Avoiding Fate: Chapter 9
The next morning, Harry wandered the Forbidden Floor, it was the third floor that was mentioned to be 'dangerous' and 'would die a painful death' he cast the disillusion spell on himself, Tom had taught him that.
He creaked open the door, and saw something he never expected, it was a three-headed dog, it wasn't a house sized dog, it was a massive dog.
But what was interesting wasn't the dog itself, it was what it was sitting on. A trap door hidden in Hogwarts?
'The old fool is hiding something under that, it could be the Philosopher's Stone since the fool himself is his apprentice.' Tom said.
Harry quickly shuffled out of the room and slammed the door. Guess this was a new subject to research.
He once again took the time to research, this time about the three-headed dog. He pulled out a book, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them the book it was.
'Cerberus, a creature most notable for having three heads. They can be lulled to sleep with music, they are known for being guards'
Guess he's gonna need a flute or a harp. Harry snuck out of the castle to their neighbouring village, Hogsmeade.
He glamored himself to look about ten years older, he walked into Dominic Maestro's Music Shop. He found sheets of music, instruments playing themselves. What seemed like an hour, he finally found the one. A flute made of gold, it sang in his hand.
He picked up a couple sheets of music famous in the muggle world, he then walked out of the shop with his new flute in hand, he snuck his way back to the castle.
For the next couple of days, he practiced until his hands bled, it was all for solving a mystery.
Harry could now play his flute perfectly, he may not be a professional, he was a prodigy, he could play any piece in a jiffy.
Harry made his way to the third floor, this time prepared with knowledge, he lulled the beast to sleep with the sounds of the angels, and quickly opened the trapdoor. He could not see a thing in there.
"Lumos." he said as light erupted out of his wand. He found a plant, the Devil's Snare, had a nasty ability of strangling anything that it touches.
He slid down the pipe with his wand shining at the plant and walked through the door.
The room was filled to the brim with flying keys! Keys with wings, he tried to open the door, it wouldn't budge.
"Alohomora." The door unlocked itself pretty quickly.
He saw a chessboard, a life sized chessboard. He ordered the destruction of the opposing side faster than you could say 'Obliterate!'
The next room had a table filled with numerous potions. 'Snape' Harry thought immediately, he picked up the seemingly innocent piece of parchment.
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 forevermore
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 onward, neither is your friend;
Third as you see clearly, all are different size
Neither dwarf nor giant hold 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.
He quickly snagged the right potion and downed it, he cringed at it's disgusting taste as it slid down his throat.
'This is disgusting!' He got over it and walked through the flaming doorway.
He was inside a little room. Not just any little room, but a room contaminated with the old coot's magic.
In the corner of his eye, he spotted a small parcel hidden from plain sight
He walked towards it with caution, you never know what it could be.
Holding the parcel in his hands, he started examining it with scrutiny, he carefully peeled away the brown paper revealing the precious stone inside.
Harry could feel his eyes widening, 'This must be the Stone! This must be what was taken out of Gringotts that day! The fool's been hiding it here the whole time!'
Harry ran back to his dorm and promptly scribbled a letter to Nicolas Flamel himself in his best writing.
Dear Mr. Flamel,
I have just found your Philosopher's Stone inside my school, Hogwarts. As you know, there was a robbing of Gringotts earlier this year, but thankfully the vault was emptied. I have a feeling that this is what was emptied from the vault.
Sincerely, Hadrian Potter
Stuffing the letter into an envelope, he quickly scrawled the address to the intended recipient and hurried to the Owlery to find Hedwig.
"Hedwig, I need you to find Nicolas Flamel, and give him this letter."
Hedwig seemingly knowing what her human was saying, nodded her head.
"Good girl, if anybody tries to intercept, peck their eyes out" Harry said while feeding her a treat, "Now go." Hedwig took off with a swift move.
The alchemist in question was sitting in his study looking through official-looking papers, until he heard something pecking on his window.
He eased the window open for the poor owl outside, it flew around the room before finally settling on the back of his chair.
Puffing its chest out, it stuck its foot out to him. He handed the owl a treat for its services.
He was shocked that the Boy-Who-Lived himself sent him a letter.
Carefully peeling the seal, he read the letter, he was shocked that his life's work was in a school full of children.
"Perenelle! Get here quick!"
"What is it! What is it!?" He shoved the letter into her hands.
As she kept reading, she got more pale. "W-who would do this?"
"I don't know, but we better send a reply."
The alchemist's hand trembled as he wrote the letter, he knew at the back of his mind who would do this, his own apprentice.
Hedwig soared through the skies, eager to see her human again, she made sure to complete the mission.
Harry smirked as he read the letter, looks like his plan was going to be better than the old fool's.
Dear Mr. Potter,
I have to thank you for finding my Stone early, who knows who could've taken it for themselves. If possible, please keep it safe for the year, I will be at the Train Platform to receive it at the end of the year.
Sincerely, Nicolas Flamel
From that day on, Harry kept the Stone on him everywhere he went. To the bathroom, to sleep, you name it, but he would fulfill the alchemist's wish for it to be safe, and safe he did.
It was nearing the Christmas Holidays, when all of the sudden Dumbledore stood up, snatching everybody's attention.
"Who has gone to the third floor?" No one spoke up.
"I will only say this once, who stole the Stone." He said with a bit more force.
"I have gotten permission from the Ministry to search your belongings, it will be during dinner time, now off to bed."
Everybody scrambled to get out of the Great Hall, all the while mumbling about 'intruders' and 'their privacy.'
Harry ran to the Slytherin Dungeons, he mumbled the password unknowingly in Parseltongue, startling Draco and another boy.
He whipped out a quill and a piece of parchment, writing so furiously that smoke seemed to ooze out, and all but ran to the Owlery to give to Hedwig.
"Take this to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Amelia Bones" Hedwig immediately set off to the building.
Quickly finding the building, she glided in front of the front desk.
"H-how may I help you?" Hedwig showed the name on the letter to the woman.
"J-just down the hall, third door on the left." Never before in her life had she seen such an intelligent owl.
And so, Hedwig flew down the hall looking for the name, pecking on the door waiting for the woman to open it. The owl wasn't disappointed.
Amelia Bones was quite shocked to see that an owl had knocked on her office door to deliver a letter. Like a Pureblood woman would do, Hedwig stood at the door waiting for an invitation to come in.
Madame Bones seemed to have recognized this and invites the bird in.
Like the proud bird Hedwig is, she stuck a leg out to the woman.
"Thank you very much. Now let's see just who our sender is." And slid a finger under the wax, breaking the seal.
Dear Madame Bones,
Why is the Ministry rummaging our things? Is this for safety reasons? Our Headmaster has announced that everybody's belongings must be searched for a Stone. Why is this so?
Sincerely A Hogwarts Student, Harry Potter
Amelia Bones was shocked that the esteemed Headmaster would order such a thing.
She never liked that fake grandfatherly twinkle in his eyes, she'll be taking him down a peg or two.