Something gold was glinting above Harry. The Snitch! He tried to catch it, but his arms were too heavy. He blinked. It wasn't the Snitch at all. It was a pair of glasses. How strange. He blinked again. The smiling face of Albus Dumbledore swam into view above him.
"Good afternoon, Harry." said Dumbledore.
Harry stared at him. Then he remembered. "Sir! The Stone! It was Quirrell! He's got the Stone! Sir, quick..."
"Calm yourself, dear boy, you are a little behind the times." said Dumbledore. "Quirrell does not have the Stone."
"Then who does? Sir, I..."
"Harry, please relax, or Madam Pomfrey will have me thrown out."
Harry swallowed and looked around him. He realized he must be in the hospital wing. He was lying in a bed with white linen sheets, and next to him was a table piled high with what looked like half the candy shop.
"Tokens from your friends and admirers." said Dumbledore, beaming. "What happened down in the dungeons between you and Professor Quirrell is a complete secret, so, naturally, the whole school knows. I believe your friends Misters Fred and George Weasley were responsible for trying to send you a toilet seat. No doubt they thought it would amuse you. Madam Pomfrey, however, felt it might not be very hygienic, and confiscated it."
"How long have I been in here?" Harry asked.
"Three days. Mr. Ronald Weasley, Mr Y/n Grindelwald and Miss Granger will be most relieved you have come round, they have been extremely worried."
"But sir, the Stone..."
"I see you are not to be distracted. Very well, the Stone. Professor Quirrell did not manage to take it from you. I arrived in time to prevent that, although you were doing very well on your own, I must say."
"You got there?" Harry asked surprised.
"No sooner had I reached London than it became clear to me that the place I should be was the one I had just left. I arrived just in time for young Grindelwald to fill me in on what you all had been through and then to pull Quirrell off you."
"It was you." Harry said.
"I feared I might be too late." Dumbledore admitted.
"You nearly were, I couldn't have kept him off the Stone much longer." Harry said.
"Not the Stone, boy, you...the effort involved nearly killed you. For one terrible moment there, I was afraid it had. As for the Stone, it has been destroyed." Dumbledore informed him.
"Destroyed?" said Harry blankly. "But your friend...Nicolas Flamel."
"Oh, you know about Nicolas?" said Dumbledore, sounding quite delighted. "You did do the thing properly, didn't you? Well, Nicolas and I have had a little chat, and agreed it's all for the best."
"But that means he and his wife will die, won't they?" Harry asked.
"They have enough Elixir stored to set their affairs in order and then, yes, they will die." Dumbledore smiled at the look of amazement on Harry's face. "To one as young as you, I'm sure it seems incredible, but to Nicolas and Perenelle, it really is like going to bed after a very, very long day. After all, to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure. You know, the Stone was really not such a wonderful thing. As much money and life as you could want! The two things most human beings would choose above all, the trouble is, humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things that are worst for them."
Harry lay there, lost for words. Dumbledore hummed a little and smiled at the ceiling.
"Sir?" said Harry. "I've been thinking. Even if the Stone's gone, Vol..I mean, You know who."
"Call him Voldemort, Harry. Always use the proper name for things. Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself."
"Yes, sir. Well, Voldemort's going to try other ways of coming back, isn't he? I mean, he hasn't gone, has he?"
"No, Harry, he has not." Dumbledore said truthfully. "He is still out there somewhere, perhaps looking for another body to share, not being truly alive, he cannot be killed. He left Quirrell to die, he shows just as little mercy to his followers as his enemies. Nevertheless, Harry, while you may only have delayed his return to power, it will merely take someone else who is prepared to fight what seems a losing battle next time and if he is delayed again, and again, why, he may never return to power."
Harry nodded, but stopped quickly, because it made his head hurt. Then he said, "Sir, there are some other things I'd like to know, if you can tell me, things I want to know the truth about..."
"The truth. " Dumbledore sighed. "It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution. However, I shall answer your questions unless I have a very good reason not to, in which case I beg you'll forgive me. I shall not, of course, lie."
"Well..."Harry began. "Voldemort said that he only killed my mother because she tried to stop him from killing me. But why would he want to kill me in the first place?"
Dumbledore sighed very deeply this time. "Alas, the first thing you ask me, I cannot tell you. Not today. Not now. You will know, one day, put it from your mind for now, Harry. When you are older. I know you hate to hear this, when you are ready, you will know."
And Harry knew it would be no good to argue. "But why couldn't Quirrell touch me?"
"Your mother died to save you. If there is one thing Voldemort cannot understand, it is love. He didn't realize that love as powerful as your mother's for you leaves its own mark. Not a scar, no visible sign. To have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever. It is in your very skin. Quirrell, full of hatred, greed, and ambition, sharing his soul with Voldemort, could not touch you for this reason. It was agony to touch a person marked by something so good."
Dumbledore now became very interested in a bird out on the windowsill, which gave Harry time to dry his eyes on the sheet. When he had found his voice again, Harry said, "And the invisibility cloak, do you know who sent it to me?"
"Ah...your father happened to leave it in my possession, and I thought you might like it." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "Useful things. Your father used it mainly for sneaking off to the kitchens to steal food when he was here."
"And there's something else."
"Fire away."
"Quirrell said Snape."
"Professor Snape, Harry."
"Yes, him. Quirrell said he hates me because he hated my father. Is that true?"
"Well, they did rather detest each other. Not unlike yourself and Mr. Malfoy. And then, your father did something Snape could never forgive."
"What?"
"He saved his life."
"What?"
"Yes... " said Dumbledore dreamily. "Funny, the way people's minds work, isn't it? Professor Snape couldn't bear being in your father's debt. I do believe he worked so hard to protect you this year because he felt that would make him and your father even. Then he could go back to hating your father's memory in peace."
Harry tried to understand this but it made his head pound, so he stopped. "And sir, there's one more thing I don't understand."
"Just the one?"
"How did I get the Stone out of the mirror?"
"Ah, now, I'm glad you asked me that. It was one of my more brilliant ideas, and between you and me, that's saying something. You see, only one who wanted to find the Stone, find it, but not use it, would be able to get it, otherwise they'd just see themselves making gold or drinking Elixir of Life. My brain surprises even me sometimes. Now, enough questions. I suggest you make a start on these sweets. Ah! Bettie Bott's Every Flavor Beans! I was unfortunate enough in my youth to come across a vomit flavored one, and since then I'm afraid I've rather lost my liking for them -- but I think I'll be safe with a nice toffee, don't you?"
He smiled and popped the golden-brown bean into his mouth. Then he choked and said, "Alas! Ear wax!"
Madam Pomfrey, the nurse, was a nice woman, but very strict.
"Just five minutes," Harry pleaded.
"Absolutely not." She told him.
"You let Professor Dumbledore in." Harry pointed out to her.
"Well, of course, that was the headmaster, quite different. You need rest."
"I am resting, look, lying down and everything. Oh, go on, Madam Pomfrey..." Harry pleaded.
"Oh, very well." she finally said. "But five minutes only." She warned then let Ron, Y/n and Hermione in.
"Harry!" The three called out his name as he sorely sat up in his bed.
"Oh, Harry, we were sure you were going to...Dumbledore was so worried..." Hermione started.
"It sounds like you had quite the ordeal." Y/n continued.
"The whole school's talking about it." added Ron. "What really happened?"
It was one of those rare occasions when the true story is even more strange and exciting than the wild rumors. Harry told them everything: Quirrell, the mirror, the Stone and Voldemort. Ron, Y/n and Hermione were a very good audience, they gasped in all the right places, and when Harry told them what was under Quirrell's turban, Hermione screamed out loud.
"So the Stone's gone?" said Ron finally. "Flamel's just going to die ?"
"That's what I said, but Dumbledore thinks that... what was it? To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure."
"I always said he was off his rocker," said Ron, looking quite impressed at how crazy his hero was.
"Actually, I think it is quite a mature way to look at the end of his life. He is greeting Death as if were an old friend." Y/n said but Ron still looked unconvinced.
"So what happened to you three?" Harry asked them now.
"Well, Y/n and I got back all right," said Hermione. "We brought Ron round that took a while, and we were all dashing up to the owlery to contact Dumbledore when we met him in the entrance hall."
"He already knew what was happening." Y/n interjected. "He just said, 'Harry's gone after him, hasn't he?' and hurtled off to the third floor."
"D'you think he meant you to do it?" said Ron. "Sending you your father's cloak and everything?"
"Well!" Hermione exploded. "If he did...I mean to say that's terrible ...you could have been killed."
"No, it isn't." said Harry thoughtfully. "He's a funny man, Dumbledore. I think he sort of wanted to give me a chance. I think he knows more or less everything that goes on here, you know. I reckon he had a pretty good idea we were going to try, and instead of stopping us, he just taught us enough to help. I don't think it was an accident he let me find out how the mirror worked. It's almost like he thought I had the right to face Voldemort if I could..."
"Yeah, Dumbledore's off his rocker, all right," said Ron proudly. "Listen, you've got to be up for the end-of-year feast tomorrow. The points are all in and Slytherin won, of course..."
"You missed the last Quidditch match unfortunately and we lost to Ravenclaw." Y/n told him.
"But the food'll be good at the feast." Ron quickly chimed in hoping to cheer Harry up.
At that moment, Madam Pomfrey bustled over. "You've had nearly fifteen minutes, now OUT" she said firmly. Ron, Y/n and Hermione all said their goodbyes and Y/n promised to save a seat for Harry at the feast tommorow.
After a good night's sleep, Harry felt nearly back to normal.
"I want to go to the feast," he told Madam Pomfrey as she straightened his many candy boxes. "I can, can't I?"
"Professor Dumbledore says you are to be allowed to go," she said stiffly, as though in her opinion Professor Dumbledore didn't realize how risky feasts could be. "And you have another visitor."
"Oh, good." said Harry. "Who is it?"
Hagrid sidled through the door as he spoke. As usual when he was indoors, Hagrid looked too big to be allowed. He sat down next to Harry, took one look at him, and burst into tears.
"It's... all...my...ruddy...fault!" he sobbed, his face in his hands. "I told the evil git how ter get past Fluffy! I told him! It was the only thing he didn't know, an' I told him! Yeh could've died! All fer a dragon egg! I'll never drink again! I should be chucked out an' made ter live as a Muggle!"
"Hagrid!" said Harry, shocked to see Hagrid shaking with grief and remorse, great tears leaking down into his beard. "Hagrid, he'd have found out somehow, this is Voldemort we're talking about, he'd have found out even if you hadn't told him."
"Yeh could've died!" sobbed Hagrid. "An' don' say the name!"
"VOLDEMORT!" Harry bellowed, and Hagrid was so shocked, he stopped crying. "I've met him and I'm calling him by his name. Please cheer up, Hagrid, we saved the Stone, it's gone, he can't use it. Have a Chocolate Frog, I've got loads."
Hagrid wiped his nose on the back of his hand and said, "That reminds me. I've got yeh a present."
"It's not a stoat sandwich, is it?" said Harry anxiously, and at last Hagrid gave a weak chuckle.
"Nah. Dumbledore gave me the day off yesterday ter fix it. 'course, he shoulda sacked me instead...anyway, got yeh this." It seemed to be a handsome, leather-covered book. Harry opened it curiously. It was full of wizard photographs. Smiling and waving at him from every page were his mother and father.
"Sent owls off ter all yer parents' old school friends, askin' fer photos, knew yeh didn' have any. D'yeh like it?"
Harry couldn't speak, but Hagrid understood.
It was evening now and Y/n, Ron and Hermione were sat in the great Great Hall which was already full. It was decked out in the Slytherin colors of green and silver to celebrate Slytherin's winning the house cup for the seventh year in a row. A huge banner showing the Slytherin serpent covered the wall behind the High Table.
There was a sudden hush and Y/n looked up to see Harry had entered the hall. Everybody started talking loudly at once. Harry slipped into a seat next to Ron at the Gryffindor table and tried to ignore the fact that people were standing up to look at him.
"Welcome back." Y/n said to Harry giving him a warm smile as he could see the stares were bothering him. "Just ignore them, We are all going home tomorrow and it will be old news when we return for next year, so just enjoy the feast."
Fortunately, Dumbledore arrived moments later. The babble died away.
"Another year gone!" Dumbledore said cheerfully. "And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully your heads are all a little fuller than they were, you have the whole summer ahead to get them nice and empty before next year starts."
"Now, as I understand it, the house cup here needs awarding, and the points stand thus. In fourth place, Gryffindor, with two hundred and sixty two points."
Y/n could feel the stares of his fellow Gryffindor's but he did not care what they thought of him like he had when the year had started anymore.
In third, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two. Ravenclaw has four hundred and twenty-six and Slytherin, four hundred and seventy-two."
A storm of cheering and stamping broke out from the Slytherin table. Y/n could see his brother Atticus beaming with pride while Harry watched Draco Malfoy banging his goblet on the table. It was a sickening sight to him.
"Yes, Yes, well done, Slytherin." said Dumbledore. "However, recent events must be taken into account."
The room went very still. The Slytherins' smiles faded a little.
"Ahem." said Dumbledore. "I have a few last-minute points to dish out. Let me see. Yes."
"First...To Mr Y/n Grindelwald." Dumbledore called out his name and Y/n could feel the whole room stare at him as he his back went straight from shock.
"...For his impressive use of advanced charms and his loyal dedication to friends. I award Gryffindor house fifty points."
The Gryffindor table burst in to cheers as someone patted Y/n on the back.
"Second to Mr. Ronald Weasley." Dumbledore said next and Ron went purple in the face, he looked like a radish with a bad sunburn. "... for the best-played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."
Gryffindor cheers nearly raised the bewitched ceiling; the stars overhead seemed to quiver. Percy could be heard telling the other prefects, "My brother, you know! My youngest brother! Got past McGonagall's giant chess set!"
At last there was silence again.
"Third, to Miss Hermione Granger...for the use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."
Hermione buried her face in her arms. Y/n strongly suspected she had burst into tears. Gryffindors up and down the table were beside themselves, they were a hundred and fifty points up.
"Forth...to Mr. Harry Potter." said Dumbledore. The room went deadly quiet once again."... for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor house sixty points."
The din was deafening. Those who could add up while yelling themselves hoarse knew that Gryffindor now had four hundred and seventy-two points exactly the same as Slytherin. They had tied for the house cup, if only Dumbledore had given Harry just one more point.
Dumbledore raised his hand. The room gradually fell silent.
"There are all kinds of courage." said Dumbledore, smiling. "It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends. I therefore award ten points to Mr. Neville Longbottom."
Someone standing outside the Great Hall might well have thought some sort of explosion had taken place, so loud was the noise that erupted from the Gryffindor table.
Harry, Y/n Ron, and Hermione stood up to yell, clap and cheer as Neville, white with shock, disappeared under a pile of people hugging him. He had never won so much as a point for Gryffindor before. Harry, still cheering, nudged Y/n in the ribs and pointed at Atticus and Malfoy, who couldn't have looked more stunned, horrified and disgusted if they'd just had the Body-Bind Curse put on them.
"Which means." Dumbledore called over the storm of applause, for even Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were celebrating the downfall of Slytherin. "We need a little change of decoration."
He clapped his hands. In an instant, the green hangings became scarlet and the silver became gold, the huge Slytherin serpent vanished and a towering Gryffindor lion took its place. Snape was shaking Professor McGonagall's hand, with a horrible, forced smile. He caught Harry's eye and Harry knew at once that Snape's feelings toward him hadn't changed one jot. This didn't worry Harry. It seemed as though life would be back to normal next year, or as normal as it ever was at Hogwarts.
It was the best evening of four's life, better than winning at Quidditch, or Christmas, or knocking out mountain trolls. It was one they would never, ever forget.
Winning the house cup had caused them to have forgotten that the exam results were still to come, but come they did. To Harry and Ron's great surprise they had both passed with good marks. Hermione, of course, had the best majority grades of the first years. She was annoyed however when she found out Y/n had scored higher than her in both Charms and Defence against the Dark arts. something she did not let got for the entire day they had found out much to Harry and Ron's amusement.
Even Neville scraped through, his good Herbology mark making up for his abysmal Potions one. They had hoped that Goyle, who was almost as stupid as he was mean, might be thrown out, but he had passed, too. It was a shame, but as Ron said, you couldn't have everything in life.
And suddenly, their wardrobes were empty, their trunks were packed, Neville's toad was found lurking in a corner of the toilets, notes were handed out to all students, warning them not to use magic over the holidays.
"I always hope they'll forget to give us these." said Fred Weasley sadly.
Hagrid was there to take them down to the fleet of boats that sailed across the lake; they were boarding the Hogwarts Express; talking and laughing as the countryside became greener and tidier, eating Bettie Bott's Every Flavor Beans as they sped past Muggle towns, pulling off their wizard robes and putting on jackets and coats before pulling into platform nine and three-quarters at King's Cross Station.
It took quite a while for them all to get off the platform. A wizened old guard was up by the ticket barrier, letting them go through the gate in twos and threes so they didn't attract attention by all bursting out of a solid wall at once and alarming the Muggles.
"You must come and stay this summer." said Ron, "All three of you...I'll send you an owl."
"Thanks." said Harry, "I'll need something to look forward to."
"I would love to come and stay with you...but let us see how your parents take the news first." Y/n said and pointed to his silver eye.
People jostled them as they moved forward toward the gateway back to the Muggle world. Some of them called.
"Bye, Harry!"
"See you, Potter!"
"Still famous." said Ron, grinning at him.
"Not where I'm going, I promise you." said Harry.
"Well, fame is not all it is cracked up to be." Y/n said to Ron.
He, Harry, Ron, and Hermione then passed through the gateway together.
"There he is, Mom, there he is, look!" A voice cried out. It was Ginny Weasley, Ron's younger sister, but she wasn't pointing at Ron. "Harry Potter!" she squealed. "Look, Mom! I can see..."
"Be quiet, Ginny, and it's rude to point. "Mrs Weasley smiled down at them.
"Busy year?" she said.
"Very." said Harry. "Thanks for the fudge and the sweater, Mrs. Weasley."
"Oh, it was nothing, dear." Mrs Weasley told him.
Y/n went to thank her as well but he was interrupted by a voice to the side. "Ready, are you?" The voice asked. It was Harry's uncle Vernon, purple-faced, still mustached, still looking furious at the nerve of Harry, carrying an owl in a cage in a station full of ordinary people. Behind him stood Aunt Petunia and Dudley, looking terrified at the very sight of Harry.
"You must be Harry's family!" said Mrs. Weasley.
"In a manner of speaking," said Uncle Vernon. "Hurry up, boy, we haven't got all day. " He walked away.
Harry hung back for a last word with Ron, Y/n and Hermione.
"See you over the summer, then." Ron said.
"Try not to scare them to much." Y/n joked as he glanced at Dudley and Petunia.
"Hope you have... er .. a good holiday," said Hermione, looking uncertainly at Uncle Vernon, shocked that anyone could be so unpleasant.
"Oh, I will." said Harry, and they were surprised at the grin that was spreading over his face. "They don't know we're not allowed to use magic at home. I'm going to have a lot of fun with Dudley this summer."
Y/n just chuckled and the three watched as Harry left now.
"Do you think he'll be alright with them?" Hermione asked Y/n and Ron worried.
"If he has managed to survive eleven years with them then I'm sure he can do this summer break." Y/n said to her.
"Plus we can always write to him." Ron added.
"I suppose..." Hermione said but she remained uncertain.
"Are you ready to go Hermione?" A voice asked from behind the three now and they turned around to see a man and woman. Y/n assumed these must be Hermione's parents.
Hermione just nodded to them with a smile before she turned to Y/n and Ron. "I'll write to you both over the summer so make sure you reply." She said.
"If I can remember..." Ron said idly.
"I will reply as often as I can, providing Atticus does not use the family owl to constantly send messages to Malfoy." Y/n said back.
Hermione gave them a final wave now before leaving with her parents.
Now it was just Ron and Y/n who remembered something he had wanted to do.
"Mrs Weasley?" He called out finding her fussing over Fred, George and Percy and she turned her attention to him. "I wanted to thank you for the lovely gifts I received from your family this Christmas." He said bowing his head politely to her.
"As I told Harry it was nothing dear." Mrs Weasley smiled. "You must be Ronald's friend Y/n." She guessed.
"Yes ma'am. Y/n...Grindelwald." Y/n introduced himself properly for the first time.
He could see the shock on Mrs Weasley's face while she looked at him as he prepared to hear her say that Ron would no longer be allowed to be friends with him. However he was surprised when he felt two hands fall down on his shoulders. He looked up to see they belonged to George and Fred.
"He's alright really mum." George said coming to Y/n's defence now.
"He's been a good friend to Ron this year. It's his brother Atticus that's the real pain in the A..." But Fred stopped when Mrs Weasley hit his arm.
"I am aware of what my name means to most in our world." Y/n began as Mrs Weasley looked back down at him. "I am burdened and ashamed with the past of my family but please know that the friendship I have with your son, Harry and Hermione is genuine and I would not give it up for the world." Y/n finished as he looked down at the floor.
"Oh... dear..." Y/n heard Mrs Weasley begin to say. "It sounds like you've certainly been through a lot. You're name unfortunately carries a heavy weight with it but unlike Harry's, not in a positive way. I trust Ronald's judgement in friends though and we Weasleys do not judge those by their name but by their actions." She said proudly.
"Thank you Mrs Weasley." Y/n said giving her a genuine smile. He could tell Mrs Weasley was a kind woman.
Y/n spotted his Grandmother in the distance waving to him now. "My grandmother is waiting for me, I had better go." Y/n told them now as he grabbed the handles to his trunk.
Ron just shifted on his feet. "Well, now that this is all sorted out you can come visit us over the summer. He said to Y/n.
"Only if it is alright with Mrs Weasley." Y/n said not wanting to impose.
"Of course it is dear. As long as your grandmother approves." Mrs Weasley gave him a smile.
Y/n just nodded and smiled. "Then I hope to see you in a few weeks Ron." He told him before giving the Weasley family a wave and disappeared to join his grandmother and Atticus who scowled at him. But Y/n didn't care, he had completed his first year at Hogwarts and made new friends along the way. He was happy.