Through the Trapdoor
"You didn't?" Remus groaned.
"Er…" Harry cringed. "We did try to tell a teacher." Snape snorted in derision while McGonagall's cheeks turned pink. It was more than painful, hearing just how badly she had let Harry down. She had reinforced the idea that adults would not help him, or even listen.
"Are there any calming draughts?" Andromeda asked. She could tell her cousin was going to need one just from the title. Especially on the back of the last chapter. Even Harry being alive and well now, it didn't negate the horror of hearing about him going through things no eleven-year-old should have to. As she asked the question, several vials appeared in front of her. She floated one to Sirius and looked around the room to see if anyone else wanted one.
"Er, Mrs Weasley, you might want to take one," Harry suggested quietly. She looked at him with great concern. Arthur whispered to her, convincing her to take one and Ron shot Harry a grateful look. He didn't want to think about how his mum would react to the chess game without a calming draught.
In years to come, Harry would never…through the door at any moment.
The adults who had been at Hogwarts during the first war shuddered. They had lived in constant fear of receiving a black envelope telling them a relative had died, or hearing about attacks on magical places like Hogsmeade. Yet, however bad it had been, they hadn't truly feared Voldemort bursting into Hogwarts. Not while Dumbledore was there. Knowing he was on the school grounds only just over two years ago had shaken them to the core. As had the revelation that Dumbledore had most likely known and done nothing.
"You did very well considering you could barely concentrate," Sprout said.
Yet the days crept by,
"Hate it when time seems to slow down," Fred complained.
and there could be no doubt that Fluffy was still alive and well behind the locked door.
"How would you know that?" Remus asked, eyebrow raised.
"We listened in at the door," Ron explained.
"You do realise that even if he'd put Fluffy to sleep, he'd have woken up again at some point and so it would be difficult to tell just by listening in," Charlie pointed out.
"Well, yeah, but it was the best we could do." Harry shrugged. "We weren't going to go inside."
"I'd be gladder to hear that if the title of the chapter wasn't 'through the trapdoor'," Sirius said.
It was sweltering hot…but taken away if it had whiskers.
"It doesn't hurt the mouse, does it?" Hermione wondered.
"No, Hermione. Not as far as we can tell," Sirius assured her.
"I still have yours, Mr. Potter," McGonagall confessed. "It was quite beautiful, and I made the transformation permanent."
"Uh…" Harry blushed.
"What did you make?" Sirius asked interestedly. Transfiguration had come easily to James, and he wondered how good Harry was.
"Here." McGonagall handed him a version of the box the room had conjured. Sirius took it reverently. It was a circular wooden box. The wood was mahogany, the same as Harry's Nimbus as well as James' wand. The thought made him smile, even though he wasn't sure if Harry even remembered Ollivander telling him about James' wand, let alone recalling that fact in an exam. On the top the initials J and P were etched in gold on either side of an emerald, green lily. The lily seemed to shimmer as the light shifted.
"It's stunning," Remus said, as Sirius was unable to make his voice work. All he could do was nod.
"That's some very fancy work," Fred stated, giving Harry a proud smile. "Not bad for an ickle firstie." Harry glared at him but Fred only smirked.
"I'll conjure a copy you can both keep once we get out of here," McGonagall promised Remus and Sirius.
"Thank you," Sirius said hoarsely. "Moony is right. It's incredible, pup." Harry beamed. After the encounter with Voldemort in the forest, his parents had been on his mind even more than usual. He'd been trying to think of something to represent them, and it hurt that he didn't know anything about them. Before, at the Dursley's, he told himself it didn't matter. He'd been told they were lazy drunks and tried to convince himself it didn't matter that he didn't even know their names. But once he found out the truth, had even seen them for the first time in the mirror, it hit him even harder that he didn't even know their favourite colours. It had been made quite a big deal that he shared his mother's eye colour, so he could use green for her, but for his dad…he had no clue. In the end he'd settled on golden initials in a similar style to the writing on his Nimbus, as Hermione had shown him his dad's Quidditch trophies so could relate that to him, along with the wood being the same as his broom.
Snape made them all nervous…remember how to make a Forgetfulness potion.
"Ironic," George snorted.
Neville shuddered. He really did hate potions. He did know the theory, many of the ingredients he knew lots about due to his love of Herbology, but all of his knowledge seemed to vanish with Snape hovering over them made snide remarks all the time.
Harry did the best he could…hooded figure dripping blood in it.
Everyone shuddered at that image.
"You should have gone to Madam Pomfrey. She could have given you some dreamless sleep," Andromeda told him. "At least for the exam period." Harry shrugged. He wasn't exactly used to asking for help when he was in pain.
"I am impressed with how high your scores were considering," Flitwick murmured.
"Wait, old nightmare?" Tonks frowned.
"I used to have loads of dreams about green flashes of light and dark figures." Harry shrugged. Thanks to the dementors this year, his old dreams had come back with a vengeance, and in much greater detail. She nodded, recalling it had been mentioned before now, and shot him a sympathetic look.
Maybe it was because they…what Snape or anyone else might be up to.
"Yeah, I'd probably be having nightmares if I'd seen what you did," Ron admitted. Harry offered him a grateful smile for the support.
"Part of the reason I was studying so hard was to tire myself out, so I didn't have nightmares about being in the forest," Hermione stated quietly. "Then during the day, I was focused on my exams, and it didn't bother me too much."
Neither Draco nor Neville admitted they had both had nightmares too. Severus had allowed Draco to stay with him in his quarters that evening when he'd told him what had happened which helped him to feel safe. Once he went back to the dorms, he had plenty of nightmares about the crawling figure drinking unicorn blood.
Their very last exam was History of Magic…the uprising of Elfric the Eager."
Remus scowled at the mention of the code, which was heavily biased against werewolves. "Why would you read about that?"
"It was referenced in one of our textbooks, so I looked up more about it," Hermione admitted, going a little red. She had thought it was horrible even back then but having met Remus it seemed even worse.
"Those are second year topics," Percy pointed out.
"Well, given the fact that Professor Binns prefers talking about nothing but Goblin wars, I wanted to be sure I'd covered every possible topic," Hermione stated.
"It is annoying that so many topics come up in the exams that Binns doesn't cover," Hermione complained.
"I don't think his exam material has been updated from when he was actually alive," Flitwick stated.
"But his teaching appears to have just become about Goblin wars," George said. "If he's not going to update exam material, he could at least keep the same teaching material."
Hermione always liked to go through their exam papers afterward
"Why?" Fred asked in disgust.
"Yeah, the exams are over, and you can't change the answers. Going over it just stresses you out more," Neville said quietly.
"After exams is the time, you are supposed to use to rest and relax," Sprout told Hermione gently. "Even during summer, you have homework to do. That period is for you to enjoy not having any work."
but Ron said this made him feel ill….there's no need to worry yet."
"Love your confidence there, Ronnie," Fred chuckled. Ron blushed. He knew he wasn't as smart as his older siblings.
Harry was rubbing his forehead…it means danger's coming…"
"I'm pretty sure danger's been there for a while," George muttered.
"Yeah. I wonder why it's getting more active now. If Voldemort has been in the school for the whole year, which would explain the starting feast, then why hasn't it bothered Harry until now?" Tonks wondered.
"He's getting closer to his goal. Maybe he was getting more…active, in his possession," Bill suggested, causing many people to shudder.
"The forest encounter probably didn't help," Remus said, with a scowl in the direction of McGonagall and Dumbledore.
Ron couldn't get worked up, it was too hot.
Several people snorted in amusement.
"Harry, relax, Hermione's right, the Stone's safe as long as Dumbledore's around.
"I appreciate the faith in my abilities," Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eyes. Ron gave a faint smile, but found his faith was rapidly declining during this reading.
The ministry workers exchanged dubious looks at that. Honestly, Kingsley was beginning to wonder if the stone was even real. If Dumbledore was using it as bait, the smart thing to do would be to use a decoy and keep the real one somewhere else.
"And Dumbledore isn't always around," Remus pointed out. "He has many other jobs."
"Too many," Moody grunted.
Anyway, we've never had any proof…he's not going to try it again in a hurry.
Snape scowled at the reminder.
And Neville will play Quidditch for England before Hagrid lets Dumbledore down."
Neville blushed while several adults frowned in disagreement.
"Sorry, Nev," Ron murmured as he saw his mother open her mouth. "I just meant you had no interest in playing Quidditch."
"It's alright." Neville waved away the apology.
"He might not intentionally let the headmaster down, however, it's already been proven Hagrid is rather easy to trick information out of," Tonks pointed out slowly. None of the trio could argue with that, considering the reason Hagrid had Norbert in the first place.
Harry nodded…before I remembered we'd done that one."
"Not all of us freak out over our exams like you do," Ron reminded her.
"Maybe you should, Mr. Weasley," Snape drawled. Ron scowled.
"We soon learnt not to discount Harry's gut feelings though," Hermione said.
"I'm guessing his bad feeling had nothing to do with exams," Sirius sighed. She shook her head.
Harry was quite sure the…don't you think? Why didn't I see it before?"
"You've got a good mind, Potter," Moody growled.
"What are you talking about?" said Ron…look stunned and raised his eyebrows.
"Not that unusual in the Hog's Head," Tonks said with a grin. "You get all sorts in there."
Moody eyed his old friend. He knew Albus' brother ran the Hog's Head. And that he frequently reported to his brother on events that occurred there that may be of interest. It was how they got a lot of their information in the first war, because Death Eaters frequented the pub. Aberforth would hardly have failed to notice a dragon egg in his pub, and Hagrid was hardly subtle. Which meant there was a very good chance Albus had known about the dragon egg, as well as the fact that the stranger got the necessary information out of Hagrid.
"It's not that unusual…I can' remember too well, 'cause he kept buyin' me drinks…
Several adults groaned in exasperation.
Let's see… yeah, then he said he had…dogs d'yeh meet, even around Hogwarts?
"That, at least, is true enough. If he'd heard about it in any other situation, I'm sure Charlie would have been over the moon hearing about a Cerberus," Bill pointed out reluctantly.
"Definitely. And Norberta."
So I told him, Fluffy's a piece o' cake…music an' he'll go straight off ter sleep —"
"For the love of Morgana!" Andromeda breathed. "That man needs a permanent silencing spell. Or at least a tongue-tying curse put on him every single time he is told secret information."
"So, Voldemort has been told how to get past the dog," Remus sighed.
"But he hasn't gone after it yet, or I suspect Harry would have heard if the stone was missing," Emmeline pointed out.
"Except, if that is true, Harry is going to feel responsible for protecting the stone, especially after the forest," Fred realised. They'd all heard the rumours at the end of that year, but he'd always wondered why the trio had gotten involved in the first place. Sure, the twins would have loved to try the obstacle course, especially if they got the information on how to get past the dog, but Harry wasn't the type. Nor was Hermione come to that.
Hagrid suddenly looked horrified…"We've got to go to Dumbledore," said Harry.
Snape raised a disbelieving eyebrow at that statement.
"Hagrid told that stranger how…anyone who had been sent to see him.
"Oi!" George said, looking offended.
"Yeah, you just had to ask," Fred agreed with a grin.
"That is not something to be proud of," Molly hissed.
"An entire year and you still hadn't been to the headmaster's office," Sirius said mournfully.
"You only get sent there if you get caught," Harry pointed out. Sirius and the twins all froze.
"Did he just..?" Fred whispered to his twin.
"He did," George confirmed.
"Did you have to challenge them?" Remus asked dryly. Harry grinned impishly.
"We're doomed," McGonagall groaned.
"We'll just have to —" Harry began…as though this was a very fishy thing to want to do.
"Not many people actually want to see the headmaster," Flitwick said with a slight smile.
"A shame. I do so enjoy talking to my students," Dumbledore sighed.
"Why?"…because Professor McGonagall's nostrils flared.
"That was never going to be a good thing to say." Tonks shook her head.
"That's going to put her on the defensive," Sirius agreed.
"I doubt it would have made much difference," Harry muttered. McGonagall looked away.
"Professor Dumbledore left ten minutes ago,"…flew off for London at once."
"The bird that Harry saw earlier," Tonks realised. Moody gave her an approving nod.
"Who wants to bet it's a fake summons?" Ted offered.
"Flew? Why on earth would you fly to the Ministry?" Sirius demanded.
"Even if there was an issue with the floo system that day, you could have simply apparated, or taken the Knight Bus. All of which would have gotten you there far sooner," Kingsley stated grimly.
"Unless he didn't want to get there quickly," Moody grunted.
"So, you get a fake summons, knowing full well it is fake, and decide to go along with it to see if your trap is actually effective," Amelia guessed, a shrewd expression on her face. "Therefore, you need to be away from Hogwarts to encourage this person to go after the stone. Albus Dumbledore, HOGWARTS IS A SCHOOL! NOT YOUR PERSONAL PLAYGROUND!" The fear of what could have happened to Susan, and all the other students, caused her anger to rise rapidly.
"As this is a trap, I can understand why you might leave the school to give them a sense of security, but surely you could have come straight back, and been on hand just in case without Voldemort knowing," Bill said.
"As fascinating as this is, I would like to hear why the children ended up going through the trapdoor," Remus cut in.
"He's gone?" said Harry frantically. "Now?"…more important than the Ministry of Magic, Potter?"
"Considering it's a fake summons, yes," Ted muttered.
"Look," said Harry…but she didn't pick them up.
"Woah. We've never managed to ruffle her that much," Fred moaned.
"I have talent," Harry said with a grin.
"I wish you wouldn't exercise it as much as you do, Mr. Potter," McGonagall sighed.
"How do you know —?" she spluttered
"Oh, was it supposed to be a secret?" Fred asked sarcastically.
"Because it really was easy to find out," George pointed out. "Ask Hagrid a couple of questions with some alcohol or flattery."
"Not to mention telling an entire school of curious teenagers that there is an area they aren't supposed to go. Which might as well be asking them to investigate," Bill added.
"Professor, I think – I know – that Sn – that someone's
"Good save," Remus said. "She really wouldn't believe you if you accused a fellow teacher, especially one you have such a…contentious relationship with."
"I tried." Harry shrugged. "Gave it up as a bad job after a week of constant taunting and insults for nothing more than breathing. Basically, gave up on potions too, figured I'd never get a fair grade so why bother?" Snape closed his eyes. He wondered if Potter would have had even half of his mother's potions talent if it had been nurtured rather than brutally crushed.
Going to try and steal the stone…will be back tomorrow," she said finally.
"Tomorrow?" Andromeda raised a disapproving eyebrow. "What on earth could take that long?"
"Flying to London and back," Flitwick stated dryly.
"I don't know how you found out…it's too well protected."
The Ministry workers all looked dubious at this statement.
"Well, if Albus has set a trap, at least of one of them will be designed to keep whoever is stealing the stone there until he gets back," Bill pointed out.
"So well protected, three first years got passed them," Ron muttered.
"But Professor —"…go back outside and enjoy the sunshine."
"You didn't even ask how they found out about the stone? Or even why they seemed so adamant someone would be trying to steal it?" Remus frowned. "I know why people would want it, but they must have had a reason for being so convinced someone was going to try and steal it from Hogwarts."
"Adults never listen. I'm used to it." Harry shrugged.
"I apologise, Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger. I should have taken your words more seriously, and not placed such great faith in the protections in place," McGonagall said quietly. Despite her pride in Ron's chess abilities, it had been humbling to find out that her chess set had been bypassed twice, including by a first year no matter how good he was at chess.
"Honestly, the fact that they were willing to take this to Dumbledore himself, should have suggested they were serious," Kingsley said. "Even if you had misjudged Mr. Potter based on his father, and Mr. Weasley based on his brothers, Miss Granger is not the type who would request to speak to the headmaster without a very good reason."
"Yes. I am aware I let my students down several times throughout that year," McGonagall snapped, feeling highly disappointed and ashamed of herself.
But they didn't…real shock when Dumbledore turns up."
"Let's hope that Dumbledore hurries back to Hogwarts via a quicker method than flying when he realises it was a trick," Sirius said, thought his tone was doubtful.
"Fudge went into a right panic," Amelia stated, rolling her eyes. "He thought Dumbledore's appearance meant some crisis had happened he was not aware of. It did not help that the headmaster then immediately left without explaining anything."
"But what can we —…Snape was standing there.
"Oh, that's not good," Fred groaned.
"Time for Harry to do some quick talking," George said. "He's good at that."
"Won't work with Snape. He'll disbelieve it simply because it's Harry," Sirius growled.
"Good afternoon," he said smoothly…with an odd, twisted smile.
"I'm sure he's just pleased about the prospect of taking points off of you for some made up reason," Sirius said darkly.
"Or even a reason for detention. He's probably trying to get a few more in before the summer," Ted added.
"It is quite suspicious for people to be inside on such a nice day. Almost everyone, except possibly fifth- and seventh-year students with exams left, takes advantage of exams being over and the sunshine," Tonks pointed out.
"We were —" Harry began, without any idea what he was going to say.
"Wow. That's uncommon," Fred noted.
"I knew it was pointless." Harry shrugged. "Especially after Professor McGonagall had just dismissed us. I knew Snape would ignore any excuse I could give."
"Professor Snape," Dumbledore corrected.
"You want to be more careful,"…you're up to something.
"Really?" Ted rolled his eyes.
"Well, they were just having a fairly suspicious conversation. If Snape heard any of that, he would rightly be suspicious," Kingsley pointed out fairly.
"Except he is a blind dungeon bat who only sees Harry as James, and so anything he does is seen as suspicious," Sirius growled.
"There is that," George laughed.
And Gryffindor really can't afford to lose any more points, can it?"
"Low blow, considering how unfair that punishment was," Fred scowled.
"It was an attempt to curb whatever foolish plan they were undoubtably coming up with," Snape drawled. "However futile that attempt turned out to be."
Harry flushed. They turned to go outside…you are expelled. Good day to you."
"It seems you are slipping Severus. Harry has not been expelled just yet," Remus said with a slight smile.
"That would be because being out after curfew isn't an infringement worthy of expulsion. Or he'd have to expel his own godson too, given that he was discovered out past curfew not long ago himself," Ted pointed out.
"At least, however poor the attempt was, he made an effort to dissuade them from any dangerous activity by reminding them about the consequences of last time they broke the rules," Emmeline defended Severus.
He strode off in the direction of the staffroom…he whispered urgently.
"Harry!" The twins and Sirius all exclaimed in exasperation.
"You don't have conversations like that in an open area," Fred stated.
"It's like you want someone to hear what you're planning." Sirius rolled his eyes.
"I still wasn't used to people actually listening when I said something." Harry shrugged. Even several months at Hogwarts being the centre of attention wasn't enough to shrug off ten years of Dursleys ignoring his presence.
"One of us has got to keep an eye on Snape —
"You lot are too fixed on one suspect. Stops you seeing the big picture," Moody growled.
"Yeah. We found that out," Harry said grimly.
"Alastor!" Molly scolded. "Don't encourage them."
"It's a good lesson for everyone to learn, not just those in law enforcement," Arthur said quietly, squeezing her arm gently.
wait outside the staff room and follow him if he leaves it. Hermione, you'd better do that."
"Why Hermione?" Tonks wondered.
"Well, Harry's out. If Snape sees him, it won't be pretty." Sirius sent a scowl in the man's direction.
"And Ron's not great at coming up with excuses on the fly," Hermione added. "He is better at planning beforehand." Ron smiled at the praise.
"Why me?" …I got question fourteen b wrong… '"
Everybody chuckled.
"Well, that sounds believable," George said with a grin and a wink in Hermione's direction.
"It was a good impression," Harry chuckled. Hermione reached over to hit him on the arm, but he dodged out of the way. She settled for elbowing Ron in the ribs for laughing.
"I don't believe there was a fourteen b on that particular exam," Flitwick smiled, amused that Ron would have forgotten that so soon after the exam. Especially as charms had been one of the last exams that year.
"Oh, shut up," said Hermione…Harry told Ron. "Come on."
"That's not a good idea. After you told Minnie about your suspicions, she will probably at least be keeping an eye on the area. It won't look good if you're caught there," Sirius said, shaking his head.
"Yeah. It's unlikely a move will be made during the middle of the day. You'd be better off going back outside, being seen not worrying about it, and then checking it out at night," Fred mused.
"Do not encourage your brother and friends to be out after curfew around dangerous wizards," Molly scolded.
"Huh, we should have gone to the twins," Ron muttered to Harry and Hermione. They both nodded. That would have been a much better idea.
But that part of the plan didn't work.
"Do any of your plans work?" Charlie asked in amusement.
"Sometimes," Harry muttered.
"When he has to think on his feet, sure. In advance? No," Hermione chuckled.
"Definitely beginning to see that," Bill grinned.
"It's the Potter luck," Remus laughed. "James was much better at execution than planning. Same as Sirius."
"The planning is what we had you for." Sirius winked.
No sooner had they reached the door…this time, she lost her temper.
"Wow, you really are good at ruffling up Minnie," Sirius chuckled.
"Not intentionally," Harry replied.
"I suppose you think you're harder to get past than a pack of enchantments!" she stormed.
"She does have a good point. You already know Voldemort himself is after it, plus a dark wizard in the school. What did you plan on doing?" Ted asked anxiously.
"Delaying until help could arrive." Harry shrugged.
"Delay? A full-grown wizard is more than a match for three first years," Narcissa pointed out with a raised eyebrow. "All you would be doing is putting yourself on a silver platter for the Dark Lord's supporter, or him himself."
Harry said nothing. He knew he had stood very little chance, without his mother's protection he would have died, but he couldn't have just let Voldemort get the stone unopposed.
"Enough of this nonsense!...Yes, Weasley, from my own house!"
"Especially from her own house," Ron muttered bitterly.
"Rather than calling it nonsense, you might have been better off asking why they were so determined about this," Sirius said scathingly.
"I am well aware I made mistakes," McGonagall snapped.
Harry and Ron went back to the common room…swung open and Hermione came in.
"Or not," the twins said in unison.
"I'm sorry," Hermione mumbled to the other two. She was still ashamed she'd been caught out so quickly.
"It's alright. It's not like it would have made a difference anyway," Harry reassured her.
"I'm sorry, Harry!" she wailed…I don't know where Snape went."
"To my office to grade exams," Snape deadpanned. It was one of the worst parts of the job. Wading through the utter tripe written by dunderheaded students. The purebloods were often terrible at writing and organising essays, while the students who had attended a muggle primary school structured the essays better, however the content was usually utter drivel.
"At least you remembered the cover story," Remus said.
"I did wonder why you seemed to desperate to leave after having asked for me," Flitwick said with a slight smile.
"I'm sorry for wasting your time, professor," Hermione mumbled.
"That's quite alright Miss Granger. Having heard the full story, I can understand the motivation." He gave her a kindly smile.
"Well, that's it then, isn't it?" Harry said…I'm going to try and get to the Stone first."
"Well, that's better than attempting to confront a dark wizard intentionally. However, if you leave it too late, then he will have already made a move and you're likely to run into him," Sirius sighed. He knew there was no changing what had happened anyway, but that didn't make him any happier about it.
"NO! No. It's a terrible idea. You should not be encouraging a child to go after dark wizards!" Molly shrieked.
"I'm not encouraging him to go after a dark wizard. I'm pleased his plan is to get there first and avoid the dark wizard," Sirius corrected with a dark expression on his face at the scolding.
"Honestly, you'd be better off going right after dinner, that way you'd have a chance of being back before curfew," Fred stated.
"Fred!"
"Molly, it has already happened," Arthur reminded her quietly.
"You think three first years would get passed the protections in a couple of hours?" Amelia raised an eyebrow. She didn't have a great deal of faith in Dumbledore's protections, given the evidence in favour of him treating this whole situation like a game, but that seemed a little optimistic, even given her doubts.
"It didn't take us that long," Harry mused. "Other than…"
"Don't ruin it," Ron hissed. The chess game had been the longest part of the protections, made even longer by his need to protect his friends, not allowing them to be taken. The other challenges hadn't taken that long. Harry nodded.
"You're mad!" said Ron.
"Well, we knew that already," George laughed.
"All the best people are at least a little mad," Luna said happily.
"You can't!" said Hermione. "After what McGonagall and Snape have said? You'll be
expelled!"
"Still think it's worse than death?" Ron asked with a grin. Hermione glared at him but couldn't help a slight curl of her lips. It was amusing looking back.
"SO WHAT" Harry shouted…Voldemort's coming back!
"Well, the elixir of life wouldn't actually give him a body, would it? It makes the drinker immortal, yes, but to give him a whole body back?" Andromeda frowned. "I never studied alchemy in depth, but I dabbled a little."
"Maybe not, but it would certainly have kept his host alive while they worked on a way to get him a new body. Much better than unicorn blood," Kingsley stated.
"He would indeed need other ingredients, so to speak," Dumbledore confirmed.
Haven't you heard what it was like when he was trying to take over?
"Well, not really," Ron admitted. "Mum and dad never really speak about the war."
"Even Harry only really seems to have heard what Hagrid told him about it," Percy pointed out.
"I heard enough to know I didn't want him coming back," Harry stated firmly.
There won't be any Hogwarts…school for the Dark Arts!
"I do not believe Tom would ever flatten Hogwarts," Dumbledore told them calmly. "He viewed it as his home." Harry cringed. He hated how much he did have in common with the man who murdered his parents.
Losing points doesn't matter anymore…Voldemort killed my parents, remember?"
"Wow. That was quite a speech," Charlie whistled.
"When Harry gets in that mood, all you can do is listen and follow him," Hermione said with a slight smile.
"You have the makings of a great leader," Kingsley told him. "You certainly have it in you to motivate people, even at the age of eleven."
"I'm proud of you, pup," Sirius told him, ruffling Harry's hair. "And your parents would be proud of you too."
"Yeah. Although, your dad would be jealous because he never had a tongue that silver," Remus laughed. "He was always tripping over his words, especially when Lily was around."
"He managed to make it kind of endearing," Emmeline mused. "But I thought he was the leader of your little group."
"He could certainly take charge on occasion, and he often kept a calm head in a crisis, but he never had the sort of natural leadership and speaking skills that Harry just showed in that one speech," Remus said. "He just happened to be more of a leader than the rest of us."
He glared at them…Hermione in a small voice.
"He usually is," Ron pointed out.
"I'll use the invisibility cloak," said Harry. "It's just lucky I got it back."
"Yes. Lucky," Emmeline snorted, as most of the adults in the room eyed Dumbledore with suspicion.
"It is lucky I got it back. I would have gone with or without it. Besides, if someone other than Professor Dumbledore had found it, I'd probably never have seen it again and it was the only thing I had of my dad's," Harry pointed out.
"There are ways of retrieving lost family heirlooms, especially one that ancient," Sirius assured him. "Somewhere in the Potter main vault, there will be a family grimoire with all the rituals and spells you need to know for that sort of thing." Harry smiled. It would be good to make sure he could get his family's things back.
"But will it cover all three of us?" said Ron.
"Easily," Sirius scoffed.
"Eh, it was easy until lanky over here had a growth spurt," Harry said, nudging Ron. "Now it's getting quite cramped for three of us."
"It's not my fault you're a midget," Ron smirked.
"Hey, being small does come in handy for situations like being able to hide under the cloak better," Harry huffed.
"All — all three of us?"…you don't think we'd let you go alone?"
"Of course not," Ron and Hermione said in unison. Harry smiled, still grateful to have such good friends in his life.
"Well, of course that's what he thought. He's never had anyone to help him before. A few months at Hogwarts with friends won't remedy that straight away," Andromeda sighed.
"And considering those who are supposed to help him, have brushed him off, it's not surprising he didn't expect any further help," Ted added. McGonagall turned pink once more.
"Of course not," said Hermione…the Stone without us?
"I certainly wouldn't have gotten through without both of you," Harry admitted. He wouldn't have even made it past the Devil's Snare without Hermione. And the chess game…forget it.
"We're a team," Ron stated with a grin.
"The golden trio," Neville chuckled.
I'd better go…might be something useful…"
"Did you actually use anything from those books?" Draco asked curiously.
"No. But then I had no real idea what to expect or read up on." Hermione shrugged. She'd skimmed all of her notes from the classes where they knew the teacher was involved in the protections, but none of it came up in the obstacle course.
"I should certainly hope not. If the solution to getting past the protections could be found in a first-year book, it should not even count as protection," Amelia stated grimly.
Hermione decided not to mention that it was still easy enough for first years to get passed, it was just the information wasn't in the books she had read.
"But if we get caught, you two will be expelled, too."
"Like the famous Harry Potter would be expelled," Draco drawled, but he grinned at Harry to take the sting out of his words.
"Well, it's not for a lack of trying on Snape's part," Harry reminded him.
"Not if I can help it," said Hermione…twelve percent on his exam.
"How do you even get one hundred and twelve percent?" George demanded in astonishment.
"I added some extra follow-up questions of my own where I felt more expansion was necessary," Hermione admitted with a blush.
"No matter your academic abilities, if you break the rules severely enough, you would still be expelled," Flitwick stated firmly.
"Unless you are Potter," Snape muttered snidely.
They're not throwing me out after that." …Harry any more, after all.
McGonagall frowned once more. She really did need to spend more time with her lions. Whatever changes came from this reading, she really hoped more staff would be one of them. She simply could not keep up with three different jobs, all of which were quite demanding.
This was the first night he hadn't…given him for Christmas.
"That's rather handy," Bill noted, eyebrows raised.
"It's a bit worrying you only thought about music now. Getting passed Fluffy is the only part of this you have been told how to do, and yet you didn't make any plans," Tonks pointed out.
"Well, my plans all suck or go horribly wrong anyway. Last minute ones work much better," Harry reminded her with a grin.
He pocketed it to use on Fluffy — he didn't feel much like singing.
"We didn't feel much like hearing you sing either," Ron told him with a smirk.
"Hey, I still sing better than you."
"So does a tree frog," Fred said dryly.
"I don't think Fluffy would have been going to sleep with any of us singing," Hermione stated.
He ran back down to the common room...our feet wandering along on its own —"
"Would be funny to see his face though," Sirius chortled.
"What are you doing?" said…another bid for freedom.
"Why were you up so late?" Emmeline wondered.
"I could tell they were planning something. They aren't subtle," Neville said with a slight smile. "And Trevor was making another bid for freedom."
"Well, they were discussing plans in open areas and none of them had good poker faces back then," George pointed out. "Harry's isn't so bad now, but Hermione always looks hopelessly guilty." Hermione blushed.
The trio all exchanged glum looks. They hadn't even bothered to properly check the common room was clear after Lee left.
"Nothing, Neville, nothing,"…behind his back.
"Wow. That sounded convincing," Draco drawled sarcastically. Harry grinned.
"You should have told him what you were doing. That way, someone knows where you have gone, and if you aren't back by a certain time, he can go and get someone," Remus stated. The trio stared at each other.
"That would have been a much better solution," Hermione sighed. She still felt bad for jinxing Neville.
Neville stared at their guilty faces.
"Even if I hadn't suspected anything beforehand. I would have then," Neville laughed.
"We were pretty hopeless," Ron sighed.
"You're going out again," he said…Snape might even now be playing Fluffy to sleep.
"Oooh, what instrument do we think Professor Snape would play?" Fred asked eagerly.
"I think he would suit the piano," Luna said dreamily. Several people snickered as Snape glowered.
"No, he's totally a guitar man," George grinned.
"I could see him with a flute, or maybe a harp," Sirius said with an evil smirk.
"Enough!" Snape snapped. "Let us continue reading this drivel."
"You can't go out," said Neville…"I'll — I'll fight you!"
Several people looked at Neville in astonishment. The Gryffindors cheered and clapped, especially the twins.
"There's our brave lion!" Fred grinned. Neville turned red.
"Neville, "Ron exploded…don't be an idiot —"
"Don't call him an idiot. He has no idea why you are sneaking out. He's doing the right thing," Emmeline defended Neville.
"Sorry," Ron muttered.
"Don't you call me an idiot!" said Neville.
"Good for you, standing up for yourself, Neville," Percy smiled.
"I don't think you should be breaking..."Yes, but not to us," said Ron
A few people chuckled.
"I don't think that's how it works," Ginny told her brother. "You can't tell him to stand up for himself and then tell him who he can and can't stand up to."
"It does rather defeat the point," Tonks agreed.
in exasperation. "Neville, you don't know what you're doing."
"I think he knew exactly what he was doing," Luna said.
He took a step forward…who leapt out of sight.
"He's free!" The twins yelled in unison.
"I found him the next morning," Neville said.
"Go on then, try and hit me!"…"I'm ready!"
"Woah," Charlie whistled.
"You tell them, Neville!" George said approvingly.
Harry turned to Hermione. "Do something," he said desperately.
"You know, that wasn't exactly what I meant," Harry said conversationally.
"What did you expect me to do then?" She asked.
"Talk him down? Use logic? Assure him that you wouldn't be agreeing to break the rules if it wasn't truly important," Harry suggested.
"Oh."
"So, what did you do instead?" Sirius asked. Hermione turned red and didn't answer.
Hermione stepped forward…really sorry about this."
"Miss Granger..?" McGonagall wore a suspicious look.
"I panicked," she murmured.
She raised her wand…pointing it at Neville.
Everyone stared at Hermione in shocked silence.
"Well, one mystery solved," Fred stated lightly.
"The mystery of why we found Neville jinxed on the floor the next morning," George added.
"We were all terribly worried. Harry, Ron and Hermione were all missing and Neville was cursed in the middle of the common room. We thought someone had gotten in or something," Percy said.
"You didn't get back? All night?" Sirius suddenly looked at Harry in horror.
"Er…no."
"Sorry we worried you, Perc. We really didn't think we'd be gone that long," Ron said guiltily.
"I am sorry, Neville," Hermione said, wringing her hands.
"It's ok. It's nice to finally understand what was going on."
Neville's arms snapped to his sides…as a board.
"That hurt," Neville muttered. Honestly, he was surprised his nose hadn't broken.
"None of you thought to catch him?" Emmeline scowled.
"Well, we weren't exactly expecting Hermione to do that," Ron pointed out.
"Sorry." Hermione winced.
Hermione ran to turn him over…"Oh, Neville, I'm so sorry."
"It was the first thing that came to mind," Hermione muttered.
"We had to, Neville, no time to explain,"…pulled on the invisibility cloak.
"You never did explain. I only heard the rumours," Neville pointed out.
"Sorry Nev, we kind of forgot, given everything that happened," Harry said.
"You couldn't have moved him somewhere a little more comfortable than the floor?" Emmeline wondered.
"We were in a hurry." Ron shrugged.
"The common room couch wasn't exactly far away. You could have spared a few seconds to put him there," George pointed out.
But leaving Neville…like a very good omen.
"Yeah. That's not a good start to this whole thing," Sirius agreed.
"I wish you would have given up and gone back to bed," Molly fretted.
In their nervous state…Mrs. Norris skulking near the top.
"Does that cat ever actually sleep?" Fred wondered. Honestly, he'd wondered that about Filch too.
"Probably during the day while the students are in class," McGonagall said with a shrug.
"Oh, let's kick her, just this once," Ron whispered in Harry's ear,
"You will not!" Molly admonished.
"That's mean." Luna frowned at Ron disapprovingly.
"We didn't," Ron defended himself. "It was just a thought."
but Harry shook his head…but didn't do anything.
"She could probably smell and hear you, but she obviously couldn't see you and so couldn't be sure what it was. After all, plenty of things in the castle make noises," Remus said.
They didn't meet anyone…the carpet so that people would trip.
"We told you that wasn't us!" Fred glared at McGonagall.
"We wouldn't mess with the stairs. We know people could get seriously hurt like that," George added.
"I'm sorry boys," she sighed, looking ashamed. "I will endeavour to listen more in the future."
"Who's there?" he said suddenly…a-creeping around unseen."
"If he called Filch it wouldn't be for student safety, it would be for the fun of waking him up and getting Filch out of bed," Tonks said with a grin.
"Of course," George agreed with a smirk. They had helped Peeves with such endeavours several times before.
Harry had a sudden idea…reasons for being invisible."
"That's brilliant!" Sirius yelled. "That's my marauder junior!"
"Why did we never think of that?" Fred groaned.
"Because you don't have a cloak that makes you invisible," Charlie pointed out. "Which is probably for the best."
"We didn't think of it either, and we did have the cloak," Remus told them.
"We told you. Harry has the best plans when it comes to thinking on the fly," Ron said with a grin.
Peeves almost fell out of the…Peevsie his little joke, sir."
"Wicked!" Tonks grinned.
"I am impressed it worked. How often had you actually heard the Baron speak?" Draco asked curiously.
"Er…twice I think," Harry mused.
"Twice? And you could mimic him well enough to fool Peeves? That's brilliant," Fred whistled.
"I have business here, Peeves,"…Baron, I'll not bother you."
"A way to handle Peeves and you didn't share?" Neville pretended to pout.
"Sorry, Nev. But you'd have to carry the cloak around at all times to avoid him on a regular basis," Harry pointed out.
"Once you learn disillusionment charms it'll be fine," Tonks offered.
And he scooted off... "Snape's already got past Fluffy."
"Now is the time to go and find a teacher and show them someone is down there. Not go after the dark wizard yourselves," Molly fretted.
"Except Professor McGonagall had already said she'd just deduct points if she found us there again. We assumed she wouldn't listen to why we were there, or check on the stone," Harry stated. McGonagall looked ashamed.
"There are a lot of other teachers you could have informed," Remus pointed out.
"If our own head of house didn't believe us, why would we think anyone else would? Professor Dumbledore was gone, we thought Snape was the culprit, and we thought they would all just dismiss us," Ron spoke up.
The teachers all exchanged worried looks. How had they become so remote, that their students didn't dare approach any of them over such a serious issue. If one teacher's poor reaction put them off from ever asking for help again, that was not a good sign. For Harry that was understandable given his experience with adults so far, but even Hermione wasn't arguing to speak to another teacher, and she had the greatest respect for authority figures.
Seeing the open door somehow…won't need it now."
"Not going to happen," Bill snorted.
"You got yourself some good friends there. They wouldn't abandon you," Charlie agreed.
"I know that now," Harry said. "But I still wasn't used to it then. And I felt it only fair to give them the option."
"You're not getting rid of us that easily," Hermione told him.
"Wouldn't dream of it." Harry grinned back.
"Don't be stupid," said Ron…"Snape must have left it there."
"Ah ha!" Fred yelled. "Sirius was right."
"It is not me down there, you imbeciles," Snape snapped.
"So, does this mean Voldemort plays the harp?" Harry muttered to Ron and Hermione. Ron flinched at the name and then choked on a laugh while Hermione gave him a disapproving look, but there was an amused look in her eyes.
"It must wake up…note the beast's eyes began to droop.
"Wow. After one note?" Draco looked surprised.
"That's a large weakness," Moody grunted.
"I'm just surprised he didn't kill Fluffy once he was asleep. It would certainly make getting back out easier," Harry said in an undertone.
"It would have made it fairly obvious the stone had been stolen," Hermione pointed out.
"Not really. You would only hear Fluffy if you put your ear right against the door, so nothing would be amiss from the corridor," Ron stated.
Harry hardly drew breath…"Want to go first, Hermione?"
"And who said chivalry is dead?" Fred snorted.
"No, I don't!"…which swung up and open.
"Ron!" Molly shrieked.
"What can you see?"…we'll just have to drop."
"What?" All of the adults looked at the trio in astonishment.
"Your plan was just to drop down a hole where you can't even see the bottom?" Andromeda asked, an eyebrow raised in disbelief. All three of them turned red.
"You even knew there was a trapdoor, and none of you thought to bring Harry's broomstick?" Sirius groaned in disappointment.
"You have no idea how deep the hole is, what is at the bottom, nor do you have any way of getting back up," Kingsley pointed out. "Additionally, you haven't even let anyone know where you are."
"It wasn't our best moment," Ron muttered.
"It's utterly ridiculous!" Bill exclaimed.
"Gryffindors," Draco sneered, shaking his head.
"We were eleven," Harry pointed out.
"That's no excuse for such a terrible plan," Fred told him. "Even at eleven you should know enough to see that dropping down a black hole of unknown depth with no way back is a terrible idea." The trio just shrugged. There was nothing they could do about it now.
Harry, who was still playing…"You want to go first?
"Harry!" Sirius groaned in horror.
Are you sure?"…deep this thing goes.
"That's the reason none of you should go down. Not argue about who goes first," Charlie scolded, worried for his brother even though he knew all three of them were fine now.
"We can't do anything about it now," Ron grumbled.
"True, but given all the other problems you seem to have wound up in the middle of, we aren't sure you have actually learnt your lesson," Bill told him before their mother could work up to another scolding. It was certainly a good job she'd had a calming draught before this chapter.
Give the flute to Hermione…hanging on by his fingertips.
Several people cringed.
Then he looked up at Ron…Hedwig to Dumbledore, right?"
"You're just thinking of this now!" Remus asked in disbelief.
"Yes. If you insist on going through with such a ridiculous plan, you should have at least sent the letter first," Ted agreed.
"Right," said Ron…And Harry let go.
The majority of the room cringed at such a display of recklessness, even the Gryffindors. Narcissa and Andromeda both eyed Harry with eyes of Healers. If he was still so small and scrawny, they dreaded to think how bad it had been two years prior and wondered how he had survived such a fall without any major injuries.
Cold, damp air rushed…FLUMP.
"Flump?" Sirius queried in confusion.
"Why would there be something to cushion the landing?" Tonks wondered.
"A fall like that wouldn't give adult wizards pause with the correct spells. It may have been a precaution in case any foolish students pulled a ridiculous stunt like this," Moody said disapprovingly.
"If the only protection on the door was a lock that could be opened with alohomora, I don't think student safety was a priority here," Ted pointed out grimly.
With a funny, muffled…some sort of plant.
Neville immediately began through running lists of plants in his mind.
Pomona gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. She had just recalled exactly what she had put there as a protection. Everyone turned to look at her, easily guessing whose protection this was.
"I'm confident Miss Granger will recall the solution," she assured the room.
"A first year should not know the solution to a supposed protection off of the top of their head," Andromeda stated.
"It's okay!" he…a postage stamp,
"A what?" Draco frowned.
"Something muggles use in their postal system," Harry informed him. "It's about this big." He showed a small gap between his forefinger and thumb.
"That's a long way down. Even with a cushioned fall, how did you not break anything? Or even sprain an ankle?" George wondered. The trio all shrugged.
which was the open…here to break the fall.
"Why on earth would you assume that?" Kingsley asked in astonishment. "These protections are supposedly to stop someone stealing the stone. Why would something be put in there to break the fall?"
"Student protection?" Ron offered weakly.
"Did you think that at the time, or just now when it was mentioned?" Fred asked with brother with a knowing smirk. Ron didn't answer.
Come on, Hermione!"…creepers without their noticing.
"Devil's Snare!" Neville exclaimed.
"Very good, Mr. Longbottom," Pomona praised his quick recognition of the plant.
"Devil's Snare? I know it can be a bit of a problem, but it's hardly difficult to get rid of. Once again, a simple first year charm, lumos could get them free," Remus noted. "Even if they didn't know exactly what they were dealing with, in a dark room it would be instinctual to conjure a light."
"We didn't want to kill whoever was after the stone," Pomona pointed out. "The point was to trap them alive, and Devil's Snare was the best plant I had available to me for that job."
Hermione had managed to…plant wound around them.
"Struggling makes it worse. You need light or fire," Neville stated.
"We know. Or at least, we know now. Hermione knew at the time," Harry told him.
"Miss Granger managed to get herself free even without light or heat. It seems the boys were caught because they paid no attention to their surroundings," Moody grunted, his fake eye fixed on Harry and Ron.
"Stop moving!" Hermione…wringing her hands.
"No wood?" Draco stared at her. If etiquette hadn't been drilled into him his entire life, his mouth would have been hanging open. Hermione turned bright red and hid her face. "You are a witch."
"It's fairly common for muggleborns to revert to muggle habits when under stress. It's what we have known for our whole lives before Hogwarts. It will take more than a few months to change that," Ted reminded him calmly.
"Even if there had been wood, I don't think you would have had time to start a fire the muggle way anyway," Tonks pointed out.
"Momentary lapse or not, she was still doing better than Ron and me. Neither of us had a clue what it was or how to stop it," Harry defended his friend.
"HAVE YOU GONE MAD?"…were able to pull free.
Everyone heaved a sigh of relief.
"Lucky you pay…sweat off his face.
Pomona frowned at the implication that neither of the boys paid attention in her lessons. Although Devil's Snare was only briefly mentioned in first year, as it wasn't dealt with until later.
"Yeah," said Ron…'there's no wood,' honestly."
"It's what makes you guys such a good team," Fred stated.
"Hermione has the knowledge, Ron's got the strategy and Harry keeps calm in a crisis," George agreed.
"And Harry is good with the plans when all hell breaks loose," Ron added.
"This way," said Harry…Norbert had been bad enough…
Charlie glared in the direction of the professors.
"There was no dragon, Mr. Weasley," Minerva assured him in exasperation.
"But how much do you want to bet there is a troll somewhere down there," Bill said suddenly. "That would certainly explain why a troll got in on Halloween. If the wards were changed to let one in for the protections, a second would go unnoticed."
"Not another troll!" Molly gasped in horror.
"Er, we didn't have to fight another troll," Harry told the room. Many people relaxed but Remus, Moody, Kingsley and Amelia all narrowed their eyes at his phrasing. Simply not fighting one was not the same as there not being a troll at all. And there was a good chance someone was already down there as the door had been open and a harp in the room.
"Can you hear something?"…sounds like wings to me."
Filius raised an eyebrow, highly impressed with Harry's hearing.
"There's light ahead…no other choice… I'll run."
"Why do you keep offering to go first?" Sirius demanded.
"Because Ron and Hermione were only there because of me." Sirius let out a sound of frustration but said nothing further for now. It was not the time to drum the value of his own life into his godson's head.
He took a deep breat…her Alohomora charm.
"Well, that's something at least," Kingsley muttered.
"Now what?" said Ron…key to the door!"
"Now, the smart thing would be to not even have the correct key in the room," Fred said.
"That idea didn't even cross our minds," Ron admitted.
"Or not provide the broomsticks with which to catch the key," Percy added with a bemused look.
"So, they have to catch a flying key? Rather handy they have the youngest seeker in a century on the job," Charlie stated dryly.
"If the correct key is in there and broomsticks are provided, how exactly is this a protection?" Amelia wondered.
"Trying to catch one key out of that many would be quite difficult," Ginny spoke up.
"Especially if the person trying to catch it didn't like flying, or wasn't good at spotting small details," Fred added.
"How many broomsticks were provided?" Andromeda asked suddenly.
"Er…three," Harry said slowly, thinking back.
"Convenient," Emmeline snorted. Suspicious looks were thrown in Dumbledore's direction.
"But there are hundreds of them!"…like the handle."
"Good eye, Ron," Bill praised. Ron flushed, pleased.
They each seized…roughly into the keyhole.
"That's my little Quidditch star!" Sirius praised.
"That one!" he called…around the high chamber.
"You've got the makings of a good captain there," Charlie told him with a smile. "I definitely wouldn't be surprised if you get the job in the future." Harry smiled.
"Now Oliver has left it will probably go to Angelina," he said.
"True, but the girls are in the twin's year, yes? So it should be available when you hit sixth year."
"Katie will be in seventh year," George reminded his brother.
"But it isn't only age that's a factor. You clearly have potential to be an extremely good leader," Fred reminded Harry.
They landed quickly…chessmen had no faces.
"That's downright creepy," Tonks said with a shudder.
"Chess?" Percy gasped. "But…Ron…Professor McGonagall's chess set. I didn't realise you meant lifesized!"
So, the protections so far have included trying to catch a small object on a broomstick, a plant and now chess. Harry happens to be the youngest seeker in a century, Ron is a chess expert. And Neville is a Herbology expert. He might not be with them in the end, but he was there the first time they ran into the dog," Emmeline summarised.
"It does seem as if these protections were designed with those four specifically in mind," Kingsley agreed.
"Now, see here, those protections were in place before the school year even began," Minerva said pointedly. "It is absurd to suggest we protected the stone with traps designed for those four to get passed."
"Except every single task so far is exceptionally suited to each of them, except Hermione but there is still time for that, and are easy enough for first years to get passed. An adult wizard would have no real difficulty with any of this," Kingsley argued back.
"Let us just finish reading before we spend hours discussing all of this," Arthur stepped in, although he was throwing dubious looks at Dumbledore himself. The headmaster was being suspiciously quiet, and it did nothing to help the unease all of the adults were feeling.
"Now what do we do?"…have to be chessmen."
"Woah! Please tell me you at least tried just walking across the board before trying to play an enchanted chess set?" Bill looked at Ron in horror.
"We did. The white pawns all drew their swords and blocked the way," Ron told him.
He walked up to a black…of the black pieces…"
"What!?" Molly shrieked.
"If it's anything like regular wizarding chess…" Tonks said, trailing off uncertainly.
"All the kids are clearly fine," Charlie reassured her, though he was throwing anxious looks at Ron.
"Would it not work if only one of you replaced a piece?" Draco frowned. "That way you only need to protect one piece instead of three."
The trio all shrugged. "We just assumed all of us had to take part," Harry said.
Harry and Hermione stayed…knight," said Ron.
"They always were your favourite pieces," Percy stated with a slight smile.
"That's 'cause they are the best," Ron grinned.
The chessmen seemed…What if they lost?
"Oh, ye of little faith," Ron said dramatically.
"Hey, no matter how much faith I had in your chess skills, those pieces were pretty intimidating," Harry pointed out.
"True enough," Ron agreed with a grin.
"So, you have to win the game, while protecting three of the most useful and active pieces?" Ted whistled in astonishment. "You must be quite the player if you won."
"We won," Hermione confirmed with a proud smile in Ron's direction.
"Harry — move diagonally…quite still, facedown.
The Weasleys, Remus and Sirius all paled at that.
"Had to let that happen,"…Hermione were in danger.
"You did brilliantly," Harry assured him.
"Too many close calls," Ron muttered.
"There were always going to be close calls in a game like that," Bill told him. "It's highly impressive you kept all three of you in the game, especially against pieces transfigured by Professor McGonagall."
"Wouldn't the chess pieces have needed to be charmed?" Hermione wondered.
"They were already magical chess pieces, simply enlarged," Minerva explained.
He himself darted…I've got to be taken."
"NO!" All the Weasleys yelled out.
"I'm right here guys. Perfectly fine," Ron reminded them, though he looked slightly pleased at their concern.
"Sacrifices are a part of chess," Draco stated. The red heads all glared at him.
"NO!" Harry…There was no alternative.
"There had to be!" Percy demanded.
"There wasn't Perc," Ron told him softly. "It was the only way for us to win the game. And I was fine."
Hermione and Harry exchanged looks. They'd both feared he'd been killed for several moments. Staying in place long enough to finish the game had been so hard for them.
"Ready?" Ron called…he crashed to the floor
Molly let out a quiet shriek and moved over to hug her youngest son. Arthur pulled both of them back to the couch where the other Weasleys all joined them. The couch enlarged itself so the whole family could sit together.
"How badly were you hurt?" Bill asked.
"Just a bump on the head."
"And a concussion," Hermione reminded him. He glared at her as his mother increased her fussing.
"Madam Pomfrey let me out of the hospital wing the next morning. And you know how she is about staying in there as long as possible," Ron told his family. That made them all relax. The school matron was notorious.
Hermione screamed but…up the next passageway.
"You didn't even check on him!?" Charlie asked angrily.
"He told us to go!" Hermione replied, wringing her hands in distress.
"You could have at least checked he was ok and not bleeding or something," George said indignantly.
"We're sorry, Ron." Harry shot his best friend an apologetic look.
"I told you to." Ron shrugged. Secretly, he was a little hurt they hadn't stopped to check on him even for a second despite what he had said to them. But he did understand why they had gone on in such a hurry, so he pushed it aside.
"What if he's —?...Quirrell's spell, and Snape's."
"Dangerous to assume. Might not be a spell at all," Moody pointed out.
"Uncle Sev's is likely to involve potions of some sort," Draco agreed.
They had reached…bloody lump on its head.
The adults all inhaled sharply and then sighed in relief.
"If that's Quirrell's protection, then remind me why he fainted on Halloween?" Bill queried, despite knowing the answer.
"He's the one after the stone," Emmeline confirmed. Most of the adults had suspected him for many chapters, but this was quite damning evidence for any who hadn't been entirely sure.
"Which means, Voldemort has been possessing him all year," Charlie realised.
"The turban!" Tonks yelped. "And Harry's scar didn't bother him when they met in Diagon but did at the starting feast. You-Know-Who must have possessed him between those two dates."
"Likely after the failure to get the stone from Gringotts," Kingsley agreed.
"Which means, Harry and Hermione are heading right towards Voldemort himself, along with Quirrell," Sirius stated in terror. He pulled Harry to him and hugged him tightly. It was one thing to suspect it, it was quite another to say it out loud with certainty. His eleven-year-old godson was about to face his parent's murderer for the second time in one year. Not to mention had been taught by one of his followers.
Everyone stared at the book with apprehension. Finally, Pomona began reading once more.
"I'm glad we didn't…on it in a line.
"I assume this is yours, Severus," Narcissa said with a slight smile. "I do hope it is of higher quality than the previous traps." Snape rolled his eyes at her.
"Snape's," said Harry…They were trapped.
"Well, that's a promising start," Kingsley noted.
"It is not promising. My godson is trapped in there!" Sirius snapped dangerously.
"Clearly he made it out ok, Padfoot," Remus soothed him.
"As long as the flame couldn't be gotten around with a simple flame freezing charm," Moody said.
"of course not," Snape stated in a tone that suggested Moody was an idiot for even suggesting such a thing.
"Look!" Hermione seized a…different at first sight.
"A logic puzzle. Well, isn't it helpful that Miss Granger is an incredibly bright witch who is very logical," Andromeda drawled.
"It's almost impossible to solve without the bottles here, but it shouldn't be too difficult to work out at the time," Bill mused.
"Assuming the riddle isn't misleading," Ted pointed out.
"Given that so far, the correct key was provided along with broomsticks, I doubt the riddle is a fake," Sirius scoffed.
"Surely, if the purpose was indeed to trap whoever was after the stone, the potion supposedly allowing the drinker forwards should be something to paralyse them, or put them to sleep, until they can be questioned," Kingsley suggested.
"You would think. Unless someone wanted a certain student to be able to get passed the traps," Moody grunted quietly. "Testing the Boy-Who-Lived." Kingsley's mouth thinned. That was looking more and more likely. If it was true, then there would be even more strong words to be had with Albus Dumbledore. All of the events over the year could be considered negligence and child endangerment. Deliberately leading a student into an encounter with Voldemort was beyond the pale.
Hermione let out a great…stuck in here forever."
Several adults raised their eyebrows at the audacity of that statement.
"But so will we, won't we?"…toward the Stone."
"How long did it take?" Remus wondered.
"Less than five minutes," Harry stated with a grin.
Snape scowled. It had not been the most difficult riddle in the world, but he refused to believe even the know-it-all had solved it that quickly at the age of twelve.
Harry looked at the tiny…match for him, really."
"I am glad you realise that, Potter," Snape drawled.
"You should all go back," Remus stated regardless of whether it was possible or not.
"But Harry…"I might get lucky again."
Sirius choked at that. "You were relying on luck?"
"Didn't exactly have a lot else to rely on." Harry shrugged as best he could within the tight hold of his godfather.
"Gryffindors," Draco said hiding his slight worry behind exasperation. He knew whatever happened next resulted in Harry spending several days unconscious in the hospital wing.
"You could at least wait in that room. Send Hermione back and just wait there to try and stop him if he tries to leave," Tonks suggested.
"I didn't know if there would be another exit," Harry pointed out.
Hermione's lip trembled…oh Harry —be careful!"
"I'm always careful." He shot her a cheeky grin.
"You are not," she replied flatly.
"You drink first," said Harry…it's like ice."
They all sighed after a brief moment of tension from the shudder.
"Quick, go, before it wears off."…in the last chamber.
And the tension was right back. Everybody glanced nervously at Harry, wrapped up in the red blanket and now sitting between Sirius and Remus.
There was already…It wasn't even Voldemort.
"That's it," Pomona announced.
"It's Quirrell then," Charlie stated.
"It looks like there is only one more chapter left. Or two very small ones," Pomona told the room.
"Pass it here," Minerva said. She had played a part in Harry's decision to get into this mess, she should be the one to read about the consequences of her dismissal.