Chapter 17

"You truly didn't need to come with us, Albus." Amelia Bones said as she and her aurors walked in the ministry along with the headmaster of Hogwarts and Peter Pettigrew.

She still had some trouble believing that Peter Pettigrew was alive, the man had been awarded Order of Merlin First Class after his supposed demise for standing up to Sirius Black.

And now she was learning all of that had been a lie.

"On the contrary my dear Amelia, I believe my presence here will be necessary in order to make sure these events aren't… swept under the rug or in case some people needs a reminder that you can't be under Imperius of a man who supposedly died ten years ago till this day." The Headmaster of Hogwarts said with a jolly tone that was very unsuited for his words and the steely glint in his eyes.

Amelia wasn't sure which she hated more, that Dumbledore implied that such miscarriage of justice could happen under her watch or the fact that she could not say that he was wrong.

But she liked the way he said 'supposedly'. She knew that Dumbledore believed that Voldemort wasn't truly dead and would return one day but the Minister and his sycophants always claimed that such a thing was hogwash. So now they couldn't let another man escape justice with that flimsy Imperius excuse like Malfoy without admitting that the man that made them shit their pants with his existence was still alive.

Dumbledore might have claimed to hate politics many times in the past but he was still talented at it.

"I understand." She said, still not happy with her department being doubted but liking the idea of Fudge and the rest of his idiot politicians' day being ruined.

It was small things like that made her feel happy when she went back home while her niece was in Hogwarts.

><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

"Well well, I almost thought you weren't going to show up." I said with a smile to Daphne, who looked rather nervous.

"Not like I really had a choice." She said with a shrug, but I could see the spark of anticipation in her eyes.

"Come now, this will be fun." I said with a laugh as we entered an empty classroom. Hogwarts had a lot of those and I wasn't willing to bring her to the Room of Requirement yet. Not before Violet.

"As a matter of fact, let me give you a little demonstration." I said and then the very space around us started to bend, the walls became a golden yellow and before Daphne could even blink, we were in a Greek temple but in the air.

The clouds moved around us and the sound of the gentle breeze was everywhere.

"How?" She said.

"This is my mind. And it can be…" I said as our environment changed once more. Now we were standing on a mountain eagles with birds flying around us.

"…anything." The spark of anticipation in Daphne's eyes, they were now a raging inferno.

"Teach me."

><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

Lord Voldemort was not sure how to deal with his servant's incompetence.

They had, after learning Dumbledore's surprise departure from the school, just tried to break through the defenses on the third corridor in order to claim the Philosopher's Stone so that they could bring him, the Lord Voldemort, back to the living world in flesh and blood so that he could once more rise to power.

But instead they had to run away at the very first defense. He had thought that Dumbledore was mad when he asked Quirrell to bring a troll for the defense but the dumb brute he had brought had nothing on the three headed mongrel that he bet was Hagrid's choice of defense.

Who the hell looked at a fucking Cerberus and thought, 'This guy would be right at home in a school full of children!'. The half giant was a menace and Voldemort knew that he should have killed him in school rather than just get him expelled. An error he would correct after regaining his body.

"To think that Dumbledore would allow such a beast in Hogwarts. We will have to find a way to go through the three headed mongrel."

"Master, I mean no disrespect but could we not simply kill the dog and move forward?"

"And how do you suppose you would kill the dog you incompetent moron. The only spell you have that could kill that Cerberus is the killing curse and you use that in Hogwarts and every auror in the damn country will be in school before we can go pass the defenses. I might have been able to get out if I had a body but you would just get caught and lose the stone!" Voldemort hissed from the back of Quirrell's head. He was not pleased with these events. Not at all.

Worst, his servant's body was starting to… expire due to his soul's metaphysical weight being too much for the incompetent moron.

He needed time. Time to figure out a way to get around the dog and deal with the other obstacles too, which wouldn't be easy as he didn't know what they were. He knew that each one of them would be an idea from a different teacher so there would be at least one magical plant that bordered on the line of being classified as an abomination. Pomona was fond of those after all.

And one would likely be a potion based trap from Severus. He wasn't sure if the potions professor was still on his side but he wouldn't be risking it while he was stuck with an incompetent fool like Quirrell. He knew how to get around Severus anyway, he had been his teacher once after all.

But they still needed to have more time. So they needed some fast way to reinforce Quirrell's body, which ruled out every ritual he knew of. Leaving only one method.

"Quirrell, get yourself a sharp blade and go to the Forbidden Forest. We will be getting some blood."