fled. Do you know how crazy that sounds?" Asked Ron.

"Think about it. Snape is trying to steal it for Voldermort". said Harry.

"Do you think he would come and you know, kill Harry?" asked Ron.

"We don't have to worry about that. The one wizard you-know-who was afraid of was Dumbledore. He got afraid of Professor Quirrell in Dumbledore's clothes and ran away did he not? As long as Dumbledore is here you don't have to worry Harry" said a confident Hermione.

"Well, Professor Quirrell didn't seem to put his faith in Dumbledore though, and look at today's situation, where was he?" added Harry.

A small seed of doubt started growing in Harry's mind.

[Dawlish POV]

"It seems like I underestimated the old man. He still seems spry for his age. You fool, you have told me that he went out of the castle" cursed a raspy asthmatic voice belonging to the dark lord.

"Forgive me my liege. He had indeed left for the ministry before we set off to the dark forest, the only question is, has he figured out our identity" asked Dawlish.

"That is impossible Dawlish, no one could identify a person when in wraith form and that too when hooded," the dark lord said. "You have to hurry and get the stone, I won't forgive any mistakes this time Dawlish, mark my words" added the dark lord.

"The stone will be yours sire" replied a meek Dawlish.

[Headmasters office]

'How dare those pompous mules in the ministry question me, the great Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. Do they even know how much work I put myself with to contro...ahem..train, the boy who lived? When I surreptitiously suggested that the insufferable poisonous woman Skeeter is an illegal animagus, Amelia(head of DMLE) just ignored me altogether. After the fiasco, I thought I would go pay the virulent journalist a visit, for the common good of course. She is nowhere to be seen. I have to keep a closer eye on the stone and hope that everything goes as per the plan. Dawlish or Quirrell, it does not matter, I am going to watch the both of them like a hawk'

[Leo/Quirrell POV]

It was tiring during the end of the year exams. I had to prepare questionnaires for five different years. And by the time the exams were done, the worst part of being a teacher came up. Evaluation of a mountain of papers and homework.

'I believe Dawlish should make his move in a couple of days, hopefully, I will be ready. I may not be able to fight on par with the dark lord but one that has lost its body might not be a great challenge'

As I walked through the corridor, I saw the golden trio being questioned by Snape the bat. 'Really this guy has leglimency and he still acts suspiciously to garner their attention. Is he someone who gains pleasure from being misunderstood?'

As I walked past them I heard Harry mutter. "We must get the stone before Snape gets it, tonight".

'It's going to be a long night today' I thought.

[Night. 3rd floor corridor]

'I just waited near the door leading to the traps and the stone using UHM. Soon Dawlish came, I could feel the dark magic around him. He seemed restless. As he got into the room he charmed a harp to get the three-headed Cerberus to sleep and went down the trapdoor.

'I should say, the Cerebrus should be one of the best traps in this entire fiasco. Very difficult to put down due to its magical-resistant hide. If one does not know its weakness, the wizard who enters the room will be left with less than a quarter of his magic power once he deals with the dog' I thought.

Soon, I heard whispers. 'It's intriguing that the invisibility cloak of death is in fact an amazing artifact. I could not see them even with all the knowledge I have poured into making my UHM. That simple cloak trumps my UHM by miles. But unless one uses a muffling charm, an odor removal charm and a softening charm on the boots, it's possible to understand a general location'.

"Alohamora" said Hermione.

They tried to move the paw of the dog while it started waking up. I didnt want any mishaps so I charmed the harp once more, making it fall asleep.

The kids just jumped to the floor containing devil snare. 'This trap is absolutely useless. All you have to do is calm down. If there was a trap which pulls out a hoarde of mandrakes when one jumps into the floor, mostly whomever comes inside would be knocked out. Wizards and their lack of common sense' I thought.

Once the kids passed it, there were trolls, more than ten, all dead, courtesy of Dawlish. They took the flying key and entered the chamber with the chess pieces. 'I would say I was truly surprised. I thought an adult wizard could pass through it by blasting curses left and right, but magic seems to be binded in the room. I think both Professor McGonagall and Professor Babbling the ancient runes teacher had a role to play in this room. The core of the rune seems to be connected to the chess board and the only way to pass was to play. I believe this is the most time consuming trap of them all'

Once they started to play I too got on top of a piece so that the board marks me as a player. My piece soon got blasted to smithereens. I jumped out of the way and landed on one side. Soon Ron's piece got blasted. When he fell, I used a softening charm on the ground. He did not get hurt because of that but fainted.

As Harry and Hermione made their way to the potion master Bats puzzle, Harry made the choice to go ahead. Once he left, I appeared in front of Hermione, startling her.

"Professor Quirrell, what are you doing here" asked a wide-eyed girl.

"I could ask the same of you. But we don't have time. Get Ron to the infirmary and tell Madam Pomfrey to inform all the teachers that a dark wizard is trying to attack the 3rd floor. Tell her I am here and am barely holding on. Now off you run" I said.

As she left. I put on my glamour and mask to look like old Dumbles. I put up a fire resistance charm and slowly made my way to the chamber where the stone was kept.