Harry practically pranced to the change rooms much to the amusement of the rest of the team. They probably thought he was delighted by the win, and as much of a brilliant bonus setting a new record for fastest-caught-snitch was, Harry was truly just happy he had gotten through the Quidditch match without his broom being cursed. Or, in the wider realm of things, without anyone trying to murder him.
Beginning to get changed he ensured the rest of the team didn't notice the new wand holster on his arm as he quickly changed into charcoal black robes. Harry still didn't feel at all guilty over trading his signature for a wand holster. If the sixth year girl hadn't deemed a wand holster more valuable than The-Boy-Who-Lived's signature then they clearly had very different priorities in life.
The holly wand resting reassuringly against his forearm had allowed Harry to concentrate on the game wholly, instead of being held super aware of the crowd watching. It may be a problem that he now associated crowds with a high likelihood of potential murderers. But, Harry reasoned to counter himself, logically more people did increase the statistical probability of a murderer.
He shook himself out of that frankly depressing train of thought and looked down at his jittery adrenaline filled fingers. Perhaps he could avoid some of the celebrations and go for a proper fly to clear his mind. Letting the team know he would be back soon for the celebrations, much to the disappointment of the twins, he grasped his broom firmly as he slung his bag over his shoulder and wandered out the back entrance of the locker rooms, which opened to expanses of grass bordering the forbidden forest.
Harry pushed off the ground, the feeling of freedom just beautiful as his first time on a broom. He spun in a few quick circles and just enjoyed the joyous feeling he discovered through flying.
When he finally had nothing nagging him but the whistle of wind he found himself border of the forbidden forest, Harry squinted across the grounds. There was nobody in sight. He grinned and began to drift even closer to the sudden edge of the forest. The grass suddenly stopped and woods began. Harry pondered that there must be a spell holding the forest from growing closer to the school. No forest would so suddenly halt in its growth otherwise.
Harry glanced out over towards the school again. He had been cautious for the past few weeks, researching curses and learning shields. And spending time with Ron and Hermione. So he had been stretching his so-called Ravenclaw, Slytherin and Hufflepuff traits. Surely it would be alright to have a closer look at the forest? His inner Gryffindor traits needed to be used now so he didn't go chasing after mountain trolls.
Was curiosity even a Gryffindor trait? Well, curiosity killed the cat, and lions were basically big cats so… Harry lost himself in thought, sloppily hovering next to the forest. While debating if curiosity could kill lions as well as cats he spotted a menacing hooded figure striding down the steps from the school and tilting his broom Harry dived into the high branches of the nearest tree.
Snape's pace quickened the further from the school he strode but a little disbelievingly Harry watched through the tree branches as Snape walked away from where Harry was and over to another edge of the forest. As he neared the dividing treeline he was practically running.
Harry's mind flew fast as he ran through his options. Should he follow a fully grown adult that may want to kill him into a forest? No, was the short answer. However it could possibly be a chance for him to discover what on earth was actually going on a Hogwarts this year and determine if Snape really was trying to kill him. Harry came to a decision and vowed not to tell Tom of this entire misadventure - no matter what the consequences. Tom would somehow find a way to destroy him for doing something so utterly stupid - and this most certainly unwise. Harry grasped fumbling at his bag quickly as Snape reached the edge of the forest running. He pulled out his invisibility cloak and after a few seconds of awkward positioning quickly tilted his nimbus two-thousand across the top of the Forbidden Forest treeline.
The trees were so thick he couldn't see where Snape had gone. He flew in circles, lower and lower, brushing the top branches of trees until he heard voices. He glided and landed noiselessly in a towering solid tree trying to see through the leaves. He couldn't see anyone but the voices were quite clear. It was Snape and of all people, Professor Quirrell. Harry resisted the urge to sneak closer along the branches, even in his invisibility cloak he did not dare risk being spotted. He would have to content himself with hearing the voices.
Quirrell was stuttering worse than ever. Harry strained to catch what they were saying.
"…anted t-t-to meet here of all p-places, Severus..."
"Oh, I thought we'd keep this private," said Snape, his voice icy. "Students aren't supposed to know about the Sorcerer's Stone, after all."
Harry quickly realised he was very out-of-the-loop. Sorcerer's Stone? Quirrell was mumbling something. Snape interrupted him.
"Have you found out how to get past that beast of Hagrid's yet?"
The Cerberus. It had to be. It was Hagrid's. Get past it? To… the Sorcerer's Stone? Whatever that was.
"B-b-but Severus, I -"
"You don't want me as your enemy, Quirrell," said Snape.
"I-I don't know what you-"
"You know perfectly well what I mean."
An owl hooted loudly and Harry missed a bit of the conversation but he tuned back in to hear Snape say, "-fun with the troll, your little bit of hocus-pocus. I'm waiting."
Wait. Quirrell's troll? Which meant-
"B-but I d-d-don't -"
-that it had been Quirrell's distraction to try find a way past the three-headed dog. Well, according to Snape but-
"Very well," Snape cut in. "We'll have another little chat soon, when you've had time to think things over and decided where your loyalties lie."
-Snape would know because he had somehow encountered Quirrell on the third floor on Halloween and got bitten by the giant dog. Quirrell, who had conveniently been unconscious in the Great Hall as the rest of the teaching body ran to the Dungeon, leaving him to make his way to the third floor as soon as the hall was evacuated.
Harry realised there was silence throughout the forest. The conversation was apparently over. Harry made sure he was completely covered by the cloak and fled back towards the castle on his broom.
Harry stared down at blurry paragraphs, not even focusing his eyes on the book anymore. He could go to Tom for further advice but really, he had found what he needed to know. Thankfully he was in the far corner of the library, nobody would disturb him. Curfew was approaching but he had much bigger problems as he stared down at 'The Most Famous Magical Objects in the Known World'.
The Philosopher's Stone was on the third floor of Hogwarts. Snape was under the impression Quirrell was trying to steal it. Snape was also trying to steal it. Two of his professors were trying to steal an object that could make them immortal and make gold. Harry truthfully could understand why they were attempting to steal it.
Why was the singular most coveted legendary magical object residing on the British Isles hidden behind a trapdoor in Hogwarts?
Students aren't supposed to know about the Sorcerer's Stone, after all. Snape's words whispered at him.
Why did the entire teaching staff know about it? It wouldn't be kept a secret. There was too many ways the secret could get out. Yet Dumbledore, the friend of Flamel who had been given the stone to protect, had been telling people it was under his care. Oh. The secret was supposed to get out.
Trapdoor. Harry gave a disbelieving chuckle as part of the puzzle fell into place.
But who was the trap for? And what should Harry do with this information?
Nothing, is what Harry did with his information. He didn't even tell Tom. He was almost certain he had drawn the correct inference and Tom would probably stop talking to him after hearing he had flown into the Forbidden Forest following a potentially murderous teacher.
Well, he did take one action from his new information. Over the next few weeks Harry watched Quirrell even more closely than he had ever observed Snape. Because unlike Professor Snape, he would have never suspected Professor Quirrell of being able to steal a book, let alone the Philosopher's Stone. Now every action the professor made seemed fake. Harry couldn't help but second guess every stutter, every fumble. The Professor who stumbled around his classroom stuttering over the word 'vampire' had managed to bring a mountain troll into the school. Either he possessed fluky luck, or he was a brilliant actor. Harry hoped for the former but the latter was much more likely.
The fact Harry had never suspected the Professor of anything, made him more hazardous than Snape. After the Forbidden Forest meeting Quirrell had even earned a spot on Harry's list of people-that-may-be-trying-to-murder-me. If only because he was so dangerous. He was distracted from musing about Quirrell yet again by a sharp pain behind his eyes, which quickly dropped back down to a persisting migraine.
Harry groaned softly, dropping his quill and sagging forward in his chair until his forehead was resting against 'One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi'. He closed his eyes trying to breathe deeply. Goddamnit his head hurt.
"Harry?" Hermione's concerned question pulled his head back up off the book and he rubbed tiredly at his forehead.
Ron cleared his throat sympathetically "Headache got worse again? Maybe we should stop studying, exams are still six whole weeks away." He looked longingly out the library window at the bright blue sky.
Hermione snorted, always an amusing noise when originating from Hermione "Harry's migraine is not the only reason you want to stop studying. You also want an excuse so you can go laze around the lake."
Ron shrugged with a grin and didn't try to disagree.
Hermione turned her attention back towards him. "Have you been to Madam Pomfrey for a headache-relieving potion yet?"
Harry winced and Hermione sighed. Before she could fully open her mouth to rebuke him Ron interrupted.
"Hagrid! What are you doing in the library?"
Hagrid shuffled into view, hiding something behind his back. He looked very out of place in his overcoat.
"Just lookin," he said, in a shifty voice that caught the trio's interest at once. "And what are you lot up to?"
"Hello, just studying for exams." Said Hermione politely and Harry realised that because she was away for holidays she had never properly met Hagrid. He quickly raised his hands to gesture and began introductions.
"Hagrid this is Hermione, Hermione, Ron and I got to know Hagrid over the winter break. He knows heaps about dangerous magical creatures."
Hermione instantly brightened and engaged Hagrid in a conversation about merpeople. Harry glanced at Ron, who looked thoughtful. Harry went back over the previous conversation in his head a froze, surely Ron wouldn't have-
Ron looked triumphant and opened his mouth. "Hagrid!"
Hermione and Hagrid both looked over, conversation on merpeople halted.
"What do you know about three-headed giant dogs?" Hagrid dropped the book he had been hiding behind his back, which Harry absently noted was on dragons. Harry internally groaned, how careless of him to bring up dangerous magical creatures.
"How do you know about Fluffy?" he said.
Fluffy. Harry thought back to the Cerberus. It certainly hadn't looked very fluffy to him.
"Fluffy?" Asked Hermione voicing the trio's thoughts.
"Yeah, he's mine. I bought him off a Greek chap I met in the pub last year. I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the-"
"Yes?" said Ron eagerly.
Harry resisted the urge to bury his face in his hands. The last thing he needed was a curious Ron. He had been so inquisitive about the trapdoor for weeks after Halloween.
"Now, don't ask me anymore," said Hagrid gruffly. "That's top secret, that is."
"But Snape's trying to steal it," Ron protested and even Hermione nodded from across the table in agreement. "whatever is on the third floor behind the trapdoor is in dange-"
Thankfully the three of them were so caught up they didn't realise Harry wasn't contributing to the conversation at all.
"Shhhh!" Hagrid looked around quickly to see if anyone was listening. The library was crowed in the weeks approaching exams but thankfully everyone appeared out of hearing range. "Don't go shouting about the third floor! It's dangerous. Snape isn't going to steal anything. You forget Fluffy, and you forget what it's guarding, that's between Professor Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel-"
Hagrid halted looking furious with himself. Harry wished this was all a bad dream.
"Nicolas Flamel?" Hermione piped in. "Isn't he famous? I've read about him I'm sure of it. Is the Cerberus guarding-"
Hagrid shushed her looking even more frantic. "Listen. Come and see me later, I'm not promising I'll tell yah anything, mind, but don't go rabbiting about it in here, students aren't supposed to know. They'll think I've told yah-" He glanced around the library again in concern before shuffling off.
There was silence at the table. Harry decided if this was a bad dream he would have woken up by now.
"Do you know what Fluffy is protecting?" Ron asked Hermione.
Hermione frowned. "No but I think Hagrid thinks I know. Honestly, I was just going to ask if whatever the Cerberus is hiding belongs to Flamel. I swear I have heard the name Flamel before…" She trailed off contemplative.
Ron seemed thoughtful again. Which bode for bad news if he put together more of the puzzle. A change of topic was in order. "What was the book he was hiding behind his back?" Harry questioned innocently.
Ron leapt to his feet. Harry internally grinned. Conversation moved on to safer topics.
"Do you think it had anything to do with what is being protected on the third floor?" Ron pondered looking excited.
Damn. Once Ron got wind of a mystery he didn't let it go quickly.
"I'm going to see what section he was in," Ron moved off.
Ron came back a few minutes later with a pile of books in his arms and slammed them down on the table.
"Dragons!" he whispered. "Hagrid was looking up stuff about dragons! I think they might have one protecting whatever is on the third floor!"
Hermione huffed. "Really Ron? They wouldn't be able to hide a dragon in a school."
No they wouldn't. At least a fully grown dragon. But. "Hagrid's always wanted a dragon, he told me so the first time I ever talked to him" said Harry absentmindedly.
"Let's finish up here and go see him." Ron eagerly planned.
"Yes that would be best. Then when we get back tonight I can look up Nicolas Flamel." Hermione instantly agreed. They turned to look at him, waiting for him to settle the idea.
"I think I am going to go get that headache-relieving potion from Madam Pomfrey. I think we should leave this alone." A month or so ago, before the Forbidden Forest, he may have agreed. However now he honestly did believe it would be best to leave it all alone although he had the luxury of knowing it was all a trap. Whoever was after the stone would get caught by Dumbledore. Harry considered telling them both. But, they may get angry because he didn't tell them earlier. He would stay quiet for now.
Hermione and Ron both frowned at his decision. They tried to convince him for the next hour but Harry refused to take part. He had magic to practice with Tom and the headaches really were becoming a hassle.
Two hours later Ron and Hermione were knocking on the door to the Gamekeepers hut, meanwhile Harry was discussing stress headaches with Madam Pomfrey.
AN: Oh dear this took a while to get out. Many apologies. Thankfully exam season is nearly over. I didn't even get time around to responding to reviews. I will remedy that now.
In regards to the chapter I do wonder what people thought of the forest scene. Harry did one small thing differently, which lead to hearing the word troll. I wonder if anyone knows the scene well enough to pick out the change. ;)
Thank you for the follows favourites and most importantly the reviews!
Tal
(Last note; Sometimes I seriously cannot wait to leave cannon behind. It is more difficult to writing so close to cannon than I would have anticipated before beginning this story. The next chapter will divert from cannon more than this one at least. ;D)