Chapter 18: The Hunt for the Stone

Naruto wakes up and stood in front of his bed as he quickly and quietly switches from his PJ's to his classic orange and blue jumpsuit (basically the outfit he wore the majority of Part I and some flashbacks in Part II). As he puts on his shinobi sandals and strapped his wand bracer on his forearm, Kage looks at his master in confusion, but surprisingly doesn't caw, probably indicating the crow knows what's going to happen. Naruto soon leaves the dorm room quietly.

Gryffindor Common Room

The four wizards meet up as Harry, Ron, and Hermione are now in their casual outfits. "Everyone ready?" Harry asked, they nodded and were about to leave until they heard a croak, the group turned to see Neville's toad. "Trevor," Ron whispered. The toad croaks, as Naruto motions for it to be quiet "Trevor shh! Go you shouldn't be here" Naruto whispered. "Neither should you-" they watched as Neville walked from around a chair, "You're sneaking out again aren't you?" Neville asked. Harry tried to reason with him, "Now listen Neville, we're trying to-" he was cut off by Neville, "No! I won't let you! Y-You'll get Gryffindor in trouble again!" he stated as the group sighed, knowing that he was right, that is if they got caught or if he snitched on them. Naruto also tried to reason with the boy, but like Harry he too got cut off by the boy, "No… I-I'll fight you if I have to" he stated as he got into a fighting stance. Hermione rubs her forehead in frustration as they're wasting time, "Neville I'm really really sorry about this…" she said as she pointed her wand at him, "Petrificus Totalus!" she said, zapping Neville as he straightened up and fell frozen to the ground. The three boys look at Neville and at each other. "You're scary sometimes, you know that? Brilliant, but scary" Ron stated as they all walked past the frozen boy, with Hermione muttering sorry as they passed. Soon the four were under Harry's invisible cloak, "To the third floor!" Naruto proclaimed.

Third Floor

The squad had just arrived at the third floor corridor, and as Hermione unlocked the locked door, they came across Fluffy, except he was asleep. The dog was asleep due to a symphony that was being played across the room, as Harry noticed a harp by the dog's side that was being played by itself. "Snape's already been here, he's put a spell on the harp" he whispers as they approach the dog. Fluffy coughs a little, Ron inhaled the fumes of the dog's breath and is looking rather sick. "Ugh… it's got horrible breath" he states with disgust. Naruto, Harry, and Hermione stare at the trapdoor, "Well it looks like we're going to have to move its paw, otherwise we won't be able to get through," Naruto explained.

"What?!" Ron said quietly not to wake the beast up. "Come on" Harry said, as they all including Ron grabbed the paw. They pushed the paw, despite how heavy it is, away until the doorway was accessible. They pull the door open, "I'll go first, don't follow until I give you the signal, if anything bad happens, save yourselves" Harry explained. "Uh guys, doesn't it seem a bit… quiet?" Naruto asked, as they all raised their heads to see that the harp stopped playing. Ron felt something wet and slimy hit his shoulder. "Ew! Yuck! Ugh!" he stated in disgust as he wiped what appeared to be drool. The squad turned to see Fluffy looking at them pissed off. "Jump!" Harry yells as the beast started barking and thrashing, and the four dropped down the doorway as Fluffy tried to go after them, but its head wouldn't fit the doorway so instead it just barked.

"Ugh… is everyone alright?" Naruto asked as he checked to see where they were. "Think so…" they all responded. "Luckily this plant thing was here, that would've been a nasty fall" the redhead stated looking at the rope like vine. All of a sudden the vines wrapped everyone up, "What is this?!" Ron shouted as they all struggled to get loose. The brunette examines the plant, "Everyone stop moving! This is Devil's Snare, you have to relax or else it will kill you faster!" she explained. "Kill us faster?! Oh now I can relax!" Ron retorted sarcastically. The brunette only smiles before the vines loosen their grip on her and suck her down. "Hermione!" the three boys shouted. "Now what are we gonna do?!" Ron cried. "Just relax!" they heard the witch shout.

"Hermione, where are you?!" Naruto shouted. "Do what I say! Trust me!" she said from below. "Here goes nothing…" Naruto states as he relaxes, allowing the vines to loosen their grip on him and suck him down, with Harry following next. "Nice of you to join us" the brunette said with a smile as both she and Naruto helped Harry up. However, Ron is still in a bind as he can't relax. "He's not relaxing isn't he?" Hermione said rhetorically. Soon a vine covers Ron's mouth, "We've got to do something!" Hermione shouts. "Like what?" The brunette tried to think of something until Naruto came up with an idea, "Hey Hermione, we studied these things in Herbology right? What's the one thing it hates?" he asked. That's when it clicked on her, "That's right! Devil's Snare hates sunlight!" she stated as she pointed her wand at the plant. "Lumos Solem!" she said, shooting a beam of light at the plant, making the plant recoil and flail around until it dropped Ron flat on the ground face-first. Harry and Naruto help him up asking him if he's ok, to which he nods. "Yeah… phew, lucky we didn't panic" he said scratching the back of his head sheepishly, as they comically fell over from what they just heard. "Lucky those two pay attention in class" Harry said before they continued onward.

The squad trekked through the corridors until they came across an entrance, but they were stopped as that door needed a key and the Alohomora spell wouldn't work on that door. They heard flapping sounds so they looked up, only to see 'golden birds', but in actuality they were flying keys. "Ugh, what are we gonna do? There must be thousands of keys up there!" the brunette stated in frustration as she squinted her eyes at the winged keys. Naruto suggested finding a big old fashioned one, and soon Harry and Ron joined in on the search, spending several minutes until they found the key. It was an old key, with a broken wing and as Harry found it, he saw a flying broomstick and that's when it clicked for him.

"What's up Harry?" Naruto asked, grabbing everyone's attention. "It's too simple" Harry states. Ron got the message, "Oh, go on Harry! If Snape can catch it on that broomstick, so could you! You're the youngest seeker of the century!" He encouraged. Harry nods and proceeds to fly on the broom. They soon heard the keys give out a sound close to a large flap, as the keys started flying towards Harry. Harry made a bunch of twists and turns avoiding the horde of keys while still trying to grab the main one. He managed to grab the one they were looking for, "Catch!" he yells out, throwing the main key to Hermione, for her to catch and open the door. She unlocks the door, allowing the two boys in before Harry zooms through the door, while the other keys give chase. The witch shuts the door as the keys slam into it. After a moment of rest, they continued onwards.

The four soon arrive into another room that looked normal except for the fact that there's a long bridge with no railing across the room over a large death trap, and a window that's showing the moonlight. The room looks as if it belonged to a SoulsBorne type of video game, given how a bridge like that is a red flag for danger.

Anyways, as the four were about to cross that bridge, Naruto stops them. "Something's wrong I can feel it," the blond said cautiously. "What do you mean? It's just a bridge," Ron said. Naruto shakes his head, "I don't know guys, but keep your wands at hand in case" he said. So the group brought out their wands and crossed that bridge only to find the next challenge. This challenge was to fight a dark silhouette of themselves except that it was a one on one duel. Naruto steps on to the challenge, while the others look at him as if he were insane. Naruto assures them that he'll be fine as he gets ready to face his shadow. The shadow was a perfect silhouette of himself except for the fact that it has red eyes.

The two fought, shooting all the strongest spells at each other to see who would go down first. "Expelliarmus!" Naruto shouts, shooting that spell at the shadow, but the shadow deflects it with the protego spell. Soon the shadow shoots an attack spell, only for Naruto to defend again. The two are going at it though it seems Naruto is gaining somewhat of an advantage. "You got this Naruto!" Harry shouts. "We believe in you!" Hermione cheered. "Don't give up!" Ron encouraged. The blond grips his wand hard, his friends are depending on him, so he can't give up. He strikes hard and fast with all the spells he can conjure, but it seems that the shadow counters by firing the strongest amount of magic it can shoot. Naruto got hit and was sent tumbling like a ragdoll. His friends look at him with shock, as they see him look battle damaged from his body to his clothes. Naruto struggles to get up, as he tries to force himself to push through. "I… can't… give up, I… have… to… protect them…" he said almost at his limit.

"Naruto don't, it's too strong!" Hermione pleads along with Harry and Ron. To their horror, they see the shadow ready to finish off Naruto, but something shocking happens. Hermione runs to protect Naruto from that attack, all the while Harry and Ron screamed at what was going on. Naruto looks in horror as his life flashes before his eyes, his best friend was about to be on the way of the attack.

'No, I can't let her get in the way of that. No, I can't let her be taken like this, I can't. I. Can't!" Within Naruto's mindscape the Nine Tails watches what is happening. "I swear this kid is going to be the death of me one day… you owe me for this one" the fox mumbled not wanting his host to die let alone that friend of his he keeps talking about. Hermione was at the center range of the shadow's attack. As she closes her eyes, her thoughts were that if this is how she's going to die, she's going to die at least knowing she saved Naruto and helped him and Harry stop Snape from stealing the stone. Fortunately death wasn't her fate, as she was protected by that blast from something or rather… someone. She opens her eyes to see that it was Naruto who protected her. The others were shocked as well, but what really shocked them was how Naruto appeared. Naruto appears to be standing, shielding Hermione as he casted the protego spell. However, it appears that he was covered in a reddish-orange shroud with one tail and two ears. His hair appears more wild, as his eyes went from blue to red slitted eyes, with his nails becoming claws and teeth becoming fangs.

He lets out a feral growl as he shields his friend from that attack. "YOU WILL NOT TAKE THEM FROM ME!" Naruto yells out hatefully at the shadow as he charges all of his Nine Tails Chakra to his wand, firing spells infused with his chakra to become strong enough to overpower the shadow. The silhouette was weakened and soon faded away like embers. The others rushed over to Naruto to see if he was ok, as he reverted back to normal and collapsed from exhaustion. Luckily he was still breathing, as the others were amazed by what just happened. "That was bloody awesome!" Ron said as Harry agreed. While Hermione was glad Naruto was ok and saved her, she had some questions to ask, but figured now was not the time after what happened and what is currently going on. "You guys go on ahead, I'll catch up" Naruto said surprising them. "W-What are you saying… we're not just going to leave you here-" the brunette stated. "Relax, I'll catch up, please let me rest a bit" Naruto requested tiredly. Harry nodded, given that the blond had done enough. "C'mon guys… the longer we stay here, the closer Snape gets to the stone," Harry said. Ron and Hermione were reluctant at first, but agreed. After crossing the bridge, they moved onwards.

The three soon arrive at a new room, and at first it looked like a graveyard, when in reality it was a chessboard. Their final challenge was to beat the other chess pieces to enter the door. Given how Ron was a chess master in the squad, he was the one to showcase his talents. The game begins as each side of the board sends in their chess piece to take out the others. As the game continues, Ron refuses to use either Harry or Hermione as his pieces get smashed along with the other side's pieces. "Castle to E-4." gets smashed. "Pawn to C-3." also gets destroyed. The three wince at the carnage inflicted by the white queen before it ends its phase. Harry notices what is going to happen, as he gets Hermione's attention. This is it. This is the endgame. "You understand what's going to happen, right Harry? Once I make my move, the queen will strike me down… and you'll be able to check the king," Ron said. Harry pleads with Ron not to do this, while Hermione is confused. She learns that Ron is going to sacrifice himself, which shocks her. "No Ron! There has to be another way we can do this!" she pleaded. Ron turned to his friends, "Do you want to stop Snape or not? Harry, it has to be you, I know it. Not me, not Naruto, not Hermione, you!" he points out. Harry was reluctant but agreed nonetheless. Ron makes his sacrifice. "Knight… to H-3," he said as the piece moved to that location. "Check," Ron said as he prepared to be striked down by the queen, and when the piece got smashed Ron was knocked down. "Ron!" the two yelled. Just before Ron was sent to the ground, he was levitating and it turns out that Naruto was the one to be levitating him. Right as Harry and Hermione were to greet Naruto, tells them to stop since the game has to finish. They nod and so Harry goes up to the king and declares checkmate, making them win. The two go up to ask how Naruto levitated Ron and he said he levitated his clothes nonchalantly, making them sweatdrop. Harry shakes his head, "Right… listen, take care of Ron, go to the owlery and send Dumbledore a message… Ron's right… I have to go on" he said as he got up and went to see this through the end. "You'll be ok Harry, you're a great wizard, you really are" Hermione stated. "Not as good as you two," he said. The two smiled, "Harry… books, smarts, and skills have nothing to do with it… there are more important things, friendship and bravery" Naruto stated as he held out his hand while boosting Harry's confidence. The two shook hands and right before he left, "Harry-" he turned to see Hermione, "-Be careful" she said, as the boy nodded and continued towards the final room. Naruto carried Ron over his shoulder, "lead the way Hermione" he said as she nodded and headed back to the way they came from.