Chapter 10 - The Weasley Twin's Map

It was after the exams I decided I had to do something. Harry's scar had been hurting him for days and he had no idea why. I stopped behind after Quidditch practice to speak to Fred and George.

"I need to borrow the Marauder's map." I told them.

"Why?" They asked together.

"Malfoy got me and Harry detention, I plan on getting him back. I'd rather not get caught." I replied telling an easy lie. I could get him back as well when I was finished.

"Excellent." Fred said grinning

"A girl after our own hearts." George added also grinning.

"Follow us." Fred orded and within five minutes I had the map. I immediately went up to my room to see if anyone was inside but it was empty which made me smile to myself.

"Colloportus." I whispered taping the door, locking it. I then went to sit on my bed. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." I said taping the parchment turning it into the map. Tonight I would follow whoever it was that went into the Forest and I'd check it wasn't Snape. I looked to see Snape in the Dungeons. "Good." I muttered before I tapped the map and said, "Mischief managed." I then hid the map and went down to the hall for dinner. I didn't get the map back out until Hermione, Lavendar and Pavarti were asleep. "Lumos." I whispered lighting up the map. I immediately went to see if Snape was in his private quarters and he was so I went to skip to near Hagrid's hut and the Forbidden Forest. And that's when I saw someone just walking out of the castle towards the forest. "Gotcha. Nox." I whispered. I then pulled on some shoes, grabbed the map and ran to the boys dorm. I snuck in quietly to see Harry still awake.

"Ash? What are you doing here?" Harry whisper asked me.

"I need to borrow your cloak. Someone's going into the forest and it's not Snape." I whispered.

"You're going into the forest?" He demanded.

"As a panther. I have to find out who it is." I replied still whispering unlike Harry. "You're wasting time."

"What's going on?" Ron asked suddenly waking up while he was giving me his cloak.

"You explain. If I see Voldemort I'll go in the opposite direction." I told Harry while stuffing my wand and the map in my pocket. I threw the cloak around me and ran out of the room. I pushed open the portrait then changed into my panther and started running out of the castle. It took me less than a minute to catch up to whoever it was. He was hooded just like Voldemort was that night. I stayed close behind him walking at the same pace he did. As soon as he was into the forest he started gliding faster a lot faster than any normal human could. This confused me completely but it was still easy to keep pace with him. It only got weird when I spotted a Unicorn and he or it started hunting it. He caught up with the Unicorn easily and latched onto its neck like he was a vampire. That's when I realised it was Voldemort and he had been inside Hogwarts. That fact scared the hell out of me. I ran straight back to the castle and changed back to normal as I was running up to the Gryffindor portrait. I slipped off the cloak just before I got to the Fat Lady.

"You're very late." The fat lady scolded. "Password?"

"I'm sorry about being late. Bibbling Nunquam." I replied. She swung open her portrait and I ran straight up to Harry and Ron's room to see them both sat up on Harry's bed whispering quietly to each other.

"We were worried." Harry said as I came through the door.

"What happened?" Ron asked as I came and sat on the bed with both of them.

"He was in the castle. Voldemort. He just walked out of the castle and went to the forest and hunted a Unicorn. He was in the castle, Harry." I whispered. Ron looked pale while Harry pulled me into a hug.

"It'll be okay." Harry whispered consoling into my ear.

"I know. Because we're not letting him get that stone. Whoever it is will have to go through me." I said angrily making both Ron and Harry chuckle. I sighed then randomly said, "I miss Norbert."

"Norbert?" Ron asked.

"Hagrid's dragon." I replied. "He was cute." Ron just rolled his eyes.

"Who would know that Hagrid would want a dragon?" Ron wondered out loud.

"Snape would." Harry answered.

"And so would Quirrel." I said while it was dawning on me. "Of course."

"Hagrid says a lot of things by accident. He might know how to get past Fluffy." Harry said.

"Do you reckon Hagrid will still be up?" I asked.

"Maybe." He replied.

"How do you boys feel about riding on the back of a panther? As long as you don't pull out my fur." I warned. They both nodded so we went downstairs. Ron pushed open the portrait while I changed and Harry climbed on followed by Ron then they through the cloak over the three of us. I then started running towards Hagrid's. It took less than five minutes before we were outside Hagrid's hut. The boys jumped off me with the cloak so I could change back.

"That was amazing." Ron said to me as Harry knocked on Hagrid's door.

"I didn't know you could run that fast." Harry agreed.

"Who is it?" Hagrid called out.

"Do we ever reply?" I asked the boys making them both chuckle as Hagrid answered the door.

"Wha' are you three doin' out this late?" Hagrid asked.

"We need to ask you something really quickly then we'll go straight back." I replied.

"Go ahead." Hagrid said gruffly.

"What did the stranger look like, the one that gave you Norbert?" Harry asked.

"Dunno. He wouldn' take his cloak off." Hagrid replied. The three of us just stared at him. "It's not that unusual, yeh get a lot o' funny folk in the Hog's Head. Mighta bin a dragon dealer, mightn' he? I never saw his face, he kept his hood up."

"What did you talk to him about, Hagrid? Did you mention Hogwarts at all?" Harry continued the questioning.

"Mighta come up," Hagrid said while he was frowning, trying to remember. "Yeah. He asked what I did, an' I told him I was gamekeeper here... He asked a bit about the sorta creatures I look after, so I told him... an' I said what I'd always really wanted was a dragon... an' then... I can' remember too well, 'cause he kept buyin' me drinks... Let's see... yeah, then he said he had the dragon egg an' we could play cards fer it if I wanted... but he had ter be sure I could handle it, didn't want it ter go ter any old home. So I told him, after Fluffy, a dragon would be easy."

"Did he seem... erm... interested in Fluffy?" I asked trying to keep my voice calm.

Well, yeah, how many three-headed dogs d'yeh meet, even around Hogwarts? So I told him, Fluffy's a piece o' cake if yeh know how to calm him down, jus' play him a bit o' music an' he'll go straight ter sleep..." Hagrid immediately stopped looking horrified with himself.

"Oh, God." I whispered.

"He knows." Harry finished.

"I shouldn'ta told yeh that!" Hagrid blurted out. "Forget I said it!"

"Hagrid, we will." I soothed him. "We're not gonna tell anyone and we're definitely not gonna try get past fluffy. We're just worried about who else you told because they tricked it out of you Hagrid. We have to go back before we're unable to get in. Good night, Hagrid." I smiled at Hagrid who looked considerably calmer. "Come on boys." I then started walking up to the castle. As soon as I couldn't see Hagrid we stopped. "You boys are gonna have to tell the fat lady the password, she's already seen me." They both nodded then got on me when I changed and we sailed back up to the tower. They slipped off me leaving the cloak on just before we got to the Fat Lady.

"More late students. Password?" She asked.

"Bibbling Nunquam." Harry replied. She swung the portrait open again leaving the three of us to climb into the common room. I changed back immediately and handed Harry his cloak.

"We'll go see Dumbledore tomorrow morning." I said, they both agreed. "Hermione will want to come. I'm exhausted. Night." I then climbed back up to my dorm, got changed then fell asleep as soon as my head hit my pillow.