15

Through the Trap Door

Exam week had not been easy on Emily. She was constantly on edge waiting for Voldemort to make his move. Each day that passed her unease increased. As if her worry wasn't enough, the heat was unbearable. She and Draco found themselves taking cooling potions so as not to be too uncomfortable sitting their exams in the sweltering heat of the classrooms. For their written exams everyone was given an Anti-Cheating quill, which was obviously spelled to stop students from cheating. The practical exams had been fun for Emily and a nice distraction while they lasted. For Charms she was to make a pineapple tap dance across a desk. Professor Flitwick had been very enthusiastic when she gave her pineapple a black bowtie and top hat to dress him for his performance, a few bonus points never hurt.

Professor McGonagall had given her a mouse to turn into a snuffbox. The nicer your box the more points you were given. Emily had created a silver box; on the top was a snake that made an oval. The eyes of the snake were green gems and inside the oval made by the snake was an ornate letter 'E' encrusted with the same green gems as the snake's eyes. The sides of the box had diamond shapes etched into them with the initials 'EP' inside various diamonds.

Emily had to control her laughter at the irony when Professor Snape announced they would be brewing the Forgetfulness potion. As always in her potion making, the young witch was quick and efficient. The same could not be said for her brother whose potion was a few shades to light and had an odd smoke coming from it.

Headache potions were all that were keeping Emily on her feet as the week progressed. Her scar now constantly ached, causing her head to hurt and her heart to race. It even made it hard to sleep at night. Draco worried about her lack of sleep and had gone to his godfather for a dreamless sleep potion. Both Emily and Draco were relieved when they laid down their quills at the end of their final exam for the week.

The pair had the next week free to enjoy as they liked until their exam results were released. Emily had decided to spend some time visiting Hagrid and made her way down to his hut passing the Weasley twins, who were busy tickling the tentacles of the giant squid that lived in the lake.

"Hey Hagrid," Emily called to the man who was sitting in a chair outside of his hut.

"Em! How did yer exams go?"

"They went well. I enjoyed the practical exams more than the written, but I think that is a given for everyone."

Hagrid was about to reply when something caught his eye and he called out, "Hullo." Emily turned to see her brother, Granger and Weasley heading towards them. "Yeh three finished yer exams as well? Got time fer a drink with Em an' I perhaps?"

Weasley who looked out of breath began to say he would but Harry was quick to cut him off.

"No, we can't stay long, we just wanted to ask you something. When you won Norbert did you get a look at the man who gave you the dragon egg?"

At once Emily had an idea of where her brother might be going with this.

"He never took off his hood," Hagrid replied. That made sense Emily thought, who would willingly show their face if they had an illegal dragon egg. But Harry seemed stunned as did his friends, that Hagrid didn't find it odd that the person hadn't revealed themselves. "I was at the Hog's Head and it's not unusual, lots o' people don' take off their hoods there. I supposed he was a dragon dealer. He seemed ter know a lot abou' 'em. Nice bloke, he just kept buyin' me drinks while we talked."

Hagrid was way too trusting. A dragon dealer doesn't just show up and gamble away the only egg he just happens to have with him. Not only that, but a rare egg he could have sold for way more than he could earn by gambling with Hagrid. No this man had known Hagrid had always wanted a dragon and had used it against him. Offering him drinks to loosen his tongue.

"Did he ask you a lot of questions? Maybe he brought up Hogwarts…"

"We talked about Hogwarts," said Hagrid nodding his head. "He wanted ter know what I did fer a livin'. We talked 'bout me wantin' a dragon since I was a young lad and he said he had one. That he'd play me fer it if I liked. I wasn' 'bout ter turn that down. He wanted to know what kind o' creatures I looked after and I told 'im 'bout Fluffy."

"Did he ask you many questions about Fluffy?" Harry asked, calmly.

"O' course he did! Not many o' those around anymore. He wanted ter know how I calmed him, yeh see if I was ter have a dragon I needed to be able to control a large animal. So I told 'im you just gotta play some music and Fluffy falls asleep."

Hagrid's eyes widened as he realized what he had just told them. Harry, Granger and Weasley ran off towards the school without even a goodbye to Hagrid. Emily connected the dots as well. The stranger had played Hagrid right into his hand by offering a dragon in exchange for how to get past the Cerberus without dying.

Emily turned to Hagrid with an apologetic look, "I'm sorry Hagrid but I need to catch up to them."

She waved goodbye as she ran after her brother. When she caught up to the Gryffindors she immediately sunk back into the shadows, they were already talking to Professor McGonagall. From what she gathered Dumbledore had left the school on urgent business for the ministry and instead of heeding Harry's warning that the Sorcerer's Stone was in danger, she blew them off, telling them it was perfectly safe and to go on about their day.

Emily knew without a doubt tonight was the night and she knew her brother would attempt to save the stone now that he had worked out all the pieces. She was about to go to her common room when she heard Professor Snape's voice and stayed put. When Professor Snape went off in the direction of the staffroom Emily left the shadows and snuck behind her brother and his friends to duck into a passageway that led to the dungeons without any of them the wiser.

When she entered the common room she noticed Draco was playing a game of chess against Blaise. She moved to sit next to him, her body unable to relax she sat rather stiffly which earned her an odd look from Blaise.

"Hey Em," Draco said his eyes still on the game. "That was a short visit."

"That's because my brother showed up."

"Ah, give me one second… check mate."

Blaise groaned leaning back into his chair, "It would be nice to win just one game."

"Maybe next time," Draco said standing from his chair. He put out his hand for Emily to take and the pair headed to his room and quickly settled in. Draco could tell Emily had something to tell him so he waited for her to start.

"Dray he is making his move, tonight."

"How do you know?" Emily proceeded to tell him everything she had heard, from Harry showing up at Hagrid's to Professor McGonagall telling Harry Dumbledore would not be in the castle that night.

"You know what I have to do," Emily finished.

"I don't know if you have to but I know what you will do," he answered looking anything but pleased. "Just please, be careful and do remember you're a Slytherin. None of that blind Gryff bravery that gets someone hurt alright?"

"Don't worry so much, I'm just going to try and stop them. Nothing more."

That night as the common room slowly emptied Emily slipped out making her way using the hidden passages and shadows to get to the third floor corridor. She passed Peeves at one point who stopped her to let her know her brother had just left his own dorms. It was useful having an understanding with the school's poltergeist.

Emily showed herself as her brother, Granger and Weasley approached the door that led to Fluffy.

Weasley was the first to notice her. "What are you doing here snake?" The other two turned quickly to see who had joined them, both looking hesitant at the new addition.

"I am making sure none of you die," she countered motioning him to be silent. At Emily's mention of death Weasley shut his mouth, his companions remained quiet as well. "You really can't think the three of you are going to protect the stone."

"We have to try," Harry insisted. "Dumbledore is gone. If we do nothing…"

"You're first years, what chance do you have? You all should go back to your rooms, I'm sure Dumbledore has set enough traps to keep it protected."

"We're going down there," Harry said crossing his arms.

"Your blind bravery could get you killed!" his twin hissed at him. Granger and Weasley took a step back at her words though Harry just shrugged.

"We have to try."

Sighing Emily shook her head, there was no way she was letting her brother go down there with Weasley as back up. "Fine, then I'm joining you."

Emily looked at Granger and Weasley waiting for them to protest when they didn't say anything she moved to open the door slowly. Noticing a harp in the corner she pointed her wand at it, whispering a charm at it to play. The Cerberus slowly began to fall asleep as the music filled the room and Emily took a moment to applaud herself, she had looked up the spell just in case but had no time to practice. Despite what some people thought she spent a lot of time in her room practicing spells and getting used to the way they felt to cast. Pushing the door all the way open Emily allowed the others to follow her in.

"Okay we need to open the trap door." Emily instructed receiving nods.

"If one of you opens it I can look inside to see what it leads to." Harry said motioning Weasley to open the door. As he pulled it open the boy sank to his knees and cast a lumos with his wand. Emily was impressed with her twin, clearly he had learned from the lantern accident back at Christmas. "It looks like a plant, I'm not sure though."

"Plants can be harmful," Emily pondered earning a nod from Granger. "I think the best thing to do is once you land on it, move as quickly as you can to get off of it."

Weasley rolled his eyes at her but Harry and Granger who were taking this seriously nodded in agreement. Emily offered to go first and lowered herself until she had to let go, allowing herself to drop down she quickly moved off the plant once she hit it. She was followed shortly by Harry and Granger who did exactly as she had told them. Weasley on the other hand landed and took his time.

"I don't know why you were worried," Weasley said not making a move to stand.

"We had reason to be worried!" Granger yelled pointing at the redhead. "Look at you!"

Weasley's legs were already bound tightly by the plant and it was winding further up his body. He immediately began to struggle against the vines.

"Stop moving! It's Devil's Snare!" Emily called out realizing what the plant was now they were so close to it.

"Oh, I'm so glad you know what it's called snake! That's a huge help!"

"Ron!" Granger reprimanded the boy. "If you paid attention in herbology you would know that she's right. Stop fighting it!"

Emily took a deep breath to calm herself aiming her wand above the plant rather than at the obnoxious red head as she would have liked. Sending a ball of flames to hang above the plant it began to recoil from the light allowing Weasley to push the plant the rest of the way off of him and join the others by the wall. He stared at the floor refusing to look at Emily who had just saved his life.

"You could say thank you," Granger mumbled.

"Come on," Emily said, moving to lead them down the passageway which was their only option out of the room with the Devils Snare. The passageway itself was damp and there was water, or at least the witch hoped it was just water, trickling down the walls. They crept silently forward looking for any sign of danger or the next obstacle.

"What's that sound?" Weasley whispered.

Emily listened, a soft rustling and clinking seemed to be coming from the next chamber.

"Could it be a ghoul?" Granger offered.

"I think it sounds like wings..." Harry said.

"Well we will know in a second. There's a bit more light up there so we should be able to see whatever it is easily."

When they reached the end of the passage they saw a large open chamber. The ceiling arched high above them and was full of what looked to be jewel covered birds. Across from them on the other side of the chamber was a large door that would no doubt lead them forward.

"Will they attack if we cross the room?" asked Weasley.

"There is a strong possibility, if you give…," Emily replied but she didn't get to finish because before she could stop him Harry covered his face and ran across the room to the door. He started pulling on the handle, but it was in vain the door was locked.

"What were you thinking? Did you not just hear your sister say she thought they would attack?" Granger scolded Harry who was blushing bright red at his rash decision. "Honestly."

"Well they didn't. I'm fine," Harry added stubbornly, motioning for the others to join him.

Realizing they weren't going to be pelted by the jeweled birds Emily, Weasley and Granger made their way across the room. Emily tried using the spell she had used to unlock the door to reach Fluffy but it wouldn't open.

Granger pointed at the door and Emily moved aside for the Gryffindor to try but she had just as much luck as the witch before her.

"Okay it won't open, my best guess is this has to do with the birds," Emily said looking up.

"What do we do with a bunch of birds?" Granger thought aloud. They all stood there thinking and watching the birds above them.

"I don't think these are birds," Harry said suddenly. "They look like keys!"

"Keys with wings, so we need to…" Weasley added looking around the chamber. "Look there's broomsticks. We have to catch the correct key using the brooms. Harry, you can do this easy!"

Emily, Harry and Weasley each seized a broomstick while Granger who was not very good at flying watched as they kicked off and rose to get closer to the keys. They flew through the keys trying to figure out which key was the one that would take them forward.

"It's the one with bright blue wings. The key looks older than the others and it has a bent wing," Harry called out.

"We need to trap it and give it no way to escape!" Emily yelled back, not taking her eyes off the key. "I'll, stay below it and stop it from going down, Weasley since you are above make sure it can't get past you and Harry try and catch it on the count of three. One… Two… THREE!"

They moved quickly, Harry reached out easily catching the key and crushing it against the wall with his hand. The group hurried to land moving back to the door that would lead them forward. Harry put the key in and they all heard the lock click. Slowly he pulled the door open, everyone wondering what their next obstacle would be.

The next chamber was dark and Emily could just barely make out what seemed to be large shapes. As she took a step into the room fires burst into being on either side of the chamber filling it with light. Instantly she was aware that they were standing on a life size chessboard and the chessmen had no faces.

"Where's the other door?" Harry whispered.

"We have to play them to get across." said Weasley pointing to a door that was just visible behind the white pieces in front of them.

"Exactly how do we do that?" Granger asked nervously.

"I think," Emily said examining the board, "we're going to have to be chessmen. Are any of you good at chess?"

"Ron is the best out of us," Harry told her flashing an encouraging smile at his friend.

"Okay good, I'm not bad but I think more than one mind would give us the best chance."

"Well, I think Harry should take the place of the bishop," Weasley said pointing to where he wanted Harry to go. "Hermione be the Queen's side castle and Emily take the Queen's spot."

"And what are you going to be?" Emily asked heading to where the Queen was already moving to the side as if sensing her intention.

"A knight."

When they were in their positions the white pieces facing them made the first move. Emily and Weasley worked together to direct the pieces to move around the board. It was the first time the pair had ever gone longer than a minute without insulting or wanting to hex the other.

"Harry move to the right three spaces and take the pawn."

When they watched their first knight be taken they all were reminded of the dangers they were facing. The white queen smashed a sword into the knight before dragging him off the board.

"We didn't have another option," Weasley gulpped, looking shaken. "Hermione move to take their bishop."

The white pieces showed no mercy. Along the wall there was a pile of stone from all the pieces that had been taken.

"We're almost done," Weasley muttered as he looked to Emily. Emily looked around her and realized what he was planning to do.

"It's the only way," she told him receiving a nod in return.

"What are you two on about?" Harry asked.

"He has to sacrifice himself."

"NO!" Granger and Harry shouted together.

"There is no other way!" Emily yelled. "Don't move! Harry when the Queen takes him you checkmate the king understood?" Harry looked frightened but nodded his head yes.

Weasley made his move and was struck by the white queen knocking him to the floor. Granger went to move but a sharp glare from Emily made her remain still. Harry made his move. When the king knelt to Harry the chessmen bowed and made a path for them.

Emily turned quickly to the panic-stricken Gryffindor, "Granger get Weasley and tend to him. I'll take Harry with me."

"But…"

"Just go help him, I promise I won't let anything happen to my brother. We'll be fine." Granger seemed reluctant, looking between her two friends before she finally nodded in agreement. She hugged Harry tightly, whispering something into his ear and then rushed to go help the red head who was surprisingly already starting to regain consciousness.

Emily knew her twin was struggling as he watched his friends but they didn't have a choice, they had come this far they needed to keep going. The pair ran down the newly opened passageway and through the next door. They both cringed at the familiar smell of rotten garbage, lying before them in a new room was a troll, already knocked out and bleeding from a puncture wound on its head.

The twins scooted around it and made their way to the next room. Opening the door they noticed there was a table with seven bottles of varying shapes and sizes upon it. The minute they stepped over the threshold two fires sprang into life. Purple flames consumed the door they had just entered through and black flames consumed the door that would lead them on. Emily walked to the table and picked up a scroll and read it. Emily knew this hand writing at once. It was Professor Snape's. This was perfect.

"He's a genius… using logic," Emily said outloud. "Not many wizards or witches rely on logic and would be trapped here indefinitely."

"Won't we be trapped here as well then?"

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Har. But no we won't be. Give me a second, we have three poisons; two wine; and one to lead onward the other to send you back."

She reread the parchment and looked from the riddle to the bottles moving them forward and back until she was sure she had the right two bottles. Emily pulled a rounded bottle forward and set it in front of Harry before picking up the smallest bottle and holding it up to show him.

"This bottle will take the drinker through the black flames," she announced.

"But it's so small there can't be more than enough for one person."

"Yes and that is why I put that one in front of you," she said pointing to the rounded bottle. "It will take you back through the purple flames."

"Absolutely not! Snape is through there. You are not going alone!"

"I am and I will Harry!" seeing he was about to protest some more she cut him off. "Harry I know you think it is Professor Snape in the next room but it isn't. No don't look at me like that! You drink that and go through. Find Professor Snape and tell him what has happened and where I am. He is the strongest next to Dumbledore. Please just do this for me."

"But…"

"Harry you are wasting time I don't care if you don't like me for what you perceive me to be because I'm a Slytherin but right now I'm just your sister. Now drink that while I watch!" He wasn't moving. "If you keep refusing I will force feed it to you and shove you through the flames myself!"

Harry seemed to notice there was nothing he could say to change her mind and drank the potion. He hesitated for a minute like he wanted to say something but changed his mind before disappearing through the purple flames. Emily took a deep breath to steady herself. She needed to be in complete control before going on. When she felt prepared she downed the potion. It felt like ice was flowing through her system. Feeling the flames lick her body she entered them crossing into the final chamber. Once on the other side she found not Snape as Harry had been so sure she'd find, but the person she had expected all along.