CHAPTER 21

Time has a funny way of speeding up or slowing down based on your mental state. Dudley could see time hurtling along for the rest of the first year students who were frantically preparing for exams. Even Ron had succumbed to its effects as he rapidly paged through his messy defense notes to try and figure out what they had actually learned in that course. He had gotten it into his head that he was going to fail all of his exams and be the most disappointing of all his siblings, which had caused him to become incredibly boring. He had blown off Dudley multiple times over the past week in favour of begging Granger to help him.

Time had not sped up for Dudley. In fact, it had slowed down to a crawl as Dudley anticipated the upcoming summer break. In mere weeks he would be home! No more wands and magic, no more freakishness, and no more stairs! His parents had promised to buy him a new gameboy and a bunch of new games, plus a bunch of other presents. He grinned at the thought, then remembered that he still had exams and slumped over his charms work.

Admittedly, some of the stuff you could do with magic was pretty cool. He liked stinging charms a lot, especially when they were directed at his cousin or Malfoy. But some stuff was totally useless! He was never going to want to levitate a feather or turn a match into a needle in his life, and he just didn't see the point of learning how. Regardless, he figured that if he could do the cool spells, that'd be enough to pass. Plus, he'd tell everyone that he got test anxiety like his mum said he had, and get by on the marks for the homework Harry had written for him. It had worked before, so there was no reason to expect anything different here.

Speaking of his cousin, Harry had been acting really suspiciously recently. He was jumpy and looked like he was hardly sleeping, and he'd overheard Neville and Hermione talking about how they were worried about him. Ron had heard too, and said they'd have to watch out in case he was plotting anything. Ron seemed to think that Harry had something to do with the cloaked man in the forest, since he was the boy-who-lived and all. Dudley said that Harry was probably in league with you-know-who, but even he didn't believe that. The terrorist had killed his cousin's parents, after all, and that wasn't something people easily forgave. Still, he did have that (probably cursed) scar, so who knew what was up with his brain. His recent breakdown could be him going completely barmy! He and Ron had decided to keep a close eye on Harry regardless, just in case.

Finally it was time for exams. There were written and practical portions, and Dudley made a big show of his test anxiety in front of the teachers for both. Harry looked like he was going to pass out. He kept rubbing at his forehead and wincing all through the written portion, and looked decidedly ill after his practicals. Even more odd than his cousin was Granger; she and Ron had almost been late for the final exam, and looked practically frantic! As soon as the test was over, Ron grabbed Hermione and dragged her over to Dudley.

"You're never going to believe what we heard!" he whispered loudly. Dudley did his best to look interested. "Hermione was helping me with some last minute revisions, so when she wanted to go to Quirrel -"

"Professor Quirrel," Hermione cut in.

"Fine, Professor Quirrel! When she dragged me to his office we heard him talking, so we thought we'd wait our turn. Anyways, we accidentally heard some of what he was saying -"

"We didn't mean to eavesdrop," Hermione cut Ron off again.

"Right, we overheard. It's different," Ron said.

"Stop interrupting and let Ron finish," Dudley grouched.

"Sorry," said Hermione and let Ron continue.

"Something's happening tonight. Something important! And Hermione reckons it's got to do with whatever's on the third floor!"

"We went and told Professor McGonagall right away of course," Hermione said. Dudley rolled his eyes. Of course that's where the know-it-all would go first. "But she told us it was none of our business and that everything was under control."

"Okay… Sounds like everything's fine to me then," Dudley said, eager to get away from Granger.

"You missed the worst part!" Ron said.

"Oh! Right! Dumbledore's gone," Hermione said. She saw the blank look on Dudley's face and groaned. "You explain, Ron," she snapped at the redhead.

"Dumbledore's the only one you-know-who ever feared," Ron explained. "And I - we - reckon that if you-know-who's involved and Dumbledore's gone, maybe something really is happening tonight!"

Dudley still wasn't impressed. Even if there was some plot, why would they involve themselves in it? Dumbledore had made it very clear that anyone who went to the forbidden corridor would risk dying a painful death, and given the thunderous growling he'd heard from behind the door, it seemed like it wasn't an idle threat. He told them so.

"He's got a point," Ron said, but then he brightened. "But we know someone who knows a lot about magical animals!"

"We do?" said Hermione.

"Yeah! Hagrid!"

Hermione didn't seem convinced. "The groundskeeper?" she asked as Dudley vehemently said "No!"

Ron shot Dudley a sympathetic look, knowing that Dudley had full reason to be very wary of the man, but he didn't back down. He explained to the others that Hagrid had asked him about the dragon reserve his brother worked at and had demonstrated his love of magical animals during the conversation. Hermione insisted they go talk to him right away.

"I'm telling you," Dudley tried to convince them, "that - that man is a menace! He came for Harry in the middle of the day in front of all the people on our street. He said he was taking Harry for his school stuff, but mum and dad had already taken both of us. Then when dad told him so, he got mad and pointed his umbrella at him and my dad grew a pig tail! He had to get it cut off at the hospital! There's no way I'm going anywhere near him! He should be locked up!"

"It's illegal to do magic on muggles," Hermione said, looking shocked.

"You don't need to come, Dud," Ron reassured him. "We'll go talk to him and then come find you after."

"Fine, well don't blame me if you come back with a tail," Dudley replied and stalked off. He headed up to the common room and was pleased to find it mostly empty. He could see students milling around outside enjoying their freedom, but he had no interest in joining them. Instead he moped in the common room with a pack of jelly babies and daydreamed about finally being home.

Ron and Hermione came bursting into the common room a while later, arguing loudly. They stopped immediately when they saw Dudley, and Dudley scowled as they tried to draw him in.

"The dog on the third floor is Hagrid's!" Ron told him triumphantly.

"He named it Fluffy," Hermione added.

"Of course he did," Dudley scowled. "He's mental, he is!"

"Oh, and guess who else was visiting him today," Ron said. Dudley shrugged. He didn't care. "Potter was there," Ron told him. Dudley changed his mind. He did care about that! What was his no-good cousin plotting? He needed to tell his parents about this! He wondered if they could tell the local police to keep him away from the house, but dismissed the idea. If anything happened the aurors would just come and make everyone forget, like they had made Piers forget his birthday trip to the theme park. It wasn't fair! Wizards could get away with anything, and the normal, decent folk they messed with would never even know!

"Dud, you listening?" Ron asked. Dudley realized he had zoned out and did his best to focus back on his friend.

"Potter and Hagrid still refuse to believe that it's professor Snape, but it couldn't be anyone else! Everyone suspects he was a death eater!" Ron explained.

"And he obviously doesn't like teaching," Hermione sniffed.

"None of that matters," Dudley insisted. "We still can't get past the dog, so we can't go!"

"But we can get past Fluffy," Hermione said triumphantly.

"Right," Ron agreed. "Sorry mate, forgot to tell you the most important bit! Apparently music puts Fluffy right to sleep!"

"Music?" Dudley repeated. "You want to go sing a little song to a giant, vicious dog and hope you're right and he'll fall asleep instead of eating you? That's it, you've gone mental!"

Dudley gave up arguing with them and left the common room in a huff. He couldn't understand why Ron would want to risk his life to protect an unknown object from a terrorist that everyone thought was dead! Was it another of those weird wizard things? Did becoming a wizard automatically make you lose any common sense?

Ron's voice broke through the curtains around Dudley's bed. "Please, mate, this is important!"

Dudley resolutely remained silent, and folded his arms across his chest as Ron's bright orange hair poked through the curtain.

"I don't know how much you know about the war with you-know-who, but it was really bad. Lots of people died before Potter killed him; my mum lost both of her brothers! And if there's even a tiny chance that he's trying to come back… The adults don't believe us! It's up to us!"

"It's not fair for kids to have to deal with terrorists," Dudley insisted. "And my parents told me he's dead! There's no way he could be alive, right?"

"I dunno," Ron said, "Everyone was sure he was dead, but if there's any chance he isn't - and he's one of the worst dark wizards of all time, so if anyone could do it, it'd be him - we can't let him get what he wants. What if it's a weapon! Anything Dumbledore wants to keep away from him should never get into his hands, or into the hands of the Death Eaters."

Dudley could feel himself losing his resolve. Ron almost made it sound like they'd be heroes if they stopped Snape! And he'd one-up his cousin and prove that there's no way Harry had defeated you-know-who the first time! And if Harry wasn't important, there's no way Dumbledore would make him stay with them - Dudley would be the hero and he would get his way finally! Nobody would say no when he demanded Harry find somewhere else to live because he'd be exposed as a fraud!

"Fine," he told Ron. "I'm in. We better get an award if this works!"

Ron beamed at him. "I bet we'll get service awards to the school! None of my brothers have one of those! C'mon, let's go tell Hermione."

Hermione had something on her mind. She kept fidgeting and checking the time and it was driving Harry bonkers. She and Neville had come to Fort Invisibility to hang out after dinner now that they didn't have to study anymore. Harry had been looking forward to spending some time with his friends before he had to go home for the summer and couldn't talk to them, and Hermione was making his anxiousness and foreboding feeling way worse!

"Exams are done! What are you so nervous about," Harry finally snapped.

"I'm sure you did g-great, Hermione," Neville said earnestly.

"I'm not worried about my grades! I mean, of course I want to know how I did - I might have missed question 23 on the history exam - but… well… Can you boys promise to keep a secret?"

"Of course," Neville smiled. Harry agreed, but was beginning to feel very worried. He had been at Hagrid's when Ron and Hermione had come in going off about how Snape was going to steal the stone and he was very worried they were going to do something Gryffindorish. His concerns were realized as Hermione explained all of her suspicions to Neville and finally got around to what had her so nervous - she, Ron, and Dudley of all people were going to try to stop him.

"You c-can't, Hermione!" Neville told her. "You'll get is such t-t-trouble! And it sounds really dangerous!"

"Neville's right," Harry agreed. He tried to use a more tactical approach than his friend had though - Hermione did not like being told what she couldn't do! "Surely the professors have everything under control, and besides, Hagrid said there are loads of protections!"

"The professors don't believe us!" Hermione retorted. "And Snape's had plenty of time to figure out what the traps are and how to get past them!"

"But you haven't!" Harry said frantically. He had gone in cautiously and still had some close calls, and Hermione wanted to go with no preparation!

"If you're so worried, then come with us! Together I'm sure we can figure everything out!"

"For me and Harry that would c-basically be suicide," Neville exclaimed. "We b-both have troubles getting our wands to do what we w-want! What if it d-didn't work at a crucial moment!"

"Nev's right," Harry said. "And even without our wand troubles, surely Dudley isn't the best wizard. He'll probably run at the first sign of trouble!"

"That's mean, Harry," Hermione said. "He's improved recently, and besides, he must have been sorted into Gryffindor for a reason!"

Neville and Harry continued trying to convince Hermione to see reason, but she seemed determined to ignore all arguments against her plan now that she had one, and eventually left the room in a huff after warning them not to tell anyone.

"We c-can't let her do this," Neville said after she had left.
"I know," Harry replied. "I've had the feeling that something bad would happen for ages. This is probably it! We've got to stop them!"

They decided that Neville would wait up in the common room to try to stop them from going out, and Harry would sneak out with the cloak to head them off if they did manage to get past Neville. Hermione may never forgive them, but losing her as a friend was worth it if they saved her life!

That night in the Gryffindor common room, Ron, Hermione and Dudley waited anxiously for everyone to go to sleep so they could sneak out. Nobody seemed to pay them much attention, except for when Percy told them that they should sleep as he himself went up to bed. Ron assured his brother that they were just super excited that exams were done and weren't feeling sleepy yet. Percy gave his brother a benevolent smile and magnanimously told him that he wouldn't inform their mother, just this once.

Finally the common room had cleared out. The trio quickly went to their rooms to change into more sneaky clothing (Dudley had insisted that if they were going to sneak around, they had to dress like ninjas to do it properly - he'd even made Ron put a cap over his bright hair) then reconvened back in the common room.

"Ready?" Ron whispered.

"Yes," the other two confirmed.

"Then let's go," Ron said as he led the way to the portrait hole.

"Stop!" came a voice from behind them. Dudley whirled around and saw Neville glaring at them. When had Neville grown a backbone? He was supposed to be a wimp, like Harry!

"Neville! I told you not to do anything!"

"You told Neville? How could you be such a blabbermouth!" Ron said.

Neville moved to block the way out. "I'll - I'll fight you! You c-can't do this!"

"This is your fault," Dudley grouched at Hermione while Ron hissed at her to do something.

"Oh Neville, I shouldn't have involved you! I'm so sorry," Hermione said. She pointed her wand at Neville and said "Petrificus Totalus". Neville's arms and legs snapped together, he teetered, and then fell face-first onto the floor. Dudley snickered. He'd have to learn that spell. Ron seemed to be worried about Neville, but Hermione assured him that it would wear off eventually. Dudley and Ron pulled the frozen boy behind a couch to make sure he wasn't found too quickly, and then they were off.

They cracked the common room door open and listened. They could hear the loud snores of the fat lady, so as quietly as they could, they crept off. They had a near run-in with Mrs. Norris as they neared the corridor, but luckily Ron thought quickly. He used the levitation charm to make the visor of a suit of armour clank in a corridor in the opposite direction, and the evil cat went rushing off to investigate!

Too soon, in Dudley's opinion, they reached the forbidden corridor. It was dusty and oppressing, and Dudley was quickly coming to the conclusion that glory and getting away from his cousin wasn't worth it. He was about to suggest that they turn around when they reached the door with the dog behind it and noticed a small figure ducked behind a suit of armor.

"Harry!" he hissed. He'd recognize that sneak anywhere! What was he doing here? Had Hermione blabbed to him as well? He and Ron glared at her - she had a very guilty expression.

"This is the worst idea ever!" Harry hissed at them. "It isn't too late to turn around!"

"Of course you'd say that! You're probably working with Snape!" Dudley accused his cousin.

"I don't want Voldemort to get his way," Harry insisted. "He killed my parents! I'd never have been stuck with your family without him! There's no way I'd EVER join him." The 'ever' had come out louder than Harry anticipated, and the four students looked at each other in fear as they heard shuffling footsteps in the distance and Filch's cry of "Who's there?".

Hermione unlocked the door and the students piled through. Dudley rolled his eyes. Harry may say he was against them going, but he sure lost his nerve when he thought they were going to get caught!

Inside the room was the largest dog Dudley had ever seen. It had three heads and it was growling at them menacingly, but didn't attack them right away. Some old-timey stringed instrument that Dudley thought could be a harp sat on the floor near them. Harry immediately began to hum a lullaby, and soon the dog had fallen fast asleep, its massive chest rising and falling as it snored loudly.

"What now?" Ron asked.

"Let's try to open the trapdoor," Hermione suggested. She, Ron, and Dudley heaved it open while Harry stood back, still humming and looking incredibly anxious.

"I can't see anything," Dudley complained.

"Me neither," said Ron. "And looks like there's no way down - we'll have to drop."

Hermione took a nervous step back. Ron and Dudley looked at each other.

"Well, down you go," said Dudley. There was no way he was going first!

"Alright," Ron said, then eased himself down so he was hanging off the side. "Here goes nothing," he said as he screwed his eyes shut and let himself fall. Dudley thought his heart might stop when he didn't hear Ron say anything right away. Surely he hadn't just splatted at the bottom! They would have heard something.

"It's alright!" Ron's voice floated up from the gloom. "There's a soft landing!"

"You next," Dudley commanded Hermione. She looked at him with big eyes but obeyed. Dudley grabbed his cousin next and forced him down the trapdoor with him. The dog woke up and began to growl again, but it was too late - they were already falling.

The falling seemed to take forever. Harry's hand was gripping his arm painfully tightly, and Dudley had to shove him away mid-air. He didn't want his bony cousin smushing him at the bottom! Eventually they landed in on something squishy. Harry immediately got up and sprang to the side of the room.

"What is that?" he asked them.

"Dunno, but good thing it was here to break our fall," Ron replied.

"Oh!" Hermione gasped as she struggled to get up. "It's wrapping around us!"

Dudley and Ron immediately began to struggle against the plant. Dudley only vaguely heard Hermione telling them to stop struggling - as if he'd let a stupid magic plant to get the best of him! She began yelling at Harry to make fire, because apparently the plant didn't like fire (and honestly, what plant did?). Dudley wanted to yell at Harry not to, but the plant had snaked its way around his mouth and eyes, and he was struggling just to breathe.

Suddenly the plant started to move away from Dudley. He gasped for breath and stumbled away from the plant that was now writhing in blue flames.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked them, his eyes wide and wand still pointing at the plant.

"I think so," Hermione said shakily as she looked everyone over.

"We ought to keep our wands out from now on," Ron said. "C'mon, let's keep going."

They walked down the dark corridor, wands at the ready. Dudley kept a close eye on Harry, who was hanging out in the back of the group and looked like he might bolt at any moment. He wasn't going to allow his cousin to get away with any funny business! He wasn't even supposed to be here! He'd probably try to stab them in the back the first chance he got - but not on Dudley's watch!

"Shh," Ron said and motioned at them to stop walking. "What's that noise?"

"It sounds like wings," Hermione said.

The sound wasn't very menacing, so they kept moving forward. The corridor opened up into a brightly lit room full of birds with wings of all colours. It reminded Dudley of the tropical birds from the zoo - pretty, but boring. Birds weren't nearly as cool as crocodiles and lions! Dudley took a seat as Hermione and Ron went over to the door on the far side. Even Hermione couldn't make the door open!

Hermione and Ron conferred a bit longer before rushing over to Dudley.

"They're keys! Look!" Ron told Dudley.

"We need to get the right one to open the door," Hermione said. "There are brooms in the corner."

Dudley looked up at the keys incredulously. How on earth would they find the right one?

"I'm not going on a broom," he told them. "Make Harry do it."

Ron gave him him a disappointed look, but Dudley wouldn't budge on this. His feet belonged on the ground! The terrifying fall into wherever they were only solidified that fact in his mind. The others could risk breaking their necks, but he was not going to move until they got the right key or decided to head back.

"It's fine, there's only three brooms anyways," Harry said as he mounted a broom and kicked off. Ron quickly followed, and Hermione joined them more shakily. Dudley watched in amusement as they flew around trying to grab keys. They were really bad at it!

"Look! That key has bent wings!" Harry cried as he pointed into a cloud of keys. Dudley couldn't see exactly what he was pointing at, but Ron and Hermione could! Together they managed to corner the key, and Harry was able to grab it.

"Nice flying!" Ron said.

Dudley groaned and pulled himself to his feet and got to the door just as Harry opened it. Hopefully the next trap would be as non-deadly as this one!

"Chess! Wicked!" Ron said as he saw the giant chessboard. Dudley didn't think it was very wicked. The pieces were huge and had no faces - they looked like they belonged in a horror film!

Ron had soon figured out a plan. He directed Dudley, Hermione, and Harry to take pieces on the board and began to play. Dudley nearly bolted the first time a piece was taken! The pieces hit so hard that they broke each other when they were taken! Dudley had never cared so much about Ron's chess skills in his life. Somehow, his friend managed to keep all of them safe until near the end of the game.

"I have to sacrifice myself," Ron said. "It's the only way to win!"

Hermione and Dudley tried arguing against it, but Ron was determined. He moved forward and the white queen's arm whipped around to hit him in the head. Dudley cried out as Ron was knocked off his feet and stopped moving. They quickly finished the game, then rushed over to Ron.

"He's still breathing!" Hermione exclaimed. "I think he's just knocked out!"

"We should turn back!" Harry said. "We're out of our league!"

"No!" Dudley insisted. "Ron would have wanted us to keep going!"

Dudley felt like Ron's courage had transferred to him as soon as Ron was knocked out. Ron was his best friend in the wizarding world! And he'd never forgive Dudley if they didn't keep going with the mission. They were committed. They were going to be heroes! Harry wouldn't ruin everything this time!

"Dudley's right," Hermione said. "This is more important! We'll be right back for Ron!"

Harry was outvoted, and this time Dudley led the way to the next room. He nearly changed his mind when the smell from the next room hit him.

"That's nasty!" he gagged.

"What is it?" Hermione asked.

"Dead...something," Dudley told her. He let her look past him.

"That's a troll!" she squeaked. "Good thing it's dead. We already know we're no match for a troll!"

Harry nodded, looking vaguely sick. What a wimp. They rushed through the room to the next door.

"Oh no!" Dudley said when flames flickered up in the door behind them. Harry seemed even worse. He was twitching and staring nervously at the bottles on the table in front of them. Dudley narrowed his eyes and tried to figure out why Harry was acting that way. Was he really that scared? It was pathetic!

"It's a logic puzzle!" Hermione said, "Most wizards haven't got an ounce of logic - this is quite clever!"

Dudley agreed, although of course he'd never tell her that. He reached into the back pocket of his pants and pulled out a slightly squashed candy bar. He was getting peckish, and Hermione was busy figuring out the logic puzzle, so it seemed like a good time for him to replenish his energy. Harry looked even sticker watching Dudley eat. Dudley grinned at him and chewed with his mouth wide open. It was fun making Harry uncomfortable!

"I've got it!" Hermione exclaimed a few minutes later. She pointed out two of the bottles. "This little one will take us forward and this one will take us back. But there's so little in the forward bottle! Hardly enough for one swallow!"

She looked at Harry expectantly. Dudley glared at her. "This was our adventure! Harry's just a tag-along! He doesn't get to be the hero!"

"I'm not saying I want to go, but it's probably dangerous! I don't think any of us should go," Harry said.

"Nonsense," said Hermione. "We made it all the way here! We're so close!"

"Exactly," said Dudley, "so get out of my way!"

He elbowed past Hermione and grabbed the smallest bottle she had pointed to. He sniffed it cautiously, then gulped it down. There's no way he'd let Harry get the glory now! The potion felt like I've running through him, and he knew the fire wouldn't hurt him now. His cousin stood between him and the door forward. He looked terrified, but slowly lifted his wand.

"Don't do this! It's too dangerous," he said. Dudley no longer had any doubts about whether Harry was in league with Voldemort or his followers. Why else would he be so against Dudley going through? So he just smirked and sprinted towards the door.

"Move!" he bellowed as he rushed Harry. Harry started to speak but wasn't quick enough. Dudley elbowed him out of the way and stepped through the black flames.

A/N: I really didn't mean to break up this chapter with a cliffhanger, but it's a lot longer than any of my previous ones so it just kinda happened... In other exciting news, I officially have over 100 favs on this story! This is my first and only fanfic, so that's pretty exciting for me. Thanks to everyone who's reading, and especially those who take the time to give me feedback!