Disclaimer: I own nothing except for my OC... yeah that's just about it.
Author's note: Can anyone guess what Hex would have seen in the mirror if she would have looked? Anyway, here's another chapter. Have fun! ;)
Reviews:
Astro Gobo: Yes, it is a Nimbus 2000 for both Hex and Harry. The thing about Hex's plan is that she would have to charm Snape without noticing and I think Snape would be able to feel if a charm had been put on him so she'd have to be there just before it happens. And there is a reason as to why she went woth 'The Fire Dragon' and that's because her Patronus is a Dragon. I'm glad you likes the chapter though :)
ultima-owner: There's actually a reason why Hex didn't look into the mirror. Did no one wonder why Hex was not too upset about leaving her Universe? Let's just say there's something she's running away from and doesn't want to be reminded of by looking into the mirror... ;P
It was soon spring and Hermione returned with information on Nicholas Flamel, after which Hex then explained to everyone what the Philosopher's Stone was. The group then came to the conclusion that Fluffy must be guarding this stone on the 3rd floor. They all agreed to sneak out at night to Hagrid's hut, though Hermione needed a little convincing from Hex. Harry was the one to knock on Hagrid's door, which opened. "Oh, hello. Sorry, don't wish to be rude, but I'm in no fit state to entertain today" was what Hagrid said before going to close the door again. "We know about the Philosopher's Stone!" All four students said, making Hagrid open the door again with an "Oh." Everyone then piled into the small hut.
Hex went over to Fang and started petting the dog as the others discussed about the stone and who was trying to steal it. That was until Hagrid went to get an egg out of a cauldron. Yay dragon time! Hex immediately went and sat at the table where she knew Hagrid would put the egg down, which he quickly did. "Uh, Hagrid, what exactly is that?" Harry asked, and Hex answered before anyone else had a chance to say something. "It's a Norwegian Ridgeback Egg!" Hex exclaimed happily, causing the trio to look at her strangely while Hagrid looked almost proud and just as excited. "But Hagrid, how did you get it?" Ron asked, staring intently at the egg with a hint of fear. "I won it. Off a stranger I met down at a pub. Seemed quite glad to be rid of it, as a matter of fact" Hagrid explained. Shortly after the egg rattled and cracked open to reveal the dragon inside.
"Isn't he beautiful? Oh. Bless him, look. He knows his mummy. Hehe. Hallo, Norbert" Hagrid cooed, as Hex reached over and let the dragon rub its head against her hand like a cat. Yay! She likes me. Hi. I'm Norberta. The dragon said, making Hex blink in surprise before she grinned. "Norberta" Hex quickly corrected Hagrid. "What?" All four of them asked her. "She said she's called Norberta" Hex explained. "You can understand it?" Hermione questioned. "Her" Hex corrected while nodding. Hi Norberta, I'm Alexis, but call me Hex. Hex replied to the dragon, but it just came out as a bunch of strange growls to the others. "Wait, you can talk to it too! Wicked" Ron commented while Hagrid beamed at Hex for her ability.
Norberta hiccupped, blowing a little ball of fire at Hagrid's beard. Sorry. Norberta said. "Norberta says sorry" Hex told Hagrid who nodded. "Well, …. she'll have to be trained up a bit, of course" Hagrid said and Hex continued to stroke the dragon. "Who's that?" Hagrid asked, looking towards a window which Draco suddenly ran away from. "Malfoy" Harry answered to which Hagrid replied with an "Oh, dear."
They then made their way back towards the castle. "Sorry guys, but I gotta rush off and finish some studies tomorrow and want to go to bed early. I'll see you guys later. Maybe you can join me tomorrow Moony!" Hex said before rushing off towards the castle. Before entering she put a charm on herself to make herself completely invisible, something she had been working on for a while now. Heh, who needs an invisibility cloak when they've got magic. Hex then quickly made her way back to her dorm where she lifted the charm before going to bed, deciding it would be best not to go to the Forbidden Forest like she knew the others would later have to in case Voldy found out about her. Instead she spent time planning more pranks.
Harry, Ron and Hermione told Hex all about their visit to the forest. Ron kept on complaining about how lucky she was to not get caught. Harry also informed them all about the so called 'attack' in the forest. "You mean, You-Know-Who's out there, right now, in the forest?" Hermione asked. "Yeah, but he's weak. He's living off the unicorns. Don't you see? We had it wrong. Snape doesn't want the stone for himself, he wants the stone for Voldemort. With the Elixir of Life, Voldemort will be strong again. He'll…. He'll come back" Harry said, sitting down and looking rather upset.
Ron and Hermione tried to cheer Harry up, which Hex immediately helped with. "Even if Dumbledore doesn't manage Voldy, we'll all be there to help you as well Prongs! Right guys?" Hex asked Hermione and Ron who both smiled and nodded, though Ron a little reluctantly. "See Prongs! Moony, Tails and I will be there for you as well so don't worry" Hex said confidently, a part of her knowing that she was indeed stronger and more powerful than Dumbledore but not wanting to say it outright. She might never be able to go back to her old Universe anyway so honestly, she didn't have much to lose and wouldn't think twice about giving up her life for her friends.
Later the next day Harry started complaining about his scar again. Hex immediately went to comfort him, though when he spotted Hagrid, an idea came to him. Harry confronted Hagrid about the stranger who had given him the egg and Hagrid let slip that he had told the stranger about the secret behind Fluffy. "The trick with any beast is to know how to calm him. Take Fluffy, for example, just play him a bit of music and he falls straight to sleep" Hagrid had told the four friends, causing them all to gape at him and then to run off to fin McGonagall.
"We have to see Professor Dumbledore, immediately!" Harry said as soon as they had found the classroom. "I'm afraid Professor Dumbledore is not here. He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and left immediately for London" McGonagall explained calmly. "He's gone?! Now? But this is important! It's about… the Philosopher's Stone." "How do you know?" "Someone's going to try and steal it" Hex piped in. "I don't know how you three found out about the stone, but I can assure you it is perfectly well-protected. Now would you go back to your dormitories? Quietly" McGonagall said, before the four friends left, somewhat dejected.
After meeting Snape on the way back to the common room, they agreed to go after the stone themselves that night. It was after all almost the end of the school and they already all had their final exams so there was nothing more to study for. That night the four friends snuck down to the Gryffindor Common Room, Harry and Ron together from one side and Hex and Hermione together from the other. They froze when they heard croaking. "Trevor" Harry commented. Funny boy is here. The toad said. Oh, you mean Neville. Hex replied, causing the toad to look funny at her. "Trevor shh! Go, you shouldn't be here!" Ron said, causing Hex to hit him. "Rude! He was only trying to tell us that Neville's here" Hex said. "You shouldn't be here either. You're sneaking out again, aren't you? Maybe I should get The Fire Dragon to prank you" Neville asked, coming up from behind the chair. "You know The Fire Dragon?" Hex asked, knowing it wasn't true. No one knew that it was her and she wanted to keep it that way. "No, but I'll find a way to get to him" Neville countered weakly, causing Hex to snort at the reply, trying to keep her laughter in.
"Now, Neville, listen. We were…." Harry tried, but Neville wasn't really listening. "No! I won't let you! You'll get Gryffindor in trouble again! I-I'll fight you" he said, holding out his fists. As if he ever could win against me. "I'll let you take this one Moony" Hex teased, causing Hermione to roll her eyes at her recently dubbed best friend. "Neville, I'm really, really sorry about this" Hermione said before casting "Petrificus Totalus" and causing Neville to freeze and tip back. Before the boy could fall, Hex was at his side and caught him, easily lifting him on her own and putting him on the couch. "I still don't get how you can be so strong" Harry commented as Hermione put her wand away, to which Hex just shrugged and started walking towards the exit, waiting there for Harry who had the invisibility cloak. "You're a little scary sometimes… you know that? Brilliant, but scary" Ron told Hermione as Harry threw the cloak on top of them and himself.
It was a little cramped under the cloak but it wasn't anything they couldn't handle. Guys, don't say anything but I've been practising Legilimency. It might come in handy once we get there. You can talk back to me with your thoughts, I've opened a kind of link. They all stopped in surprise as they heard Hex's voice in their mind. Then they all turned to stare at her. What? I told you I get bored too often. Hex said, to which they all nodded and continued to walk. So how long have you been able to do this? Harry asked. This is weird. Ron commented. Oh, a while now but I wasn't really sure how to tell you, sorry. Hex replied, ignoring Ron's comment. Ok, this really could be useful, especially if we end up getting separated. Hermione said, to which they all nodded in agreement.
Soon the four friends made it to the 3rd floor where Harry removed his cloak and stored it away before going into the room with Fluffy after Hermione unlocked it with the same spell as before. They quickly found that Fluffy was already asleep and a Harp was playing to one side. "Snape's already been here. He's put a spell on the harp" Harry said. "We have to move his paw" Hex said, noticing it on the trapdoor. "What?" Was all that Ron could say before they all worked on moving the giant paw. Hex noticed though that Fluffy was starting to wake up and that the harp had stopped playing. Oh, I'm going to hate myself for this if it doesn't work. Hex thought before she started singing. The three others looked at her as if she had gone mad before they realised what she was doing. I think that's actually working. Good Job Angel, never knew you could sing. Harry said through the mental link, causing Hex to blush as she continued to sing Fluffy to sleep. Let's just go. Hurry. Hex said and they all jumped into the trapdoor. "What was that you said about evil plants Angel?" Hermione asked once they had all had a good look around and the Devil's Snare started to coil around them. The boys immediately start to panic, causing both girls to look at each other and roll their eyes.
"Stop moving, both of you. This is Devil's Snare. You have to relax. If you don't, it will only kill you faster" Hermione said. "Kill us faster?! Oh, now I can relax!" Ron shouted, panicking even more. "Not really helping Moony. They're boys. They don't think logically" Hex said before the two girls were pulled down to land in a hallway underneath the plant. "Think they'll figure it out?" Hex asked Hermione as they both looked up at the plant where the two boys were still struggling. "Honestly? No idea" Hermione said. Shortly after that, Harry came down as well. "Well Prongs figured it out" Hex commented, before pulling out her wand and pointing it at the plant. "Lumus Solem!" Hex casted, causing the plant to recoil and Ron to drop though. "Devil's Snare hates sunlight" Hex commented, to which Hermione nodded. "Tails, are you ok?" Harry asked Ron, who shakily nodded. "To the giant chess set!" Hex exclaimed before marching off. The three friends looked at each other worriedly before rushing to follow her.
The four walked through the hallway to come into a chamber filled with what the others believed to be birds. "Curious. I've never seen birds like these" Hermione said. "They're not birds, they're keys. And I'll bet one of them fits that door" Harry explained, pointing to a door at the other side. "We'll let's look for a key with a damaged wing that is big and old fashioned" Hex said. The three didn't even bother to question her and Harry just got on the broom that was there while the others waited by the door. "We should be ready. My guess is that as soon as Harry has the key, the others will attack" Hex told the others as Harry grabbed the key. They nodded at her, again not questioning where she got the information from. Just as she had said, the other keys went after Harry. "Catch!" Harry exclaimed, tossing the key at the trio by the door for Hex to catch it. They quickly unlocked the door while Harry distracted the other keys.
They all rush through as the door opens, Harry coming in last, only for them to close the door just in time for the keys to slam against it on the other side. "Now the giant chess set!" Hex exclaimed before rushing off. The others just shake their heads before they do indeed come across the giant chess set. "I don't know how you do it Angel, but I think you should stop guessing just in case" Ron said, as they eyed the giant pieces and notice the missing ones. "There's the door" Harry pointed out to the other side of the chessboard. They all walk over only to be stopped by the chess pieces. "Now what do we do?" Hermione asked.
That was when Ron explained that they would have to play the game and substitute themselves for the missing pieces. There were only three missing pieces which meant that one would have to sit out. "So, who's sitting this one out?" Harry asked. "I think either Prongs or Angel should be out. Prongs is the one You-Know-Who is after and Angel is the best when it comes to spells and knowledge in general, so she's our best asset" Hermione explained. Hex blinked in surprise at the praise and then blushed. "Um.. thanks Hermione, but you're pretty good to, you know" Hex replied, to which Hermione just nodded her thanks. "Angel doesn't really like chess anyway so I think she should sit out" Harry confirmed. Hex was about to argue, but they all gave her firm looks to which she just nodded and then sat down to the side of the board to watch. It soon got to the point where Hex knew that Ron would have to sacrifice himself. The others argued with him but Hex didn't bother knowing that there was no other way to win.
After Ron went down, Harry was quick to checkmate the King and they all rushed over to Ron's side. "Ok. Hex, you try to find a way back out and take Ron. Hermione, you go to the owlery. Send a message to Dumbledore. I have to go on" Harry quickly explained. Hex would have argued to go with him but she knew that she couldn't let Voldy know about her yet, at least not until fourth year during the tournament. Hex nodded to Harry to show that she understood, to which he answered with a grateful smile. The two girls encouraged Harry before he left. "He'll be fine" Hex told Hermione to which she nodded "I hope you're right this time as well" Hermione said before lifting Ron with her wand. "You take Ron and I'll lead the way in case there are any traps" Hex said, to which Hermione nodded again.
Hex went ahead through a side tunnel from the chess room while Hermione followed at a distance. Hex cast a big light into the hallway which stayed in front of her as they walked. Hermione didn't even bother to ask her where she had learnt it or how she had been able to cast it, especially after seeing the stars on the roof of Hex's bed. There was no doubt to Hermione now that Hex was a powerful witch. She just didn't know how powerful Hex really was. They were almost at the end of the hallways where there was a door when Hex stopped.
"Stay here. That statue at the door is a bit suspicious" Hex said to Hermione, pointing at a statue three times her size to the right of the door. "Ok, just be careful, alright" Hermione said, still concentrating on levitating Ron next to her. Hex nodded before pulling out her own wand and holding it at the ready. She slowly inched closer to the door, pointing her wand at the statue the whole time. Hex reached the door but nothing happened. It was only when Hex opened the door did she feel something hard knock her against the wall and a shout come from Hermione. Using the adrenalin in her system, Hex turned to face the statue which had come alive. "Reducto" Hex cast, putting as much power into the spell as possible, causing the huge statue to turn into nothing but dust. "Angel!" Hermione shouted, coming over to Hex's side who had slumped over against the wall after putting her wand away in her waist bag. "Get help" Was all Hex managed to croak out before everything went black.