Chapter Seventeen: The Man with Two Faces
Instead of seeing Snape in the next room, Harry is surprised to find Professor Quirrell who reveals himself as the villain. It was Quirrell, not Snape, who had been trying to kill Harry all along. Snape had been trying to save Harry. Ropes appear and bind Harry tightly as Quirrell ponders the last enchantment: the Mirror of Erised. Quirrell sees himself in the mirror presenting the Sorcerer’s Stone to Lord Voldemort, but Quirrell can’t figure out how to get the stone. Harry realizes that the mirror will show Harry finding the Sorcerer’s Stone. As Harry steps closer to the mirror, Harry hears another voice telling Quirrell to use Harry to find the Sorcerer’s Stone. Harry looks into the mirror and sees himself pulling the Sorcerer’s Stone out of his own pocket, but lies to Quirrell about it. The strange voice asks to speak to Harry, so Quirrell unwraps his turban to reveal the face of Voldemort at the rear. Voldemort explains how the unicorn blood kept him alive and asks for the stone in Harry’s pocket. Quirrell lunges at Harry, whose scar is burning beyond belief, and grabs Harry around the neck. Suddenly, Quirrells hands begin to blister and burn. Harry grabs Quirrell’s arm (burning it as well) before he faints into blackness.
Harry awakens to find Dumbledore sitting beside him in the hospital wing. Harry is surrounded by gifts from his fellow Griffindors. Dumbledore reveals that he was the one to pull Quirrell off of Harry, that Nicholas Flamel has decided to destroy the Sorcerer’s Stone, that Dumbledore was the one who sent the invisibility cloak, that the reason why Harry’s touch burned Quirrell was because of Harry’s mother’s love for him, that Harry’s own father had once saved Snape’s life, and that Voldemort will continue to try and return. Dumbledore also says that there are things he won’t reveal to Harry until he is older. Dumbledore is particularly proud of the Mirror of Erised because only the person who wanted to find the Sorcerer’s Stone (and not use it) would be able to get it.
As Dumbledore leaves, Ron and Hermione appear and contemplate Dumbledore’s involvement in all of this. After a few days, Harry feels well enough to go to the feast at the end of the year where he comforts a crying Hagrid who is upset about revealing Fluffy’s secret. Hagrid gives Harry a special present with pictures of his family. At the feast, it first seems that the Griffindors lose horribly, but it isn’t long before Dumbledore awards some final points to Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Neville. The Griffindors are victorious!
Harry and his friends find out they have passed their exams before they all return home for the summer holidays. Harry returns to the Dursleys to await the start of the next school year.
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