Chapter Twenty-Nine:
A Plan


"I can't believe it - I'm such an idiot," grumbled Susan when Harry told her, Neville, and Draco the news. They were all sitting in a far off corner the library where someone had set a couple of plush armchairs, with Susan flopped over one, legs dangling over the arm, with Harry sitting on the floor in front of her, leaning against the front of the chair, while Neville and Draco sharing a two person couch. She was holding a stack of books in her lap, which included Hogwarts, A History. Books that they now knew contained even a little bit of information on the infamous Nicolas Flamel. "Ugh, I should have looked back further. I can't believe I missed that."

"It doesn't matter that we didn't find the information ourselves, Bones," put in Draco with a roll of his gray eyes. "The point is we know who Nicolas Flamel is, and now we have a pretty good idea what that three-headed dog is guarding."

"Fluffy - his name is Fluffy," reminded Harry. He had made occasional visits to the large dog since he knew that the Cerberus got lonely and restless, and now he knew that Fluffy loved raw steaks and belly rubs. He was actually a pretty sweet three-headed dog.

"Whatever," waved off Draco. "Either way, we know that's most likely the Philosopher Stone. But now we have to worry about whose trying to steal it."

"Why do you think someone's trying to steal it?" questioned Neville.

"Remember what Hagrid said? That Fluffy is guarding something for Dumbledore, and this Philosopher's Stone is certainly valuable enough that someone would risk a lot to steal it," pointed out Draco. "Gold and eternal life? What else could someone ask for?"

"Plus, Hagrid also said that this was one of the safest places in the world," put in Harry. "Where else would you keep a valuable object like that? Except for Gringotts, and we already know that it got broken into only days after Hagrid must have taken the Stone out from the vault."

"It must not have been a very strong vault, though," remarked Draco off-handedly. "My family vaults have been there for generations, and nothing's been stolen from us. And believe me, there have been those that tried."

"What if not just Fluffy that's guarding the Stone?" pondered Susan aloud, interrupting Draco as she sat up a bit. "I mean, it can't just be a giant dog that's protecting something that important. It could be traps and spells that are beyond that trapdoor that you saw, Harry; ones that Dumbledore or anybody else could have put in place. Like Dungeons and Dragons."

"You think there's a dragon guarding this Stone, too?" asked Draco, horrified. "Dear Merlin, where does Hagrid get these creatures from? Why are you laughing, Bones?" he snapped as Susan started laughing hard, clutching at her stomach. "This is serious if you think there's a dragon down there, too. What if it got loose in the school? It's probably in a worse mood than Fluffy is!"

"I'm sorry - it's just - Dungeons and Dragons, that's the name of Muggle game," explain Susan with an apologetic grin. "A role playing game. My Muggle-born cousin told me about it; you and a team make your way through these encounters, and you face these different challenges, like traps, booby traps, and sometimes monsters, like dragons. I just mean that I'll anticipate it'll be something like that."

"Oh yeah, I remember hearing about that game when I was really little," remarked Harry thoughtfully, trying not to smile at Draco's narrowed gaze. "My uncle hated it because there was magic in the game; he ranted on about it for hours one day. It makes sense, though, Susan," he went on before Draco start in on her. "I can't imagine Dumbledore just having a giant three-headed dog protecting something that important."

"Then, it's safe, right?" asked Neville. "We don't have to worry about it anymore?"

"No, because someone's trying to steal it," reminded Draco.

"And we need to make sure they don't get it," Harry put in as well.

"We? Why can't we just trust that the professors and the headmaster will protect it?" Neville questioned. "I mean, we're just a bunch of kids. We can't do anything."

"A bunch of kids who already found out that something was hidden on the third floor and what it was," Susan said. "Us, a bunch of first years who looked for the information in our spare time during the past four months. Now imagine what would happen if someone who was really determined to get it found out what we knew, and more. I'm not saying that we're going to put ourselves in danger," added Susan before Neville could speak up again, concern etched across his face. "But I think it's clear that we at least need to keep an eye on things. And if we think something going to happen, that we know someone is going to go after it, then we'll talk to an adult."

"So, we would be kind of like guards?" hesitantly asked Neville.

"Kind of, yeah," answered Susan with a shrug, glancing over at Draco and back at Harry. "If you guys are alright with it?"

"Sounds good to me," Draco said with his own shrug of the shoulders.

Harry nodded. "We'd be like scouts," he said. "Looking out for danger before it reaches the camp."

"Exactly," Susan agreed.

"Well, then," started Neville slowly, "I think we need to keep an eye on... on Professor Snape."

"What?" snapped Draco immediately, and Neville flinched at his sharp tone. "Why would you even say that?"

"Well, you remember we saw Snape heading towards the third floor on Halloween night," Neville reminded him with hesitation, clearly not wanting to anger the Slytherin again. "And Harry said he had a leg injury that he helped Madame Pomfrey take care of, probably from Fluffy."

"What?!" Draco turned his gaze towards Harry, who nodded in confirmation. "Well, that doesn't mean he's trying to steal the Stone -"

"But that doesn't mean we shouldn't ignore the possibility," put in Susan. "We should keep him on the list, just to be safe."

"...Fine, for now," relented Draco. "Anybody else we need to this list?"

The four students were silent, with Susan finally shaking her head and letting out a long sigh. "Not anybody at Hogwarts, at least. I can't imagine any of the other professors trying to get the Stone. Or Hagrid, since he's tried so hard to help protect it There must be at least one outside force at work here."

"Well, let's just keep an eye on it for now," said Harry, huffing and tilting back his head so it rested on Susan's hip, letting out a low groan. "By the Moon Mother, I ache. These Quidditch practices are taking a lot out of me."

"No rest for the wicked, sleepy head," Susan said with a grin as she gently whacked Harry on the shoulder, earning a dry cry of forced pain from her friend. "We've been doing research, the three of us, on Animagus forms. We found the potion that Neville had talked about before, the one that will give us a dream about our future forms."

"Tell him, Longbottom," said Draco, waving a hand at the boy.

"It's called the Visio Beluae, or Vision of the Beast Within," went on Neville. "It's not that complicated to make, and the ingredients themselves aren't complicated, save for the Sommnus plant, but not only do we need to gather all the ingredients, the directions are really clear; we have to make it under the light of a full moon and drink it before the moon starts to set that night. The potion won't work once the sunlight touches it. After we drink it, we'll fall asleep and receive a vision of what are animal forms are."

"That seems simple enough," agreed Harry, staring up at library ceiling. "So, since I guess we want to do this as soon as possible... when's the next full moon?"

"Two weeks - at the end of the month," replied Susan. "Doesn't give us much time to figure things out, but I think we can do it."

"It's also the day of the Quidditch match against Gryffindor," groaned Harry. "That's fantastic, not like I won't be busy enough already." He shook his head, clearing his thoughts. "So, we'll have to do this outside, probably in the Forbidden Forest. Good thing I don't need to drink this potion, I can watch over you all and make sure nothing happens. So... where do we get these Sommnus plant?"

"Like I said, getting the Sommnus plant is going to be the most difficult part of this potion," admitted Neville. "I thought I could get it from the garden, but when I asked Professor Sprout about it, she said that she usually has some growing, but she just harvested it recently and gave it all to Professor Snape since he makes all the potions for the school, which includes the Dreamless Sleep potion. And Sommnus is the main ingredient." He paused, and Harry could smell his brief moment of fear. "And I don't know how we're going to get it from him without him killing us."

"We can't just ask Snape for a cuppa like its sugar," Susan said dryly, earning a light slap on the leg from Harry as he continued to ponder.

"...I got it," Harry finally said. "Snape is supposed to referee the Quidditch match at the end of the month - meaning he'll be out of his office for at least a half hour at least before the game starts." He sat up, looking to his friends in turn. "Do you guys think you can get the Sommnus plant from his store room in that amount of time?"

"It won't be easy," Draco answered with a shake of his head. "But yes, we can do that. Or, should I say, I can do that. Snape trust me, and I'm allowed to enter his office when he's not around, which includes his store room. It won't' be guarded against me. So I can sneak it out while you two," he nodded to Neville and Susan, "watch out for anyone. How does that sound?"

"Works for me," replied Susan, and Neville nodded in agreement.

Laughter suddenly rang through the library, and Harry turned towards the sound, listening carefully as a far off but a familiar voice said, "Come on Granger - reach for it! Don't you want it?"

"Please, stop..."

"Make me."

Harry narrowed his eyes. "I know that voice," he growled.

Neville nodded with him. "Raven Labelle."


Authors Note: I'm so so sorry that this chapter is up late - I completely forgot all about it, with the busy week I've been having. (Seriously, as I type this I'm working on m final project, building a website. Fun times.) I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and hopefully, I'll remember that a new chapter goes up the first Friday of September!