Act I - a great deal of courage

Part XI - the trapdoor

Nia, Daenerys, and Fang stood transfixed. The cloaked figure reached the unicorn, lowered its head over the wound in the animal's side, and began to drink its blood.

Daenerys let out a terrible scream and bolted. So did Fang. The hooded figure raised its head and looked right at Nia. Unicorn blood was dribbling down its front. It got to its feet and came swiftly toward her and Nia couldn't move for fear. Then a pain like she'd never felt before pierced her head; it was as though her scar were on fire. Half blinded, she staggered backward. She heard hooves behind her, galloping, and something jumped clean over her, charging at the figure.

The pain in her head was so bad she fell to her knees. It took a minute or two to pass. When she looked up, the figure had gone. A centaur was standing over her. He had white-blond hair and astonishingly blue eyes, like pale sapphires. "Eugenia Potter," said the centaur, "you must leave. You are known to many creatures here. The forest is not safe at this time. Especially for you."

"But..." Nia blinked. "What was that thing you saved me from?"

"A monstrous creature," he told her. "It is a terrible crime to slay a unicorn. Drinking the blood of a unicorn will keep you alive even if you are an inch from death. But at a terrible price. You have slain something so pure that the moment the blood touches your lips, you will have a half-life. A cursed life."

"But who'd be that desperate?" she wondered aloud. "If you're going to be cursed forever, deaths better, isn't it?"

"It is," the centaur agreed, "unless all you need is to stay alive long enough to drink something else... something that will bring you back to full strength and power... something that will mean you can never die. Eugenia Potter, do you know what is hidden in the school at this very moment?"

"The Philosopher's Stone! But I don't understand who...?"

"Can you think of nobody who has waited many years to return to power, who has clung to life, awaiting their chance?"

It was as though an iron fist had clenched suddenly around Nia's heart. "Do you mean," she croaked, "that was Mal-"

"Nia! Nia, are you all right?" Ronnie and Hugo was running toward them down the path, Hagrid and Daenerys puffing along behind them.

"I'm fine," said Nia, hardly knowing what she was saying.

"Hello there, Firenze," said Hagrid. "I see you've met little Nia."

"Hello, Hagrid," said Firenze before turning back to Nia. "This is where I leave you, Eugenia Potter. You are safe now." He turned and cantered back into the depths of the forest, leaving Nia shivering behind him.

In the dark common room, in a matter of seconds, Ronnie and Hugo were wide-eyed as Nia began to tell them what had happened in the forest. She couldn't sit down. She paced up and down in front of the fire. She was still shaking.

"Snape wants the stone for Malvina... and Malvina's waiting in the forest... But she's weak. She's living off the unicorns..."

"Stop saying the name!" said Ronnie in a terrified whisper, as if she thought Malvina could hear them.

Nia wasn't listening. "With the Elixir of Life, Malvina will be strong again," she went on feverishly. "She'll... She'll come back."

"Will you stop saying that name!" Ronnie snapped. "And do you think that if she comes back, she'll try to kill you again?"

"I think if she'd had the chance, she might have tried to kill me tonight."

Hugo looked very frightened as well, but he had a word of comfort. "Everyone says Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was ever afraid of. With her around, You-Know-Who won't touch you."

The sky had turned light before they stopped talking. They went to bed exhausted, their throats sore. But the night's surprises weren't over. When Nia pulled back her sheets, she found her invisibility cloak folded neatly underneath them. There was a note pinned to it:

Just in case.

In years to come, Nia would never quite remember how she had managed to get through her exams when she half expected Malvina to come bursting through the door at any moment. Yet the days crept by, and there could be no doubt that Fluffy was still alive and well behind the locked door.

Professor Flitwick called them one by one into his class to see if they could make a pineapple tapdance across a desk. Professor McGonagall watched them turn a mouse into a snuffbox. Snape made them all nervous, breathing down their necks while they tried to remember how to make a Forgetfulness potion.

Nia did the best she could, trying to ignore the stabbing pains in her forehead, which had been bothering her ever since her trip into the forest. Maybe it was because they hadn't seen what Nia had, or because they didn't have scars burning on their foreheads, but Ronnie and Hugo didn't seem as worried about the Stone as Nia. The idea of Malvina certainly scared them, but they were so busy with their studying they didn't have much time to fret about what Snape or anyone else might be up to.

After their very last exam, they wandered down to the lake and flopped under a tree. The Weasley twins and Lee Jordan were tickling the tentacles of a giant squid, which was basking in the warm shallows.

"You could look more cheerful, Nia, we've got a week before we find out how badly we've done, there's no need to worry yet," Ronnie said.

Nia was rubbing her forehead. "I wish I knew what this means!" she burst out angrily. "My scar keeps hurting... it's happened before, but never as often as this."

"Go to Madam Pomfrey," Hugo suggested.

"I'm not ill," said Nia. "I think it's a warning... it means danger's coming..."

"You need to relax," said Ronnie. "The Stone's safe as long as Dumbledore's around. Anyway, we've never had any proof Snape found out how to get past Fluffy. He nearly had his leg ripped off once, he's not going to try it again in a hurry. And Hagrid won't let Dumbledore down."

Nia nodded, but she couldn't shake off a lurking feeling that there was something she'd forgotten to do, something important. She watched an owl flutter toward the school across the bright blue sky, a note clamped in its mouth. Hagrid was the only one who ever sent her letters. Hagrid would never betray Dumbledore. Hagrid would never tell anyone how to get past Fluffy... never... Nia suddenly jumped to her feet.

"Where're you going?" said Ronnie sleepily.

Nia had turned white. "We've got to go and see Hagrid, now."

"Why?" asked Hugo.

"Don't you think it's a bit odd," said Nia, scrambling up the grassy slope, "that what Hagrid wants more than anything else is a dragon, and a stranger turns up who just happens to have an egg in his pocket? How many people wander around with dragon eggs if it's against wizard law? Lucky they found Hagrid, don't you think? Why didn't I see it before?"

"What are you talking about?" said Ronnie, but Nia, sprinting across the grounds toward the forest, didn't answer.

Hagrid was sitting in an armchair outside his house; his trousers and sleeves were rolled up, and he was shelling peas into a large bowl. "Hullo," he said, smiling. "Finished yer exams?"

"Hagrid, I've got to ask you something," said Nia. "You know that night you won Norbert? What did the stranger you were playing cards with look like?"

"Dunno," said Hagrid casually, "he wouldn' take his cloak off." He saw the three of them look stunned and raised his eyebrows. "It's not that unusual, yeh get a lot o' funny folk in the Hog's Head... Mighta bin a dragon dealer, mightn' he? I never saw his face, he kept his hood up."

"What did you talk to him about? Did you mention Hogwarts at all?"

"Mighta come up," said Hagrid, frowning as he tried to remember. "Yeah... he asked what I did, an' I told him I was gamekeeper here... He asked a bit about the sorta creatures I took after... so I told him... an' I said what I'd always really wanted was a dragon... an' then... I can' remember too well, 'cause he kept buyin' me drinks... Let's see... yeah, then he said he had the dragon egg an' we could play cards fer it if I wanted... but he had ter be sure I could handle it, he didn' want it ter go ter any old home... So I told him, after Fluffy, a dragon would be easy..."

"And did he... did he seem interested in Fluffy?" Nia asked, trying to keep her voice calm.

"Well... yeah... how many three-headed dogs d'yeh meet, even around Hogwarts? So I told him, Fluffy's a piece o' cake if yeh know how to calm him down, jus' play him a bit o' music an' he'll go straight off ter sleep-" Hagrid suddenly looked horrified. "I shouldn'ta told yeh that! Forget I said it! Hey... where're yeh goin'?"

Nia, Ronnie, and Hugo didn't speak to each other at all until they came to a halt in the entrance hall.

"We've got to go to Dumbledore," said Nia. "That was no stranger Hagrid met in the village. It was Snape, which means he knows how to get past Fluffy. Where's Dumbledore's office?"

They looked around, as if hoping to see a sign pointing them in the right direction.

"What are you three doing inside?" a voice suddenly asked. It was Professor McGonagall, carrying a large pile of books.

"We want to see Professor Dumbledore," said Hugo, rather bravely.

"Professor Dumbledore left ten minutes ago," Professor McGonagall said coldly. "She received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and flew off for London at once."

"She's gone?" said Nia frantically. "Now?"

"Professor Dumbledore is a very important witch, Miss Potter, she has many demands on her time-"

"But this is important... it's about the Philosopher's Stone."

Whatever Professor McGonagall had expected, it wasn't that. The books she was carrying tumbled out of her arms. "How do you know...?"

"Professor, someone's going to try and steal it."

McGonagall eyed her with a mixture of shock and suspicion. "Professor Dumbledore will be back tomorrow," she said finally. "I don't know how you found out about the Stone, but rest assured, no one can possibly steal it, it's too well protected." She bent down and gathered up the fallen books. "I suggest you all go back outside and enjoy the sunshine."

But they didn't.

"It's tonight," said Nia, once she was sure Professor McGonagall was out of earshot. "Snape's going through the trapdoor tonight. He's found out how to get past Fluffy and now he's got Dumbledore out of the way."

The other two stared at her. Nia was pale and her eyes were glittering.

"I'm going out of here tonight and I'm going to try and get to the Stone first."

"You're mad!" said Ronnie.

"You can't!" said Hugo. "You'll be expelled!"

"Don't you understand?" Nia snapped. "If Snape gets hold of the Stone, Malvina's coming back! Haven't you heard what it was like when she was trying to take over? There won't be any Hogwarts to get expelled from! She'll flatten it, or turn it into a school for the Dark Arts! Losing points doesn't matter anymore, can't you see? D'you think she'll leave you and your families alone if Gryffindor wins the house cup? I'm going through that trapdoor tonight and nothing you two say is going to stop me! She killed my parents, remember?"

She glared at them.

"You're right, Nia," said Hugo in a small voice.

"We'll help you," added Ronnie.

After dinner the three of them sat nervously apart in the common room. Nobody bothered them. They didn't talk much either. The three of them were thinking about what they were about to do. Slowly, the room emptied as people drifted off to bed.

Nia grabbed her invisibility cloak. "We'd better put the cloak on here, and make sure-"

"What are you doing?" said a voice from the corner of the room. Nadine appeared from behind an armchair, clutching Trevor the toad, who looked as though he'd been making another bid for freedom.

"Nothing, Nadine, nothing," said Nia, hurriedly putting the cloak behind her back.

Nadine stared at their guilty faces. "You're going out again," she said. "You can't go out... you'll be caught again. Gryffindor will be in even more trouble."

"You don't understand," said Nia, "this is important."

But Nadine was clearly steeling herself to do something desperate. "I won't let you do it," she said, hurrying to stand in front of the portrait hole. "I'll... I'll fight you!"

"Nadine," Ronnie exploded, "get away from that hole!"

"I don't think you should be breaking any more rules!" she said. "And you were the one who told me to stand up to people!"

"Yes, but not to us," said Ronnie in exasperation.

"Do something," Nia said to Hugo.

He stepped forward. "Nadine," he said, "I'm really, really sorry about this." He raised his wand. "Petrificus Totalus!" he cried, pointing it at Nadine. Her arms snapped to her sides. Her legs sprang together. Her whole body rigid, she swayed where she stood and then fell flat on her back, stiff as a board.

"It's for your own good, you know," said Ronnie stepping over Nadine as they made their way out the common room.

At the foot of the first set of stairs, they spotted Mrs. Norris skulking near the top. As they climbed carefully around her, Mrs. Norris turned her lamplike eyes on them, but didn't do anything. They didn't meet anyone else. A few seconds later, they were there, outside the third-floor corridor, and the door was already ajar.

"Well, there you are," Nia said quietly, "Snape's already got past Fluffy." Seeing the open door somehow seemed to impress upon all three of them what was facing them. Underneath the cloak, Nia turned to the other two. "If you want to go back, I won't blame you," she said. "You can take the cloak, I won't need it now."

"Don't be stupid," said Ronnie.

"We're coming," said Hugo.

Nia nodded, thankful, and pushed the door open. As the door creaked, they heard music playing. Fluffy was on the ground, fast asleep. "What's that at its feet?" Hugo whispered.

"Looks like a harp," said Ronnie. "Snape must have put a spell on it."

They slipped out of the cloak and crept toward the trapdoor. They could feel the dog's hot, smelly breath as they approached the giant heads. Ronnie gritted her teeth and stepped carefully over the dog's legs. She bent and pulled the ring of the trapdoor, which swung up and open.

"What can you see?" Nia said anxiously.

"Nothing... just black... there's no way of climbing down, we'll just have to drop. I don't know how deep this thing goes though."

Nia looked down through the trapdoor. There was no sign of the bottom. She lowered herself through the hole until she was hanging on by her fingertips. Then she looked up at Ronnie and said, "If anything happens to me, don't follow." And she let go. Cold, damp air rushed past her as she fell down, down, down and... FLUMP. With a funny, muffled sort of thump she landed on something soft. She sat up and felt around, her eyes not used to the gloom. It felt as though he was sitting on some sort of plant.

Ronnie followed right away. She landed, sprawled next to Nia. "What's this stuff?"

"Dunno, some sort of plant thing. I suppose it's here to break the fall."

Hugo landed on Nia's other side. "We must be miles under the school," he said.

"Lucky this plant thing's here, really," said Ronnie.

"Lucky!" said Hugo. "Look at you both!" He leapt up and struggled toward a damp wall. The plant had started to twist snakelike tendrils around his ankles. As for Nia and Ronnie, their legs had already been bound tightly in long creepers without their noticing. Hugo had managed to free himself before the plant got a firm grip on him. Now he watched as the two girls fought to pull the plant off them. "Stop moving!" he ordered them. "It's Devil's Snare!"

"Oh, I'm so glad we know what it's called, that's a great help," snarled Ronnie, trying to stop the plant from curling around her neck.

"Shut up, I'm trying to remember how to kill it!" said Hugo.

"Well, hurry up, I can't breathe!" Nia gasped, wrestling with it as it curled around her chest.

"Devil's Snare, Devil's Snare... what did Professor Sprout say? It likes the dark and the damp..." Hugo whipped out his wand, waved it, muttered something, and sent a jet of blue flames at the plant. In a matter of seconds, the two girls felt it loosening its grip as it cringed away from the light and warmth. Wriggling and flailing, it unraveled itself from their bodies, and they were able to pull free.

"Lucky someone pays attention in Herbology," said Ronnie as she joined him by the wall, wiping sweat off her face.

"This way," said Nia, pointing down a stone passageway, which was the only way forward.