Trick 19: Diving headfirst into danger!

Ace was walking outside in the courtyard, reading a book with one hand and carrying a suitcase with the other. He bumped into Harry and his little friends, Harry looked up and said "Hello, Ace!"

Ace looked up from the book and smiled, "Harry. Ron, Hermione, how are you three?" the three smiled and replied "Alright." Ace nodded and asked "What are you three doing today?" he looked up at the sky and added "Nice day for activities outside."

Harry was evasive, replying "We were, um, going to-" Hermione cut in and said "To play Quidditch!" Ron blinked in confusion, "I thought-" Harry cut in quickly, "Right! Quidditch!" Ace looked at them with amusement before rolling his eyes and smiling "Right, well, be careful…"

He put his finger as a bookmark and closed the book, scratching his neck with the bookend, "I heard one of the Hufflepuff students got hit hard with a bludger, terrible news. They say he may never recover!" before smiling at the three and adding "Well! Have fun!" as he hummed to himself and walked away, continuing to read.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron looked at each other in dismay.

Ron said "Brutal, that is! I heard about that fellow! Bludger! Right to the head!" Harry was stunned and asked "You mean what happened to Termi Nal, was true!?" Ron nodded and said "Bloody hell, Harry! You don't follow any gossip, mate!"

Hermione cut in "Excuse me! We have other problems, right?!" Harry and Ron realized and turned to run off to Hagrid's shack.

Meanwhile, Ace was sitting in McGonagall's room, going through tests and experiments.

He took his hand back and asked "How long is this going to take?" She looked at him and curled her lips, "You have somewhere to be?" Ace froze and pouted, "No. But I'd rather be anywhere else." She looked at him for a moment before saying "I see you're using the Time Turner frequently."

Ace's eyes lit up and he grinned, "It's the best! Twice the research, half the time! It's really great. If only I could study during my sleep…" McGonagall's lips twitched and she remarked "Perhaps you should take a break…"

Before Ace could answer, Harry, Hermione, and Ron ran in, shouting "Professor! Professor!"

McGonagall looked at them as Harry said "We need to see Professor Dumbledore immediately! It's urgent!"

Ace was to the side wondering why he was always seeing these three.

Was there nobody else at this school?

McGonagall replied simply, "I'm afraid that's not possible. Professor Dumbledore is no longer here. He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and left." Harry was exasperated and retorted "He's gone?! But this is important! This is about the Philosopher's Stone!"

Ace's eyes lit up and he turned to McGonagall, who frowned, "How do you-" Harry cut her off, saying anxiously "Someone's going to steal it!" McGonagall looked at the three before replying "I don't know how you know, but I can assure you it is very well protected. Now would you please go back to your dormitories. Quietly."

The three sighed and walked out of the room grudgingly.

McGonagall turned back to Ace, only to find that he was gone! She sighed to herself and rubbed her forehead, muttering "Another headache, why do you do this to yourself, Minerva… Isn't being a teacher enough…"

Ace was laying on the grass in the courtyard, eyeing Harry's trio as they talked to Snape. He was in his cat form and close enough to hear the conversation, except there was this red haired girl from Hufflepuff, who wouldn't stop petting him.

Don't let his swaying tail fool you!

He wasn't enjoying it!

Ace rolled on his back and listened in as Snape walked away, Hermione looked at Harry and whispered "Now what do we do?" Harry looked at her and said firmly, "We go down the trapdoor tonight."

Ace's eyes glinted! Trapdoor!?

Sounds exciting!

Now to just get away from this cat fiend…

That night~

Ace was perched on a stone pillar as he watched Harry's trio put on an invisibility cloak and walk away.

He sniffed with his nose and jumped off the pillar, silently following them.

After coming to a room with Fluffy in it, Harry's trio took off the cloak, revealing themselves.

Ace drilled under the cloak on the ground, turning himself invisible as he watched Harry, Ron, and Hermione remark on the harp playing on its own, which was why Fluffy was sleeping.

Ace looked at the Harp briefly, he knew that spell too. This was good information on Fluffy in particular. He wished he could write it down right this instant…

Harry's trio pushed Fluffy's paw off the trap door before opening it and looking down.

Ace turned back to the Harp that stopped playing suddenly. Then he paused and looked at Fluffy, whose eyes were wide open now.

He slowly stood up and looked over Harry, Ron, and Hermione. The little trio didn't notice until drool fell on Ron.

The group looked up and Fluffy snarled at them, Harry shouted in panic "Jump!" before diving into the hole headfirst. Ron and Hermione followed him quickly as Fluffy shoved his mouth into the hole, trying to eat one of them.

Ace watched from under the cloak until Fluffy took his heads back, slowly turning to the cloak, staring Ace dead in the eyes.

Ace froze and Fluffy started growling menacingly.

Ace came out of the cloak and looked at Fluffy, flicking his tail behind him as he hissed. Fluffy charged at Ace, lunging forward and chomping down at the air.

Ace's hair stood on end as he ran to the side, terrified. He dodged Fluffy and ran around the room before slipping on drool and falling right into the hole, flailing his paws in the air, trying to grab onto the wall with his claws.

Fluffy growled at the hole before snorting and slowly laying down as if he did a good job.

Ace glared at the dog, he had never seen a shittier guard dog before!

He landed in the middle of a bunch of vines, only to see 3 holes. The vines started restricting themselves around him, trying to tie him up and Ace squeezed out, walking to a hole before looking down.

Hey! There was another floor here!

He wasn't worried about the vines as he knew they were Devil's Snare vines. If you panicked, it would only make things worse. They were a relatively safe plant in the Herbology for Dummies- Problematic Plants v.3.

Ace let the vines take him to the ground under them and slowly walked down the hallway into a room, seeing Hermione and Ron struggling to open a door with a rusted key while Harry flew around on a broom, evading killer keys.

Ace pounced behind a pillar near the door as Hermione got it open. She and Ron ran in while Harry flew towards the door, getting inside. Ace ran in just after him as Hermione closed the door, blocking the keys from turning them into swiss cheese.

He hid in the shadows as the group continued to a life size chess board with stone pieces.

Ace watched as the trio started playing, he almost had a heart attack as the pieces destroyed each other for real! He patted his cat chest with a paw, letting out a breath as he continued watching.

The trio played against the chessboard itself until Ron sacrificed himself to win the game.

Ace froze and stared at Ron, about to run over, when Hermione and Harry ran over, letting out breaths of relief. Ace paused and sighed in relief, at least the kid was okay. The Queen didn't stab him, it stabbed the horse. He must've hit his head on the way down.

Harry told Hermione, "Take care of Ron, then go to the Owlery and send a message to Dumbledore. Ron is right. I have to go on."

Ace continued to follow Harry after that, this could be dangerous, considering that Ron nearly died just now. Ace felt a responsibility to protect the children for some odd reason.

Harry came to a big room only to see the Mirror of Erised and Professor Quirrell!

Ace hid behind a pillar and peeked at Quirrell. No wonder that guy gave him a bad feeling. This dude was evil!

Harry looked dumbfounded, saying "No! It can't be… Snape, he was the…" Quirrell snorted and cut him off, "Yes, he does seem the type, doesn't he? Next to him, who would suspect… p-p-p-p-poor st-stuttering Pro-Professor Q-Quirrell?"

Harry frowned in confusion, "But that day, at the Quidditch game, Snape tried to kill me!" Quirrell chuckled and shook his head, "No, dear boy, I tried to kill you! If Snape's cloak hadn't caught on fire and broken my eye contact, I would have succeeded!"

Ace was stunned, he didn't go to that game. He only heard about Harry losing control of his broom but ultimately winning the game. This is a major revelation!

Quirrell continued, "Even with Snape muttering his countercurse." Harry was shocked, exclaiming "Snape was trying to save me?!" Quirrell ignored him, continuing on regardless of Harry's surprise "I knew you were a danger to me, especially after Halloween. You and that Ace Brand, the bookworm rookie wizard."

Ace was offended and Harry said "So… YOU let the troll in!" Quirrell sneered "Very good, Potter, yes. Snape, unfortunately, wasn't fooled. While everyone ran about, he went to the third floor to head me off. He, of course, never trusted me again. He rarely left me alone. But he doesn't understand… I'm never alone… Never."

He paused for a moment before asking "Now. What does this mirror do? I see what I desire. I see myself holding the stone, but how do I get it!?"

A disembodied voice muttered in a raspy voice, "Use the boy."

Harry looked around in fear, while Ace was startled, looking around for another person, could there be another person hiding in the dark here!?

Quirrell turned around and shouted "Come here, Potter! Now!" Harry swallowed and started walking over slowly.

Ace moved closer to the mirror, behind the pillars, staring at Quirrell intently.

Quirrell asked, "Tell me. What do you see?" Harry looked in the mirror and Ace looked at him in confusion, he was just standing there motionlessly. He was curious as to what Harry saw as well!

Quirrell was losing his patience and shouted "What is it!? What do you see!" Harry stuttered back, "I-I-'m shaking hands with Dumbledore. I've won the house cup." The disembodied voice sounded again "He lies!"

Ace had his tail between his legs as he looked around in confusion, where did the voice come from? Then he paused and turned to Quirrell in bewilderment. He said that he was never alone and there was an extra voice but no people…

Ace frowned to himself, there weren't any books on this but maybe D.I.D for wizards is magical as well?

Quirrell shouted "Tell the truth! What do you see!?" the disembodied voice spoke again, "Let me speak to him." Quirrell turned into a devout believer as he turned away, saying respectfully "Master, you're not strong enough!" The voice retorted "I have enough strength for this."

Quirrell started taking off his turban immediately, unraveling it as Harry slowly backed away with an uneasy expression.

Ace watched in shock as Quirrell revealed a face on the back of his head! The face said "Harry Potter! We meet again!" Harry swallowed and replied "V-Voldemort…"

Voldemort replied "Yes… You see what I've become? See what I must do to survive? Live off another. A mere parasite. Unicorn blood can sustain me… But it cannot give me a body of my own… But there is something that can! Something that, conveniently enough, lies in your pocket."

Harry's eyes widened and he turned to run back up the stairs towards the exit. Voldemort shouted "Stop him!" Quirrell snapped his fingers and lit a circle of flames around the room, blocking Harry inside.

Voldemort started goading Harry, "Don't be a fool. Why suffer a horrific death when you can join me and live?" Harry grit his teeth and shouted "Never!"

Ace looked at Harry and nodded, good boy, tell that two faced freak what's good. Meanwhile, Ace turned to Voldemort, slowly crawling on the floor towards Harry. The Philosopher's Stone wasn't important at the moment, moreso was Harry's life.

Ace frowned to himself and prepared for combat.

Voldemort laughed at Harry, replying "Bravery. Your parents had it too. Tell me, Harry… would you like to see your mother and father again? Together… We can bring them back! All I ask is for something in return…"

Harry reached into his pocket and took out the Philosopher's Stone, looking at Voldemort, who said "That's it, Harry… There is no good and evil. There is only power… and those too weak to seek it! Together, we'll do extraordinary things. Just give me the Stone!"

Harry shouted, "You liar!" to which Voldemort shouted angrily "Kill him!" Quirrell suddenly flew at Harry, but suddenly, Ace leapt out from the darkness, returning back to his human form and whipping out his wand, shouting "Expelliarmus!"

A beam of light flashed and sent Quirrell flying into a stone pillar, causing rubble to fall on him.

Harry was shocked and shouted "Ace!?"

Ace stood in front of Harry, saying seriously "Harry, put the stone in your pocket and stay behind me." he turned his head and whispered "If you can run, go for it!" before turning back to Quirrell.