Hey guys, sorry for the note up here but this is an incredibly long chapter and I just wanted to make sure you were comfortable and had a cup of tea or something.

Through the Trapdoor

Finally, their exams arrived and no one had any idea how they managed to get through them. At last they had the opportunity to concentrate on something normal for a change, yet they found themselves worrying about how long it would take Voldemort to come bursting into the school. Sherlock spent almost no energy on the exams at all, instead using his revision time studying numerous star charts and maps of the solar system. John found out and became very suspicious.

'Why are you suddenly so interested in Astronomy? You've been avoiding it all year.'

Sherlock hesitated; he wondered what he could say to John without accidentally revealing what he knew.

'The centaurs kept saying "Mars is bright tonight" and I'm trying to figure out what it means,' he said carefully.

'Oh, well you'd need Astrology for that,' he said. Sherlock groaned loudly. John chuckled at him.

'Hang on; I think I've got something…'

John dug through his bag and pulled out a book bound in rich, black velvet with gold lettering. The Stars and Their Symbolism: How it Affects You. Sherlock stared at it.

'Why do you have a book about Astrology in your bag?' he asked.

'Why do you have a box of flesh-eating slugs in your bag?' John countered, flipping through the pages.

'Aha, here we are- "Mars, the bringer of battle: Mars is a common sight in the night sky as skirmishes and petty arguments are a constant, however it can be seen shining brightly in the months and years before massive wars and battles that divide a large or influential population." A great war is coming and this is just the beginning,' John whispered. Sherlock grimaced and immediately stuffed John's book out of sight.

'Doesn't sound like much fun- come on, it's Transfiguration now,' he said, packing away his star charts.

Harry was growing ever more agitated, his scar prickling painfully. It only made things worse that people kept telling him to visit Madam Pomfrey.

The days slipped by until, at last, the only exam that remained was History of Magic. Sherlock sat in the classroom with the rest of the Ravenclaws and flicked bits of parchment at the back of Padma Patil's head, having finished the exam within fifteen minutes of the allotted hour. She turned and glared at him but quickly went back to her exam in case Professor Binns saw her. Sherlock sneaked a glance at Castiel's paper beside him. He was still working furiously even though he had already finished, it looked like he was being extremely thorough and adding extensions to every answer.

Finally, the exam was over and a few of the students cheered and cleared the room. Sherlock shouldered his bag.

'Come on, let's go outside, they'll be waiting for us.'

The corridors were flooded with students trying to get out into the sun and it took them what felt like hours to push through the crowds to the Entrance Hall, where they bumped into Gabriel. He grinned widely at them.

'Hey, bro! Just finished your exams?' he asked. Castiel smiled.

'Yes we did,' he said. 'History of Magic was our last one.'

'Cool, how did it go?'

'I think it went all right,' Castiel said shyly.

'I'm sure you did great, kiddo,' Gabriel grinned. 'I gotta go- still got a Charms exam. Have a great day.'

With that, he set off towards Professor McGonagall's classroom. They continued to push onward until they found the Gryffindors lying under a tree by the lake. The Weasley twins could be seen tickling the tentacles of the giant squid while a couple of other kids threw bits of toast and pie crusts to it. Ron was sprawled on the ground and John had his feet dangling in the water. Sherlock and Castiel sat with them and Ron sighed happily.

'No more revision,' he said, completely ignoring Hermione babbling about the exams- she always liked to go through them afterwards.

'You could look a bit more cheerful, Harry, we've got a week before we find out how badly we did, there's no need to worry yet,' Ron said. Harry rubbed his forehead.

'I wish I knew what this means,' he burst out angrily. 'My scar keeps hurting… It's happened before but not like this.'

'Go to Madam Pomfrey,' Hermione suggested once again.

'For the last time, Hermione, I'm not ill,' Harry said irritably. 'I think it's a warning… it means danger's coming…'

Ron was too hot to get worked up- but he was the only- everyone else was worried, though Hermione more for Harry's health.

'Harry, relax, the Stone's safe as long as Dumbledore's around. Anyway, we've never had any proof that Snape found out how to get past Fluffy. He nearly had his leg ripped off once, he's not going to try it again in a hurry. And Neville will play Quidditch for England before Hagrid lets Dumbledore down,' Ron said lazily.

'But if he's determined enough to get the Stone, then surely he'll find a way,' John frowned. Sherlock looked over at him and could tell that something was bothering him.

'What is it?' Sherlock asked him. John shook his head.

'It's nothing.'

'It's something.'

John sighed.

'This is going to sound weird, but I don't think Snape is trying to get the Stone, I mean, we've never actually heard him say he wants it,' he said shyly. Ron made a face.

'John's got a point,' Harry said, 'but it makes no difference. We know that someone is trying to steal it, otherwise Voldemort wouldn't be hiding out in the Forest- it's not exactly the safest place for him to be.'

'I suppose, but who else could it be?' Hermione said.

'I don't know… Does anyone else feel like they're forgetting something?' Harry asked.

'That's just the exams,' said Hermione. 'Last night I woke up and was half way through my Transfiguration notes before I remembered we'd already done that one.'

But Harry couldn't shake the unsettled feeling, nor could Sherlock figure out whether John was using his brain for once, or if it was an effect of being a powerful Seer. Either way he was doubting himself, and he didn't like it.

Suddenly Harry jumped up and all the colour drained from his face.

'Where're you going?' Ron said sleepily.

'I've just thought of something,' said Harry. 'We've got to go and see Hagrid, now.'

'Why? What is it?' Sherlock asked, jumping to his feet.

'Don't you think it's a bit odd,' Harry said, scrambling up the grassy slope, 'that what Hagrid wants more than anything else is a dragon, and a stranger turns up and just happens to have one? How many people just wander around with dragon eggs in their pocket if it's against wizarding law? Lucky they found Hagrid don't you think?'

Comprehension dawned on Sherlock's face.

'Oh!' he gasped. 'No, you're joking!'

Harry shook his head and sprinted across the grounds, almost leaving the others and their mystified expressions behind.

Hagrid was sitting in an armchair outside his house, shelling peas into a large bowl.

'Hullo,' he smiled. 'Finished yer exams? Got time fer a cup o' tea?'

Castiel asked to try some of the peas and Hagrid gestured for him to continue.

'After me own heart,' he said. 'Always got ter appreciate the veggies.'

'Hagrid, listen, we need to ask you something. You know the night you won Norbert? What did the stranger you were playing cards with look like?' said Harry.

'I dunno what he looked like, he wouldn't take his cloak off.'

Stunned expressions crossed all of their faces and Castiel choked on a handful of peas. Hagrid hastily slapped him on the back and he went sprawling across the ground. John went over and helped him up.

'It's not that unusual, yeh get a lot o' funny folk in the Hog's Head- that's the pub down in the village. Mighta bin a dragon dealer, mightn' he? I never saw his face, he kept his hood up,' Hagrid said defensively. Sherlock groaned and Castiel rubbed his face. Harry looked at him desperately.

'What did he talk to you about? Did he mention Hogwarts at all?' he asked.

'Mighta come up,' said Hagrid, frowning as he tried to remember. 'Yeah, he asked me 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 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, he didn' want it ter go to any old home, so I told him, after Fluffy, a dragon would be easy…'

'And did he- did he seem interested in Fluffy?' Harry asked. John could hear him trying to keep his voice calm and started subconsciously chewing on is fingernails.

'Well- yeah- how many three-headed dogs do you come across, 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 and he'll go straight off ter sleep-'

Hagrid suddenly looked horrified.

'I shouldn'ta told yeh that!' he blurted out. 'Forget I said it! Hey- where're yeh goin'?'

They came skidding to a halt in the Entrance Hall and waited for John and Castiel to catch up with their small legs. Castiel had turned a pale shade of grey- the thought of Voldemort returning terrifying him more than anything.

'We've got to go to Dumbledore,' Harry gasped between breaths. 'Hagrid told that stranger how to get past Fluffy and it was either Snape or Voldemort under that hood- it must have been easy once he'd got Hagrid drunk.'

'I just hope Dumbledore believes us,' John said uneasily.

'Firenze might back us up if Bane lets him.'

'I doubt it,' Sherlock frowned.

'Oh, what do you know?' Ron said to Sherlock scathingly.

'Evidently a lot more than you-'

'Hey! Focus! Where's Dumbledore's office?' Harry cut in. Sherlock opened his mouth to answer but a voice rang across the hall.

'What are you all doing inside?'

It was Professor McGonagall, carrying a large pile of books.

'Shouldn't you be outside with everyone else? Mr Edlund, you look awful, what is the matter?'

'We want to see Professor Dumbledore,' Hermione said rather bravely.

'See Professor Dumbledore?' Professor McGonagall repeated, as if this was something suspicious. 'Why? What did Holmes do now?'

Sherlock made a small noise of outrage but Harry quickly spoke over him.

'It's sort of a secret,' he said, immediately knowing that it was the wrong choice as Professor McGonagall's nostrils flared.

'Professor Dumbledore left ten minutes ago,' she said coldly. 'He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and flew off for London at once.'

'He's gone?' Harry said frantically. 'Now?'

'Professor Dumbledore is a great wizard, Potter, he has many demands on his time.'

Sherlock started tapping his foot impatiently.

'But this important,' Harry continued.

'Something you have to say is more important than the Ministry of Magic, Potter?'

'Well, it's not like they do anything useful,' Sherlock muttered under his breath. Harry spoke over him again.

'Look, Professor- it's about the Philosopher's Stone-'

Professor McGonagall dropped all of her books in shock but made no move to pick them up.

'How do you know-?' she spluttered.

'Professor, we think- we know- that someone's going to try and steal the Stone. We've got to talk to Professor Dumbledore.'

She eyed them with a mixture of shock and suspicion. They waited to see what she would say. Finally she slowly said, 'Professor Dumbledore will be back tomorrow. I don't know how you found out about the Stone, but rest assured, no one can possibly steal it, it's too well protected.'

'But Professor-'

'Potter, I know what I'm talking about,' she said sharply. She bent down to gather up her books and Castiel scrambled to help her. 'I suggest you all go back outside and enjoy the sunshine- thank you, Mr Edlund.'

As soon as she was out of earshot, Harry turned to the others.

'It's tonight. Snape's going to try and get through the trapdoor tonight-'

'If it's Snape.'

'Of course it's Snape, who else is foul enough to be working for You-Know-Who?' Ron said.

'Someone has found out everything they need and now with Dumbledore out of the way…' Harry pressed.

'Whoever it was must have sent the owl to Dumbledore. The Ministry will have a bit of a shock when he turns up,' Sherlock added.

'Good afternoon,' someone said smoothly. They wheeled around to see Snape standing over them.

'You shouldn't be inside on a day like this; people will think you're up to something. Gryffindor and Ravenclaw really can't afford to lose any more points, can they?'

He turned to leave but then stopped.

'Be warned, Potter- any more night-time wanderings and I will personally make sure you are expelled. Good day to you.'

He strode off in the direction of the staff room and Sherlock stuck his tongue out at his retreating form.

'Mature,' John snorted.

'Right, here's what we're going to do,' Harry whispered urgently. 'One of us had better keep an eye on Snape- wait outside the staff room and follow him if he leaves it. Hermione, you'd better do that.'

'Why me?'

'It's obvious,' said Ron. 'You can pretend to be waiting for Professor Flitwick.'

He put on a high voice, 'Oh, Professor Flitwick, I'm so worried, I think I got question fourteen b wrong…'

'Oh, shut up,' Hermione said, but she agreed to go and watch out for Snape.

'John and I will go to the Owlery, we'll send a message to Dumbledore. Castiel, you go with Hermione,' Sherlock said.

'All right, well then we'd better stay outside the third floor corridor,' Harry said to Ron. 'Let's go.'

They split up, Sherlock and John making their way up to the Owlery.

'Why'd you make Castiel go with Hermione?' John asked.

'He seems to be less scared around her- or covers it up better. I think he's become rather protective,' Sherlock smirked.

They arrived and after a moment of rummaging around for a quill and some parchment, Sherlock called down a well groomed tawny owl.

'Come here, Greg,' Sherlock said to it. He caught the look on John's face. 'He's Mycroft's owl. He named him after his best friend.'

'Oh, I see,' John said, struggling to keep a straight face. Sherlock attached the note to Greg's leg and threw him unceremoniously from the window. He flapped back up, hooted at Sherlock in annoyance and flew off.

They made their way to the portrait of the Fat Lady where they found Castiel waiting politely outside.

'You might as well come in,' John said. They climbed in just as Harry, Ron and Hermione were discussing how they would all get to the third floor.

'I'll use the Invisibility Cloak,' Harry was saying. 'It's just lucky I got it back.'

'But will it cover all three of us?' Ron asked.

'Well, it certainly won't cover all six of us,' Sherlock interrupted.

'All- all six of us?'

'Oh, come off it, you don't think we'd let you go alone?'

'Of course not,' Hermione said briskly. 'How do you think you'd get the Stone without us? I'd better go look through my books; there might be something useful…'

'But if we get caught, you'll be expelled, too.'

'They're just looking for a reason to expel me anyway, at least this way I get kicked out for something interesting,' Sherlock shrugged.

'They won't expel me,' Hermione said grimly. 'Flitwick told me in secret that I got a hundred and twelve per cent on his exam. They're not throwing me out after that.'

'The question is, how are we going to get there?' John asked. 'We won't all fit under the Cloak.'

'Well we'll have to go in groups. Three of us will fit under it, four of we're smart about it,' Sherlock said, glancing at Castiel.

'Sherlock, John and I will go first,' Castiel said, catching Sherlock's eye. 'I can bring the Cloak back and as I'm the smallest, the four of us will fit.'

He still looked very frightened but a determined glint had entered his eye.

'You don't have to,' Hermione offered.

'It's the clearest path and I'm glad to help. I would also like to offer my skills to help you break through the obstacles,' he said.

'Well, that's settled, then,' Sherlock said brightly. 'When we get there, we'll hide and wait for you.'

They convinced Castiel to join them at dinner, where Lucy watched him intently. Afterwards, they all went back up to Gryffindor Tower, where they sat, nervously waiting for the common room to empty.

'Better get the Cloak,' Ron muttered as Lee Jordan finally left, stretching and yawning. Harry ran up to the dormitory and came back down again with the silvery Cloak in his arms.

'You'd better put it on in here, so we can make sure it covers all three of you- if Filch spots one of your feet wandering around on its own-'

'What are you doing?' said a voice from the corner of the room. 'Why are you two still here?'

Neville appeared from behind an armchair, clutching Trevor the toad.

'Nothing, Neville,' said Harry, hastily putting the Cloak behind his back, but their guilty faces would have fooled no one.

'You're going out again, he said suspiciously. Castiel shuffled his feet, not meeting Neville's eyes.

'No, no!' Hermione said. 'No, we're not. Why don't you go to bed, Neville?'

Sherlock rolled his eyes and pursed his lips, they were wasting time.

'You can't go out,' said Neville, 'you'll get caught again. Gryffindor will be in even more trouble.'

'But, Neville, this is important,' John said.

'I won't let you do it,' he said, hurrying to stand in front of the portrait hole and dropping Trevor, who hopped happily away. 'I'll- I'll fight you!'

'Oh, this is ridiculous,' Sherlock said, pulling out his wand. 'Petrificus Totalus!' he cried, pointing it at Neville. His arms snapped to his sides, his legs sprang together, his whole body went rigid. He swayed where he stood and then fell flat on his face, stiff as a board.

'Sherlock!' John cried indignantly, hurrying to turn Neville over.

'What? He was in the way!'

Neville's jaws were clamped shut so he couldn't speak. Only his eyes were moving.

'What did you do to him?' Harry whispered.

'Full Body-Bind. It should hold him until we're all out-'

'Sherlock, apologise to him,' John said sternly.

'You can't be serious,' Sherlock moaned. John raised an eyebrow and Sherlock scowled.

'Sorry, Neville,' he muttered. 'Now, let's go.'

Harry threw the Cloak over Sherlock, John and Castiel, and made sure their feet weren't showing and they safely got out of the portrait hole. They went in silence, not daring to make a sound. On the way they heard Peeves crashing around in a distant classroom but he was nowhere to be seen. Finally, they reached the end of the third floor corridor and found themselves staring at the door that they knew Fluffy was behind. Sherlock cast his eyes around and found a large hole in the wall concealed by a tapestry.

'This looks good,' he murmured. 'Come on, John.'

He slipped out from under the Cloak and held the tapestry open for John.

'Are you sure you'll be all right?' John whispered to Castiel.

'I'll be fine,' he whispered back. 'I'll be swift.'

With that he was gone and John climbed into the hole, quickly followed by Sherlock. It was as small and cramped as it was dark but they didn't seem to notice, too worried about what they were about to face to care. With their knees touching, John looked through the darkness towards Sherlock.

'How do you suppose this hole got here?' he whispered.

'I couldn't hazard a guess,' Sherlock said sarcastically, thinking of all three of Fluffy's heads. It can't have been easy getting him in the room and, though Sherlock was yet to see the dog for himself, it wasn't hard to imagine. After that neither of them spoke as the gravity of what they were about to do slowly began to hit them. The minutes crawled by as they waited for the others. After a while, they began to think that they had been caught until, at last, they heard footsteps that stopped beside the tapestry.

'Sherlock, John, you can come out now,' they heard Hermione say. Castiel pulled back the tapestry and the both of them jumped down. Harry stopped and said, 'If you want to go back, I won't blame you, you can take the Cloak.'

'Don't be stupid,' Ron said.

'We're coming,' said Hermione.

'And, again, we won't all fit,' Sherlock pointed out.

Harry nodded and pushed the door open. A low, rumbling growl met their ears and all three of the dog's noses sniffed madly in their direction, despite his being asleep.

'What's that at his feet?' Hermione whispered.

'It's a harp,' replied Sherlock.

'Snape must have left it there,' said Ron. Sherlock eyed it warily.

'It's been charmed to play itself- it'll wear off soon,' he said, 'you did bring the flute, didn't you?'

'Yeah… Here goes.'

Harry put the flute that Hagrid had given him for Christmas to his lips and blew. It wasn't really a tune but it seemed to be doing the job as, after the heart-stopping moment in which the harp stopped playing, Fluffy's eyelids twitched a little, but he stayed asleep.

'Keep playing,' Ron warned Harry as they slipped out from under the Cloak, which they left by the door, and crept towards the trapdoor. They could feel the dog's hot, smelly breath on them as they approached the three giant heads.

'I think we'll be able to pull the door open,' said Ron. 'Want to go first, Hermione?'

'No, I don't!'

'All right. Sherlock, give me a hand.'

They stepped carefully over the dog's legs. They both bent down and heaved the door open and peered cautiously through it. It was just black and Sherlock felt his heart flutter in his chest. There was no telling how far it went down.

'… there's no way of climbing down, we'll just have to drop,' he heard Ron saying and his stomach lurched dizzyingly. For all they knew, it went down for miles… Suddenly he was gone. Before anyone could stop him, he was bolting across the room and wrenching the door open. John looked apologetically at Harry before racing after him, scooping up the Cloak as he went.

'What was that about?' Hermione asked.

'Who knows?' Ron shrugged before turning his attention back to the trapdoor.

John found Sherlock just outside the door, sitting against the wall with his head in his hands, breathing heavily.

'Sherlock?' John said, approaching him gently. 'Are you all right?'

'I'm fine,' he snapped. John grimaced and sat beside him. This wasn't like Sherlock at all. He was more inquisitive than brave but he would never run away from anything, especially not a hole in the ground… Comprehension dawned across his face.

'Sherlock… are you afraid of heights?' John asked him.

'No!' he said hotly, then, 'Maybe a little… stupid!'

He stamped his foot on the ground in frustration.

'It's not stupid,' John said kindly, placing a gentle hand on his Sherlock's arm. 'A person's fears don't define who they are; it's how they deal with them that counts. Do you want my advice?'

'No, but you're going to give it to me anyway,' Sherlock grumbled.

'Too right. Heights are pretty scary, but you're a smart person, right? Well then, think of a way around it. Or even better, face it. Go and ride a broom- only this time, don't crash. I'm sure Harry will lend you his Nimbus- I bet it's way more reliable than the old school ones,' John suggested.

'You want me to do this now?' Sherlock said, raising an eyebrow.

'Well not right now. Come on, let's go back to the common room,' said John, getting to his feet.

'But what about…?'

Sherlock gestured at the door that Fluffy was waiting behind.

'They'll understand,' John smiled, throwing the Cloak over themselves. 'It's certainly not helping anyone sitting around out here.'

Below the trapdoor, Hermione was the last to jump down and land on something soft. Having already lost two of their group, they weren't in the highest of spirits, but they had already gotten this far.

'What is this stuff?' Ron asked.

'Dunno, some sort of plant. I suppose it's here to break the fall,' Harry replied.

'We must be miles under the school,' Hermione said wondrously, gazing up at the small square of light above them.

'Lucky this plant thing's here, really,' said Ron.

'Lucky!' Hermione shrieked, backing against a wall, pulling Castiel with her.

'Look at you both!'

The plant had managed to wind itself tightly around their legs and ankles undetected. They struggled against it, but the more they fought, the tighter it squeezed.

'Stop moving!' Hermione ordered them. 'I know what this is- it's- it's-'

'Devil's Snare!' she and Castiel gasped.

'Oh, that's great, at least we know what it's called,' Ron snarled, clawing at a vine that was trying to curl itself around his neck.

'Shut up, I'm trying to remember how to kill it!' Hermione said crossly.

'Devil's Snare likes the dark and damp,' Castiel said to her.

'So we should light a fire? Oh, but there's no wood!' Hermione cried, wringing her hands.

'HAVE YOU GONE MAD?' Ron bellowed. 'ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?'

'Oh, right!'

Both she and Castiel whipped out their wands and, while she muttered something under her breath and sent a jet of bluebell flames at it, Castiel cried, 'Lumos Solem!' and rays of light, almost as bright as sunlight, burst from the end of his wand.

In a matter of seconds Harry and Ron were able to pull themselves free. The plant cringed away from the heat and light and quickly loosened its grip on the two boys.

'Lucky you two pay attention in Herbology,' Harry said, joining them by the wall.

'Yeah,' said Ron, 'and lucky the rest of us don't lose our heads in a crisis- "there's no wood", honestly.'

'This way,' Castiel said, pointing down a stone passageway that was the only way on.

John and Sherlock were climbing down the stairs, Sherlock feeling particularly sorry for himself, when John caught his foot on the corner of the carpet and flew headlong down the rest of the staircase, landing right in front of Mrs Norris at the bottom. John groaned and rolled onto his back. Sherlock tried to get to him as quietly as possible but Mrs Norris acted first, yowling as loud as she could to try and attract Filch's attention, wherever he might be. Sherlock jumped the last few steps and hauled John to his feet and covered him in the Cloak while checking for any injuries. Mrs Norris continued yowling, if a little confused, but reluctantly gave up and stalked off huffily along the corridor.

'Are you all right?' Sherlock whispered. A familiar, unwelcome tingling sensation shot up John's leg and he grimaced as he tried putting weight on it.

'No- my leg…' he murmured back. Sherlock frowned and pulled John's arm around his shoulders and together they limped away from the bottom of the stairs.

'Don't worry, I'll get you up to Madam Pomfrey,' Sherlock said.

'No, don't, I'm fine. Let's just go to bed,' John whispered. 'But first, let's just rest here a second.'

John sat down on the floor, stretching his leg out awkwardly and Sherlock sat beside him in silence.

'How do you think they're doing?' John asked, thinking of Harry and the others below the trapdoor.

'I think they're doing fine,' Sherlock replied. 'They have Harry. He's a lot smarter than he looks.'

John chuckled weakly. They were just struggling to their feet when they heard voices down the corridor. Sherlock hastily threw the Cloak back over them and they held their breath as two figures appeared around the corner, one with his wand to the other's throat.

'What are you going to do, Gabe? You learned all your tricks from me, remember?' a familiar voice said mockingly.

John gasped.

'That's Lucy and Gabriel.'

'Where did you learn that?' Hermione asked Castiel. He shrugged.

'I read the right books,' he replied. They walked carefully along the downward sloping corridor.

'Can you hear something?' Ron whispered. They stopped to listen and heard a soft rustling and clinking coming from up ahead.

'Do you think it's a ghost?' Ron asked.

'It sounds like wings to me,' Castiel replied. They carried on walking until they saw a light ahead.

'I think I can see something,' Hermione murmured. At the end of the passage they found a brilliantly lit chamber, full of small, jewel-bright birds, fluttering all around the room. On the opposite side of the chamber was a wooden door.

'Do you think they'll attack us if we cross the room?' said Ron.

'Probably,' said Harry. 'They don't look very vicious, but if they all swooped down at once… I'll have to run for it.'

He took a deep breath, covered his face and sprinted across the room, but the birds made no move towards him. The others followed him and Castiel was gazing around, head tilted towards the ceiling. Harry was pulling at the handle but it was locked and wouldn't open, even when Hermione tried her Alohomora Charm.

'Now what?' Ron said.

'These birds can't just be here for decoration,' Hermione said.

'They aren't birds,' said Castiel. 'They're keys.'

Looking a little closer, they were, indeed, winged keys.

'So that must mean we have to catch the one that fits the door- yes, there's broomsticks over there!' Harry exclaimed.

'But there are hundreds of them.'

Ron examined the lock on the door.

'We're looking for a big, old-fashioned one- probably silver like the handle,' he said.

They each seized a broom.

'It's probably better that Sherlock isn't here,' Ron smirked. 'He won't even lift three feet off the ground on a broom.'

'I don't imagine falling five floors from one gave him any incentive to,' Hermione frowned.

'Yeah but Castiel did too and he's fine.'

Hermione rolled her eyes.

'Let's just get the key,' Harry said. They kicked off from the ground and flew in every direction, looking for the key but to no avail. It was hard to see anything at all but at last, Harry spotted the one they were looking for through the whirl of rainbow feathers. It had bright blue feathers, one of which was already crumpled and bent as if it had already been caught and stuffed into a keyhole.

'That one!' he called to the others. 'That big one- there- no, there- with the bright blue wings all bent on one side.'

Ron went speeding in the direction that Harry was pointing, crashing into the wall and nearly falling off his broom.

'We need to trap it!' Castiel called.

'You're right- Ron, you come at it from above- Hermione, stay below and stop it going down. Castiel, you circle round and I'll try and catch it. Right, NOW!'

Ron dived and Hermione rocketed upwards. Castiel circled, ready to catch it in case Harry missed. The key dodged both Ron and Hermione and sped towards the wall. Harry streaked after it and, with a nasty crunching noise, pinned it against the stone. Ron and Hermione's cheers echoed around the chamber.

They landed quickly and Harry ran to the door, they key struggling in his hand. He rammed it into the lock and turned. The moment the lock clicked open, the key took flight again, looking very battered now that it had been caught twice.

'Ready?' Harry asked the other three. They nodded nervously and he pulled the door open.

Sherlock elbowed John to make him be quiet.

'Well, come on, little brother, do something,' Lucy giggled. Gabriel jabbed her with his wand and she held her hands up but then started giggling again.

'Oh, that's right! You don't have the guts.'

Gabriel seemed to be summoning up his courage.

'Leave Castiel alone. You've done enough and I won't let you hurt him anymore,' he growled. Lucy's mocking smile dropped and suddenly she looked nothing more than a concerned sibling.

'It's never enough, and besides, it's what's best for all of us, you know that,' she said. Gabriel looked at her as if he'd never met her in his life, and even lowered his wand slightly.

'You really think that this is what's best? Have you even seen Castiel lately?'

She shook her head and the pain in John's leg suddenly became more acute and he bit back a whimper and leaned more heavily on Sherlock.

'No! You know why? Because he's been hiding from you,' Gabriel burst out angrily. 'He's you're little brother and you were supposed to be taking care of him, Lucy. You were all we had after Michael left and he- he looked up to you and- and you go and do this! How can you do it to him? Why can't you just stop?' Gabriel cried desperately. Lucy folded her arms and looked away.

'I can't,' she said bitterly.

'Damn it, Lucy! Don't you think he gets enough-'

John's leg finally gave way beneath him and he slipped, slapping the stone. Sherlock caught him and lifted him back up, managing to keep the Cloak around them both, but it wasn't enough. They had heard them and Lucy immediately whipped out her wand, pointed it in their direction and cried, 'Petrificus Totalus!'

She hit Sherlock square in the face and he fell to the floor with shock written across his face, taking the Cloak with him and leaving John to stare at Lucy in horror as she pointed her wand at him.

They entered a room so dark they couldn't see anything at all, but as they entered it, light flooded the room, blinding them for a moment before revealing the largest chess set any of them had ever seen. They were stood behind the black chessmen, facing the white ones and the door on the other side of the room. They were all taller than the four first-years and they had no faces.

'What do we do now?' Harry whispered.

'It's obvious, isn't it? We have to play our way across the room,' Ron said.

'But how?' Hermione asked.

'I think we have to be chessmen,' Castiel whispered hoarsely.

Ron gulped and walked over to the black knight. He placed a hand on it and it immediately sprang to life and turned its great stone head towards them.

'Do we- erm- have to join you to get across?' Ron asked him. He nodded slowly and turned back to face his white counterpart. Ron had gone pale.

'Ok… ok, how are we going to do this?' he said shakily. 'This is dangerous.'

'More dangerous than the Devil's Snare?' Hermione said.

'This is different, Hermione. The pieces are clever and can think for themselves beyond what they're going to eat for tea.'

'Listen, it'll be fine. You and Castiel are great chess players. If you work together, we can get through this,' Hermione said encouragingly. Ron looked at Castiel.

'What do you think?' he asked him. Castiel looked around at all the chessmen and rubbed his arm nervously. His face was every bit as pale as Ron's and looked like he was calculating something while he fiddled with the cuffs of his sleeves. Finally, he took a deep, shuddering breath and looked back at Ron.

'I think we can do this,' he said.

'Okay,' said Ron. 'Where do we start?'

'Well, we all need to play, so Harry and I will be bishops,' Castiel began.

'Yeah- Hermione, you go next to Castiel and take the place of that castle,' Ron directed. 'I'll be a knight.'

As if the pieces had heard them, they came to life and the ones they had been talking about walked calmly off the board. They took their places and Ron looked around at them all.

'Everyone all right? Everyone ready?'

'We'll be fine, just tell us what to do,' said Hermione. Ron nodded.

'All right- go.'

'White moves first,' Castiel murmured and, sure enough, a white pawn moved two places forwards. Ron and Castiel started directing pieces, taking plenty of time to confer with each other. The pieces moved silently wherever they were told. Harry's knees were trembling. What if they lost?

'Harry- move diagonally four squares to the right,' Castiel directed him. He was surprised to see Castiel calm and focused on their strategy. Needless to say, he was quite surprised himself, but right now he needed to stay on track and get them all through safely.

Their first real shock came when they lost their other knight. The white queen smashed him to the floor and dragged him off the board; where he lay quite still, face down.

'Had to let that happen,' Ron said. He looked quite shaken.

'It leaves you to take that bishop, Hermione,' Castiel told her.

Every time one of their men was lost, the white pieces showed no mercy. Soon there was a pile of limp, black pieces stacked up against the wall. Twice Ron noticed just in time that one of the others was in trouble. He and Castiel themselves darted around the board, taking as many white pieces as they had lost black ones, shouting instructions and, whenever they were close enough not to be heard by a white piece, discussed tactics with each other in lowered voices.

'We're nearly there,' Castiel murmured. He and Ron looked around the board.

'Let me think- let me think…' Ron muttered. The white queen turned her blank face towards him.

'Yes…' Ron said softly, 'it's the only way; I've got to be taken.'

'NO!' Harry and Hermione shouted. Castiel sucked in a deep breath, but said nothing

'That's chess!' Ron snapped. 'You've got to make sacrifices! I make one move and she'll take me-'

His voice was lost in his throat.

'That leaves you to checkmate the king, Harry,' Castiel continued for him.

'But-'

'Do you want to stop Snape or not?' Ron said, clearing his throat.

'Ron-'

'Look, if you don't hurry up, he'll already have the Stone!'

There was nothing else for it. He looked at Castiel, who nodded reassuringly.

'Ready?' Ron called, face pale but determined. 'Here I go- now, don't hang around once you've won.'

He stepped forward and to the right and the white queen pounced, striking Ron on the top of the head with her stone arm and he crashed to the floor. She dragged him to one side- he looked as if he'd been knocked out.

Shaking, Harry moved three spaces to the left.

'Checkmate!'

John put his hands in the air.

'Have you been listening?' Lucy hissed.

'Lucy-' Gabriel began.

'Can it! Well, have you?'

'Not- not on purpose,' John said. Lucy ground her teeth.

'Don't you know that it's rude to eavesdrop? Get up!' she barked.

'I- I can't,' John whimpered. Lucy opened her mouth to cast a curse but Gabriel grabbed her arm.

'What are you doing down here, John?' he asked calmly.

'We were trying to get into the third floor- we wanted to see what was in there- but then I fell down the stairs and my leg-'

'Liar! You've been following me, I know you have!'

She raised her wand again but this time, Gabriel dived in front of her.

'Protego!'

'Crucio!'

The jet of light lit up her features, making them look twisted and insane before it broke through Gabriel's thin shield and he fell to the floor, writhing and screaming. Lucy gasped and ran over to him and John groped around for Sherlock and the Cloak.

'No! Gabriel, I'm so sorry- I didn't mean to!' she cried. Gabriel stopped screaming and lay panting on the floor. Lucy went to help him up but he slapped away her hands, instead, pushing himself up off the ground. John found what he was looking for, yanked the Cloak over himself and tried to remember how to undo the Full Body-Bind.

'You were going to cast that on a twelve year-old?' Gabriel murmured in disbelief.

'No, I-'

'So you were trying to cast it on me?'

'No! I don't know what happened- I just-'

'Just go, Lucy.'

'Let me take you to the hospital wing-'

'Are you out of your mind? I wouldn't let you take me anywhere.'

Lucy shook her head and ran off down the corridor. When she was gone Gabriel leaned against the wall and John whipped off the Cloak.

'Gabriel, are you all right?'

'I'm all right, what about you?'

John nodded.

'What did she do to you? That spell…'

Gabriel rubbed his face.

'It's called the Cruciatus Curse.'

'What does it do?'

Gabriel remained silent for a moment.

'There's a reason why wizards don't have torture dungeons,' he said, voice cracking.

'Where's Sherlock? I'll reverse the spell.'

John pulled the Cloak off him and Gabriel bent down to mutter the counter-curse. Sherlock breathed in and blinked. Sitting up he immediately turned to Gabriel, who was now sitting against the wall.

'Who's Michael?' he asked.

'Sherlock!'

Gabriel sighed.

'He's our older brother. After he finished school, he went back to America. We haven't heard from him in a while.'

He turned his head away to hide the tears that were forming in his eyes. Sherlock sat looking at him awkwardly but John crawled over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. He flinched away and said, 'don't tell Castiel,' before jumping to his feet and sprinting off the way Lucy had gone.

'We have to do something about her,' Sherlock frowned.

'Right now?' John grimaced, rubbing his leg.

'No, no, sorry. Let's go.'

Sherlock lifted him to his feet and re-wrapped the Cloak around them both.

The white king took off his crown and threw it at Harry's feet. They had won. The chessmen parted and bowed, leaving the way to the door clear. They looked over at Ron.

'I'm going to stay here and do what I can for him,' said Castiel, moving towards him.

'But we need you to come with us,' said Hermione.

'The best place I can be right now is here with Ron- no, listen, Hermione- we've already had Professor Sprout's obstacle- the Devil's Snare- Professor Flitwick charmed the keys and the chess set was Professor McGonagall's. The only thing left will be Snape's, which I'm sure is some sort of potion and I doubt there will be enough left for all three of us. The only logical thing to do is to stay here wherei can be of most use,' Castiel reasoned. 'I will take care of Ron.'

'But what if we need your help?'

'Now is not the time to start doubting yourself, Hermione. You can do this.'

Hermione smiled weakly.

'All right. Come on, Harry,' she said.

'We'll see you later,' Harry said and they disappeared behind the door from which a very nasty smell was issuing.

As soon as they were gone Castiel released the panic that he'd been holding in, grabbing hold of the nearest broken chess piece to keep himself up. His whole body felt weak and shook so hard that he could barely hold on to the pillar of shattered stone that used to be a castle. His breath came in harsh and ragged gasps, his heart raced and he felt like someone had hold of his intestines and was twisting so much that tears streamed down his face. Minutes that felt like hours passed and his breathing slowed and he began to regain his composure. He wiped the water from his shaking hands and drew his wand, going over to Ron.

He lifted him up gingerly so that he could see his head. There was a large lump on the top of Ron's head but the skin was not broken. Castiel screwed up his face in concentration and jabbed the lump with his wand and muttered a spell. It revealed to him that Ron's skull had not been cracked. He jabbed it again and, though it took him a few tries, the lump shrank in size, but not all the way. Castiel placed him gently back down and waited for him to wake. A few minutes later, Hermione reappeared, looking upset. Castiel rose and went to her, hastily controlling his shaking.

'Where's Harry?' he asked.

'He- he went on alone. There wasn't enough potion,' she stammered.

'Ok, then, help me get Ron out of here.'

Hermione started sniffling.

'He'll be all right, I know he will,' Castiel reassured her.

'How do you know?'

'Because he's Harry.'

Hermione grimaced and they went back to Ron.

'I can't get him to wake, so we'll have to carry him-'

'RON, WAKE UP!'

Hermione slapped him hard across the face and he opened his eyes and rubbed his face.

'What was that for?' he demanded, sitting up groggily. Hermione shrugged. He rubbed his head.

'What happened?'

'You got beaten up by a bit of rock,' Hermione sniggered. Ron made a face and got unsteadily to his feet.

'We need to go and get help,' Hermione said.

'Why? Where's Harry?'

'He's gone after Snape himself, we have to find someone.'

'All right, then, we should go,' said Ron and they headed back the way they'd come.

Sherlock and John had nearly reached the bottom of another staircase, John grumbling all the way ('why are there so many stairs?' 'I don't know, John.' 'Stupid design.' 'It's the only way to get back up to the hospital wing.), when they bumped into Professor Dumbledore, who looked grim.

'Harry's gone after him, hasn't he?'

He didn't wait for an answer, but hurtled back up to the third floor.

'That doesn't sound good,' John frowned.

'At what point has any of this sounded good to you?' Sherlock replied irritably.

'No need to be like that.'

'John! Sherlock!' Hermione's voice sounded from above them. They turned around and saw Ron, Hermione and Castiel coming down the stairs.

'What happened to you?' Ron asked. Sherlock looked away, hiding behind his hair.

'Nothing much. Fell down the stairs. What about you?' John answered quickly.

'Well first, we landed on some Devil's Snare,' said Ron. Sherlock twitched slightly.

'Then we had to catch a flying key,' Ron continued, 'and then we played chess-'

'You played chess?'

'Yeah but I got knocked out.'

'Castiel stayed to help Ron and Harry and I went on,' Hermione picked up. 'There was a room with an unconscious troll in and then one with some potions. There was a riddle and flames barring the door. There was only enough for one of us to pass, so Harry took it.'

'Well that's definitely more exciting than falling down the stairs,' John joked, trying to lighten the mood, when he didn't much feel like joking himself. There was no telling what state Harry would come back in- if at all, and Snape had always hated Harry anyway. A silence pervaded the air as they all slipped into thoughts of what Snape might do when Harry reached him.

'We just ran into Professor Dumbledore. I think he's gone to get Harry,' Castiel finally said. 'Perhaps we should go back and wait for them.'

John groaned and everyone looked at him.

'Oh, yes, when John fell down the stairs, he hurt his leg,' Sherlock told them.

'What's wrong with it?' Castiel asked.

'Same thing as before, I think. Something about the nerves.'

'Oh, well, I can fix that,' he said. He pointed his wand at the area that John indicated the sensation was coming from and muttered, 'Release.'

John sighed in relief and they climbed back up the stairs and sat outside the door that led to Fluffy and waited.

Thanks to TS17isme, CoolNinjaOfDoom, PastelCake, RRW and MouraMoura. I hope this wasn't too much of a backbreaker for you :3 thanks for waiting