A few weeks into school and I had already settled into a routine. Lisa had definitely grown on me. Someone else I was beginning to develop a friendship with was Hermione Granger. We frequently met in the library, studying together. She was intense and could sometimes be a bit bossy but I found her company enjoyable all the same.

I seemed to be the only one of that opinion. Her fellow Gryffindors found her to be obnoxious and most Ravenclaws wouldn't go near her with a ten foot pole. She was lonely and, since I felt like the odd man out most days, I tried my best to be her friend. Something that was sometimes difficult, given that I sometimes questioned her humanity.

"I don't think I've ever seen her get tired." I stated one morning at breakfast to Lisa. "Honestly, she practically lives in the library."

"You're the one who decided to be friends with her." Lisa replied grimly.

"She's not a bad person! She's actually quite sweet, but her study habits are a bit-"

"Ridiculous?"

"Yeah."

"Well, not all of us can remember everything we've ever read. I don't know why you even bother studying." It had taken somewhere around three days for Lisa to realize I was a walking, talking encyclopedia. When she asked me about it, I was honest. Since then, the teasing hadn't stopped.

"Knowledge is power, after all. A few more sources on a subject isn't going to hurt."

Lisa snorted and I sighed at my toast. It was dry and tasteless, not to mention overly crumby. The next thing I knew, I was offended by my toast. "Do you ever get annoyed with toast?"

She gave me a weird look and I decided to keep my thoughts on breakfast to myself. The school was still buzzing with the news of a Gringotts break in. I didn't understand the significance until Su Li explained that Gringotts was supposed to be impenetrable. "The safest bank in the world," She had said. All I had to say was, "Clearly not."

If I hadn't mentioned her before, Su Li was another girl my year. She was quiet and reserved and didn't say much. Padma Patil was also in my dorm. Her twin sister had been sorted into Gryffindor but they still seemed to be attached at the hip. So it's a good thing I took up with Lisa because I likely wouldn't have had anyone else to talk to.

I had talked to Kendrick once since the train ride. He was too busy hanging out with another Slytherin named Theodore Knott. His dad used to be a Death Eater under the authority of Voldemort, who by the way, was the wizard Harry Potter defeated. Everyone seemed to still be scared of Voldemort's name but I didn't understand why. It was just a name after all. Still, I learned to say "You-Know-Who" to keep my peers content.

For some ridiculous reason, I missed Kendrick. Lisa was intelligent once you got past her jibber-jabbering but she didn't seem to share the same interests I did. Even though I didn't know him very well, he was the only other person I met who was as interested in science and math as I was. Our singular conversation went like this:

"How's Slytherin treating you?"

"Fine." I noticed how he seemed to shut down at my question.

"Well, um, you seem to have made some friends."

"I guess." His hands were all twitchy.

"I'm great, by the way." I stated with annoyance. He merely nodded in response. I gave up at that point. "Well, nice seeing you. I guess." I walked away before he could say anything. Which, of course, he didn't anyway. My main thought was that boys were idiots.

Still, life moved on and classes stopped for no one. Gossip travelled quickly around Hogwarts, like the fact that Harry Potter was the new Gryffindor seeker, even though he was only a first year. Apparently, it was a big deal that he was the youngest quidditch player in a century. I didn't know much about it because I had always preferred quodpot, the American equivalent. All the same, I still wasn't much of a sports enthusiast.

Perhaps the biggest event, however, was the journey of Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger into the forbidden third floor corridor. I had been sitting in the library, reading a book on the theories of interdimensional travel when Hermione came bustling in. She plopped next to me and began rummaging through her bag.

"What's up with you?" I'm not sure what I was expecting but it certainly wasn't what followed.

"What do you know about the third floor corridor?" She whispered conspiratorially.

"It's a big no-no to go there."

Hermione's eyes darted around the room, as if she was seeking proof of an audience. "Harry, Ron, and I ended up there last night."

"What?!" I hissed. I wasn't exactly a stickler for rules, but I did have a thing about wandering off unprepared. What were they thinking?

"It wasn't intentional." She said defensively. "Harry and Ron were on their way to a midnight duel against Malfoy." I rolled my eyes and she grimaced. "It was really stupid of them but anyway, I followed them, we nearly got caught by Filch. That's how we ended up there."

"Escaping from Filch?" Mr. Filch was quite possibly the most foul tempered squib I had ever met. Sure, he was born without magic but did that give him the right to be such a jerk all the time? No, it certainly did not. The only thing worse than Filch was that creepy cat of his, Mrs. Norris. And I liked cats.

Hermione nodded. "So, what was in there?"

She gave a glance around the room once more. "A three-headed dog."

My eyes opened wide. "A what?"

"A three-headed dog. And that's not all. It was guarding something. It was standing on a trapped door."

I exhaled slowly. "So the school put a Cerberus to guard something. The sorcerer's stone goes missing from Gringott's..."

"Harry said Hagrid took something from that vault that was broken into when they went to Gringott's. He said it was small."

Why would anyone put the sorcerer's stone in the school? It didn't make any sense. Unless, they felt Gringott's wasn't safe? "Do you think that's what's in there?"

"I don't know." Hermione stated with annoyance. "It does seem likely though, doesn't it?"

"Do you need me to do some research on Cerberuses?"

"I know that according to myth, they guarded the underworld. But I can't see what use that would be here."

"I'll do some digging and let you know what I find."

"Thanks," Hermione rose to her feet. "And thanks for being you know,"

"Helpful?"

"A friend." She smiled weakly and exited the library.

Since that day, I had been doing plenty of research, but nothing particularly helpful came across my way. It was just the same old story from the myths. Still, I kept digging, because I was obsessive and wasn't sleeping. I knew I was going to have to sleep at sometime, but the thought of watching the man's suffering made my stomach churn. The worst nightmare is the one where you're completely useless.

As Lisa and I left breakfast, I found myself cringing at the thought of the dreams. Lisa noticed my behavior and asked the dreaded question, "So are you sleeping yet?"

I sighed as we made our way to Herbology. "Noticed that, huh?"

"It's hard not to notice the incessant page turning at three in the morning."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to keep you awake too."

"I'm just worried. Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not right now. Later, I promise."

"You had better."

That was the very thing I was dreading.