A brown, furry thing shimmered before his eyes. An otter! He tried to shoo it away, but his arm felt too heavy to lift. He blinked hard. It wasn't an otter at all, but Hermione.
"Hermione, would you mind finding Madam Pomfrey? Tell her Harry's awake." Only then did Harry realize Dumbledore was also there.
"Professor Dumbledore, where's Hagrid?"
"Hagrid only had a bit of a scrape, but you were hit by Tom's dark magic." Hagrid gave a wave from the side, but Harry just nodded dully, feeling utterly disinclined to do anything.
A moment later, Madam Pomfrey arrived. She unceremoniously shooed Dumbledore away from the bedside and poured a large cup of foul-tasting potion down Harry's throat. Harry was now fully awake. He looked at Dumbledore, wanting to say something, but Madam Pomfrey was still there. Madam Pomfrey seemed to sense something, too. She gave Dumbledore a glare, then pulled back the curtain to the next bed and stepped in, where Malfoy was lying.
"Harry, would you be so kind as to come to my office when you're discharged?" Dumbledore said understandingly.
"Harry!" Once Dumbledore and Hagrid had left, Hermione flung herself at him. Harry stroked Hermione's bushy hair with one hand, listening to her scolding and complaints. "You mustn't try to be a hero anymore... Humphrey almost bit Snape... he's a good man..."
A loud noise from Malfoy's bed next door made Hermione realize they weren't alone, and she struggled to pull away. But Harry didn't care. He hugged Hermione tightly, feeling so incredibly glad to be alive.
Madam Pomfrey made Harry stay for a day and a night before releasing him, while Hagrid was discharged the same day. Because Dumbledore announced that Harry had accidentally ingested some poisonous mushrooms from the Forbidden Forest, no one knew Voldemort had been there. Fred and George, however, suspected Snape had poisoned Harry and even planned to throw dungbombs into Snape's office for revenge, earning themselves three days of detention.
Looking at the large pile of gifts from admirers, Hermione complained as she opened them. "There's every kind of gift imaginable... this person even sent a nude photo... and they even said you deliberately faked illness for sympathy..."
"Hermione, could you deal with these for me? I need to go see Dumbledore." Harry waved his hand and left, eager to find out what had happened next.
As he entered the Headmaster's office, Snape was just coming out. Harry had learned from Hermione that Snape had tried to help him, so he tentatively raised a hand to wave, but Snape walked past without a glance.
"With an attitude like that, it's a wonder my mum ever left you," Harry muttered under his breath, watching Snape's retreating back, before pushing the door open. Inside the Headmaster's office, Dumbledore was staring blankly at a full-length mirror. (Please remember the 101kan.com website for the fastest chapter updates.)
Because the mirror was facing the door, Harry instinctively looked into it. At first, only he stood in the mirror, with Humphrey crawling on the floor and Hedwig flying in the air. Slowly, Hermione and Hagrid appeared, while only half of Dumbledore's face showed. Harry looked from the mirror to Dumbledore.
"Why is there only half a face?"
"Half a face of what?"
"You, Professor. Why do I only see half of your face in the mirror?"
Dumbledore paused, then smiled and pulled out a cockroach, which he proceeded to eat. "Harry, this is the Mirror of Erised. It shows one's deepest desires. I'm delighted that I'm in your heart, even if it's only half of me," Dumbledore said with a wink.
Harry shivered in disgust. Sometimes he found Dumbledore's actions overly effeminate. He maliciously wondered if Dumbledore might be... Harry violently shook his head, pushing the wicked thought from his mind.
Sitting on the sofa, both Harry and Dumbledore held steaming cups of tea. "Harry, would you be willing to tell me what happened between you and Tom?"
...
Dumbledore looked thoughtful when he heard that Voldemort's Cruciatus Curse had rebounded on him.
"Professor, what happened after that day?" Harry asked, taking a sip of tea.
"Tom, seeing me arrive, abandoned Quirrell and fled. Poor Quirrell, his soul was utterly destroyed by Tom," Dumbledore said regretfully. Harry didn't care about Quirrell's fate; he was only curious why Voldemort hadn't taken him.
"Because he couldn't use his own magic; he could only borrow Quirrell's. But magic doesn't like to be borrowed, so when he abandoned Quirrell's body, he couldn't cast any spells."
"What was the unicorn's blood for?"
"Sometimes, drawing too much magic can cause Quirrell's soul to collapse. Unicorn blood can slow that collapse, but it also cursed Quirrell in the process." Harry understood. Voldemort only wanted Quirrell's magic, so the curse would naturally fall on Quirrell.
"Can the Philosopher's Stone help Voldemort regain his body, with no consequences?" Harry asked.
"Yes, and the Philosopher's Stone could also save Quirrell." Dumbledore paused, took a few sips of tea, then continued. "After our conversation in my office that day, I left the school to trace Quirrell's movements and found that he had used the Killing Curse on someone."
"So you didn't use the Philosopher's Stone to save him. Good job, Professor," Harry said indifferently.
Dumbledore sighed, putting down his tea. "I'm very sorry, Harry. Tom got hold of that memory and found your home, but I assure you, they've returned to normal life now."
"Professor, I told you last time, I don't care about them."
"However, Professor, if you truly feel apologetic, let me stay here for the summer."
Dumbledore didn't beat around the bush and told Harry directly that he had to return to Petunia's house and stay for at least a month. "Harry, you remember how Voldemort's harmful curse rebounded on you, right? That was Lily's love magic. For the magic's effect to continue, you must return to where Lily believed you had family."
Seeing Harry's silence, Dumbledore's heart softened, so he suggested Harry could stay for a month and then go to Diagon Alley.
"I'll go back, but you have to teach me magic. Not that pretend magic, but magic for combat," Harry countered. After experiencing the helplessness of fighting Voldemort, he was desperate to improve his combat abilities. And right there was the man hailed as the greatest wizard of their time; why would he look for another wizard when he had such a powerful teacher nearby?
To his surprise, Dumbledore refused. "Harry, there's no need to rush. You're only in your first year. When you're a bit older, we can discuss this."
"But—"
"Harry, you shouldn't look so far afield when the solution is near. Remember what I told you? Make good use of your Invisibility Cloak."
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