Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own
In years to come, Hope would never quite remember how she had managed to get through her exams when she half expected Voldemort 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.
It was sweltering hot, especially in the large classroom where they did their written papers. They had been given special, new quills for the exams, which had been bewitched with an Anti-Cheating spell. They had practical exams as well. 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; points were given for how pretty the snuffbox was, but taken away if it had whiskers. Snape made them all nervous, breathing down their necks while they tried to remember how to make a Forgetfulness potion.
Hope 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. Cassie thought that Hope had a bad case of exam nerves because Hope couldn't sleep, but the truth was that Hope kept being woken by her old nightmare, except that it was now worse than ever because there was a hooded figure dripping blood in it.
Her friends didn't seem as concerned about the matter. They were too focused on their own exams to worry about the possibility of a dark lord rising back to power and killing people. Go figure.
Their very last exam was History of Magic. One hour of answering questions about batty old wizards who'd invented self-stirring cauldrons and they'd be free, free for a whole wonderful week until their exam results came out. When the ghost of Professor Binns told them to put down their quills and roll up their parchment, Hope couldn't help cheering with the rest.
"That was far easier than I thought it would be." Hermes said as they joined the crowds flocking out onto the sunny grounds. "I needn't have learned about the 1637 Werewolf Code of Conduct or the uprising of Elfric the Eager."
Hermes always liked to go through their exam papers afterward, but Regina said this made her feel ill, so 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.
"No more studying." Regina sighed happily, stretching out on the grass. "You could look more cheerful, Hope, we've got a week before we find out how badly we've done, there's no need to worry yet."
Hope 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." Hermes suggested.
"I'm not ill. I think it's a warning... it means danger's coming..." She murmured. Regina, however, couldn't get worked up, it was too hot.
"Does it tell you to do bad things too?" Cassie asked. Hope glared at her.
"Hope, relax, Hermes is right, 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 Nadine will play Quidditch for England before Hagrid lets Dumbledore down." Hope nodded, but she couldn't shake off a lurking feeling that there was something she'd forgotten to do, something very important. When she tried to explain this, Hermes said:
"That's just the exams. I woke up last night and was halfway through my Transfiguration notes before I remembered we'd done that one." Hope was quite sure the unsettled feeling didn't have anything to do with work, though.
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... but... Hope suddenly jumped to her feet.
"Where're you going?" Regina asked sleepily.
"I've just thought of something." Hope had turned white. "We've got to go and see Hagrid, now."
The four of them ran for Hagrid's hut with Hope in the lead. Regina was barely keeping up, still half-asleep. The grassy slope was slippery underneath their feet and it really was too hot for running, but the other three saw that Hope had no intention on slowing down.
"Don't you think it's a bit odd 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?" Hope asked.
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. He looked up as they skidded to a stop in front of him.
"Hullo." He said, smiling. "Finished yer exams? Got time fer a drink?"
"Yes, please." Regina panted, but Hope cut her off.
"No, we're in a hurry. Hagrid, I've got to ask you something. You know that night you won Norbert? What did the stranger you were playing cards with look like?"
"Dunno." Hagrid said casually. "He wouldn' take his cloak off." He saw the four 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. That's the pub down in the village. Mighta bin a dragon dealer, mightn' he? I never saw his face, he kept his hood up." Hope sank down next to the bowl of peas.
"What did you talk to him about, Hagrid? Did you mention Hogwarts at all?"
"Mighta come up." Hagrid agreed, 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?" Hope 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'?"
Hope, Cassie, Hermes and Regina didn't speak to each other at all until they came to a halt in the entrance hall, which seemed very cold and gloomy after the grounds.
"We've got to go to Dumbledore." Hope finally said. "Hagrid told that stranger how to get past Fluffy, and it was either Snape or Voldemort under that cloak. It must've been easy, once he'd got Hagrid drunk. I just hope Dumbledore believes us. Firenze might back us up. Where's Dumbledore's office?"
They looked around, as if hoping to see a giant neon sign pointing them in the right direction. They had never been told where Dumbledore lived, nor did they know anyone who had been sent to see him. Even Fred and George had never done something bad enough to warrant getting sent to the headmaster instead of Professor McGonagall.
"We'll just have to-." Hope began, but a voice suddenly rang across the hall.
"What are you four doing inside?" It was Professor McGonagall, carrying a large pile of books.
"We want to see Professor Dumbledore." Hermes said, rather bravely, the others thought.
"See Professor Dumbledore?" Professor McGonagall repeated, as though this was a very fishy thing to want to do. "Why?"
"It's sort of secret." Hope said, but she wished at once she hadn't, because Professor McGonagall's nostrils flared.
"Professor Dumbledore left ten minutes ago." She said coldly. "He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and flew off for London at once."
"He's gone? Now?" Hope asked frantically.
"Professor Dumbledore is a very great wizard, Potter, he has many demands on his time-."
"But this is important."
"Something you have to say is more important than the Ministry of Magic, Potter?"
"Look." Hope told her, throwing caution to the winds. "Professor, it's about the Sorcerer's tone-." Whatever Professor McGonagall had expected, it wasn't that. The books she was carrying tumbled out of her arms, but she didn't pick them up.
"How do you know-." She spluttered.
"Professor, I think, I know, that Sn... that someone's going to try and steal the Stone. I've got to talk to Professor Dumbledore." She eyed Hope 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."
"But Professor-."
"Potter, I know what I'm talking about." She said shortly. 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." Hope said, once she was sure Professor McGonagall was out of earshot. "Snape's going through the trapdoor tonight. He's found out everything he needs, and now he's got Dumbledore out of the way. He sent that note, I bet the Ministry of Magic will get a real shock when Dumbledore turns up."
"But what can we-." Hermes stopped, eyeing something behind them. The other three wheeled round. Snape was standing there.
"Good afternoon." He said smoothly. They stared at him. "You shouldn't be inside on a day like this." He added with an odd, twisted smile.
"We were-." Hope began, without any idea what she was going to say.
"You want to be more careful. Hanging around like this, people will think you're up to something. And Gryffindor really can't afford to lose any more points, can it?" Hope flushed. They turned to go outside, but Snape called them back. "Be warned, Potter. Any more nighttime wanderings and I will personally make sure you are expelled. Good day to you." He strode off in the direction of the staff-room.
Out on the stone steps, Hope turned to the others.
"Right, here's what we've got to do." She whispered urgently. "One of us has got to keep an eye on Snape. Wait outside the staff room and follow him if he leaves it. Hermes, you'd better do that."
"Why me?"
"It's obvious. You can pretend to be waiting for Professor Flitwick, you know." Regina started to badly intimidate Hermes. "Oh Professor Flitwick, I'm so worried, I think I got question fourteen b wrong-."
"Oh, shut up." Hermes snapped, but he agreed to go and watch out for Snape.
"And we'd better stay outside the third-floor corridor." Hope told Cassie and Regina. "Come on."
But that part of the plan didn't work. No sooner had the trio reached the door separating Fluffy from the rest of the school than Professor McGonagall turned up again and, this time, she lost her temper.
"I suppose you think you're harder to get past than a pack of enchantments!" She stormed. "Enough of this nonsense! If I hear you've come anywhere near here again, I'll take another fifty points from both your houses! Yes, Weasley, from my own house as well!"
The trio went back to the the entrance hall. Hope had just said 'at least Hermes's on Snape's tail' when Hermes came hurrying over to them.
"I'm sorry, Hope. Snape came out and asked me what I was doing, so I said I was waiting for Flitwick, and Snape went to get him and I've only just got away. I don't know where Snape went."
"Well, that's it then, isn't it?" Hope asked. The other three simply stared at her. She was pale and her eyes were glittering with barely contained madness. "I'm going out of here tonight and I'm going to try and get to the Stone first."
"You're mad!"
"You can't!"
"After what McGonagall and Snape have said? You'll be expelled!"
"SO WHAT?" Hope shouted. Everyone flinched and looked around for anyone nearby. The coast was clear, but Hope lowered her voice as she continued on: "Don't you understand? If Snape gets hold of the Stone, Voldemort's coming back! Haven't you heard what it was like when he was trying to take over? There won't be any Hogwarts to get expelled from! He'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 he'll leave you and your families alone if your house wins the house cup? If I get caught before I can get to the Stone, well, I'll wait for Voldemort to find me. It's only dying a bit later than I would have, because I'm never going over to the Dark Side! I'm going through that trapdoor tonight and nothing you three say is going to stop me! Voldemort killed my parents, remember?"
"You're right Hope." Hermes said in a small voice.
"I'll use the invisibility cloak. It's just lucky I got it back." She mused, raking her fingers through her curly hair.
"But will it cover all four of us?" Regina questioned.
"All... all four of us?"
"Oh, come off it, you don't think we'd let you go alone?" Regina snapped, blue eyes blazing with determination.
"Of course not." Hermes said briskly, as if the notion was silly. He looked like he was gearing himself for something foolish.
"You wouldn't make it five feet without us." Cassie agreed, crossing her arms tightly against her chest, as if to shield herself from what was to come.
"But if we get caught, you guys will be expelled, too." Hope protested. She could take being back on the streets. But she couldn't take her friends suffering for her.
"Not if I can help it." Hermes told them grimly. Flitwick told me in secret that I got a hundred and twelve percent on his exam. They're not throwing me out after that."
"Tonight then." Hope said, with grim determination.
"Tonight." The others agreed with sharp nods.
"I'll go through my books. Maybe there's something there to get us past the enchantments." Hermes decided, hurrying off towards Ravenclaw Tower.
"I have a few books myself. It wouldn't hurt to skim through them." Cassie agreed, starting towards the Slytherin dungeon.
"I'll gather some things that might help us." Hope added, hurrying after her dorm-mate.
Regina stood alone in the entrance hall. She looked around uselessly and said, to no one:
"I guess I'll go take a nap." She pumped her fist in a half-heartedly determined way and then scampered off towards Gryffindor Tower.