The door closed behind them with a sound that was far too final.
Harry felt it immediately—the subtle shift in magic, the sense of commitment. Whatever lay ahead, there would be no easy retreat.
The next chamber was smaller than the others, long and narrow, carved from smooth black stone that drank in light. At the far end stood another door—but the moment Harry took a step forward, fire erupted across it.
Not normal fire.
This was magic made visible.
Brilliant blue flames roared up the doorframe, licking across the stone without consuming it, humming with power. Heat pressed against Harry's skin like a living thing, sharp and deliberate.
Sirius reacted instantly.
"Aguamenti!"
A torrent of water burst from his wand, slamming into the fire.
Nothing happened.
The flames didn't flicker. Didn't dim. Didn't even acknowledge the spell.
Sirius's jaw tightened. He tried again, layering spells—cooling charms, extinguishing hexes, even a transfiguration attempt to smother the flames.
Still nothing.
"Well," Sirius muttered, lowering his wand. "That's comforting."
Harry had already turned away from the fire.
His attention had snapped to the center of the room.
A stone table stood there, simple and unassuming, as though deliberately designed to be overlooked in favor of the spectacle of flame. Upon it rested seven small potion bottles, each a different shape and size. Some were round, some tall, one squat and wide. Their contents varied in color—ruby red, oily black, pale gold, smoky violet, clear as water.
Beside them lay a parchment.
Harry picked it up.
"I had a feeling," he murmured.
Sirius joined him, peering over his shoulder. "Let me guess. Riddle?"
Harry nodded. "Potion logic."
Sirius frowned. "Figures. What does it say—without the fancy verse?"
Harry glanced at the seven bottles, then back at the parchment.
"There are seven potions," he began. "Two of them are harmless—just wine. Three are lethal poisons. One lets you go forward through the fire ahead. One lets you go back through the fire behind us."
He gestured toward the flames at either end of the room. The blue fire behind them pulsed faintly, mirroring the one ahead.
"The clues explain how to identify which is which," Harry continued. "Not by magic detection. By logic."
Sirius folded his arms. "Alright, Professor. Walk me through it."
Harry's gaze sharpened. This was familiar territory—patterns, rules, constraints. It reminded him uncomfortably of ruling councils and political traps in Asgard. Different stakes. Same structure.
"First rule," Harry said. "The largest bottle isn't poison."
Sirius blinked. "That's… oddly generous."
Harry nodded. "It's meant to mislead. You expect the biggest threat to be the biggest bottle."
He pointed to the squat, wide-bottomed flask filled with pale gold liquid. "That one's safe—or at least not lethal."
"Good," Sirius said. "I like starting with fewer ways to die."
"Second," Harry went on, "the smallest bottle is poison."
Sirius's expression darkened as he looked at the tiny vial near the edge of the table. "Of course it is."
"Third," Harry said, tapping the parchment, "none of the poisons are at the ends of the row."
Sirius leaned closer. "Meaning the first and last bottles are safe?"
"Safe from poison," Harry corrected. "Not necessarily useful."
He rearranged the bottles slightly—not touching them directly, just aligning their positions in his mind.
"Fourth rule," Harry continued. "The wine bottles are positioned in a way that they're never next to the potion that lets you move forward."
Sirius sighed. "So even the harmless ones can still block progress."
"Yes," Harry said. "They're distractions."
He paused, then added, "And finally—the potion that lets you go forward is not the same size as the one that lets you go back. One is larger, one is smaller."
Sirius whistled softly. "That's… a lot of conditions."
Harry smiled faintly. "That's the point. Magic can be overpowered. Logic can't."
Silence stretched as Harry studied the bottles.
Red. Black. Clear. Gold. Violet. Two others, dull green and cloudy white.
His eyes flicked between sizes, placements, and colors, running possibilities faster than Sirius could follow.
"Alright," Sirius said eventually. "What's the verdict?"
Harry reached for one bottle—not the smallest, not the largest. A medium-sized vial filled with clear liquid.
"This one," Harry said.
Sirius stiffened. "You're sure?"
Harry nodded. "Clear liquid. Positioned between a poison and a wine bottle. Size matches the forward condition. And most importantly—"
He turned the parchment slightly. "—the riddle implies that the path forward is honest. It doesn't disguise itself with color or intimidation."
Sirius studied Harry's face. "You're trusting the logic."
"You don't know me at all, if you think I am drinking from any of this bottles." Harry stated simply.
Sirius stared at Harry for a long second, then let out a low, incredulous laugh.
"I became a king for few months," he said, shaking his head, "and you come back paranoid."
Harry didn't smile.
"I come back careful," he replied calmly.
The blue fire hissed softly beside them, as if offended by the suggestion that it might be meaningless. The potion bottles sat on the table, silent and innocent-looking, their glass catching the firelight in deceptive ways.
Harry didn't take his eyes off them.
"Think about it," he continued, voice steady, analytical. "This entire setup is supposed to stop a thief. Not test their intelligence for fun. Not reward them for being clever."
Sirius leaned against the table, listening now instead of joking. He knew that tone. Harry used it when something truly mattered.
"If I were guarding something that valuable," Harry went on, "I wouldn't put a clean, elegant solution at the end of a riddle. I'd put doubt."
He gestured toward the bottles.
"Seven potions. Logic-based clues. The illusion of fairness. You convince the intruder that if they're smart enough, careful enough, they'll survive."
Sirius frowned. "And you think that's the lie."
"Yes," Harry said simply. "Why give a forward potion at all? Why give a way out? A thief shouldn't be rewarded for solving puzzles. They should be trapped, incapacitated, or killed."
He finally looked at Sirius.
"If I designed this, every single bottle would be poison—some fast, some slow, some subtle. The real trap would be the confidence."
Sirius was silent for a moment.
Then he exhaled slowly. "That's… unsettling."
Harry nodded. "Which is why I'm not drinking anything."
Sirius glanced at the flames again, then back to Harry. "You realize most wizards wouldn't think like that."
"That's exactly my point," Harry replied. "Wizards like riddles. They like cleverness. They like being fair. Which makes this feel wrong."
He turned his palm upward.
Magic shifted.
Not Hogwarts magic. Not wandwork.
The air bent inward, light folding like fabric pulled through a ring. A star-shaped portal bloomed into existence—silent, precise, its edges shimmering with controlled cosmic energy.
It connected the space in front of the fire directly to the far side of the chamber.
Sirius's eyebrows shot up. "Well. That's certainly one way to cheat."
Harry's voice remained level. "I'm not cheating. I'm refusing to play a game designed by someone who thinks in straight lines."
He stepped toward the portal, then paused.
"You coming?"
Sirius studied the fire one last time, then the potions.
"After everything we've seen," he said dryly, "I'm not trusting a single glass bottle in this castle."
He followed Harry through the portal.
Harry felt it too—the shift in magic, heavier, darker, more deliberate.
"This isn't a puzzle," Harry said quietly. "This is a confrontation."
Sirius glanced at him. "With who?"
Harry placed his hand on the door.
"With whoever thought they could steal eternity."
He pushed it open.
And stepped into the final chamber.
Sirius whispered the incantation under his breath, the Disillusionment Charm rippling across his skin until his form bent light and shadow alike.
Harry, already prepared, drew the Invisibility Cloak over his shoulders, the ancient fabric settling around him like a second skin.
Neither of them rushed.
They had learned that lesson the hard way—power meant nothing if you walked blindly into a trap.
The chamber beyond was vast, far larger than any of the previous rooms. The ceiling rose high into darkness, the walls carved from smooth black stone etched with runes so old they barely registered as magic anymore. Torches burned with a cold, steady flame, casting long shadows that stretched and twisted across the floor.
At the center of the room stood a man.
He wore a long set of dark robes and a turban wrapped tightly around his head, his posture stiff, almost reverent. In front of him floated a large mirror, taller than a man and framed in intricate gold, its surface shimmering like liquid glass.
The man was muttering to himself.
"No… no, that's not right… show me… show me…"
Harry's eyes narrowed.
Then he saw them.
On the stone floor, just off to one side, lay Hermione and Draco.
Bound.
Thick ropes—enchanted, Harry could tell instantly—wrapped tightly around their wrists and torsos, pinning them in place. Hermione's hair was disheveled, her face pale but defiant, eyes darting as she struggled uselessly against the restraints. Draco was conscious too, jaw clenched, fury blazing in his eyes as he tried—and failed—to break free.
Harry felt something inside him snap.
For a heartbeat, the world went very still.
His Asgardian senses flared violently, every sound sharpening—the man's breathing, the faint creak of the mirror's magic, Hermione's uneven breaths, Draco's restrained movements. Heat surged through his veins, lightning crackling faintly beneath his skin, held back only by sheer force of will.
His blood boiled with rage.
Sirius, invisible beside him, froze as well. Harry felt the shift in his stepfather's magic—controlled, lethal calm replacing the earlier excitement. Sirius had gone from Marauder to predator in an instant.
Harry forced himself to breathe.
Charging in would get Hermione and Draco killed.
He focused instead on the man.
A professor.
That much was clear now—the posture, the voice, the academic obsession dripping from every muttered word. Harry had seen it before in Asgardian scholars who stared too long into things they were never meant to touch.
The man leaned closer to the mirror, desperation thick in his voice.
"There must be a way… master… just one glimpse… one chance…"
Harry leaned closer to Sirius, his voice barely more than a breath beneath the cloak.
"It's Professor Quirrell," Harry whispered. "But he's not the one in charge."
Sirius's voice came back just as softly, edged with restrained fury.
"I don't understand?"
Harry's eyes hardened.
"Someone is possessing him."
Quirrell whimpered suddenly, clutching his head.
"Why won't it give it to me?" he hissed. "I see it—I see the Stone—why won't you let me take it?"
The mirror shimmered again.
Behind him, Sirius tensed, clearly ready to strike.
Harry raised a single finger—wait.
He looked again at Hermione and Draco.
Hermione's eyes suddenly widened.
Her gaze flicked sharply to Harry's position, then to Quirrell, then back to the mirror. Even bound, even terrified, her mind was still working.
Draco followed her gaze a second later.
Their eyes met Harry's hidden form.
Understanding sparked.
Harry's chest tightened.
I'm here.
He took one careful step forward.
The stone beneath his foot made the faintest sound.
Quirrell froze.
His head snapped up, eyes wild, scanning the room.
"Who's there?" he demanded, voice cracking. "I—I know someone's here!"
The mirror shimmered again.
And this time, Harry saw himself in it.
Standing calmly.
Holding a small red stone in his palm and putting it in his pocket.
The decision was made in a heartbeat.
"Attack Now," Harry whispered.
Sirius didn't hesitate.
The moment Harry's command reached him, Sirius revealed himself, the Disillusionment Charm tearing away like mist under sunlight. He stepped forward into the torchlight, wand already raised, power coiling tightly around him.
Quirrell screamed.
It was not a dignified sound. It was thin, shrill, and soaked in terror.
"Y–YOU!" Quirrell shrieked, stumbling backward. "You shouldn't be here—!"
Sirius didn't let him finish.
"Stupefy!"
The red bolt tore through the air like a blade.
Quirrell threw himself aside at the last second, the spell smashing into the stone wall behind him and leaving a spiderweb of cracks.
The duel erupted.
Sirius moved with terrifying precision—nothing like the reckless student he once was. His spells came fast, layered, chained together with barely a breath between them.
"Expelliarmus!"
"Confringo!"
"Incarcerous!"
Quirrell barely managed to block, stumbling backward under the onslaught, his wand arm shaking violently. The man was no duelist; he was a scholar, a coward clinging to borrowed power.
And Sirius knew it.
Quirrell flung a curse wildly. Sirius twisted aside, cloak snapping behind him, countering with a shield that flared bright blue.
Meanwhile—
Harry never revealed himself.
Still hidden beneath the Invisibility Cloak, he slipped away from the center of the room, every movement soundless, every step measured. The duel drew all attention, sparks and flashes filling the chamber as Sirius drove Quirrell back.
Harry knelt beside Hermione and Draco.
Hermione's eyes widened in relief when the pressure on her wrists suddenly vanished.
Harry worked fast, fingers glowing faintly as he unraveled the enchantments woven into the ropes. They weren't simple bindings—someone had put effort into them—but effort meant structure, and structure meant weakness.
The ropes fell away.
Draco sucked in a sharp breath. "Bloody hell—"
Harry pressed a finger to his lips beneath the cloak.
Hermione nodded instantly, already understanding.
Harry opened his palm.
The space beside them folded inward, light collapsing into a small, star-shaped portal, silent and precise.
"Wait in your common room," Harry whispered, his voice low and steady.
Before either of them could speak, Harry pushed them gently forward—
—and they vanished.
The portal sealed without a sound.
Harry turned back toward the duel.
Sirius was still pressing hard, driving Quirrell back toward the Mirror of Erised. Quirrell was panting now, sweat pouring down his face, his wand shaking uncontrollably.
"You don't understand!" Quirrell shrieked. "I was promised—power—life—"
"You were promised nothing," Sirius shot back.
Quirrell screamed again—not in fear this time, but in fury.
"No more hiding!" he shrieked.
With shaking hands, he tore at his own turban.
The fabric slid away.
Sirius froze.
Harry, still invisible, felt something cold twist in his gut.
Where the back of Quirrell's head should have been—
There was another face.
Pale. Hairless. Red-eyed.
Sirius took an involuntary step back. "Merlin's—"
Harry stepped forward.
He pulled the cloak away.
The room seemed to inhale.
"Harry Potter," Voldemort murmured. "We meet at last."
"I don't think so," Harry said calmly. "You don't get to call this a meeting."
Lightning danced faintly along his fingers.
Sirius glanced at Harry, shock and relief colliding on his face. "You got them out?"
"They're safe," Harry replied without looking away from Voldemort. "This one's ours."
Voldemort's smile widened, thin and cruel. "You've grown… interesting."
Harry tilted his head slightly. "You've grown uglier."
The air trembled.
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