Chapter - 23 : Reflections and Revelations

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"Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi," Harry murmured, reading the inscription along the border of the mirror. "Erised…desire. I show not your face but your heart's desire." He snorted to himself."Oh, I get it. It's backwards because it's a mirror. Clever."

He could see himself in the mirror, but it wasn't the same him he was used to seeing; he was older and there was a sort of glow to his skin he'd never seen before. He was immortal and in the company of his father, his uncle, and grandparents, and they were on Asgard.

It was a neat trick, but he didn't need a mirror to tell him what his heart's desire was. He'd long since figured it out.

Was this what the Cerberus had been guarding? Why go through all the trouble of setting up such elaborate security measures to hide a mirror? And why hide it in the school for that matter?

"Is the headmaster an idiot?" he questioned himself. "Did he honestly think this would remain safe and secret down here forever?"

"My thoughts exactly." Professor Quirrell, in all of his purple turbaned glory, appeared soundlessly in the entrance to the chamber. There was an uncharacteristic smirk on his face as he slowly descended the staircase and Harry noticed that his words had been devoid of his usual stutter.

"Fancy seeing you down here, Professor." Harry scratched at the back of his head nervously. "I know the third floor corridor is supposed to be off limits, for obvious reasons I see now. But I have a good reason for being down here, you see there was a kneezle-"

"Save your excuses, you nosy boy."

Harry blinked, momentarily taken aback by the usually timid man's sudden confidence. "Right, well I'll just be going then…"

Quirrell raised a brow and remained where he stood, directly in front of the only exit and entrance. "I think not. You're going to help me."

"Help you with what exactly?"

"To retrieve the stone."

Harry shook his head. "I…am completely lost. Professor, are you feeling all right?"

Just then, a third, chillingly cold and seemingly bodiless voice spoke up. "He knows nothing. Kill him."

Quirrell didn't even hesitate before raising his wand and shooting an ice white cure in Harry's direction. The teen yelped and rolled out of the way, when he was once again upright, he had his own wand drawn in preparation to defend himself.

"I didn't know rule breaking was punished so harshly!" He ducked out of the way of another deadly looking spell, then shot off one of his own. He swept his wand in a violent slash and watched as Quirrell staggered back as if he'd been struck by an invisible fist.

"Wha-?" Harry slashed his wand again and Quirrell fell back another step.

"Stop that!" His turban was askew and his cheeks were flushed a mottled red.

"Stop what?" Harry asked innocently as he struck him once more. "I'm not doing anything."

"Incarecerous!" Harry easily sidestepped the coil of ropes and shot a cutting hex back.

"Diffindo! Confundus! Crucio!" Harry managed to easily dodge the first, but when sidestepping the second he stepped directly into the path of the third. The moment the curse hit, Harry felt a pain like no other ripping through his veins, boiling his blood and melting his bones. He fell to his knees, gasping in pain.

"Not so tough now, are you, Potter?" Quirrell taunted, but his voice sounded different, more sibilant, and cruel. "Go on and scream for me boy, I know you want to. It's a pity no one is around to hear the lovely sound you'd make."

Through the agonizing pain, Harry managed to tighten his grip on his wand and, with a great effort pointed it at Quirrell. "Diffindo."

The curse shot out in a streak of white light and hit his target. As the man fell back with a strangled shriek, the curse lifted and the pain disappeared, allowing Harry to slowly catch his breath and regain control over his limbs.

It took several failed attempts to climb to his feet, but eventually he managed and staggered over to where Quirrell lay sprawled on the ground. The severing charm had hit Quirrell directly in the neck, leaving his throat a mangled bloody mess.

"Oh no," the eleven year old boy gasped. In that moment he forgot that the man had just been trying to kill him, he forgot the horrible pain inflicting curse he'd put him under, all he could think about was that the man was dying right in front of him, and it was all his fault. "Oh no, Professor hang on, I can fix this. Just-just hang on and don't die." He reached for his wand, desperately thinking of anything he could use to heal the man, but for all his training he was unable to think of a single one.

"Dammit!" Harry tore a strip from the bottom of his shirt and pressed it against the bloody wound in hopes of staunching the bleeding. "Just give me a second, Professor," he whispered, unaware of the tears wetting his cheek. "Just give me a second. I can fix this. I can. I know I can,"

As he moved to press the strip of cloth against Quirrell's neck with violently shaking hands, Quirrell wrapped a hand around his wrist, halting his movements. "No," the man choked. "Leave me."

"Are you mad!" Harry cried, swiping a hand across his eyes to clear them up a bit. "You'll die!"

"He's still…inside me. Might…be able to…k-kill…"

"What? Who? Who's inside you? Who can you kill?"

"Vol-Volde…"

"Voldemort?" Harry gasped incredulously.

"I was…to be host…until St-st-stone…elixir brings him back."

"Professor, you're not making any sense. What stone? What elixir?"

Quirrell's breath grew more ragged as blood flowed into his lungs. "So…sorry," he managed to choke, before he took one last gasping breath then fell still.

"Professor?" Harry whispered. "P-professor Quirrell?" He reached out to grab the man's shoulder's, intent on shaking him back to life, but the moment he touched him a black mist suddenly surged from Quirrell's body and slammed into Harry's chest. He only had a second to wonder what in the world had just happened before he fell to the ground, unconscious.

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Loving the story so far? There's a whole world of magic and mystery waiting for you with over 85+ chapters still to come! By supporting my Patreon.

You not only get early access to new chapters but also exclusive content, behind-the-scenes insights, and special perks just for fans like you.

Join us on this enchanted journey and help shape the future of the tale. Your support makes all the difference—discover more and become part of the adventure today!

http//patreon.com/Kun_kanshi

(P).(A).(T).(R).(E).(O).(N)

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