AN: I wanted to address a few questions in the reviews about some elements I have changed from Canon, since these are things other people might be wondering too.
happylady: In a previous chapter it was revealed that Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw have flying lessons first period on Fridays. I split the class because when I tried to write out a schedule I found that the little bitt hat JK had given us seemed to contradict across books. I took that as leave to design my own schedule that stays as close as possible to the original.
Fast Frank: Borgin and Burke's was est. ~1863. Temperance's father is not that Caractacus Burke. Even in canon, families have a tendency to reuse names. This is just a descendant.
The Magical Map
"He actually challenged you to a duel?" Neville asked incredulously, "What did he think would happen if you'd accepted? He can't cast wandlessly like you can, you would wipe the floor with him."
"I don't know about that," Harry deflected as he opened the door to the Great Hall to join the others for breakfast. He had elected to go walk Neville down from the Hospital Wing so he could schedule a time for Madame Pomfrey to examine Najash, "He probably knows spells I don't since he grew up with magic, and it's not like I can cast anything without a wand. Plus its less accurate that way."
"Still," the other boy continued, "he must have been real jealous that you got on the Quidditch team your first year."
"Didn't even get that far," Harry returned, grinning, "he was so angry that I wasn't expelled that he did the whole duel thing before it came up. It'll be a nasty shock when he finally does hear about it I'll bet."
"It's really cool too," Neville said wistfully, "I wish I could have seen you fly. You must be really good. First years aren't normally allowed on teams, so you're probably the youngest seeker in ages."
"A century, according to Hermione." Harry answered with a chuckle, "As soon as I told her she almost sprinted to the library to check out a bunch of books on Quidditch."
"That sounds like Hermione." Neville laughed as the two sat down.
"What were you saying about me Harry?" Hermione asked after the boys had sat down.
"Just telling him about last night, Hermione, you and the library." Harry replied.
When the mail owls began their delivery that morning there were several fingers pointed at the large package headed towards the group of first year gryffindors, who were seated at the Ravenclaw table today to join Parvati's sister Padma and her friends. Despite the interest the owls generated, Harry's eyes followed a spec of pure white as Hedwig flew over to the Weasley twins at the Gryffindor table. He frowned when the twins took a letter from her and immediately began whispering to each other conspiratorially. His frown turned into a smirk when his irate owl launched herself off the table by flying between their heads, whacking each with a wing as she flew past and knocking their faces into their respective bowls on the table. His owl accounted for, Harry accepted the large package from the four delivery owls and set it beside him.
"Serves those two right, doesn't it girl?" Harry asked once Hedwig made it over to him, "Here, let me since they were too rude."
He gave Hedwig several pieces of bacon while Hermione stroked the snowy owl's head and back. Once the bird was satisfied, she flew off again. Harry opened the letter that was attached to the big package he'd received, and learned that Mister Lupin and Professor Mcgonagall had bought him a Nimbus Two-Thousand last night. Midway down the letter he was warned that Aunt Petunia only allowed him to play on the condition that he keep an 'Exceeds Expectations' grade and he smirked at that, no problem. His eyes bulged when he got to the price that Mister Lupin had added to the bottom of the letter, but calmed a bit when he read about his father's and grandfather's stance on things like that.
Hermione didn't let it go quite as easily, "That's ridiculous!" She exclaimed upon seeing the seven hundred Galleon price tag, "How could it be worth that much?"
One table over, Ronald Weasley stared at Potter in puzzlement, "Malfoy, hey Malfoy." he quietly called, trying to get the blonde's attention without alerting the Gryffindors one table over.
"What is it weasel?" Malfoy spat back after he'd heard his name a half dozen times.
"Aren't first years not allowed to have brooms?" the redhead asked, "Because Potter just got a broom in the mail. That package looks about the same size as the one that Charlie's old Comet came in."
"Really?" Malfoy mused aloud, "What is this school coming to when a half-blood like Potter gets to flaunt all the rules of this school? He should have been expelled yesterday!"
When the three Gryffindors got up from breakfast, leaving the Indian twins behind, Malfoy followed them with Crabbe and Goyle hastening to keep up with him. Making a split-second decision, Ron stuffed another sausage in his mouth and got up to follow behind.
"Potter!" Malfoy called as he approached the group, "You're in for it now!"
He grabbed the package out of Harry's hands before the smaller boy could react. Feeling the mostly hollow box he shook it once before tossing it back at Harry who stumbled backwards as he caught it.
"First years aren't allowed to have their own brooms!" Malfoy crowed triumphantly, "My father is on the board of directors! When he hears of this he'll push for your expulsion, especially after you attacked me yesterday and weren't even punished!"
"Is something wrong here Mister Malfoy?" Professor Flitwick interrupted the boy's tirade. The diminutive teacher had seen the Slytherins moving to intercept Harry and his friends, and had hurried to cut off any altercation.
"Potter has a broom professo-" Malfoy began to explain, pointing at Harry only to be cut off by Flitwick.
"Oh yes! I heard about your special circumstances with the Quidditch team Mister Potter!" Professor Flitwick eyed the wrapped box that Harry held with obvious interest, "What model did you end up going with then?"
Harry glanced around worriedly, pretty much the whole school was watching what was going on. Great.
"It's a Nimbus Two-Thousand, sir." Harry responded quietly. Not that that mattered as the youngest Weasley, who'd stayed just out of the conversation so far, lurched forward to get a better look at the box.
"A Nimbus?" He shouted, "That's the best racing broom on the market! It can get to a hundred miles an hour in seven seconds!"
Harry groaned as the whispered conversations of the school population rose into a dull roar behind him.
"Yes, thank you Weasley." He forced out as he hurried out of the great hall to avoid being stopped and questioned by everyone in range, Hermione and Neville following close behind.
"That could have gone smoother." Hermione commented as they hurried up to Gryffindor Tower to drop off the broomstick and get ready for class.
When they arrived at the potions classroom Professor Snape was already standing in front of the blackboard with his trademark scowl covering his face. As soon as the trio entered the class the professor stalked forwards.
"Potter, Granger," his distaste was palpable, "I see no reason that the only competent Gryffindors in this year should partner with each other and watch the least competent fail repeatedly."
Harry and Hermione's eyes widened at Snape, how could he get away with talking about his students like this?
"So," the potions master continued, "one of you will work with Longbottom to make sure he doesn't destroy another cauldron. The other can work with Weasley, since he is again an odd-man-out."
Indeed, all the other Slytherins had entered and paired off already, leaving the redhead as the only green-trimmed robe standing alone. Harry was fuming, he and Hermione had talked about suggesting exactly that to Neville if today was as bad as last week. But they weren't going to call him out in front of the whole class!
"That won't be a problem, sir." Harry bit out as he gestured for Neville to sit with him. Hermione quietly walked to the workstation beside him and sat down before gesturing for the redhead to sit beside her while she began organizing the tools on the table to her liking.
What followed was the slowest brewing of a potion that Harry had ever done, even more so than the very first time he and Hermione had ever tried to brew a real potion back home. He had to go behind Neville after every task and salvage the ingredients the other boy had mis prepared. At first Harry thought that Neville had to be doing this on purpose, no one could be this bad at cutting roots or grinding leaves, but he stopped himself from getting angry when he noticed Neville's hands shaking as he brandished his knife like it was going to turn around and attack him under its own power. Snape sneered at them when he saw Harry patiently teaching Neville how to hold and use a knife properly, but didn't dock points or comment.
Hermione, meanwhile, was ready to scream at Ron Weasley after the first hour. Every time she tried to correct him on something, from how to properly cut ingredients to just how much constituted an ounce, the up-himself Slytherin insisted that he knew what he was doing and didn't need help from her. He was careful to not actually say the 'M' word like Malfoy often did, but Hermione could tell what the redheaded jerk thought of her. She spent most of the time she wasn't trying to instruct him figuring out how she was going to make their potion even partially presentable after this idiot was done ruining it.
"Weasley stop!" she shouted as she swatted the boy's hand away from the cauldron, launching an unmeasured handful of diced dandelion roots across the floor of the lab.
"What is going on?" Snape thundered as he stormed across the room to the pair, "Granger, five points from Gryffindor for this disruption!"
"Weasley was about to put dandelion roots into the potion without measuring them!" She quickly returned.
"Another point for backtalk, Granger." Snape hissed back.
"It looks like about the right amount." Weasley stupidly added.
"It looks like about three times the right amount!" Hermione shrieked at him.
"Another two points from Gryffindor, Granger, control yourself." Snape said as he casually glanced at the diced roots on the floor. He gestured his wand and a portion of them, about a third, rose off the floor and flashed with some sort of magical cleaning spell before floating over to the arguing pair's workstation and dropping onto their scale.
"It appears to me that Mister Weasley's eyeball math was very nearly perfect." The professor said while looking Hermione straight in the eye, "Three points to Slytherin. Now finish your potion before the period is over or you will receive a zero for the day."
It took Harry until the very last available minute to finish the potion that morning. By the end of the class Neville was much more confident at preparing the ingredients, though he was still too easily distracted to be any good at the actual brewing process. When they submitted their work to the professor, he glared at the two of them without even examining the vial before saying 'Acceptable' and sending them on. Hermione, who brought hers and Weasley's potion right behind Harry, watched in mounting horror as the potions master examined the vial intensely.
"Poor quality, Miss Granger." Snape scowled at the girl, who looked on the verge of tears, "Perhaps if you had been more attentive to your own work and not been busy bossing your partner around you would have presented something that was at least acceptable. I expect better in your next class or there will be remedial detentions."
Hermione fled the class in tears and it was left to Harry to gather her things and bag and follow her; hopefully to the Great Hall, though Harry suspected she had run to the dorms to be alone. The same thing happened when students bullied her at her old school after they met, she hid in her room and didn't want to bother other people with it.
The whole way to lunch, Harry was lost in his thoughts about Professor Snape. He had seemed genuinely nice last week when Harry was asking the professor about Najash, and he hadn't been especially hostile during the meeting with the headmaster, despite apparently having some issue with Harry's family. Harry just couldn't wrap his head around this teacher's actions today. It was like he was a different person in class than in private.
When Harry made it to the Great Hall he saw that Hermione wasn't there. Oh well, he thought to himself, and headed to the Gryffindor table to fix the two of them a sandwich plate to take up to the dorm. As he made his way back up to the dorm while laden with both his and Hermione's bag, as well as a plate of food, Harry was unaware of twin shadows following him until he found himself grabbed roughly from behind and quickly pulled into a nearby empty classroom while the plate of chicken mayo sandwiches floated in behind him.
o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o
Fred and George looked at each other as they held the envelope between them. "To Messrs Weasley and Weasley" it was addressed, though that wasn't nearly as important as the handwriting it was addressed in. The twins had spent the last two years becoming intimately familiar with the legendary map left behind by the Marauders. It had a mind of its own; four of them in fact, that sometimes argued with each other. The important thing though, was that each of the four illustrious marauders had a distinct handwriting when speaking through the map, and there was no mistaking the perfect calligraphy of 'Mister Moony.'
"Could it really be him?" Fred asked his brother.
"It must be." George answered as he cracked the envelope open, revealing a blank piece of parchment.
Brek, the snowy owl that delivered the envelope barked at the twins, who looked back at her for a moment.
"You're Harry's owl, right?" George asked.
"He's over that way today," Fred continued, pointing towards the Ravenclaw table where the owl's owner was discreetly watching, "thanks."
Brek, the bird barked again, angrily, before launching herself into the space between the twins, whacking each on the back of the head as she passed and knocking them into the bowls of porridge they had been eating just a minute ago.
The twins came up to laughter from the Gryffindors around them as they looked at each other, faces covered in porridge, and pointed their wands at the other's face.
"Scourgify." They said together, washing the mess off each other before glancing over at Harry Potter giving his bird bacon.
"Brother mine," Fred began, to continued laughing from those around him, "I propose we make a mental note."
"Yes, brother?" The George replied, winking at Angelina Johnson across the table who was in stitches laughing at them, "Would that be a note to you, or me, or us?"
"Us," the first said quickly, "definitely us."
"If that suggestion is to always thank Potter's owl whenever she delivers to us. I agree wholeheartedly."
"Indeed brother, indeed."
With the excitement over, the twins looked back at the letter in their hands. They had thought it miraculous that there was no porridge on it until they realized that it had been enchanted to have such things slide off it.
"Hey Lee, can you call us 'present' in History today?" Fred asked without looking up from the blank parchment.
"We have something we need to work on." George added, looking up at his friend with a grin on his face.
After the two finished eating, though no more porridge for today at least, they headed out to find an unused classroom where they wouldn't be disturbed. Once they had verified that they weren't followed they sealed the door to the classroom with every locking spell both of them knew, which was quite a few since they were used to keeping their nosy mother out of their room at home.
"Now or never, brother mine." George said once they had sat down together at a desk, the letter between them.
The two stared intently at the blank parchment which barely registered as magical when examined, but they knew better than that. If the Marauder's Map had felt as powerfully enchanted as it really was then it wouldn't have been rotting in Filch's box of confiscated oddities. The enchantments on the letter were almost certainly going to be locked away the same way as the map, and that would be the final confirmation that this was the Mister Moony.
Twin redheads pointed their wands at the letter and proudly said the words they discovered two years ago, the motto by which they now lived their life, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
Immediately, the parchment began to populate itself with flowing, beautiful words:
"Mister Moony is pleased to know that the work of he and his illustrious friends has not been left merely to rot…"
At lunch time, after conversing with the enchanted parchment for two periods, the twins headed out to track down Harry Potter. When Fred spied Harry heading into the Great Hall for lunch the pair resolved to wait and see if they could ambush him on his way out. They were rewarded much sooner than anticipated when he came out carrying a small plate with sandwiches on it only a minute or two later.
Once Harry had made it past the crowds on his way to, apparently, Gryffindor Tower, the twins made their move; one grabbing Harry under the arms and quickly yanking him into a classroom as he walked by while the other whipped out his wand and caught the plate of food that Harry had tossed in his panic, picked up the two dropped bags, and followed behind.
After his moment of panic, Harry recalled what Dudley had told him about a situation like this and how to get out of it, though he hadn't bothered to practice very much. The smaller boy curled his legs and lower body up like a reverse-crunch before dropping all of his weight at once and pitching forward, grabbing his assailant's arms as he did and bringing his attacker rolling over him to land hard on the stone floor as Harry landed on his hands and knees, wincing in pain as well.
"Oi, calm down! No need for all that!" A familiar voice shouted from behind Harry as he looked up to get his bearings and realized that it was a Weasley twin he'd just flipped off of him.
"What's going on?" Harry demanded as he spun around, hand over Najash to keep the serpent calm, to see the other twin carefully floating the sandwiches he had grabbed back onto the plate.
"Ugggh, sorry to startle you, Harrikins." The twin on the ground moaned piteously as he held the back of his head in pain.
"We just wanted to talk to you Harrikins." The other one said at the same time as he put down the plate.
"You could have just asked, you know." Harry said as he tried to get his breathing under control, "What do you need that required you to scare me half to death?"
The twin he'd thrown, who had made it back to his feet, albeit unsteadily, smiled a lopsided grin as he held up a blank sheet of parchment, "We are on a mission of grave import. Given to us by the legendary Mister Moony."
Harry raised an eyebrow at the grandstanding but let them continue.
"Yes," the other picked up seamlessly, "Harry, we were tasked by the illustrious Mister Moony with bestowing upon you your inheritance."
"What do you mean?" Harry asked, in the back of his mind he had been sure they were going to ask him about werewolves or something since they kept using Mister Lupin's nickname.
The twins shared a look before setting two blank parchments on a desk in the room. The first, upon being touched by both their wands, filled in with words in Mister Lupin's handwriting and was pushed towards Harry.
"Harry, I've enchanted this parchment to read differently when different keys are used on it. The Weasley twins are in possession of something which the three of us feel should belong to you now. It was made by your father and myself, as well as Peter and… Black. When you see what it is, you will understand why I didn't send this message in a way your aunt could potentially read it. The twins will make sure that you know how to use it. Take care of it, Harry, but have fun with it. Just… don't tell your aunt about it. She might not see the humour.
Mister Moony"
Harry frowned as he finished reading the note, what could his dad have made that he shouldn't tell his aunt about?
"This, Harrykins," The first twin said as he massaged the goose-egg forming on the back of his head, "is the secret to our success."
"The magic behind our mischief." His brother added while sliding the other, still blank, parchment towards Harry..
"Not to mention, almost literally the keys to this very castle." The first concluded.
"We give you," the other said.
"The Marauder's Map!" They said together with enough force to make Harry jump in his seat.
Harry looked down at the blank parchment in puzzlement, "Uh, what?"
The twins chuckled as they pointed their wands at the paper and said a phrase that Harry would grow to love, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
Just like the letter, ink began flowing across the overlarge parchment. But unlike the letter, this ink did not form only words. Across the top, in flowing script appeared a title and introduction, "Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs present 'The Marauder's Map.'" Harry watched as the ink continued filling in a complete map of the entire school, every floor and even the grounds outside.
Then the map populated itself with hundreds of sets of footprints, each marked with a nametag. Harry was confused for a moment until he saw three names sitting in an out-of-the-way classroom. Three names he recognized: Fred Weasley, George Weasley, and Harry Potter.
"No way…" Harry's voice failed him as he realized how amazing the map in front of him really was, "Is this accurate? Everyone and everywhere?"
"Yes, yes, and yes." The twins ping-ponged. They gestured for Harry to look at the letter, which had new content on it now that the map had been opened in its presence, but he was too busy studying the map for one name in particular.
Harry sighed in relief when he found Hermione's name in the girls dorm in Gryffindor Tower. She wasn't alone, Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil were both there too, and the closeness of their names on the map made Harry suspect they might all be sitting on one bed.
"At least she's not alone." Harry said as he put the map down and looked at the now-longer letter from Mister Lupin.
"Checking on your girlfriend?" One of the Weasleys asked playfully.
"Nothing like that," Harry said as he grabbed the letter again, "Snape was really bad to Hermione in potions today after she had to partner with your brother, I was taking some sandwiches up to her so she didn't miss lunch. She shouldn't be alone when she's upset like this."
The twins smirked at each other while Harry's attention was elsewhere, "That does sound like Snape. Want us to prank the greasy git for her?"
"Best not." Harry replied without looking up, "Knowing Hermione, if she found out she'd get mad at you. Even if it was for her."
Harry went back to reading the rest of the letter from his dad's friend:
"As you can see on the map, I was not the only one with a nickname. Our little group never did things by half. Each of the others earned their names while they were in school, a story I would rather share in person; and among them your father was 'Prongs,' the de facto leader of the Marauders. In honour of his memory I bestow upon you the name 'Prongslet', until you earn your own Marauder name. I'm certainly not giving you permission to cause trouble in the school with this Harry, but keeping everyone's spirits up with some harmless laughs was something your father excelled at. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. When we see each other this Christmas I hope to be able to trade some stories."
"O great Prongslet, Son of Prongs, obviously the map is yours mate." A twin began once Harry had finished reading the letter, "But do you think we could borrow it sometimes, if we needed it for a prank?"
Harry looked up at the two redheads in front of him before grinning, "Only if you promise not to target Dudley, Neville, Hermione, or me with anything, then we have a deal."
"Deal." The twins said in unison before glancing at each other.
"Uh, we've heard a rumor Harry." One started.
"That you have a snake? Supposedly its red and gold too." The other asked. Harry nodded cautiously.
"You should show people, trust us." The first twin said, "Rumors are going around, but if you show people then it shouldn't be as big a deal. People are speculating that you're a dark wizard or a parselmouth or something and trying to hide it."
"Yeah…" Harry answered shakily, putting his hand back over Najash instinctively.
"Is that it?" A twin asked, nodding at Harry's arm.
"Yeah," Harry replied, "He stays wrapped around my arm when I'm in class. Back home he liked to ride on my shoulders."
"Can we see him?" Was the next question. Harry didn't see a problem, so he coaxed Najash into peeking his head out, without Speaking to him.
"Wicked!" The twins said in unison as they examined the Gryffindor coloured snake.
Two handshakes later, the twins left Harry with the secret code to blank the map, 'Mischief Managed,' and a warning that he needed to hurry if he and Hermione were going to eat before lunch was over. At first, Harry planned to tell Hermione about the map, but as he thought about it on his ascent to the Tower he decided not to. There was something he needed to try with it first, possibly even that very night.
The third floor corridor was clearly marked on the map; and with it there was no chance that Harry would be caught out-of-bounds, even the ghosts and Peeves the Poltergeist showed up on it.
o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o
"And just where have you two been at this late hour?" The Portrait of the Fat Lady asked Harry and Neville as they skidded to a stop in front of her, breathless.
"Caput Draconis!" Harry said in lieu of answering her, triggering her frame to swing open and reveal the passage to the Gryffindor Common room. As soon as the two boys were inside the common room they pulled the door shut behind them and collapsed against the wall of the five foot long passage.
About an hour previous, Harry had attempted to sneak out of the boys dorm only to accidentally wake up Neville. After explaining the Marauders Map to him, and what he hoped to find, Neville agreed to go with Harry to check out the third floor corridor. Dodging Filch and Peeves was simple with it, and they had no problem making their way around until Harry realized there was a name stalking them that they hadn't accounted for. Mrs. Norris, Filch's cat, chased the two down a few corridors, forcing them to detour several times, before they evaded her and got back on track. Harry hadn't even thought to check the map for animals; but sure enough he saw a few of them appeared, distinguishable by the shape of their footprints. Based on where they were Harry assumed that the map was designed to track the pets of staff members, but not students.
When they made it to the third floor again it was off a moving staircase that began to slide away right after they got to the end of it. Seeing their way back move away steeled their resolve to at least check out the corridor. In the middle of the hallway was a door, pulling on it by hand revealed it to be locked, so Harry pointed his wand at it and cast Alohomora.
"You've got to be kidding." Harry whispered after the locked door clicked open, "They didn't even put an anti-unlocking charm on it!"
"What if this is just some kind of test to catch rule-breakers and we're about to be expelled?" Neville asked as Harry went to open the now-unlocked door, "This seems too easy if the headmaster is really hiding the philosopher's stone here."
"At the very least there no one in there, Neville." Harry replied, holding up his father's map to emphasize the point before blanking it, "Let's check and see if there's anything more than a locked door here, since we've already made it this far."
Neville held his breath and followed as Harry pushed the door open and went inside. There was no light in the room, so Harry raised his wand and lit it with a 'Lumos.'
That was a mistake.
In front of the boys a gigantic dog, perhaps fifteen feet at the shoulder, began to slowly rouse to wakefulness. All three heads of it. As it blinked its many eyes the beast locked onto Harry and Neville and began to growl menacingly. As it rose Harry heard an odd sound, like a door being jostled, and chanced a look at the beast's feet as he and Neville began slowly backing up. The moment the dog released a trio of angry barks the boys turned and bolted back through the still-open door, slamming it shut with a second audible click as it locked behind them. Neither stopped to think about that as they began running for Gryffindor Tower, terrified that the great dog was going to crash through the stone wall and chase them. They didn't slow down until they had made it through the portrait of the Fat Lady.
After thirty seconds to catch their breath, Harry and Neville rose and continued into the common room, both wanting sleep but confident their dreams would be filled with visions of teeth and the sound of growling. Instead, what they heard from the common room as they entered stopped them in their tracks.
"Just where have you two been?" Hermione's voice came from the couch in front of the fire. She stood up and turned around to glare at them, a much more terrifying sight than fuzzy pink pajamas should have allowed, "It's nearly one in the morning! What if you had been caught?"
Hermione was prepared to lay into them for their carelessness, but stopped when she took in the haunted look on her friends' faces, "Is everything alright?" She asked.
Instead of immediately answering, Harry hurried forward and grabbed Hermione in a hug. She could feel his heart still racing as she returned the hug, just as she could feel the tension in him leave as he started to calm down in her embrace. Neville sat down on the couch beside where she had been as he tried to pull himself together, and Hermione guided Harry down onto the couch as well.
"I'm so sorry Hermione." Harry said once he'd found his voice again, "I'll never break a promise to you again."
"What do you mean? Harry? What happened?" She was starting to truly worry, something had shaken Harry badly.
"It was a cerberus. How did they even get it in there?" Neville asked blankly, his gaze still fixed on the fire.
"What? Harry? Neville? Are you two alright?" Hermione was starting to panic as well.
"We checked out the third floor corridor." Harry confessed, his voice barely above a whisper. Hermione gasped in shock before hugging Harry again, "There was a giant dog in there," Harry continued, "with three heads, standing on a trap door or something."
"Cerberus are used to guard things," Neville added, "but not here in England. They're native to places like Greece!"
"You aren't about to tell me that Daleks are real too are you?" Harry asked Neville, trying to bring himself back to reality.
"What's a Dalek?" Neville asked, his head jerking to face Harry.
"Oh thank God." Harry sighed, causing Hermione to chuckle a bit in an attempt to relieve her own pent up tension.
"Why don't you tell me about it," Hermione offered, "Harry? Neville? That might make you feel a little better."
Over five minutes, the two boys recounted what had happened. By the end Neville had calmed down; but when they got back to the part about Fluffy, Harry turned pale all over again.
"You aren't getting a phobia of dogs, are you Harry?" Hermione asked when she realized how much worse off he was than Neville.
"There must have been some kind of ward to keep sound in the room," Harry started, "cause I stopped hearing the barking as soon as the door closed. But that meant I could hear it! The door locked behind us, if Neville hadn't held it so long or if I had waited longer to light my wand it would have closed with us inside!"
Neville immediately turned green and ran up the stairs for the nearest bathroom.
"Harry… It's alright," Hermione rubbed his back as she spoke, "I'm sure the thing was chained to the floor or something since you said it was guarding a trap door."
"Yeah… Yeah you're probably right." Harry relaxed a little again.
"But we should still say something to Professor Mcgonagall." Hermione continued, "At least suggest to her that the door needs some way to keep students out. How can the only thing between us and a cerberus be a door locked the muggle way."
"I agree." Harry said, "But when we go to her, let's not mention Neville. Okay?"
Hermione frowned but nodded, "Okay Harry."
"Not that I'm not so glad you were, Hermione," Harry said, "but why are you down here so late?"
She glanced at the table in front of them, where the letter she was writing was lying face-down, "I was writing your aunt about Professor Snape and… some other things that Parvati and Lavender told me about this afternoon. Thank you for the sandwiches by the way." Harry smiled at her and she continued, "Do you want to add something to it?"
Harry actually chuckled at that, "No way, if my aunt found out she'd have me taken off the Quidditch team before I've ever even flown my new broom."
Hermione sighed in relief, if Harry could joke like that then he'd probably be alright, "Then let's get to bed. Your practise is supposed to start at seven tomorrow morning. We can talk to Professor Mcgonagall tomorrow after the new introduction to magic seminar."
o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o
Professor Mcgonagall was absolutely furious when Harry and Hermione approached her the next morning, though the friends were rather surprised when Harry was let off with just a single detention. She explained that she had been assured by the headmaster that there would be spells on that corridor to discourage students from trying to get in; and that the door itself wouldn't open for any student for any reason.
His later explanation that Hagrid couldn't be keyed to the wards like staff, but still needed to be able to get in to take care of Fluffy the Cerberus left her ready to hex him into next week. In the end, she got the headmaster to agree to a locking ward keyed to the groundskeeper's umbrella.
