A/N: Magnusss, yep, at some stage, he probably will be that op, but that's certainly not going to be that soon. I don't know if a three-headed dog is arguably cheaper, Hagrid just happened to have one, so for Hogwarts, it's at no cost. Dragons also seem to be much more well-known in both worlds. After all, it's the more common creatures that are often overlooked. My thought was that none of them had taken Care yet, so they shouldn't know, while Hermione would likely know of the Greek myth with Cerberus. From the way I see it, Hermione is much smarter than some of the purebloods (i.e. Malfoy) due to her studying, but practically, she's leagues behind the purebloods and those who have practiced already.

As usual, thanks to everyone for the reviews and please leave your thoughts on the chapter - now things start going quickly.

"Tomorrow night?!" Daphne asked. "Are you insane? We don't know what's down there. Besides, the first Quidditch match for Slytherin is tomorrow."

Harry just smirked and asked, "Anyone here play chess?"

"Chess? Chess? Harry, stop for a minute and think. Why do you want to play chess when you've just said something like that?" Daphne raged wildly.

"Daphne, calm down, I'll explain in a second, but first, we need a chess player."

"I play chess," Blaise responded.

"Do you play well?" Harry asked.

"I usually win at the galas thrown by random pureblood families...among the Hogwarts-age people, anyway."

"That should be good enough. Anyway, down there, there are a bunch of tests, all guarding some end result. Most of our professors have made the tests, plus Hagrid."

"The dog," Theo guessed.

"Yeah," Harry said. "He also let slip that when he made his test, Dumbledore told him that it couldn't be lethal and that anyone who tried hard enough should be able to pass it."

"So they aren't traps, really, it's like you said," Tracey said. "They're more like tests, if anything."

"Dumbledore wants someone to go down there, and I'm willing to bet he's testing his golden boy," Harry sneered.

Harry then carefully explained what he knew of each test to the four. The chess set he knew the most about as Hagrid was closest to McGonagall, but he knew at least rough details of most of them.

"Hold on a second," Blaise said. "That seems almost tailor-made for the trio. Ronald Weasley is particularly skilled at chess, but I did beat him the one time we played a game."

"Huh...that's odd. Sprout's trap is bothersome, we should read at least a bit of material before going just in case. I'm going to get Hermione to come, too, while she isn't as good with the practical aspect, she's great with book stuff," Harry explained. "We five should be able to it, but better we have more people than we need than not enough."

"Okay, tomorrow's Saturday, so we'll have time for reading what we need to," Tracey said. "But should all six of us really go down the trap door? That does seem like too many people."

"Well, better chance we'll get through, right? As far as Hagrid knew, they're all based on knowledge, and the more of us there are, the higher chance at least one of us remembers it. Dumbledore seems to want people in the corridor with these tests, so I doubt we'll need a lookout," Harry said thoughtfully.

"Harry, the Quidditch match tomorrow means that all the Prefects and professors will be out in the corridors, making sure the party doesn't get too wild," Daphne warned.

Harry hadn't thought about that, and resignedly said, "Okay, okay, we'll do it Sunday then, then we'll have more time to prepare, too."

Daphne nodded, satisfied, and asked, "One more question: do you know what these tests are even for? Why are they there? If there's nothing at the end, why should we go?"

Harry shrugged and said, "Hagrid let slip that that's between Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel."

Theo looked up sharply. "The only thing that could be is the Philosopher's Stone," he said. "But I really hope Dumbledore isn't stupid enough to hide it behind traps that can be beaten by a first-year." Theo went on to explain what the Philosopher's Stone could do, and they decided for certain that the one in the trap door must be a fake, but they figured it was at least worth retrieving. They discussed their plans a while longer, eventually heading to their own rooms and going to sleep.

Harry woke up the next morning with a feeling like a rock in the pit of his stomach. His first Quidditch match as part of the Slytherin Quidditch team was that day. Harry slipped on the jacket given to him by the team, which reminded him of varsity jackets he had seen on an American television show he had watched often when the Dursleys were not in the house. It had been charmed to grow in size as he grew, so it would fit him throughout his Hogwarts career. However, he would have to try out again the following year, something that was unique to the Slytherin team. All players except the captain would have to try out once more, as there was always the possibility of a hidden talent springing up in future years, though the returning players were often accepted back to the team without much protest from others if they had had an exceptional season the previous year. Harry himself had replaced the previous year's seeker, Terence Higgs, who was currently the reserve Seeker. Slytherin also always had reserve players in case of injuries and other such occurrences, and all of this, combined with the fact that Slytherin never suffered from lack of talent, had led them to seven Quidditch Cup victories in a row.

At the previous practice, Harry had been told to wait in the common room for all of the other Quidditch players, so they could enter as a team, so he sat quietly reading a book. The next to enter was the captain of Slytherin's team, sixth-year Marcus Flint, along with his fellow chaser Adrian Pucey, a third-year. They walked over to Harry, and they started talking strategy as slowly, the rest of the team filed into the room. The last to enter was Miles Bletchley, a third-year who had upset the competition at tryouts to become the new Slytherin Keeper.

The Slytherin team left the common room and walked amiably to the Great Hall. As soon as they stepped foot in the hall, the Slytherin table erupted in cheers, while jeers came from the Gryffindors, their opponents. Harry was surprised to see some Ravenclaws cheering for Slytherin, as well as some with green and silver scarves or hats. Harry sat down by the rest of the team and took a piece of toast and eggs, but ate very slowly.

"Potter, eat something," Marcus laughed. "I was like that, too, my first game, but trust me, you don't want to play on an empty stomach."

Harry ate a bit more quickly after that, but still didn't eat quite as much as they normally would. After the team was done, the Slytherin team stood and headed down toward the pitch. They entered the locker rooms, changed quickly, and grabbed their brooms, waiting nervously to be announced to the pitch. Marcus reminded them again that Gryffindor would play dirty and blame it on them, so they had to expect a lot of penalties and fouls. Miles just grinned devilishly. A large factor as to why he had been chosen was due to his ability to save penalty shots. Harry heard the noise level keep going up outside, and knew that the students had started filing into the stands, talking loudly and cheering and jeering. Harry's anxiety grew, until finally, he heard Lee Jordan's voice over magical speakers somewhere in the stands.

"Welcome to today's match everyone, Slytherin versus Gryffindor!" Jordan yelled excitedly. "First, the Slytherins...we have Pucey, Montague, Bletchley, Derrick, Bole, Potter, and captain Marcus Flint!"

The Slytherin team flew a lap around the pitch, the green and silver section of the stands going wild. Harry whooped with joy, and slowly, everything around him melted away. He was in the air, and nothing could catch him now.

"And the Gryffindors...Johnson, Spinnet, Bell, Weasley, Weasley, Henderson, and captain Oliver Wood!"

The Gryffindors also took a lap, the red and gold Gryffindor section cheering like crazy. They came to a stop on the ground across from the Slytherin team with Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor Keeper and captain, landing right next to Marcus. They shook hands as Madam Hooch spoke the usual pleasantries, and then the Quaffle was released as both teams rose into the air.

"An interesting match-up we've got today, both teams playing new Seekers today. For Slytherin, we've got Harry Potter flying a Comet 260, the youngest Seeker in a century, replacing Terence Higgs of last year's Slytherin lineup. And for Gryffindor, we have fourth-year Aaron Henderson flying a Cleansweep Seven, a bit faster than the 260, Potter will need to play his best to keep up today. And we're off, Flint taking early control, passes to Montague, Pucey, back to Montague, and a shot! But it's thankfully blocked by Wood, and he passes it out to Spinnet..." Jordan continued to commentate in this manner, biased toward the Gryffindors for sure, but Harry figured it could be much worse. Harry noted that Henderson often stopped to watch the Chasers, something he shouldn't have been doing. Harry also occasionally watched the play, but usually only with one eye. The game was ruthless, and after half an hour, neither team had scored a single goal. As loath as the Slytherins were to admit it, Oliver Wood was a phenomenal Keeper, and had made many spectacular saves. Miles Bletchley didn't disappoint either, and blocked four penalties as well as all of the other Gryffindor shots. Neither Seeker had seen the Snitch, and play continued, but now with a fatigue in the air. Both teams started to get physical, both teams claiming the other committed more fouls. Finally, in the fifty-third minute of the game, the Quaffle left the hands of Adrian Pucey and soared through the Gryffindor goalposts, making the score ten to zero Slytherin. A new vigor was brought into the game, and by the time an hour was up, the score stood at forty to ten to Slytherin. That was when Harry saw the glint of gold hovering near Fred Weasley as he beat a Bludger towards Montague. He looked around, and saw that Henderson, flying slightly to his right, was watching him. Harry knew, from this angle, that Henderson would make it first if he shot off towards the Snitch. Keeping the Snitch in his sight, Harry quickly shot to the right of where the Snitch was.

"It looks like Potter's seen the Snitch!" Jordan called excitedly. "Henderson's following quickly, overtaking Potter!"

But just as this happened, Harry swerved to the left, headed right to where the Snitch really was. Harry shot forward, pushing his broom to maximum speed, as fast as it could go. Henderson had taken longer to turn, not having anticipated Harry's turn, and was now too far behind Harry. Henderson could only watch in horror as Harry's fingers closed around the Snitch, ending the low-scoring match. Though an hour was rather typical for a Quidditch match at Hogwarts, the small amount of goals made the game seem more grueling and more arduous.

"One hundred ninety to ten, Slytherin!" Jordan yelled, sounding disappointed. However, he sounded as though he had expected this result. Though the Gryffindor versus Slytherin match was always the closest match of the year, Slytherin had won as long as Lee Jordan had been in Hogwarts, a fact which he found rather displeasing. The Slytherins swarmed the pitch, lifting the members of the team in the air and cheering loudly. Harry noted that even Malfoy took part in the festivities, cheering along with the rest of the house. The Slytherin team members were carried back to the common room on the shoulders of upper year students, all of the Slytherins chanting and cheering all the way there. Once in the common room, Harry gaped at the table that found itself there laden with all sorts of food, like a Great Hall banquet. He saw many sweets there he had never seen before, and on a nearby table, drinks were laid out. Harry was rather certain that some of these drinks could not be legally consumed by most of the house, and made a mental note to stay away from those. One of his greatest fears growing up had been the times when Uncle Vernon had had a bit too much to drink, as those days were always the worst for Harry. Harry was soon pulled out of his bitter thoughts once more by his friends laughing around him, giving him something to eat and a drink they called Butterbeer that they assured him had nothing harmful in it or at least that he couldn't get drunk after one bottle of it. Once Harry eventually had a sip, he proclaimed that it was the best thing he had ever tasted, and happily finished the bottle he had. The Slytherin team was at the center of the party, being congratulated and cheered for an excellent match. Harry listened to some of his teammate's retellings of the plays to the other Slytherins, and wondered why they just didn't have cameras or the magical equivalent at the games. Harry talked with his friends, mostly, as people gathered around the team and drank. He stayed for an hour or two, but left once he noticed people starting to get tipsy.

Harry and his friends retreated to their rooms, and decided to go to sleep and look through some texts the next day. That night, Harry's scar did not pain him, and he had no nightmares or dreams.

They woke up the next day and headed to the Great Hall for breakfast. They quickly ate a little bit of food and then went immediately to the library, where they started reading through various second-year and third-year textbooks. Each of them took the subjects they were particularly bright in, which resulted in Potions textbooks for Harry, Charms for Daphne, Transfiguration for Theo, Defense for Blaise, and Herbology for Tracey. All of them were stumped as to what Dumbledore's puzzle could be, and decided that if they were well-prepared for the others, they should be able to figure out his. Soon after, Hermione entered the library, and Harry waved her over. They had planned to show the others the new room that day, and Harry figured it would be a good space to practice spells for today. The five took their books and walked with Harry and Hermione, heading to the abandoned dueling room. When they arrived, everyone looked around in awe. Harry explained what the classroom had been once used for, and it was declared perfect for their purposes.

They spent the rest of the day practicing spells in there after telling Hermione of their plan that night. Hermione, to everyone's surprise but Harry's, readily agreed without a complaint about the rules. As it was soon time for dinner, they headed to the Great Hall once more, and ate their dinner, before going to their respective common rooms, making it seem as though they had simply called it an early night, something which was not uncommon among Hogwarts students on Sundays. They waited until the common rooms were empty, which due to most students going to bed early before Mondays, didn't take long. The five Slytherins headed out of the common room, much like they had earlier, and walked to their agreed meeting point on the third floor. Gryffindors tended to stay up later, Hermione had said, but they also didn't particularly care if a student left the common room after hours. A few minutes later, Hermione walked up to them, grinning. The six walked to the corridor and after an Alohamora, entered the room with the dog. Daphne, as an upstanding member of pureblood society, had been taught to play an instrument in her childhood, and had thus brought along her flute. She started to play a calming melody she had learned years earlier, and the dog fell asleep, just as Hagrid said it would.

Harry walked over and moved its paw without hesitation, opening the trap door underneath the paw. He looked down, noting that he couldn't see the end, and beckoned the others over. They all looked down, then at each other somewhat nervously. In the end, it was Theo who shrugged and jumped into the pit, with everyone following him, Daphne going last, shrinking and stowing her flute once more. They landed in a strange tangled mess. However, only Harry started squirming to try to get out of it. Daphne, Blaise, and Theo knew this plant as Devil's Snare, as it was actually quite a common weed in magical gardens, and Tracey and Hermione knew it due to their knowledge of Herbology, but Harry was bored by the subject, and never bothered to read ahead there.

Harry started to panic even more when the other five fell through the vines to a place he couldn't see.

"Stop fidgeting, Harry, we're okay!" yelled Daphne. "It's Devil's Snare, it only gets tighter if you fidget, but it'll loosen if you stay still."

Harry kept still, and sure enough, he felt the constraining vines begin to loosen, and eventually, he fell through as his friends had done.

"Well," Tracey snorted. "That was easy enough, that's covered later in first year."

They headed towards the door in the room, noticing more Devil's Snare on the walls. Tracey and Theo easily defended against the Devil's Snare with bluebell flames, and the group walked to the next door. Opening it, they found a room that was seemingly filled with bugs flying around the room. The door was on the opposite side, and Harry wondered what was to stop them from opening it. Blaise, with the same thought, walked over and pulled at the handle, but it wouldn't budge. Hermione cast Alohamora on it, and Blaise tried once more, but it didn't budge. Daphne then came and tried the more advanced unlocking charms she knew, but nothing worked.

"This must be Flitwick," Harry said."He's excellent at what he does, and I wouldn't be surprised if that were a locking charm he invented himself. In any case, we'll have to get the key, but where is it?"

Theo pointed upwards and said, "I thought those were some kind of bugs, but it turns out they're all keys with wings. None of them is big enough to fit that lock though."

"Except that one," Tracey said, pointing to a large key with a broken wing.

"Here, there's a broom there," Hermione pointed.

"This seems almost too easy," Daphne said what was on everyone's mind. The broken key was a larger, slower Golden Snitch, and one among them was the youngest Quidditch player in a century.

"Jason's been trained as a Seeker, too," Harry said slowly, mounting the broom. "He could certainly catch it."

"And Dean Thomas is actually rather studious, he would have figured out how to beat Devil's Snare for sure, once we learned it in Herbology, anyway," Hermione added.

Harry nodded and lifted off with the broom, and suddenly, the six saw why this test was more complicated than it looked. The smaller keys started swarming Harry, making it almost impossible to see, and every time Harry beat some away, more replaced them.

"We need to immobilize those small keys!" Daphne yelled, that having been one of the spells they had practiced in the room earlier that day. It was in the second-year Charms book, and had looked very useful. All of them started casting, and slowly, the keys stopped moving towards Harry, if only for a little while before they started moving again, but it made all the difference. Harry flew around the keys that stayed still, and grabbed the rusted old key. He flew down, handing the key to Blaise, who ran and unlocked the door. The six piled into the next room, closing the door behind them.

The next chamber was a daunting room lit only by torches. Around them, the severed limbs and heads of chess pieces formed a sort of graveyard. In the middle of the room, between them and the door, they found a giant wizard's chess set missing three pieces on their side.

"Oh come now," Theo said. "Can Dumbledore make it any more obvious that he wants the trio to do this? Now a chess set specifically with three empty spots?"

Blaise shrugged and said, "If this is actual wizard's chess, it's going to be dangerous."

Hermione sighed. "I don't suppose we can try the door on the other side?"

Daphne shook her head. "The chess pieces would stop us with their swords. See how they're crossed to stop anyone from getting through?"

Blaise shrugged and said, "Well, here goes nothing." He took a place on top of a horse as a knight, and directed Harry to act as a bishop and Theo as a castle. Blaise directed the pieces easily with his voice, giving them his instructions as one would a normal set of wizard's chess. He skillfully played his way through the game, and after half an hour of chess, had checkmated the king on the other side. He had sacrificed many pieces, but had managed to keep his friends intact. The king's sword fell at Blaise's feet, and the six proceeded onward through the now unblocked door. The door opened easily, and they made their way into the next chamber.

The next chamber had a very familiar sight to Harry and Hermione in it, and he heard her gasp as she saw the mountain troll.

"Quirrell's test," Harry sneered.

"So I guess kill it?" Theo asked.

"I don't think I can do it again, I can try, but it'll probably just anger the troll. We need a good way to take it out," Harry responded.

"That club causes a lot of damage, from what you said," Theo began.

"Maybe it can be used to knock the troll itself out?" Daphne finished.

"A simple Wingardium Leviosa would be enough," Hermione decided.

As the best with Charms, Daphne fluidly performed the motion and said the incantation quietly, so as not to disturb the troll. The club flew out of its hands, and above its head. The troll just stupidly looked at its flying club, and watched it as it hit its own head.

"I guess that's how the troll got past Dumbledore on Halloween," Harry said. "He wanted to make sure that the trio could take one out. And wasn't that the same day as the lesson on Wingardium Leviosa?"

"It was, but how could Dumbledore know that they would go find the troll? Surely they can't be that stupid," Hermione said. "Unless...but that can't be, that relies on far too much chance, or..." she trailed off, as the alternate possibilities were rather dangerous, and most certainly did not paint the headmaster in a good light. "I'll explain later," Hermione told the others, who were now casting curious glances. "I was in there, too, and it's just, well..." she trailed off again, embarrassed.

"Explain later, come on, let's go to the next chamber," Harry said. "It should be Snape's or Dumbledore's, though knowing Dumbledore, his is last."

Sure enough, as they walked through the door, flames erupted behind and in front of them. They saw multiple potions of some sort lined up in bottles from smallest to largest, and a scroll unraveled behind the potions contained the riddle they had been waiting for on it.

"Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,

Two of us will help you, whichever you would find,

One among us seven will let you move ahead,

Another will transport the drinker back instead,

Two among our number hold only nettle wine,

Three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line.

Choose, unless you wish to stay here for evermore,

To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:

First, however slyly the poison tries to hide

You will always find some on nettle wine's left side;

Second, different are those who stand at either end,

But if you would move onwards neither is your friend;

Third, as you see clearly, all are different size,

Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides;

Fourth, the second left and the second on the right

Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight."

Each of them studied the riddle for a bit, until Daphne spoke up. "Third lets you go forward, last one goes back."

"Agreed," spoke Harry. Hermione and Blaise also spoke their assent.

"Wait, but what happens to the other four of us?" Tracey asked.

"Just split the potions, these kinds of potions only need a drop to be effective," Harry said. "And we should probably take both of them with us, just in case." He waved his wand, speaking the incantation for a labeling charm he had learned from the Ravenclaw who had been the culprit behind the prank on Jason. Now both bottles were labeled based on the effects of each. Each one of the six friends took a drop of the forward potion. Harry tested his theory, putting his finger directly in the fire ahead of them. He was not burned, and tentatively stepped forward. When he was not burned by it, he stepped through and opened the door. The others each stepped through and followed Harry through the door. It was time to face Dumbledore's test.