Chapter 11: Through the Trap Door - Part One

Blaise and Millie's apathy toward the fate of the Philosopher's Stone continued right up until the beginning of their exams, despite Harry having told them about his encounter with the Devil's Snare. Millie didn't think it was conclusive evidence that Professor Sprout had used the plant in defense of the stone. Blaise didn't seem to care either way.

"I've got money," he said blandly one day before their charms exam, "And so have you, Harry. What do we need a stone that can turn metal into gold for?"

Harry didn't know how to explain that for him, stealing the stone meant a lot more than financial security. He was mostly motivated by a spiteful desire to prevent Snape from getting the stone, that much was true. But in recent weeks, a second motive had started to take form. Harry reasoned that if he was able to rescue the stone from Snape's oily clutches, that would make him something like a hero to Flamel. Harry was already famous, or rather infamous, for the tragedy that befell his family. He was starting to like the idea of becoming renowned for something he had achieved himself.

It was a secret wish he could never say aloud, lest his friends make fun of him. Besides, the fact remained that they knew only half of the dangers guarding the stone, and they still didn't know how to get past Fluffy. And so Harry tried to focus his attention on transfiguring a mouse into a snuffbox for Professor McGonagall, and somehow managed to make a pineapple tap-dance across his desk for Professor Flitwick. Practical exams were odd.

The final exam was in History of Magic, a test that Harry was certain he'd failed miserably. He spared a few glances toward Blaise and Millie to see how they were faring, but from the expressions on their faces, neither of them were doing much better. It was a shame that Professor Binns hadn't quizzed them on the life and career of Nicolas Flamel. Harry was certain he'd have passed with flying colors.

Although the exam had been a disaster, Harry couldn't help but cheer with the rest of the students as he rolled up his parchment to hand in. Testing was finally over. There was only one week left in the term, and they could use it however they wanted until the exam results came out.

Harry already knew how he was going to use his final week at Hogwarts. He was going to make a grab for the stone, whether Blaise and Millie agreed to help him or not.

But for the moment, he decided to follow his friends outdoors along with most of the student body to enjoy the fine day and celebrate the end of exams. They settled at their favorite spot near the edge of the lake and watched three Gryffindor boys tease the tentacles of the giant squid, who as basking luxuriously in the shallows.

Millie pulled out a scrap of parchment and began doodling strange little figures. Blaise had stretched himself on the ground with his arms behind his head and looked prepared fall asleep. Outdoor naps were becoming an annoying habit of his. Harry pulled his snitch out of his pocket and began to toy with it carelessly, lost in his own thoughts.

Suddenly, his scar began to sting. Harry gave a hiss of pain and reflexively moved to cover the lightning-shaped mark. Millie glanced at him and Blaise opened one eye.

"Something wrong, Harry?" Blaise asked.

Harry rubbed his scar thoughtfully. The only other time he could remember his scar hurting him had been at the very beginning of the year, when he first laid eyes on Snape. It troubled him that it hurt again now.

"It's just my scar..." he said self-consciously. He didn't like drawing attention to the symbol of his ill-gotten fame.

"It's never hurt you before, though. Has it?" Millie asked, turning her attention partially back toward her doodles.

"Actually... It has hurt before. But just once. And because of Snape... I think it's a warning. Snape might be trying to steal the stone."

Blaise and Millie exchanged a look, then Blaise pushed himself into a seated position. He moved closer to Harry and wrapped a friendly arm over his shoulders.

"Listen mate, you have to give up on this. We've only got a week left in the term. Let's enjoy it!"

"And let Snape win?" Harry asked, hating the idea of tossing out all their hard work.

"Snape's not gonna get it either," Blaise said confidently, "He nearly got his leg torn off by Fluffy, and I know he's not gonna try that again without a foolproof plan. But Hagrid is the only one who knows how to tame that animal, and he's completely over the moon for Dumbledore. There's no way he'd ever let him down, right?"

He had nearly talked Harry into submission. But it was his mention of Hagrid that sent Harry shooting to his feet with a startled cry.

"What? What is it?" Blaise asked in confusion, but Harry was already sprinting toward Hagrid's cabin.

"Hagrid!" Harry shouted over his shoulder, "I just thought of something!"

Harry had his back toward his friends and couldn't see the looks on their faces, but he could hear their footsteps behind him, and knew they were in close pursuit.

"Hagrid!" Harry shouted, his fist hammering against the door, "Hagrid, are you home?"

"Yeh, I'm home, I'm home!" Hagrid shouted from inside. Harry could hear his heavy footsteps drawing closer and took a step back.

"What's gotten inter yeh Harry?" Hagrid asked in a baffled tone, "I thought summat mighta been attackin yeh for all the racket yeh was makin'."

"Sorry Hagrid, but I'm in a bit of a hurry. I need to ask you something," Harry said as his friends drew close enough to overhear their conversation.

"Well, what's this about, then?"

"Do you remember the night you won Norbert in a card game?"

Hagrid shifted uneasily on his large feet and looked slightly embarrassed.

"Well, a bit..."

"Do you remember what the stranger... the man who gave you the egg... Do you remember what he looked like?"

"I didn't see 'em. He never took his cloak off."

"Never took his cloak off?" Blaise asked with a tone of surprise. Millie had a shocked expression on her face. Harry felt very pleased with himself.

"It's not that unusual," Hagrid said defensively, "Yeh get all kinds in the Hogs Head. Many of em don't want ter be recognized, if yeh catch my meaning. 'E mighta been a dragon dealer, mightn't he? Like I said, never took his cloak off."

Harry smirked at Blaise with triumph written in every feature. He knew it couldn't have been coincidence that the one thing in the world Hagrid always wanted was a dragon, and a stranger suddenly shows up with an egg he conveniently loses to him? Harry was willing to bet that the mystery man had been Snape, and that he lost the game on purpose to get Hagrid talking about magical beasts. Depending on how much Hagrid had to drink that night, Snape might have known how to get past Fluffy for weeks.

Blaise scowled at the look of superiority on Harry's face and followed up with his own line of questioning.

"Hagrid, what did you talk about? Did you mention the school?"

"Mighta come up," said Hagrid, scrunching up his face in a effort to remember, "Yeah, he asked me what I did, and I told him I was gamekeeper here. Then he asked me a bit about the sort of creatures I look after, an' I told him..."

"And did you tell him you'd always been interested in dragons?" asked Harry, baiting him further.

Hagrid's look of discomfort grew.

"Well, yeh see... I can't remember too well, 'cause he kept buyin' me drinks. But yeh, I think it did come up, cause he mentioned the egg to me and we got a game of cards started... Right, he said he had to be sure I could handle one first. So I told him after Fluffy, a dragon would be easy."
Blaise groaned and turned away. Millie looked plainly astounded. She asked, "And did he seem interested in Fluffy?"

"Well, yeah! How many three-headed dogs do you meet, especially around Hogwarts? So I told him, Fluffy's a piece o' cake if yeh know how to calm him. Jus' play him a bit a music an he'll go straight off to sleep..."

Hagrid suddenly looked horrified.

"I shouldna told you that! Forget I said anything..."

"Thanks Hagrid!" Harry said, turning on the spot and taking off across the grounds once again. This time, Blaise and Millie were right behind him. They left Hagrid standing in his doorway, looking very concerned.

"Ha!" Harry said as soon as they were out of earshot.

"What are you so pleased about?" Blaise asked grumpily.

"Well, I was right all along, wasn't I?"

"What? About Snape? I never said he wasn't trying to trick Hagrid. I just didn't know he'd actually done it..."

"You said it'd be safe. You said that so long as he didn't know how to get past Fluffy there was no way he could steal it. You said..."

"I know what I said!" Blaise said furiously.

"Well he knows how to get past Fluffy now, doesn't he? And he's known for weeks. Quirrell must have been the last piece of the puzzle, and he's clearly broken him. So now there's nothing standing in the way of Snape and the stone!"

"Alright, fine." Blaise said, throwing his hands in the air in exasperation. "But you're forgetting one thing."

"What's that?"

"Dumbledore!" said Blaise, "If Snape's had all the information he needs to get past the stone's safeguards, then why hasn't he taken it and ran? Obviously, he doesn't want to be caught by the headmaster."

"So you're suggesting we tell Dumbledore that he's going to try to steal it rather than take it ourselves?" Harry asked, feeling disappointed.

"Harry... Do I need to remind you that even with Hagrid's information, we still only know how to get past three of the enchantments? We never found out what McGonagall, Quirrell, or Snape himself had planned."

Harry finally slowed his footsteps as they entered the castle. Coming to a complete stop, he turned to face Blaise.

"Alright. Lead the way."

"Huh?"

"We'll go tell Dumbledore. Lead the way."

"I don't know where his office is!" Blaise blurted. "You're the one who followed him that time!"

"We never made it to his office," said Harry, "I talked with him in the hall. I don't know where it is either."

They turned to look at Millie, who merely shrugged her square shoulders. They had never been told where in the castle Dumbledore resided, and they had never known anyone who had been sent to see him.

"Well, I guess that's off the table," said Harry, "We'll just have to..."

"What do you three think you're doing inside on a day like this?"

It was Snape. Harry felt his stomach do an unpleasant flip as he wondered how much of their conversation Snape had overheard.

"Is it suddenly against the rules for students to be inside the castle during the day?" Harry blurted in his surprise, "I had no idea."

Snape's eyes flashed in anger. He seemed to be on the verge of making some cutting remark, but Millie stepped in front of Harry and flashed a rare smile at the professor. Of the trio, Snape seemed to despise Millie the least.

"We were just hoping to see Headmaster Dumbledore, that's all," Millie said brightly.

"See Headmaster Dumbledore?" Snape repeated, as if this were a very suspicious thing to do, "Why?"

"We wanted to tell him how the exams went, and see if he can give us some advice for next year," Millie said, the lie rolling off her tongue naturally.

"And what makes you think the headmaster is interested in your exams?" Snape asked coldly. "Besides, he left ten minutes ago."

"Wait, he left?" Harry said, pushing his way around Millie. "You mean he's gone?"

"Yes Potter, that's what he left means," Snape said testily, "He received an urgent owl from the ministry and left for London. I highly doubt that anything you have to say is more important than the Minister for Magic."

Harry opened his mouth to retort, but was cut off as Millie cut in front of Harry again, "You're right, Professor. We'll just have to wait for our exam results to come out, I suppose."

Snape continued to eye them with cold suspicion. Harry was certain he had heard some part of their conversation. As he continued to glare at Snape over Millie's shoulder, he locked eyes with the teacher. To his surprise, Snape's face paled, and his lip twitched into a grimace. He muttered something to them about "going outside and enjoy the sunshine..." before he stalked away from them, walking further into the shadows of the castle.

Harry didn't understand what forced Snape to leave so suddenly without at least taking some points from Gryffindor on account of Harry, but he shrugged the strangeness aside. Blaise and Millie were both looking at him for answers.

"So what do we do now?" Blaise asked.

Harry didn't know. Blaise had been right about one thing. They were completely unprepared for whatever waited past Fluffy, but with Dumbledore gone, Snape was free to take the stone whenever he wanted. It was a notion Harry hated to consider almost as much as he hated Snape himself.

To the surprise of both Harry and Blaise, it was Millie who answered, "We steal it, of course."

When Harry and Blaise both turned to gape at her, Millie frowned. "That's what we've been planning all year, isn't it?"

Harry felt a surge of affection for Millie. He would have hugged her, except he thought she might take offense to the physical contact. Instead, he grinned and turned to Blaise, waiting for his response.

Blaise looked from Harry to Millie and back again. After much internal deliberation he finally sighed and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I hope Fluffy kills me," he said in a defeatist tone of voice, "Because if my mum ever finds out about this, she'll do a lot worse than a three-headed dog."

"It happens tonight," Harry said with finality. "We can't give Snape a chance to take it first. We take the cloak, and we go tonight."