Quirrellmort
When Hermione got back from Christmas break, Draco and Harry presented her with several options to take the tracers off their wands.
"They really should keep this further out of reach." Hermione reflected. Draco considered this for a moment.
"Well, it is part of the seventh-year curriculum. You have to write something about the ministry and one choice is an essay on how the tracers were taken off your wand. It shows some competency in wandlore, I think, as well as magical theory." Draco explained. "Of course, you would have known that if you bothered to come to school seventh-year."
"We were a tad busy searching for horcruxes." Hermione stated snottily.
"Well, you didn't do a very good job since you had one staring you in the face all along." Draco pointed out, motioning toward Harry.
"Hey, that reminds me…" Harry made sure he had both Hermione and Draco's attention before continuing, "GET THIS THING OUT OF ME!" Draco smirked and Hermione stifled a chuckle. Harry smiled. "Glad to be the source of your entertainment, but I'm serious."
"No, you're Harry." Hermione replied. Harry glared at her. Draco quirked his eyebrow and looked confused. Suddenly, he caught on.
"Oh, you mean Black." Draco sighed. Harry and Hermione nodded.
"Perhaps we should wait until an adult is involved." Hermione suggested.
"Are you calling Sirius an adult?" Harry asked.
"With Sirius comes Professor Lupin, who is an adult." Hermione restated.
"Ah, the werewolf." Draco reminisced.
"The best professor we ever had." Harry reminded him.
"What about Professor McGonagall?" Hermione corrected. Harry shook his head.
"She doesn't believe us, remember? We end up risking our necks later this year because she told us that no one was going after the stone." Harry defended.
"Well, Professor Lupin didn't believe you when you said Pettigrew was on the map." Hermione reasoned. Harry sighed.
"Whatever, he was the best Defense professor we had." Harry clarified.
"Agreed." Hermione nodded.
"So, the tracers…" Draco redirected. Hermione looked up.
"Oh, yes, it's very simple. Here, I can do it." Hermione motioned for Draco to give his wand to her. Harry stopped them.
"Won't they notice two tracers are missing?" Harry asked, concerned.
"Who is going to check on this bureaucratic nonsense?" Draco responded as Hermione took the trace off his wand. Then, she used his wand to take the tracer off her wand.
"There. Now use your freedom wisely." Hermione instructed. Draco rolled his eyes.
"Yes, Mum." Draco drawled. Hermione glared.
Classes began to speed by and before they knew it, it was exams week. All three of them noted how easy exams were the second time around.
"Everyone will think we're geniuses." Draco joked as they sat under a tree. "Well, I always was a genius. They'll think I rubbed off on you two, now."
"Yeah, right, Malfoy. Tell that to me again when you've defeated Voldemort five times." Harry drawled as he twirled his wand around. "Wait!" Harry dropped his wand. "It's tonight, isn't it?" He looked at Hermione.
"What's tonight?" Draco asked. Hermione nodded.
"It's tonight." She confirmed.
"What's tonight?" Draco repeated. "Guys, you keep acting like I already know what you're thinking. What happened today last time?" Harry and Hermione looked at one another.
"Quirrellmort." They breathed in response. Draco slumped.
"Oh, that thing." Draco sighed, a heaviness overtaking him.
They ran up to McGonagall and warned her that Voldemort would be going after the Philosopher's Stone. As she did the last time, she ignored them and told them it was safe. They then ran into Professor Snape, though his threat seemed a little less scary.
They ran to the third floor corridor, and opened the door. Draco squeaked when he saw Fluffy.
"Come on, you big baby. He's asleep. We've dealt with him when he was awake." Hermione scoffed. Draco shook his head as Hermione dragged him towards the trapdoor.
"Who names that thing Fluffy?" Draco asked, repeating his concern from before the school year began.
"The same man who names his pet dog that could not harm a fly, Fang." Harry replied as he opened the trapdoor and dove in. Draco shrieked as Hermione pushed him down the hole. She finally jumped and shut the door behind her.
None of them struggled to get through the first two challenges.
"Really? How did they expect to keep the Dark Lord at bay when these traps don't even fluster first years?" Draco asked as they reached the chessboard. This time, Harry had Draco be the king, and Draco easily guided them through the game, without needing to sacrifice anyone. Harry had the decency not to mention that Hermione decided to play the queen.
When they got to the potions challenge, they stopped.
"Do you think the potion refills itself? Do you think we could all go through together?" Hermione asked. Harry shrugged.
"I mean, I got through after Quirrellmort. That would suggest that the potion refills itself. There's no reason to go back for anyone, so let's try it and see." Harry suggested. He took a drink of the potion and walked through the flames. Moments later, Draco appeared. Finally, Hermione brought up the rear and they all walked towards the Mirror of Erised, where they knew they would come face-to-face with a monster.
"We're actually going to be facing the Dark Lord." Draco realized, suddenly shaking in terror.
"It's fine. We face him, Harry gets the stone, touches Voldemort, and we're out of here." Hermione explained. Draco looked on in sheer terror.
"Touches Voldemort? I didn't know they were that close." Draco queried. Harry made a face.
"Ew, no! He melts when I touch his face. It's my mother's protection, sicko." Harry complained. Draco made a face.
"You still have to touch him." Draco giggled.
"Well, not like that!" Harry whispered loudly.
"What was that?" A voice resounded through the chamber.
"Eep!" Draco squealed. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"I've been through this. Okay, not this particularly, but I've been through worse." Hermione exhaustingly chastised. Harry put a finger to his lips and the other two fell silent.
"Who goes there?" Quirrell asked, turning around. He saw the three children and smiled maniacally. "Ahh, Harry Potter and friends. How good of you to join us."
Harry looked at his friends and made a split-second decision. He walked up to Quirrell, put one hand on his face, and the other on the back of his head. Quirrell began to scream and buck under the pain and agony he felt, but Harry did not care. Hermione ran out and went to grab the first adult she could find. Draco stood frozen in sheer terror.
Harry was about to pass out from the pain when suddenly, a strong hand pulled him away from the dying man. He had no idea who it was, but he was grateful.
"What are you three idiot Gryffindors doing?" Snape's voice asked. Harry was about to respond when he suddenly passed out.
Harry awoke in the hospital wing to find a slightly aggravated Professor Snape standing at the foot of his bed.
"I received two similar stories as to the happenings down there in the chamber, but I want to hear it one more time from you." Professor Snape demanded. Harry nodded and promptly told him the story from first year. Finally, Professor Snape spoke again. "And how did you get past the potions challenge? That was meant to keep a highly skilled grown wizard out. How did three first year Gryffindors figure it out?"
"Well, we did it…Actually, Hermione did it. She's really smart." Harry explained. Professor Snape nodded. Harry suddenly realized he had never mentioned the Christmas gift to his professor. "By the way, thank you…for the picture. I-I never had a picture of my mum before." Harry admitted truthfully. Professor Snape quirked an eyebrow.
"Well, then, perhaps this might not go amiss." Professor Snape took out a green-bound book and handed it to the small boy in front of him. Harry opened it and almost cried then and there. It was the photo album that Hagrid put together last time around. This time, however, there were a lot more pictures of his mother. Harry was surprised, yet, to see his father and his friends in there, as well. Harry's throat tightened.
"Thank you," Harry whispered, afraid anymore would cause the floodgates to open. He looked at Professor Snape, tears beginning to form in his eyes. Snape nodded his head and walked out of the hospital wing, his duty done. Harry promised himself never to forget this moment.