Running

Chapter 17

Another chapter! Really sorry if this one isn't very good, I'm writing it in the hospital while hooked up to an IV so let me know if there are any mistakes.

"Albus!" McGonagall was exasperated, no matter what she said or did, the Headmaster would not allow her to try and strengthen the defences around the stone. "If a less than average, first year student is able to get past the security system we have in place, then whatever or whoever else you're trying to protect it from will easily get past."

"Minerva, trust me, it will be fine," Dumbledore said with a half-smile as they headed towards her office to retrieve the stone. McGonagall clenched her teeth and restrained a retort. She respected the man beside her but his constant need to withhold information from her could aggravate her often. They headed towards the drawer containing the stone once they had entered her room.

McGonagall unlocked her desk and audibly gasped at the empty space. Dumbledore finally showed the slightest bit of concern with a raise of his eyebrows and a lack of twinkle in his eyes. "Where has it gone? I had left it here." She turned towards the Headmaster in fury. "I told you, didn't I? If the defences around that godforsaken stone were better, a child wouldn't have gotten his hands on it and it wouldn't have been out of our reach at this point."

"We shall have to conduct a luggage search after dinner and an early curfew," Dumbledore began, interrupting her tirade, "alert the rest of the staff of the disappearance of the stone. We must find it before anyone else does." For the first time in a very long time, Dumbledore found himself concerned. If the Dark Lord had somehow found his way to it, he could return far sooner than Dumbledore expected him to. It would completely ruin the timeline he'd planned out for the next few years. He had to get it back and soon.

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"Alright, Harry, ready?" Hermione said. She couldn't deny that she was nervous. They were about to unveil a Dark Lord whose name people were still too afraid to mention even decades after the Battle of Hogwarts. They could be about to unleash chaos in the hall; Voldemort might not even leave Quirrell and instead go on a killing spree throughout the student body. This was an incredibly stupid plan. They were relying on his cowardice, a weakened Voldemort in the frail body of Quirrell - whose life he'd been parasitically draining for the better part of a year - could be no match against the entirety of Hogwarts' staff, right?

"Ready," Harry replied, the slight tremor in his voice not going unnoticed by his friend who knew he was probably thinking the same things. Hermione already held her wand in her hand under the table as Harry pulled his out.

"Ok, 3...2..." and a clinking glass interrupted them. Both of them turned towards the source of the noise: Professor Dumbledore clanging a fork to a glass. His smile was definitely gone and somehow, his now strict glare was focused on every student at once. Hermione and Harry lowered their wands and kept their focus on the old headmaster.

"Unfortunately, a very important artefact has been misplaced and we are not completely uncertain that it hasn't been stolen. Because of this, we will need every student to return to their common rooms where they will be met with by either their Head of House or another available teacher. A luggage search will be held to make sure none of you have attempted to keep hold of this object. We hope that before we have to search the entirety of the school, one of you comes forward with it and the punishment will be much less severe. This includes our Prefects, our Head Boy and our Head Girl."

Harry and Hermione turned to look at each other and immediately knew he was referring to the stone. They had checked before leaving the room the Mirror of Erised was in and neither of them had it on them so they had nothing to worry about in that sense. Hermione turned herself towards Professor Quirrell who looked mildly interested, clearly, he had some idea of what was missing and was probably hoping that he'd be the one to find it and keep it for himself. That, at the very least was a comfort to them, even if they couldn't be sure that they had completely destroyed it, at the very least, neither Dumbledore nor Voldemort seemed to have taken possession of it. It didn't matter what he or Voldemort thought, however, as Hermione was a lot more confident that he would never find that stone or gain any access to it or the likes of it. The general noise of the Great Hall was becoming louder as the chatter of students slowly descended into shouts of dismay and accusation. Slowly the students began to disperse to their dorms, ready for the search that two Gryffindors knew would be futile.

As they entered the common room, Harry and Hermione needed to form a plan. "Harry that was a ridiculously juvenile idea. Imagine unmasking Voldemort in front of the entire school, who knows what he would've done."

"You're right. We left way too much up to chance. We need an actual plan but I have an idea for something else,"

"What?" Before he could explain Professor McGonagall walked in with Lavender Brown and called Hermione upstairs for her luggage check. Hermione watched as the professor went through Hermione's bedside drawers, her suitcase and bags and through the pockets of her clothes. "Anything to tell me, Miss Granger?" the Professor turned to Hermione with a sigh, preparing to head down the stairs and retrieve the next child.

"No, professor. It would help if we actually knew what you were looking for. That way if someone found it they could hand it in." The professor knew the feeling, being expected to behave a certain way with no indication of why or how it could be made easier. Dumbledore had done that on countless occasions. In this situation however, it felt like a matter of security to withhold that information from the students. For the Greater Good.

"Unfortunately, I cannot disclose that information. You have nothing to worry about, you're perfectly safe," McGonagall said, as she guided the girl back to the common room.

"If you say so, Professor."

This exercise felt futile. In the unlikely chance they found a child with the stone, more questions would arise as to why it was so important, and as to how yet another student had gotten their hands on it. The way McGonagall saw it, the chances of the stone being in a students' possession were minimal - the members of staff were far more likely suspects and even then checking their rooms would most likely turn up nothing. Who would be ridiculous enough to leave such an important relic in their bags?

As expected, her search of the girls' dormitories produced nothing. It seemed as though none of the girls even had an inkling of what had disappeared. She wouldn't have been surprised if the same result came out of the other houses. She began on the boys' dormitories, again, finding nothing, until it was Harry Potter's turn.

He had a plan to hit multiple birds with one stone.

A little short but I hope you enjoyed it, I wanted to get out another chapter without waiting too long though!

03/08/2023 - More changes to the general storyline and I don't want McGonagall to be too perfect so I'm changing plenty about her. I'm so excited to nearly finish rewriting this whole book and get the next year started!