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see."
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Harry walked toward him.
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I must lie, he thought desperately. I must look and lie about what I
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see, that's all.
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Quirrell moved close behind him. Harry breathed in the funny smell that
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seemed to come from Quirrell's turban. He closed his eyes, stepped in
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front of the mirror, and opened them again.
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He saw his reflection, pale and scared-looking at first. But a moment
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later, the reflection smiled at him. It put its hand into its pocket and
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pulled out a blood-red stone. It winked and put the Stone back in its
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pocket -- and as it did so, Harry felt something heavy drop into his
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real pocket. Somehow -- incredibly -- he'd gotten the Stone.
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"Well?" said Quirrell impatiently. "What do you see?"
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Harry screwed up his courage.
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"I see myself shaking hands with Dumbledore," he invented. "I -- I've
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won the house cup for Gryffindor."
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Quirrell cursed again.
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"Get out of the way," he said. As Harry moved aside, he felt the
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Sorcerer's Stone against his leg. Dare he make a break for it?
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But he hadn't walked five paces before a high voice spoke, though
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Quirrell wasn't moving his lips.
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"He lies... He lies..."
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"Potter, come back here!" Quirrell shouted. "Tell me the truth! What did
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you just see?"
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The high voice spoke again.
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"Let me speak to him... face-to-face..."
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"Master, you are not strong enough!"
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"I have strength enough... for this...."
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Harry felt as if Devil's Snare was rooting him to the spot. He couldn't
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move a muscle. Petrified, he watched as Quirrell reached up and began to
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unwrap his turban. What was going on? The turban fell away. Quirrell's
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head looked strangely small without it. Then he turned slowly on the
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spot.
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Harry would have screamed, but he couldn't make a sound. Where there
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should have been a back to Quirrell's head, there was a face, the most
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terrible face Harry had ever seen. It was chalk white with glaring red
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eyes and slits for nostrils, like a snake.
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"Harry Potter..." it whispered.
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Harry tried to take a step backward but his legs wouldn't move.
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"See what I have become?" the face said. "Mere shadow and vapor ... I
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have form only when I can share another's body... but there have always
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been those willing to let me into their hearts and minds.... Unicorn
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blood has strengthened me, these past weeks... you saw faithful Quirrell
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drinking it for me in the forest... and once I have the Elixir of Life,
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I will be able to create a body of my own.... Now... why don't you give
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me that Stone in your pocket?"
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So he knew. The feeling suddenly surged back into Harry's legs. He
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stumbled backward.
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"Don't be a fool," snarled the face. "Better save your own life and join
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me... or you'll meet the same end as your parents.... They died begging
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me for mercy..."
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"LIAR!" Harry shouted suddenly.
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Quirrell was walking backward at him, so that Voldemort could still see
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him. The evil face was now smiling.
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"How touching..." it hissed. "I always value bravery... Yes, boy, your
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parents were brave.... I killed your father first; and he put up a
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courageous fight... but your mother needn't have died... she was trying
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to protect you.... Now give me the Stone, unless you want her to have
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died in vain."
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"NEVER!"
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Harry sprang toward the flame door, but Voldemort screamed "SEIZE HIM!"
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and the next second, Harry felt Quirrell's hand close on his wrist. At
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once, a needle-sharp pain seared across Harry's scar; his head felt as
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though it was about to split in two; he yelled, struggling with all his
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might, and to his surprise, Quirrell let go of him. The pain in his head
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lessened -- he looked around wildly to see where Quirrell had gone, and
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saw him hunched in pain, looking at his fingers -- they were blistering
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before his eyes.
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"Seize him! SEIZE HIM!" shrieked Voldemort again, and Quirrell lunged,
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knocking Harry clean off his feet' landing on top of him, both hands
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around Harry's neck -- Harry's scar was almost blinding him with pain,
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yet he could see Quirrell howling in agony.
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"Master, I cannot hold him -- my hands -- my hands!"
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And Quirrell, though pinning Harry to the ground with his knees, let go
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of his neck and stared, bewildered, at his own palms -- Harry could see
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they looked burned, raw, red, and shiny.
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"Then kill him, fool, and be done!" screeched Voldemort.
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Quirrell raised his hand to perform a deadly curse, but Harry, by
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instinct, reached up and grabbed Quirrell's face --
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"AAAARGH!"
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Quirrell rolled off him, his face blistering, too, and then Harry knew:
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Quirrell couldn't touch his bare skin, not without suffering terrible
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pain -- his only chance was to keep hold of Quirrell, keep him in enough
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pain to stop him from doing a curse.
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Harry jumped to his feet, caught Quirrell by the arm, and hung on as
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tight as he could. Quirrell screamed and tried to throw Harry off -- the
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pain in Harry's head was building -- he couldn't see -- he could only
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hear Quirrell's terrible shrieks and Voldemort's yells of, "KILL HIM!
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KILL HIM!" and other voices, maybe in Harry's own head, crying, "Harry!
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Harry!"
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He felt Quirrell's arm wrenched from his grasp, knew all was lost, and
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fell into blackness, down ... down... down...
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Something gold was glinting just above him. The Snitch! He tried to
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catch it, but his arms were too heavy.
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He blinked. It wasn't the Snitch at all. It was a pair of glasses. How
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strange.
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He blinked again. The smiling face of Albus Dumbledore swam into view
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above him.
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"Good afternoon, Harry," said Dumbledore. Harry stared at him. Then he
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remembered: "Sir! The Stone! It was Quirrell! He's got the Stone! Sir,
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