Chapter 2
Harry, Ron, and Hermione spent the rest of the evening in the Common Room waiting for everyone else to go to sleep. Harry kept his Invisibility Cloak with him while he and Ron played countless rounds of chess. Hermione spent the time feverishly paging through her books, hoping to find something to help them. Finally, the last person went upstairs, calling a goodnight to the three of them.
Harry pulled out his cloak. "Hurry up. Get under here," Harry said, looking around. Ron and Hermione moved over to him, grouping together to try and fit underneath the cloak. Neville, who had been hidden from their view by the couch, stood up.
"Where are you guys going? You aren't going out are you?" Neville asked with a concerned look on his face. "You guys will lose Gryffindor points again. You can't go out!" Harry, Ron, and Hermione look at each other.
"Move out of the way Neville. We need to do this. It's important," Harry said. Neville shook his head. "You can't do this. I… I'll fight you!" Neville said, putting up his fists. Ron shook his head, chuckling.
"Put your fists down Neville, you don't want to fight us. Just let us pass," Ron said. Neville shook his head and stood his ground. Hermione took out her wand. "Please Neville, let us go." Neville saw her wand, whimpered, but stood his ground.
"I don't want to do this, Neville, but we need to go. Petrifi-" Hermione began, before Harry cut her off.
"Wait!" Harry said, pushing her wand down. "I think he could help us. Didn't Hagrid say Professor Sprout helped defend the Stone?" Harry asked. Hermione and Ron looked at each other, before Ron answered. "Yeah. So?"
"Well, Neville can help us," Harry explained. "He knows more about plants than a lot of Third Years, or even Fourth Years. Right Neville?" Harry asked. Neville put his fists down, looking confused. "Well, I don't know about being better then Third or Fourth Years, but I am good at Herbology. I like plants," Neville said, humbly.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged glances with each other. Ron and Hermione shrugged, indicating it was up to Harry. Harry looked over at Neville. "Remember that three-headed dog we ran into earlier this year?" Harry asked Neville. Neville nodded. "Well, Hermione noticed that the dog was standing on a trapdoor. We found out that underneath the trapdoor is the Sorcerer's Stone," Harry said. Neville looked confused.
"The Sorcerer's Stone is a stone that can turn anything into gold, as well as make the Elixir of Life, which grants the drinker eternal life," Hermione jumped in. Neville looked at the three of them in shock. "Wow. That is pretty incredible. But what does that have to do with you guys leaving tonight?" Neville asked.
"Well, we found out that someone is trying to steal it. We think Snape is gonna steal it tonight because Dumbledore is out of the castle," Ron explained. Neville stared at them. "…How do you even know this?" Neville asked. Harry chuckled. "A lot of chance. Anyway, we tried to tell McGonagall, but she didn't believe us, so we are gonna get to it first. But we could use your help. So, what do you say?" Harry asked, looking at Neville seriously.
Neville gulped, and then shook himself. "If you think I can help, I'm in," Neville said softly. Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at each other, smiling. "Okay. Come over here. I have an Invisibility Cloak. Get under it with us so we can go," Harry said. Neville looked at Harry in awe as he walked over. "Seriously?"Neville breathed out. Ron shook his head, chuckling.
It was a tight squeeze, but all four of them were just barely able to hide themselves with the cloak. As they walked out of the Common Room, the Fat Lady looked around, confused. Ron stifled a laugh. Hermione poked him in the side. "Be quiet!" Hermione hissed. Ron rolled his eyes as they continued to move toward the Grand Staircase. They moved quietly, but they encountered no one as they moved down the staircase to the third floor. As they got to the third floor, they stopped. In front of them was Peeves, messing with a suit of armor. He, hearing them move, stopped, looking over in their area.. "Who's there? Know you're there, even if I can't see you. Are you ghoulie or ghostie or wee student beastie?" Peeves called out, cackling. Neville looked over at Harry. "What are we gonna do? We can't just walk past him," Neville cried, quietly. Harry had an idea.
"The Bloody Baron has his own reasons for being invisible," Harry said, in a hoarse voice. Peeves fell over in shock, then collected himself. "I'm sorry, Mr. Baron sir. I didn't see you – of course I didn't, you're invisible. Forgive Peeves his little joke, sir."
"On one condition: Stay away from here tonight. I have business."
"Of course. Good luck on your business, Baron," Peeves said, before zooming off. Ron, Hermione, and Neville looked at Harry. "Brilliant!" Ron whispered. A couple seconds later, they made it to the third floor corridor, and the door was ajar.
They took off the cloak, and Harry stuffed it into his pocket, looking at the door. "Snape is already here. This is your last shot guys. You can go back if-"
"We aren't going anywhere, so stop asking," Ron said. Hermione and Neville nodded their heads in agreement.
Harry pushed the door open and looked into the room. Fluffy was sleeping in the center, with his paws over the trap door. "Look!" Hermione said, pointing to the corner. There was a harp that was playing music. "Snape must have left that. Hopefully it doesn't stop anytime soon," Harry said.
Neville looked at them in confusion. "Why do we want it to continue playing?" Neville asked. Hermione answered, "Music puts Fluffy to sleep." Neville looked at her oddly. "Fluffy?"
"Don't ask. Hagrid named it," Ron said, shaking his head. Harry, who had been looking at Fluffy's gigantic paws, turned to the three of them. "Any ideas on how to move Fluffy out of the way? I was thinking maybe a levitation charm," Harry said. Hermione and Neville shrugged and took out their wands.
"Worth a try," Hermione said. She and Neville lifted their wands, and a Wingardium Leviosa later, Fluffy's paw has hovering. "Move it off the door guys," Ron said. As they were moving the paws to the side, the harp suddenly stopped playing. Hermione and Neville held their wands still and looked at each other, faces white. Fluffy started to snort and growl.
"It's waking up!" Ron shouted. Harry pulled a wooden flute out of his pocket, put it to his lips, and started to blow. As soon as he started playing, Fluffy went back to sleep. Hermione and Neville sighed, relieved. "Good thing you had that Harry," Ron remarked, also relieved. Hermione and Neville finished moving Fluffy's paws, revealing the trap door. Hermione walked over and opened the door, revealing a shaft going deep into the castle.
Harry waved his hand, getting the attention of the other three. He pointed at himself, then the hole. "You wanna go first?" Ron asked. Harry nodded. "Okay, hand your flute to Hermione." Harry moved over to Hermione, and then quickly handed her the flute. Fluffy started to wake up, but as soon as Hermione started playing, went right back to sleep.
Harry moved over to the opened trap door, looking into the darkness. "I can't see anything down there." Harry lowered himself down so that he was hanging on to the edge of the trap door. "After I go, wait until I call up to you. Once you hear me, Neville, you're next. Then Ron, and finally Hermione," Harry said. He looked down. "Well, here's hoping something is at the bottom." Harry let go, and fell down the hole.
After a few seconds, Harry landed on something soft. "Well, that's convenient," Harry muttered. He looked up, barely able to see the door opening. "It's okay, there's something to break your fall. Your turn Neville!" Harry called up. After a couple seconds, Neville landed next to him. Neville looked around, and then got an alarmed look on his face. "Harry, this is Devil's Snare! We need to get away!" Neville shouted, and then struggled to move off of the plant. Harry looked down, and saw vines curling up around his legs. As he started to pull his legs out of the grasp of the vines, Ron came hurtling down, landing on the plant.
"Watch out Ron, it's Devils Snare! Get off quickly!" Neville shouted. Ron, confused, looked at the plant. Harry, who had gotten away from the plant, was trying to keep away from the vines. The Devils Snare was trying to entrap him, even though he wasn't on top of it anymore.
Abruptly, Hermione landed on the plant next to Ron. "Get off Hermione. It's Devils Snare!" Neville told her. Hermione instantly got up off the plant and moved to the side of the room, where the plant didn't reach. In the mean time, Ron was truly stuck. The vines had a hold of his legs and wouldn't allow him to get away.
"Help me guys! I can't get out!" Ron panicked, flailing his arms. "Quickly Neville, how do we get rid of it?" Harry asked. "Umm, it doesn't like heat or light, but fire is its worst enemy," Neville answered. Immediately, Harry pulled out his wand and shouted, "Incendio!" Flames shot out of his wand and hit the Devil's Snare. The plant let out a shriek, and shriveled up, retreating into the corner. Ron picked himself up.
"Thanks Neville. I owe you one," Ron said, looking at Neville. Neville smiled. "No problem mate." Hermione looked down the hallway. "I wonder what will be next."
"Well, that was definitely Sprout's protection. Maybe Quirrell's?" Harry said, shrugging. Neville looked at Harry, confused. "What are you guys talking about?" Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at Neville, confused themselves.
"That's right, I forgot to mention before. The professors helped protect the Stone. I will explain as we move on. We need to hurry and get there before Snape," Harry said, moving toward the corridor.
When they got to the door at the end of the hallway, Harry paused. "Do you guys hear that?" Harry asked. They all cocked their heads, listening. "Yeah, I hear something. It sounds like…" Hermione said, pausing. "It almost sounds like birds," Neville said, surprised. Hermione nodded.
"Well, that's weird," Ron said. "Should we go in, or should we wait?" Harry thought for a second. "Well, until we know what we're dealing with, we can't figure out how to get past it, so I think we should go in," Harry said. He moved up to the door, and tried to open it. It was locked. Harry went to reach for his wand, but Hermione beat him to it. "Alohamora," Hermione said, causing the door to unlatch. Harry smiled over at her, then pushed the door open and walked into the room.
The room opened up and was lightly glowing. The air was filled with little glittering things that moved around. Harry stared up at the glittering ojects while everyone else came into the room to stand by him. "What are those?" Ron asked. "They almost look like birds" Harry shook his head. "No, those are keys. They have wings on them." Hermione shook her head smiling. "I still don't understand how you see so well with how bad your eyes are." They all chuckled. Neville looked across the room at the other door, then back up at the keys.
"Do you think they will attack us if we cross the room?" Neville asked slowly. Harry considered it for a minute, then said "No way to know without trying." With that, Harry covered his head with his arms, and ran across the room. They keys didn't even try to attack, so the rest of them followed him, albeit walking, not running. When they got to the other side of the room, Harry was examining the door, particularly the keyhole. Hermione pulled out her wand and went to unlock the door, but Harry stopped her.
"Don't bother Hermione. It is unlikely that will work. We need to find the key up there and use it to unlock the door," Harry said, sure of his words. Ron looked at him. "Are you sure? How do you know?" he asked. Harry pointed over to the corner. "Why else would there be brooms and keys in the air?" They looked over where Harry was pointing. There were three brooms, each of them looking old, but maintained. As they walked over, Harry pointed at himself and Ron. "I know there are three brooms, but it should probably be Ron and I who go up," Harry said. Hermione and Neville nodded, relieved. "You two should keep the keys off of us. I would bet that they will start to attack us either when we get on the brooms, or when we find the key. Remember that spell that throws things away from you?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, the Flipendo spell," Hermione explained. Harry nodded. "Yeah, use that spell." Ron looked over at Harry.
"Did you get a look at the keyhole?" he asked. "Yeah," Harry said. "It should be an old fashioned silver one." Harry and Ron grabbed the brooms and mounted them. "If they attack right away, I will lead them around and you are gonna have to find the key. If they don't attack right away, I will go above, you go below. Call out when you find the key, okay?" Ron nodded, and they pushed off, going up in the air. The keys didn't attack, they just kept moving around in the air. Harry flew above the keys and started weaving around, looking for the key, almost like he was playing Quidditch.
"Ron, do you see it?" Harry called down. "Nope, not yet. You?" Ron asked. Harry shook his head. "Nope, not-. Wait! There it is!" Harry exclaimed. He took off, diving down into the keys. As he approached the old silver key, he noticed that one of the wings was kind of crumpled, like it had been caught before. "This is it! Snape already caught this!" Harry called out. "Hermione and Neville, be ready to repel the keys!" Harry reached out and grabbed the key. As soon as he did so, he dove straight down. At the same time, they keys started attacking him. "Flipendo!" Hermione and Neville called out. The spell pushed the keys out of the way as Harry and Ron landed near the door, dropping their brooms. "Guys get over here. Keep up the spell. We are almost out!" Harry yelled. He put the key in the door, turning it and opening the door. With one last "Flipendo!" by Hermione and Neville, the four of them ran through the door and shut it behind them.
"Whew. That was close. Nice job guys!" Ron said, high-fiving everyone. "Let's go," Harry said, smiling. They started off down the hallway.
"Who do you think is next?" Neville asked, as they got to the door at the end of the hallway. "Well, we had Sprout and Flitwick. I would think Snape or McGonagall would be next. If you keep with the theme of Heads first," Hermione said, thinking. "I bet it's McGonagall," Ron said, grinning. Harry laughed. "Well, let's check. Open the door Ron," Harry said.
Ron stepped forward and pushed the door open. "Well, that was anti-climactic. You can't see anything," Ron said. Harry stepped forward and the lights came on. Across the room were 16 white marble statues in two rows of 8. Near them were 16 black marble statues, again in two rows of 8. All of them stepped forward, in awe. Almost as one, Harry, Hermione, and Neville looked at Ron. He smiled. "It's a chessboard," Ron whispered. He looked over at the others. "I hope you guys don't mind, but you aren't very good at chess, and I am pretty good…" Ron said, trailing off.
"Go ahead Ron. You are the expert here. What do we do?" Hermione asked. Ron stepped forward, looking at the King. "Do we have to take the place of one of you?" Ron asked. The King turned to Ron, bowing his head. Ron looked over at the rest. "Okay," he said, thinking hard. "Harry, take the place of the King side bishop. Neville, the King side Rook. Hermione, take the place of the King. I will be the King side Knight." As he was talking, the pieces he called out stepped off the board and Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville took their places.
Almost to himself, Ron muttered "Okay, white should go first." As if by his command, a white pawn moved forward two spaces, causing a slight grin to appear on Ron's face. "Here we go."
Ron played a fairly conservative game, except for when he noticed that Harry or Neville were in danger of being taken. At that point, he would save them by taking out the attacking white pieces, then go back to playing cautiously.
About ten minutes later, each side was down to seven or eight pieces left on the board. Ron looked around, noticing who was left on both sides. Harry, who had also been looking at the board, cried out. "No Ron! We can do something else!" Ron shook his head. "No Harry. We have two options. Either I can sacrifice you and Neville, or I can sacrifice myself and you can checkmate the King. I think it's obvious," Ron said, calmly. Neville shook his head. Hermione, almost to tears, cried out, "No Ron! There is another way!"
"Do you guys want to stop Snape or not? This is the best way. Harry, when they take me, go over to the left 4 spaces to check mate the King," Ron dictated. With that, he moved one up and two to the right. The white rook turned to him, moved forward one space, reached out, and bashed Ron on his head, knocking him out. Hermione screamed, and went to take a step forward. "Stop Hermione!" Harry and Neville said at the same time. "We can't. Not until we finish the game," Harry said. He moved to the left four spaces, calling out checkmate. The white King threw its crown down.
Harry, Hermione, and Neville ran over to Ron. Hermione knelt down, checking Ron's pulse. "He still has a pulse. He just looks knocked out," Hermione said, relieved. "We should still get him out. He might have a concussion," Neville said, shaking. Harry nodded his head. "I agree. Neville, you get him out of the room. Get a broom from the key room and fly up past Fluffy. Get him to Madam Pomfrey. Hermione and I will go on," Harry said. Neville nodded, and knelt down to pick up Ron. Harry and Hermione stood up, and walked forward, through the door and into the hallway.
"Okay Hermione, only Quirrell and Snape left. We can do this," Harry said, looking at her. She smiled back at Harry. "Let's do this." At the end of the hallway, they pushed open the door, and immediately covered their noses. There was a foul stench in the air, like someone hadn't showered in months combined with dead animals. The smell was coming from an unconscious troll lying on the ground.
"Merlin! That is terrible! This might be worse than the one from Halloween," Harry said while plugging his nose. Hermione nodded. "Definitely. At least this one is knocked out already," Hermione said, sighing in relief. Harry looked at Hermione slowly. "Uh, I don't think it's knocked out Hermione. I think Snape killed it."
"Really?" Hermione said, shocked. Harry nodded. "Let's go. I don't know if I can stand the smell anymore." Harry and Hermione moved through the room, trying not to look at the troll any more than they had to. Once they crossed the room, they opened the door that lead into the hallway. As soon as the door closed, the stench cleared immediately. Hermione sighed in relief. Harry chuckled, then they started walking down the hallway.
"Well, that was obviously Quirrell. All that leaves is Snape," Hermione said, looking over at Harry. He had a weird look on his face. "What's up?" Hermione asked him.
"Well, do you think it's a bit odd that Quirrell's protection is a troll and he was the one that first noticed the troll at Halloween? Do you think it might have been Quirrell that let it in?" Harry questioned, thinking out loud. Hermione had a thoughtful look on her face. "Well, it's certainly a weird coincidence, but could Quirrell do that? I just don't think so," Hermione said.
"Maybe…" Harry said, thinking. Then they reached the door at the end of the hallway, opened it, and went through. Suddenly, purple flames sprang up behind them, blocking the way back. At the same time, black flames appeared in the doorway across the room. Harry and Hermione sprang forward, shocked.
In the center of the room was a table with a row of seven bottles. Each bottle was a different size and contained a liquid of differing colors. Harry and Hermione walked forward to the table, noticing that there was a scroll on the table as well. Hermione picked it up to read, with Harry reading over her shoulder:
Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,
Two of us will help you, whichever you would find,
One among us seven will let you move ahead,
Another will transport the drinker back instead,
Two among our number hold only nettle wine,
Three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line.
Choose, unless you wish to stay here for evermore,
To help your choice, we give you these clues four:
First, however slyly the poison tries to hide
You will always find some on nettle wine's left side;
Second, different are those who stand at either end,
But if you would move onwards neither is your friend;
Third, as you see clearly, all are different size,
Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides;
Fourth, the second left and the second right
Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight.
Hermione looked at Harry, grinning. "This is great! It's not magic at all. It's logic!" Hermione said. "Most wizards are terrible at logic. I like this protection." Harry nodded thinking. "Well, it is a bit above my head. But one thing I do understand from this is that the left-most bottle is not wine. That's about all I can get though," Harry said, looking over at Hermione. She was beaming at him. "Good job Harry! Yes, that's right! Keep thinking. I will see if I can figure it out too. Let me know if you come up with anything," Hermione said. She then turned back to the paper, muttering to herself.
Harry, smiling to himself, took a couple steps away, and sat down to think. He had found, while working on his puzzle, that he thought better when he took a step away and shut his eyes to think. Five to ten minutes later, Hermione looked up. "I've got it!" Hermione exclaimed. Harry opened his eyes, stood up and walked back to the table.
"Before I tell you which one is which, did you figure anything else out?" Hermione asked. Harry chuckled, then said, "Well, going forward is not the left either, which leaves just poison or going backwards as the left bottle. Because the second left and second right are "twins once you taste them", I figured that they are probably wine, which makes the left one poison. But that is as far as I got," Harry said, looking a little embarrassed. Hermione looked a bit surprised. "That's great Harry! Don't feel embarrassed by that. You were almost there," Hermione said smiling at Harry. Harry smiled back at Hermione. "Thank you."
"Now, the bottles that we want. The small one, third from the left, is the one that will take us forward. The one on the right is the one that will take us back," Hermione said, pointing to the bottles in question. Harry looked at them. "Well, there isn't much left in the forward bottle. Looks like only enough for one mouthful. So here is what we should do. You take the back bottle, meet up with Ron and Neville, and send a letter to Dumbledore," Harry began. Hermione started to interrupt, but Harry kept going. "No listen. I am no match for Snape. I may be able to hold him off for a bit, but he is an adult, and I am not. So I am gonna need Dumbledore," Harry finished.
Hermione rushed forward and gave Harry a hug. "You are such a good wizard Harry," Hermione said, her voice muffled in Harry's shoulder. Harry looked down. "Not really. You are much better than I am," Harry mumbled, bashful. Hermione shook her head. "I am smart, sure. But there is more to being a good wizard than that. You have courage, heart, determination. Plus, you are smarter than you give yourself credit for. You are a good wizard Harry," Hermione said firmly.
Harry slowly smiled. "Thanks Hermione. That means a lot." He then reached out for the forward bottle. "I will go first. Just in case," Harry said, winking at Hermione. He swallowed the potion, then shivered. "Wow, that's cold," Harry said. "Once I'm through, go back quickly. Get Dumbledore." With that Harry stepped through the black fire. When he got to the other side, he saw someone. And while it wasn't Snape, Harry found that he was not surprised.
"Quirrell."
Author's Note
First, I have to say thank you! This story already has about 100 followers, which is amazing to me! Thank you guys so much! I'm glad that this story has such a following so soon.
Second, I want to talk a bit about my update schedule. I do not have an abundance of time, so my updates will not be super quick. In fact, I am anticipating a new chapter once every month. My plan is to put up the new chapter at the first of every month. I will endeavor to get ahead of that schedule so that I can update sooner, but we will see. Real life gets in the way quite often.
Third, if it isn't obvious by now, this is fanfiction, and so everything you recognize in this story belongs to Jo Rowling, not me.
Last, please review! Tell me what you think of my story!