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Chapter 88 - The Final Trap

The Final Trap

"Hello, my godson! And to the scandalous group… how's life at Hogwarts treating you?" greeted Sirius as he approached with a relaxed stride.

"So, Sirius? Is the Headmaster in trouble?" asked Daphne with interest, stepping closer.

"Not too much," he replied with an annoyed grimace. "After all, he has the Minister's support. If we tried to go after him directly over the cerberus incident, the one who'd end up in trouble would be Hagrid."

He paused, crossing his arms.

"But there'll be a big surprise next year. I'm sure you'll all love it."

"What is it?" insisted Daphne, even more curious now.

"Secret," said Sirius with a mischievous grin. "Anyway, I'd better get going. I'm sure the Headmaster's been dreading this moment since I stepped into the castle."

As he turned, he added in a more casual tone:

"Oh, and keep your holidays free. I'm taking you somewhere interesting. Took a lot of convincing to get your parents to agree."

And with that, he walked away.

"Well… I'm not sure if we actually accomplished anything against the Headmaster," murmured Draco.

"Don't worry. Bringing him down won't be that easy. We just have to add one grain of sand at a time," replied Harry with a calm smile.

And so, they headed to their next class: Potions.

Over the following weeks, the chaos completely vanished.

The four of them led a surprisingly normal school life. They attended classes, spent time in the Golem Club —which had already begun organizing small competitions— and little by little, they prepared to open it to other houses the following year.

They stopped getting into trouble.

Partly because, with Fluffy gone from the castle, Red now spent most of the day playing with him in the Forbidden Forest. On one occasion, Harry grew worried and went to find him… only to stumble upon a strange scene: Red, Fluffy, and a small unicorn walking side by side like a herd. Strange, yes… but functional.

No creature in the forest dared approach them while Fluffy was with them, so Harry allowed Red to go out daily. Better to have him there than causing chaos in the castle hallways.

Sometimes, Fawkes would show up just to provoke him, sparking absurd chases across the forest sky. And thanks to all these distractions, the school became… too peaceful. Almost boring.

Ravenclaw kept gaining points at an overwhelming pace. No other house could catch up.

"Being a normal student is boring," complained Daphne one day, sprawled across one of the sofas in the common room.

"I think it's fine," replied Hermione, lowering her book. "We have fun when we can, and we study when we should. We're model students."

"I don't know… I feel like we're missing some excitement in our daily lives," insisted Daphne.

Harry felt it too. They had arrived at Hogwarts constantly running from one problem to another: a troll, the Headmaster's schemes, the traps guarding the Philosopher's Stone… but once they stopped paying attention to Quirrell, everything became too simple.

He pulled out the Marauder's Map —now updated with all the castle's hallways and newly discovered secret passages— and scanned the area.

There was no trace of Dumbledore… but Quirrell, on the other hand, was heading straight for the passage where the stone was supposed to be protected.

"Oh… looks like today's the day," he suddenly said, catching everyone's attention.

"Too bad we have no way of seeing what's going on," grumbled Daphne as she moved closer.

"Why does Quirrell's name look like that?" asked Hermione, frowning. At the end of his name, the letters seemed to shimmer and shift constantly, making it hard to read.

"It's a taboo name," Harry explained more seriously. "Maybe whatever's controlling him… has a cursed name. It's a stupid curse: anyone who says your name reveals their location. But if someone famous or well-known says it, it becomes dangerous for everyone."

He stopped.

His expression changed completely.

"Why didn't I think of this before? Idiot… it's been right in front of me this whole time," he muttered, hitting his forehead.

"What is it?" asked Draco.

"Voldemort is possessing Quirrell," said Harry firmly. "It's not that Quirrell wants to give him the stone… it's him. Voldemort infiltrated Hogwarts through Quirrell."

They all stared at him in silence.

"During the war, no one wanted to say his name because Death Eaters would show up immediately. That's why it became feared. It was because of the Taboo Curse. Who else would use something like that, if not him?"

"So… he wants to use the stone to become immortal?" asked Daphne, now serious.

"The unicorn," said Harry. "He was drinking its blood to stay alive. But that curses him worse than death. The stone would give him real life. Besides… every time he tried to use magic, or Quirrell got hurt… it was like he couldn't react. Maybe he's too weak to act directly."

"So the Headmaster let 'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named' into the castle to lure him with the stone?" asked Hermione, her expression grave.

"Seems like it," said Harry calmly. "That old man sure knows how to put students at risk," he added with an ironic smile.

"And what are you going to do? Your enemy is down there," said Daphne, watching him closely.

"Why should I do anything now?" replied Harry with the same calm tone. "The stone isn't there. And when the Headmaster finds out… not knowing that the Flamels have it again… he'll think his plan failed, and that Voldemort will be revived because of him."

He crossed his arms.

"Can you imagine the paranoia that'll cause him?"

"Wow… you really are the devil sometimes," murmured Daphne with a grin.

"Only with my enemies," Harry replied without flinching. "And don't worry about Quirrell. I had everything ready from day one… from the moment he dared attack my friends."

He looked at the map, watching as Quirrell passed through each trap with ease.

Traps made… for novice wizards.

When Quirrell reached the giant chess section, the monitoring painting guarding that room must have alerted Dumbledore, because the Headmaster appeared immediately… in his office. But he didn't move from there.

"By the way, what did you do with Professor Snape's trap?" asked Daphne with interest, not taking her eyes off the map.

"I just put in a fake potion. Pretty simple," Harry replied calmly.

They kept watching as Quirrell advanced even faster than they had during their own run. They saw him pause briefly in front of Snape's trap… and then continue. Even though they couldn't see the flames, they could guess where they were.

The moment Quirrell stepped into that section, his name and footsteps on the map began moving erratically, as if being dragged all over the place.

All four burst out laughing.

A few seconds later, the map stabilized: Quirrell had extinguished the flames and was heading for the final chamber, where the empty chest awaited him.

Harry covered his ears. The others followed suit without question.

Then it happened.

A massive explosion rocked the entire castle. The walls shook, paintings fell from the walls, and a muffled roar echoed through the corridors.

And it was only then, and only then, that Dumbledore vanished from his office… and appeared in the final chamber.

Quirrell had somehow survived. He was crawling at full speed, covered in wounds, heading straight into the Forbidden Forest.

"Well… looks like the show's over," said Harry as he stood up calmly. "Now I wonder… how many more nails does it take to seal the Headmaster's career coffin after a huge explosion inside the school?"

He smiled, though the smile didn't reach his eyes.

"Woohoo! We're the villains today!" cheered Daphne, clearly enjoying it.

Without another word, the four of them left the common room. Even though curfew had already begun, they didn't seem to care. Using their invisibility cloaks, they moved through the hallways like shadows.

In the forest…

"Ugh… ugh…" Quirrell panted, leaning against a tree, covered in wounds. He desperately searched through his belongings until he found a vial with a thick, silvery liquid: unicorn blood.

He drank a few sips. A pale glow ran down his throat, visible even through his skin. His wounds began to close rapidly… but then he doubled over in pain, writhing as his body tried to adapt.

"Master… it was a trap! That damn Headmaster knew!" growled Quirrell as he tore off his turban with trembling hands.

"You think I didn't notice, you fool?" spat the deformed figure on the back of his head. "He surely knows it was you now."

"What do we do, Master?" Quirrell asked, fear in his voice.

"Useless worm," growled Voldemort. "You ruined everything from the start. And that damn creature… If we can't get the stone, we'll at least take its corpse."

"Yes, Master. And we'll get revenge on that brat too. We'll kill him! Him and all his friends!" said Quirrell, a spark of madness in his eyes.

"I don't care. When I recover my body, that boy will suffer the worst death imaginable… and everyone close to him as well. But now we can't do anything. With Dumbledore on alert, it's impossible. We retreat." Voldemort contradicted himself, showing that he had long since lost his mind.

"Yes, Master," muttered Quirrell, disappointed.

He stood up, pulling out his wand.

"Watch out, idiot!" Voldemort shouted.

But it was too late.

A red flash shot through the trees and bit down on Quirrell's wand, snapping it with a loud crunch. A shadow darted into the bushes before they could see it.

Quirrell turned pale. He recognized that attack.

Harry Potter's dragon.

"Where are you, you abominable creature?!" he shouted, looking frantically around. He raised what remained of his wand, but only the handle was left.

Fear overtook him.

"Tsk. Let me handle this," said Voldemort.

Quirrell's body began to twist. His bones cracked, bending at impossible angles. Voldemort took control, and the body convulsed violently under his command.

He raised a hand, conjuring a weak fireball — but enough. Even in that state, he was a master of dark magic.

A crackling sound came from the branches.

A small golem in the shape of a knight with a spear charged through the trees and pierced his leg.

"GRRR!" Voldemort growled, hurling the fireball and shattering the golem into pieces.

"Who's there?! Show yourselves, brats! I'll kill you quickly… and maybe spare the purebloods among you!" he shouted, spinning around.

A sound made him look up. Another golem was dropping from the branches, wielding a large sword. It hit him in the face.

"AARGH!" Voldemort screamed, sending another fire blast that turned it to ashes.

But then he saw them.

A dozen small golems, each wielding a different weapon, were advancing in formation — as if they knew what they were doing.

"Trash!" he roared.

He intensified the flames, creating a fiery circle around himself. Anything that passed the line turned to ash.

But Red appeared again.

He leapt through the flames as if they didn't exist and bit into Voldemort's arm, tearing it off.

"AAAAAH!" screamed Quirrell from the back of his own head.

"Tsk!" spat Voldemort, staring at the bloody stump. He tried to use his other arm — the one he had regenerated himself.

Red backed away, on guard.

But before he could strike again…

A blow to his back sent him flying. He rolled through the flames, screaming, engulfed in his own fire.

"ARGHH!" he shrieked.

He used magic to extinguish himself and looked up…

…just in time to see the unicorn.

Glaring at him with hatred, scars on its side showing it was the one that had survived before… now standing. And with fresh blood on its horn.

"Filthy creature!" Voldemort shouted with rage.

But he didn't have time to move.

A gigantic paw slammed him into the ground. He looked up…

…and three enormous snouts stared down at him with wild interest.

Fluffy.

Meanwhile, Harry and the others were watching from a corner not far away.

"Well. Looks like everything's taken care of. Let's go," said Harry, turning around.

Hermione turned too, clearly not wanting to see what was about to happen. But a wet, unpleasant noise could be heard.

Daphne watched for one more curious second… then grimaced.

Draco didn't want to look either.

"AAAAAH!" a scream suddenly rang out.

The four of them turned quickly.

A ghostly figure was flying through the trees. Voldemort.

He turned toward them… and shot forward straight at Harry.

"Harry, look out!" the three shouted in unison.

Harry instinctively raised his hand…

…but the specter passed right through his body.

And Harry collapsed.

Unconscious.

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