Chapter 38 - Through the Trapdoor
People in this Chapter.
Lewis James Potter, Harry James Potter, Ronald Weasley, Minerva McGonagall, Neville Longbottom
In years to come, Harry would never quite remember how he had managed to get through his exams when he half expected Voldemort to come bursting through the door at any moment. Yet the days crept by, and because of Lewis's check-in with Fluffy they know he was still alive and well.
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 tap dance 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. Black was watching them
while they tried to remember how to make a Forgetfulness potion.
Lewis did the best he could,
trying to ignore the stabbing pains in his forehead,
which had been bothering him ever since his trip into the forest. Neville thought Lewis had a bad case of exam nerves because Lewis could not sleep, but the truth was that Lewis kept being woken by his old nightmare, except that it was now worse than ever because there was a hooded figure
dripping blood in it.
Maybe it was because they had not seen what Lewis had seen in the forest, or because they did not have scars burning on their foreheads, but Brotherhood did not seem as worried about the Stone as Lewis. The idea of Voldemort certainly scared them, but he did not keep visiting them in dreams,
and they were so busy with their studying they didn't have much time to fret about what anyone else might be up to.
Their very last exam was History of Magic.
One hour of answering questions about batty old wizards who had invented self-stirring cauldrons and they would 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,
Harry could not help cheering with the rest.
The Brotherhood started showing up in the HQ.
Lewis, Harry, Ron, and Neville where setting on the Couch and Sapphira was setting on the couch with his head on Lewis's lap.
Fred and George were playing board games
on one of the tables.
"No more studying," Ron sighed happily, stretching out
on the couch leaning agent Lewis. "You could look more cheerful, Lewis, we've got a week before we find out how badly we've done, there's no need to worry yet."
Lewis was rubbing his forehead. "Wish I knew what this means!" he burst out angrily. "My scar keeps hurting - it's happened before, but never as often as this."
"Go to Doctor Robert," Hermione suggested.
"I'm not ill," said Lewis. "I think it's a warning...
it means danger's coming..."
"How bad is your scar hearing?" Asked Harry.
"A twenty five out of ten." Said Lewis.
"Mine only hurt a little maybe a one out of ten." Said Harry.
"But not often."
"Because I am taking you pain away.
Does not always work perfectly when the pain is over ten."
Said Lewis.
"You know you don't have to." Said Harry hugging his twin.
"That why you pain got so bad in the Dark Arts Classroom,
when I lost conscious, I lost control of the pain management spell, but regained it." Said Lewis.
"Harry, relax, the Stone's safe as long as Dumbledore's around. Anyway, we have never had any proof Snape found out how to get past Fluffy. He nearly had his leg ripped off once,
he is not going to try it again in a hurry.
And Nev will play Quidditch for England before Hagrid lets Dumbledore down." Said Ron. "No offence Nev."
"I know I am a disaster on a broom." Said Neville.
The twins nodded, but they could not shake off a lurking feeling that there was something he had forgotten to do,
something important. When they tried to explain this the twins were quite sure the unsettled feeling did not have anything to do with work, though. He 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 them letters.
Hagrid would never betray Dumbledore. Hagrid would never tell anyone how to get past Fluffy... never... but the twins suddenly jumped to their feet.
"Where're you going?" said Ron sleepily.
"I've just thought of something," said Lewis.
They had turned white.
"We've got to go and see Hagrid, now." Said Harry.
"Why?" panted Ron, hurrying to keep up.
"Don't you think it's a bit odd," said Lewis, 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 is against wizard law?
Lucky they found Hagrid, don't you think?
Why didn't I see it before?"
"What are you talking about?" said Ron, but the twins, sprinting across the grounds toward the forest, did not 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 your exams?
Got time fer a drink?"
"Yes, please," said Ron, but Harry cut him off.
"No, we're in a hurry. Hagrid" Said Harry.
"We've got to ask you something.
You know that night you won Sapphira?
What did the stranger you were playing cards with look like?"
Asked Lewis. "This is important."
"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 - 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."
Harry 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," 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?"
Lewis asked, trying to keep his 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!" he blurted out. "Forget I said it! Hey -where're yeh goin'?"
"I fluffy likes me, I did not need that." Said Lewis.
They 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," said Lewis.
"Hagrid said 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. "
"What are you three doing inside?" Said Minerva,
carrying a large pile of books.
"Professor, we go to school here, this is our school,
We want to see Professor Dumbledore," said Lewis.
"See Professor Dumbledore?" Minerva repeated,
as though this was a very fishy thing to want to do. "Why?"
"He is our headmaster, is there a rule agent talking to him?
We need to talk to him." Said Lewis.
"Professor Dumbledore left ten minutes ago,"
Minerva said coldly. "He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and flew off for London at once."
"He's gone?" said Harry frantically. "Now?"
"Professor Dumbledore is a very great wizard, Potter,
he has many demands on his time." Said Minerva.
"But this is important." Said Lewis.
"Something you have to say is more important than the
Ministry of Magic, Potter." Said Minerva.
"Right now, yes, yes, it is." Said Lewis. "It is about a certain stone that extends life and makes gold and brings back the dead and a certain Dark Lord want it back."
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.
Harry and Ron started gathering the books and papers.
"Professor, I know that someone's going to try
and steal the Stone. I've got to talk to Professor Dumbledore."
She eyed him 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." Said Minerva.
"But Professor, it will happen." Said Lewis.
"Someone tricked him to be off campus."
"Potter, I know what I'm talking about," she said shortly.
She took her books. "I suggest you all go back outside
and enjoy the sunshine."
But they didn't.
"It's tonight," said Harry, once he 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…" Said Lewis.
"We were…" Harry began, without any idea
what he was going to say.
"You want to be more careful," said Filch.
"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?"
Harry flushed. They turned to go outside,
but Filch 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 staffroom.
Connecting to all members of the Brotherhood.
'Brotherhood, we need help. Here's what we've got to do,' Lewis through to the group. 'The Brotherhood need to pear up and patrol the school to keep an eye out for Snape and Quirrell.
Also need to keep an eye on the third-floor hall.'
Lewis and Ron sat on the steeps heading to the third-floor hallway and they were looking at a book together when,
"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 Gryffindor! Yes, Weasley, from my own house!"
"Professor we are just setting looking at a book,
there no rules agent that." Said Lewis.
"True Potter but I am telling you to either go outside or your common room." Said Minerva.
Lewis connected to Ron, 'Ask her about your exam and draw it out for me to put a bug in position.'
While Lewis put a bug spell out.
Ron asked, "Professor would like to ask how I did on my exams?"
She said, "Weasley you passed. Now go to your common room."
Lewis said, "That good, I know I passed."
And then they held hands and walked upstairs.
They got into the HQ. "Well, that's it then, isn't it?"
Lewis said. The other two stared at him.
He was pale and looked as if something was getting to him.
"I'm going out of here tonight and I'm going to try and get to the Stone first." Said Lewis.
"You're mad!" said Ron.
"You can't!" said Harry. "After what McGonagall have said? You'll be expelled!"
"SO, WHAT" Lewis shouted. "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 will not be any Hogwarts to get expelled from! He will flatten it or turn it into a school
for the Dark Arts! Losing points does not matter anymore,
can't you see? D'you think he'll leave you and your families alone if Gryffindor wins the house cup?"
"If I get caught before I can get to the Stone, well,
I'll have to go live on the streets and wait for Voldemort to find me there, 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 two say is going to stop me! Voldemort killed my parents, remember?" Lewis glared at them.
"I guess mine are at home then?" Said Harry.
"I'll use the invisibility cloak," said Lewis.
"It's just lucky we got it back."
"But will it cover all three of us?" said Ron.
"All - all three of us?" Asked Lewis.
"Oh, come off it, you don't think we'd let
you go alone?" Said Harry.
"Of course not," said Ron. "How do you think you'd get to the Stone without us?"
"But if we get caught, you two will be expelled, too." Said Lewis.
"Not if I can help it," said Ron.
Hermione was reading a book them she realized the rest of the house no longer staying away from the Potter twins or Ron.
Harry, Lewis, and Ron didn't talk much. They were thinking about what they were about to do.
Slowly, the room emptied as people drifted off to bed.
Hermione went and asked, "Why is no one mad at you?
You lost of two hundred points."
"Some people can forgive." Said Ron.
Lewis disappeared while they were distracted.
"Two hundred points." Said Hermione.
"Good night, but your mad at us let us go and fell shame in a corner somewhere." Said Ron and she left.
"Better get the cloak."
Harry ran upstairs to their dark dormitory.
He looked around to get the cloak but could not find it.
He ran back down to the common room.
"We'd better put the cloak on here, and make sure it covers all three of us - if Filch spots one of our feet wandering along on its own…" Started Ron.
"It is missing." Said Harry.
"What?" Said Ron.
"He went and hide it and made a run for it." Said Harry.
"What are you doing?" said a voice from the corner of the room. Neville appeared from behind an armchair.
"Neville you know what we are doing," said Harry,
"Lewis is already out there we got to protect him."
"Why don't you go to bed Nev?" Said Harry.
"You can't go out," said Neville, "Without me."
They did not meet anyone else until they reached the staircase up to the third floor. Peeves was bobbing halfway up,
loosening the carpet so that people would trip.
"Who's there?" he said suddenly as they climbed toward him. He narrowed his wicked black eyes. "Know you're there,
even if I can't see you. Are you ghoulie or ghosted or wee student beastie?"
He rose in the air and floated there,
squinting at them. "Should call Filch, I should,
if something's a-creeping around unseen."
Neville had a sudden idea. "Peeves," he said, in a hoarse whisper, "The Bloody Baron has his own reasons for being invisible."
Peeves almost fell out of the air in shock.
He caught himself in time and hovered about
a foot off the stairs. "So sorry, your bloodiness,
Mr. Baron, Sir," he said greasily. "My mistake, my mistake -
I didn't see you - of course I didn't, you're invisible -
forgive old Peevsie his little joke, sir."
"I have business here, Peeves," croaked Harry.
"Stay away from this place tonight."
"I will, sir, I most certainly will," said Peeves,
rising in the air again. "Hope your business goes well,
Baron, I'll not bother you." And he scooted off.
"Brilliant, Nev!" whispered Harry.
A few seconds later, they were there, outside the third-floor corridor. They made a run for the third floor,
they got to the door of fluffy room.
They tried to open the door, but it was locked,
Harry tried the unlock spell and nothing.
"Lewis is already in there." Said Harry.
"Get over here I have a plan." Said Ron connected to Fluffy,
and through to him, 'Did Lewis come through here?'
They head growl, 'He did.' Through Fluffy.
'The door locked, and we can't unlock it.' Said Ron.
'I can fix it, save him.' Said Fluffy.
The door swung open and fell of the henges.
Fluffy was setting there staring at the three.
They walked over to the trapdoor. There was no sign of the bottom. Harry lowered himself through the hole until he was hanging on by his fingertips. Then he looked up at Ron and said, "If anything happens to me, don't follow.
Go straight to the HQ and send an owl to Dumbledore, right?"
"Right," said Ron.
"See you two in a minute, I hope..." Said Harry.
And Harry let go. Cold, damp air rushed past him as he fell, down, down and - FLUMP. With a funny, muffled sort of thump he landed on something soft. He sat up and felt around,
his eyes not used to the gloom. It felt as though he was sitting on some sort of plant.
"It's okay!" he called up to the light the size of a postage stamp, which was the open trapdoor, "it's a soft landing,
you can jump!"
Ron followed right away. He landed, sprawled next to Harry.
"What's this stuff?" were Ron's first words.
"Dunno, some sort of plant thing. I suppose it is here to break the fall. Come on, Neville!" Said Harry.
Neville had already jumped. He landed on Harry's other side.
"We must be miles under the school." Harry said.
"Lucky this plant thing's here, really," said Ron.
"Lucky!" Said Neville "Look at you both!"
Neville leapt up and struggled toward a damp wall.
He had to struggle because the moment he had landed,
the plant had started to twist snakelike tendrils around his ankles. As for Harry and Ron, their legs had already been bound tightly in long creepers without their noticing.
Neville was panicking started to get a firm grip on him.
Now he watched in horror as the two boys fought to pull the plant off them, but the more they strained against it,
the tighter and faster the plant wound around them.
Ron, leaning back, trying to stop the plant from curling around his neck. "Shut up, I'm trying to remember how to kill it!"
Said Neville.
"Well, hurry up, I can't breathe!" Harry gasped,
wrestling with it as it curled around his chest.
"Devil's Snare, Devil's Snare... what did Professor Sprout say?
Sorry I can't think at the min." Said Neville.
In a matter of seconds, the three boys felt it loosening its grip as it cringed away from the light.
Wriggling and flailing, it unraveled itself from their bodies,
and they were able to pull free.
"What happened," said Harry as they got by the wall,
wiping sweat off his face.
"Yeah," said Ron, "what happened."
"Guys what are you doing?" Said Lewis and they spun.
"I snuck down here to deal with this.
You guys should not be here, but if I send you back
you just want stay there will you."
"No." They said.
"This way," said Lewis, pointing down a stone passageway,
which was the only way forward. "If I keep an eye on you guys at least I know you safe."
All they could hear apart from their footsteps was the gentle drip of water trickling down the walls.
The passageway sloped downward, and the twins was reminded of Gringotts. With an unpleasant jolt of the heart,
he remembered the dragons said to be guarding vaults in the wizards' bank. If they met a dragon, a fully-grown dragon - Norbert had been bad enough...
"Can you hear something?" Ron whispered.
Harry listened. A soft rustling and clinking seemed to be coming from up ahead.
"Do you think it's a ghost?" Said Ron.
"No, their wings." Said Lewis.
"There's light ahead - I can see something moving."
They reached the end of the passageway and saw before them a brilliantly lit chamber, its ceiling arching high above them.
It was full of small, jewel-bright birds, fluttering and tumbling all around the room. On the opposite side of the chamber was a heavy wooden door.
"Do you think they'll attack us if we cross the room?" said Ron.
"Probably," said Harry. "They don't look very vicious,
but I suppose if they all swooped down at once...
well, there's no other choice... I'll run."
"No, they're not going to I was already in here when I heard you guys." Said Lewis.
They walked over pulled the handle, but it was locked.
They tugged and heaved at the door, but it would not budge,
not even when Lewis tried her Alohomora charm.
"Now what?" said Ron.
"These birds... they can't be here just for decoration,"
said Harry. They watched the birds soaring overhead,
glittering - glittering?
"They're not birds!" Lewis said suddenly. "They're keys! Winged keys - look carefully. So that must mean..." he looked around the chamber while the other two squinted up at the flock of keys. "... yes - look! Broomsticks!
We've got to catch the key to the door! Like a seeker."
"But there are hundreds of them!" Said Ron.
Ron examined the lock on the door. "We're looking for a big, old-fashioned one - probably silver, like the handle."
They each seized a broomstick and kicked off into the air, soaring into the midst of the cloud of keys.
They grabbed and snatched, but the bewitched keys darted and dived so quickly it was almost impossible to catch one.
Not for nothing, though, was Lewis the youngest Seeker in a century. He had a knack for spotting things other people didn't. After a minute's weaving about through the whirl of rainbow feathers, he noticed a large silver key that had a bent wing,
as if it had already been caught and stuffed
roughly into the keyhole.
"That one!" Lewis called to the others.
"That big one - there - no, there - with bright blue wings - the feathers are all crumpled on one side."
Ron went speeding in the direction that Harry was pointing, crashed into the ceiling, and nearly fell off his broom.
"We've got to close in on it!" Harry called, not taking his eyes off the key with the damaged wing. "Ron, you come at it from above - Harry, stay below and stop it from going down and Lewis try and catch it. Right, NOW!"
Ron dived, Harry rocketed upward, the key dodged them both, and Lewis streaked after it; it sped toward the wall,
Lewis leaned forward and with a nasty, crunching noise, pinned it against the stone with one hand.
Ron, Nev, and Harry's cheers echoed around the high chamber.
They landed quickly, and Lewis ran to the door,
the key struggling in his hand. He rammed it into the lock and turned - it worked. The moment the lock had clicked open,
the key took flight again, looking very battered now that it had been caught twice.
"Ready?" Lewis asked the other two,
his hand on the door handle.
They nodded. He pulled the door open.
The next chamber was so dark they could not see
anything at all. But as they stepped into it,
light suddenly flooded the room to reveal an astonishing sight.
They were standing on the edge of a huge chessboard,
behind the black chessmen, which were all taller than they were and carved from what looked like black stone. Facing them,
way across the chamber, were the white pieces. They shivered slightly - the towering white chessmen had no faces.
"Now what do we do?" Neville whispered.
"It's obvious, isn't it?" said Ron. "We've got to play."
Behind the white pieces they could see another door.
"How?" said Harry nervously.
"I think," said Ron, "we're going to have to be chessmen."
He walked up to a black knight and put his hand out to touch the knight's horse. At once, the stone sprang to life.
The horse pawed the ground, and the knight turned his helmeted head to look down at Ron.
"Do we - er - have to join you to get across?"
The black knight nodded. Ron turned to the other two.
"This needs thinking about he said. I suppose we've got to take the place of four of the black pieces..."
Harry and Neville stayed quiet, watching Ron think.
"Ron you are the best chest player, guess it good you guys came,
you got to lead us through here." Said Lewis.
Ron hugged Lewis and he said, "Now, don't be offended or anything, but none of you are that good at chess -"
"We're not offended," said Harry quickly.
"Just tell us what to do."
"Well, Harry, you take the place of that bishop,
and Lewis, Your next to him instead of that castle."
"What about you?" Asked Lewis.
"I'm going to be a knight," said Ron. "Nev the other bishop."
The chessmen seemed to have been listening,
because at these words a knight, both bishops,
and a castle turned their backs on the white pieces and walked off the board, leaving four empty squares that Harry, Ron,
and Lewis took.
"White always plays first in chess," said Ron, peering across the board. "Yes... look..."
A white pawn had moved forward two squares.
Ron started to direct the black pieces.
They moved silently wherever he sent them.
Harry's knees were trembling. What if they lost?
"Harry - move diagonally four squares to the right."
Their first real shock came when their other knight was taken. The white queen smashed it to the floor and dragged him off the board, where he lay quite still, facedown.
"Had to let that happen," said Ron, looking shaken.
"Leaves you free to take that bishop, Lewis, go on."
Every time one of their men was lost, the white pieces showed no mercy. Soon there was a huddle of limp black players slumped along the wall. Twice, Ron only just noticed in time that Harry and Lewis were in danger. He himself darted around the board, taking almost as many white pieces as they had lost black ones.
"We're nearly there," Ron muttered suddenly. "Let me think let me think..." The white queen turned her blank face toward him.
"Yes..." said Ron softly, "It's the only way...
I've got to be taken."
"NO," They all shouted.
"That's chess!" snapped Ron. "You've got to make some sacrifices! I take one step forward and she'll take me - that leaves you free to checkmate the king, Harry!"
"But -" Said Ron.
"Do you want to stop Snape or not?" Said Ron.
"Ron -" Said Lewis.
"Look, if you don't hurry up, he'll already have the Stone!"
Said Harry. There was no alternative.
"Ready?" Ron called, his face pale but determined.
"Here I go - now, don't hang around once you've won."
He stepped forward, and the white queen pounced.
She struck Ron hard across the head with her stone arm,
and he crashed to the floor – Lewis screamed but stayed on his square - the white queen dragged Ron to one side.
He looked as if he had been knocked out. Shaking,
Harry moved three spaces to the left. The white king took off his crown and threw it at Harry's feet. They had won.
The chessmen parted and bowed, leaving the door ahead clear. With one last desperate look back at Ron,
Harry and Lewis waited a second. "Nev I need you to do something very important."
"You need me to get Ron to safety and to the
Boy's Hospital Wing." Said Neville.
"Sure." Said Neville run back to Ron.
"What if he's -?" Said Lewis.
"He'll be all right, Neville will get him to safety." said Harry, trying to convince himself. "What do you reckon next?"
"We've had Sprout's, that was the Devil's Snare;
Flitwick must've put charms on the keys;
McGonagall transfigured the chessmen to make them alive;
that leaves Quirrell's spell, and Snape's."
Said Lewis, as they had reached another door.
"All right?" Harry whispered.
"Go on." Harry pushed it open.
A disgusting smell filled their nostrils, making both of them pull their robes up over their noses. Eye's watering, they saw,
flat on the floor in front of them, a troll even larger than the one they had tackled, out cold with a bloody lump on its head.
"I'm glad we didn't have to fight that one,"
Harry whispered as they stepped carefully over one of its massive legs. "Come on, I can't breathe."
He pulled open the next door, both of them hardly daring to look at what came next - but there was nothing very frightening in here, just a table with seven differently shaped bottles standing on it in a line.
"Snape's," said Harry. "What do we have to do?"
They stepped over the threshold, and immediately a fire sprang up behind them in the doorway. It was not ordinary fire either; it was purple. At the same instant, black flames shot up in the doorway leading onward. They were trapped.
"Look!" Said Lewis seized a roll of paper lying next to the bottles. Harry looked over her shoulder to read it:
Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,
Two of us will help you, whichever you would find,
One among us seven will let you move ahead,
Another will transport the drinker back instead,
Two among our number hold only nettle wine,
Three of us are killers, waiting bidden in line.
Choose, unless you wish to stay here forevermore,
To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:
First, however slyly the poison tries to hide
You will always find some on nettle wine's left side;
Second, different are those who stand at either end,
But if you would move onward, neither is your friend;
Third, as you see clearly, all are different size,
Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides;
Fourth, the second left and the second on the right
Are twins once you taste, though different at first right.
Lewis let out a great sigh and Harry, amazed,
saw that she was smiling, the very last thing he felt like doing.
"Brilliant," said Lewis. "This isn't magic - it's logic - a puzzle. A lot of the greatest wizards haven't got an ounce of logic, they'd be stuck in here forever."
"But so, will we, won't we?" Said Harry.
"Of course not," said Lewis. "Everything is here on this paper. Seven bottles: three are poison;
two are wine; one will get us through the black fire,
and one will get us back through the purple." Said Lewis.
"But how do we know which to drink?" Asked Harry.
"Give me a minute." Said Lewis and read the paper several times. Then he walked up and down the line of bottles,
muttering to herself and pointing at them.
At last, he clapped her hands. "Got it,"
he said. "The smallest bottle will get us through the black fire - toward the Stone."
Harry looked at the tiny bottle. "There's only enough there for one of us," he said. "That's hardly one swallow."
Lewis grabbed it.
"Which one will get back through the purple flames?"
Said Harry. Lewis pointed at a rounded bottle at the
right end of the line.
"You drink that," said Harry. "No, listen, get back and get Ron. Grab brooms from the flying key room, they will get you out of the trapdoor - go straight to the owlery and send Hedwig to
Dumbledore, we need him. I might be able to hold Snape off for a while, but I'm no match for him, really." Said Harry.
"No, you Harry I need you to go back and check on Ron and Nev.
I was lucky once, wasn't I, I was hit by the spell?"
said Lewis, pointing at his scar. "I might get lucky again."
Harry suddenly dashed at Lewis and threw his arms around him.
"Are you sure which is which?" Asked Harry.
"Positive," said Lewis. Harry took a long drink from the round bottle at the end and shuddered.
"It's not poison?" Asked Lewis anxiously.
"No - but it's like ice." Said Harry.
"Quick, go, before it wears off." Said Lewis.
"Good luck - take care." Said Harry.
"GO!" Said Lewis. Harry turned and walked straight
through the purple fire. Lewis took a deep breath and picked up the smallest bottle. He turned to face the black flames.
He drained the little bottle in one gulp. It was indeed as though ice was flooding his body. He put the bottle down and walked forward; saw the black flames licking his body,
but couldn't feel them - for a moment he could see nothing but dark fire - then he was on the other side,
in the last chamber. There was already someone there - but it wasn't Snape. It wasn't even Voldemort.
pg. 24