After a few seconds of stillness, George and Lee let go of the door.
"Do you think…" began Lee.
"Yep," nodded Fred solemnly.
"And there's no way he…" said Lee, as George pressed his ear against the door.
"Nope," said Fred, shaking his head.
"Can you hear anything?" asked Lee.
"I think I can hear chewing," said George, standing back and looking a bit nauseous.
"Should we check?"
"If you want," said George, pointing towards the door.
"Maybe not," said Lee.
"Weren't you supposed to make the floor icy? Like you did to Filch at Halloween," said George. "That way he would have slipped over and we could have run."
"When he attacked I sort of forgot," said Lee sheepishly. "But I think it turned out for the best in the end."
"Now what," said Fred, in an exasperated tone. They could hear footsteps quickly approaching from the stairs towards the other end of the corridor.
"Well, we did make a lot of noise," said George, as the three boys turned around to greet the new arrivals. The three new arrivals. The three, rather unexpected, new arrivals.
"Enoch!" exclaimed Fred breaking into a wide smile as their uncle, Miro and Lexington raced into the corridor. The three men were covered in dirt and blood.
"Where's the Kosa?" demanded Lexington, with his wand darting left and right. The man had a nasty looking gash above his right eye which was bleeding profusely.
"He's through there," said Lee, pointing at the door. "But you don't need to worry about him."
"I'll be the judge of that," said Lexington, striding forward. He opened the door, stepped inside and closed it behind him. Two seconds later he opened the door and stepped back into the corridor, and closed the door once again. He leaned against the door and looked rather pale. "Yeah, we don't need to worry about him."
"Why? Is he there?" said Miro. The Auror-in-training had a number of scratches and burn marks on his face, and was holding one arm gingerly across his chest.
"Mostly there," nodded Lexington. "A lot of him is… not there."
"What are you going on about?" said Enoch. Like the other two he was covered in injuries.
"There's a giant three headed dog that lives behind that door," said Lee.
"Pfft," snorted Enoch. He opened the door and stuck his head inside. He closed it quite quickly. "Huh? A three headed dog. You don't get many of those these days."
"First time I ever saw one," said Lexington in a wooden voice.
"Yeah…" said Enoch in a similar tone. "That's a lot of blood."
"I didn't even notice the blood," said Lexington. "I was mainly fixated on the chewing."
"Yep, it's going to take a lot to get that image out of my head," agreed Enoch.
"So that's it then?" asked Lee. "He's dead."
"Well if he wasn't we'd be hearing a lot more screaming," said Enoch.
"I mean I worked a number of Death Eater cases back in the day but that…" said Lexington, still in shock, "… you just can't prepare for seeing something like that."
"You're hurt," said Enoch, looking at Fred's wrist. It was bleeding from where Valek's claws had pierced the skin.
"You can talk," said Fred, nodding at his uncle's injuries. "We saw a bright flash from the Quidditch Pitch. We thought you were dead."
"So did we," admitted Enoch. He slapped Miro on the shoulder. "Probably would have been if it weren't for young Miro here. He pulled a Coffin Dodger."
"A what?" said George.
"That's not what it's called," scolded Lexington. "He performed a rather tricky solid matter transition on us and himself after he initiated an Explosion curse to use as cover."
"That made even less sense than Enoch, and that's saying something," said Fred.
"He did an Explosion curse which caused the bright light," explained Enoch. "While Valek was temporarily blinded, Miro did a spell that dragged the three of us beneath the sand on the Quidditch pitch. Valek must have thought we died in the explosion. We had to dig our way back out once we had regained consciousness."
"Sorry about that," said Miro, sheepishly. "If I hadn't dropped my wand when we were moving through the sand I would have been able to get us straight out."
"Nonsense," said Lexington. "We were lucky that you thought of it. He'd already disarmed and knocked us two out. If you hadn't done what you'd done we'd probably all be dead."
"Thanks," said Miro, smiling. He winced as he tried to move his arm.
"Come on," said Lexington. "We'll head out of the school grounds and Apparate to St Mungo's to get you all fixed up."
"We have an Infirmary in the school," said Lee.
"No it's fine, must get back to London as soon as possible and start writing up my report. The Minister of Magic will want to read all about this," said Lexington.
"Probably best if you left me and the boys' names out of that report," advised Enoch. "I don't exactly have a good name up at the Ministry and they're less likely to dismiss it if I'm nowhere near it.
"As you wish. Are you coming?"
"I'll head back down the Quidditch pitch first and disarm the traps that didn't go off," said Enoch.
"Good thinking." The Auror turned to look at the boys. "Great work tonight lads. If you ever want to join the Aurors let me know, I'll put in a good word for you in a heartbeat. All the best."
"See you," said Enoch, shaking the man's hand. Miro nodded goodbye as well. The two made their way back down the corridor and took the stairs down. Enoch turned to look at the boys. "Well, why am I not surprised you didn't go back to Gryffindor Tower?"
"We tried," said Fred, while his uncle took a closer look at his wounded wrist. "We accidentally dropped and broke the potions and Valek found us before we could get somewhere safe."
"It all turned out fine in the end," said Enoch. He reached into his pocketed and pulled out a strip of gauze, which be began wrapping around the boy's arm. "This should help, it's been enchanted. If only we'd known one of Valek's weaknesses was a giant three headed dog, we could have sorted this out months ago."
"That feels better already," said Fred. "Yeah, we should probably ask them to update the book in the library."
"Why is there a three headed dog…" began Enoch.
"Fluffy. His name is Fluffy," said George.
"Seriously?" said Enoch, looking at Fred and Lee for confirmation. "Why is Fluffy being kept in the school?"
"I did think about that," said Lee, "and I came up with only one reasonable explanation."
"Which was?"
"It's Hogwarts," said Lee, shrugging.
"That sounds about right," nodded Enoch. "Look, I'm going to head back down the pitch and clean it up a bit. You three head off to the Infirmary."
"Probably not a good idea," said George. "Seeing as how we're not supposed to be out of bed."
"Yeah, apart from this," said Fred, holding up his arm, "we're pretty much okay."
"Fine," said Enoch as he walked away. "But go to bed at least. Come see me over in Hogsmeade tomorrow."
"Will do," said George. He turned to his brother. "How's the wrist?"
"Much better," said Fred, holding his arm up and pointing to the bandage. "This is helping a lot."
"Good, we have Ravenclaw on Saturday so I'd hate to think what Oliver would do if one of us was injured," said George.
"Yeah, he'd make Valek look like a stroll through the courtyard," said Fred. "How about you two?"
"Mainly just bruises and cuts," said Lee, checking himself over. "Nothing nearly as bad as what normally happens when I'm around you two."
"What about Ron and his friends?" said George.
"Oh I don't think anything bad has ever happened to me when I've been around them," said Lee, shaking his head.
"No, I meant, should we try and get them some help. Assuming they went down that trapdoor, can they get out? Because we've seen what Fluffy will do if they try getting out back through the trapdoor."
"There has to be another way out of there," said Fred hopefully. "Don't you think?"
"I dunno. If Fluffy was supposed to be guarding the trapdoor it wouldn't make sense that there is another way out," said Lee, scratching his chin.
"We're going to have to tell someone are we?" said George, letting out a sigh. "Who do you reckon will give us the smallest punishment?"
"Flitwick or probably Quirrell," said Lee.
"Nah, Quirrell would get one of the others. Most likely Snape," said Fred.
"What about Hagrid? He knows all about magical creatures and he's not a teacher so I'm not even sure if he can punish us," said George.
"What about Enoch?" said Lee. "He won't punish us. Plus he's Ron's uncle as well so he'll definitely want to help."
"Good thinking," said George, breaking into a slight jog. "If we hurry, we can catch him before he gets too far."
They found their uncle about half way down to the Quidditch pitch and quickly explained the situation to him. The foursome raced back up to the third floor corridor, which now contained two new additions just outside the forbidden door. Propped against the wall were two rather old looking brooms.
"Okay, those weren't there before," said Fred, pointing at the brooms.
"What are you doing here?" said a voice behind them.
"Headmaster!" exclaimed Lee. Dumbledore rushed towards them with a concerned look upon his face.
"We were just…" began Fred before his explanation faltered.
"And then we…" mumbled George.
"Have you been through this door?" said Dumbledore. His usual kind friendly demeanour had been replace by a far more serious tone.
"No, not us," said Fred, quickly. "But Ron did."
"Along with Harry and what's her face," said George, clicking his fingers.
"Hermione," added Lee.
"Hermione, that's the one," said George. "They went through and I think they went down some kind of trapdoor."
"I've already spoken to Ms Granger and Mr Weasley, they are both fine I assure you," said Dumbledore. He turned to look at the twin's uncle. "Enoch, I'm not going to even ask why you are here."
"Probably for the best," nodded Enoch.
"Can you escort the boys back to Gryffindor Tower? I believe they have a tendency to wander off otherwise."
"Of course," said Enoch.
"Er… sir?" said Lee, as Dumbledore went to open the door. "You should be careful, there's a…"
"Fluffy?" said Dumbledore smiling. "Thank you for your concern Mr Jordan but I'm sure I will be fine."
The boy's watched as Dumbledore opened the door. The Headmaster took out his wand and waved it. A small golden violin appeared, floating in mid-air. It started to place a slow melodic tune and the boys watched in amazement as Fluffy's three heads began to yawn and its eyes started drooping. Within seconds the formidable creature was fast asleep with its heads resting over its paws.
"Probably best if you stayed on that side of the door," advised Dumbledore as he opened the trapdoor. "Just in case the music stops."
"You don't have to tell us twice," replied Lee. They watched as the Headmaster dropped down into the open void.
"I thought you said there was a lot of blood," said Fred to his uncle as he looked around the room from the doorway. "All I see is drool."
"I think it licked it all up," said Enoch, looking a bit sick. He pointed at one of Fluffy's heads. "Pretty sure that's a finger stuck between his teeth."
"Did not need to see that," said George, letting the door close shut.
"Come on boys, back to the Tower," advised Enoch.
"We can make our own way back," said Fred. "If you want to get back down to the Quidditch pitch."
"I promised Dumbledore, remember?" said Enoch. "Besides, we all know he is right. You lot would get distracted by something on the way back and probably end up fighting a dragon or something."
"Hey, that's never happened," complained Fred, as they began to make their way back. "Not that it wouldn't be cool."
"Have you ever fought a dragon?" asked George.
"No," admitted Enoch. "Although I did once come across a rather angry fire-breathing chicken, so that's almost basically the same thing."
It didn't take them long to reach the Gryffindor Tower. They said goodnight to Enoch and made their way through the Fat Lady portrait. As they entered they could hear voices coming from the Common Room.
"I'm so sorry Neville," said a female voice.
"Yeah mate, we had no choice," said a male voice, which the twins instantly recognised as belonging to their younger brother and so presumed the female voice was Hermione's.
"Harry?" called Hermione as Lee and the twins entered the room.
"No not quite," said Fred.
"Merlin's Beard," exclaimed Ron. "What are you doing up?"
"Sorry Ron, didn't know you were in charge of our bedtimes," said George.
"You look like a mess," said Ron.
"You can talk," countered Fred nodding at his brother. Both Ron and Hermione were covered in mud, dust, bruises and cuts. "Looks like your night was as interesting as ours."
"I bet ours was more interesting," said Ron.
"Come on then," said George, sitting down on one of the armchairs. "Let's hear it."
The two groups of friends swapped stories about their night while they waited for Harry to arrive, but after an hour or so they began to worry that something bad had happened to their friend. Hermione reasoned that if Harry had been injured he would have been taken directly to the Hospital Wing. After a bit a pleading with one of the portraits in the Common Room its inhabitant agreed to visit another painting which hung on the Infirmary wall. Sure enough it reported that Harry had been found by Dumbledore and was now resting unconscious in bed. With that, everyone decided that it would be a good idea to head to bed themselves. The night's exertions were particularly exhausting for Lee and the twins and none of them even bothered to change their clothes before falling into a deep sleep on top of their covers.
At breakfast the next day the whole school was buzzing with the story of Harry, Ron and Hermione's adventure in the catacombs beneath the forbidden third floor corridor, much to the annoyance of the twins who found that most people didn't believe their own story.
"I'm telling you it happened, right?" said George grumpily.
"Oh yeah sure," said Angelina laughing. "A deadly creature, that was supposedly extinct, is able to defeat two Aurors and an old Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher but somehow gets beaten by you."
"Not just me."
"Oh yeah, I forgot about Wingus and Dingus over there."
"Wingus, Dingus, tell her," said George, addressing his brother and Lee.
"Am I Wingus or… you know what? Doesn't matter. It definitely happened," said Fred.
"Oh well, if it 'definitely' happened, that makes all the difference," said Alicia, rolling her eyes.
"Ah, but how do you explain this?" said Fred, lifting his arm up to show the bandage still wrapped around it.
"What? You mean the bandage that you could have just wrapped around your wrist yourself?" said Angelina, raising an eyebrow.
"Fine, I meant this." Fred untucked one end of the bandage and unwrapped it before triumphantly holding his arm out for examination. Unfortunately for him the skin had completely healed. "Oh… well it's a magical bandage."
"What about all our cuts and bruises?" asked George.
"Exactly," nodded Fred.
"You're always covered in cuts and bruises. It's basically how people describe you. The red headed twins with cuts and bruises," countered Alicia.
"How come everyone believes Ron's story but not ours?" complained Lee.
"Because they had Hermione with them," stated Alicia. She pointed her fork in the direction of Hermione and Ron who were sitting together at the far end of one of the tables. "She wouldn't lie."
"And we would?" asked George, looking astounded.
"You lied so you could have the last sausage," said Angelina.
"I have low sausage levels," said George indignantly. " I have a note from Madam Pomfrey."
"Well let's see it then," said Alicia, holding her hand out expectantly.
"Oh, well I left it in my room," mumbled George.
"Right," said Alicia, shaking her head. "Anyway, it's not like they run out of sausages, you could have just walked down the table and picked up another platter of them."
"Yeah but Madam Pomfrey said I shouldn't overdo things for the next few days either. She also gave me a note for that. I left that in my room as well."
"Sure," said Angelina sarcastically.
A sudden hush fell over the room. Snape had just walked entered. He slowly looked around the room. Everyone lowered their gaze as his eyes fell over them.
"I thought Hermione and Ron said they had been trying to stop Snape from getting the Philosopher's Stone," said Lee, leaning forward and keeping his voice low.
"She did. It mustn't have been him," said George.
"But who else," said Fred. He leaned up and looked over at the teacher's table. "They're all there except for… Hagrid and Quirrell."
"I saw Hagrid earlier," said Angelina.
"So Quirrell then?" said Lee, looking uncertain. "That can't be right. The guy's afraid of his own shadow."
The same thoughts must have run through the minds of every student in the room as a low murmuring of hushed gossip quickly spread throughout the Hall. It was all everyone could talk about. Well, almost everyone.
"Morning team," said Oliver, beaming from ear to ear. "I hope you all had a great night sleep. Just one more practice today before the final match tomorrow. I have a good feeling about it, a really good feeling."
"Er… haven't you heard?" said Lee slowly.
"Heard what?"
"Harry's in the Infirmary," said Alicia. "He's been there since last night."
"Why? Who's he visiting?" said Oliver, still smiling.