Chapter 5: Third Floor Corridor
The life of Ron become simple after his fight with Potter and Longbottom on the first day. All three of them have to face the wrath of Professor McGonagall the next morning. All three of them also received detentions for a weekend. They have to clean the classrooms without magic. After that Ron and Neville live their life believing that the other did not exist. They completely ignore each other. Both were happy with that.
Ron was also given assurance from Twins that if he got involved in the fight again then they will target his antagonists in pranks. Percy also tells him not to worry and next time tells him since he is a Prefect so he can handle it better. He also received the letter from his parents. They were too shocked that their youngest son was a Gryffindor. He dreaded that they will hate him but got reassured by his parents. Sure they were not expecting this and were taken aback by the news but, he got their support.
Ron was unable to make any friends in Gryffindor for the first two weeks. Neville and Harry always ignore him completely. He tried to talk with Dean and Seamus but, they were reluctant, as they do not want to be on the wrong side of The-Boy-Who-Lived. So he gave up after few tries. He spent most of his time outside Gryffindor Tower with his brothers. He met a Slytherin boy Theodore Nott in the Library. They do their homework together and spend some time together. Theodore Nott was his only friend.
He has some occasional friendly conversation with Hermione. She spends most of her time at Library. She was also on friendly terms with Neville as she sometimes helps him with his homework. She was an only Gryffindor who is friendly and do not ignore him. She was also his partner in Potion's class.
Harry, Neville, and Hermione are walking down towards the Hagrid's hut whispering among themselves in the snow. The curtain of the hut is down. When they arrived, Harry knocks at the door three times.
"Who it is?" called a voice from the inside.
"Me, Harry, Neville, and Hermione," answered Harry.
Hagrid let them in and closed the door quickly. They all settled themselves around the table.
"So, you wanted to ask me something?" asked Hagrid.
"Yes," answered Harry. "We were wondering if you could tell us what is guarding the Sorcerer's stone apart from Fluffy."
Hagrid frowned at Harry.
"Of course not," said Hagrid. "First I don't know myself. Second, if I know, I would not tell you. You three know too much already. It was almost stolen out off Gringotts, I suppose you have already worked that out and all? Beats me how do you even know about Fluffy."
"Oh, come on, Hagrid, you might not want to tell us, but you do know, you know everything that goes on around here," said Hermione in a warm, flattering voice. Hagrid beard twitched and it was sure that he was smiling.
"We only wondered who had done the guarding really." Hermione went on. "We wondered who Dumbledore had trusted enough to help him, apart from you."
Harry and Neville beamed at Hermione.
"Well, I don't suppose it could hurt to tell you that. Let's see... he burrowed Fluffy from me, then some of the teachers did enchantments... Professor Sprout, Professor Flitwick, Professor McGonagall, Professor Quirrell, and Dumbledore himself did something, of course. Hang on, I have forgotten someone. Oh yeah, Professor Snape."
"Snape?" all three of them said at the same time.
"Yeah. You not still on about that, are you? Look, Professor Snape helped protect the stone, he is not about to steal it." said Hagrid.
Harry, Neville, and Hermione stared at each other for a second.
"You are the only one who knows how to get past Fluffy. Are not you, Hagrid?" asked Harry. "And you would not tell anyone, would you? Not even one of the teachers?"
"Not a soul knows except me and Dumbledore," said Hagrid proudly.
"Well, that is something," muttered Harry. "Hagrid, can we have a window open? I am boiling."
"Can't Harry, sorry," said Hagrid, glancing over at fire for some reason.
"Hagrid, what is that?" asked Neville, moving towards the fire.
"Ah," said Hagrid "That is... er..."
"Where did you get it, Hagrid?" Neville asked, crouching over the fire. "It must have cost you a fortune."
"Won it," said Hagrid. "Last night. I was down in a village having a few drinks and got into a game of cards with a stranger. Think he was quite glad to get rid of it, to be honest."
"But what are you going to do with it when it is hatched?" asked Hermione.
"Well, I have been doing some reading," said Hagrid, pulling a large book from under his pillow. "Got this out off the Library. Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit. It is a bit out of date, of course, but it is all in here. Keep the egg in the fire, because their mother breathes on them, see, and when it hatches, feed it on a bucket of brandy mixed with chicken blood every half hour. And see here, how to recognize different eggs. What I got there is a Norwegian Ridgeback. They are rare, them."
Hagrid looked very pleased with himself, but Hermione did not.
"Hagrid, you live in a wooden house," said Hermione.
Suddenly, Ron woke up by the light that falls on his bed through the window. He has a dream of the conversation between Harry, Neville, Hermione, and Hagrid. It was a long dream. He quickly gets up and reach for his backpack and pulled one empty journal. He decided to write all the details of the dream before he forgets.
He read it three times but still felt very confused. 'Who is Fluffy? What is the Sorcerer's stone? Why Fluffy and the others teachers guarding this stone? Why Harry thought Professor Snape is trying to steal it?' he thought. He remembers that they were wearing winter's clothes and there was snow. So it must be the scene of the winter. He has time to look about it more. He decided to look for Sorcerer's stone first. He can take Theodore help in the research.
He then concentrates on the end of the dream, where Hagrid was trying to hatch the dragon's egg. It was bloody illegal. He doesn't know Hagrid much but by the way, Harry was talking to him, two of them seems to be the friends. Hagrid will surely land up in Azkaban if he keeps that dragon. He knew about the laws.
'It's the time to have a chat with Hermione.' he decided.
It was Thursday, the Nineteenth of September. Ron was having lunch in the Great Hall. The first year Gryffindors have a free hour after the lunch. He decided to talk to Hermione in the meantime. He looks for her around the table. He did not find her. He decided to look at the Library after lunch.
After finishing lunch, he runs towards the Library. There she was, sitting in the back end, near the window alone, reading and with the huge piles of books beside her. He made his way towards the bookshelves in search of a book. Soon he found the book he was searching, 'Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit'.
He took the book and went to the table where Hermione was sitting. He placed the book gently on the massive oak table and sat down. Hermione seemed quite absorbed in reading a very heavy volume.
Ron started flipping through the book he had found but not really reading it. He was watching Hermione discreetly.
But after a few minutes, Hermione noticed his presence.
"Oh. Hello Ron," she said.
"Er... Hi."
"What are you doing here?" she asked curiously. "You preferred roaming around rather spend time in the Library,"
"I just want to read a little bit," he said showing the book cover to her.
"Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit," she read. "Why you want to read it. Dragon's breeding is illegal."
"I was just curious, you know, my brother Charlie works with dragons in Romania. Sometimes he has to deal with those who try to breed dragon in the home. First, it is illegal and second, it is nearly impossible to breed a dragon by yourself at home." said Ron.
"So, I was just curious to know, what measures ones have to take when they decide to breed a dragon," he explained.
"That was cool... Anyway, only nutters decide to breed a dragon," she said with a small smile. He nodded in reply smiling a little.
'You are not saying this in future.' he thought.
"Wait, you have another brother," she said surprised,
"Yeah. Actually, we are six brothers and a sister. Bill is the oldest, he works for Gringotts in Egypt. Charlie is second, he graduated from Hogwarts last year. Ginny, she is a year younger than mine." said Ron.
"So you have five older brothers and a younger sister," she exclaimed still surprised. "I am the only child. I always wonder what it will be like to have a sibling."
"You don't want any if they are like Fred and George," he said chuckling.
She also smiled and they proceeded into a comfortable silence. Both continued to read their respective books for nearly half an hour.
"I better leave now, it's time for the class, Bye!" said Hermione as she took her things and the book she was reading and left.
"Bye!" Ron watched as Hermione left. He was pleased with himself that he has a nice chat with Hermione and he was able to complete his first mission. Now it was up to Hermione if she remembers and on Potter and Longbottom if they want his help.
He looked at the seat where Hermione seated a few minutes ago and saw a white envelope. He opened it.
Happy Birthday, Hermione!
We hope you are having a good time at Hogwarts. We think it was a fantastic place full of magic.
We are very proud of you that you have been able to enter such a beautiful place.
We know that you are very intelligent and that you like to study a lot but we hope that you also take some time to make some friends.
We hope you like your gift. We were sure that you have all the books we saw in the bookstore so we decided on the musical box, it can be used to store things and since it does not use electricity it will work without problems.
We want you to know that we miss you so much and that we are counting the days so that Christmas arrives.
We will write to you soon.
Lots of hugs and kisses.
Mom and Dad
Ron finished the letter and shot out to catch up with Hermione. A few meters ahead he found her in a completely deserted corridor.
"Hermione!" he yelled.
Hermione turned around and saw it was Ron.
"You forgot this note on the table, and I thought I should return it," he said when he reached her.
Hermione took it out of his hand and looked inside.
"I had not folded it like that, you read my letter!" she said indignantly.
Ron was caught off guard. He can not believe that she will notice this minute details. She was very observant.
"Er... I do not think so, I just opened it when I realized it was yours so, I came to bring it," said Ron.
"That you could know without opening the envelope," she said while pointing 'Hermione Jean Granger' in the recipient.
She then started walking down the corridor. Ron watched her back and sighed. She made a few meters but before she could walk away he shouted.
"Before I forget, Happy Birthday, Hermione!"
Hermione stopped and turned around.
"Thank You, Ron!" she replied with a warm smile.
One day the Gryffindors have the flying lessons with the Slytherins. His relationship with Hermione become more friendly after her birthday. They begin to talk more. Sometimes they have the nice conversations in Library. They still don't talk with each other when she was around Longbottom and Potter. It seems like Potter, Longbottom, and Hermione was also getting along well. He noticed that she spend most of her time in the Library reading who knows what. She is also very bossy when she wants to be.
Soon she joined him in the Great Hall at breakfast. Longbottom and Potter are still not arrived. She then begins to bore him all mental with the flying tips she had gotten out of the Library book called 'Quidditch Through the Ages.' 'Merlin, sometimes she got on my nerves.' he thought. He knows you can not become an expert flyer from reading some book, even if it is about Quidditch. You had to experience it. He got the impression that Hermione read about having fun more than she actually went out and had fun.
During the flying class, Neville lost control on his broom and injured himself. As a result, he drops his Remembrall on the ground and, Malfoy notices it. Malfoy challenge Harry to caught Remembrall in the air. Harry caught it by performing an astonishing dive which earn him the seeker position in the Gryffindor Quidditch team. He is the youngest seeker of the century. Later that day, Malfoy due to envy challenges him in the midnight duel.
Ron is been researching about Sorcerer's stone whenever he got free time. He did not get any success until now. He was sitting in the common room doing his Charm's essay when he saw Potter and Longbottom emerged from the dormitory. Surely they are leaving for a duel with Malfoy. He had a feeling that Malfoy is playing a hoax. But it was not his place to warn them.
"I can't believe you are doing this, Harry." said a voice from behind.
He turned around and there was Hermione, wearing a pink bathrobe and looking like McGonagall's granddaughter.
"Hermione -" Neville started to say but cut off by Hermione.
"I almost told the Prefect" Hermione snapped. "He had put a stop to this."
"Come on," Harry said to Neville, ignoring Hermione.
But she was persistent and followed right behind them outside the portrait hole.
Ron sighed. Hermione can be really annoying sometimes. He waited for her to return but she did not come. 'She will be accompanying them.' he thought. He then focused on his incomplete Charm's essay.
He falls asleep on the couch while finishing his essay. He woke up when he heard the voice of the portrait hole swung open. He was about to get up when he heard some whispers. It was Harry, Neville, and Hermione. He pretended to be asleep.
"I... told... you" he heard Hermione said between breaths. "I told you."
"We are back now." he heard Harry.
"Malfoy tricked you," he heard Hermione confirming his suspicion. "You realize that, don't you? Filch knew someone was going to be in the trophy room, Malfoy must have tipped him off."
"Whatever, but what do they think they are doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school?" he heard Neville's rant. "If any dog needs exercise, that one does."
"You do not use your eyes, any of you, do you?" he heard Hermione's harsh tone. "Did not see what it was standing on."
"The floor?" he heard Harry. "I was not looking at his feet, I was too busy with his heads."
"No, not the floor. It was standing on the trapdoor. It is obviously guarding something." he heard Hermione. That caught his attention.
"I hope you are pleased with yourselves. We could all have been killed, or worse, expelled. Now, if you don't mind, I am going to bed." He heard Hermione's rant and her footsteps towards girl's dormitory.
"He falls asleep here. Take him up with you." he heard Hermione again and the sound of the door open and closes, probably the girl's dormitory.
No one came to wake him up. He did not care either. He was in his own thought. He needed some time alone. A dog is guarding the trapdoor. He remembers his dream and concluded that it will be Hagrid's protection. This dog does not sound like a normal dog from the Trio's voices. He knew Potter mention that he was too busy watching his heads. 'Bloody Hell, the dog has more than one head' he muttered. So the Sorcerer's stone is inside the trapdoor. But where is this trapdoor? Then suddenly he remembers Dumbledore words. 'The third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death.' He was glad that he is progressed a little in this mystery. Now he has to find out, what is the Sorcerer's stone. He was too tired get-up and go back to the boy's dormitory. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
A/N:
What do you think about the Trio (Harry, Neville, and Hermione)? They are not best friends yet, but they will with time.
What about Ron and Hermione's friendship?
Please read and review.
