Third floor
They didn't wait for the three headed monstrosity to wake up but jumped inside one after another. They realised their folly a minute later when they were free falling through a space! They didn't know how deep it was going to be. It was pitch dark around them and they could not see anything around them.
Suddenly their fall was broken by a sort of net which made a squelching sound as they came to land.
"It was nice of them to place it here for us", said Ron from somewhere to Harry's right.
Harry was trying to see where they were and touching the net. It was made of thin ropes and he could feel as if something was slithering over his feet. Before he could say anything, it started tying itself around him and Harry cursed, "This is not a net but Devil's snare!"
To his left, Hermione said, "I have read about it. It fears sunlight and fire. But where can we find fire here?"
Ron shouted incredulously, "You are a witch or what?"
Harry himself could have cast the incendio spell but his hands were tied to his side and his wand was in the holster attached to his arm, making it hard to draw.
Hermione muttered, "My bad". A few seconds later, there was a cry of 'incendio' and the wines which had wrapped them retreated away from the fire and they became free of the wines falling to the floor one after the other.
"I guess that was Sprout's work", said Ron.
"What are you on about?", asked Harry.
"Harry, I am sure that all the Professors have helped in putting defenses for the stone. This is a devil's snare which is taught in Herbology so it can be Professor Sprout."
"That is good reasoning, Ron. So next we should face something put by another Professor."
They walked in the direction where the light was coming from and they could hear beating of metallic wings.
"What's that?", Ron asked.
"No idea but I am sure we are about to find it", Harry said.
When they reached in the next chamber, there was a door on the other side of the room and it was locked. Ron tried the 'Alohomora' charm but it didn't work. Hermione tried a couple more locking charms but found nothing.
Harry was looking around and noticed something in the distance.
"Guys, the door has been charmed to not to open without a key. And we have to catch it."
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.
Harry showed them a broom which was hovering at a mounting height. Putting his hand on it, he could hear it vibrating underneath his hand, ready to go. He pointed to the insects flying in the room, "Those are not insects but charmed keys. The door to this key is flying up there and we have to catch it."
"Get on with it, Harry", said Ron, "If Snape can do it then you can too. You are the youngest seeker in a century."
Harry looked at the keys for a moment before he spotted a key which was flying with a wing which was bent at an odd angle and it looked slightly old, matching the lock on the door. Taking a deep breath, Harry took off behind the keys.
The broom was one of the old brooms of the school and it vibrated as it flew. Harry willed for it to go faster but despite his best measures it just wouldn't go faster. As he took a sharp turn to catch the key which was trying to evade pursuit, he realised that it won't turn as quickly as Harry liked. Finally he leaned a little forward on his broom and it tilted downwards towards the key. As the key tried to evade him, he did a barrel roll and caught it in his fist.
When he came down, the first thing that he did was to cruelly tear apart the wings from that thing. Hermione asked him in shock, "What are you doing, Harry?"
"Going to stop it from flying away again", Harry answered and put the key in the lock.
The door opened and they stepped in and were immediately assaulted with foul smell of a mountain troll. The troll was sprawled in a corner of the room, a wound open on its head. This one was bigger than the one that they had faced and they didn't had Hagrid with them to wrestle the troll to the ground.
Covering their noses, they crossed the room and opened another door. Before they stepped through, Harry did a recount, "Sprout had put the Devil's Snare, Flitwick charmed the keys and I guess the troll was put by Quirrell. That leaves McGonagall and Snape."
The next room was a bit dark. Stone shapes were scattered throughout the room and as they walked forward, the statue nearest to them came to life, spreading his hands containing swords and barring their way. The room lighted up at once and they saw that they were standing on the edge of a giant chess board, behind the black chessman, which were all taller than they were and carved from what looked like black stone. Facing them, way across the chamber, were White pieces- the towering white chessmen had no faces.
"How do we get across?", Hermione asked.
"I guess we have to play the game", said Ron.
"But how did Snape cross it?", Hermione asked.
"We don't know Hermione. May be he knew something that would take him across without any problem."
"What do we do now?"
Ron took charge, "Right. So we are going to play and you take your positions. Harry you take the Bishop's position, Hermione you take the position of castle and I will become the Knight."
As he dictated, the aforesaid pieces gave way to the players took their places on the board.
About half an hour later, they were on the verge of losing. Harry had stopped thinking about it altogether. If they lost, he would ask his friends to retreat. The way the chess pieces were being destroyed, it was not worth the effort to put their lives in danger.
"Harry", Ron called, "When I make a move, the Queen is going to hit me. After I am down, walk to the king and Check-mate him."
"Ron, you prat! Don't do this. We can retreat. You don't need to risk yourself."
It appeared as if Ron had not heard him, "Remember only you can defeat Snape and protect the stone. Neither Hermione nor me but only you. Don't move until the queen has made her move."
"Ron, please don't do this", Harry shouted again.
Ron however had stepped towards the queen who struck him hard and he fell down! There was complete silence in the chamber for a minute. Harry couldn't believe that Ron had taken such a risk. Ron had willingly sacrificed himself so that they could get to the stone.
Hermione tried to rush to Ron and Harry shouted, "Hermione wait. The game is not finished yet."
He swiftly moved towards the King and reaching him, said in a loud voice, "Check and mate."
The king took off its crown and threw it at Harry's feet. A way was cleared between the statues to walk through.
Harry and Hermione rushed to Ron and Harry had never been happier than that moment to see his friend breathing. By the looks of it, he had broken a few ribs but he was alive and unconscious.
"Hermione, you can stay here if you want. Take care of him. I will go and stop Snape."
She shook her head, "He risked his life so we can go after Snape. I am coming with you."
The next chamber was bare. As they entered, a purple lit on the door through which they had entered and a black fire burned at the other door which led out of the room.
There was table in the middle of the room which contained 7 bottles full of potions. The bottles were opaque and they could not open them. There was a parchment on the table. Harry picked up and read it.
"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 for evermore,
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."
"I can't understand it", said Harry handing it to Hermione.
Hermione read it twice before her face lit up, "It is a puzzle Harry. It is based on logic and there are seven bottles here. Since wizards don't rely on magic therefore it is hard for them to understand. Two have Nettle wine, three have deadly poison, one will help you move ahead and one will help you go back."
"So which is which?", Harry asked.
She explained patiently, "Since the giant bottle is not poison and it is a twin to the second from the left, we know these two are nettle wine i.e 2nd and 6th. Therefore, two of the poisons are to the left of these i.e. 1st and 5th. The ones at each end are different and since we know the left end is poison, both nettle wines have been found, and it will not help you move onwards, the rightmost bottle sends you back i.e. the 7th. This leaves 2 bottles and we know the dwarf is not poison, so it must be the one to move ahead i.e. 3rd. Finally, the remaining bottle must be the third poison i.e. the 4th."
"Brilliant Hermione. So which bottle will help you go ahead?", he asked.
"She picked up the drawf bottle, "This will help you go ahead."
Harry took the bottle from her and found that it hardly contained a mouthful of potion. Snape must have passed through here already.
"And which will take you back?", he asked and she showed him.
He shoved the bottle in her hand, "Drink a mouthful of this and go back."
She tried to resist and he said sternly, "No. take it and go back. Drink a mouthful and take the bottle with you. Take Ron with you and go to the owlery and send a letter to Dumbledore right now. Then go and find McGonagall and send her here. If Snape somehow defeats me and comes back, he will not be able to go back without drinking this potion. I don't want it to remain here. Now go."
She hugged him, "Take care, Harry. I don't want anything to happen to you. You are a great wizard."
"You are a great witch, Hermione", he said.
"I? No, Harry. I only know books and knowledge. You inspire loyalty and friendship. That is more important. Go and stop him."
Harry gulped the rest of the potion and approached the flames. His insides felt like he was frozen and crossed the threshold. The other chamber was lit and at the other end of the chamber was standing the Mirror of Erised. So it was where the mirror had been brought by Dumbledore. There in front of the mirror, a man was bent over the mirror trying to find something.
Then man turned and Harry spat, "YOU!"
Main Castle
Dumbleodre was met with Sneverus Snape on the 2nd floor, "Headmaster, someone attacked me."
"What do you mean, Severus?", Dumbledore asked arching an eye, "I had entrusted you to take care of the stone. If you are here then should I assume that things are fine and my fears were unfounded?"
"Professor McGonagall increased the security of the castle manifold, putting all prefects and teachers on duty. She sent me to the second floor and put Professor Sinistra on duty on the third floor. Later, I found Professor Sinistra and her assistants stunned in one of the corridors. I secured them in one of the class rooms and was going to the third floor corridor when someone stunned me from behind."
"So you mean that Voldemort has gone after the stone?", Dumbleore asked anxiously.
"I am afraid it is so", said the potions master, "What are my instructions?"
"Go back to your patrolling duties", Dumbledore said, "I am going after the stone myself."
Dumbledore started climbing the grand stairs when he started noticing what had been going on. All the prefects were stunned from there to the top floor. They were stunned and unceremoniously shoved into corners and out of harm's way. The teachers were also out of commission. Professor Flitwick was knocked out with a bump on his head. Filch was trapped in a broom closet and his cat, Mrs. Norris was stunned.
Suits of armour were out of place from their usual places and littered in the corridors. He kept waving his wand as he passed, making things right as he went.
He met McGonagall on the second floor, "Minerva, what is this happening?"
"I have not seen the student body acting in such a manner before, Albus. I have never seen too many students out of bed and only harassing the prefects. From what I have seen, these students belong to all the houses", she said as her lips were in a firm thin line.
"What made you put everyone on duty?", he asked.
"Hadrian Potter- Black and his friends came to me telling me that someone was going to steal the Sorcerer's stone. I showed that I did not believe them but as a caution, I increased the security of the castle."
"Send everyone back to their dorms, Minerva", he said, "If things get bad, I don't want students to get hurt."
She nodded and conjured the purple microphone, "All the students and prefects pay attention. Return to your common room immediately. It is on the Head Master's orders."
"Now Minerva, follow me to the third floor. There is something that needs to be done."
When they opened the door where the cereburs was housed, the dog was still in sleep.
Together, they raised their wands towards it and intoned as one, "Stupefy."
The dog fell into a slumber and they dragged him aside. As they opened the trap door, a broom sprung out of it.
Dumbledore's impulse was to fire but he stayed his hand as he realised that there were two children on the broom. It was Ron who had come around enough to be able to fly a broom and had taken Hermione with him out of the pit.
Minerva caught hold of Ron who was about to pass out from the pain and Dumbledore asked Hermione, "Harry has gone after him, isn't he?"
She nodded.
Dumbledore wasted no time in jumping down the pit and preventing his fall with the ascendio charm. He stood and walked towards the chamber where the keys were. He found the key, devoid of its wings and in the keyhole. He smiled inwardly, "Aren't you genius, Harry?"
He vanquished the chess board by undoing Minerva's spell which allowed the chess board to return to its original size. He crossed the rest of obstacles without any trouble whatsoever. He however was scared. He had already wasted too much time reaching here.
The man in the turban
"Harry Potter", said Professor Quirrell.
" ..but I thought..." Harry stuttered. He was short of words. He never would have that the 'fearing from his own shadow' Quirrell was the real culprit.
"You thought it was Snape", said he matter of factly, "After all who would have suspected the stuttering Q.q. when there was someone such as Snape nearby. I have known everything that you have been doing, Potter- Black."
"Snape was not trying to kill me?", Harry asked again.
"No dear boy", he said in way that it felt like poison on his ears, "He was trying to save you."
"Save me?"
"Yes. If he had not been countering my curse that day, I could have killed you in that Quidditch match. It is not his fault really. He even has the look that brands him bad."
"Why are you helping Voldemort?"
"You dare take his name?", he roared, "You don't know what you are dealing with boy.
"Enough talk now. Let me get the stone and then I will tell you what I have planned to do", he said again conjuring ropes which bound Harry in his place.
"Now I can see myself holding the Sorcerer's stone in the mirror but I can't find it", he muttered to himself.
"USE THE BOY", said a rough voice and Harry shivered for once.
"I will not help you", he said loudly.
Quirrell dragged him to the mirror, "What do you see in the mirror?"
Harry refused to comply with his wishes.
"LET ME TALK TO HIM."
"But Master, you are weak", Quirrell said, "I will make him do as you wish."
"LET ME TALK TO HIM, QUIRRELL. DON'T MAKE ME PUNISH YOU."
Quirrell turned to face the mirror again. He started unwrapping his turban and when he was done, Harry could barely stop himself from shrieking in fright.
On the back of Quirrell's head, there was another head which had slit-less eyes without an eyelid and a non-existent nose.
"HARRY POTTER, WE MEET AGAIN", said Voldemort.
"Voldemort", Harry said snarled.
"SEE WHAT YOU HAVE DONE TO ME, HARRY POTTER. ME, THE GREATEST WIZARD IS FORCED TO LIVE LIKE THIS! YOUR MUDBLOOD MOTHER'S SACRIFICE SAVED YOU AND I, THE GREAT LORD VOLDEMORT IS REDUCED TO A WRAITH."
"It was you own doing, Voldemort. You fell from power by your own mistakes. You killed my parents."
"YOU HAVE CAUSED ME GREAT HARM, HARRY POTTER BUT I AM OFFERING YOU A CHOICE. JOIN ME AND WE CAN RULE THE WIZARDING WORLD. IT DOES NOT WHETHER ONE IS HALF-BLOOD, FULL BLOOD OR MUGGLE BORN BUT WHAT MATTERS IS THE POWER. WE BOTH ARE POWERFUL. HELP ME ARISE AND WE CAN RULE THE WORLD."
"You are a murderer but I am not. You killed my parents and attacked a child. I can't become that. I am not going to help you", Harry said resolutely.
"YOU WILL HELP ME, HARRY POTTER. WILLING OR UNWILLING. LORD VOLDEMORT DOES NOT TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER. QUIRRELL SIEZE HIM."
Before Harry could take action, Quirrell had him hovered to the mirror removing his ropes but keep his wand trained on Harry. Harry unwillingly peeked into the mirror hoping to see his family again. But dashing his hopes, the mirror showed his own reflection having the blood red stone in his hand which his reflection pocketed, winking at Harry.
"What do you see in the mirror? Tell me?", spat Quirell.
"Nothing. I see nothing", lied Harry.
"THE BOY IS LYING. SEIZE HIM! HE HAS THE STONE", roared Voldemort and Quirrell lunged for Harry, seizing his throat. Gathering his strength, Harry pried apart his hands which were beginning to smoke.
"SEIZE HIM. HE IS JUST A BOY ALONE AND WITHOUT ANY HELP. KILL HIM", Voldemort was roaring.
Quirrell lunged for him again despite the discomfiture to himself and this time, a banishing charm came from behind Harry which carried Quirrell to the mirror and Voldemort crashed on the floor.
Standing in front of Harry was Neville Frank Longbottom. The boy's wand was trained on Quirrell who tried to get up again and this time, an incendio met him putting his clothes on fire. Harry who was feeling bone tired, pulled his wand and joined his god-brother.
"I will light him and you cut him into pieces", said Neville.
"You!" croaked Voldemort.
"Yes, Me. I hope I was not late, Harry."
Harry grinned from beside his god-brother, "A wizard is neither late nor early but he arrives at the time that he is meant to be."
Neville started sending unending barrage of Incendio over the fallen Professor while Harry cast diffindo repeatedly. The boys kept at it until the Defense Professor had crumbled to ash since he had started to disintegrate.
Harry faltered for a moment and Neville caught him in his arms, "I have got you brother. Rest now."
At that moment, Harry could see Dumbledore's outline on the door of the chamber before falling unconscious.
Hospital Wing
"...I had told you that no harm shall come to my heir, Dumbledore yet you have failed in your duties", Lord Black was growling at Albus Dumbledore.
"Lord Black, little Harry himself went to seek out the stone knowing how dangerous it was", Albus was explaining to him, "No one had forced him to do this."
"He is right, Lord Black", said Neville who had come into the infirmary, "Harry had went to Professor McGonagall who told him that she will see to the safety of the stone but Harry was not satisfied and planned to take the stone to keep it safe from Voldemort. The headmaster is not to be blamed in the affair. We were told to stay away but we poked our noses in business that was not ours."
Seeing Neville tell him what had happened, Lord Black was pacified a bit, "What has happened to Harry? Why is he not still conscious?"
"He used a lot of magic yesterday, Lord Black. That is the reason that he is unconscious still. In fact, he should be waking up anytime now. There is no harm from the incident caused to him."
"What about the stone? Where is it?"
"I talked to Nicholas and Pernelle Flammel after the events of yesterday and we had agreed that it should be destroyed. In accordance with their wishes, it has been destroyed earlier today."
"Grand uncle, what are you doing here?", Harry croaked.
"Albus flooed me to inform what went here, lad. I came to see you and I find that you acted like the typical Gryffindor."
"Mr. Longbottom, let's give them some privacy. As it happens, there are a lot of questions that I have to ask", said Dumbledore to Neville steering him away from the hospital wing.
Dumbledore led Neville to a room beside the Hospital wing and after making sure that they had enough privacy, he asked, "Now Mr. Longbottom, tell me everything from start to end. I know you and Harry have been taking everyone on a walk for the last many days. You and Harry didn't fight at all but were posing. What I want to know is what purpose did it serve?"
"Professor, I have no idea what are you saying", said Neville with a crooked grin, "We had fought over something trivial, sorted our differences that very evening and then forgot to tell everyone. I don't know what gives you the notion that we have some sort of enmity between ourselves."
Dumbledore sighed. He wasn't going to get anything out of these boys at the moment. However at the moment, he had to talk to Harry as soon as Lord Black left him alone to recuperate.
"You are free to go, Mr. Longbottom. But don't talk about today's events with anyone."
Neville left and Dumbledore walked to the infirmary where Harry Potter had woke up. Arcturus had hugged the boy with all the strength that he could muster. It was clear for Dumbledore to see that the old man was fond of the young wizard and loved him.
Seeing him there, Arcturus stood up, "I will wait for you at the townhouse, lad. Don't forget to write me later."
After Arcturus was gone, Dumbledore turned to Harry, "Mr. Potter-Black, you owe me some answers and so do I. Firstly let me tell you that I knew everything that you have been up to this year. My fellow teachers would say that I should have put a stop on your activities but you have worked to bring together a lot of students. Last night, many students from all houses worked together to keep the Prefects busy and away from the third floor giving a straight way to you and your friends. I am glad that you can unify the school and the students making them forget their differences. For being able to do this, I take off my hat to you."
"Professor, I just wanted to have fun here. When I came to the castle I just wanted to unite the houses and have fun studying in one of the most premier institutions of magic in the world. I haven't done anything special."
Dumbledore nodded, "If this is how you want it to be then it is the way it shall be."
"Professor, when I caught Quirrell's hand to stop him from choking me, his hands started to burn and he crumbled into ashes later. How did that happen?"
"Harry, when your mother stood in front of the curse despite being given a choice she gave you a lasting protection against anyone who wishes to harm you. Due to that protection, no one can harm you. Even touching you without your consent can bring agony to them."
"Does it mean I killed him?", Harry asked.
"No Harry. You did not kill him. He was already dead when Voldemort started possessing him. if he had got the stone, he could have used Quirrell's body to make another body for himself but you stopped him. he is still weak and he fled."
"Professor, what happened to the stone?"
"The stone has been destroyed, Harry. The Flammels and I agreed that it is the best if the stone is destroyed."
"But they will die."
"They have already lived for 600 years Harry. They have enough elixir left to put their affairs in order. After that they will die but to a well organized mind, death is but the start of the next great adventure."
"Now take care little Harry. I am sure you friends are eager to visit you. Your friends have brought you some gifts yesterday."
Harry could see that the side table was filled with various sort of gifts from many students. Suddenly there was a dull thud and a toilet seat appeared beside their bed.
Dumbledore chuckled, "I guess this is the doing of your friends, the Weasley twins. They tried sending one before but it was confiscated by Madam Pomfrey who thought it might not be hygienic."
As it turned out, Madam Pomfrey shooed him out of the infirmary shortly after he had finished his lunch and there was no need for Harry's friend to be concerned for him. All the gifts that he had received were distributed among all students.
Two days later, it was the last match of the season and Gryffindor won it handily thus, securing the House Cup. Wood's excitement was palpable, McGonagall's happiness was infectious and it passed on to the rest of the house.
Harry's team won the title of Prank Lords of Hogwarts for the prank where they had changed the common room into a sea beach. The quiddich competition was won by Gwendolyn's team whose all members had made it past the end point in the final event.
They had also met Flitwick and convinced him that they had been practicing together in secret and were ready to participate in the championship.
Finally, it was time for them to go to London but before that Harry and Neville had received a missive from Daphne.
They approached her, with their hands raised and as they sat, they dived under the table. Daphne was irritated and when they made no motion of coming out, she growled, "Show yourselves or things will end badly for you."
"Don't shoot", said Harry.
"We come in peace", added Neville, "We also promise to bring you Honeydukes chocolate if you don't shoot us."
"Take a seat you two mongrels and tell why I should not hex you within an inch of your lives?"
"Daphne, it was just harmless fun. It was also to find out who is my enemy or friend in the castle. With the split evident between us, people started flocking to him. I am sorry that I didn't tell you sooner."
"And all the times that you felt alone without him? What was that?"
"Neville was always with me, Daph. When we were smuggling the dragon out, he had intentionally stuck Cormac to the powder so we would know what path to take. All the times that Cormac McLaggen or his friends have been in detention, it has been mainly due to Neville here. He helped me with a lot of things while remaining behind the shadows."
"What happened down in the chamber?"
"I had already told my plan to Neville and then I went down to chamber with..." Harry narrated the entire incident to them that had happened down in the chambers.
"And where did Neville come in?" she asked.
Hermione and Ron had asked the same questions and Harry had told them everything, not hiding anything from them.
"Did you forget my trusty invisibility cloak? Neville had it on him the entire time when he entered behind us. He had destroyed the Devil's Snare entirely when he came after us. I had torn the wings of the enchanted key so he wouldn't have to catch it like me. I asked Hermione to take rest of the potion with her that would help her pass through purple fire. She had only used half of it and Neville asked her for the rest of the potion. It allowed him to enter that chamber."
"But what about the black fire?"
"Daph, did you forget one of our competitions was to steal the potion that could help you get through fire without being burned? That we had purchased from others? Neville had it on him at that time and walked through the fire after having downed entire bottle. The rest is as you know it."
"What have you planned for the next year?", she asked, "I would like to become a part of it."
"Sorry Daph. You will have to wait and see. We have a lot to do in the summer. Lord Black has told me to invite you on our trip to the World Under-14 championship in Greece. I have already invited a few of our classmates."
"That sounds wonderful but I will have to ask permission from father, Harry."
"All will be well. I am sure Lord Greengrass will easily allow you to come with us."
THE HOUSE CUP
The houses were particularly boisterous that evening. They were at their tables, making all sorts of noises. It was the end of year feast and the winner of house cup was going to be declared.
"Please pay attention. Before I declare the winner of the house cup, I want to make some announcement. As you all know, four students of Gryffindor house helped save the school. For that feat, I am going to award 40 points to Ron Weasley for defeating the Giant Chess set of Professor McGonagall and playing the best game of Hogwarts in a century."
There was thunderous applause for the Bishop of Hogwarts who ducked his head in embarrassment but Percy was beaming and telling to anyone who would listen that Ron was his baby brother.
"To Ms. Hermione Granger, I give 40 points for showing cool logic in face of extreme danger."
There was equal applause for Hermione.
"It takes courage to fight and more to stand with someone in mortal peril when you have the option to retreat. II award 40 points to Mr. Neville Longbottom for standing with Hadrian Potter- Black in face of insurmountable odds."
There was deafening applause for Neville for he had become popular among students like Harry.
"Lastly, I award 40 points to Hadrian Potter-Black for his courage and bravery."
The applause was tremendous and it was from all the tables.
However, Harry stood up soon, "Headmaster, we are honoured that you gave all these points to us but we were helped by many students and giving points only to us is not fair to them. Either take these points away from us or award the same points to every house."
The other three had stood up and were murmuring assent to whatever Harry said.
When Harry finished speaking, standing applause begin for him from Slytherin table where Adrian Puccey stood and clapped for him. Soon other houses joined in and Dumbledore wiped a tear out of his eye. The boy was indeed a wonder and he could do anything that he put his mind to.
When finally everything was quiet, Dumbledore stood again, "So Hufflepuff has scored 320 points, Ravenclaw has scored 340 points, Slytherin has scored 370 points and Gryffindor has scored 400 points. Gryffindor wins the House Cup."
The applause which followed the announcement was such that anyone standing outside the great hall would have confused it for a riot breaking in the Great Hall.
Inside, Neville was murmuring to Harry, "Were you not taking awful risk asking him to take back those points?"
Harry grinned, "Well we were already up by 30 points and winning the House Cup. We could afford it. Remember, Lord Black always has a plan."
A/N- Here ends the snake like lion. I know the last bit seems rushed but there was no point to stretch things which have no bearing on the story as a whole. The next part will be released in due time though i guess it will be a wait for all of us.