Things have been off since Christmas when we found the Mirror of Erised. For one, Harry and Ron still haven't fully made up, although they are still kind to one another and spend time together constantly. Another was that Harry decided he didn't want to even have his Invisibility cloak anywhere but at the bottom of his trunk, stating how Ron had a point that they could still get caught (again) and Harry also admitted that it tempted him to go back out and try to find the mirror, so since they made a promise to Dumbledore not to, they simply didn't use it. The last was that Harry was now having constant nightmares. There had been many times when I woke up to Harry shouting or suddenly jumping out of bed. He says in his dream there would be a flash of green light and his parents would suddenly disappear while a loud laugh echoed. I was only able to get him to tell me about them after I told him I get nightmares at least once a week of the night my parents died as well.
Once Hermione come back, instead of being happy about the discovery of the mirror, she was livid at how many rules we had broken, how we had snuck out multiple times to find the mirror, and it didn't help we still didn't have a clue who Flamel is.
Despite the fact that we were all so close to giving up, we still spent any free time we could in the library once the term started. It was difficult given all the homework we were receiving but also because Quidditch had started. Oliver Wood decided that we needed more practice, no matter the weather and no matter how tired we were.
Right now, we are having practice in the worst weather we have had to date. It was muddy, cold, wet, and a little difficult to see with all the rain going on. The twins were divebombing each other, and occasionally me, and pretending to fall off their brooms while I spoke with the two Chasers on the team. Once Wood saw them, he had had enough.
"Will you stop messing around?" He demanded. "That's exactly the sort of thing that will lose us the match! Snapes refereeing this time and he'll be looking for any excuse to knock points off Gryffindor!" As he said that, everyone froze and looked at him, minus George who actually fell off his broom this time. I just stared at the ginger, with no emotion on my face.
"Snape's refereeing?" He choked out, ignoring my look at him. "When has he ever refereed a Quidditch match? He's not going to be fair if we overtake Slytherin after."
"He's not going to be fair at all, we have Harry on our team," I grumbled once Harry and I flew down beside George and the rest of the team, and Harry himself nodded. "We're screwed," I whispered to him. All at once, everyone started to yell.
"It's not my fault!" Wood defended. "We've just got to make sure we play a clean game, so Snape hasn't got an excuse to pick on us." I looked at Harry, realizing there was more than just that reason the professor shouldn't be at the match. "I know, we're all upset about this but we can't change anything."
"He can't do something in front of the entire school. I mean, not now that everyone can see him." I tried to reason as we walked into the common room and up to our friends.
"Don't talk to me for a moment. I need to concen-" Ron trailed off once he saw the look on our faces. "What's the matter with you two? You guys look terrible." He told us as Hermione smacked him. So we all sat down close together at the table so no one could hear us whispering about the situation.
"Don't play, Harry!" Hermione immediately.
"Say your ill!" Ron urged him.
"Pretend to break your leg!" Hermione suggested.
"Actually break your leg," I mumbled, shaking my head.
"I cant. There isn't a reserve Seeker." He said, silencing us. "If I don't play, Gryffindor can't either."
"He's right. Then we forfeit and Slytherin would get the win." I told them. Before Hermione could say anything, the portrait door swung open and Neville hobbled in with his legs stuck together from the Leg-Locker Curse. Everyone took one look at him managing to flop over the step in and started laughing minus Hermione and me. We both moved to go to him but I waved her off.
"What happened?" She asked from behind me as I performed the counter curse for the boy. His legs instantly spread apart but they were trembling and he was sniffling.
"Malfoy. I met him outside the library. He said he'd been looking for someone to practice that on." I shook my head, getting angry.
"Go tell Professor McGonagall!" Hermione demanded, " Report him!"
"Yeah, like that do any good. How about I punch him for you?" I suggested. "That's something I've been wanting to practice." Everyone gave me a frightened look while I just grinned at Neville.
"I don't want to cause more trouble." He whimpered, making me go up and give him a hug.
"You've got to stand up to him, Neville!" Ron urged. "Sam's right, even if you said something there be nothing but a light slap on the wrist. He's used to walking all over people, but that doesn't mean you have to sit there and take it!"
"There's no need to tell me I'm not brave enough to be in Gryffindor. Malfoy already has." I slapped his arm lightly while still hugging him.
"That's not true, Neville," I told him, and when I pulled back, Harry handed him a chocolate frog.
"You're worth twelve of Malfoy." He told him genuinely. "The Sorting Hat chose you for Gryffindor, didn't it? And where's Malfoy? In stinking Slytherin... No offense Sam." I just shrugged, agreeing with him.
"Thanks, Harry." He said, giving us a small smile and opening the frog. "I think I'll go to bed... Do you want the card? You collect them, right?" And with that, Neville went up the stairs to go to the boy's dormitory.
"Dumbledore again." Harry groaned. "He's the first one I ever-" I looked at him when he stopped talking. He gasped and looked up at us.
"I've found him!" He whispered, with a huge smile on his face. "I've found Nicolas Flamel! I told you I'd read the name somewhere before. I read it on the train coming here. Listen. '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'!" Hermione jumped to her feet, looking ecstatic.
"Wait here!" She told us before running off to our dorm room. The boys and I all shared a confused look. Within a minute she came running back down to us with a giant old book in her arms.
"I never thought to look in here. I got this out of the library weeks ago for a bit of light reading during the break." She told us. "Light?" Ron and I questioned, staring at her like she grew two heads, but she just shushed us.
"I knew it! I knew it!" She cheered once she found what she was looking for, and I leaned closer to look over her shoulder.
"Are we allowed to speak yet?" Ron complained causing me to roll my eyes at him.
"Nicolas Flamel." She whispered, ignoring him. "-is the only known maker of the Sorcerer's Stone!" I gasped as I continued reading the page.
"The what?" The boys asked. "Seriously?" I asked them.
"Oh, honestly! Do you two even read?" She questioned dramatically, and I shook my head no. The boys only glared at me. "Look, read right here." She told them, flipping the book toward them. Harry read out loud.
"The ancient study of alchemy is concerned with making the Sorcerer's Stone, a legendary substance with astonishing powers. The Stone will transform any metal into pure gold. It also produces the Elixer of Life, which will make the drinker immortal."
"Immortal?" Ron interrupted.
"It means you'll never die." She responded.
"I know what it means! Just keep reading." He snapped, turning red.
"There have been many reports of the Sorcerers 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 recently just celebrated his six hundred and sixty-fifth birthday last year, enjoys a quiet life in Devon with his wife, Perenelle (six hundred and fifty-eight)."
"See?" Hermione asks. "The dog must be guarding Flamel's Sorcerer Stone!" I interrupted. "I bet he asked Dumbledore to keep it safe for him, because they're friends and he knew someone was after it, that's why he wanted the Stone out of Gringotts!" She finished.
"It's weird when they finish each other's sentences..." Ron whispered to Harry, who nodded in return. I smacked both of them.
"Hey!" Ron yelled, drawing some attention. "A stone that makes gold and stops you from dying. No wonder Snape's after it! Anyone would want it." Harry stated, but I shook my head no.
"Not me."
"And no wonder we couldn't find Flamel in that Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry or any book we checked," Ron said, rubbing his arm. "He's not exactly recent if he's six hundred and sixty- five, is he?"
As we sat in Defense Against the Dark Arts, Harry and Ron were whispering between themselves what'd they'd buy if they had the Sorcerer's Stone while Hermione and I copied down notes from the lesson. That was until a crumpled-up paper ball landed on my desk in front of me. I looked around with furrowed brows, stopping when I saw Draco signaling for me to open it, and hesitantly, I did.
Nice Necklace. Where'd you get it?
It read. I gave him a confused look but quickly scribbled "Christmas" on it and threw it back to him. He nodded but didn't write anything back as Snape came over our way. "That was weird..." I whispered to Hermione. She nodded, glaring at the blonde Slytherin.
"I'm going to play." He told us as we were leaving the classroom. "If I don't, all the Slytherin will think I'm just too scared to face Snape. It'll really wipe the smiles off of them if we win."
"When we win." I cut in as Hermione said, "As long as we aren't wiping you off of the field."
"They don't think they'll ever see me again," Harry told me as we went into the locker room before the Quidditch match. I laughed, "Not alive, at least." But stopped when I saw his face flush with fear. I was about to tell him I was joking when everyone all started talking, everyone but Oliver Wood who seemed extremely worried.
"I don't want to pressure you, Potter, but if we ever needed an early capture of the Snitch, it's now. Finish the game before Snape can favor Hufflepuff too much." Oliver told Harry, as they both looked at the wall in front of them.
"Blimey the entire schools out there!" George yelled, looking outside the door. "Even Dumbledore!" Fred added. Oliver's head snapped toward them and gulped. No pressure...
"Dumbledore?" Harry asked, rushing to join them at the door and smiling wide when he saw the old man.
Before we left the room, I pulled Harry to a stop and held onto his shoulders. "Hey, I was only joking. You will be fine. You got this, okay?" He nodded. "Okay good. You worry about the Snitch and the twins will worry about the Bludgers. The Chasers and I will take care of the Quaffles." I told him, giving him a hug before grabbing my broom and leading us out.
"You know, that was a good pep talk, but what about me?" I jumped as Oliver walked up behind us, grinning slightly. "You just sit there and look pretty." I laughed with him, glad to see he wasn't looking panicked out where everyone could see. But stopped when I saw our special guest referee.
"Why does he look so angry?" I question the boys, but Oliver snorts. "He's always angry."
"Not like that..." Harry said quietly, nodding toward Snape. In an instant, all three of us got serious looks on our faces.
"Well, let's kick some Hufflepuff a-"
"Sam!" Oliver tries to scold me, but I just rolled my eyes at him as we walked up to the rest of the team, sharing nervous smiles with the twins.
Then the game began. Multiple times throughout the match, Snape would call a penalty against Gryffindor, something that made a lot of people boo at him. By the time I had scored twenty points, I was praying to anyone that could hear me for Harry to hurry and find the Snitch before he could do more damage.
Someone must've been listening because after I said that to Katie Bell, Harry took off into a dive, catching everyone's attention. The crowd started to cheer as Harry flew past Snape, nearly hitting the professor, but they went wild when Harry managed to reach out and grab the Snitch!
Everyone landed and was cheering for Harry as the entire Gryffindor section ran onto the field, cheering. I couldn't help but notice how much more angry Snape looked. His face more place than ever and his lips were so tight together that they were almost nonexistent. I just sped past him and toward Harry and my brothers.
"...About that mirror... Keeping busy. Excellent." I heard the end of Dumbledore's short conversation with Harry. "And good job to you as well, Miss Montgomery." He added, seeing me.
"Thank you, Headmaster." I smiled up at him until I felt myself being lifted off the ground. I looked around, about to freak out, until I noticed the students had lifted every member of the team on their shoulders and were parading us around. Little ways away, I could see Hermione jumping up and down and Ron cheering but with a nose bleed.
After a while when everyone started to calm down and head back to the castle, Harry nudged me and pointed to where Snape was sulking off to- the Forbidden Forest. I nodded at him as we jumped on our brooms and slowly flew after him.
"Where could he be going? It's almost time for dinner." I questioned out loud. We momentarily lost Snape through the thick trees but after flying in circles for a few minutes, we finally noticed the hooded figure and heard Snape's voice. Harry nodded down toward and tree branch that would fit both of us and I followed. That's when we noticed Snape wasn't alone. The other voice we could hear belonged to Professor Quirrell, and he was stuttering worse than I had ever heard. I shared a look with Harry.
"I can't hear them..." He whispered, but I shushed him, trying to listen closely.
"...d-d-don't kn-know why you wa-wanted to meet h-here of all places, S-S-Severus."
"Oh, I thought we'd keep this private." I could hear Snape just barely, but he sounded livid. "Students aren't supposed to know about the Sorcerer's Stone after all." Quirrell started to respond but was cut off. "Have you found how to get past that beast of Hagrid's yet?" Harry and I shared a look before we leaned in closer.
"B-b-but Severus, I-"
"You don't want me as your enemy, Quirrell." Snape threatened.
"I-I do-don't know what you-"
"You know perfectly well what I mean." An owl hooted nearby, causing Harry and I to jump, but he pulled me closer to him and the trunk of the tree before Snape looked up in our direction. We held our breaths and hoped he couldn't see us.
"B-b-but I do-don't-" Quirrell tried again.
"Very well," Snape cut in, "We'll have another little chat soon, when you've had time to think things over and decide where your loyalties lie." And with that last threat, he pulled his cloak back over his head and walked out of the forest, leaving Quirrell alone and looking like he had just been petrified.
Once Quirrell finally left, Harry let go of me and we finally flew back to the castle as fast as we could so we could hurry and warn Hermione and Ron.
"Sam! Harry! Where have you two been?" Hermione scolded us as we ran into the Great Hall.
"We won! We won!" Ron started chanting. "And I gave Malfoy a black eye, and Neville tried to take on Crabbe and Goyle single-handed! He's still out cold but Madam Pomfrey says he'll be alright. Everyones going to be waiting in the common room for you both were having a party. Fred and George stole some cakes and stuff from the kitchen." Ron informed us in one breath.
"Wait, you got to punch Malfoy? You guys called me crazy when I wanted to!" I whined at him, but he only grinned smugly.
"Nevermind that now," Harry started, going back to business. "Let's find an empty room because we have to tell you what we just saw." So we snuck off down the hallway and into an abandoned to take turns explaining everything that occurred, with me mainly saying what was said since Harry couldn't hear as well.
"So we were right! It is the Sorcerer's Stone and Snape's trying to force Quirrell into helping him get it." Harry started. "He asked if he knew how to get passed Fluffy and he said something about 'hocus pocus' that we couldn't hear but we think there must be other things guarding the stone apart from Fluffy." I cut in for a second.
"I reckon there are other things like loads of enchantments, probably, and Quirrell would have done some anti-Dark Arts spell that Snape needs to break through-" But Harry was cut off again, but this time by Ron.
"So, you mean the Stone's only safe as long as Quirrell stands up to Snape?" We nodded slowly.
"It'll be gone by next Tuesday." He groaned.
"If that." I snorted.
Well, that's another chapter. I'm sorry there's not much going on with the Quidditch game! I hope you guys still enjoyed the chapter. Please like, follow, and comment. It means a lot to me! I hope you're having a great day/night.
xx