8 Chapter 8

If one was to venture into the dark depths of Hogwarts castle, they'd stumble upon a most unusual and shocking sight. Harry Potter, the famous Boy-Who-lived, unconscious and possibly injured. The schools DADA teacher with a deformed face reeking of Dark Magic attached to his head, and a young and outstanding first year Slytherin on one knee, prostrating herself to said Professor.

Or more specifically, the parasite connected to him.

Voldemort raised an eyebrow at the infamous Pureblood family name. He was certain there weren't any Rosier's that still carried the surname, the family should only exist in blood. "𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘦𝘳?" He hissed questioningly.

Quirrell however, didn't believe a word of it. "This is Ariana Rose, My lord." He confessed. "She is one of my students. Not a Rosier."

Hearing this, the girl in question rushed to defend herself. "I simply chose not to take my fathers last name to avoid suspicion, my family wasn't trusted by many people. Actually, you may have heard of my father." She said.

"𝘖𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺? 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭?" Voldemort asked curiously. There weren't many people he deemed worthy of remembering, so he was curious as to the identity of the child's father.

Perhaps he took part in the war?

"Evan Rosier, My Lord."

Voldemort immediately broke into a dark and chilling laughter. It all made more sense to the Dark Lord now. "𝘏𝘮𝘮 𝘺𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘴, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘦. 𝘛𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥. 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘭𝘦."

Although too weak to use Legilimency, he could still separate truth from lies, and this girl had been entirely honest so far.

Hearing the Dark Wizard's words, Ariana's thoughts couldn't help but wonder to her father in this life. She'd never gotten to meet him. Of course she never desired to. However, it would be strange if she didn't at least wonder what he was like.

She knew next to nothing about him. Not even how he died.

Hesitating for a moment, the young Witch decided she wanted to know. "D-Do you know how he died?" She probed.

"𝘠𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘴, 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘢𝘯 𝘈𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘳. 𝘈𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘔𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭."

Ariana's eyes widened at the answer. To think such a famous Auror had killed her father. She wanted ask more questions, but was interrupted.

"𝘚𝘴𝘴𝘰, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘦." Voldemort assessed. It wasn't question, rather a fact.

Rising from the ground, she once again offered the stone. "Yes. Now that I know you're not as dead as the world seems to think, I wish to follow in my fathers footsteps and serve you in your mission to cleanse Wizarding Britain." She clarified, her voice betraying her confidence, quivering slightly.

The Dark Lord grinned a cruel grin, taking immense pleasure from her fear.

Not waiting this time round, Quirrell immediately snatched the Stone from her hands and pocketed it himself. Both the Professor and Voldemort visibly rejoiced at the object of their desire finally being in their possession.

Especially the latter. With this, his return was made certain. It was only a matter of time now. The stone would also work to push him further into immortality.

Voldemort caught Ariana's bright green eyes. For the first time in over a decade The Dark Lord was in a good mood. "𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 '𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘢𝘭' 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘴𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴𝘴." He praised.

She tried to smile at the compliment. "Thank you My Lord. I was onl-" she started, only to be cut off.

"𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯. 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦."

Ariana's widened at that part. A cold shiver danced across her body as she instantly feared what the psycho had in store for her. "W-What do you mean?" She stammered.

He preened at her fear. "𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘧𝘰𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘺? 𝘠𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘴𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘴𝘴." He happily clarified.

Ariana blanched at the revelation. Unconsciously grinding her teeth to prevent herself from saying the wrong thing, she stared right back into his red, snake-like eyes, and realised there was no room for debate.

This was her first official order from her new Lord. If she wasn't willing to give up a single Holiday, then she would be of no further use. Rather, she would go from an ally, to an extremely loose end.

Voldemort watched her reaction in thinly veiled interest. He was intentionally treating her like an adult, and not the 12 year old she was. This was simply because she was clearly not like other children in his eyes.

A powerful stunner? Low level Occlumency? These are things no normal child should have accomplished.

He observed as the Witch came to a decision. "Yes My Lord. I would gladly accompany the Malfoys home this summer." She grudgingly bit out.

His grin took a dark turn for the second time tonight. "𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥." He hissed. "Dumbledore, the senile fool, will be here soon and he mustn't suspect your involvement in the Stone's theft. I trust you are capable of deceiving them?" He scrutinized.

"Yes I can. Deluding people into overlooking my hand in this is the least of my problems."

"We shall see. Quirinus!" He barked.

Before Ariana even realised what he intended to do, it was too late. Professor Quirrell's wand lashed out and a white spell she didn't recognise struck her chest.

Exhausted, she fell into darkness.

...

London, Ministry Of Magic.

Despite it being late into the night, The Ministry Of Magic was still bustling with Witches and Wizards going about their business.

On the 1st Level of the Ministry a rather important piece of business was being discussed between Minster Cornelius Fudge and the famous Hogwarts Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore.

Sat in a luxurious office, walls laced with gold and countless other priceless ores, the two were interrupted as an ethereal blue cat came flying through the ceiling like a ghost.

Dumbledore was the first to react, instantly rising from his seat. He quickly recognised the cat as the Patronus of his Vice-Principle, Minerva. His face darkened at the implications.

Minerva knew just as well as him of the importance of this meeting. It was not to be disturbed lightly. Something serious must have happened.

Cornelius watched in interest as the corporeal Patronus turned to face Albus. From the outside perspective the old man seemed to be an open book, but this was far from the truth and Fudge knew it.

Any opportunity to learn more information regarding Dumbledore and his lot was not to be missed.

Just as the Patronus was about to deliver the message, Albus's finger twitched oh so slightly, just a mere flick. And with it, a wandless Muffliato was cast.

Fudge listened intensely, only to surprisingly hear nothing. He swiftly noticed what was happening, his cheeks turning a deep shade of red in frustration. If there was anything the Minster could do, it was too late.

He could only watch as the Patronus faded away.

Sharp on the uptake again, Dumbledore spoke first. "My apologies Cornelius, but it appears I must cut this meeting short. Something urgent has come and it requires my immediate attention." He explained politely, his voice betraying nothing.

...

Hogwarts

"W-Where am I?" A raspy sounding Harry croaked.

He winced at the bright sunlight shining through the ceiling-tall windows. Taking a moment for his eyes to adjust, he tried to remember what happened.

'We went to stop Snape from stealing the Stone, and the-'

It suddenly hit him like a ton of bricks. 'The challenges, Ron, Quirrell and oh god.' His face paled, and his breathing began to pick up as memories of that night came pouring in.

Just like that his body went into overdrive as he instantly shot up and took in his surroundings.

"The infirmary." He sighed, calming down once he realised there was no evil Dark Lord nearby.

"Mr Potter!"

A shrill voice drew Harry out of his thoughts. Spinning around he spotted a ragged looking Madam Pomfrey. The Healer had clearly been up all night.

Harry made to stand from his bed, however didn't get very far before Madam Pomfrey appeared by his side. "Absolutely not young man! You are not to leave this bed until I've cleared you healthy!" She badgered, forcing him down.

"B-But Mada-"

"Now you stay right here! I am going pop off and grab The Headmaster now that you're awake. Whilst I'm gone take this potion. It will help with the dizziness." She ruthlessly cut him off and handed a wispy, white coloured potion.

Harry could only helplessly watch as she rushed out the infirmary.

He couldn't help the pit that formed in his stomach. It seemed this was a lot more serious then he thought. 'What if they expel me?' He choked internally.

'The Boy-Who-Lived, expelled in his First Year. I'd have to go back to Dursleys.' Tears began to well in his eyes at the thought.

"Psst, Harry." Someone whispered.

Quickly wiping his eyes he scanned the room for the source.

"Put your glasses on you idiot!" Whoever it was didn't bother whispering the second time.

Blushing in embarrassment Harry felt around for his spectacles, finding them neatly placed on the bedside table. He rushed to put them on, noticing the glass had been cracked.

"Ariana?" He exclaimed, seeing the pretty red headed girl that faced Voldemort with him.

Similarly to Harry, she had been bed bound by Madam Pomfrey.

He was happy to see a friendly face. "Thank god you're alright Ariana! Do you remember what happened? We saw Voldemort down there!" He remarked, still not quite believing it himself.

The girl grimaced. "I remember. We were wrong about Professor Snape Harry, I can't believe it. Professor Quirrell of all people." She mumbled depressingly.

"That's my fault Ariana. Hermione and Ron's as well. We're the ones that told you Professor Snape would steal the ston-" Harry froze midsentence. He had completely forgotten about the most important thing, the reason they went down there in the first place.

His face paled. "W-What exactly did happen? The last I remember was Quirrell running towards me, and then I felt something hit my back. What happened to the Stone?" He stammered in worry,

Ariana quietly kissed her teeth at the 'something hit my back' part. She was hoping he felt nothing. "It was You-know-who Harry. He must of used a spell because the last thing I saw was you flying like someone had hit you with a bloody car." She lied.

"The same thing happened to me, and I must of hit my head because I can't remember too much from before that either. As for the stone, well, I don't know. I think You-know-who might have gotten it."

At the revelation of events Harry felt like crawling into a hole. If what his friend said was true, then he'd helped Voldemort!

The Dark Lord had been unable to retrieve the Stone from the mirror, until Harry had gotten it for him!

He was beginning to have a hard time breathing.

Ariana wanted to talk some more, but it was too late. The door to the infirmary suddenly swung open. A white-faced Dumbledore along with Madame Pomfrey, Ron and Hermione came storming in.

All four individuals rushed to Harry's side.

Dumbledore took one look at the boy and sighed in relief. "It seemed you were right Poppy, the boy is fine."

"Of course I was Albus."

Hermione and Ron also smiled at the news. "Blimey Harry, just what happened after me and Mione left?! Did you stop Snape from stealing the stone?" Ron blurted.

Hermione blushed at the nickname, quickly hiding it. "Y-Yeah. What did happen? We were waiting in here when the Headmaster brought you and Ariana in, both hurt."

Dumbledore also wanted know what took place in his castle. "I think it would be best if Miss Rose joined us for this discussion and helped illuminate last nights events." He said calmly.

Ariana shuddered at her name. Swiftly preparing her Occlumency she stood from her bed and joined them.

Not wanting the child to move around too much, Madam Pomfrey grabbed her a small wooden chair to rest on and placed it besides Harry's bed. The Healer proceeded to dismiss herself.

As Pomfrey exited the Infirmary, Dumbledore, Hermione and Ron expectantly turned to the only two who could shed light on he situation.

Harry and Ariana told their story

"What!? Snape's innocent!?"

"It was Quirrell who tried to steal the Stone?"

"Voldemort!?"

"On the back of his head Harry? Are you sure about that? I haven't heard of any magic like that in my books."

Dumbledore remained silent throughout the recount of what went down, however his frown only got deeper as time went on.

He knew what this meant. Voldemort was most certainly alive, and now he had one of the most powerful magical items in the world. With it he could easily forge himself a new vessel.

At best, The Dark Lord would return in a matter of days. The man responsible for the death of over a hundred brave Wizards and Witches, including many close friends of his, was coming back.

'The world isn't ready. The boy isn't ready!'

Dumbledore stood from his seat and took a good look at the four students. "What took place last night will not leave this room. You are not to mention it to anybody. The severity of this matter will not be overlooked, and the adults will take care of it." He said gravely.

"However, do not assume this will go unpunished. There may only be 4 weeks left until the Holidays, but you most certainly will not enjoy them."

....

4 days later, Azkaban

Sirius Black had long since lost count of the years going by. It was hard to keep track of anything with the soul sucking Dementors slowly leaching at any sanity he had left.

Unable to tell day from night, his only 'clock' was when the Dementors brought in food.

Sitting in a dark cell with nothing but a piece of thin, black and white prison wear on, he stared off into the nothingness. The cell had practically no light source besides a small torch, all the way on the other end of his Cell-block.

It was the only thing that illuminated the floor. At times Sirius wondered how the torch never went out. The environment in Azkaban was insanely cold, some prisoners who stayed long enough even died from it.

Slowly standing, the sickly Sirius struggled to support his own weight. Bare, blistered feet slapped against the hard, cold and wet ground. Moving towards the bars of his cell, something had caught his attention.

It was shouting, coming from the lower floors.

This wasn't unusual, far from it actually. Azkaban was chock-full of crazies who thought screaming would help pass the time.

It was rather what they were shouting that had got his attention.

Listening closely, he made out the laughter of Rodolphus Lestrange. "He has returned!"

'What?' He thought in confusion. 'Who's returned?'

That was when Sirius heard the voice of the single person he resented most in this place. "He's back, Blood traitor!"

Fitting his head through the bars, he turned to one of his only living blood relatives left. An equally malnourished Bellatrix Lestrange sat on the floor of her cell. The once beautiful aristocrat was gone.

Her hollow cheeked smile of glee held a visible insanity. "He's back cousin!" She sang mockingly.

Bellatrix slowly raised her arm to show that the once faded Dark Mark, had returned to life. The mark had regained it's vigour entirely, snaking across her skin in excitement.

"He's back!" She howled with psychotic laughter, the cackles sending a chill down Sirius's spine.

'Impossible!'