The Potter Twins and the Philosopher's Stone

20. Two Faced *

"These words are knives that often leave scars, the fear of falling apart" ~ This is Gospel, Panic! at the Disco

Harry and I follow the corridor down into what I imagine is the main chamber, where the Stone is being kept.

As we near the chamber, our scars begin burning again, and we both clutch our foreheads in feeble attempts to dull the sharp pain.

In the centre of the room is the Mirror of Erised, and in front of it is the stuttering and nervous Professor Quirrell.

"No bloody way." I murmur, barely loud enough for even Harry to hear me.

"You?" Harry says, making Quirrell turn to face us. "No, it can't be. Snape, he was--"

"Yes, he does seem the type, doesn't he?" Quirrell cuts Harry off, his usual stutter completely gone. "Next to him, who would suspect poor, stuttering Professor Quirrell?"

Not only his stutter gone, but the feeling of him being completely harmless as well.

"But that day, during the Quidditch match, Snape tried to kill us," I speak up.

"No, dear girl. I tried to kill you!" Quirrell announces darkly.

"And trust me, if Snape's cloak hadn't caught fire and broken my eye contact I would have succeeded." He says, "even with Snape muttering his little counter curse."

"Snape was trying to save us?" Harry gasps.

"I knew you two were a danger to me right from the off, especially after Halloween," Quirrell explains to us, his voice angry and unfamiliar.

"Then you let the troll in!" I exclaim as we move closer to him.

"Very good, Miss Potter, yes."

"You're quite the actor then," I say dryly, thinking back to how terrified Quirrell was acting that night.

"Yes, but 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." Quirrell finishes, turning back to face the magical mirror.

Then the moment I caught sight of the back if his head, my scar erupted in pain again.

"He rarely left me alone. But he doesn't understand. I'm never alone. Never. Now, what does this mirror do? I see what I desire. I see myself holding the Stone. But how so I get it?"

"Use the boy and girl." A voice like a hiss says from, coming from seemingly nowhere.

The voice makes shivers run down my spine and makes my scar burn even more painfully.

Quirrell turns and points straight at us.

"Come here, Potters! Now!" He roars.

Together, we walk towards him and stand in front of the mirror.

"Tell me, what do you see?"

Harry's reflection grins broadly and reaches into his trouser pocket and pulls out a large ruby red stone, that is undoubtedly the Philosopher's Stone.

The reflection places the Stone safely back inside his pocket and grins once more.

I glance down to see a small bulge in Harry's real pocket, that definitely wasn't there before.

"What is it? What so you see?" Quirrell orders.

"I'm shaking hands with Dumbledore. I've won the house cup." Harry lies swiftly.

"He lies." the strange hissing voice reappears.

"Tell the truth! What so you see?" Quirrell bellows.

"Let me speak to them." The voice says.

"But Master, you are not strong enough," Quirrell says.

"I have strength enough for this."

Quirrel instantly begins unwrapping his turban, revealing a terrifying, jaw-dropping and disturbing thing on the back of his head.

A face, and actual face.

"Haylee and Harry Potter, we meet again." the face says.

"Voldemort." Harry and I say in unison.

"Yes. Do 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,"

Harry and I share a brief glance and then try and sprint from the room.

"Stop them!"

Quirrell snaps his fingers, creating a border of fire at every exit in the room.

"Don't be a fool," Voldemort says manipulatively. "Why suffer a horrific death when you can join me and live?"

"Never!" I cry, making Voldemort laugh throatily.

"Bravery. Your parents had it too. Tell me, Harry and Haylee, would you like to see your mother and father again? Together, we can bring them back. All I ask is something in return."

Harry reaches into his pocket and pulls out the ruby red Philosopher's Stone.

"That's it," Voldemort says. "There is no good and evil, there is only power, and those too weak to seek it. Together, us three will so extraordinary things. Just give me the stone!"

"Your liar!" We yell in unison.

"Kill them!" Voldemort says angrily.

Now we've done it.

Quirrell flies - literally flies - towards us and knocks us both to the ground before we could move from his path.

He wraps his hands around both our necks and begins trying to choke us.

Desperately struggling against him, I reach for the Stone that Harry dropped.

It is only centimetres from my reach, but I can't seem far enough to grasp it.

A strange sound escapes my throat as my black spots cloud my vision.

At the exact same time, Harry and I grab ahold of the hand around our throats and try to pull them away.

But the moment we touch Quirrell's skin, they begin to burn under our touch, and we manage to rip them away from our necks.

Quirrell screams in pain as his hands steam up and then crumble away like rocks.

"What is this magic!" He cries.

"Fool, get the Stone!" Voldemort orders.

While Harry makes a dash for the stone, I lunge forward and place my hands over Quirrell's face.

Just as it did with his hands, his face begins burning and steaming, until - finally - his face and the rest of his body crumble away, leaving only his robes and a pile of dust.

Did I just kill a man with my bare hands?

Harry comes to my side and squeezes my hand comfortably, the Stone in his other hand.

We then begin hearing a strange noise from behind us, and we turn to see Voldemort's spirit in the form of Quirrell's dusty remains.

Voldemort screams and flies straight through Harry and I, making us both scream out in pain.

I fall onto my back beside Harry and my eyes close over. Then the darkness takes me.

________________________________________________

Almost finished !

Just one more chapter and the epilogue, and then we move into the Chamber of Secrets.

*this chapter has been edited*