Chapter 30

Monday, November 25, 1991-McGonagall's Giant Chess Room, The forbidden third floor corridor, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Somewhere in Scotland

"Someone is trying to steal the Philosopher's Stone," Professor McGonagall said slowly.

She didn't want to believe it, but it was the only option. First-year and third-year students wouldn't know how to use Blood Magic, and none of the Weasley children would ever think about even touching something that dark.

"We have to get through that room," Patricia said.

Professor Babbling shook her head. "No, it's too dangerous. Mr. Potter, Miss Granger and the twins should be alright, but the Blood Magic has had more time to mix with the runes. If we go in there the off-gassing will kill us."

"The longer the runes and Blood Magic are together the worse it's going to get," Patricia protested. "And we have to get the others out."

"Isn't there some way to fix it?" Ron asked Professor Babbling. "Like a spell or something?"

"Rune chains!" Patricia exclaimed. "If we break the power of the runes then the off-gassing will stop."

Professor Babbling raised her eyebrows. "Exactly who is the Rune Master here?"

Patricia blushed. "It was in the homework." Apparently she had absorbed more of the information than she had thought.

"But won't someone have to go into the toxic room to write the rune chain?" Lee asked, somewhat sarcastically.

"I'll do it," Patricia said.

Before anyone could protest she held up her right hand, displaying the golden ring on her finger. "My heir ring should protect me long enough for me to write the runes and power them up. Professor Babbling just has to tell me which ones to use."

No one liked the idea, but it was the best they had. Professor Babbling wrote the runes that Patricia would need on a piece of scrap parchment and gave it to her along with a piece of chalk that she had in the pocket of her dressing gown, as any good Rune Master would.

Patricia gave the message parchment and her self-inking quill to Lee just in case Fred or George wrote another message. Then she took a deep breath and darted through the door leading to Babbling's obstacle.

The air was heavy, with an energy that made Patricia's stomach turn and her skin crawl. She shivered and quickly got to work, writing the rune chain on the floor by the door, as far away from the blood scrawled on the opposite wall as she could get.

The room had originally been a rune box puzzle, with runes written in a grid on the floor, walls and ceiling in an arrangement that had to be unscrambled by sliding the tiles that the runes were written on in order to unlock the next door. The thief, whoever they were, had gotten past this puzzle by blowing it up, mixing Blood Magic with the runes to make the magical equivalent of a nuclear bomb, which was thankfully contained within the one room.

Patricia finished writing the rune chain, a circle of runes with a 'clasp' rune on one edge that would link the chain to the rest of the runes in the room, and then took out her wand to charge the runes. As she pushed magic through her wand into the clasp rune to the rest of the chain, her hand started to feel warmer. She concentrated on finishing the rune chain before looking to see what was happening, just in time to see the gold parts of her heir ring melt off of her finger and run down the palm of her hand, leaving the adder stone stuck to the back of her finger with bits of molten gold.

"That's a problem," Patricia squeaked.

As fast as she could she erased the required runes from the rune chain, causing all of the runes in the room to glow with red light before they blinked out, taking the stifling energy in the air with them.

Patricia stumbled back into the chess room. Professor Babbling caught her by the arm before she could fall to the floor.

"It's done," Patricia told her. "I'm tired. Can I go to sleep now?"

Professor Babbling shook Patricia by her shoulders. "No, you mustn't go to sleep! Take Mr. Wesley and go to the Hospital Wing. Use the brooms."

"Go with them, Mr. Jordan," McGonagall ordered.

"Someone else might be hurt," Lee protested. "You'll need me to get them out."

Ron stood and used his good arm to support Patricia. "We'll make it," he said. "Go stop Snape."

He and Patricia walked with some difficulty back through the door to the doorknob room. They would then take one of the brooms and fly all the way to the Hospital Wing without one of them falling off, frightening Madam Pomfrey half to death when they burst through the doors and Patricia fell three feet to the floor when she passed out.

And then there were three.

Babbling and McGonagall looked at Lee.

"If we tell you to run," Babbling said, "you run. Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am," Lee said with a nod.

They went through the destroyed rune puzzle room and to the next door, which opened onto a wall of purple fire. Lee blinked. That seemed like a pretty good way to protect the Philosopher's Stone, but if it was then where were Potter, Granger, and Fred and George?

"Someone is in there," McGonagall said quietly.

She and Babbling readied their wands.

"Flame-freezing charm?" Babbling asked.

McGonagall nodded. A flame-freezing charm should work on the fire from the side that they were on.

Babbling cast the flame-freezing charm and held her non-wand hand out towards the flames. When she felt that they were barely warm she nodded and walked through the wall of purple fire, followed by McGonagall and Babbling.

They stopped dead when they saw what was on the other side.

A/n: This is a short chapter because I think it makes the transition into the next room smoother. Also, I couldn't resist leaving you on a quasi cliffhanger.

Yes, I'm kind of evil.

-Cynder2013