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see." |
Harry walked toward him. |
I must lie, he thought desperately. I must look and lie about what I |
see, that's all. |
Quirrell moved close behind him. Harry breathed in the funny smell that |
seemed to come from Quirrell's turban. He closed his eyes, stepped in |
front of the mirror, and opened them again. |
He saw his reflection, pale and scared-looking at first. But a moment |
later, the reflection smiled at him. It put its hand into its pocket and |
pulled out a blood-red stone. It winked and put the Stone back in its |
pocket -- and as it did so, Harry felt something heavy drop into his |
real pocket. Somehow -- incredibly -- he'd gotten the Stone. |
"Well?" said Quirrell impatiently. "What do you see?" |
Harry screwed up his courage. |
"I see myself shaking hands with Dumbledore," he invented. "I -- I've |
won the house cup for Gryffindor." |
Quirrell cursed again. |
"Get out of the way," he said. As Harry moved aside, he felt the |
Sorcerer's Stone against his leg. Dare he make a break for it? |
But he hadn't walked five paces before a high voice spoke, though |
Quirrell wasn't moving his lips. |
"He lies... He lies..." |
"Potter, come back here!" Quirrell shouted. "Tell me the truth! What did |
you just see?" |
The high voice spoke again. |
"Let me speak to him... face-to-face..." |
"Master, you are not strong enough!" |
"I have strength enough... for this...." |
Harry felt as if Devil's Snare was rooting him to the spot. He couldn't |
move a muscle. Petrified, he watched as Quirrell reached up and began to |
unwrap his turban. What was going on? The turban fell away. Quirrell's |
head looked strangely small without it. Then he turned slowly on the |
spot. |
Harry would have screamed, but he couldn't make a sound. Where there |
should have been a back to Quirrell's head, there was a face, the most |
terrible face Harry had ever seen. It was chalk white with glaring red |
eyes and slits for nostrils, like a snake. |
"Harry Potter..." it whispered. |
Harry tried to take a step backward but his legs wouldn't move. |
"See what I have become?" the face said. "Mere shadow and vapor ... I |
have form only when I can share another's body... but there have always |
been those willing to let me into their hearts and minds.... Unicorn |
blood has strengthened me, these past weeks... you saw faithful Quirrell |
drinking it for me in the forest... and once I have the Elixir of Life, |
I will be able to create a body of my own.... Now... why don't you give |
me that Stone in your pocket?" |
So he knew. The feeling suddenly surged back into Harry's legs. He |
stumbled backward. |
"Don't be a fool," snarled the face. "Better save your own life and join |
me... or you'll meet the same end as your parents.... They died begging |
me for mercy..." |
"LIAR!" Harry shouted suddenly. |
Quirrell was walking backward at him, so that Voldemort could still see |
him. The evil face was now smiling. |
"How touching..." it hissed. "I always value bravery... Yes, boy, your |
parents were brave.... I killed your father first; and he put up a |
courageous fight... but your mother needn't have died... she was trying |
to protect you.... Now give me the Stone, unless you want her to have |
died in vain." |
"NEVER!" |
Harry sprang toward the flame door, but Voldemort screamed "SEIZE HIM!" |
and the next second, Harry felt Quirrell's hand close on his wrist. At |
once, a needle-sharp pain seared across Harry's scar; his head felt as |
though it was about to split in two; he yelled, struggling with all his |
might, and to his surprise, Quirrell let go of him. The pain in his head |
lessened -- he looked around wildly to see where Quirrell had gone, and |
saw him hunched in pain, looking at his fingers -- they were blistering |
before his eyes. |
"Seize him! SEIZE HIM!" shrieked Voldemort again, and Quirrell lunged, |
knocking Harry clean off his feet' landing on top of him, both hands |
around Harry's neck -- Harry's scar was almost blinding him with pain, |
yet he could see Quirrell howling in agony. |
"Master, I cannot hold him -- my hands -- my hands!" |
And Quirrell, though pinning Harry to the ground with his knees, let go |
of his neck and stared, bewildered, at his own palms -- Harry could see |
they looked burned, raw, red, and shiny. |
"Then kill him, fool, and be done!" screeched Voldemort. |
Quirrell raised his hand to perform a deadly curse, but Harry, by |
instinct, reached up and grabbed Quirrell's face -- |
"AAAARGH!" |
Quirrell rolled off him, his face blistering, too, and then Harry knew: |
Quirrell couldn't touch his bare skin, not without suffering terrible |
pain -- his only chance was to keep hold of Quirrell, keep him in enough |
pain to stop him from doing a curse. |
Harry jumped to his feet, caught Quirrell by the arm, and hung on as |
tight as he could. Quirrell screamed and tried to throw Harry off -- the |
pain in Harry's head was building -- he couldn't see -- he could only |
hear Quirrell's terrible shrieks and Voldemort's yells of, "KILL HIM! |
KILL HIM!" and other voices, maybe in Harry's own head, crying, "Harry! |
Harry!" |
He felt Quirrell's arm wrenched from his grasp, knew all was lost, and |
fell into blackness, down ... down... down... |
Something gold was glinting just above him. 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, |