The exams took on consecutively sunny days, that it was a wonder why one wasn't heavily distracted by the blue skies just outside the windows. Even with the sweltering heat that had accompanied it.

Her uniform had stuck to her body with sweat as they all brewed a Forgetfulness Potion for the Potions exam. Severus making everyone else nervous by breathing down their necks. Neville was especially jumpy at the back of the classroom, for he dropped his pestle when Severus came by his and Eridani's station.

During the practical Potions exam, Victoria could see that Harry was gritting his teeth beside her. As if he was in some sort of excruciating pain.

"It feels as if someone is stabbing my forehead," Harry had said when she asked once they were dismissed. "Keeps getting worse."

"You think it's related to…?" she had drifted off, as there would be no other possible explanation.

"I think so," Harry breathed. "I don't know how."

"The only thing I can come up with is if he might be getting stronger," Victoria pondered, as that could be the only explanation she could come up with.

With exams on their minds, Andrew, Hermione, and Ron were not worried about the Stone as she and Harry were. "It's safe as long as Dumbledore is here," Hermione had tried to assure. "I'm sure that Quirrell wouldn't try to find a way to get past Fluffy with him here."

Hermione wasn't wrong. Hogwarts was the safe all due to Dumbledore's presence. It wasn't breached during the Great Wizarding War. However, Victoria had a feeling that Quirrell might find a way to lure Dumbledore out of the castle.

Observing him, he was still nervous and jumpy. Still stuttering as ever. It was his underlying cheery mood that had caught her attention. And that had bothered her as if he was close to getting the Stone. Professor Quirrell was a Ravenclaw alumnus; there was no telling what he would do.

As they did their last exam, which was Defense Against the Dark Arts, it seemed that Quirrell kept checking the time with his pocket watch. Almost as if he was ready for them to be over with their examinations. That he couldn't wait for them to leave.

"I think he's going try to do it tonight," Victoria filled in Hermione and Harry in a hurried whisper as she met up with them outside. Andrew and Ron were both falling asleep under the tree the five of them were under. Not far from them, the Weasley twins and Lee Jordan were tickling the tentacles of a giant squid, which was basking in the warm shallows. "He seemed to be in a hurry for my class to finish with their exams."

"He might try," Hermione had vocalized, emphasizing the last word. "I mean, we don't know if he knows how to get past Fluffy yet."

The mere mention of Hagrid's three-headed dog had given Harry a look as if something had occurred to him. He had suddenly jumped to his feet.

"Where're you going?" said Ron sleepily.

"What is it?" asked Andrew as he roused.

"I've just thought of something," said Harry. He had turned white. "We've got to go and see Hagrid, now."

"Why?" panted Hermione, as she and Victoria were hurrying to keep up with Harry.

"Don't you think it's a bit odd," said Harry, 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's against wizard law? Lucky they found Hagrid, don't you think? Why didn't I see it before?"

It was something that Victoria had never thought of either. Never thought to consider the strangeness of it all. Hagrid acquiring the dragon egg had seemed so sudden and unrelated to what was going through their minds that she never thought to think about it either.

Lavinia trying to undermine her didn't help much.

"What are you talking about?" asked Ron, but Harry, who was sprinting across the bridge to Hagrid's hut, didn't 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 yer exams? Got time fer a drink?"

"Yes, please," said Andrew, 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," said Hagrid casually, "he wouldn' take his cloak off."

He saw the five 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..."

Victoria frowned. A dragon dealer wouldn't just happen to have a dragon egg on them. Nor would they give it to someone they had met in a pub.

"And did he - did he seem interested in Fluffy?" Harry asked. She could hear the quiver in his voice. As if he was trying hard to sound 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'?"

Victoria, Hermione, Andrew, Harry, and Ron 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 Harry breathlessly. "Hagrid told that stranger how to get past Fluffy, and it was either Quirrell or Voldemort under that cloak - it must've been easy, once he'd got Hagrid drunk. I just hope Dumbledore believes us."

"He's on the second floor," Victoria noted as she began to lead the way. "The stairs to his office is behind a stone gargoyle."

She paused at the question on their faces. All four of them possibly wondering how she could have known if they had never seen her go to his office. "I spoke with Dumbledore before I got my letter."

However, they didn't even get to the second floor. When they heard, "What are you five doing inside?"

It was Professor McGonagall, carrying a large pile of books.

"We want to see Professor Dumbledore," said Hermione.

Victoria thought it was an innocuous question. They possibly couldn't be the first students to ask for him. Professor McGonagall, however, narrowed her eyes. As if they were up to something fishy. "See Professor Dumbledore? Why?"

"Let's just say it's very important," Andrew had answered. "Something that he has to hear."

"I apologize, but Professor Dumbledore left ten minutes ago," she said. "He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and flew off for London at once. You can share it with me if it's that important."

"He's gone?" said Harry frantically. "Now?"

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

"But this is important, as Andrew said," Victoria interrupted. Not helping herself. "This is about the Philosopher's Stone."

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.

It was Harry that answered that question.

"Professor, I think - I know – that Qui – 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."

"Even the most barricaded of objects can still be breached, Professor," Victoria had stressed, balling her hands into her fists. Quirrell had found out how to get past Fluffy, and her father was this close to coming back. Even if she didn't know, Professor McGonagall should still know better not to let this slide.

"Miss Mulciber, I highly doubt that whoever is trying to steal it will get past the first barrier," she said as if trying to assure her. 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," Harry told them as Professor McGonagall was out of earshot. "And Quirrell does know how to get past Fluffy. He's going through the trap door 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-"

"Good afternoon."

The five of them wheeled around to see Severus towering over them. "Is there a reason why the five of you are inside? Everyone else is enjoying the nice weather."

"Um, erm –" Victoria had tried to say. She knew very well that she had broken her promise to stay away from Quirrell. What would he say if they were to find out that they knew about the Philosopher's Stone when they weren't supposed to?

"We were - " Harry began.

"You want to be more careful," said Severus. "Hanging around like this, people will think you're up to something. Good day to you."

He walked towards the direction of the staffroom.

"That was close," Ron breathed before looking at Victoria. "Thank Merlin that we're friends with you. Otherwise, he'd be more difficult."

"Right, here's what we've got to do," he whispered urgently. "One of us has got to keep an eye on Quirrell – stand outside his office. The rest of us will go outside the third-floor corridor."

"He's probably going to wait until everyone is to bed," Andrew pointed out as they go into an empty classroom, "unless you're into standing outside his office for hours."

Victoria looked at Harry. She wondered what he was thinking. What he was going to say. They already had run-ins with Severus and Professor McGonagall. They couldn't really afford it anymore.

"Well, that's it then, isn't it?" Harry said, nearly as pale as the Bloody Baron. His eyes glittering. "I'm going to try and get to the Stone first."

Victoria's mouth nearly fell open. Was he suggesting what she thought he was?

"You're mad!" said Ron.

"That is the only option we have," Andrew noted promise of adventure lighting up in his grey eyes.

"You can't!" said Hermione. "You'll be expelled!"

"SO WHAT" Harry shouted. "Don't you understand? If Quirrell 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 I get caught before I can get to the Stone, well, I'll have to go back to the Dursleys 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 say is going to stop me! Voldemort killed my parents, remember?"

He glared at them. Harry wasn't wrong. If Professor McGonagall wasn't going to take them seriously, and with Dumbledore gone what choice do they have. It's not like they could waltz up to Severus either.

"You're right, Harry," said Hermione in a small voice.

"I'll use the Invisibility Cloak," said Harry. "It's just lucky I got it back."

"But will it cover all five of us?" said Ron.

"All - all five of us?"

"Oh, come off it, you don't think we'd let you go alone?"

"Of course not," said Hermione briskly. "How do you think you'd get to the Stone without us? I'd better go and took through my books, there might be something useful..."

"I'll go see if I can go into Severus' office and snag from Sleeping Draught," Victoria offered. "To give it to the dog if we beat Quirrell. I'll stay outside the corridor disillusioned, and I'll get help if I feel that you've been gone too long."

"But if we get caught, you four will be expelled, too."

"Not if I can help it," said Hermione 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."

Stealing from Severus' office seemed easier said than done. He almost always locked his office when he was gone. And she didn't doubt that his lock was charmed so Alohomara would be fruitless. Victoria was sure that he was not the only teacher whose office locks were warded like that.

Hope was not in vain. Her heart had leaped in excitement as she was able to open the door without any trouble after turning the knob. Now, she thinks as she closes the door behind her. The pulse in her ears as she gazes at the shelves of bottled potions on the wall. Which one of them is it?

Severus would not be one to label his potions (he only did it for the potion bottles at home), for he excelled in the practice to the point of only seeing its color and sniffing it to see what it was. Something that he had taught her too.

The Sleeping Draught was a dark purple mixture. It had a lavender edge to it due to the lavender sprigs they would have to add to it. It didn't take long to find it, even if there was no label to it.

Victoria's heart was pounding hard in her chest as she left Severus' office with the potion she had stolen. Hoping to not look guilty as she walked down the hall.

"Why weren't you at dinner?" Eridani had asked when she had met up with her. "What did Lavinia do this time?"

"No, it's not about Lavinia." Then Victoria whispered. "Harry thinks that Quirrell lured Dumbledore out of the school. That he's going to get the Stone tonight."

Victoria didn't need to explain further, for Eridani seemed to figure it out. "Harry's not going after him, is he?" she quivered. Eyes wide. "He's going to get killed!"

"He's not going to be alone," Victoria pointed out.

Disillusioned, Victoria paces in front of the door to the third-floor corridor. Swallowing repeatedly and clenching, unclenching her hands.

They should be here by now, she thinks. Her pulse radiating in her ears and stomach. She pressed her ear against the door. Still hearing that deafening silence. Fluffy could have been sung to sleep, and she wouldn't even know it.

Come on, she thinks. Fluffy could be asleep by now, and who knows how far Quirrell had gone by that time.

"Vic," she hears Harry whisper. "We're here."

A fraction of the tension built up in here was released when she could hear that they were here. Even if she couldn't see them with that Invisibility Cloak.

"What took so long?" she asked in a whisper. "The four of you had me worried."

"Ran into trouble with Neville,' Hermione had answered under the Cloak. "I didn't like that I had to put a body-bind on him, but I had to."

"We ran into Peeves, too," Ron said. "He didn't see us, though and Harry did an bloody good impersonation of the Bloody Baron to get him away."

"Did you see anything?" asked Andrew.

"I saw the door close when I got here," she whispered. "I don't even hear anything. I think Fluffy is to sleep anyway."

"If we have known that, you shouldn't have gone through the trouble of stealing from Snape's office," said Ron.

In the form of an answer, she hands them the bottle. "Take it with you, just in case."

The bottle disappears under the cloak. "We're going in. If we're not out in five hours, call for help."

"I will," she said. "Now, go. Hurry."

Victoria steps aside as they go through the wooden door. Once it had closed shut with a click, she slid down the wall. Prying open her pocket watch with her shaking fingers. Swallowing hard as the hands moved along the dials.

Please, I hope he hasn't gotten the Stone, she thinks as the seconds' tick by. There was that horrifying possibility that Quirrell would be gone with the Stone by the time they get through the last barrier. That he'd be far away by the time Dumbledore had gotten back.

She – along with Hermione, Andrew, Harry, and Ron – would no doubtedly be expelled for not only being out of bed but breaching a corridor that was out of bounds. Severus would no doubt admonish her for breaking her word on not being near Quirrell. However, that was nothing when compared to when her father gets his body back.

He'll kill Harry first thing, and she didn't want to think what he'll do to her mother. To Andrew and Violet. To Uncle Remus. Victoria shivers from the thought of it. And what about her? Does he know she's trying to undermine him? That she's making sure that he doesn't come back?

He'd probably kill her, too for that.

They'd all be dead if Quirrell got what he wanted.

The minutes ticked by, and Victoria could have sworn that she had lived a fraction of her life.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tock. The mouse ran up the clock. Hickory dickory dock.

"Victoria?"

Victoria jumped and turned. The tension leaving her body when she sees it's Hermione, Andrew, and Ron.

"Where's Harry?" she whispered.

"He went alone," Hermione listened. "He wants us to go to the Owlery to contact Dumbledore."

Victoria didn't listen to the last part, for the first bit had caught her attention. "Wait, he's going down there alone?"

What if he gets killed? What if something terrible happens.

"He asked us to," Andrew answered. "Now, don't leave. Stay here and only run to us in case something happens."

Victoria didn't argue. In fact, she was more tempted to go down that trap door herself. To see if there was a way that she could help Harry. When she opened the door a crack, however, it was impossible.

No, she wasn't going to go down there with the dog awake. But Harry was down there, in possible danger. He could –

At that moment, she suddenly no longer blended in with the surroundings. She jumped and was about to see who it was when she heard the headmaster prompt, "Step aside, Victoria."

Her pulse radiated through her body, and she clenched her clammy hands as she watched Professor Dumbledore run through the doorway.