Harry found his photo album while looking for a clean change of clothes in his trunk. He took it out to look through it, and as he turned the page, he thought about how different his life was.
In this album, his aunt smiles next to his uncle Severus, his cousins, friends, his godfather, Remus, and his parents.
Unlike the album he treasured so much in his past life, this one had double or triple the number of photographs that captured family moments, everyday and fun, there were photos of his parents together and separately, even photos of them from their childhood, also one of the Potter family that his aunt Petunia got, in this image were his grandparents with his father and others that according to Sirius were his father's uncles who emigrated to America losing contact, possibly deceased, but that would be a mystery to solve when he was an adult if he would ever be interested in discovering it.
The days at Hogwarts were lighter, perhaps because he knew what would happen, that is, the subject matter they would cover in each class was not as unknown as the first time and Quirrell did not represent a danger to him, at least not in the short term, at this point Voldemort was more interested in having his body than in looking for enemies to fight.
Harry spent the time until Halloween without setbacks, Ron adjusted to his and Neville's way of being, and his interest in being his friend made him adapt as best he could. Obviously, Ron had his moments, since he was raised within a family that distrusted all those wizards and witches selected for Slytherin House. In addition, there were those who, to gain presence in front of others, stood out, etc., and bothered the Muggleβborns and blood traitors.
Harry remembered that Ron Weasley was the target of constant teasing for having to wear clothes and reuse objects from his brothers.
The Snape twins, true to their "strangeness", told some of their Housemates that this rejection of poor or disadvantaged people, in psychology, is called aporophobia. Of course, not many understood them and ended up offended by the "insult." The twins didn't care and ignored them, making them angrier. They were particularly similar to their father in that regard.
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That day was one of the most exhausting, luckily she didn't have any more patients scheduled and could go home, she felt like her head was splitting from the migraine, she just wanted to take one of those miraculous potions her husband had and finally get rid of that annoying pain, she also wanted to relax, forgetting about the world.
Her colleague called her to discuss the related case, Robert stopped sending gifts, finally accepting that nothing personal would happen between them, but she began to doubt his sexuality, because apparently according to Dr. Adler, the patient's body language was "flirty", Eleanor just hoped that he wouldn't fall in love with his therapist again.
Leaving the office, she accompanied her secretary/assistant, Lorna, to the Leaky Cauldron pub, where her brothers were waiting for her. Surely her brother was bragging to his fans.
Eleanor was in no mood for the fraudulent writer and said goodbye at the door.
β "Sorry," β Eleanor said as she bumped into a wizard.
β "Don't worry, it's no problem," β Replied a hooded man with a chilling voice.
The "wizard" entered the pub, leaving a bad vibe as he passed. Eleanor had the urge to go in to see where the wizard went, but refused to let curiosity get the better of her. After all, what would she do if she found out he was a Death Eater or something similar?
She suspected that Voldemort's followers were reactivating their bad habits; surely the frustrated soul of the future Mr. Snake Face (a possibility if they succeeded in creating a body from a homunculus) must have caused some impact on the famous marks on his forearms.
β "Doctor Snape, are you all right?" β Eleanor turned toward the voice, recognizing it as a familiar, fair-skinned, blue-eyed teenager. Her gray eyebrows expressed confusion. The girl wore her silver hair short.
β "Did you cut your hair?" β The girl was surprised and nodded with a shy smile. She wore a gray blouse, blue jeans, dark gray boots, and a moonstone pendant around her neck, as well as carrying a small bag hanging from her shoulder. β "I'm fine, just tired. I've had some special cases," β Eleanor said reassuringly. β "I was on my way home after accompanying my assistant. I was thinking of using the floo connection at the pub, but I changed my mind."
β "Oh, I see," β Replied the teenager. β "If you want, I can walk you home just in case. Excuse me, but I don't think that paleness is a good sign."
β "No need, I don't want to derail you from your path," β She insisted.
β "Besides, it's lucky to find you. I wanted to thank you for the recommendation you made. I was accepted to train as a healer. If it weren't for her help and that of Madam Pomfrey, who knows if I would have made it."
β "You have the ability, I only gave a little push by showing your good grades. Severus even offered to be your teacher if you decided to master Potions, and he is a person who does not make those kinds of offers unless it is someone talented," β Eleanor replied.
They chatted briefly while the girl accompanied her to get on the bus; however, she preferred to travel in a taxi, to go more directly, and she was in no condition to appear or use the Night Owl service. Then she said goodbye to Chiara until another time.
Chiara Lobosca was an only child; her father specialized in the field of Arithmancy, and her mother worked as an Obliviator at the Ministry of Magic.
When Chiara was 7 years old, the werewolf Fenrir Greyback bit her, causing her to also turn into a werewolf. Greyback tried to "recruit" her, but Chiara's parents scared him off, protecting their daughter, whom they would not abandon because of her condition.
Because of her lycanthropy, she went through things that marked her personality, such as losing an important friend from her childhood. This made her extremely insecure and shy, very distrustful and irritable at times.
Chiara became one of Eleanor's first patients when she graduated. Chiara attended the office during her school breaks. Initially, she was skeptical and reserved about forming lasting friendships at Hogwarts; she was afraid to open up to people, even when she had people she could come to consider friends.
The girl was assigned to Hufflepuff house, sharing a dormitory with Nymphadora Tonks, the daughter of Sirius Black's cousin.
Chiara was quite fond of books and often found solace in reading; as a side effect of managing her affliction, she had a good knowledge of potions, as she was very interested in healing magic and hoped to one day become a healer at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, her greatest ambition being to discover a less expensive and painful means than Wolfsbane Potion for werewolves throughout the wizarding world.
In her spare time, she volunteered in the Hospital Wing, which Madam Pomfrey greatly appreciated.
At Hogwarts, she befriended a pup from the resident pack; the peculiarity of the wolves in the Forbidden Forest was that they descended from two werewolves who mated during the full moon, producing pups who looked exactly like real wolves except for their great intelligence, equivalent to that of humans. Playing with Borf was one of the few things that made Chiara laugh.
She planned to get housing in Hogsmeade so she could continue seeing him. She had graduated that year, and her parents did not allow her to bring a wolf to live with her; and Borf himself preferred to stay in the forest.
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October 31st would be the Halloween feast at Hogwarts. Harry knew that a troll would be released by Professor Quirrell, who was looking for the Philosopher's Stone.
Previously, in his past timeline, Harry and Ron saved Hermione from the troll, she had been crying in the bathrooms because of an unfortunate offensive comment from Ron, he was angry with her after Charms class, because he felt that Hermione corrected him in class not to help him, but to show off and make fun of him by highlighting his mistakes. After the incident with the troll, the 3 became friends.
Until now, he played dumb about the subject; he was thinking that Voldemort had no way to get the stone as long as the director kept it hidden in his tower, nor when it was hidden in a magic mirror.
He dedicated himself to enjoying his return to the castle, Harry did not want to be more than a student like any other, of course he felt guilty for not acting, unmasking "Quirrelmort" and preventing him from attacking unicorns was a recurring thought when he remembered who his stuttering teacher was, however, he had hopes that the director would act this time to stop him without having to get involved.
Once he began to question the "facts of his life", he was always curious why no one seemed to discover the danger until he somehow got involved, it was as if it was implied that it should happen, this assumption was reaffirmed by the occasional glances from the director who seemed to expect something from him, that he would act differently, or perhaps he was simply paranoid.
Harry had no chance of crossing paths with Fluffy, his relationship with Draco was friendly, and he respectfully avoided going into the forbidden area; there was no curiosity about the treasure kept at Hogwarts, nor any research about Nicholas Flamel.
As for Scabbers, he practically forgot who he was when he saw him with Ron, who described him as an old and rather useless rat because he slept all the time, although he woke up to bite Gregory Goyle in Ron's defense during a "friendly argument", Crabbe and Goyle were still reluctant to associate with a Weasley.
Ron pretended to hate Scabbers, but secretly, he was very attached to the rat.
Chris pointed out that rats normally only live 2 or 3 years, and are not as popular as owls or cats, a comment that made him think about the animal's nature.
Liam thoughtlessly made an unhappy comment when the rat urinated in his book, one he lent to Ron for the marginal notes he copied from his father's book, which Severus used to make when he was a student.
Harry's cousin mentioned that rat body parts, such as the tail and the spleen, were used as ingredients in potions, such as Shrinking Potion.
Harry smiled, covering himself with the book they were reading while doing their homework. According to "Breeding Dragons for Pleasure and Profit", dragons should be fed dead rats as a reward for good behavior, Harry seriously considered whether to take the opportunity with Norbert, that is, in case Hagrid had the opportunity to try breeding the dragon, that little one after only a couple of weeks of growth was fed dead rats by Hagrid.
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Dumbledore reversed an enchanted object kept among the collection of wondrous items in the Room of Requirement, a magnificent, ceilingβhigh mirror with an ornate gilt frame, resting on clawβlike supports, which had been in place since 1891.
He moved the mirror out of sight into a disused classroom to make modifications to it, so that it could hide the Philosopher's Stone, ensuring that only those who wished to acquire the Stone but not use it would ever find it. Anyone who desired more than merely to find it would find themselves turning things into gold or making the elixir of life.
The Mirror of Erised shows the "deepest, most desperate desires of the heart" of whoever is reflected in its surface, but as each person is unique, only they can see what the mirror shows them.
It was an impressive piece with an unusual curse, for the mirror shows neither truth nor knowledge, and some have lost their minds from standing in front of this object, as a person can develop a strong fondness for using it, knowing that it will show them something they will like.
The name "Erised" is "desire" written from back to front, as reflected in a mirror. The happiest person in the world would look into the mirror and see their reflection exactly as they are.
Inscribed across the top of the mirror is the following text: Erised straeh ruoy tub, ecaf ruoy ton si siht. Flipping the inscription over and rearranging the spaces produces: "This is not your face, but your heart's desire."
Harry had encountered some of the effects of his enigmatic powers in his previous life, the night he first used his father's Invisibility Cloak to go to the Restricted Section of the library to find out about Nicholas Flamel.
At the time, he was immersed in unraveling the mystery of what Hagrid's Cerberus was guarding.
In his attempt to stay hidden from Argus Filch, the school caretaker, Harry stumbled upon the classroom where the mirror was located. Upon looking in the mirror, Harry saw himself surrounded by his parents and what he interpreted as several smiling family members.
Some had the same green eyes, one had the same knees, and one of his grandmothers was nodding and smiling at the same time. It was an emotionally overwhelming moment, a happy but painful experience that stayed with him his entire life.
On his next visit to the mirror at midnight, he brought Ron Weasley, hoping to show him his family, however, Ron saw himself as the Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team and Head Boy, he even saw himself as the protagonist in the celebration of the Quidditch Cup, as he had always felt overshadowed by his brothers and always strove to be noticed by others, when contemplating himself this desire stood out.
However, this time Harry was out of that treasure hunt, Ron didn't get the chance to bother Hermione, so she didn't end up taking refuge in a bathroom to vent her anguish that day before the Halloween feast.
β "Harry!" β Shouted one of the twins approaching his cousin through the corridor that connected to the dining room.
β "Mum sent us a present. If we put the three of them together, it seems they can sing, but the three of them have to be together against each other, touching," β Said the other one, now in front of Harry, who was with Ron and Neville.
β "My dad wrote that the charm is permanent, the pumpkin's wink can be turned on or off like a switch," β Explained the twin closest to Harry, holding his small enchanted pumpkin in his hand.
β "Oh!... Oh." β He repeated more slowly, discovering something β "then that must have been what that owl dropped on my head. Now I'll have to look for that thing in my bedroom. I was thinking of looking at it later to find out who sent it, because that bird was unknown to me," β Said Harry, hoping that his aunt's gift hadn't been ruined.
β "Mum sent it by special mail so it will arrive in time. When you find it, let us know," β Said Liam, a little disappointed at not being able to hear the song. β "Mum placed the letters inside the little box. Also, Marcus sent a drawing with his greeting. We think it would be a nice gift to send him something in return. Chris wants to catch a bat, and I think it would be better to have something from the banquet. What do you think?"
β "Uh, I don't know. I sent earlier a special Halloween box that Ron's twin brothers brought back from Hogsmeade, I bought it for a few Sickles from their "business" on the fifth floor."
The Snape twins looked at each other for a few seconds. β "Okay. That's an idea." β Replied Chris, putting his pumpkin in his pocket at the same time as Liam.
Minutes later, their paths separated, and the 2 Slytherin students began to quickly climb the stairs that moved in exactly the direction they wanted.
The Great Hall's decoration for this holiday was the same; the living room was adorned with floating pumpkins with a lit candle inside. These pumpkins were grown by Rubeus Hagrid in his garden, for which the gamekeeper took pride in a job well done, since every year Hagrid selected the best for this celebration.
The corridors and common rooms also had this type of decoration; the house elves were in charge of distributing ornaments with pumpkin motifs, pendants, and live bats, among other decorations. Food is especially special on Halloween night; the house elves prepare delicious sweets, tarts, pancakes, and other Halloween-themed treats. The house elves may supply some ingredients from Hogsmeade, as the wizarding village is the closest to the castle for trading.
There is a vegetable garden that the elves tend and Hagrid's garden, but they do not provide enough ingredients to feed dozens of mouths.
Hundreds of bats flapped from the walls and ceiling of the dining hall, while others passed between the tables like black clouds, making the pumpkin candles tremble.
The students were already seated in their respective places, expectant, while a slight buzz of conversation could be heard from each table.
The feast suddenly appeared on the golden platters, as had happened at the banquet at the beginning of the year. The invisible elves worked as one to serve everything at the same time, both to the students and the teachers, ensuring that those with specific nutritional needs had the foods they could consume closest.
In sync, both twins greeted their cousin from table to table before the tables overflowed with platters and tankards from the feast, Neville and even Ron greeted them too.
Harry was serving himself the main course when Professor Quirrell arrived agitatedly into the dining room; his turban askew and his face terrified.
"Silly me. I hoped he wouldn't. Pity... At least this time I managed to finish my stuffed potato."Β Harry thought, preparing for the imminent return to the tower.
At the Slytherin table, Chris was talking to Draco, while Liam served his plate after having served his own.
β "Elves should do these things, why should we serve ourselves?"
β "Theo, don't complain, elves aren't fortune tellers to know what you're going to want to eat first... Chris, eat or it'll get cold, and remember, this will be even."
β "Thank you, dear brother. You know my solved homework is at your disposal for a small price; an exchange of favors affects no one," β Chris replied, smiling.
Liam snorted. He had been at the service of his twin all day, having asked his brother to let him copy his Charms homework.
The banquet was cheerful, the animated decorations and the ghosts gave a different touch to what the Snapes were used to, when suddenly the appearance of the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher made a dramatic entrance.
Everyone watched as Quirrell staggered over to Headmaster Dumbledore and leaned forward on the table, panting as if he'd just run a marathon.
β "A troll... in the dungeons... I thought you should know." β And he collapsed to the floor.
Seconds passed as the warning reached each end of the hall, and a scramble broke out among the students.
Dumbledore had to flash several fireworks from his wand to get them to focus and quiet down. β "Prefects, take your groups to the dormitories, at once."
Each prefect rose from his place to lead his group to their respective school Houses.
Percy was in his element. β "Gryffindor! Follow me! First years, together! You needn't fear the troll if you follow my orders! Now, with me, move forward behind me. Make way, first-years must go through!" β Percy exclaimed.
β "Weasley, don't push, idiot!" β One of his classmates criticized.
β "Excuse me?! I'm a prefect! You must respect me, Towler. Don't separate! First years with me!"
Gemma Farley, Slytherin prefect, kept her group at the table, leaving her companion in charge as she trotted over to her Head of House to confirm the Headmaster's order.
β "Very perceptive, Miss Farley. 20 points to Slytherin. The path to the dungeons is unsafe at the moment. Please organize your companions to wait for me until we resolve the dilemma," β Said Professor Slughorn, going over to his colleague, Professor Sprout. β "Pomona, wait! We have a problem to resolve before we join the rest," β Exclaimed the Potions professor.
β "I just cleared this with Albus. Each of you will accompany your House for the protection of our students before we join the search." β The professor nodded and thanked her for the information, then both professors led their "snakes" and "badgers" to their "safe havens" with wands in hand.
They passed through several groups of students running in different directions, and as they made their way through the commotion, they joined up with the confused Hufflepuffs, heading part of the way together.
On the way to the common rooms, a common question echoed around the groups: "How did a troll get in?" One plausible answer was that Peeves might have let him in as a Halloween prank, as odd as it was that the poltergeist hadn't played tricks on the celebrations.
In each common room, the students were able to finish their dinner, not in a festive atmosphere, but at least they were able to savor part of the feast.
Exactly how it was unknown, the troll was defeated by the teachers, with the loss of four enchanted suits of armor that were supposed to be under repair for a few days. The intruder attacked them when they tried to stop its advance.
Getting the troll out of the castle was an arduous task of containing vomit and maintaining concentration. Although they could use some charm to hide the intruder's foul odor, even seeing it made their stomachs churn, and they had to look at it to confirm that it was still unconscious.
The troll was left in the hands of some wizards known to Dumbledore, who would take it to a safe place, far from civilization.
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Harry Potter didn't become the youngest Seeker for the Gryffindor Quidditch team in a hundred years. Perhaps he sometimes regretted it, but he would try out for the team the following year like any other student.
In November, Harry watched the first GryffindorβSlytherin Quidditch match from a seat alongside other spectators, thus beginning the betting process between himself and his cousins, who all supported their House team.
The results were similar to what Harry thought he remembered, although after so many years, he couldn't be sure beyond the matches he had played. His ego was inflated when Gryffindor barely won the match by a few points, indicating that he had been an important part of their past victories.
In December, the preparations for Christmas and the approaching recess began the countdown.
In London, Eleanor remembered the Invisibility Cloak, inherited from the Peverells.
She looked for it, which belonged to James Potter and therefore belonged to his son, Harry. No matter how much she searched and tried to remember, she couldn't find it.
The whole topic came to the fact that in the saga, Harry received that cloak as a gift on his first Christmas at Hogwarts. At first, it was mere curiosity, then it became concern. What Eleanor didn't know was that this special cloak returned to its owner by an act of magic.
The winter weather allowed many to play in the snow. Harry had the secret amusement of watching Voldemort get hit in the face over and over again without being able to do anything about it.
The Weasley twins charmed several snowballs to follow Quirrell and hit him in the back of his turban, where Voldemort's deformed face was located.
β "McGonagall punished my brothers, Percy is now giving a speech about why they should respect the rules," β Said Ron, sinking into the armchair next to Harry and Neville.
β "What punishment did they get?" β Asked Neville while holding Trevor with gloves. The pet toad had been discovered exploring the common room again a few seconds before. He was struggling to continue his excursion, so Neville had to be firm.
β "They'll serve your punishment with Hagrid. I think we should help them. The few owls that managed to arrive in the stormy weather to deliver mail had to be left in Hagrid's care until they recovered before they could fly again," β The redhead replied, looking with interest at Harry's Quidditch magazine.
β "That's why I kept Hedwig with me. My aunt told us in her last letter to be careful with the birds because of the weather... Are you interested? It's the latest issue."
β "Thanks," β He said, holding out his hand to take it.
Everyone was eager for the holidays to begin; the heads of each House would soon draw up the final list of those who would be staying at the castle.
While the common rooms and the Great Hall had their fires lit, the corridors had become freezing, and a cruel wind battered the classroom windows.
β "This is the last straw! Quirrell sent us out of the hall just for being 5 minutes late. We had to stand by the door on one leg," β Chris said, shivering.
β "Why didn't you use a charm to keep yourself warm?" β Asked Hermione, who had been spending time with them during breaks in recent weeks.
β "You're not allowed to do magic in the corridors, remember?" β Chris responded sarcastically, making air quotes with his fingers.
β "The man has been in a very bad mood lately; he would have punished us with something worse if we had done it," β Liam remarked, hugging his coat.
β "So ridiculous, if I were suspicious, I would think he had something against us."
β "It seems he doesn't like us. At least he used to hide it. Could it be that he didn't get along with my dad at school?" β Chris expressed following his twin.
β "I don't know what's going on in his life", but it's clear that something isn't going according to his "agenda, and he's taking his frustration out on the students."
β "It doesn't seem like it to me," β Hermione commented thoughtfully. β "Maybe it's stress. Although I must admit he seems more out of sorts these days, his scent is... peculiar..."
The first grades were being defined, and it was not unusual for the practical works to increase, keeping the students busy and teachers who tried to indirectly help those with low grades.
For Hermione, whose priority was exams, the professor's attitude was primarily justified by the stress of the end of the first term.
Professor Slughorn had to intervene to ask his colleague to stop harassing his students. β "Professor Quirrell, it is not my intention to tell you how to run your class, but I ask you, please, refrain from frightening the students with such lurid descriptions of the creatures you are studying."
β "I thought I understood that I should diversify my classes and not base them primarily on theoretical knowledge, Professor."
Professor Slughorn bristled at the defiant tone; one thing he had noticed was the different aura of the strange wizard, who sometimes seemed cured of his stutter.
β "I also kindly ask that you let me take care of the punishments of the students of my House. Also, please don't surprise them with topics that aren't relevant to their academic level. Asking fifth or sixth year questions to first year students seems unfair to me, not to mention taking points or giving warnings for something like that."
β "Did anyone complain?"
Slughorn shifted uneasily; it wasn't his habit to antagonize anyone; he always remained diplomatic in the face of conflicts. However, prospects and members of his Eminence Club were affected by Quirrell's behavior.
β "No one in particular, I'm simply an observer and have responsibilities as Head of House. Professor Quirrell, I'm not the most suitable person, but I suggest you keep your problems out of the classroom; otherwise, I will have to take my criticism to the Headmaster and the School Board. I advise against demonstrating spells so close to students that they could get burned or slightly injured. I know the professor's abilities, and you are not as clumsy as you appear." β The plump professor's warning was almost causing Voldemort to laugh, but Quirrell's exterior didn't show it.
He said goodbye without further ado. The potions professor sighed worriedly, thinking of discussing his concern with the other Heads and the headmaster.
Quirrell lost his patience after his failure at Halloween. He insulted Dumbledore, cursing the old man's cunning. The old man was either suspicious of him or becoming more irritating.
It took all his strength to endure their unexpected conversations. Quirrell's body was suffering from Voldemort's invasion. Who knew the Philosopher's Stone had to be somewhere in the castle? The third-floor corridor, one of the many corridors in Hogwarts Castle, was where that treasure had to be hidden, or at least it would be.
Located next to the castle's Grand Staircase on the third floor, getting past the surveillance was complicated by the squib's stupid cat, a horrifying creature that hissed and growled whenever they were near. If it weren't for how suspicious it would look, he would have already killed her.
The only way he could think of to resist was to attack the unicorns. Their blood could stabilize him for a while, but hunting them became a titanic task in winter, so he had to resort to dark potions.
The Snape twins didn't know why the cyclothymic professor was looking at them badly, Liam thought he detected a certain resentment when he said his last name. Liam caught a cold, had to spend a few hours in the infirmary, and Chris blamed the stuttering professor and planned a "prank" against Quirrell.
In a corridor, he managed to levitate the turban, thinking of ridiculing the professor in front of the students who were passing in groups for the subject change.
Then, the unexpected happened: Professor Quirrell did not have a strange color, shape, or texture of hair, but rather had two faces in his head.
β "He's bald," β Liam muttered, arriving at his twin's side from behind, accompanied by Draco and his two friends.
β "Is that all you're saying?" β Draco asked in a whisper, shocked by what everyone was seeing.
Quirrell looked like a scared animal, jumping, trying to get his turban back, amid screams of fear and looks of curiosity, disgust, and morbidity.
β "What does this scandal mean? Oh, Merlin! What happened?" " Exclaimed Professor McGonagall, thoughtlessly grabbing her wand.
Quirrell's expression was unreadable; the face behind his head was still, his eyes and mouth closed. The wizard reached for his wand with quick movements, was disappointed, and finally retrieved his turban.
Throughout the day, the incident with Quirrell spread like wildfire throughout the castle, from house elves to teachers; everyone was commenting on the strangeness of the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.
β "A curse, maybe that's why he wore the turban," β Said Ron.
β "That's more than obvious," β Replied Vincent.
β "I wasn't talking to you, Crabbe."
β "I'm here and I can talk if I want."
β "Don't argue," β Demanded Draco.
Harry had no opinion; he was surprised by Quirrell's exposition in front of the people, who were speculating about what had happened to the wizard, who, since what had happened, had gone missing and could not be located.
Neville arrived where they were sitting in the dining hall, one of the common areas with the best temperature in Hogwarts. β "I ran into Hermione. She wanted to show me something she found in the library. She'll likely come by any moment to explain her discovery to us."
β "Doesn't she have any friends?" β Asked Gregory.
β "We are her friends," β Declared Harry, annoyed, because he found Hermione less authoritarian, and her difficulty in making friends remained the same. "I didn't understand why they preferred to make fun of her instead of giving her a chance, although her dorm mates seemed to appreciate her at least listening to her."
Hermione peeked through the doors, looking for the boys.
β "Hello, Granger, are you coming from the library?"
The little witch with the messy hair responded to the greeting and nodded to her roommate, informing her that the librarian would be available for one more hour.
After saying goodbye, she glimpsed the boys, 5 with green details on their uniforms and 3 in red like hers, and she walked towards them, excited to share her hypotheses.
She greeted everyone and stood next to Neville, beginning their discussion of possible disfiguring spells and curses. β "I found on a shelf above Muggle manners a medical almanac: 'Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine' by George M. Gould, part of an encyclopedic collection of rare and extraordinary cases, and the most striking cases of anomaly in all branches of medicine and surgery, derived from an exhaustive investigation of the medical literature from its origin to the present day, abstracted, annotated and indexed."
Harry looked at the book the girl had brought with her. β "Hermione, this book is from 1896."
β "I know, but despite some of the impressive and disturbing images, it does include the story of Edward Mordake, a man born with a rare deformity that gave him two faces."
β "Hermione, I don't think that's the case. My brothers had Quirrell before, and his head was normal. No turban, and I doubt he'd use a Glamour Charm all the time," β Ron replied.
β "Oh."
β "So?" β Hermione asked.
β "I wrote to my father about it; he'll investigate," β Draco stated haughtily.
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Mordake was a man who suffered from the congenital syndrome known as diprosopia, or craniofacial duplication.
His mother, the Countess of Darlington, was a landowner from the south of Portsmouth, England, in the midβ19th century.
As a son of a good family, he was envied and hated in equal measure: his lineage and inherited wealth placed him in the spotlight of public attention; his illness made him a target for jesters, jokers, and professional lynchers of his family name.
In reality, this syndrome consists of the congenital duplication of the notochord, an embryonic structure common to all vertebrates, whose folding causes the generation of two neural crests that in turn generate two distinct craniofacial structures.
Unlike conjoined twins joined at birth, dysprosopia is not due to the incomplete fusion or separation of two embryos: it is the result of an abnormality in a protein that marks the normal craniofacial pattern. Depending on the level of congenital alteration in this protein, an individual may have up to four ears, four eyes, and two separate lips. This structural duplication can even contribute some movement to atrophied faces.
Edward Mordake had a completely healthy dominant structure, his normal expressive face, and next to it, his semiβexpressive additional face with poorly developed muscles and nerves, atrophied from birth. This would be further evidence confirming dysprosopia rather than a case of 'cephalopagus' or vestigial parasitic twin, where the dead Siamese twin lacks any independent movement.
According to popular mythology, the other face had a faint voice that only Edward could hear. His squinting eyes never closed, but they could cry and follow the gaze of anyone who managed to look at them.
Mordrake also claimed to suffer from insomnia due to the hateful whispers with which his "devil twin" tortured him at night.