Diary of an Orphan (re-written)

by StrangeLittleWeirdo

Jenna grew up alone in an orphanage with no knowledge of who she was or where she came from. It wasn't until an owl arrived with a letter for her, and a man named Remus Lupin walked into her life, that she learnt she was so much more than she originally thought and her life would never be the same again.

8. A Different Kind of Bravery

Chapter 7

A Different Kind of Bravery

Lupin took me to King's Cross Station to get the Hogwarts Express back to school the day before it was due to start. I met Hermione on the platform after I'd said goodbye to Lupin and we settled down in a compartment together and talked about our holidays. Of course one of Hermione's main concerns was whether or not Harry and Ron had found out anything on Nicolas Flamel yet. I held in my sigh; I had hoped the holidays would make them forget all this Flamel and three-headed dog business but it appeared to have certainly not deterred Hermione. I guess that probably meant the boys wouldn't have forgotten about them either.

It turned out that Harry and Ron had had little luck in locating any information about Nicolas Flamel while we had been away. What Harry did find, however, was very different. Up in their dormitory, Harry showed us a present he'd received over Christmas: it was an Invisibility Cloak, a long flowing piece of material that felt like water under your fingers, that had belonged to his father. With it he had snuck into the Restricted Section of the library to see if he could find anything on Flamel, only to be almost caught when a book screamed in his face and gave him away to Filch. Harry had hidden in an empty classroom where he'd come across a large mirror called the Mirror of Erised. According to what Dumbledore had told him when he found Harry one night with the mirror, it showed him only his hearts desire and he was advised to stay away. Despite being horrified at the thought he'd been out of bed at night, while I wasn't really that surprised by Harry's actions, Hermione and I agreed it was best to keep away from the mirror. It didn't stop her being disappointed though that the search for Nicolas Flamel had been unsuccessful.

Just like last term, we spent any free moment we had in the library once again looking for anything on this wizard but to no avail. Harry had even less time than Ron, Hermione and I as Wood had begun Quidditch training as soon as term started and so Harry was spending every evening out in the wet weather training for the next match of the season. When he wasn't training the four of us were getting back into the swing of classes and the miserable task of once again doing homework.

It had been on one particularly rainy evening that Harry and the rest of the Gryffindor team had returned to the Tower covered in mud and all were looking rather down. He came and sat with us in our favourite chairs in the common room where Ron was teaching Hermione and me how to play Wizards Chess. It was the first thing I'd ever seen Hermione fail at. She wasn't impressed when Ron gloated while trying to plan his next move. It was only when he saw Harry's face that his concentration was derailed.

'What's the matter with you?' he asked. 'You look terrible.'

'It's Snape,' said Harry in a low voice. 'For some reason, he suddenly wants to be a Quidditch referee. He's overseeing Gryffindor's next match against Hufflepuff.'

'Don't play,' said Hermione instantly.

'Say you're ill,' said Ron.

'Pretend to break your leg.'

'Really break your leg.'

'I can't,' said Harry. 'There isn't a reserve Seeker. If I back out, Gryffindor can't play at all.'

'Then play,' I said. Hermione and Ron gaped at me. 'Come on, if Snape's refereeing the match, do you really think he'd be stupid enough to try something with the entire school watching?'

Ron's comeback was stopped before he'd opened his mouth. A noise from the portrait hole had caught our attention. We looked over just in time to see Neville stumbled through the entrance and fall flat on his face from his legs being magically held together by what looked like a Leg-Locker Curse. I could only guess how long he'd been hopping about like that. While the rest of the students in the common room laugh, Hermione jumped up to help him. She said the counter curse and Neville's legs were released. Shakily he got to his feet.

'What happened?' asked Hermione. She helped Neville over to where we were sitting.

'Malfoy,' stuttered Neville. 'I met him outside the library. He said he'd been looking for someone to practise that on.'

'Go to Professor McGonagall!' urged Hermione. 'Report him.'

'Hermione, that won't do any good,' I said. 'Malfoy would have made sure there were no witnesses. There'd be no way to prove Malfoy did it apart from Neville's word.'

Neville agreed, shaking his head.

'I don't want any more trouble,' he said quietly.

'You've got to stand up to him, Neville!' said Ron. 'He's used to walking all over people, but that's no reason to lie down in front of him and make it easier.'

'There's no need to tell me I'm not brave enough to be in Gryffindor,' said Neville, 'Malfoy's already done that.'

'It's OK, Neville,' I said kindly. 'Not everyone's brave when they're eleven years old.'

'You were all brave with that troll,' he sniffed.

'That wasn't bravery,' I whispered to him. 'That was stupidity getting lucky.'

Harry pulled out a Chocolate Frog from his pocket and gave it to Neville.

'You're worth twelve of Malfoy,' Harry told him. 'The Sorting Hat chose you for Gryffindor, didn't it? And where's Malfoy? In stinking Slytherin.'

This seemed to cheer Neville up a bit. A small smile twitched on his lip. He unwrapped the Frog and took a bite of it.

'Thanks, Harry … I think I'll go to bed … D'you want the card, you collect them, don't you?'

Neville gave Harry the card and walked off up to the dormitories. With Neville gone I reset the chess board so I could play Ron when Harry let out a gasp. He shoved the card under our noses, pointing at the writing on the back. He'd found Flamel.

'I told you I'd read the name somewhere before,' he said, 'I read it on the train coming here – listen to this: "Professor Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel"!'

All of a sudden Hermione jumped to her feet and ran off upstairs. She came down seconds later with an enormous book in her hands. She dumped it with a thud on to our table.

'I never thought to look in here!' she said in an excited whisper. 'I got this out of the library weeks ago for a bit of light reading.'

'This is light?' said Ron, staring at the book. Hermione gave him a look and told him to be quiet then started flicking through the pages. A few minutes later she shoved the book back under our noses.

'I knew it! I knew it!'

'Are we allowed to speak yet?' grumbled Ron. Again she ignored him.

'Nicolas Flamel,' she whispered, 'is the only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone!'

'The what?' said Harry and Ron.

'Oh, honestly, don't you two read? Look – read that, there.'

She pointed at a short passage halfway down the page. I tilted my head so I could read it.

The ancient study of alchemy is concerned with
making the Philosopher's Stone, a legendary
substance with astonishing powers. The Stone
will transform any metal into pure gold. It also
produces the Elixir of Life, which will make
the drinker immortal.

There have been many reports of the Philosopher's
Stone over the centuries, but the only Stone currently
in existence belongs to Mr Nicolas Flamel, the noted
alchemist and opera-lover. Mr Flamel, who
celebrated his six-hundredth and sixty-fifth birthday
last year, enjoys a quiet life in Devon with his wife,
Perenelle (six hundred and fifty-eight).

'See?' said Hermione. 'The dog must be guarding Flamel's Philosopher's Stone! I bet he asked Dumbledore to keep it safe for him, because they were friends and he knew someone was after it. That's why he wanted the Stone moved out of Gringotts!'

'A Stone that makes gold and stops you ever dying!' said Harry. 'No wonder Snape's after it! Anyone would want it.'

'And no wonder we couldn't find Flamel in that Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry,' said Ron. 'He's not exactly recent if he's six hundred and sixty-five, is he?'

'To think he was right in front of us all the time,' I said, looking at Harry's Chocolate Frog card. 'These sorts of things are always in the last place you look. But the question is why would Snape want the Stone in the first place? He's not exactly dying and he must make a decent amount working at Hogwarts. Why would he need it?'

That was a question, which, at this point, we had no answer to. Even the most obvious answer – stealing it so he could sell it on – seemed a bit too far fetched because what reason would Snape have to do that either? Who would he even sell the Stone to? Surely the only people who could use it would have to know alchemy to be able to do so. It would be useless to anyone else other than an alchemist. It just didn't make any sense.

There were more pressing issues, however, than what Snape might want with the Philosopher's Stone. The next Quidditch match was coming and with Snape refereeing, we had to be on our guard. Harry had decided to play despite his nerves creeping up again. Gryffindor finally had the chance at overtaking Slytherin for the Quidditch Cup. Harry didn't want to let the team down even with a potentially biased referee overseeing the match. In precaution for Harry's safety, Ron, Hermione and I took a charm out of Malfoy's book and started practicing the Leg-Locker Curse in case we felt Snape was going to try and hurt Harry again.

The match arrived. With our wands stowed in our pockets, Ron, Hermione and I wished Harry good luck at the changing rooms before making our way into the stands. We ran through the curse with each other a couple more times before taking our seats next to Neville to wait for the match to start. The entire school had turned up; even Dumbledore himself was visible in the stands, his white beard clear as anything. We watched as the crowd cheered the two teams on to the pitch. There was a very dark look on Snape's brooding face.

'I've never seen Snape look so mean,' said Ron. A whistle went and the teams flew into the air. 'Look – they're off. Ouch!'

'Oh, sorry, Weasley, didn't see you there.'

The three of us looked behind us to see Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle pushing their way through and take the seats behind us.

'Wonder how long Potter's going to stay on his broom this time? Anyone want a bet? What about you, Weasley?'

'Don't rise to him, Ron,' I whispered, 'that's just what he wants.'

'Jenna's right,' said Hermione. 'Just ignore him.'

We tried to focus on the game. Snape had awarded Hufflepuff a penalty because George had sent a Bludger his way. Beside me, Hermione had her fingers crossed so tightly it looked like she might break them.

'You know how I think they choose people for the Gryffindor team?' said Malfoy loudly behind us. I glanced at him through my hair. Meanwhile Snape had awarded Hufflepuff another penalty. 'It's people they feel sorry for. See, there's Potter, who's got no parents, then there's the Weasleys, who've got no money – you should be on the team, Longbottom, you've got no brains.'

Next to Ron, Neville went bright red. Nevertheless he faced Malfoy.

'I'm worth twelve of you, Malfoy,' he stuttered. The three Slytherins started laughing.

Ron, who was staring at the game despite the glare on his face, turned to Neville and said, 'You tell them, Neville.'

'That's a laugh, if ever I heard one,' guffawed Malfoy.

I saw Ron lift his fist. I grabbed it and held it back on the bench. His ears were turning red while Neville's face was now bright pink.

'Easy, Ron, ignore him,' I repeated.

'I'm trying, Jenna,' growled Ron.

'Longbottom, if brains were gold you'd be poorer than Weasley, and that's saying something.'

'So what does it take to get on the Slytherin team?' I asked Malfoy, turning round. While I had told Ron not to rise to his taunts, I was better at keeping my temper now so I decided to try and shut Malfoy up. 'You've got no spine hiding behind those two thugs of yours and you're stuck up. I'd say you were perfect for it.'

Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle stopped laughing. Malfoy glared at me while his friends cracked their knuckles. I glanced at their clenched fists apprehensively but stood my ground.

'Ah, yes, I'd almost forgotten about you, Black,' said Malfoy smoothly. 'You should probably be on the team too. You're the worst of all of them. The little orphan.' My eyes narrowed. How did Malfoy know I was an orphan? 'Did your mummy enjoy Father's surprise? I heard she begged them.'

What? What did Malfoy mean by that?

'I'm warning you, Malfoy –' said Ron, 'one more word –'

'Ron!' shouted Hermione. 'Harry –!'

I span round, my attention drawn away from Malfoy. Harry had gone into a dive chasing after something down the length of the pitch. Everyone around us began cheering, Hermione jumping to her feet in anticipation.

'You're in luck, Weasley, Potter's obviously spotted some money on the ground!'

I was pushed into Hermione's vacant seat as Ron lunged at Malfoy. He wrestled Malfoy to the ground before he even knew what had hit him. Seconds later Neville had climbed over the seat to help Ron. I was torn between what to do, try and stop Ron and Neville from fighting Malfoy or watch to see what was happening in the match. Hermione hadn't noticed a thing and was still cheering Harry on. At least one of us was. I looked up from the fight in time to see a shot of scarlet fly past Snape missing him by inches as behind me Crabbe and Goyle were pulling Neville away from Malfoy and Ron. Harry had his hand raised, the Golden Snitch clasped in his grip. The match was over.

'Ron!' shrieked Hermione. She was bouncing up and down, screaming and hugging Parvati next to her. 'Ron! Where are you? The game's over! Harry's won! We've won! Gryffindor are in the lead!'

With the match over Ron disentangled himself from Malfoy and the three Slytherins slunk away. Neville, however, had been knocked out by either Crabbe or Goyle. He was lying on the floor of the stands moaning. While the rest of the Gryffindors flooded down into the pitch to congratulate the team Ron, Hermione and I gathered Neville up and together the three of us got him to the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey, the school nurse, took one look at him and simply rolled her eyes. She asked the three of us what happened and we told her about Malfoy.

'Well aren't you both lucky you came out relatively unscathed,' she said, directed more at Ron than the unconscious Neville who was now lying on one of the beds in the Hospital Wing. 'At least no wands were drawn otherwise the pair of you would be staying here overnight.'

'Lucky that we're still not old enough to do that, you mean,' I muttered to Hermione. She nodded in agreement. There was certainly an advantage to being only eleven and not knowing enough spells yet to be able to use any defensively.

A party was in full swing by the time Ron, Hermione and I got back to the Gryffindor Tower. The entire House was gathered in the common room and were celebrating the team's success. It even looked like Fred and George had got some extra surprises for the celebrations; tiny fireworks were buzzing around the ceiling of the common room and in the corner was a table full of sweets and cakes and sandwiches which looked like they had come from the kitchen. There were even some bottles of an amber liquid that the older students were passing around to each other but as soon as Ron attempted to take one, Percy snatched it off him threatening to tell their mother if he tried to sneak another.

Half an hour had past and there was still no sign of Harry. Concerned, the three of us left our seats in the common room to go find him. We made our way through the crowd and out of the portrait hole only to run into a breathless Harry barely a second after it had closed behind us. He ushered us to a nearby empty classroom and, once he'd checked Peeves was nowhere in sight, shut the door behind us. Ron, Hermione and I all took a seat and waited for Harry to say what was bothering him. Apparently when he was on his way back from the Quidditch stadium he'd seen Snape walking off towards the Forbidden Forest; following them, Harry had witnessed a confrontation between him and Professor Quirrell of all people.

'Snape finished by saying that they'd talk again once Quirrell had decided where his loyalties lie,' said Harry. 'So we were right, it is the Philosopher's Stone, and Snape's trying to force Quirrell to help him get it. He asked if he knew how to get past Fluffy – and he said something about Quirrell's "hocus-pocus" – I reckon there are other things guarding the Stone apart from Fluffy, loads of enchantments, probably, and Quirrell would have done some anti-Dark Arts spell which Snape needs to break through –'

'So you mean the Stone's only safe as long as Quirrell stands up to Snape?' asked Hermione, her eyes wide.

'And going by Quirrell's track record and his nerves of steel,' I said sarcastically.

'It'll be gone by next Tuesday,' said Ron.

With this new development, I could no longer deny something was going on. The fact that Snape was now threatening another teacher meant that maybe our suspicions were not as unfounded as I had originally thought. I just didn't think a teacher could really sink that low and do something that disgraceful. I guess I was wrong.

Quirrell managed to hold out a lot longer than we thought. In the following weeks he was still seen in the corridors between classes and in the Great Hall at mealtimes, which was reassuring even if he was looking much paler and thinner than usual. The fact that he was still here though meant he hadn't cracked just yet. That and the usual sight of Snape sweeping down the corridors looking as unpleasant as usual implied that he still hadn't got what he'd wanted. As for Fluffy, every time we passed the third floor we would press our ears to the door just to check he was still inside. The low rumbling growl was enough of an indication.

There was a slightly more pressing matter on Hermione's mind though: exams. With only ten weeks left, according to Hermione, we had to start revising as soon as possible. She already had begun to draw up revision tables for the four of us, and colour-coding all her notes from our different classes while badgering us to do the same with our own. Unfortunately the teachers seem to have the same idea. The amount of homework they set almost doubled by the time the Easter holidays came and so even Hermione and I decided to stay at Hogwarts during them so we could keep up with the work. Spending our free time in the library with her proved to be more annoying than productive, having to listen to her mutter things under her breath constantly and duck as she waved her wand too close to your face.

'I'll never remember this,' said Ron one afternoon. We were in the library again for what must have been the third time this week. 'Hagrid! What are you doing in the library?'

I looked up from my essay to see Hagrid come shuffling out from between two bookcases. He had his arms behind his back, which I presumed was due to the lack of space in here for him.

'Jus' lookin',' he said. There was an odd tone to his voice. 'An' what're you lot up ter?' He eyed us suspiciously. 'Yer not still lookin' fer Nicolas Flamel, are yeh?'

'We're doing homework,' I said. I held up my essay on Dittany I'd been working on for our next Potions class.

'Yeah, we found out who he is ages ago,' said Ron. 'And we know what that dog's guarding, it's a Philosopher's St–'

'Shhhh!' hissed Hagrid. He glanced around nervously in case someone had overheard. 'Don' go shoutin' about it, what's the matter with yeh?'

'There are a few things we wanted to ask you, as a matter of fact,' said Harry, 'about what's guarding the Stone apart from Fluffy –'

'SHHHH!' said Hagrid again. He then frowned at us. 'Listen – come an' see me later, I'm not promisin' I'll tell yeh anythin', mind, but don' go rabbitin' about it in here, students aren' s'pposed ter know. They'll think I've told yeh –'

'We won't,' I said. I gave Harry and Ron a pointed look.

'See you later, then,' said Harry and Hagrid shuffled off.

'What was he hiding behind his back?' asked Hermione.

'He was hiding something?' I asked. 'I thought he just couldn't fit in here.'

'Do you think it had anything to do with the Stone?' asked Harry.

'I'm going to see what section he was in.' and Ron disappeared to where Hagrid had come from. He came back a moment later with a pile of books in his arms and dumped them right on top of the table. I only just pulled my essay out the way in time. 'Dragons!' he whispered. 'Hagrid was looking up stuff about dragons!'

Dragons were one creature I still couldn't quite get my head around the fact they actually existed. When I read through my copy of Fantastic Beasts and got to the bit about dragons my jaw dropped when I read how many breeds there were, not to mention they were rated XXXXX on the Ministry Classification according to the author. That was the worst rating possible making them extremely dangerous. You needed to be pretty brave to work with dragons that could basically incinerate you with a single breath, something I had to admit I admired Ron's brother Charlie for doing. I'd never have the nerve to face a dragon.

'Hagrid's always wanted a dragon,' said Harry, 'he told me so the first time I ever met him.'

'But it's against our laws,' said Ron. 'Dragon-breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks' Convention of 1709, everyone knows that. It's hard to stop Muggles noticing us if we're keeping dragons in the back garden – anyway, you can't tame dragons, it's dangerous. You should see the burns Charlie's got off wild ones in Romania.'

'But there aren't wild dragons in Britain?' asked Harry.

'Of course there are,' said Ron. 'Common Welsh Green and Hebridean Blacks. The Ministry of Magic has a job hushing them up, I can tell you. Our lot have to keep putting spells on Muggles who've spotted them, to make them forget.'

'People have actually seen them?' I asked, astounded. Ron nodded. 'No wonder the Ministry tries to keep it quiet. I think I'd freak out if I was a Muggle and I saw a real live dragon flying over my house.'

'So what on earth's Hagrid up to?' asked Hermione.

An hour later, we returned to the Tower to get changed out of our school uniform before heading down to Hagrid's Hut. We hurried out the back of the castle and down the hill that led to his home. We could see a large curl of smoke issuing from its small chimney as we approached it. For some reason Hagrid had the curtains drawn and when we knocked on the door, he asked who was there before ushering us inside and quickly closing the door behind us. The moment we walked inside we were hit by a wave of heat that was incredibly unpleasant in such a confined space. Hagrid had a fire blazing in the grate. We took a seat at the table as he poured some tea and offered us some sandwiches. We politely turned them down having a slightly more pressing matter in mind.

'We were wondering if you could tell us what's guarding the Philosopher's Stone apart from Fluffy,' asked Harry.

'Please?' I added, seeing Hagrid's frown. Politeness always helped.

'O' course I can't,' said Hagrid. 'Number one, I don' know meself. Number two, yeh know too much already, so I wouldn' tell yeh if I could. That Stone's here fer a good reason. It was almost stolen outta Gringotts – I s'ppose yeh've worked that out an' all?' We nodded. 'Like I said, beats me how yeh even know abou' Fluffy.'

'Oh, come on, Hagrid,' said Hermione, 'you might not want to tell us, but you do know, you know everything that goes on round here.' Her tone was oddly flattering and I saw her bat her eyelids at Hagrid. Hagrid's beard twitched. It looked like he was trying not to smile. 'We only wondered who had done the guarding, really. We wondered who Dumbledore had trusted enough to help him, apart from you.'

Hagrid was almost grinning now. I had to hand it to Hermione. She was good.

'Well, I don' s'pose it could hurt ter tell yeh that … let's see … he borrowed Fluffy from me … then some o' the teachers did enchantments … Professor Sprout – Professor Flitwick – Professor McGonagall –' Hagrid was listing the teachers off one by one, 'Professor Quirrell – an' Dumbledore himself did somethin', o' course. Hang on, I've forgotten someone. Oh yeah, Professor Snape.'

'Snape?' burst Harry.

'Yeah – yer not still on abou' that, are yeh?' asked Hagrid. 'Look, Snape helped protect the Stone, he's not about ter steal it.'

The four of us shared a look. If Snape had helped protect the Stone then there was a chance he already knew most of the other spells and enchantments that were placed there by the other teachers and Professor Quirrell was one of the last ones he needed, the other being how to get past Fluffy.

'You're the only one who knows how to get past Fluffy, aren't you, Hagrid?' asked Harry. 'And you wouldn't tell anyone, would you? Not even one of the teachers?'

'Not a soul knows except me an' Dumbledore,' said Hagrid.

That was at least some good news. If no one else knew how to get past Fluffy then the Stone was still safe.

By now the heat in the Hut was unbearable and Harry asked if Hagrid could open a window. Hagrid refused, his eyes quickly darting to the fire. We looked at it too. In amongst the haze of the flames I could just make out a round black object sitting underneath the kettle. It looked almost like an egg. Ron got up and went over to the fireplace to get a better look. His eyes widened when he confirmed what it was.

'Where did you get it, Hagrid?' he asked. 'It must've cost you a fortune.'

'Won it,' said Hagrid. 'Las' night. I was down in the village havin' a few drinks an' got into a game o' cards with a stranger. Think he was quite glad ter be rid of it, ter be honest.'

I think anyone would be, considering what was sitting in Hagrid's fire was a dragon egg. It certainly explained why he'd been looking at dragon books in the library. But how exactly did Hagrid plan on keeping a dragon? He lived in a wooden Hut for starters. It would torch the place. And more importantly, dragons could grow up to sixty feet in length at their longest. Someone was bound to notice a sixty foot dragon sticking out the windows eventually.

'But what are you going to do with it when it's hatched?' asked Hermione.

'Well, I've been doin' some readin',' said Hagrid. He got up and pulled a book out from under his pillow. 'Got this outta the library – Dragon-Breeding for Pleasure and Profit – it's a bit outta date, o' course, but it's all in here. Keep the egg in the fire, 'cause their mothers breathe on 'em, see, an' when it hatches, feed it on a bucket o' brandy mixed with chicken blood every half hour. An' see here – how ter recognise diff'rent eggs – what I got there's a Norwegian Ridgeback. They're rare, them.'

This wasn't good. We left shortly afterwards when Hagrid began stocking the fire and adding more kindling to it to keep it going. He refused to listen to any of our reasons why it would be bad to keep the dragon and so we gave up for now. That and the fact we were all about to pass out from the heat.

It was a little over a week later that we received a note from Hagrid about the dragon. We had been sitting at the far end of the Gryffindor table away from the other students when we received his note at breakfast. Sure, he wanted us to stay out of a dangerous situation going on in the school but was more than happy to have us witness the birth and be near to a fire-breathing dragon, one of the most dangerous creatures in the wizarding world. A bit hypocritical, wasn't it? Ron seemed to be the only one of the four of us who was actually eager to go see it.

'It's hatching now,' he said, staring at Hermione. 'Herbology is always so chaotic, Professor Sprout won't even notice we aren't there.'

'We are not skipping class, Ronald,' said Hermione firmly.

'Hermione, how many times in our lives are we going to see a dragon hatching?' argued Ron.

'How many times in our lives are we going to get to have our fingers burnt off,' I muttered, mocking him.

'We've got lessons,' snapped Hermione. 'We'll get into trouble, and that's nothing compared to what Hagrid's going to be in when someone finds out what he's doing –'

'Shut up!' hissed Harry suddenly.

He nodded his head in the direction of the doors to the Great Hall. I looked round Ron to see Malfoy standing by the doors. He was staring at us, a narrowed look in his eyes. Taking Harry's hint we fell silent in case Malfoy had been listening in. After a minute or so, Malfoy walked off.

'That was close,' I said. I finished my cereal then grabbed my bag. 'Either way, we need to get to class.'

'But the dragon!' moaned Ron quietly.

'No, Ronald!' said Hermione.

Ron moaned like this the entire way through class, quietly badgering the three of us until Hermione finally gave in and agreed to us going down to Hogwarts during morning break. When the bell rang at the end of class, we gathered our stuff and ran out of the greenhouses. We ran as quick as we could round the perimeter of the Forbidden Forest until we were at Hagrid's Hut. We banged on the door until Hagrid appeared, flushed and excited, and pulled us inside.

'It's nearly out,' he said eagerly.

The dragon egg was sitting in the middle of the table. Harry, Ron, Hermione and I each took a seat around it. I peered cautiously at the egg. There were large cracks in the shell and it was shaking ominously. I could just hear a strange clicking coming from inside it. The clicking increased, slowly changing into a wild scraping sound. The egg gave a violent shake and all of a sudden it split open. We ducked as the thick dragon shell exploded into tiny pieces of shrapnel and splintered on to the table. In the middle of what was left lay a slimy black lizard the size of one of Hagrid's plates. It flexed its shoulders and stretched out its wings revealing its skinny black body and ridged spine. Outstretched, its wingspan made it almost the size of Hagrid's tabletop. It flared its nostrils, looking at us all with huge orange eyes. I had to admit, in a strange way it did look kind of cute.

'Isn't he beautiful,' gasped Hagrid. The dragon looked at him. 'Bless him, look, he knows his mummy!' He reached out his hand and gently stroked the dragon's head. It snapped at his fingers before letting out a strange hiccough. A small jet of sparks came out of its long snout, setting Hagrid's beard alight. We jumped. Hagrid frantically patted his smouldering beard. 'Well, he'll have ter be trained up a bit, o' course.'

'Hagrid, how fast do Norwegian Ridgebacks grow, exactly?' asked Hermione.

'Well, as a matter o' fact –'

Hagrid's face suddenly turned white and he stopped talking. Next minute he was on his feet and was running for the window.

'Someone was lookin' through the gap in the curtains – it's a kid – he's running back up ter the school.'

The four of ran to the other window to have a look. There was no mistaking that white blonde streak of hair.

Malfoy knew about the dragon.

When we saw Malfoy later that day at dinner, there was something about the smirk on his face that I found distinctly unsettling. He was with Crabbe and Goyle as usual but they weren't talking, mainly because the two larger boys were too busy stuffing their faces. When he noticed the four of us watching him from across the Hall, he gave his eyebrows a tiny lift before turning away.

'This isn't good,' I whispered to the others. 'If Malfoy knows about the dragon, he could go to Snape at any moment. Hagrid could lose his job for this.'

'Hagrid won't listen to us though,' said Harry. 'Owning a dragon has been something he's always wanted to do, he's not going to give it up just like that.'

'But he can't keep it,' said Hermione. In front of her, she had my copy of Fantastic Beasts and was reading through the passage about Norwegian Ridgebacks. 'It says here they are one of the most aggressive types of dragon and will eat both land mammals and water dwelling creatures. In a matter of months it'll be able to breathe fire and so could easily set something in Hagrid's Hut alight.'

'What do you want us to do then?' asked Ron. 'We can't just tell him to give it up.'

'We're going to have to,' said Harry.

Unfortunately convincing Hagrid was no easy task. He was completely enamoured by that dragon. Whenever we went down to his Hut, he'd be busy cooing over it while spoon-feeding it helpings of brandy and blood. It had already grown almost three times its size in less than a week and was now about the same size as Fang. It had smoke coming from its nostrils every time it took a breath. It was taking up all of Hagrid's time meaning his actual duties were being neglected. Even his Hut was a mess. There were empty bottles of brandy everywhere and chicken feathers scattered all over the floor. That wasn't including all the singe marks over the curtains and Hagrid's bed.

We tried to get Hagrid to see sense and release it but he wouldn't listen. What was worse, he'd named the dragon.

'I've decided to call him Norbert,' said Hagrid proudly. It was like watching a misty-eyed father adoring his son. A son that could set you on fire.

'Norbert?' I repeated. What sort of name was that for a dragon? Then again, Hagrid did call a three-headed dog Fluffy. 'That's not very … dragon-y.'

'Well, he's got ter have a name, don' he?' said Hagrid. 'He really knows me now, watch. Norbert! Norbert! Where's Mummy?'

Norbert let out a small snarl, a plume of smoke billowing from its nose.

'He's lost his marbles,' muttered Ron.

'Hagrid, give it a fortnight and Norbert's going to be as long as your house,' said Harry. 'Malfoy could go to Dumbledore at any moment.'

'I – I know I can't keep him forever,' said Hagrid, fiddling nervously with a blackened oven glove. 'But I can't jus' dump him, I can't.'

We sat in silence as we tried to come up with a solution. There had to be something we could do that we hadn't thought of yet. Then, Harry suddenly turned to Ron.

'Charlie!'

'You're losing it, too. I'm Ron, remember?'

'No – Charlie – your brother Charlie,' said Harry. 'In Romania. Studying dragons. We could send Norbert to him. Charlie can take care of him and then put him back in the wild!'

'Brilliant!' said Ron. 'How about it, Hagrid?'

It took a lot of persuading but eventually we got Hagrid to come round to the idea and he agreed to let us send an Owl to Charlie to see if he could take Norbert.

The wait for Charlie's reply was agonising. Norbert was growing bigger every day and was getting harder for Hagrid to keep hidden in his Hut. What was worse was Hagrid had asked us to help feed him now he had been moved on to solid foods. None of us wanted to do so. Who would willingly volunteer to potentially have their hand bitten off while feeding a dragon? Using a Muggle method (to Ron's confusion) called "Rock, Paper, Scissors", we decided who was to do it. Unfortunately, Ron and I lost so on Wednesday night, Ron and I snuck down to Hagrid's Hut after dinner with Harry's Invisibility Cloak to help give Norbert his.

Norbert was now the size of a horse. It took up all the space available in Hagrid's kitchen, squatting with its wings curled up in Hagrid's chair. Fang was cowering beside Hagrid's bed. Handing us each a bucket, Hagrid told us to stand by the table and hold out the dead rats for Norbert to take. He demonstrated. Norbert raised its head and sniffed at the dead rat in Hagrid's hand. With a sharp snap of its jaws Norbert snatched it from Hagrid's hand. I cringed at the sound of bones being crushed in Norbert's mouth. One at a time the three of us attempted to feed Norbert. I snatched my hand back each time it took the rat from me. It got through the three buckets we had and another two before it looked like Norbert was satisfied. Ron reached into the bucket and picked up the last rat. He went to give it to Norbert –

'OUCH!'

Ron sprang back from Norbert clutching his hand. He let out several curse words as he hopped about in pain, letting out a second yell when he banged his knee on Hagrid's chair.

'Ron!' said Hagrid reproachfully. 'Not so loud. You'll scare Norbert.'

'Scare him?' snapped Ron. 'That thing just bit me.'

'Codswallop,' said Hagrid. He was standing in between Norbert and where Ron was crouching beside me. He had his hand outstretched to Norbert who was making growling noises in the corner. 'He was only being friendly.'

Ron glared at the back of Hagrid's head.

'Here, let me have a look,' I said.

I crouched down next to Ron and took his hand. I turned it over to see two deep fang marks in the thumb joint. It was bleeding quite badly but it didn't look like there was going to be any lasting damage. I pulled out a handkerchief from my pocket and tied it tightly around the wound. Behind us, Hagrid had started singing Norbert a lullaby and was waving a teddy bear in front of its face. I guess he thought he was playing with it; I think the look in Norbert's eye was saying he wanted to kill it. With Norbert content, Ron and I left under Harry's Invisibility Cloak. We snuck unnoticed back through the castle until we reached the portrait of the Fat Lady. Uncloaking ourselves we went inside, finding Harry and Hermione in our favourite seats.

'How did it go?' asked Harry when they saw us.

'How d'you think it went?' grumbled Ron. He thrust out his injured hand. My handkerchief was almost completely bloodstained now. 'It bit me! I'm not going to be able to hold a quill for a week. I tell you, that dragon's the most horrible animal I've ever met, but the way Hagrid goes on about it, you'd think it was a fluffy little bunny rabbit. When it bit me he told me off for frightening it.'

'Well, you did make a lot of noise when you banged your knee on the chair,' I said. Ron glared at me.

'And when we left, he was singing it a lullaby.'

Our conversation was interrupted when we heard a tap at the window. Harry turned round in his chair to see what it was.

'It's Hedwig!' he said. 'She'll have Charlie's answer.'

Hedwig flew inside as soon as Harry let her in. He took the letter from her and gave her one of the Owl Treats I kept in my pocket. She hooted gratefully then flew off with it in her beak. Harry laid out the letter so we could all see Charlie's reply.

Dear Ron

How are you? Thanks for the letter – I'd be glad to take
the Norwegian Ridgeback, but it won't be easy getting
him here. I think the best thing will be to send him over
with some friends of mine who are coming to visit me
next week. Trouble is, they mustn't be seen carrying
an illegal dragon.

Could you get the Ridgeback up the tallest tower at
midnight on Saturday? They can meet you there and
take him away while it's still dark.

Send me an answer as soon as possible.
Love,
Charlie

'How are we meant to get a dragon through the castle and up to the Astronomy Tower?' I asked. 'And at midnight. Someone in bound to see us.'

'We've got the Invisibility Cloak,' said Harry. 'It shouldn't be too difficult – I think the Cloak's big enough to cover two of us and Norbert.'

Considering how bad the last week had been, anything that meant we got rid of Norbert – and Malfoy's knowing smirks – had to be a better idea then letting Hagrid get caught.

Even with the plan to get Norbert out of here, things only got worse for us. The next day Ron's hand had swollen up to twice its normal size and by the afternoon, the bite itself had turned a nasty shade of green. Judging by the puss that was starting to ooze from the teeth marks it looked like Norbert's fangs were possibly poisonous. Ron was so dizzy when we headed up the Marble Staircase after lunch he had no choice but to go to the Hospital Wing and face Madam Pomfrey's questioning. He missed the rest of our classes for the day. When Harry, Hermione and I finally got a chance to visit him, we found him lying in bed in a very bad way with his hand and fingers fully bandaged.

'How are you feeling?' asked Hermione.

'I'm OK,' swallowed Ron. He let out a small moan. 'But it's not just my hand although that feels like it's about to fall off. Malfoy told Madam Pomfrey he wanted to borrow one of my books so he could come and have a good laugh at me. He kept threatening to tell her what really bit me – I've told her it was a dog but I don't think she believes me – I shouldn't have hit him at the Quidditch match, that's why he's doing this.'

'Calm down,' I said. 'Madam Pomfrey might hear you.'

'We're meeting Charlie friends soon, Ron,' said Hermione. 'In a few days, Norbert will be locked up and taken away by Charlie's friends and Malfoy won't be able to threaten to tell on us once he's gone. It'll all be over at midnight on Saturday.'

We thought this might reassure Ron. Instead he bolted up in his bed.

'Midnight on Saturday!' he wheezed, slumping back down again. 'Oh no – oh no – I've just remembered – Charlie's letter was in that book Malfoy took, he's going to know we're getting rid of Norbert.'

Before we could say anything, Ron's outburst had attracted Madam Pomfrey's attention and she'd shooed us out of the room.

'It's too late to change the plan now,' Harry whispered to Hermione and me. We were making an emergency trip down to Hagrid's to let him know Malfoy had found out our plan. 'We haven't got time to send Charlie another owl and this could be our only chance to get rid of Norbert. We'll have to risk it. And we have got the Invisibility Cloak, Malfoy doesn't know about that.'

'That's about the one good thing about this entire situation,' I said. 'We've still got to get that thing to the Astronomy Tower without getting caught.'

We ran the last few metres down the hill towards Hagrid's Hut. Fang was lying outside by Hagrid's vegetable patch; his head slumped on his front paws. His tail had a bandage on it. We banged on the door. Hagrid didn't respond. Instead, his head appeared through a window he opened so he could talk to us.

'I won't let you in,' he puffed. 'Norbert's at a tricky stage – nothin' I can't handle.'

The three of us jumped when we heard a roar come from inside the Hut.

'Hagrid, you've got to listen to us,' said Harry. 'Malfoy knows about our plan to move Norbert.'

'He got a hold of the letter Ron had from Charlie about the plan,' I explained. 'Ron was almost passed out in the Hospital Wing when he managed to trick Madam Pomfrey into getting a book from Ron which had the letter inside it. He knows we're moving Norbert on Saturday.'

'Aargh!' Hagrid winced, his hand clenching the windowsill.

'Hagrid!' Hermione gasped.

'It's all right, he's only got my boot –' Hagrid said through clenched teeth. 'Jus' playin' – he's only a baby, after all.'

A loud bang rattled the windows.

'A baby playing, he says,' I muttered as we headed back to the castle. 'More like a toddler having a tantrum.'

Saturday night couldn't come soon enough.

Harry, Hermione and I spent the entirety of Saturday hidden in the library trying to work out the best way to get Norbert from Hagrid's to the Astronomy Tower. With the knowledge that Norbert would be in some sort of crate, we concluded that there wouldn't be enough room for Norbert and the three of us underneath Harry's Invisibility Cloak. Then there was the problem of getting into the Astronomy Tower. All the Towers in the school were normally locked after curfew and so somehow we needed to get the door unlocked so that we could get in to get to the platform.

'I might be able to help there,' I said in a low whisper. From my hair I pulled out a hairpin. 'Filch is the one who locks all the classrooms after classes finish but he never seems to use a wand to do so. He uses those keys that he has attached to his belt beneath his coat which means that using magic to unlock the doors would be pointless.'

'You can pick locks?' asked Hermione. I nodded.

'I learnt it at the orphanage,' I replied. 'I got stuck outside one night after curfew and so to avoid it happening again, I taught myself how to pick locks with a hairpin so I could let myself in.'

'Does your uncle know what you got up to at that orphanage?' asked Harry.

'He saw my file,' I shrugged, 'so I guess he's aware I was a troublemaker. He just doesn't know all the things that Matron didn't know, like the lock picking.'

Hermione raised her eyebrow.

'It's a long story.'

'OK, so – Jenna, you will wait out of sight near to the Astronomy Tower while Hermione and I go down to Hagrid's to get Norbert,' said Harry. 'Once you've seen Filch lock the door and he's gone, you go and unlock the door then wait inside the Tower until we get there. That way you'll be there to help us get Norbert up the stairs to the top platform. Hermione and I will get Norbert and, under the Invisibility Cloak, we'll make our way through the castle as quick as we can before Charlie's friends get here. We'll meet them on the Tower platform, hand Norbert over to them, and get out of there before we get caught.'

At half past eight that night, Harry, Hermione and I left the common room under the pretence we were heading to the library to do some last minute homework to avoid any questions from the other students, in particular from Ron's brother, Percy. Once out of the portrait hole, we hid in a nearby corridor where Harry threw the Invisibility Cloak over himself and Hermione while I kept watch. I checked the coast was clear for them then wished them luck and we separated. I ran in the opposite direction to the Tower and took the long way round to the Astronomy Tower. I had to be careful. The Prefects would be patrolling the corridors soon and if I got caught our plan would be in jeopardy.

I hid behind a pillar at the end of the corridor and looked round the corner. I could hear footsteps nearby. The Astronomy Tower was two corridors away and it was already quarter to nine. Filch would have gotten to at least the sixth floor by now. Just ahead of me I saw a Prefect. Quickly I darted into the corridor and hid behind a nearby stone bust of a famous wizard I didn't know. I crouched down as the Prefect got closer. It was then I felt a breeze; looking to my left I saw there was a tapestry hanging on the wall. I could feel a cold breeze coming from behind it. I pulled back the tapestry just enough to find a small archway hidden behind it. It looked like a passageway of some sorts. Checking I wouldn't be seen, I quickly disappeared behind it. I waited and listened. I heard the Prefect's footsteps walk past and disappear into the distance. I pushed back the tapestry to see if he was gone. Once he had walked off, I ran down the corridor and into the next.

I reached the Astronomy Tower just in time. Hiding round the corner from it, I heard the familiar wheezing of Filch as he limped down the corridor. I looked round the wall and watched as he used his bunch of keys to lock the door before hobbling off back the way he came. I gave it a couple of minutes before I came out from hiding so I could make sure he was gone. I ran over to the door and crouched in front of the lock.

From my hair I pulled out my hairpin and from my pocket I took out an old paperclip that was already bent into a right angle at the end. I found it weird that wizards didn't use paperclips when they were so useful. Checking once again that I was alone I bent the end of my hairpin and stuck it into the lock. I then inserted the paperclip and began to twist it. It wasn't easy. I was used to picking Muggle locks with modern keys; this lock was old and a very different design to what I knew. I wiggled the paperclip back and forth for a few minutes until finally I heard a click. I pulled out the pins and opened the door, slipping inside the Tower then pulling the door shut behind me. I was just in time too. I'd heard voices coming from the entrance to the corridor and they sounded angry.

'Detention!'

I pushed open the door enough to see Professor McGonagall storming down the corridor wearing a tartan dressing gown and her hair up in a hairnet, dragging a protesting Malfoy by the ear with her.

'And twenty points from Slytherin!'

'You don't understand, Professor,' complained Malfoy. 'Harry Potter's coming – he's got a dragon!'

'What utter rubbish!' snapped Professor McGonagall. 'How dare you tell such lies! Come on – I shall see Professor Snape about you, Malfoy!'

They disappeared. I felt a rush of joy after witnessing that. Malfoy had got in trouble for trying to catch us out and Professor McGonagall didn't even believe him! I leant against the closed door, grinning broadly at what I'd just seen. I heard a knock. I opened the door and felt something brush past me. Harry pulled the Invisibility Cloak off himself. He was grinning too, having also seen Malfoy get in trouble. We weren't in the clear yet though so the three of us picked the crate back up and started up the Tower. The staircase was steep and twisting but after a few minutes or so we got to the Tower platform and opened the door to it. We struggled inside, put down the crate in the middle of the platform and threw the Cloak off it. Hermione was beaming as much as Harry had been. She even did a little dance of some sorts.

'Malfoy's got detention! I could sing!'

'Don't,' Harry advised her. 'We're not in the clear yet.'

'How long have we got?' I asked. Harry looked at his watch.

'Ten minutes or so,' he said. 'They'll be here soon.'

The sight of Charlie's friends was one for sore eyes. They swooped down from the dark sky and landed on the platform. The greeted us cheerfully before showing us the harness they had rigged in order to carry Norbert's crate to Romania suspended between the four brooms. Together we helped clip it to the crate. They shook our hands and mounted their brooms again. Harry, Hermione and I stood back and watched as they took off into the night, five black dots in the moonlight. Norbert was finally gone.

We slipped back down the staircase and back out the Tower door. It clicked shut behind us having had its lock reset by me beforehand. We were all indescribably happy. Norbert was gone. Malfoy had detention. What could go wrong? We turned round to head back to the Tower –

'Well, well, well,' said Filch, his face just illuminated in the darkness, 'we are in trouble.'

We'd left the Invisibility Cloak on the Astronomy Tower platform.

This was the worst trouble I'd ever been in in all my life. Harry, Hermione and I followed Filch with our eyes on the floor as he marched us to Professor McGonagall's office. I felt physically sick at the thought of what Lupin would say when he eventually would find out about this. There was no explanation we could give to get us out of this. Filch opened the door and we went inside. Professor McGonagall was standing in front of her desk, a disgusted look on her face. To our surprise, Neville was also there for some reason. He started to say something to us but Harry quickly shook his head to silence him. Professor McGonagall saw this.

'I would never have believed it of any of you,' said Professor McGonagall sharply. Her eyes stared at each of us in turn, sharp and piercing behind her square spectacles. 'Mr Filch says you were up the Astronomy Tower. It's one o'clock in the morning. Explain yourselves.'

There was one problem: none of us could. Even Hermione had no answer to Professor McGonagall's question.

'I think I've got a good idea of what's been going on,' continued Professor McGonagall. I'd never heard her voice sound so stern before. 'It doesn't take a genius to work it out. You fed Draco Malfoy some cock-and-bull story about a dragon, trying to get him out of bed and into trouble. I've already caught him. I suppose you think it's funny that Longbottom here heard the story and believed it, too?'

I glanced at Neville out the corner of my eye. He looked devastated at the idea we'd tricked him.

'I am disgusted,' snapped Professor McGonagall. 'Five students out of bed in one night! I've never heard of such a thing before! You, Miss Granger, I thought you had more sense. Miss Black, I hope this is not the start of you following in your father's footsteps.' I shrank away from her at that, not knowing what she meant but it can't have been good. 'As for you, Mr Potter, I thought Gryffindor meant more to you than this. All four of you will receive detentions – yes, you too, Mr Longbottom, nothing gives you the right to walk around the school at night, especially these days, it's very dangerous – and fifty points will be taken from Gryffindor.'

'Fifty?' gasped Harry.

'Fifty points each,' confirmed Professor McGonagall. My mouth fell open. We'd just lost two hundred points and the lead that the last Quidditch match had won us.

'Professor – please –'

'We didn't mean –'

'You can't –'

'Don't tell me what I can and can't do, Potter,' snapped Professor McGonagall. 'Now get back to bed, all of you. I've never been more ashamed of Gryffindor students.'

It didn't long for the rest of Gryffindor to find out about what happened. The next morning when Harry, Hermione and I got down to breakfast we saw a group of Gryffindors gathered around the Hourglasses in the Entrance Hall that recorded the House points. We could hear them muttering, asking each other why Gryffindor had suddenly lost so many points and were now in last place. It took barely a day for the story to spread that Harry Potter and some other stupid first-years had been the ones responsible. Harry had gone from being Gryffindor's hero to its culprit, the person responsible for their downfall. Even the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws turned on him as they had all been waiting for the day Slytherin would lose the House Cup for the first time in six years. To make matters worse, the Slytherins were actually thanking him as they passed, cheering and whooping their delight in Harry's mistake.

As for Hermione, Neville and I, we got our fair share of glares and hisses from the other students. We were just lucky that, because we weren't as well known, we weren't who the looks were mainly focused on. It didn't stop Neville whimpering every time someone glared at him in the corridor. He had taken to hiding in bathrooms during break and lunch though. Hermione meanwhile had stopped drawing attention to herself completely in class. Now she just sat with her head down and got on with her work in silence. As for me, with the worry of what Lupin would do when he found out what I'd done, I kept a low profile and focused on our upcoming exams.

Only Ron, and Hermione and I of course, stood by him.

'They'll all forget this in a few weeks. Fred and George have lost loads of points in all the time they've been here, and people still like them.'

'They've never lost two hundred points in one go, though, have they?' said Harry miserably.

'Well – no,' muttered Ron.

If anything good came out of this, it was that Harry finally seemed to get it into his head that meddling in other people's affairs was a bad idea.

Exams were merely a week away. Since the incident the night we got rid of Norbert, Harry, Ron, Hermione and I buried ourselves in revision for our exams. We went through every essay, every book passage, every note we'd made throughout the year in the hopes we didn't miss anything that could potentially be on our exams. Hermione's attention to detail and organisation ended up paying off and the revision timetables she drew up for us proved to be an asset in making sure we covered everything. Even spending hours in the library at a time didn't bother us as it meant we focused and weren't distracted by outside influences.

We almost made it all the way to our exams without getting involved in anything else we shouldn't. Unfortunately our efforts were compromised on Tuesday night when Harry was on his way back to the Tower. He'd left Ron, Hermione and I in the library going through our Astronomy charts but returned barely twenty minutes later looking worried about something. We asked him what was bothering him and the answer we got wasn't one we wanted to hear.

'I was heading back to the Tower when I heard something coming from an empty classroom,' he told us. 'It sounded like someone was being threatened. A few minutes later Quirrell ran out of the classroom looking like he was about to cry. When I checked the classroom, no one else was there but I can bet Snape had been the one threatening him.'

'Snape's done it, then!' said Ron. 'If Quirrell's told him how to break his Anti-Dark Force spell –'

'There's still Fluffy, though,' said Hermione.

'Maybe Snape's found out how to get past him without asking Hagrid,' said Ron. He glanced around the library. 'I bet there's a book somewhere in here, telling you how to get past a giant three-headed dog. So what do we do, Harry?'

'Go to Dumbledore,' said Hermione immediately. 'That's what we should have done ages ago. If we try anything ourselves we'll be thrown out for sure.'

'What good will that do us?' I asked. 'We can't just walk up to Dumbledore and admit to him everything we know.'

'Exactly, we've got no proof!' said Harry. 'Quirrell's too scared to back us up. Snape's only got to say he doesn't know how the troll got in at Hallowe'en and that he was nowhere near the third floor – who do you think they'll believe, him or us? It's not exactly a secret we hate him, Dumbledore'll think we made it up to get him sacked. Filch wouldn't help us if his life depended on it, he's too friendly with Snape, and the more students get thrown out, the better, he'll think. And don't forget, we're not supposed to know about the Stone or Fluffy. That'll take a lot of explaining.'

I was on the side of do nothing. Hermione seemed to agree, as did Harry. Ron, however, wasn't willing to just let it go.

'If we just do a bit of poking around –'

'Ron, we can't!' I protested. 'Why get in even more trouble than we already are in? I don't know about you but I think I can safely say the rest of us want to stay on the good side of Professor McGonagall for the rest of the year. Losing two hundred points in one go – I'd like to stay out of trouble.'

'Just a little –'

'No,' said Harry, 'we've done enough poking around.'

Ron went to argue but Harry had already pulled a map of Jupiter towards him to mark the end of the conversation.

My desire to stay out of trouble for the rest of the school year didn't seem to be an option I had. The following day after finding out about what had happened to Quirrell, Harry, Hermione and I each received a note at breakfast. Just up from us, Neville received one as well. They all said the same thing:

Your detention will take place at eleven o'clock tonight. Meet
Mr Filch in the Entrance Hall.

Prof. M. McGonagall

A part of me had hoped that Professor McGonagall had forgotten about our detentions but I knew that was unlikely. The three of us knew not to complain though, despite the detention eating into the time Hermione had set aside for us to look over our Herbology notes again. We all knew we deserved it so what was the point in arguing? Reluctantly though, at quarter to eleven we said goodbye to Ron and left the common room. Neville didn't say a word to us the entire way down to the Entrance Hall. Filch was already there when we arrived as was Malfoy. I guess he was having a detention with us too.

'Follow me,' grunted Filch. He lit the lamp in his hand then proceeded to lead us out into the grounds 'I bet you'll think twice about breaking a school rule again, won't you, eh?' There was a slight hint of amusement in his voice. 'Oh yes … hard work and pain are the best teachers if you ask me … It's just a pity they let the old punishments die out … hang you by your wrists from the ceiling for a few days, I've got the chains still in my office, keep 'em well oiled in case they're ever needed … Right, off we go, and don't think of running off, now, it'll be worse for you if you do.'

It sounded like Filch was almost enjoying this.

The grounds were dark as we walked through them. We walked around the perimeter of the castle in silence, apart from the occasional sniff coming from Neville. Every so often the moon would illuminate the grounds when it came out from behind the clouds before being hidden again a few minutes later. In these brief moments I saw that we were heading towards Hagrid's Hut. I could just make out his silhouette in the distance. It looked like our detention was going to be with him.

'Is that you, Filch?' we heard him call out. 'Hurry up, I want ter get started.'

'A sorry lot you've got here, Hagrid,' called Filch. He looked at us, his eyes narrowing on Harry. 'I suppose you think you'll be enjoying yourself with that oaf?' he said quietly to us. 'Well, think again, boy – it's into the Forest you're going and I'm much mistaken if you'll all come out in one piece.'

I swallowed. Neville let out a faint moan. Even Malfoy looked worried.

'The Forest?' he repeated. His voice didn't have the same confidence as it usually had. 'We can't go in there at night – there's all sorts of things in there – werewolves, I've heard.'

I frowned. I knew werewolves had a bad reputation but that wasn't fair on their human part.

'That's your lookout, isn't it?' chucked Filch maliciously. 'Should've thought of them werewolves before you got in trouble, shouldn't you?'

Hagrid strode over to us with Fang at his heels. In his hand he had a large crossbow. What was he going to do with that?

'Abou' time,' he said. 'I bin waitin' fer half an hour already. All right, Harry, Hermione, Jenna?'

'I shouldn't be too friendly to them, Hagrid,' grunted Filch, 'they're here to be punished, after all.'

'That's why yer late, is it?' said Hagrid. He glared at Filch. 'Bin lecturin' them, eh? 'Snot your place ter do that. Yeh've done yer bit, I'll take over from here.'

'I'll be back at dawn,' said Filch, 'for what's left of them,' he added nastily. He turned and hobbled away, his lamp swinging after him.

With Filch gone, Malfoy immediately started complaining.

'I'm not going in that Forest,' he said.

'Yeh are if yeh want ter stay at Hogwarts,' said Hagrid fiercely before Malfoy could object anymore. 'Yeh've done wrong an' now yeh've got ter pay fer it.'

'But this is servant stuff, it's not for students to do,' Malfoy complained. 'I thought I'd be writing lines or something. If my father knew I was doing this, he'd –'

'– tell yer that's how it is at Hogwarts,' growled Hagrid. Malfoy flinched at Hagrid's tone. 'Writin' lines! What good's that ter anyone? Yeh'll do summat useful or yeh'll get out. If yer think yer father'd rather you were expelled, then get back off ter the castle an' pack. Go on!'

Malfoy didn't move. All he could muster was a glare before he dropped his gaze to the ground. Hagrid let out a huff.

'Right then,' he continued, 'now, listen carefully, 'cause it's dangerous what we're gonna do tonight an' I don' want no one takin' risks. Follow me over here a moment.'

Hagrid took hold of a lamp that was sitting on his doorstep and signalled us to follow. He held it up so a footpath leading into the Forest was illuminated in its yellow glow. The dark trees looked oddly more threatening in the lamplight. A breeze flowed through their branches and out towards us, ruffling our hair. Hagrid pointed at something. I squinted so as to see what it was. Something was reflecting Hagrid's lamplight.

'Look there,' said Hagrid, 'see that stuff shinin' on the ground? Silvery stuff? That's unicorn blood. There's a unicorn in there bin hurt bad by summat. This is the second time this week. I found one dead last Wednesday. We're gonna try an' find the poor thing. We might have ter put it out of its misery.'

'And what if whatever hurt the unicorn finds us first?' asked Malfoy. The fear was now very evident in his voice. Although I was scared myself, I was kind of glad to see Malfoy was shaking.

'There's nothin' that lives in the Forest that'll hurt yeh if yer with me or Fang,' said Hagrid, brushing off Malfoy's whining. 'An' keep ter the path. Right, now we're gonna split unter two parties an' follow the trail in diff'rent directions. There's blood all over the place, it must've bin staggerin' around since last night at least.'

'I want Fang,' said Malfoy quickly.

'All right,' grunted Hagrid, 'but I warn yeh, he's a bloody coward.' The large dog tilted its head in confusion at hearing his name, looking sappily up at us. Malfoy's face fell. I held in a snigger. 'So me, Harry an' Hermione'll go one way an' Draco, Neville, Jenna an' Fang'll go the other. Now, if any of us finds the unicorn, we'll send up green sparks, right? Get yer wands out an' practise now –'

We had been taught basic spark Spells very early on in Charms. They were some of the easiest spells to learn and were one of the first I managed to do properly. I took my wand out of my robe pocket and held it up above me like the others.

'Verdimillious,' I said confidently. I couldn't stop my voice from shaking though.

Several green sparks like fireworks shot into the air above us.

'– that's it – an' if anyone gets in trouble, send up red sparks, an we'll all come an find yeh – so, be careful – let's go.'

The Forest seemed much larger when we entered it. We followed Hagrid a short distance up the footpath before it forked and split in two directions. I gave Harry and Hermione a slightly pleading look when Hagrid told us to separate then reluctantly traipsed after Malfoy. We took the right fork, Hagrid and the others taking the left. Malfoy held up the lamp Hagrid had given us as we walked along. Twigs and leaves on the ground rustled beneath our feet while the breeze seemed to almost whistle through the branches. Every so often I saw another small puddle of unicorn blood. We followed it as closely as we could without straying from the path too far.

Behind me I could feel Neville lightly gripping the back of my robe to the point it was almost annoying. He was quietly whimpering the further in we went. I understood he was scared, I was scared too, but this was our punishment and we had to see it through.

I wasn't sure how much time had passed since Hagrid had left us with Harry and Hermione. Neville was still whimpering though and Malfoy was getting restless. Fang merely trotted along beside us none the wiser.

'The blood seems to have stopped,' I said quietly. It was probably wise to keep our voices low. 'Maybe we should –'

CRACK!

Neville screamed. Fang let out a yelp. Neville leapt forwards and crashed into me and the two of us fell to the ground. Without knowing what it was, I pointed my wand into the air and shouted, 'Periculum!'. It was only after the red sparks had burst from my wand that I realised what had happened.

Illuminated by the sparks Malfoy was doubled-over clutching his sides as he laughed his head off. He must have been responsible for that noise. It was probably a Cracker Jinx judging by the sound of it. I pushed a shaking Neville off me and stood up.

'What on earth are you playing at?' I snapped at him. Hagrid was bound to have seen the sparks by now and was probably looking for us. 'Hagrid's going to think we're in danger. We were only meant to send up red sparks if we were in trouble, not because you decided to play a trick on us.'

'Longbottom deserved it,' sneered Malfoy joyfully. 'He's a wimp.'

'You weren't so brave yourself when you found out we were coming in here,' I retorted. 'I distinctly remember your voice shaking more than anyone else's when you asked about the monster hurting the unicorns.'

'I'm not scared,' sneered Malfoy.

We glared at each other. Stupid Malfoy, playing immature pranks that could have easily gotten one of us hurt. A loud crunching noise came through the trees. Fang barked when Hagrid appeared from behind a large trunk. He had his crossbow raised ready for whatever he thought had been attacking us.

'Are yer all righ'?' he asked us. 'What happened?'

'Malfoy cast a Cracker Jinx to try and scare Neville,' I said. Neville nodded his head vigorously to confirm it. 'He made us jump and I sent up the red sparks as I didn't know what the noise was until I saw him laughing.'

'Malfoy,' growled Hagrid. His beetle black eyes, which were almost invisible in the dark if it weren't for our lamp, glinted with fury. Malfoy gulped. 'Yeh stupid boy. Yeh could o' caused an accident. Follow me, the three of yer, now!'

We followed Hagrid back the way he'd come. Neville was walking very closely behind him, glad to be back in his protection. I walked silently behind them with Malfoy sloping along behind me. He still had a smirk on his face despite having been told off for his prank. We made our way through the trees until a second light came into view. We climbed over a large root, Hagrid taking a single step, and rejoined Harry and Hermione where they had been waiting for Hagrid to return.

'What happened?' asked Harry worriedly.

'Malfoy happened,' I replied bluntly.

'We'll be lucky ter catch anythin' now, with the racket you two were makin,' grunted Hagrid. 'Right, we're changin' groups – Neville, you stay with me an' Hermione, Harry you go with Jenna, Fang, an' this idiot.' He nodded his head at Malfoy.

We separated for the second time. Harry and I walked ahead of Malfoy and Fang, deeper and deeper into the Forest. Slowly the footpath got wilder until it was almost non-existent beneath our feet. The trees were thicker and the foliage on the ground was getting harder to walk through. Half an hour must have past when we finally found some more blood. Lots of it in fact; several small puddles were formed on the ground and there were splashes on the trunks and roots of the trees. It looked like we were getting close. All of a sudden Harry threw out his arm to stop me.

'Look –' he whispered to me. He pointed ahead of us. My eyes followed.

In the darkness I could see a strange silvery glow. Harry held up the lamp so we could see whatever it was better. Something was lying still on the ground. It was the unicorn but we were too late. It was already dead. I gasped when I saw it. Even in death the unicorn was such a beautiful creature to see up close, it's coat shining white and hooves a bright gold at the end of its long legs.

Harry took a step towards it when he froze. In the silence I could hear a strange slithering noise. I looked around nervously for the source of where the noise was coming from. I needn't have bothered though. A bush in front of us rustled before something emerged from it. A tall hooded figure seemed to climb over it before crawling over the ground towards the dead unicorn. It looked like a beast hunting its prey. It didn't seem to notice us. Instead it leant down to the creature and put its mouth to the wound on its side and began to drink.

'AAAAAAAAAAARGH!'

Malfoy screamed and bolted. So did Fang, leaving Harry and I alone with the creature. The commotion drew its attention and it looked up from the unicorn straight at us. I shuddered when I saw the blood dripping from its mouth. The figure rose up, letting out a strange primal snarl, and started towards us. Harry, who for some reason had his hand on his forehead, and I stumbled backwards but we tripped over a large root behind us. I thought there and then that that was it, we were going to be killed, when a large shadow leapt over us from behind. I heard the thundering of hooves as it landed and turned. I watched as the centaur reared up on its hind legs and kicked at the black figure. The figure dodged the centaur's attacks and flew away. Only then did I feel how fast my heart was beating or that I was panting in shock.

'Are you all right?'

The centaur walked over to where Harry and I were on the ground. He held out a hand and pulled us both to our feet. Harry replied while I merely nodded as I stared at him. The centaur was strangely beautiful for a beast that was part man, part horse. His body was that of a palomino, an odd golden hue to it even in the darkness but not quite the same to that of a unicorn's hair, and he had almost white-blond tail and hair. The human half of him was young and lean, and he was watching us with a pair of astonishingly blue eyes that I think Lupin would say could rival my own.

'You are the Potter boy,' said the centaur. 'You had better get back to Hagrid. The Forest is not safe at this time – especially for you. Can you ride? It will be quicker this way.' The centaur got down on his front legs so Harry and I could climb on to his back. Well this was another one for the list of things I didn't think I'd ever do: ride a centaur. I climbed on behind Harry and took hold of his waist as the centaur stood up. 'My name is Firenze,' he then added.

Suddenly the sound of more hooves echoed in the distance. I looked round to see two more centaurs come charging out of the bushes towards us.

'Firenze!' thundered the one at the front. This one was a larger than Firenze, and had a black body both horse and man and dark hair. He glared at the sight of us before him. 'What are you doing? You have humans on your back! Have you no shame? Are you a common mule?'

'Do you realise who this is?' countered Firenze, just as angrily. 'This is the Potter boy. The quicker he leaves this Forest, the better.'

'What have you been telling him?' growled the black centaur. Beside him, the second centaur, with red hair and bronze body, pawed the ground. 'Remember, Firenze, we are sworn not to set ourselves against the heavens. Have we not read what is to come in the movements of the planets.'

'I'm sure Firenze thought he was acting for the best,' said the red-haired centaur. His voice was at least calmer than his companion's. It did nothing though and the black centaur reared, kicking his back legs.

'For the best!' he shouted. 'What is it to do with us? Centaurs are concerned with what has been foretold! It is not our business to run around like donkeys after stray humans in our Forest!'

Without warning, Firenze reared. I screamed when he did, grabbing on to Harry so I didn't fall off who in turn had grabbed Firenze's shoulders. He let out a neigh-like shout, stomping his hooves threateningly at the other two centaurs.

'Do you not see that unicorn?' bellowed Firenze. 'Do you not understand why it was killed? Or have the planets not let you in on that secret? I set myself against what is lurking in this Forest, Bane, yes, with humans alongside me if I must.'

Firenze reared a second time and galloped off away from Bane and the other centaur. He ran through the trees with speed, swiftly dodging between the trees with ease. I gripped on to Harry for the length of Firenze's run until he finally slowed again. He warned us to keep our heads down in case of low branches. He walked along in silence, ignoring Harry's question of why Bane was angry, before he stopped without warning in a dense patch of trees.

'Harry Potter, do you know what unicorn blood is used for?'

'No,' said Harry. It was a strange question to ask. 'We've only used the horn and tail-hair in Potions.'

'All we know is that it's a banned substance,' I added. 'The Ministry regulates the use of it.'

'That is because it is a monstrous thing, to slay a unicorn,' Firenze explained to us. 'Only one who has nothing to lose, and everything to gain, would commit such a crime. The blood of a unicorn will keep you alive, even if you are an inch from death, but at a terrible price. You have slain something so pure and defenceless to save yourself and you will have but a half-life, a cursed life, from the moment the blood touches your lips.'

'That's horrible,' I breathed.

'But who'd be that desperate?' asked Harry. 'If you're going to be cursed forever, death's better, isn't it?'

'It is,' said Firenze, 'unless all you need is to stay alive long enough to drink something else – something that will bring you back to full strength and power – something that will mean you can never die. Mr Potter, do you know what is hidden in the school at this very moment?'

Harry looked at me.

'The Philosopher's Stone!' he gasped. 'Of course – the Elixer of Life! But I don't understand who –'

'Can you think of nobody who has waited many years to return to power, who has clung to life, awaiting their chance.'

'Do you mean,' croaked Harry, 'that was Vol–'

Despite not needing the answer, Firenze didn't get the chance to reply when we heard Hermione's shout. She came running down the path towards us with Hagrid puffing along behind her. Malfoy and Neville arrived just after them. We assured them that we were all right and that we'd found the unicorn lying dead in the Forest before Firenze let us get down odd his back. Firenze then bade us goodbye and wished Harry luck. He turned and cantered off back into the depths of the Forest, the chill of his words still present in my head and no doubt Harry's as well.

Someone who has waited a long time to regain his former power so that he could never die and get his revenge for his demise.

Voldemort was after the Philosopher's Stone.

'Snape wants the Stone for Voldemort …'

Ron, Hermione and I sat in the dark common room while Harry paced back and forth in front of us. The rest of the House was asleep and we were alone. Ron had fallen asleep while he waited for us to return and we had to shake him awake. With a shout about Quidditch, Ron woke up and we told him about what we had found out in the Forest.

'… and Voldemort's waiting in the Forest … and all this time we thought Snape just wanted to get rich …'

'Stop saying the name!' said Ron. Harry had said the name several times while he'd been pacing, Ron flinching every time as he, Hermione and I watched. Harry wasn't listening.

'Firenze saved me, but he shouldn't have done … Bane was furious … he was talking about interfering with what the planets say is going to happen … They must show that Voldemort's coming back … Bane thinks Firenze should have let Voldemort kill me … I suppose that's written in the stars as well.'

'Will you stop saying the name!' hissed Ron a second time.

'So all I've got to wait for is Snape to steal the Stone,' continued Harry, 'then Voldermort will be able to come and finish me off … Well, I suppose Bane'll be happy.'

Ron, Hermione and I were silent when Harry finished. I didn't know what to say. I was scared. Someone we thought had been destroyed was alive and waiting in the Forest, biding his time while he waits for his servant to retrieve what he needs to ensure his return. This must have been how wizards everywhere felt when Voldemort was alive the first time round.

Hermione, who was looking as scared as I was, after a minute or so spoke.

'Who's the one wizard You-Know-Who always feared?' Harry stared at her blankly. 'Dumbledore! Harry, everyone says Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was ever afraid of. With Dumbledore around, Harry, you're safe. With Dumbledore around, You-Know-Who won't touch you. Anyway, who says the centaurs are right? It sounds like fortune-telling to me, and Professor McGonagall says that's a very imprecise branch of magic.'

It was almost morning by the time the four of us got to bed. We would only get a couple hours sleep before breakfast. As we walked up to our dormitory, I turned to Hermione.

'Do you think it's true?' I asked her quietly. 'Do you really think Voldemort's trying to come back?'

'I don't know,' admitted Hermione. 'But if he is, Harry's in danger.'

How I managed to concentrate on my exams with the knowledge that the Darkest wizard of all times was lurking in the Forbidden Forest at this very moment, I don't know. The weather alone was enough to distract you; it was so horribly hot in the classrooms compared to how it had been in the wintertime that our quills began to wilt from the heat. If it wasn't for Hermione's nagging, however, we probably wouldn't have got half as much revision done as we did, even with us still checking on Fluffy everyday. Despite this, a little voice in my head was still saying we were wrong about the whole thing, that there was no way Voldemort could be back. He was destroyed ten years ago and there had been no sign of him since, human or otherwise. How could he be back?

Our exams were split into two parts: there was a written paper and a practical overseen by the teachers of each subject. All the first-years from the four Houses were gathered for each exam in a large stuffy classroom on the first floor, which had enough rows of desks inside it to accommodate us all. Each desk had its own inkwell as well as a special quill for each student that, according to Hermione, had been bewitched with an Anti-Cheating Spell. One of the teachers would oversee the exam, providing it wasn't their own subject, to keep an eye out for anyone attempting to cheat regardless of the quill. Being first-years, we were all too scared to do so anyway with the knowledge that if we didn't pass our first-year exams we wouldn't progress to the second-year. We'd sit for an hour in the classroom and answer questions on the subject in question, having to write as much as we could think of to answer each question in the somewhat short time we had.

Our practical exams were a little different. The teacher of that subject oversaw these and in each one they would test us on one or two particular spells or areas of magic we'd learnt throughout the year. One by one, the teacher called us into the classroom. As it was always done in alphabetical order, I was the second student in for each exam and so was one of the first to be finished. It was both nerve-wracking and quite relieving. Every exam was different. Professor Flitwick wanted us to make a pineapple tap dance; Professor McGonagall got us to change a mouse into a snuffbox, with extra points for how pretty the box was and minus points if it still had its tail or whiskers; for Professor Quirrell, we had to perform an accurate Curse of the Bogies Hex on a poor fifth-year student who'd obviously not known what he was volunteering for; while Professor Snape loomed over us threateningly as we attempted to remember how to make a Forgetfulness Potion.

Harry had it the worst out of all of us. While Ron, Hermione and I were obviously scared at the thought of Voldemort, the three of us kept reminding him that the Stone and he were safe as long as Dumbledore was in the castle. It didn't comfort Harry. He told us that his scar kept burning but he didn't know why. We told him to ignore it, that the pain would go away, but it didn't stop him continually rubbing it every chance he got.

Our exams were over within a week, our last being History of Magic on Friday afternoon. A whole hour answering essay questions on which wizard had invented which revolutionary piece of magical equipment and which famous wizard had been responsible for a wave of depression amongst witches when he recommended Augerys as an excellent weather forecaster. It was a long hour and I found myself getting distracted after every question by something in the classroom. When Professor Sprout finally said quills down I finished my last answer and gladly left the room with the rest of the year. With our last exam out of the way I thought that would be the end of any more mentioning of them. Unfortunately, Hermione liked to review each exam afterwards and this was no different.

'That was far easier than I thought it would be,' she said as we walked out into the grounds. 'I needn't have learnt about the 1637 Werewolf Code of Conduct or the uprising of Elfric the Eager.'

Harry, Ron, Hermione and I wandered down into the grounds and over towards the lake. At the water's edge there was a large beech tree standing on its own providing some shade in the otherwise vast sunny grounds, which we decided to sit under to blow off some steam. We abandoned our bags by its trunk then took a seat on the grass beneath it, dispensing of our outer robes in order to cool off. Ron stretched out and lay back while Hermione had already pulled out her History of Magic textbook to check her answers.

'No more revision,' sighed Ron beside me. 'You could look more cheerful, Harry, we've got a week before we find out how badly we've done, there's no need to worry yet.'

Harry, however, was rubbing his forehead.

'Your scar's hurting again, isn't it?' I asked him.

'I wish I knew what this means!' he said angrily. 'My scar keeps hurting – it's happened before, but never as often as this.'

'Go to Madam Pomfrey,' suggested Hermione.

'I'm not ill,' said Harry. 'I think it's a warning … it means danger's coming …'

I frowned. Hermione sighed. Ron just lay there.

'Harry, relax,' he said lazily. 'Hermione's right, 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 let's Dumbledore down.'

While Ron's statement was indeed true, Hagrid did have a penchant for letting information slip without meaning to. He'd done that enough times with us after all, always following it with "I shouldn'ta said that" when he did.

'Even so,' said Harry, 'the fact it keeps burning … maybe I've just forgotten something … something important …'

'That's just the exams,' said Hermione. 'I woke up last night and was halfway through my Transfiguration notes before I remembered we'd done that one.'

'I know,' I said. 'You woke me up when you started mumbling about trying to switch your hairbrush for a toothbrush.'

'It could have come up, for all we knew,' said Hermione.

Harry fell silent. With the conversation over, I sat back and stared at the lake. It's water gently rippled at the lake's edge but was as still as glass nearer the middle. I enjoyed the feeling of the breeze on my face after a week of being cooped up in classrooms writing exams.

All of a sudden Harry jumped to his feet.

'Where are you going?' asked Ron. He'd blearily opened one eye having almost fallen asleep.

'I've just thought of something,' he said. I looked at him. Harry had gone very pale for some reason. 'We've got to go and see Hagrid, now.'

Harry grabbed his bag and ran off. Ron, Hermione and I looked at each other, then grabbed our own and chased after him.

'Why?' asked Hermione.

'Don't you think it's a bit odd,' said Harry, marching through the grounds and round to Hagrid's Hut, 'that what Hagrid wants more than anything else is a dragon, and a stranger turns up who just happens to have an egg in his pocket? How many people wander around with dragon eggs if it's against wizard law? Luckily they found Hagrid, don't you think? Why didn't I see it before?'

'What are you on about?' asked Ron.

Harry didn't reply. Instead he sprinted off when Hagrid's Hut came into view. Hagrid was sat outside it in a large armchair just by his pumpkin patch. He had his sleeves rolled up and was busy shelling peas into a large bowl in front of him. He looked up when he heard us running over to him, a look of mild surprise on his face at our appearance.

'Hullo,' he said cheerfully. 'Finished yer exams? Got time fer a drink?'

'No, we're in a hurry, Hagrid,' said Harry. 'I've got to ask you something. You know that night you won Norbert? What did the stranger you were playing cards with look like?'

'Dunno,' shrugged Hagrid. He shelled a couple more pods as he replied. 'He wouldn't take his cloak off.'

I raised my eyebrow. That was a bit odd, wasn't it? Hagrid looked at our confused faces.

'It's not that unusual,' he said, 'yeh get a lot o' funny fold in the Hog's Head – that's the pub down in the village. Mighta bin a dragon dealer, mightn' he? I never saw his face, he kept his hood up.'

'What did you talk to him about, Hagrid?' persisted Harry. 'Did you mention Hogwarts at all?'

'Mighta come up,' said Hagrid. 'Yeah … he asked what I did, an' I told him I was gamekeeper here … He asked a bit about the sorta creatures I look after … so I told him … an' I said what I'd always really wanted was a dragon … an' then … I can' remember too well, 'cause he kept buyin' me drinks … Let's see … yeah, then he said he had the dragon egg an' we could play cards fer it if I wanted … but he had ter be sure I could handle it, he didn' want it ter go ter any old home … So I told him, after Fluffy, a dragon would be easy …'

'And did he – did he seem interested in Fluffy?'

'Well – yeah – how many three-headed dogs d'yeh meet, even around Hogwarts? So I told him, Fluffy's a piece o' cake if yeh know how to calm him down, jus' play him a bit o' music an' he'll go straight off ter sleep –'

A look of horror suddenly crossed Hagrid's face.

'I shouldn'ta told yeh that!' I said he always did that. 'Forget I said it! Hey – where're yeh goin'?'

I chased after Harry when he sprinted away from Hagrid's Hut. He didn't slow until he'd reached the Entrance Hall.

'We've got to go to Dumbledore,' said Harry. 'Hagrid told that stranger how to get past Fluffy and it was either Snape or Voldemort under the cloak – it must've been easy, once he'd got Hagrid drunk. I just hope Dumbledore believes us. Firenze might back us up if Bane doesn't stop him. Where's Dumbledore's office?'

The four of us looked around. None of us had ever been sent to Dumbledore's office. We had no idea where it was.

'We'll just have to –'

'What are you four doing inside?'

Harry, Ron, Hermione and I span round. Professor McGonagall came striding out of the Great Hall with a pile of books in her arms. She looked at the four of us with narrowed eyes.

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

'See Professor Dumbledore?' repeated Professor McGonagall. 'Why?'

'It's sort of secret,' said Harry hesitantly. Professor McGonagall's eyes narrowed even more and her nostrils flared.

'Professor Dumbledore left ten minutes ago,' she told us tersely. 'He received an urgent Owl from the Ministry of Magic and flew off for London at once.'

'He's gone?' gasped 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?'

'Look,' said Harry, 'Professor – it's about the Philosopher's Stone –'

Of all the things that Professor McGonagall might have expected Harry to say, it wasn't that. She was taken aback, the books falling from her arms. She didn't pick them up.

'How do you know –?' she began but Harry stopped her.

'Professor, I think – I know – that Sn– that someone's going to try and steal the Stone. I've got to talk to Professor Dumbledore.'

For a few minutes Professor McGonagall didn't speak. Eventually she found her voice.

'Professor Dumbledore will be back tomorrow,' she said. There was a note of finality in her voice. 'I don't know what you found out about the Stone, but rest assured, no one can possibly steal it, it's too well protected.'

'But Professor –'

'Potter, I know what I'm talking about.' She bent and picked up her books. 'I suggest you all go back outside and enjoy the sunshine.'

Professor McGonagall turned on her heel and walked off up the Marble Staircase. We didn't move.

'It's tonight,' said Harry. He'd made sure Professor McGonagall was gone before he spoke. '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.'

'But what can we –' Hermione started but she gasped. I looked round and froze. Snape was standing behind us.

'Good afternoon,' he said slowly. We stared at him. 'You shouldn't be inside on a day like this,' continued Snape with a twisted smile.

'We were –' Harry started. He stumbled as he tried to think of an excuse. Having come up with dozens of excuses in my time at the orphanage, I stepped in.

'We were just heading outside,' I said. 'I'd left my bag outside our exam room so we went back to get it.'

Snape eyed me suspiciously.

'You want to be more careful,' he said. 'Hanging around like this, people will think you're up to something. And Gryffindors really can't afford to lose any more points, can they?'

'No, sir,' I answered for us.

I gave the others a pointed look and nodded towards the Entrance Hall doors. We walked past Snape to go back outside when he called us back.

'Be warned, Potter – any more night-time wanderings and I will personally make sure you are expelled. Good day to you.'

Snape turned and walked away, his robes billowing behind him. Quickly we walked outside and took refuge in a corner of the courtyard.

'Right,' whispered Harry, 'here's what we've got to do. One of us has got to keep an eye on Snape – wait outside the staffroom and follow him if he leaves it. Hermione, you'd better do that.'

'Why me?' she asked.

'It's obvious,' said Ron. 'You can pretend to be waiting for Professor Flitwick, you know.' Ron put on a high-pitched voice. 'Oh, Professor Flitwick, I'm so worried, I think I got question fourteen b wrong …'

Hermione glared at Ron's impression of her. To be honest, it was actually quite accurate.

'Oh shut up, Ronald. But fine, I'll go keep an eye out for Snape.'

'And we'd better stay outside the third-floor corridor,' said Harry, 'we can each hide at separate ends on the corridor to keep a lookout for him. Come on.'

Harry, Ron and Hermione made to go back inside. I, however, didn't move. They looked back at me. I avoided their gaze, instead looking down at the ground.

'You guys can,' I said quietly. 'I'm not going.'

'Why not?' asked Harry. 'Jenna, Snape's going to steal the Stone. We're the only ones who can stop him.'

I shook my head, 'I can't. I've been in enough trouble this year already. With the amount of trouble I've gotten into in my life, I can't risk my Uncle finding out about this as well and sending me back to the orphanage.' Regardless of what Lupin had told me about not being able to send me back, even a year later I still doubted his word considering how much trouble I'd been in this year, culminating in the dragon incident. 'I don't want to go back there, Harry. I told you what it was like.'

Harry stared at me. Slowly his worried look began to soften.

'I know, Jenna.'

'I'm sorry,' I told him, 'but count me out.'

Harry nodded. He turned back to Ron and Hermione and the three of them hurried inside leaving me alone in the courtyard. I felt really bad for leaving them to deal with this on their own but I just couldn't do it. I didn't want to go back to that orphanage. Lupin couldn't find out that I had been involved with all this and finding out I'd broken Merlin knows how many school rules this year, especially defying a direct order by a teacher.

I kept my distance from Harry, Ron and Hermione for the rest of the day. At dinner they were huddled together and were whispering quietly about something they clearly didn't want anyone else to know about. I figured it had to be about the Stone and Snape. I ignored it, instead attempting to talk with Parvati and Lavender, a harder task than you'd think. Both Parvati and Lavender were quite girly, and for a tomboy like me, I found it a bit mind-numbing attempting conversation with them. I wasn't really interested in the latest quiz in Lavender's copy of Witch Weekly if I was totally honest. After dinner I returned to the Gryffindor Tower in hopes for some peace and quiet but considering term was almost over, the common room was anything but. I sat myself in a corner with a book and quietly kept myself to myself.

The portrait of the Fat Lady swung open. I looked up to see Harry, Ron and Hermione walk in. Harry caught my eye as they passed me to sit in our favourite chairs. There was an odd glint in them, one I'd seen before. Harry was planning something, I could tell. He only ever got that glint when he was determined to do something, like the day when I met him and we were caught on the roof. When our Headmistress didn't believe us about how we got up there, I saw Harry with this glint in his eye and the next moment the pen our Headmistress was using began leaking everywhere as if he'd willed it to. Doesn't seem so strange when I think about it now; that was just his magic doing that.

'So what's the plan?' I heard Ron say quietly to Harry and Hermione when they were sat down. I didn't want to listen in but a part of me couldn't help it. I didn't want them to deliberately put themselves in danger after all.

'We'll wait for the common room to empty,' replied Harry. 'I'll get my Dad's Cloak when everyone's gone to bed and we'll head to the third floor. Hopefully we'll get there before Snape does.'

I glanced worriedly at them out the corner of my eye. It sounded like they were going to go after the Stone themselves. I shook myself and returned to my book. This didn't involve me. It shouldn't involve any of us. If Harry wants to go after the Stone, that's his choice. It has nothing to do with me.

Unfortunately as I lay in bed that night my conscience got the better of me.

I went up to the girls' dormitory about ten o'clock. Harry, Ron and Hermione were still gathered in their corner. Hermione had her head in a book while the boys were talking. I turned away and went upstairs. I got ready for bed, brushing my teeth, pulling on my pyjamas, plaiting my hair then getting under the covers. There was no way I was going to get involved in this. I lay awake for a good half an hour. At some point I heard the dormitory door open and in came three sets of footsteps and I heard the voices of Parvati, Lavender and Sally-Anne. No Hermione. I listened as they got into bed and soon there was silence again.

As I lay there I kept reminding myself that I couldn't get involved, I couldn't get in any more trouble. I didn't want to go back to the orphanage nor give Lupin any more reason to send me back there. But then Harry entered my thoughts. I thought about all we had learnt this year about the Stone and I thought about that thing we'd encountered in the Forest. I thought about what Firenze had told us and how there was only one man who'd be desperate enough to drink the blood of a unicorn or go after a Stone that created the Elixir of Life. The one man who in the past had tried to kill my friend and was destroyed himself instead.

'I must be out of my mind,' I muttered quietly to myself.

I sat up and got out of bed. Quickly I pulled on my clothes again then crept out of my dormitory. I hurried down the stairs. Maybe it wasn't too late. Maybe I might still catch them. I reached the common room to find it dark and empty. I walked across the common room to the portrait hole when I almost tripped up on something lying on the floor.

'Neville!' I gasped. He was lying there frozen on the ground, his eyes looking wildly up at me. I took out my wand and said the counter-spell. 'What happened?' I asked.

'H-Hermione froze me,' he stuttered. 'T-they've snuck out again.'

I knew it! I just knew they were going to go after the Stone.

'Stay here, Neville,' I told him.

I ignored Neville's protests about me following after Harry and the others and left the common room. To my relief the Fat Lady wasn't in her portrait when I pushed it open, meaning I wouldn't get any objections from her for being out of the Tower after curfew. Once I was outside, however, I stopped. There was no way I was going to be able to get down to the third floor at this hour without getting caught by Filch or Mrs Norris, and Harry had probably used his Cloak to get himself, Ron and Hermione down there earlier. How was I going to get there without being seen?

It was then I remembered something. My gift. In the letter Lupin had given me when he first met me, my Mum had said how I must have changed into an animal by accident, and Granddad had told me over Christmas my Mum was able to do that so she could spend time with Lupin during the full moons. According to Lupin I had that gift too. The only problem was I had no idea how to use it. All the times I'd transformed in the past had been by accident. I had no idea how to force it to happen. I thought of those times. Dreams where I'd imagined myself being the animal; when I first found out Lupin was a werewolf, I'd wished I was an animal as they were immune to a werewolf's bite. Maybe that's all I had to do. Maybe I just had to think about it and I'd change.

Mrs Norris, I thought. I closed my eyes and pictured the mangy grey Maine Coon she was. If I was her then I could sneak down to the third floor unnoticed; Filch wouldn't think twice if he saw me. I concentrated as hard as I could but nothing seemed to happen until – All of a sudden my bones began to ache. I gasped as I felt a strange burning sensation run through my body as it began to change. My bones rubbed and grinded against each other; I felt fur sprout on my face and my clothes seem to vanish into my skin; my legs began to shorten as did my arms until I fell forwards on to what used to be my hands. I opened my eyes. I could see everything before me in much greater detail in the darkness but I had lost almost all the colour. I flexed what used to be my fingers and toes but was now my paws, claws extending and retracting as I did so. What was weirdest of all was that I now had a tail that seemed to have a mind of its own as it swayed behind me. After a few wobbly steps while I got used to the feeling of not being in my own body, I ran off for the third floor.

I was surprised by how agile I was in this cat's body. I was able to streak through the corridors and down the stairs in a short few minutes. Four legs were certainly faster than two. It felt weird though running on my hands. I hurried as fast as I could down to the third floor, not quite enjoying the feeling that I was going to go face first on to the steps, and into the third floor. I ran down the corridor and headed towards where Fluffy was hidden. The corridor was dimly lit by the torches on the walls but was completely empty of people. It would be safe for me to change back. I winced again as my bones grinded together as I thought of myself to return to my human form. I made a mental note that if I ever wanted to actively use this gift, I'd have to learn to bear that pain. Once back to normal, I slowly pushed open the door.

It was unlocked, meaning that Harry, Ron and Hermione had already been here. I peered round the door. Fluffy, though asleep, opened one pair of its three sets of eyes; a low growl rumbled in its throat. I looked around to see a harp standing at its feet and that the trapdoor it guarded had had its door torn off. Just to my left I saw something else lying on the floor; it was Harry's Invisibility Cloak. Quickly I grabbed it and put it in my pocket. Next I took out my wand. I pointed it at the harp, hoping my spell would work.

'Ludus,' I whispered.

An invisible breeze blew from my wand tip and towards the harp. Slowly the strings began to pluck themselves like an invisible man was playing it. The spell had worked, making the harp play itself. I watched and waited as Fluffy's awake head began to droop and it returned to sleep. I let out a relieved breath and crept inside. I sat down on the edge of the trapdoor hole and, swallowing, allowed myself to fall through it. I held in my scream as I fell downwards, landing with a dull thump on something worryingly soft. I looked round in the darkness. Beneath my hands I could feel something that felt like leaves. It seemed to be a plant of some sort.

'Oh my …'

I pushed myself backwards but I wasn't quick enough. A long tendril of the plant had already begun to wrap itself around my ankle while a second had grabbed my wrist. I tried to pull at them but that only made them tighter. A third started to go around my waist to hold me down. It was then I remembered. There was a plant Professor Sprout had told us about in Herbology that used vines to trap its victims. Devil's Snare or something like that. It thrived in dark and damp places like this one. So if it liked being wet it would hate being set alight. I pointed my wand as best as I could at the plant.

'Incendio.'

A small plume of fire shot from my wand and hit the plant. It almost shrieked in pain and instantly withdrew its vines that had almost completely wrapped around my arm and leg, the one around my waist also loosening. I scrambled to my feet and put myself flat against the wall. In the fading flames I could just see the plant shrink away into the darkness. I looked around for where I had to go next. There was a stone passageway to my right. I guess that was the only way ahead. After encountering Devil's Snare though I was reluctantly to continue. If that was Professor Sprout's protection for the Stone, I dreaded what were the other teacher's spells and enchantments.

The corridor was long and quiet apart from the occasional drip falling from the walls. My footsteps echoed in the emptiness as I walked cautiously onwards. Ahead of me was another chamber. I stopped. I could hear something. It sounded like something was rustling up ahead. In the distance I could see the light coming from the next room, something small casting a shadow every so often in the archway. I walked towards the noise with my wand lightly gripped in my hand just in case.

The chamber was much brighter than the last with torches going all the way around its circular walls. I gasped quietly at what I saw was inside. Hundred of tiny birds with jewelled bodies were gently flying around the high ceiling except … they weren't birds. They were keys. That meant if there were keys there had to be a door. Sure enough, there was a large wooden door on the opposite wall to me, and just in front of it was a broomstick. I walked over to it to take a look. Nothing seemed strange about the broom. Maybe I just had to use it to get the key that fit the lock.

A tiny squeaking drew my attention away from the broom. I looked around for the source of the noise. There was something lying on one of the stone sills. It was a key and it was injured. Its wings had been bent as if it had been grabbed recklessly by someone, while the key itself was much bigger and older looking. I went over to it and carefully scooped it into my hands. All of a sudden the keys surrounding me began to attack. I clasp the injured key in my hands not worrying about defending myself from the oncoming onslaught of the other keys. It was like they were aware of everything that was happening.

'I'm not going to hurt it!' I shouted. 'I just want to get to the next room! I won't hurt it!'

I made my way back to the door. The keys continued to attack despite my protests that I wasn't going to do anything that could damage the older key any more than it had already been. Shielding my face I held the key carefully in my free hand and placed it in the lock. I gave it a turn and the lock clicked open. Before it could wriggle away I pointed my wand at it.

'Reparo.'

The wings of the key snapped back into a straight rounded shape allowing it to flap its way out of the lock. The other keys seemed to see my gesture and they halted their attack. I watched as the old key floated in front of me for a moment or two before flying off to join the rest of them. With the keys gone and the door unlocked I continued on.

I didn't know how much farther ahead Harry, Ron and Hermione were in front of me, or how ahead of them Snape was, or even how many more obstacles there were separating them from me. There was another short corridor before the next chamber. This one was even darker than the first. As I stepped inside torches along the walls lit up, illuminating a large chessboard in front of me, and towering black and white chess pieces. All around the edges were the discarded broken pieces of the previous matches. Instead of a full chessboard, however, there were only a handful of pieces left in play. The black pieces had almost been completely destroyed save for two pawns, a bishop and a castle. The white pieces had both their bishops, a knight, two castles and a handful of pawns. Both sides had their queens.

I thought about what Ron had taught me about chess then walked on to the board. I had to do this was quickly and the best piece to use was the queen. She was deep on the white side of the board. I looked up at the piece. It bowed at me before moving off the board so I could stand in its place. I looked at where all the pieces were positioned on the board. The white king was already backed into the corner of the far side of the board and it looked like I only had one move that could either win or lose me the game. My castle was still in its original corner while my bishop was on a black square three squares away from the white king. Their queen was marking it though waiting for me to make my move.

Slowly I walked four squares diagonally right back towards the black side of the board. This meant the white king now had my castle defending it on the opposite side of the board, my bishop defending it diagonally and myself as the queen on the next row along stopping it from moving from any of the three squares surrounding its corner.

'Checkmate.'

I watched and waited. The white king turned towards me and raised its hand. It took of its crown and threw it to the ground. I let out a breath that I'd made the right choice in moves before running across the board and out the chamber.

So Professor Sprout had used Devil's Snare, Professor Flitwick must have charmed the keys and Professor McGonagall had transfigured the chessmen. That meant only Professor Quirrell and Snape were left.

Professor Qurrell's protection lay in wait for me in the next room, and when I say "lay", it was lying unconscious on the floor of the room it was inside. I was greeted by the foul smell of the troll before I saw it. It was knocked out cold from having received what I could only assume was a powerful blow to the head judging by the bloody lump it had on its head. It grunted as I crept past it but didn't stir and so I was able to get by without having to deal with another troll for the second time this year.

There was only one chamber left. As I walked through the doorway purple flames instantly blossomed behind me stopping me from going back the way I'd come, while ahead of me black flames now blocked the doorway out of the chamber. I was trapped. In the centre of the room was a table with several bottles laid out on it next to a sheet of parchment. I walked over to the table and picked it up.

Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,
Two of us will help you, whichever you would find,
One among us seven will let you move ahead,
Another will transport the drinker back instead,
Two among our number hold only nettle wine,
Three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line.
Choose, unless you wish to stay here forever more,
To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:
First, however slyly the poison tries to hide
You will always find some on nettle wine's left side;
Second, different are those who stand at either end,
But if you would move onwards, neither is your friend;
Third, as you see clearly, all are different size,
Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides;
Fourth, the second left and the second on the right
Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight.

'It's a riddle,' I said. 'You have to solve the riddle to work out which potion will get you through the flames. I bet my wand Hermione would have worked this out. But,' I looked at the bottles before me, 'if the one that would get me through the flames is only enough for one person, what happened to them?'

Only now had I realised that there was a possibility that all three of them might not have made it this far. But if that was indeed the case, what had happened to them? I hadn't come across any of them on my way down here so if they had had to turn back, then surely I would have passed them. Where had they gone? I looked ahead at the black flames. If any one of them had gone through them, I knew it was Harry, which meant that if Snape was working for Voldemort, he was in danger. I had to solve this riddle so that I could reach him if he needed my help now Ron and Hermione had been separated from him.

I looked at the seven bottles. Three were large, four were small, and each had a different colour liquid inside them. I re-read the riddle, taking note of the important information. Putting it down, I turned to the bottles.

'Two of us will help you, whichever you would find,' I recited, running my finger along the table in front of the bottles. 'One among us seven will let you move ahead, another will transport the drinker back instead. Two among our number hold only nettle wine, three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line. Choose, unless you wish to stay here forever more. To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:'

I looked at the bottles as I remembered each of the clues. In order they didn't seem to make any sense in which bottle I should eliminate first. I thought for a moment before making my first choice.

'Second, different are those who stand at either end, but if you would move onwards, neither is your friend.'

I moved the two end bottles forwards, eliminating them from the collection as they were the first I could tell were not going to help me. Based on the clue, they either had to be poison or the antidote to the purple flames.

'Fourth, the second left and the second on the right are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight.'

I removed the second and sixth bottles from the original line next leaving me with three left to choose from, as both were likely to either be nettle wine or poison.

'First, however slyly the poison tries to hide, you will always find some on nettle wine's left side.'

This one was trickier as there were only two bottles of nettle wine and three bottles of poison, and I had already removed two bottles that were identical. Only two bottles of poison would have the wine on its right. I removed the bottle on the far left; that one had to be either the potion to return back or poison, as it couldn't be wine. Looking at the remaining six, I moved forwards the two identical ones again. Neither could be the potion to return or go forward. If they were both wine, then the first and fifth bottles were poison; if they were both poison, then the wine would be third and seventh bottles, and I already knew bottle seven would not help me.

'Third, as you see clearly, all are different size, neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides.'

Bottle seven was the largest bottle on the table, meaning it couldn't be poison. It had to be the move back potion, which meant the paired ones must be wine and the bottles on their left were the poisons. I moved the fifth bottle forwards, eliminating it as well. That meant I had one poison and the correct potion left and only one was in a "dwarf" bottle like the clue suggests.

'This must be it then,' I said, picking up the tiny bottle of blue liquid.

I pulled Harry's Invisibility Cloak from my pocket and threw it over myself. I then opened the smallest bottle and drank the potion inside it. I felt a sudden chill sweep through my body as if I'd just drunk a lot of icy water, feeling it go right through to my veins. At least it wasn't poison. Quickly before the potion could wear off I walked straight ahead and through the black flames. They twisted and burned around me but I didn't feel any of their heat. I passed through them into the final chamber where two other people were already there. A rush of relief swept over me when I saw Harry, only to have it immediately replaced by shock when I saw not Snape, but Professor Quirrell facing him.

Slowly I walked closer to where the two of them were stood, stopping just before the steps leading down to them. Quirrell was talking to Harry but he sounded … different. He didn't stutter and seemed much more confidant than I had ever heard him before. It was then I noticed that there were ropes binding Harry. I had to do something but I had no idea how I could help him. Quirrell meanwhile was looking into a large ornate mirror with a golden frame.

'He is with me wherever I go,' he was saying, his voice quiet. He turned to look at Harry. 'I met him when I travelled around the world. A foolish young man I was then, full of ridiculous ideas about good and evil. Lord Voldemort showed me how wrong I was. There is no good and evil, there is only power, and those too weak to seek it … Since then, I have served him faithfully, although I have let him down many times. He has had to be very hard on me.' Quirrell shivered. 'He does not forgive mistakes easily. When I failed to steal the Stone from Gringotts, he was most displeased. He punished me … decided he would have to keep a closer watch on me …'

I swallowed, not liking the sound of what that meant.

Quirrell faced the mirror again. He stared into its depths, angry at not being able to see something inside it. He cursed under his breath.

'I don't understand … is the Stone inside the Mirror? Should I break it? What does this Mirror do? How does it work? Help me, Master!'

I flinched, a part of me jumping at the idea that Voldemort would suddenly appear. No one did. A voice, however, did answer Quirrell's pleas.

'Use the boy … Use the boy …'

Quirrell spun round.

'Yes – Potter – come here.' He clapped his hands and the ropes released Harry. 'Come here,' demanded Quirrell. 'Look in the Mirror and tell me what you see.'

Harry walked forwards. I watched in fear at what might happen. I wanted to help but I knew that there was nothing I could do without revealing myself and putting both Harry and myself in more danger than we probably were already in. All I could do was stand by and watch.

'Well? What do you see?'

'I see myself shaking hands with Dumbledore,' said Harry. 'I – I've won the House Cup for Gryffindor.'

Quirrell cursed again.

'Get out of the way,' he shouted, pushing Harry to one side.

'He lies … He lies …'

'Potter, come back here!' shouted Quirrell. 'Tell me the truth! What did you just see?'

'Let me speak to him … face to face …'

'Master, you are not strong enough!'

'I have strength enough … for this …'

Who was Quirrell talking to? There was no one else in the room but him, Harry and myself, and neither was aware that I was here. Quirrell turned away from Harry. He reached up and slowly began to unwrap his turban. More and more of his head was exposed until the last bit of material fell away. I felt myself gasp at what I saw but no sound came from me. Where I had expected to the see the back of Quirrell's bald head instead was the most horribly disfigured face I'd ever seen. The skin was as pale as chalk making it's red eyes stand out even more as it glared at Harry, a pair of slit-like nostrils flaring in its anger. I knew then I had frozen in fear. It was Voldemort.

'Harry Potter …' it hissed. 'See what I have become? Mere shadow and vapour … I have form only when I can share another's body … but there have always been those willing to let me into their hearts and minds … Unicorn blood has strengthened me, these past weeks … you saw faithful Quirrell drinking it for me in the Forest … and once I have the Elixir of Life, I will be able to create a body of my own … Now … why don't you give me that Stone in your pocket?'

Harry had the Stone? How? And how did Voldemort know? A million questions were racing through my mind. I had no time to come up with answer to them, however, as Harry had suddenly stumbled backwards and Voldemort was advancing on him.

'Don't be a fool,' he snarled. 'Better save your own life and join me … or you'll meet the same end as your parents … They died begging me for mercy …'

'LIAR!' shouted Harry. I jumped.

'How touching …' sneered Voldemort. 'I always value bravery … Yes, boy, your parents were brave … I killed your father first and he put up a courageous fight … but your mother needn't have died … she was trying to protect you … Now give me the Stone, unless you want her to have died in vain.'

'NEVER!' shouted Harry again.

Harry turned and ran towards the flames behind me. Taking that as a cue to get out of here, I made to follow him.

'SEIZE HIM!'

I looked round in time to see Quirrell lunge at Harry. I threw myself to the ground to avoid him touching me as he went for him and grabbed Harry's wrist. I watched as Harry yelled in pain and fought to break his grip. It hurt so much to watch him in pain and I almost couldn't bear to watch it. I couldn't watch my best friend get hurt. But then something happened. Quirrell started screaming as well and released Harry's wrist. He hunched over and was staring at his fingers that were slowly beginning to blister.

'Seize him! SEIZE HIM!' demanded Voldemort.

Quirrell went for Harry a second time. He knocked Harry to the ground landing on top of him with both his hands around Harry's neck. Harry's yells of pain cut through me like a knife. Seconds later though Quirrell once again was forced to let go of him as he howled in agony as both his hands were now covered in painful burns from being in contact with Harry.

'Master, I cannot hold him – my hands – my hands!'

'Then kill him, fool, and be done!' screeched Voldemort.

Quirrell raised his hand, the curse obviously ready in his head. When I expected to see Harry give up, instead he lifted his own hands and grabbed Quirrell's face.

'AAAARGH!'

Quirrell threw himself backwards off Harry, his hands now protecting his burnt face. For some reason he couldn't seem to bare being touched by Harry. And by the looks of it Harry had also worked this out. He ran at Quirrell and grabbed on to his arm, refusing to let go no matter how much Quirrell tried to throw him off or how much Harry himself was also screaming in pain. Even Voldemort's yells of 'Kill him!' were not enough to make Quirrell continue his attack on Harry. Finally Quirrell managed to throw Harry away from him. He was pushed backwards and fell down the small flight of steps behind him. His head hit the stone and he was knocked unconscious. I carefully got to my feet so as not to dislodge the Cloak from me and ran over to him. I checked he was all right and was still breathing before looking back at Quirrell and Voldemort. Quirrell was still screaming in pain. He had his back to me but Voldermort's face was looking in my direction.

'Do not think I haven't known you are here,' hissed Voldemort. I gasped when I realised he meant me. 'A silly little girl foolish enough to follow Potter wasn't worth my attention. But know this. Harry Potter might have stopped me from returning tonight, but one day, mark my words, I will regain my power and I will kill him.'

I stared at Voldemort, speechless from fear at what was happening to Quirrell's body and what he'd just said. Blisters had now formed completely over Quirrell's face and hands that were now starting to crack and crumble as if they'd turned to stone. He was grasping at his face as it began to disintegrate. He stood straight and took one step towards where Harry and I were, his hand still outstretched, but it was too late. He collapsed on the ground as his body was destroyed. All that remained were Quirrell's robes and a pile of rubble and dust.

With Voldemort seemingly gone, I pulled off the Cloak and turned to Harry.

'Harry!' I shouted. I shook his shoulder but he didn't respond. He had cuts all over his face from the previous chambers and was covered in dirt and ash. 'Harry, please be all right!'

'He will be fine, Miss Black,' said a voice behind me.

I looked round. There stood at the top of the stone stairs was Professor Dumbledore. I never had been so relieved to see him. He had a look of concern on his face but also the start of a smile. He approached where Harry and I were on the floor and knelt down beside us. His eyes twinkled behind his glasses as he checked Harry over before standing straight again.

'Mr Potter is merely unconscious,' Professor Dumbledore told me. 'He will recover in a matter of days. Now, if you would be so kind, I will need your help in getting him to the Hospital Wing.'

I nodded and stood up. Dumbledore took out his wand and muttered something as he pointed it at Harry. His body slowly rose off the floor until it was floating in mid air. With Harry movable, Dumbledore began to lead us out of the chamber. I followed him in silence. Thoughts and questions were rushing through my head so fast that I could barely grasp them all. Only one, however, was important enough for me to ask.

'Is Harry going to be all right, Sir?' I asked Professor Dumbledore. 'I don't know what Professor Quirrel was doing to him but he seemed to be in a lot of pain when he was touching him.'

'He shall be fine, Miss Black,' assured Dumbledore, somewhat cheerfully considering the situation. 'A whole and pure soul will always heal itself no matter how damaged it becomes, especially when those who love them are close by.'

I merely nodded and accepted what Dumbledore said, not knowing at the time how important what he had said would come to be.

'What about Ron and Hermione?' I then asked. 'Harry was alone when I found him meaning Ron and Hermione had to turn back but I didn't pass them in any of the chambers.'

'Mr Weasley and Miss Granger are both safe,' said Dumbledore. 'Having decided to return from London, I was met by Miss Granger and an unconscious Mr Weasley in the Chess Chamber. I gave them a Portkey to transport them to the Hospital Wing, which is why your paths didn't cross. You, however, were too fast for me and had already gotten past the Potion Chamber by the time I'd returned after escaping Madam Pomfrey's disapproving tutting.'

'And the Stone?'

'Miss Black, you can put your questioning mind at ease,' said Dumbledore lightly. 'All you need to know is that everyone and everything is safe and that for now, Voldemort is no longer a threat. What is important is that we get you and Mr Potter back to the castle to be healed and contact your uncle to inform him that you are all right.'

Intentional or not, the mention of Lupin silenced me when I realised he was going to find out about all this, and I remained quiet for the rest of the journey.

Professor Dumbledore, Harry and I reached the Hospital Wing where a small group of people were already gathered. Ron was lying awake on a bed surrounded by his brothers Fred, George and Percy while an older red-haired women I recognised from Platform Nine and Three-Quarters and assumed was his mother was fussing over his pyjamas. Hermione was sat on a bed next to them as she only had minor injuries like myself but got up when she saw me. She ran at me and gave me a hug, her bushy hair covering my face momentarily, beaming that I was all right. Once she had removed herself and her hair from me, I saw the one person I both dreaded to see and was relieved was there. Lupin, who had been talking to a red-haired wizard I gathered was Ron's father, saw me enter with Harry and Dumbledore.

'Jenna.' Where I expected anger, there was none. Instead, I pulled into one of Lupin's familiar embraces and he held me for a good minute or two. 'Thank Merlin you're OK.'

'Remus, Madam Pomfrey needs to check Miss Black over for any injury,' Professor Dumbledore told him. Lupin released me. 'While she tends to Miss Black and Mr Potter, I wish to speak with you and Mr and Mrs Weasley about tonight's events.'

Lupin nodded. He gently touched my cheek before following Professor Dumbledore into Madam Pomfrey's office, Mr and Mrs Weasley walking inside afterwards. The door closed behind them.

'Is Harry all right?' was Hermione's first question to me when they were gone. 'What happened down there? What made you come after us?'

'I didn't want you to get hurt,' I said simply. 'I only got there in time to see Harry in the final chamber with Professor Quirrell.'

Hermione gasped. Ron, Fred, George and Percy gaped at me.

'Professor Quirrell?' repeated Percy. 'What nonsense!'

'It's true,' I said. 'Professor Quirrell was being possessed by Vol –' the four Weasleys and Hermione flinched, 'You-Know-Who. He was after the Philosopher's Stone so he could make himself a new body. When he realised Harry had somehow got the Stone, You-Know-Who attacked Harry using Quirrell's body but Quirrell couldn't bare to touch him for some reason and his body was destroyed.'

'What about You-Know-Who?' asked Ron. I shrugged.

'I don't know,' I replied. 'I don't know what happened to You-Know-Who after that. All that was left of Quirrell though were his robes and a pile of rubble.'

'Wicked,' said Fred and George.

Fred and George appeared to be the only ones impressed by what Harry, Ron, Hermione and I had done tonight. Percy looked positively fuming but I think that was more because we'd probably broken at least half a dozen school rules in the last few hours. We fell into a silence after I had told them about what had happened down in the chamber. Madam Pomfrey, who had been bustling around Harry muttering angrily to herself while we talked, dragged me to a separate bed and began to heal the minor cuts I'd received. With a tap of her wand, they healed themselves and I was allowed to rejoin the others. Shortly after that the door to Madam Pomfrey's office opened and Professor Dumbledore, Lupin and Ron's parents came out.

Mr and Mrs Weasley went straight to their son. Mrs Weasley looked both furious and beyond relief that Ron was all right. Professor Dumbledore had gone to speak with Hermione, whose parents weren't here. I assumed that because they were Muggles they'd be notified by post or something. I watched them all for a moment before looking round. Lupin was standing quietly behind me, his brown eyes watching me. I looked at my feet.

'I'm sorry,' was all I could think to say.

'For what?' asked Lupin. I looked at him, confused. Lupin took a seat beside me on the bed I was sat on. He put his arm around my shoulders. 'You showed tremendous bravery tonight, going after Harry and the others. If anything, I'm proud of you, Jenna.'

'You are?' I asked. Lupin nodded.

'While I'm not pleased to hear that you have gotten into trouble several times this year, I can't say that I'm surprised,' said Lupin. He raised his eyebrow at me. 'You are my sister's daughter, after all. I'd be more surprised if you didn't get into any trouble. A dragon is a new one though. Even Tala didn't manage to get mixed up with one of those.'

'So … you're not mad?' I asked nervously.

'Of course I'm not,' said Lupin. He gave my shoulder a squeeze. 'I'm just glad that you and Harry are both all right.'

Lupin smiled down at me. I smiled back, feeling that familial bond with him which told me everything was going to be all right.

Ron was released from the Hospital Wing the following day while Harry was kept in for the next three. Ron, Hermione and I waited anxiously for any news about him and so were relieved when Professor McGonagall finally told us that he had woken up. We went to go see him but were stopped by Madam Pomfrey who informed us that he was not to be disturbed. It was only through Harry's pleading that she relented and let us in. Harry was sitting up in bed surrounded by piles of sweets and gifts from various people. He beamed when he saw us.

'Oh Harry,' gushed Hermione, almost throwing herself on to him, 'we were sure you were going to – Dumbledore was so worried –'

'The whole school's talking about it,' said Ron. He was much more excited about the situation than either Hermione or I were. 'What really happened? Jenna told us some of it but she said you were already facing Quirrell when she got there.'

Harry looked at me.

'I thought you stayed in the Tower,' Harry said, confused, 'because of your uncle.'

'Well, I did but I couldn't let you guys have all the glory,' I said. The corner of my lip lifted into a small smile; Harry grinned back. 'I didn't really do much though. You seemed to have it under control when I got there.'

'I really didn't,' said Harry.

'So come on, tell us what happened,' said Ron eagerly.

'There isn't really much to tell,' shrugged Harry. 'After Hermione and I separated in the Potion Chamber, I continued on into the next chamber where I thought I'd come face-to-face with Snape but it wasn't him. It was Professor Quirrell. Snape was never after the Stone. He'd been trying to stop Quirrell. That's how he injured his leg when he went after him and got attacked by Fluffy. Just like at the Quidditch match and the troll. Quirrell had been bewitching my broom while Snape was muttering a counter-curse and he was the one who let the troll in at Hallowe'en so he could see what was guarding the Stone.'

Ron and Hermione were listening to Harry with their mouths hanging slightly open, gasping with surprise at the right parts.

'When I got there, Quirrell was looking in the Mirror of Erised, that mirror I'd found at Christmas. Dumbledore had used it to hide the Stone so only those who didn't want to use it would get it. Quirrell was angry he couldn't get the Stone and so he tried to use me instead. When I looked in the Mirror, I saw myself with the Stone and next moment it was in my pocket.

'I tried to tell him about winning the House Cup when he asked me what I'd seen but this voice knew I was lying. It demanded to speak to me but there was no one else in the room apart from us. Quirrell began to remove his turban and beneath it was the face of Voldemort.'

Ron flinched at the name; Hermione screamed at the thought of Quirrell with two faces, the other being Voldemort's.

'That's when Voldemort attacked me but for some reason Quirrell couldn't bear to touch me. His skin would get all burnt and blistered if it did. Voldemort ordered Quirrell to kill me,' Hermione screamed again, this time muffling it with her hands, 'but before he could, I grabbed his face to stop him. I blacked out shortly after that and woke up in here. According to Professor Dumbledore, the reason Quirrell couldn't touch me was because of my Mum died saving me it protected me from him.'

'What about the Stone?' I asked. Harry shook his head.

'Professor Dumbledore said it's been destroyed.'

'So the Stone's gone?' said Ron. 'Flamel's just going to die?'

'That's what I said,' replied Harry, 'but Dumbledore thinks that – what was it – "to the well-organised mind, death it but the next great adventure".'

Ron, Hermione and I looked at each other.

'I always said he was off his rocker,' muttered Ron. We laughed.

'So what happened to you two?' Harry then asked.

'Well, I got back all right,' said Hermione. 'I brought Ron round – that took a while – and we were just dashing to get back to the castle to send an Owl to Dumbledore when he appeared in the Chess Chamber. He already knew – he just said, "Harry's gone after him, hasn't he?" before enchanting a piece of a pawn to take us here.'

'D'you think he meant you to do it?' said Ron. 'Sending you your father's Cloak and everything?'

'It'd be very irresponsible if he did,' I said.

'Well,' huffed Hermione, 'if he did – I meant to say – that's terrible – you could have been killed.'

'No, it isn't,' said Harry. 'He's a funny man, Dumbledore. I think he sort of wanted to give me a chance. I think he knows more or less everything that goes on here, you know. I reckon he had a pretty good idea we were going to try, and instead of stopping us, he taught us enough to help. I don't think it was an accident he let me find out how the Mirror worked. It's almost like he thought I had the right to face Voldemort if I could …'

'That sounds crazy, Harry,' I told him, 'but believable at the same time.'

'Yeah, Dumbledore's barking, all right,' agreed Ron. There was a touch of pride in his voice. 'Listen, you've got to be up for the end-of-year feast tomorrow. The points are all in and Slytherin won, of course – you missed the last Quidditch match, we were steamrollered by Ravenclaw without you – but the food'll be good.'

At that moment Madam Pomfrey bustled over with a furious look on her face.

'You've had nearly fifteen minutes, now OUT!'

On the last day of term I went back to the Hospital Wing alone to see if Harry was going to be allowed to come to the end-of-year feast. As I walked towards the Hospital Wing, I passed a rather tearful-looking Hagrid who nodded at me as he blew his nose on a large spotted handkerchief. I smiled back at him and walked on. I pushed open the door of the Hospital Wing. Harry was dressed back in his robes and was sitting on his bed. I guess Madam Pomfrey was going to let him out. He looked up when he heard me entered, smiled then waved me over.

'Ready for the feast?' I asked him.

'Yeah, definitely,' said Harry, 'I'm so hungry I could eat second helpings already.'

I chucked at that. It was then I noticed a book lying beside him.

'What's that?'

'It's a photo album,' said Harry. He picked it up and opened it. 'Hagrid made it for me. It's got lots of photos of my parents in it. Look.'

Harry showed the book to me. Together we looked at the pictures, Harry carefully turning the pages. I smiled as I looked at them. There were a handful at the start that appeared to be the most recent as some even included a baby Harry being held and kissed by his mum and dad. James and Lily looked so happy together. It was such a shame what had happened to them. But it was a photo about halfway through the book that caught my attention.

Again, James and Lily were in the photograph but this time there were other people with them. Three others, and all were dressed in their Hogwarts uniform. I couldn't help but smile when I saw it. There stood with his arm slung round James's shoulders was a young man I knew to be my Dad, a second familiar face on James's other side as Lupin stood grinning beside them. Beside them was Lily and a second girl with strange blue eyes I recognised as my own and knew to be my Mum. Although Lupin had mentioned James and Lily in the past to me, he'd never said he or my Mum and Dad had been at school with them, only that they had been friends at some point. I glanced at Harry beside me; it seemed we had a deeper history with each other that even we didn't know about.

'Who d'you reckon they are?' Harry asked me next, as if by coincidence.

'I don't know,' I replied. I could have easily said that was my family with his but for some reason it didn't feel like it was the right time to do so. 'They look happy together though, don't they?'

Harry looked at me. We shared a smile.

'We better get to the feast,' I then said. 'We don't want Ron scoffing all the food before we get there.'

The Great Hall was full when Harry and I finally got there after being delayed by Madam Pomfrey fussing over Harry. An odd hush went over the Hall when we entered and once again people began to stare, some even standing on the benches so as to get a better look at Harry. I knew the stares were definitely something I was never going to get used to. We found Ron and Hermione about halfway up the table sitting with Neville, Seamus and Dean and Ron's older brothers. We slipped into two vacant seats opposite them just in time as Professor Dumbledore arrived shortly afterwards. He stood in front of the teacher's table at a lectern in the centre of the platform where he could see and address the school.

'Another year gone!' said Dumbledore cheerfully. 'And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully your heads are all a little fuller than they were … you have the whole summer ahead to get them nice and empty before next year starts …'

'Now, as I understand it, the House Cup here needs awarding,' Professor Dumbledore waved his wand at an empty podium beside him; a magnificent golden Cup suddenly appeared upon it, 'and the points stand thus: in fourth place, Gryffindor, with three hundred and twelve points.'

There was a small spattering of applause throughout the Hall. None of the students in Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw seemed to be able to muster the enthusiasm to applaud the winners of the Cup, considering it was Slytherin.

'In third, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two; Ravenclaw have four hundred and twenty-six and Slytherin, four hundred and seventy-two.'

The whole Slytherin table burst into cheers and applause. I glanced over my shoulder at them; I saw Malfoy grinning smugly to his friends about the win. I turned back and looked at Harry, Ron and Hermione. What did we expect? We had broken so many rules this year and lost so many points for Gryffindor, and Harry had missed the last Quidditch match. There was no way Gryffindor was going to win the House Cup.

'Yes, yes, well done, Slytherin,' said Dumbledore. 'However, recent events must be taken into account.'

I looked curiously at Dumbledore, my brow furrowed. What was he talking about? Slowly the applause died away as the Slytherins realised something was up.

'Ahem.' Dumbledore cleared his throat. 'I have a few last minute points to dish out. Let me see. Yes …

'First – to Mr Ronald Weasley …'

Harry, Hermione and I looked at Ron. He went pink.

'… for the best-played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years, I award Gryffindor fifty points.'

The sudden cheers that came from the Gryffindors almost made me jump. Beside us Percy was proudly telling anyone who could hear him that that was his brother who'd won those points.

'Second – to Miss Hermione Granger … for the use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor fifty points.'

Even more cheers erupted from Gryffindor. Hermione buried her face in her arms in embarrassment. I think she was trying not to cry.

'Third – to Mr Harry Potter …' The room went silent. '… for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor sixty points.'

The cheers were now almost deafening now Gryffindor had won an additional one hundred and sixty points. Even the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws were cheering for us now. I quickly added these points to our original score.

'Guys, we've tied with Slytherin,' I told the others. Harry, Ron and Hermione grinned. It wasn't a win but at least we'd tied with them. It was better than nothing. Dumbledore, however, wasn't finished. He raised his hand and the cheers died down once more.

'There are all kinds of courage,' said Dumbledore. He was smiling, that twinkle still in his eye. 'It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies for those in need of help, but just as much to stand up to our friends.'

My eyes narrowed in confusion. It was then I noticed that Harry, Ron and Hermione were looking at me for some reason.

'I therefore award ten points to Miss Jennifer Black and Mr Neville Longbottom.'

I gaped in amazement, unaware of the resounding cheers and applause now booming from three quarters of the Hall. Beside me Neville was looking equally as stunned, his mouth wide open while Fred patted him on the back. Harry, Ron and Hermione were beaming at me and slowly a smile came to my face as well. I may not have done much to help them but I guess the fact I was there for them if they needed me was more than enough to make a difference. And with those additional twenty points, we had overtaken Slytherin meaning Gryffindor had won the House Cup.

'Which means,' continued Dumbledore over the noise, 'we need a little change in decoration.'

Dumbledore clapped his hands. I looked up and watched as the green and silver banners that had been hanging above us blew as if caught in a gentle breeze and soon changed to gold and scarlet, the Slytherin snake being replaced by the Gryffindor lion. I took in the sight and the sounds with such amazement, a strange feeling inside me as I embraced being cheered for once instead of punished. The food soon appeared before us and the end-of-term feast started. With the combination of winning the House Cup and some of the most glorious food I'd ever tasted, this was proving to be the best night in my entire life and one I don't think I was likely to ever forget.

Even with the elation of the feast on our final night at Hogwarts for our first-year, I couldn't forget that our exam results were due out the very next day before we left. The following morning a series of notices had been posted on the Gryffindor noticeboard detailing the exam results for the first, second, third and fourth-year students. I was pleased to see that Harry, Ron, Hermione and I had all passed with Hermione unsurprisingly getting top marks in all classes. Even Neville had passed despite his worrying about how he'd done, with his Herbology mark being the best one he received.

In a matter of a short few hours our wardrobes were emptied and our trunks were packed. It felt weird putting everything back into my trunk to return home to Moonlake Cottage after a year of living at Hogwarts but felt reassured knowing I'd be back here in a short few weeks. At breakfast we were each given a note reminding us that no magic was to be used over the holidays, much to Fred and George's disappointment, and that the carriages to Hogsmeade Station would be leaving at ten o'clock. I gathered my stuff in my school bag for the journey back to London and met up with Harry, Ron and Hermione in the Entrance Hall where Hagrid was waiting for all the first-years so he could take us back to the Station via the boats we'd arrived in on our first day here. This time Hermione joined Harry, Ron and I in the boat we got in, something I was certainly glad about now.

The train journey back to London was a long one but it seemed to pass by in a couple of hours. The castle disappeared into the distance and soon was out of sight as we travelled back through the Muggle world, fields and villages zooming past in a colourful blur. The four of us sat together in our compartment happily talking to each other and tucking into what was left of Harry's sweets from the Hospital Wing. I watched as the countryside passed us by, already wondering what would be in store for us come September and counting the days until we'd return. When the voice announced we were nearing London, we pulled off our robes and got changed into our day clothes, stuffing my robes into my bag so they were out of sight. The train began to slow and soon London and King's Cross Station was in sight.

It was a bit of a squeeze getting off the train on to the platform as the students piled they way off the train and collected their belongings from the guards. Harry, Ron, Hermione and I collected our various trunks and pets and followed the crowd towards the exit on to the Muggle platform. A wizened old guard was letting us through in groups of two and three so as not to cause a panic on the other side of the barrier. Ron and Hermione went through first then Harry and I followed. People were calling out to Harry as we through it.

'Still famous,' chucked Ron. Harry grinned.

'Not where I'm going, I promise you,' said Harry.

As families began to walk back up the Muggle platform to leave the Station, our own came into view. I saw the familiar red-hair of Ron's mother and sister, who was excitedly pointing at Harry when she saw him, and a couple who shared Hermione's brown hair waiting for her nearby to them. Just back from them I recognised a rather large man I'd seen before whom I knew to be Harry's uncle Vernon, a rather skinny woman and skittish boy standing beside him. I'd never seen Dudley look so nervous. I looked round the platform and finally I saw Lupin. He smiled when he saw me, waving at me to come over.

'I better go,' I told the others. 'My Uncle's waiting for me.'

'See you in September, Jenna,' said Ron.

'Have a good holiday,' said Hermione, 'and don't forget to write.'

I laughed, 'I wont.' I then turned to Harry. 'So, I'll see you in after the holidays?' I asked him.

'Definitely,' grinned Harry.

'I'll say goodbye then,' I said, referring to the last time we parted. 'Bye, Harry.'

'See you, Jen.'

I smiled then turned to walk over to Lupin. He came and greeted me, giving me a hug before taking my trunk and Gizmo's cage from me. As we walked down the platform, I glanced back at the friends I had made. Ron and Hermione were certainly two people I was glad to have met at Hogwarts and I knew they'd be lifelong friends while I was there; as for Harry, despite all the stuff I'd learnt about him this last year and all the stuff we'd been through because of him, I still couldn't see him as this Boy Who Lived who'd defeated some Dark Wizard. He was still just Harry to me and that was never going to change. I turned back and walked out of the Station with Lupin into the same alleyway as before and he Apparated us back home to Moonlake Cottage.

---

AN: so that's Philosopher's Stone redone. hopefully people will like the changes I've made and the new additions to Jenna's life and hopefully her character as well. I certainly like the fact I can now include another family member in Jenna's life and look forward to writing more about her Granddad; I have played down her powers so as to develop them more as she gets older, even downplaying her interest in learning how to control being an Animagus until she learns from her Granddad it was something that bonded Remus and Tala, making Jenna want to do the same. I hope I've defined a bit better how she became friends with Hermione before the boys on the night of Hallowe'en and brought out more of her personality by writing fresh dialogue for her which I will continue to do so in future rewrites (although there may be some things I might still pinch from the films e.g. I like the idea of Jenna at some point in the sixth year having the conversation with Harry that Hermione has in the film with him where he says "I am the Chosen One" and she smacks him on the head; it just seems the sort of thing Jenna would do).

I am aware there are probably still a few editing mistakes which, having finished this book, I'm going to go over before I proceed to Chamber of Secrets. I look forward to the changes I'm hopefully going to make in book two. And once again, I am not looking for reviews or new readers. I'm just getting back into writing and changing bits from the original story I no longer like.