Even though Harry didn't expect to find the Invisibility Cloak again, apparently the next night, someone had returned it neatly folded underneath his covers with a note that read, "Just in case." The four of us attempted to figure out who it could've been, but none of our suggestions made much sense at all.
"I'm just glad to have it back," said Harry, and that was the end of the discussion.
Exams finally came and went; fortunately for Hermione and I, we found them easy thanks to all our studying. Even our Potions final was relatively simple due to my study sessions with Draco Malfoy where, surprisingly enough, we had actually gotten along rather well. Where Draco had able to assist me with in Potions, I returned the favor for Transfiguration.
Charms and Transfiguration were practical exams where we were called in one-by-one to perform spells we had learned throughout the year. Professor Flitwick clapped effusively at my levitating spell which, thanks to Ron, I had managed to perfect. Professor McGonagall had us turn mice into snuffboxes, where points would be given or taken away depending on if the box was pretty or if it had whiskers. Transfiguration was my best subject, and so my snuffbox was embroidered with silver spirals and flowers.
In Potions, Snape sneered into all of our cauldrons save for Draco's, Lizzie's, Hermione's, and my own. As relieved as I was to not have our teacher hovering over my shoulder, I did feel bad for Harry, Ron, and Neville, all of whom had sweat beading at their brows.
Professor Quirrell tested us on certain jinxes and protective charms. This exam was rather easy, seeing as Hermione, Harry, Ron and I had been practicing these jinxes on each other the previous night. For Astronomy, we charted Jupiter and its sixteen moons; Herbology we had to decipher which plant was which and what it did in Greenhouse One. Lastly was History of Magic, where we had to write down the names of strange and awkward wizards who invented loads of even stranger things. Once Professor Binns told us to put our quills down, the classroom erupted into cheers.
While Hermione was fretting about our finals and what she may have gotten wrong, Harry, Ron, and I were determined to get some relaxation time in for a job well done. We found ourselves heading towards the Black Lake, where Fred, George, and Lee Jordan were already taking advantage of their newfound freedom by tickling the giant squid's tentacles.
We located a shady spot underneath one of the large trees. Ron immediately flopped onto his back on the ground and began looking up at the clouds; he seized my arm and pulled me down next to him with the words, "Hey, look at that one! It looks like Quirrell's turban."
Minutes passed during which time Ron and I were pointing out the funnily shaped clouds—Hermione had finally calmed down from the post-exam jitters, but her unease seemed to have transferred to Harry. He kept massaging his scar, his face scrunched up in obvious discomfort.
"You all right, Harry?" I asked, my blue eyes locked on him.
Noting my concern, he sighed. "I wish I knew what this means! If I had to guess… I'd say it's a warning. It means danger is coming."
I frowned. "How could it?"
Harry shrugged—but while he and I were perplexed by his scar's abnormal aches, Ron didn't seem troubled at all. Still gazing at the clouds, he exclaimed, "Harry, relax, the Stone's safe as long as Dumbledore's around. Anyway, we've never had any proof Snape found out how to get past Fluffy. He nearly had his leg ripped off once, he's not going to try it again in a hurry. And Neville will play Quidditch for England before Hagrid lets Dumbledore down."
Ron's sensibility made me grin; with no small amount of amusement, I glanced over at him and remarked, "I don't know about you, Ron, but I'd pay good money to see Neville play Quidditch for England."
He snorted. "So would I. But I'd pay more to see Hermione, maybe—"
"Shut up, Ronald," Hermione said.
Harry didn't seem to be paying attention to our tomfoolery, and he sure didn't seem convinced by Ron's earlier statement. "I feel like I've forgotten something. Like I've overlooked something…"
"Harry, you're only going to drive yourself mad if you keep thinking on it," I said, propping myself on my elbows. His eyebrows were furrowed again; a sure sign that he was deeply troubled. "I bet you anything if something is wrong, you'll figure it out once you relax." I pat the ground next to me after I spoke: a clear invitation.
He sighed, but moved forward to take the offered spot so he might join the rest of us in relaxing.
For a while, it was peaceful. The four of us were tuning out the sounds of the giant squid and the Weasley twins and were enjoying the nice bit of sunshine.
That was, we were until—
"OF COURSE!" Harry suddenly yelled. He leapt to his feet and started running in the direction of Hagrid's hut.
The rest of us exchanged bemused glances, but we followed after him all the same, seeing as Harry wasn't even bothering to glance back to see if we were.
Once we finally caught up to him, Hermione gasped, "Harry, what's going on? Why are we off to see Hagrid?"
"Don't you think it's a bit odd that what Hagrid wants more than anything else is a dragon egg, 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 the wizard law? Lucky they found Hagrid, don't you think?"
A stone settled into my stomach as I realized that Harry actually had a point. Dragons were rare enough in our world, and for someone to turn up to Hogwarts with one could be more than coincidence.
When we arrived at Hagrid's cabin, Harry banged on the door impatiently. Hagrid appeared after only a moment, smiling and holding a bowl of shelled peas. "Hullo! Finished your exams? Got time for a drink?"
Ron and I nodded to accept, but Harry cut us off before we could actually speak. "No, we're in a hurry, Hagrid. I've got to ask you something, though. You know that night you won Norbert? What did the stranger you were playing cards with look like?"
Hagrid cocked his head sideways, as if trying to remember. "I dunno, he wouldn't take his cloak off, so I never saw his face."
My heart leapt into my throat—it seemed Harry's did too. His face turned ghostly pale in a matter of seconds.
"It's not unusual," continued Hagrid, casually shucking more snow-peas. "Yeh get a lot a' funny folk in the Hog's Head—that's the pub down in the village. Might've been a dragon dealer, mightn't he? I never saw his face, like I said, he kept his hood up."
By this point, however, the unease was seeping into Ron and Hermione too.
"What did you talk to him about, Hagrid? Did you mention Hogwarts at all?"
"Mighta come up, yeah," said Hagrid. He set down the bowl. "Yeah… he asked a bit about the sort of creatures I looked after, so I told him, an' I said what I'd always really wanted was a dragon. Then, I can't remember too well cause he kept buyin' me drinks…"
At this last sentence, Harry caught my eye and shot me a meaningful look.
"Let's see, then he said he had the dragon egg and we could play cards fer it if I wanted. But he had to 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—"
Harry's hand seized my own. His hands were cold… I squeezed his hand once, hoping the gesture would comfort him even a little. Taking a deep breath, I took it upon myself to ask the next logical question. "Did he seem interested in Fluffy, Hagrid?"
Hagrid scoffed, as though he were offended. "Well, yeah, how many three-headed dogs do yeh meet, even around Hogwarts? So I told him, Fluffy is a piece o' cake if yeh know how to calm him down. Jus' play him a bit o' music and he'll fall straight asleep!"
We gasped.
Hagrid's mouth dropped open. "I shouldn' have told yeh that."
Too late. Harry was already sprinting away from the hut, and back up towards the castle. This time, Ron and Hermione and I wouldn't be left behind—after a quick farewell to Hagrid, we joined him as he barreled through the grass and the lawns of the castle, up towards the courtyard.
My side was beginning to cramp something awfully, but through the pain I somehow managed to gasp, "Dumbledore's office?"
"Most definitely," replied Harry, who was equally out of breath.
We stopped in the courtyard, however, realizing we had a problem: none of us knew where Dumbledore's office was.
Before we could gather our thoughts and figure out where to go from there, a familiar voice down the hallway caught our attention. "What are you four doing inside?"
Approaching us was Professor McGonagall, whose arms were stacked with books. She gazed sternly at us from behind her spectacles as she neared, as though suspicious that we were planning something .
Hermione took a deep breath and took a step forward. "We need to see Professor Dumbledore."
"See Professor Dumbledore?" repeated Professor McGonagall. "Why?"
We glanced at one another, wondering if we should speak the full truth of what we knew. After a moment's hesitation, Harry replied, "It's sort of a secret…"
Our Head of House didn't seem to like that answer. Her nostrils flared as she tartly answered, "Professor Dumbledore left ten minutes ago. He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and flew off for London at once."
"He's gone?" choked Harry. "Now?"
"Professor Dumbledore is a very great wizard, Potter, he has many demands on his time—"
"But this is important!"
"Something you have to say is more important than the Ministry of Magic, Potter?" Professor McGonagall had a dangerous edge to her tone.
"Look," he blurted out, "Professor—it's about the Sorcerer's Stone!"
The books tumbled out of Professor McGonagall's hands, her mouth agape. I darted forward and began to collect the books that were strewn about her feet. "How… how do you know—"
Harry didn't let her get any farther than that. Desperation lacing every syllable, he interrupted, "Professor, I think—I know—that someone is going to try and steal it. I've got to talk to Professor Dumbledore."
She gazed at him with thinly veiled surprise. "Professor Dumbledore will be back tomorrow. 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."
"But Professor—"
"I know what I'm talking about, Potter," she said, and there was an air of finality to these words. Taking advantage of the lull of conversation, I held out my arms, which had all of her books stacked in them. Professor McGonagall retrieved them, and I was rewarded with the ghost of a smile. "Thank you, Miss Skylar. Now then, I suggest you all go back outside and enjoy the sunshine."
She walked away, but we didn't move.
The moment she was gone, Harry whirled on us and hissed, "It's tonight. Snape's going through the trapdoor tonight. He's found out everything he needs, and now he's got Dumbledore out of the way. He sent that note, I bet the Ministry of Magic will get a real shock when Dumbledore turns up."
Hermione gasped, and Ron blanched—Harry and I turned to see Professor Snape standing all but right behind us.
"Good afternoon," he said softly, staring down at us with his lips curled. "You shouldn't be inside on a day like this."
We were all silent, unsure of what to say. As it was, Snape spared us the response by continuing with, "You want to be more careful. Hanging around like this, people will think you're up to something. And Gryffindor can't really afford to lose any more points, can it?"
The four of us either paled or reddened at these words. Smirking somewhat, Professor Snape began to move away from us, his black cloak swishing around his heels. Only when he was almost out of earshot did he call over his shoulder, "Be warned, Potter—any more nighttime wanderings and I will personally make sure you're expelled. Good day to you."
And then he swept around the corner and was gone.
Alone once again, Harry whispered, "Right, here's what we've got to do. Two of us have to keep an eye on Snape—Hermione, Belle, I think you two should do that."
"Why us?" we asked shrilly.
"It's obvious, isn't it?" Ron responded. "You can pretend you're waiting for Flitwick, and Hermione can say, 'Oh, Professor Flitwick, I'm so worried, I think I've gotten question fourteen b wrong…'"
"Shut up," Hermione snapped, but seeing as neither of us had a better plan, we agreed to watch Snape.
Harry and Ron elected to go to the third-floor corridor to guard it; thus we went our separate ways. Hermione and I trudged towards the staffroom, which was where it seemed Professor Snape had been heading.
We lurked around the corner, talking about our exams seeing as if any other professors heard us speaking, we would at least sound believable when saying that we were on the lookout for Professor Flitwick. As we spoke, we each kept a sharp lookout in opposite directions of the hallway.
It was about twenty minutes before Snape emerged from the staffroom. When he noted our presence, he raised an eyebrow. "What are you two doing?"
"We're waiting for Professor Flitwick," I replied. "I've got a question for him about our exam."
Snape gave me a thin-lipped smile and said, his voice as low as ever, "I believe he's in his office. I'll go see if I can fetch him for you…"
He billowed off again, leaving me and Hermione staring at each other with wide eyes and pale faces.
"What do we do now?" Hermione asked. "I already know that Flitwick gave me one-hundred and twelve percent on the exam! What are we supposed to ask?"
"How the bloody hell did you get more than one-hundred percent on your test?" I asked. As impressive a feat as that was, however, now was not the time to be distracted. Shaking my head, I replied, "I don't know!"
We stared at each other for a mere moment before sprinting off towards the common room. If we were lucky, Harry and Ron were still standing guard outside the third-floor corridor…
No sooner had we entered the common room than we heard two groans. Harry and Ron were already there, apparently only recently returned as well.
"McGonagall just forced us to leave the area of the third-floor corridor. How did you guys get side-tracked?" Ron asked with a frown.
"Snape went to get Flitwick," Hermione answered. "There was nothing we could do…"
Placing a hand to my forehead, I asked, "Now what do we do?"
Harry set his jaw, green eyes ablaze. "I'm going to try and get the Stone first."
"You can't!" gasped Hermione. "After what Professor McGonagall and Snape have said? You'll be expelled!"
"SO WHAT?!" Harry roared. His anger was so sudden and ferocious that it caused the rest of us to jump. "Don't you understand? If Snape gets hold of the Stone, Voldemort will come 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? Do you think he'll leave you and your families alone if Gryffindor wins the house cup? If I get caught before I can get to the Stone, well, I'll have to go 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 us defiantly, daring us to challenge him, not that I would do so. It was obvious that Harry's decision was final—his fists were clenched, his jaw set, and there was a very specific fire I'd seen perhaps only once or twice throughout the entire year I'd been friends with him… it was a fire of utmost determination. And that was all without mentioning he was right.
Harry sighed and rubbed the back of his neck upon seeing the shocked looks upon the other two's faces. "Sorry. I just—I'll use the Invisibility Cloak. It's lucky I got it back."
Ron and Hermione glanced at me, as if to ask whether or not I would go. They found the answer in my face; they nodded once, and their uncertainty vanished.
"Will it cover all four of us?" Ron asked.
"All—all four of us?" said Harry.
I smirked somewhat and slugged him in the arm, saying, "Don't tell me you were thinking we would let you do this on your own." I reached down for his hand and seized it, interlocking my fingers in his own. "We're in this together, Potter, like it or not."
Harry grinned, but the gesture was short-lived as he said, "If you three get caught with me, you'll be expelled, too."
"Not if I can help it," Hermione said, her mouth a thin line. "Flitwick said I got one-hundred and twelve percent on his exam. They're not throwing me out after that."
