Harry had scrubbed the vials until he could see his reflection in each of them. He had cleaning solution on his nose and he had accidentally spilt some of the hot water down his front. Looking around, making sure no one could see him, he lifted the front of his shirt and silently groaned when he saw the big burn mark down his front. Great, he thought, that's going to leave a scar.

He seemed to have an overabundance of them.

He started to tilt some potion into each vial, taking care to not drip or touch the potion like his father had told him too. He had two more vials to go when he heard someone screaming right behind him. Startled, he dropped the remaining potion on the ground. He whipped around and looked for the source of the noise. He checked Snape's office door and saw that it was still closed. Breathing heavily and with his heart racing, he turned back to the potion and winced when he saw it eating the soles of his shoes. Stepping away from the potion mess, he kicked off both of his shoes. He shivered and groaned, he knew that his father was going to be so mad at him.

But he was not worried about that right now. Who was screaming or what was screaming?, he wondered. It sounded shrill and it seemed to cut into the deepest part of your soul. Harry shivered. His soul felt like ice and he felt and saw darkness creeping around each corner, of each shadow.

All of a sudden, his dull headache increased sharply. He slapped his hands to his temples and shook his head, trying to rid himself of the pain. He felt that someone or something had taken over his body.

The stone….Must get the stone for my master….Dumbledore! The troll…..

Harry was biting his arm to stifle his screams. Tasting blood, he started to seize up. He opened his eyes and looked up at the ceiling. He had to stop whatever was taking control over him. He had to stop it from getting this stone.

He felt as if a black sludge had taken over his brain and he quieted down. He got up and walked to the classroom door.

I am so close, I must hurry….the fool will know soon enough…The Dark Lord shall rise again!

And then another voice joined the first one. This one sounded vehement.

Must protect her children…Where is the phoenix?….he must stop him…I can't stop….

Before he knew it, he was running. He was running fast, not realizing where he was going or what he was doing.

A boy possessed.

He arrived at the third floor and saw a figure moving. It was just in front of him. The coldness started to enclose him, seeping into every pore, every cell of his body. He could reach out and touch it. But he hesitated. Should he?

He wanted to.

He was going to.

His hand reached forward and was about grasp the figure's robes when another one collided with it. Harry stumbled back and watched as spells flew. He couldn't hear what was being said. In a daze, he stumbled back and shook the sludge from his mind. Looking around, he realized that he was at the forbidden third floor and that there was two people fighting in front of him. He gasped but they didn't seem to hear him. He ran back to Snape's dungeons and shut the classroom door.

Breathing heavily, he leaned against the door. He felt tears rolling down his cheeks.

He trudged back to the desk and sat down on the floor. He was tired and his head had started to pound again. He slowly drifted into unconsciousness.

XXXX

Severus Snape was sitting in his office and getting ready to walk to the Halloween feast. He checked the classroom to make sure Potter was not making a mess of things and walked up to the Great Hall. He wasn't planning on staying for the whole night. He was just going to stay there for a few minutes. He didn't want to leave the brat by himself for very long.

Who knows what kind of trouble the boy would cause?

Sitting down, he poured himself some wine and got a little bit of everything. When he was about to leave, Quirrell burst through the doors of the Great Hall.

"TROLL! TROLL!… IN THE DUNGEON!… Thought you outta know…."

Snape watched as pandemonium broke out. Students were screaming and the teachers were looking dumbstruck at the fainted form of Quirrell. Dumbledore stood up and whipped out his wand.

"SILENCE! IF EVERYONE WOULD PLEASE NOT PANIC! Perfects take your house to the dormitories. Teachers, if you would follow me to the dungeon."

The students filed out the door with scared, pale faces. As the students left, the teachers stood up and followed Dumbledore to the dungeon. Looking up, Snape saw that Quirrell had slipped off. Snape dropped his food and ran out the back door. What was Quirrell playing at?

He ran as fast as he could and watched as Quirrell pulled out his wand and was about to perform 'Alohomora'. He jolted forward and slammed into him. He wrestled the wand out of his hand.

Pinning Quirrell to the ground, Snape panted and his voice shook with rage.

"Thought you could fool me, Quirrell?"

"Sev-Sev-Sev-Severus. Wh-Wh-What do y-o-o-ou mean?"

"I know it is you Quirrell. I can smell traitor.", Snape bent down and whispered in the man's ear, "I know what you are hiding."

"I-I-I d-on-on-on't know what you m-m-m-m-mean. I was tr-tr-trying to get the tro-o-oll…."

"Pitiful excuse Quirrell."

Getting off the stuttering teacher, he held his wand pointed at the man and lead him to the Defense classroom. He grabbed him by the collar and threw him into the chair, with the wand pointed directly at his face.

"I am watching you."

He threw the man's wand at his feet and whipped out of the classroom. He didn't see the malevolent sneer that spread across the trembling man's face.

"And I am watching you, Severus."

XXXX

Snape flew to catch up with the teachers. He seemed to have forgotten all about the Potter brat.

XXXX

When everything seemed to be in order, Snape limped back down to the dungeons. He had tore up his leg in the scuffle with Quirrell. Remembering Potter, he prayed that the boy had just sat and waited. Or left, he didn't care. He would punish him tomorrow.

Opening his office door, he plopped himself in the chair by the roaring fire. He got out a shot glass and poured himself something strong. His leg was throbbing and he was battered. He wanted sleep. After downing the glass, he looked around and saw the boy wasn't there. Oh well, he thought, I'll go see what damage the whirlwind has done to my classroom.

He got up with a wince and walked to the classroom door. Wrenching it open, he almost fell over from shock. Lying there on the floor, with dried blood on his face, was Potter.

He rushed over and checked the boys pulse. It was slow and steady. Breathing a sigh of relief, he looked around and saw the spilt potion. Gritting his teeth, Severus whisked away the mess and turned back to the boy.

He looked closer and saw that the blood was coming out of the boys eyes. He was crying blood! Feeling panicky, he gently felt the boy's forehead. It was burning up. He shook Potter.

"Potter. Potter. Potter, wake up."

Nothing.

The boy's head just rolled from side to side. He needed to get him to the infirmatory. He lifted him up and carried him to the fireplace. He noticed how light the boy was and how small he seemed to be.

He seemed to fit in his arms perfectly.

"Poppy!"

Poppy Pomfrey rushed out and took one look at the boy in Severus' arms and whisked him away.

"What happened?"

"I haven't the slightest clue. I left for just a second and when I came back, he was lying on the floor. The boy must have hit his head on the table or floor."

Running her diagnostic spells, she grimly looked at the boy in front of her. She didn't know what was wrong except a low grade fever. She went to go get some potions. Suddenly, the boy gasped and looked straight up with a blank stare.

Severus walked closer and watched as the pale boy shivered and stared. Looking closely, he saw that the boy was not responding to the various potions that Poppy was spelling into him. He stared into his eyes hoping to bring the boy out of the trance he seemed to be in.

"Legilimens."

Severus winced. It was complete chaos inside his mind. He quickly withdrew and not looking away from the boy's face, he said in a urgent tone,

"Poppy, we need Dumbledore. This is out of my hands."

Hearing her flooing and calling for Dumbledore, he slowly stepped away from the bed and moved his gaze to the ceiling, wondering what mess the boy had got in when he left.

"Severus, what did you see in his mind?" Dumbledore said in a rigid tone.

"I felt too much, Albus. I didn't see anything. It chaos in there."

Dumbledore looked at Harry who started to alternate between convulsing and freezing. He laid his palms on the boy's temples and said in a soft voice yet hard tone,

"Harry. Harry. Come back, Harry."

"Professor?"

He watched as the boy slowly relaxed, closed his eyes and leaned his head into the hands of the headmaster.