AN: Well, it looks like I'm almost done with this. The last chapter should be up sometime this week. I've decided that I'm going to skip over COS and POA and go straight to GOF for the next one. Anyways, I hope that anyone who reads this enjoys it.

The Trapdoor

By the time exams rolled around it was pleasantly warm outside. Selena spent much of her free time out in the courtyard revising with Terry and the rest of the first year Ravenclaws. She saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione rarely. When she did see them it was brief, so they had no time to discuss Snape, Voldermort, or the Philosopher's Stone.

Exams took place over the span of three days. Every morning after breakfast the first-year students would make their way out of the Great Hall and into the Examination Room which was uncomfortably hot. Each student took a seat at one of the many desks in the large room and was handed a copy of the test and a quill enchanted with an anti-cheating spell.

Three of the subjects- Charms, Transfiguration, and Potions- had a practical exam. After the written portion they were led to the subject's classroom where they waited outside for their name to be called. For Charms, Professor Flitwick had them enchant a pineapple to dance across the desk. Despite her nervousness Selena managed to get it across with only minor hiccups. Professor Flitwick seemed pleased and she left the classroom with more confidence than she had entered with.

In Professor McGonagall's class she had to transfigure a mouse into a snuff box. The Professor laid a white mouse on the desk in front of her. After a great deal of concentration she managed to turn it into a little snuff box of the same color. It wasn't very detailed but retained no mousy characteristics.

Potions was the worst of the practical exams. Although it wasn't Selena's worst subject she had a difficult time brewing a forgetfulness potion. Snape's mere presence made her nervous. Him watching intently over her shoulder lit her nerves on fire. Her potion turned out a few shades lighter than it should have and she practically ran from the room after Snape poured it into the grading vial.

Over the course of the exam days Selena noticed Harry looking more tired every day. There was not a doubt in her mind that he was plagued by thoughts of what he saw that night in the Forbidden Forest. She also noticed him rubbing at his forehead an awful lot.

After the final exam, History of Magic, Selena told Terry that she would see him later and headed off after the trio of Gryffindors. She caught up with them and they quickly made their way down the grounds. They sat down under a shady tree near the shore of the black lake. Nearby the Weasley twins were wading in the shallows poking at the giant squid with a skinny tree branch.

"No more revision," Ron said stretching his arms out above him and yawning. "You could look more cheerful, Harry," He noted. "We've got a week before we find out how badly we've done, there's no need to worry yet."

Harry didn't respond. He buried his face in his hands. Selena, Ron, and Hermione looked at each other in stunned silence. "Harry?" Selena asked, scooting closer to him. She placed a hand on his shoulder and frowned.

"I wish I knew what this meant!" He shouted suddenly. His voice was full of frustration. "My scar keeps hurting – it's happened before, but never as often as this."

Selena felt a pang of nervousness ring out through her body. She quickly pulled her arm away from his shoulder and stared at a particularly dewy blade of grass. Thoughts raced through her head. What could this all mean? Surely it had to do with Voldemort. After all, he was the reason Harry had the scar. What if it could sense when he was near? They would all be in terrible-

Her thoughts were interrupted by Hermione. "You should go to Madam Pomfrey," Hermione suggested sensibly.

Harry shook his head adamantly, "I'm not ill. I think it's a warning… something dangerous is coming."

"Harry, relax, Hermione's right," Ron added in support of Hermione. "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 Neville will play Quidditch for England before Hagrid lets Dumbledore down."

Harry nodded feebly. Selena knew their words did nothing to quell his thoughts. She remained silent. Harry knew something was wrong and nothing any of them said or did would change that. She also agreed with him, but what good would it do to argue?

Hermione swiftly changed the subject of conversation to exams. She was halfway through a story about waking up in the middle of the night to study for a test she'd forgotten they had already taken when Harry stood up abruptly.

"Harry?" Selena asked, confused. "What are you doing?"

"I've just thought of something," He answered breathlessly. "We've got to go see Hagrid."

They all leaped up from the ground and followed him as he feverishly jogged towards Hagrid's hut.

"Why?" Hermione asked, trying to catch her breath.

"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?"

Realization dawned on Selena's face. Of course, she had always found that bit odd, but in all the fuss surrounding Nobert, the thought had escaped her.

Hagrid was sitting in a chair with his sleeves and trousers rolled up outside his hut whittling some wood. "Hullo," He greeted a bright smile adorning his face. "Finished with yer exams, are ya? Got time for a drink?"

"Yes please," Ron responded.

But Harry cut him 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 shrugged. "He wouldn' take his cloak off."

Harry looked back at the three of them and raised his eyebrow. Selena nodded encouraging him to carry on with this line of questioning.

Hagrid must have noticed the looks on their faces because he began to elaborate, "It's not that unusual, yeh get a lot o' funny folk in the Hog's Head – that's one of the pubs down in the village. Mighta bin a dragon dealer, mightn' he? I never saw his face, he kept his hood up."

"What did you talk to him about, Hagrid? Did you mention Hogwarts at all?" Harry pressed on unaffected by Hagrid's explanation.

'Mighta come up… Yeah … he asked what I did, an' I told him I was gamekeeper here … He asked a bit about the sorta creatures I look 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?" Harry asked with poorly concealed excitement.

"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 stopped mid sentence. A guilty and shocked expression took over his face. "I shouldn'ta told yeh that! Forget I said it! Hey – where're yeh goin'?"

They rushed up the grounds to the castle. Hagrid had accidentally given crucial information to the person after the person after the stone. Once in the entrance hall, they paused to discuss the situation. "We've got to go to Dumbledore," Harry 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 if Bane doesn't stop him. Where's Dumbledore's office?"

They all stood in place surveying the hall. Selena hadn't the foggiest idea as to where it might be. David! David might know. He's a prefect. Before she could propose the idea an authoritative voice cut through the tension, "What are you all doing inside?"

They all jumped. It was Professor McGonagall who was striding toward them carrying a stack of books.

"We want to see Professor Dumbledore," Hermione answered. Selena couldn't decide if that was a brave or stupid thing to say.

"See Professor Dumbledore?"She echoed her voice dripping with suspicion. "Why?" She asked, narrowing her cat-like eyes.

Selena looked towards Harry. His jaw was tense. "Well…" He started unconfidently. "It's sort of a secret."

She and Hermione shared a nervous look. Professor McGonagall's expression grew angry. "Professor Dumbledore left ten minutes ago. He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and flew off for London at once." She informed them in a sharp voice.

"He's gone?" Harry sputtered nervously. "Now?"

'Professor Dumbledore is a very great wizard, Potter, he has many demands on his time–"

"But this is important," Harry cut her off.

"Something you have to say is more important than the Ministry of Magic, Potter?" She asked, inclining her head towards him and raising her eyebrow.

"Look Professor – it's about the Philosopher's Stone –"

She dropped the books she was carrying. "How do you know –?"

"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."

"Professor Dumbledore will be back tomorrow," she assured him. '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 cut him off before leaning down to collect the fallen books. "I suggest you all go back outside and enjoy the sunshine."

It was more of an instruction than a suggestion but they ignored it nonetheless. They watched her disappear down the hall before continuing their discussion. "It's tonight," Harry announced confidently. "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 –" Selena started but she was cut off by Hermione gasping.

Another teacher interrupted them- the absolute last teacher they would want to interrupt this particular conversation.

"Good Afternoon," He greeted coolly. "You shouldn't be inside on a day like this."

They all stood frozen for a few moments. They were too surprised to formulate a sentence. Selena looked around at their faces. Harry and Hermione looked very pale and Ron looked very red. "Ron was feeling a little hot so we came inside to cool down," She explained.

Snape didn't seem like he believed it. "You want to be more careful," He said. "Hanging around like this, people will think you're up to something. And Gryffindor really can't afford to lose any more points, can they?"

They all turned around and scurried off to the grounds. "Be warned, Potter –" He called out. "Any more night-time wanderings and I will personally make sure you are expelled. Good day to you."

Once outside, Harry began to furiously whisper a plan, "'Right, here's what we've got to do,' he 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. Hermione and Selena, you two better do that."

"Why us?" Hermione asked frustratedly.

"'It's obvious,' said Ron. "You can pretend to be waiting for Professor Flitwick, you know," Ron heightened the pitch of his voice "Oh Professor Flitwick, I'm so worried, I think I got question fourteen b wrong …"

"Oh, shut up," She murmured.

"We'll do it," Selena said.

"Great," Harry said. "Ron and I'll wait outside the third-floor corridor." He grabbed Ron's arm and headed off towards the door.

"I guess we'd better head off too," Selena said to Hermione. The girls headed off to the staff room in silence. Neither of them wanted to speak. In many ways, their job was much more difficult than Harry and Ron's. They had to deal with whatever teacher came out the door and they had to make up a question to ask Flitwick.

They stopped in front of the staff room and stood expectantly by the door. They waited a few minutes in painful silence before the door creaked open. They jumped at the sight of black. It was Professor Snape. They looked at each other nervously.

"What?" He asked venomously, "do you need?"

"We- well we-" Selena stuttered. Her cheeks were flushed.

"We were wondering if we could see Professor Flitwick. We wanted to ask him something about our exams." Hermione finished.

"He's not here. I'll go get him for you." He glided down the hall in the direction opposite the third-floor corridor and disappeared around a corner.

"What are we going to do?" Hermione whispered in a panicked voice.

"You go," Selena said. "Head back to the common room. Ravenclaw can stand to lose a few points. Gryffindor can't"

Hermione dashed down the hall leaving Selena standing alone. Her nerves were on fire but she stayed put. Someone had to keep an eye out for Snape.

She waited impatiently for his return, but before he returned the door opened again. It was Professor Quirrel. He ignored her presence which Selena found rather suspicious and walked rather purposely down the corridor. Unlike Snape, he headed in the direction of the corridor.

Selena got the strange sense that she should follow him, so she did. She remained far behind but just close enough to watch where he was going. She followed him down the corridor up the stairs, down another corridor, up another flight of stairs, until she realized in horror that he was heading exactly where they had expected Snape to go. She watched him open the door to the third-floor corridor.

Selena immediately wheeled around and took off running to the Gryffindor common room. She couldn't believe it. After all the evidence had added up Snape had looked guilty. They had been wrong.

She was only a few corridors away when she stopped dead in her tracks. Standing at the top of the stairs was Mrs. Norris. She froze trying to think of another way to get there. As soon as she so much as moved her front paw forward, Selena took off running in the opposite direction. She went flying down the nearest corridor. Maybe she could outrun Mrs. Norris and tell Terry in the Ravenclaw common room- She bumped into someone.

"Professor Snape!"

"My office, now!" He snapped, grabbing her by the sleeve and dragging her down the corridor.

"Wait, Professor! Professor, please! Please, I have to warn them! Please!" She pleaded.

"WHAT?" He dropped her wrist and yelled. His dark eyes narrowed in anger. She felt terrified under his gaze. "What is it?"

"It's Professor Quirrel! He's after the stone."