The pain in the back of his head was still throbbing. Not nearly as bad as it had been, but it was still making itself known. Harry had woken up in the Hospital Wing during the middle of the afternoon. He had panicked at first; the memories of what had transpired flooded back to him, and he had tried to climb from the bed to find Harvey but had only sent himself crumbling to the floor. Madam Pomfrey had been the only one in the Hospital Wing at the time, which Harry was grateful for, but even though he insisted he would be fine once the room stopped spinning, she scolded him and made him lay back down. He had asked her about the stone and Quirrell, but she didn’t tell him anything; merely told him that someone else would explain.
Harvey wasn’t too far from him, just in the next bed. Madam Pomfrey pulled back the divider between them, and he could see his brother looked pale but was just resting. The panic in his chest seemed to relax, and Harry agreed to lay back down. It helped to lie down; the room didn’t spin when he did.
Madam Pomfrey had supplied him with a fresh pain reliever before encouraging him to get some more rest. The wound on the back of his head had been healed, but it would hurt for a few days. Harry was glad that was all he had wrong with him.
Harvey hadn’t woken up by the time dinner was brought around. Harry sat up in his bed and ate the soup and bread that was provided and took another pain reliever. It felt curious that no one had come to see them yet; Harry wondered who had found them? Had Dumbledore finally come back to the school? Was it Snape? He also wanted to know what had happened to Quirrell. The man had blistered at Harvey’s touch; had it killed him? Voldemort probably left Quirrell’s body even if he was still alive; the Professor would be of no use to the Dark Lord now. Unless they had escaped. But it was unlikely that either of them would have left without the stone.
Pushing away the tray of food, Harry adjusted the pillow that was propped up behind him and then grabbed the pain reliever. The pounding in his head was bearable but annoying. He glanced over at Harvey, his chest rising and falling; the small cuts on his face and the bandaged hand were the only signs that something had happened to him.
Harry wished that things could have happened differently. He had followed Quirrell through each chamber, knowing that he didn’t really have any other option. Without his wand, he was almost powerless against the man; but if he had known that Harvey was following them, he tried to think of something he could have done sooner to stop the whole thing. He felt like a failure.
When the year had started, and their mother had asked him to keep Harvey safe, it had pissed him off. The ache in his chest that had been a constant reminder of how he had felt second best for most of his life made him want to see Harvey feel the same way or feel some sort of pain. But seeing his younger brother covered in cuts and bruises was now what caused the ache in his chest; he had failed to keep Harvey safe. He had not only failed their mother but Harvey.
Their relationship had grown quickly since Harry had apologised; Harry thought that he would be able to be a good big brother and keep him safe. But with everything he tried, Harvey still ended up right in the centre of it all. Facing off against a man that should have been facing off against teachers or adults, not a first year and a fifth year.
The door to the Hospital Wing swung open, and in walked Professor Dumbledore. The old man had a grave look on his face, his golden spectacles sat on the edge of his nose, and he had his hands clasped behind his back. Dumbledore paused at the end of Harry’s bed and grasped the frame.
He said, “I am sorry for what you and Harvey have been through.”
“Is that so?” he asked.
Dumbledore frowned. “Yes. You make it sound like I had this all planned.”
Harry scoffed. “Of course you did. You are supposed to be this powerful wizard; how could you possibly not know that having the Stone in this school wouldn’t lure someone like Voldemort out? Wasn’t it your plan all along to have him show himself?”
“I would never endanger any student like that.”
“Then why did you hide the Stone here?”
“It was safer under my direct protection.”
“Was it, though? Because Quirrell made it find through every bloody chamber.”
“But he didn’t beat the mirror.”
“No, but my eleven-year-old brother did,” yelled Harry.
The anger that was swelling in Harry’s stomach reminded him of Christmas day. His chest hurt, as did his head, but the throbbing in his skull was probably his wound. Harry was tempted to throw something at the Headmaster; the crazy man, for whatever reason, had almost gotten Harvey killed.
“Harry?”
The bed beside Harry creaked. He turned to see Harvey rolling over towards him; Harvey blinked his eyes; he reached for his glasses that sat on the small side table next to his bed.
“Harvey, you’re alright.” Harry sighed in relief.
“Yeah, what happened?”
Harry turned to glare at the headmaster. Dumbledore returned his stare without a hint of remorse.
“You and Harry defeated Quirrell, and once again, Voldemort,” said Dumbledore.
Harvey pushed himself to sit up. “Are they dead?”
Dumbledore sighed. “Quirrell is, yes. But Voldemort left Quirrell to die; he shows just as little mercy to his followers as his enemies.”
Harry wanted to scoff again, but he bit down on his lip.
“Professor, when I touched Quirrell…I don’t understand what happened,” said Harvey.
Dumbledore walked in between Harry and Harvey’s bed and took a seat at the foot of Harvey’s.
He said, “There is one thing that Voldemort could never truly understand, and that is love. What he and Quirrell didn’t realise was that lover leaves its own mark. Not a visible one, but one beneath the skin.”
Harvey frowned. “I don’t understand, sir.”
“The night when you first faced Voldemort. That Halloween night, something happened that kept you safe.”
Dumbledore turned to look at Harry.
“What do you remember of that night, Harry?”
Harry shrugged. “Not a lot. I can remember hearing Harvey crying and a flash of green light.”
“What I believe happened was that when Voldemort stepped into Harvey’s nursery, he found not only Harvey but you. Harry, you were the one thing he hadn’t planned on that night. An older brother, willingly to protect his little brother.”
“I was five; what could I have done?”
Dumbledore smiled. “You stepped in between Harvey and Voldemort, and when he cast that curse, it rebounded off you.”
Harry was confused. “Professor, that doesn’t make any sense.”
“Why not?”
“Because Harvey is the ‘Boy-Who-Lived’, not me.”
“Harvey bears the mark of someone who has been touched by dark magic, yes. But what you did saved both of you. And that selfless act of love is what protected Harvey last night. That kind of selfless love would give us protection forever. It’s in your very skin. Someone like Quirrell, full of hatred, greed and ambition, sharing his soul with Voldemort, could not touch you for that reason. It was agony to touch a person marked by something so good.”
Harvey seemed to sink back into his bed.
Harry wasn’t sure what to think of Dumbledore’s explanation. He wasn’t sure if they would ever really know what happened that Halloween night; Voldemort would be the only one who could probably have any true recollection of exactly what had happened.
“Professor?” said Harvey.
“Yes?”
“What happened to the Stone?”
Dumbledore sighed. “It has been destroyed.”
“What?”
“Won’t that kill Flamel?” asked Harry.
Dumbledore nodded. “Nicholas and his wife have enough elixir to get their affairs in order, but we all agreed that it would be safer if the stone no longer existed.”
“How did I even get the stone?” asked Harvey.
Dumbledore smirked. “Ah. It was one of my more brilliant ideas, and between you and me, that’s saying something.”
Harry rolled his eyes. This old man annoyed him.
“You see,” said Dumbledore, “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 the Elixir of Life.”
“So Quirrell’s greed kept him from getting it?” asked Harry.
“Correct,” said Dumbledore.
“But I could because I wanted to keep it safe,” said Harvey.
Dumbledore nodded.
The door’s to the Hospital Wing swung open again, and Sirius, Lily and James all stepped inside. Harry felt relieved to see his parents, but the look on their faces made the guilt he felt for what happened swell up.
Dumbledore stood from Harvey’s bed and said, “I will leave you all be.”
Lily rushed over and grabbed Harry. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him close. “I’m so glad you’re alright.”
Harry accepted the warmth of his mother’s hug. He buried his face into his shoulder, but he couldn’t relax.
Lily let him go and stood to sit down on Harvey’s bed. She pulled him in for a tight hug as well, stroking his head. “You both had us terrified.”
Sirius’ hand touched Harry’s shoulder, and he leant down to hug him. “When Minerva reached out to us and told us you were missing, I about lost it.”
Harry pulled back and swallowed the guilt. He had scared his parents, let Quirrell force him into helping him get to the stone, and hadn’t been able to keep Harvey safe.
“What’s wrong?” asked Lily. She had released Harvey and reached over to take Harry’s hand.
Harry looked between his parents and James, who had walked around to stand on the other side of Harvey.
“It’s not your fault, Harry.” Harvey offered him a small smile as he spoke. “It was my choice to go down that trap door.”
Harry shook his head. “I was meant to keep you safe; you're my brother. I shouldn’t have let Quirrell disarm me like he did; I should have been better.”
Lily shook her head. She moved back over to Harry’s bed and grasped his hand tightly. “No. You stop that now. When I asked you to protect Harvey when the year started, I was in the wrong…it is my responsibility, and James’ responsibility, and the teacher's responsibility at this school to keep you all safe. Harvey is under Dumbledore’s care here; he is the one that failed to keep you all safe. And once I am certain that you are both okay, that man is going to hear a mouthful.”
Harry wanted to argue.
Lily cupped his cheek. “I am so proud of you for protecting your brother because that is what you did.”
She pulled Harry into another hug. Harry squeezed her and felt relief that she didn’t blame him. He still felt like he failed; there had to be something that he missed that could have allowed him to stop Quirrell.
“Does this whole thing mean that we don’t have to do our exams?” asked Harvey.
Harry turned to look at his brother; he didn’t pull back from Lily’s arms; he rested his head against her shoulder but couldn’t stop the chuckle that came out. Of course, after everything they had gone through, Harvey was concerned about whether or not he would need to do his exams.
“I think you will be perfectly fine to sit your exams next week,” said James.
Harvey sighed. “Really?”
Harry said, “You have easy exams; stop your complaining. I have O.W.L.s to take.”
Harvey smiled and shrugged.
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Lily, James and Sirius stayed with the boys for another hour. Harry and Harvey weren’t surprised when Lily’s lecture started. Once she was certain that they were both fine with no last physical damage, she had stood between them with her hands on her hips and scolded them for doing something so stupid. Once she was done, the boys were told to rest of more, and if they were lucky, they could be released the next day.
When they were alone, Harvey turned to Harry and said, “I’m glad you’re okay.”
Harry smiled. “I’m glad that we are both okay.”
“I was so worried when you disappeared.”
“The idea of being a lonely child didn’t tickle your fancy, even for a moment?”
Harvey frowned. “No. I finally got to know what having a brother is really like these past few months; no way would I want that to change.
“Give it some time.”
Harvey laughed.
“You were very brave, choosing to try and protect the Stone.”
“Not as brave as you.”
Harry shook his head. “No. I was dragged along for the ride. Quirrell had me cornered, and there was nothing I could do. You chose to face all of that, knowing that you would probably come face to face with a witch or wizard that could very easily kill you.”
Harvey shrugged. “I didn’t know what would happen. All I knew was that both you and Quirrell had disappeared and that you could be hurt. I couldn’t do nothing.”
“Did you think I was down there?”
“I wasn’t sure. I had a feeling that Quirrell knocked you out and hid you so that it would cause a panic. Everyone would be looking for you, and Dumbledore wasn’t here, so it all made sense. If you were down there or not, someone needed to stop him.” Harvey laid down on his bed and pulled the covers up. “I just wanted to make you proud.”
Harry smiled. “I was already proud of you, bro.”
It was a feeling that had been inside of Harry for longer than he knew. He had always tried to make himself think that he hated Harvey, blamed him for how crappy he felt. But beneath all that, Harry had always loved his little brother. Watching Harvey play his first game of Quidditch and catching his first snitch had been the first time he had felt his true emotions. It had been difficult to swallow, but it wasn’t like that anymore. Harry loved his brother, and he was proud of him.
“Hey, Harvey,” he said.
“Yeah?”
“Next year, can we just have a normal year?” he asked.
Harvey chuckled. “Yeah, that sounds like a plan.”
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Lily had never been more anger and terrified in her life. Severus had sent her an owl a few days ago, informing her that Harry had gone missing. She had panicked, thinking that it was going to be Christmas all over again. But it was worse, much worse. She had arrived at Hogwarts just before Sirius; she had met Minerva at the front entrance, and she had never wanted to scream at someone more in her life. How did her son just go missing?
Once Sirius had arrived, they were taken to Dumbledore’s office and informed what was going on. Harry hadn’t been seen since the previous evening, and Professor Quirrell had also disappeared. Severus had been the one to explain exactly what he believed to be happening. It had angered her to learn that Dumbledore had decided to hide such a thing at Hogwarts; the school was supposed to be a safe place for the students to learn; it wasn’t the place to keep such a dangerous and coveted object. Her anger turned to fury when she was also informed that Dumbledore hadn’t been on the school grounds in over a week, leaving the Philsopher Stone vulnerable.
There was once a time when Lily believed that Albus Dumbledore was a wise man; he had his reasons for doing certain things, and his main goal was to keep everyone safe. But now she couldn’t understand any of it. He had taken an object that the Dark Wizard who had once almost killed both of her children and hidden it within the school that they both attended. Lily couldn’t help but feel like her children, and the stone had been used as some sort of bait. And she wasn’t going to stand for it.
Lily had made sure to see her children first. It had been bad enough to know that Harry had disappeared, but when she was told that Harvey had gone after the stone himself, she hadn’t been able to keep standing. Both of her boys had faced off against Voldemort on their own; he might not be anything more than a parasite at the moment, but Quirrell could have killed both of them.
Her fury was still bubbling in her blood, but she had calmed slightly once both Harry and Harvey were safe. Bruises and cuts had covered their skin, Harry’s head had a nasty gash, but they would both be okay. She had been overwhelmed with relief when Harry had woken up, and by the time they arrived, Harvey had too.
Lily didn’t want to leave them, but she knew they would be safe under Madam Pomfrey’s watch. Unlike Dumbledore, she trusted that med-witch. Leaving the boys to rest, Lily had her hand clasped with James’, and they marched towards the headmaster’s office. Sirius was with them; she could see his own anger reflected in his stiff body.
“How could he have been so stupid?” asked Sirius.
James sighed. “There has to be some sort of explanation.”
Lily scoffed. “The explanation is that he is insane.”
“Why would he put the boys in harm's way like that?” asked James.
“I’m going to go with Lily’s answer,” said Sirius.
“Whatever the reason, I am going to crucio him until I feel better,” snapped Lily.
James pulled her to a stop. He grasped her shoulders. “Lily, we are all upset. But try and remember that the boys are okay. I really don’t want to have to arrest you for using an unforgivable.”
Lily frowned. She knew what James was trying to do. “I wouldn’t actually do it…okay, maybe I would. But the bastard deserves it.”
“That he does.” James took her hand again.
When they got to Dumbledore’s office, Lily felt a little calmer. She was still furious, but she was ready to listen to whatever the crazy old man would say.
Inside Dumbledore’s office were the old man, Severus and Minvera McGonagall. It seemed they weren’t the only ones upset with the headmaster.
“Albus, just admit that it was a bad idea. Honestly, Harry and Harvey could have been killed,” said Minerva.
“Minerva, I stand by my decision,” said Dumbledore.
“You stand by the decision that put both my children in danger,” said Lily.
The old man looked over at her and sighed. “Lily, I never meant to endanger your boys.”
“Really? Because what other reason did you have to hide the stone in the school?” she asked.
“I believed that someone might try to use the stone; keeping it close meant I could keep it safe,” he said.
“That doesn’t work when you aren’t nearby to do that,” said Sirius.
“Yes, I was unfortunately detained by the Ministry but came right back as soon as I heard about Harry’s disappearance.”
“That’s not good enough, Albus,” said James.
“No, it’s not.” Dumbledore stood from his desk and walked over to Lily, James and Sirius. “I will admit I should have been paying more attention. Heeded Severus’ warnings. But I believed the stone would be safe. Quirrell could never have obtained it no matter what he tried, even without your boy's interference.”
Lily scoffed. “Don’t you dare blame my sons for what happened. This is on you.”
“Not to change the subject,” said Severus, “but Voldemort is still a problem.”
The adults all tensed. They had all seen what had happened the last time Voldemort came to power. The devastation that war caused. But he wasn’t completely back yet.
“Voldemort is still stuck between life and death,” said Dumbledore, “for now, he can’t do much. But we must be cautious.”
There wasn’t much to be done about the whole event now. Lily could have reached out to the school board, but the only option was to have Dumbledore possibly removed as Headmaster. And even though she was furious with him, they now knew that Voldemort was out there somewhere. He didn’t have a physical form, but that could change. She didn’t know how exactly he could get a body now that the stone had been destroyed, but she knew there had to be ways. And that scared her. Dumbledore was a powerful wizard; he was probably the only one who could really keep both Harvey and Harry safe if Voldemort ever did come back.
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