Year 1 (pt. 2)
The next day Michael was called to Dumbledore in his office where they talked about Michael killing the troll. “I was told you killed a mountain troll, is that correct Michael?”, questioned Dumbledore, while stroking his beard.
“Yes, I did Professor Dumbledore,” Michael said coldly. Dumbledore leaned back in his chair continuing to stroke his beard, staring at the moving paintings on the wall. They all looked concerningly at Michael. Michael smiled before staring at Dumbledore again “So how do you think I did killing the troll?” Dumbledore's face went white and he sat up in his chair before clearing his throat and saying,
“Well… it’s dead and I think you did a fine job making it that way. Michael would you mind taking a walk with me? I want to show you something,” Michael nodded and followed Dumbledore through the school. He brought him to a dusty old room with an old mirror in it. Dumbledore turned to Michael gesturing for him to look into the mirror, “Michael, I want you to tell me what you see in this mirror,” Michael, confused, did what he was told and looked into the mirror. As he looked, saw nothing but himself but slightly more muscular than he remembered.
“I see myself in the mirror. That's about it. Is this some sort of trick?”, he says looking back to see Dumbledore looking at him confused.
“This mirror shows you whatever will make you the happiest. Why is it only showing yourself?” Dumbledore said as Michael shrugged at him. As Dumbldore stared at the mirror Michael took his leave and went to bed in his dorm. The next day he heard Snape wanted to see him after class so he waited until after potions class.
“You wanted to see me sir?” Michael asked Snape. Snape looked at him, grabbed him by his arm and pulled him into his office. “WHAT THE HE-”, Michael tried to say before Snape covered his mouth.
“Quiet boy, I'm not doing this because I want to but because I have to and your the only one who I think can do it”, he removed his hand from Michael's face and looked at him.
“What do you want me to do and if I do it can I skip your class for the rest of the year and still get full credit?” Michael said to Snape. Snape opened his door slightly and looked out to make sure his classroom was empty. He sighed and told Michael,
“I think Professor Quirrell released the troll in the school in an attempt to get into the restricted area and I want you to investigate for me. I don't care how you get the information out of him, just do it.” Michael nodded at him and left. He immediately went to Professor Quirrell's classroom and asked to talk to him privately.
~
“What do you need from me, Michael was it?” Quirrell said, his voice quivering.
“Well I'm glad you asked me because I need something very important from you,” Michael grabs Quirrell by his shirt and pins him to the wall. “You remember the halloween fest where you burst in making a huge scene about this troll in the school right?”, he said angrily. Quirrell nodded without making eye contact or saying anything, “We’re going to play a little game I like to call bone breaker, Professor Quirrell. The rules are simple, if I think your lying to me, I break a bone. I’ll will start with fingers, then we'll move to entire arms, then will go for your legs, and finish with your ribs. Only if you lie to me though. So you think you can manage that? Good, first question, did you release that troll into the school?”, Quirrell shook his head no and Michael grabbed one of Quirrell's fingers and broke it. Quirrell screamed out in pain, “I'M GOING TO ASK YOU AGAIN. DID YOU RELEASE THE TROLL INTO THE SCHOOL?”
“YES!” Quirrell shouted out in pain.
“Good, second question, why did you release the troll into the school?” Michael asked, bringing back his calm demeanor. Quirrell didn't answer so Michael grabbed his second finger and broke it which made Quirrell scream louder than he did the first time. “I DON'T HAVE TO BE SO NICE QUIRREL. WHY DID YOU DO IT?” Quirrell started crying and said,
“If I tell you he’ll kill me,” Michael punched a hole through the wall behind him and screamed,
“YOU THINK I WON'T KILL YOU QUIRRELL MATTER OF FACT were done playing bone breaker you get to play birdman now.” Michael dragged Quirrell through the school no one dared stopped him and Michael stopped at the top of the astronomy tower holding Quirrell by his shirt over the edge and yelled, “WHY DID YOU DO IT? THE TROLL COULD HAVE KILLED SOMEONE!” Quirrell was crying at this point and said,
“I wanted everyone to be distracted while I went to get the stone,” Michael screamed at him again
“WHAT STONE?”
“THE PHILOSOPHER’S STONE!” Quirrell shouted. Michael threw him back into the astronomy tower and Quirrell laid on the ground and started trying to crawl away but was stopped when Michael stepped on his hand making Quirrell scream. By this point Dumbledore and Snape made their way up the tower to question Michael.
“What are you doing Michael? Professor Quirrell is a teacher here and you are a student. You do not get to harass him in such ways EVER,” Dumbledore says as Michael kicks Quirrell in the side and yells,
“TELL THEM WHAT YOU TOLD ME!” Quirrell started crying again and Michael kicked him again before Quirrell says,
“The troll was a distraction so I could go get the philosopher's stone. Please just get me away from this mad man,” Michael looks at the two teachers who were dumbfounded that Michael was making the teacher say this.
“Michael, do you really think we would believe that one of our own teachers would go behind our backs to such a degree?” Michael didn't know what to say to them “50 points from Hufflepuff, Michael”, Dumbledore took Quirrell's hand and walked him downstairs. Snape stayed behind to talk with Michael.
“Do you believe Quirrell was telling the truth, Michael Butcher?” Snape said, staring at Michael with an eyebrow raised. Michael smiled and stared at Snape.
“If I didn't Quirrell would be laying on the concrete dead,” Michael said coldly to Snape. He went pale and watched as Michael walked past him “Oh, I did my part of the deal. You better do your part or Dumbledore finds out why I brought Quirrell out to the astronomy tower on such a nice day like today, got it?” Snape nodded and Michael walked away.
~
Michael went to the only person he knew who would possibly even know what the philosopher's stone was, his friend, Hermione. He went to the library where she usually was and like always, she was reading a book. Michael sat across from her and let her finish the page she was on before getting her attention. “Hermione, do you know what a philosopher's stone is by any chance? It's a weird question, I know but I was wondering if you knew anything about it,” Hermione looked up from her book concerned about this question.
“Where did you even hear about it, Michael?” she asked. Michael looked around, after making sure there was no one, he motioned for Hermione lean in closer, so she did.
“Snape made me interrogate Professor Quirrell about some conspiracy theory he had. I’m not going to get into it but while I was getting info out of him, he said he used the troll as a distraction to get to the philosopher’s stone and I don’t know what that is and your the only one I know that would even have a vague idea of what the hell it means,” Hermione leaned back in her chair taking in all of the information she had just gotten.
“So the stone, it's real. The philosopher's stone is real but why would Quirrell want the stone in the first place? Unless…” Hermione trailed off before standing up and walking away. Michael sat there dumbfounded.
“Am I supposed to follow you, Hermione?” he said, Hermione turning around, shaking her head no and shushed him. So he sat there quietly and took the time to sharpen his sword. After about 10 minutes Hermione came back to the table carrying a huge book in her hand. “You want me to read all of that?” Michael said, making Hermione laugh.
“No this book talks about the stone as it says here,'' She opened the book and started to read from it, “The ancient study of alchemy was concerned with making the Philosopher's Stone, a legendary substance with astonishing powers. The stone will transform any metal into pure gold. It also produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal.” Michael was deep in thought after hearing this. Why did Quirrell need such a stone? Unless he’s-
Hermione drops a book in front of him, snapping him back to reality. “Lost you there Michael. Anyway, like I was saying, we need Harry and Ron to help us with this investigation” Michael pulled away from Hermione and stood up and said,
“You can work with them. I’m not going near either of them, so come find me if you need me. You know where to look.” Michael started walking away knowing that Hermione was mad at him so he stopped before leaving and looked back at her and saw she was staring at him. “Fine Hermione, I'll help you guys on one condition. I don't have to be friends with them. Deal?” Hermione sighed at him and said,
“Fine, I guess you don't have to be friends with them. Just don't be too much of a jerk to them.” Michael sighs and agrees to Hermione’s conditions.
For the next 3 months, Michael begrudgingly helped Ron and Harry learn about the stone and its whereabouts until they decided that they were ready to get the stone and make sure Quirrell couldn't get access to it. The whole group went up the 3rd floor and saw a big locked door which Michael punched, breaking the lock right off it. They all open the door slowly before seeing Fluffy, the three headed dog. The dog stands up and growls but Michael just stares at it and pulls his sword off of his back, making the dog whimper and sink away into the corner of the room.
“You guys go I'll stand guard up here” Hermione hesitated about leaving Michael alone with the big dog. “I'll be fine, Hermione. If he causes problems he knows what's going to happen.” Hermione laughed at his statement before jumping into the hatch that the dog was sitting on. Michael sat around waiting for them to come back up for hours before realizing the worst might have happened. Michael knew he couldn't take whatever was down there alone, so he went to Dumbledore's office to ask for help.
“Dumbledore, I know were not allowed in the third floor, right-wing but Ron, Harry, Hermione, and I believe that the philosopher's stone is in there. I told them I’d stand guard while they looked inside for it and they haven't come out yet.” Michael said to Dumbledore when he finally made it into his office. Dumbledore looked at Michael, stood up from his desk and told Michael to stay here. Michael watched as Dumbledore walked out of his office.
Michael waited for what felt like hours for Dumbledore to come back but when he did he only saw Ron and Hermione covered in bruises. “Where's Harry?” Michael asked.
“He is in the hospital wing, my boy.” Dumbledore responded with. “He is hurt quite badly, but nothing Madam Pomfrey won’t be able to handle. These two will be going there shortly, but first I wanted you to see them safe and sound.”
Michael sighed with relief as he saw that Hermione was ok. She didn’t look hurt nearly as badly as Ron did. Dumbledore sent them off to the hospital wing and as they were walking out his office door, he said, ‘Don’t worry, I took care of Quirrell and the philosopher's stone. Neither of them will cause any more trouble to this school, or your lives.”
Michael walked next to Hermione as they went to the hospital wing. “I know this isn’t the last day of school or anything but I want to say, this has been a crazy year.” Michael said to Hermione. She smiled and said, “I hope you know I will be writing to you all summer. You will hear all about the trips my family takes. My mother suggested we go to Rome this year.”
Michael laughed at this. He remembered their conversation when they were about to be sorted into their houses. ‘Well, I will tell you all about the training my dad has planned.”
“We should also try to meet up at least once this summer. Maybe we can do yo Diagon Alley for the day or spend the night at one of our houses.” Hermione said. Michael agreed and they continued to walk to the hospital wing, both feeling more excited about what the future holds for each of them.