Chapter 39: Chapter 39
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Striding into the last room containing the Philosopher's stone, Harry expected one of a few people to appear. Ethan Grindelwald, most probably. Probably Voldemort as well. Might have been Snape.
Quirrell was not anywhere near his suspects' list.
Clenching his wand, Harry cautiously approached, and asked, "How could it be you?"
Quirrell remained still as stone however, his gaze absorbed by the large mirror in the middle of the room, which Harry recognized as the Mirror of Erised.
After a moment, Quirrell finally reacted to his words, but there was something wrong about him, "Shocked you did not see Grindelwald?"
His voice was almost robotic, lacking any tone or emotion behind it as Harry felt like he was talking to an inanimate object.
Harry pointed his wand at Quirrell, hoping to be threatening, but he heard the snap of fingers, and ropes were suddenly conjured from all around him, and bound him tightly enough to stop all movement.
Harry struggled for a moment, but upon realising that the ropes were bound tight enough to stop any movement, he asked, "Why would you be working for Voldemort? Have you not heard of the way he treats even his own men?!"
Quirrell froze, before a peal of laughter came out of his mouth. His voice lacked any amusement as he spoke, however, "Voldemort? You really think the whole world revolves around you, don't you? This has nothing to do with Voldemort, why would I even work for a half-dead ghoul?"
"B-but why are you doing all of this then? Why did you kill Hagrid! And I was sure I saw Grindelwald that night!"
Harry's memories of the night in the Forbidden Forest were a little hazy, but he did remember seeing Ethan Grindelwald's face for a moment, under that cloak. And so did his sister.
There was a moment of silence in the room, before Quirrell suddenly looked down and said in his apathetic voice, "Grindelwald must be destroyed. Destroyed. Destroyed. Destroyed. Save me?"
Harry was not sure of what was happening, but the previously cold Quirrell suddenly seemed to regain some of his emotions as his speech became deformed.
Then, Harry heard someone click their tongue, and out of the shadows appeared a figure. A cloaked figure Harry easily recognized as it was the one who had attacked them in the woods.
However, this time they had their hood down, revealing a face… Harry was not familiar with.
It was a male student, probably in his Sixth or Seventh Year, but while they did feel a little familiar to Harry, he did not exactly strike him as someone he should know either. Just one among many.
This older student approached Quirrell, who started spasming, and shook his head, saying, "He has been offering more and more resistance recently. He actually hopes he will be saved. The fool."
Glancing at the mirror, the student said, "Using a mirror to hide the stone from a vampire, the old goat is quite crafty."
"A vampire?"
The student snickered at Harry's question, "Really? Is that all the famous Boy Who Lived amounts to? Of course I am a vampire. You saw me sucking the blood of a Unicorn, charm your Professor and Quirrell even warned you all about the dangers of a vampire. Had to punish him badly for that one. But you did not even connect the dots?"
Harry felt some shame rise within him at the words, as the investigations he had led with his friends all year seemed to have suddenly turned ridiculously pointless.
Still, he couldn't help but ask, "What is the role of Grindelwald in all of this?"
The student faintly smiled, and said, "My, your grade in History of Magic will probably be terrible. Haven't you been listening in class? Haven't you heard of what Grindelwald did to my kind?"
He laughed as he added, "The Philosopher's Stone would have been a nice artefact to own, but I doubt I could go past wards and enchantments set by Dumbledore himself. Besides, it never was my true goal. Speaking of which, he has finally arrived."
Harry suddenly realised that he heard the sound of footsteps behind him, but the ropes stopped him from turning around. Still, he recognized Ethan Grindelwald's voice, "Diego Basco."
The older student, who Harry realised might be even older than he thought as he was a vampire, made an exaggerated bow, calling out, "Ethan Grindelwald, we meet again. I must admit, I was afraid you would actually get caught by the Aurors for a moment."
Ethan stepped next to Harry, allowing him to see him, as well as his Kitsune, but Ethan's eyes never left the vampire as he said, "Having the help of the Professors did help. Now, what exactly is it that you want? Are you really just pissy because my grandfather killed Dracula?"
Harry suddenly felt like the room got colder all of a sudden as Diego's green eyes flashed red, his voice rasping, "You shall respect my Liege, you pathetic worm!"
Ethan only rolled his eyes however, glancing at the bound Harry as he explained in a voice so casual it made Harry wonder whether he understood the situation they were in, "Long story short, my grandpa killed the king of the vampires and put another guy in his place, to get an army of vampires."
Harry wanted to scream at Ethan that now was not the time for a history lesson, especially when it involved mocking the man who had him bound, but as he looked into Ethan's eyes he felt something brush against his mental defences, and a whisper in his mind, 'Play along.'
Harry was flabbergasted at Ethan, but he still asked with as much confidence as he could muster, "Why is he doing this then?"
Ethan did not even have his wand out as he placed his hands on his hips, sighing exasperatedly, "You really ought to pay more attention to your classes, Potter. Vampires form a strict hierarchy based on blood ancestry and purity. It is a bit complicated, but you can think of Diego here as Dracula's lapdog. Well, that's my guess as to what he is, at least."
"Enough!"
Across the room, Diego Basco had undergone a terrifying transformation from his anger as his hands had elongated into animalistic claws, fangs had grown out of his mouth and his ears had turned pointy. His previously green eyes had also turned into a bloody red.
One of his clawed hands was now at Quirrell's neck as he spoke in a voice disturbingly similar to an animal's growl, "One more word, and he gets the same treatment as the dumb giant."
Harry felt a spark of anger lit within him at the insult thrown at Hagrid, but as indignant as he was, he could do nothing.
Ethan, on the other hand, spoke with clarity in his voice, "What kind of fool do you take me to be? I know you have already turned him. There is no saving him now."
Diego paused, before bursting into laughter. Quirrell, who had previously been frozen and presumably struggling for control over his own body, suddenly relaxed and stood behind Diego. His face still lacked any emotion as he said, "I apologise for my failure, Master."
Diego patted Quirrell's shoulder, reassuring him as if it did not matter to him, "It's fine, I should have expected the freak to find out. He can be quite smart."
However, Ethan clearly saw that Diego was angry with Quirrell, even though he failed to understand how Ethan knew Quirrell had been turned, as those 'reassuring' pats slightly caved in Quirrell's shoulder.
Taking out his wand, Ethan silently poured in magic into the ground, slowly morphing its structure as he asked, "So, what's the plan now? I have a feeling you crave to tell it to me."
Although still angry, Diego showed a feral grin as he replied, "Oh, you mortals always think yourselves so smart. You see, it does not matter whether you know what my plans are, because you will be forced to follow them."
As he said this, Harry was suddenly yanked to a corner of the room, still bound but out of reach, and Diego ignored his yelp of pain as he said, "You see, I'm first going to have you fight your dear Defence Against the Dark Arts to the death. And don't fall under any delusions, Quirrell is my thrall, there shall be no stopping him until he has either killed you, or fallen. It will be a painful death as well. If you do die, then I would have gotten some enjoyment out of it. If you do manage to kill him, which I believe you will, I will ask you to give me your wand, and you will accept. I can also tell you that you will survive tonight."
The vampire's eyes had a dangerous glimmer to them as Harry was brought close to him, and he clapped his hands, "Quirrell, attack!"
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SlyOW Shoutout to Brendan Boake, Michal Matusik, Lumn, Keith Lighthill and Alex Williams!
(There are issues with Webnovel today, I got Access Denied, fortunately Inkstone is still available)
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