A/N: Hi :) How are you guys? I really hope you're enjoying the story and don't forget to review and let me know what you think!!! How do you think the first book will end? Are you excited to see? I know I'm excited for you to see! Aaaaaaahhhhh, I can't wait! I've been writing a lot for it the past few days and I hope you like it!
Review and I'll give you a cookie ,)
Fun Fact: Zander's greatest fear is unintentionally hurting those he loves most.
(Henry POV)
With everything we'd gone through this school year, from the fighting, to Quidditch, to our investigations into the stone, all the hate from our peers, our traumatizing detention, and the all four of us huddling together to study for our exams, Urie, Draco, Harry and I had become quite the Quartet.
Urie was the brazenous daredevil, always ready to go on an adventure in a moment's notice, and not caring what anyone else thought of her. Draco was the one that never had to try too hard, but always seemed to get his desired results from anything with minimal pushback. In fact, his only struggle seemed to be keeping his ego from becoming an open vortex, but the rest of us kept that under wraps. Harry? Well, he was the quiet leader of us all. He was never scared to stand up and put himself in a scary situation, especially if it meant helping or saving someone he loved. That left me to be our voice of reason; calm the others down when they were freaking out, though I still liked getting into mischief, I was often the partypooper.
With us finally all confident in our friendship with one another, it was nice to just spend time together, even if the entire time was spent studying. I honestly had no idea how we even managed to get through all the exams if I'm being honest, especially after what Harry and I had seen in the forest.
I had quite a time trying to reread notes, study charts, go through flash cards or really do anything, when I half expected Voldemort to come bursting through the door at any moment and as I watched my cousin, I knew he was having a worse time of it. He kept leaving to go to sleep early, or I'd find him in a bathroom some days, nursing a 'headache'. Yet the days crept by, and there could be no doubt that Fluffy was still alive and well behind the locked door.
When the time finally came, it was sweltering hot all throughout the school, but especially in the large classroom where we had to do our written papers. We were given special, new quills for the the exams, which had been bewitched with an Anticheating spell.
We had practical exams as well. Professor Flitwick called us one by one into his class to see if we could make a pineapple tapdance across a desk— I made mine do some breakdancing for show and got Slytherin five points for it. Professor McGonagall watched us turn a mouse into a snuffbox -- points were given for how pretty the snuffbox was, but taken away if it had whiskers and Draco's was by far the best. Snape made everyone super nervous, breathing down our necks while we tried to remember how to make a Forgetfulness potion, though in that test, Urie rose above the entire class and for the first time from what she told us, she'd gotten a perfect score.
I could tell that Harry was doing the best he could, trying to ignore the stabbing pains in his forehead, which seemed to have been bothering him ever since our trip into the forest. Draco thought Harry had a bad case of exam nerves because Harry wasn't sleeping very well, but the truth was that Harry had told me in confidence, that he kept being woken by his old nightmare, except that it was now worse than ever because there was a hooded figure dripping blood in it.
I was having nightmares myself, but I often went to Madam Pomfrey and got potions to help me and always remembered to use my pensive. It had become my most prized possession and I made sure to use it every night and every morning. Luckily for me though, my nightmares never included my parents dying or any bloody figures, but they did include Voldemort sometimes and were always different, though very painful and I was very little in them I'd figured out.
Maybe it was because they hadn't seen what Harry and I had seen in the forest, or because they didn't have scars burning on their foreheads or nightmares like Harry and somewhat myself, but Draco and Urie didn't seem as worried about the Stone as Harry and I. The idea of Voldemort certainly scared them, but he didn't keep visiting them in dreams, and they were so busy with their studying they didn't have much time to fret about what Snape or anyone else might be up to.
Finally, our very last exam was History of Magic. One hour of answering questions about batty old wizards who'd invented selfstirring cauldrons and we'd be free, free for a whole wonderful week until our true exam results came out— though Urie and Draco had managed to weedle good estimates of what they'd gotten from Snape and Flitwick. When the ghost of Professor Binns finally told us to put down our quills and roll up our parchment, We all cheered loudly and clapped, high-fiving each other as we went.
We were soon released from the classroom and immediately and along with several others, we made our way outside to go and hang out by the lake. "I can't believe we've finally finished all our exams." Draco threw himself to the grass as Urie sat down and began braiding her hair. It was a lovely day, and even the giant squid in the lake seemed to be sunbathing.
"Yeah…" I looked over at Harry and though he looked happy to be done with all the stress of our tests, he looked still rather downtrodden and upset in my opinion.
"You okay?" He rubbed his forehead with a shake of his head.
"Just a migraine." That was code for his scar hurting and nodding, I looked at him, wondering what the pain could mean. I know his scar had hurt him before, but never this often or this bad.
"You should go to Madam Pomfrey." Draco said, but Harry shook his head.
"I'm not ill, I just wish I knew what it meant." He merely murmured the last part and I nodded. Maybe it meant danger was coming? I shook my head, that would be funny, like the bat signal, but instead it was Harry's scar.
"I also keep getting this nagging feeling… like I'm missing something really big, something to do with Fluffy. Urie now rolled over to her stomach to look back at Harry and I, who sat just behind them on the lake bank, under a small cluster of trees.
"Maybe you're just stressed after all the studying? Last night, I woke up crying, thinking I'd failed again, but then I realized I hadn't even taken all my exams again yet, meaning that I hadn't even gotten my results back."
"I'm sure you did great." Draco looked at her and I gave them a small smile. Maybe they were right and Harry was just— I moved with a start when Harry suddenly got to his feet.
"How could I have not thought of this before!" He turned as I, too got to my feet.
"Harry, what's—"
"Don't you think it's a bit convient, that Hagrid just so happens to win a dragon at a pub so close to Hogwarts when everyone knows he loves magical creatures and probably really wanted a dragon?" He was already heading for Hagrid's hut and telling Urie and Draco to wait where they were, I followed my cousin. What in the world was he on about?
Hagrid was sitting in an armchair outside his house; his trousers and sleeves rolled up, as he shelled peas into a large bowl.
"Hullo," he said, smiling. "Finished yer exams? Got time fer a drink?"
"Yes, please," I began, but Harry cut me off.
"No, we're in a hurry. Hagrid, I've got to ask you something. You know that night you won Norbert? What did the stranger you were playing cards with look like?"
"Dunno," said Hagrid casually, "he wouldn' take his cloak off." Harry gave me a look, and I too felt that that was not the answer I'd wanted to hear.
"It's not that unusual, yeh get a lot o' funny folk in the Hog's Head -- that's the pub down in the village. Mighta bin a dragon dealer, mightn' he? I never saw his face, he kept his hood up."
Harry sank down next to the bowl of peas and I moved to sit beside him. "What did you talk to him about, Hagrid? Did you mention Hogwarts at all?"
"Mighta come up," said Hagrid, frowning as he tried to remember. "Yeah... he asked what I did, an' I told him I was gamekeeper here... He asked a bit about the sorta creatures I took after... so I told him... an' I said what I'd always really wanted was a dragon... an' then... I can' remember too well, 'cause he kept buyin' me drinks... Let's see... yeah, then he said he had the dragon egg an' we could play cards fer it if I wanted... but he had ter be sure I could handle it, he didn' want it ter go ter any old home... So I told him, after Fluffy, a dragon would be easy..."
"And did he -- did he seem interested in Fluffy?" Harry asked, trying to keep his voice calm. My nerves had shot up as I listened, my stomach slowly sinking.
"Well -- yeah -- how many three-headed dogs d'yeh meet, even around Hogwarts? So I told him, Fluffy's a piece o' cake if yeh know how to calm him down, jus' play him a bit o' music an' he'll go straight off ter sleep--"
Hagrid suddenly looked horrified.
"I shouldn'ta told yeh that!" he blurted out. "Forget I said it! Hey -- where're yeh goin'?"
Harry and I were on our feet and running, fast. We moved so quickly that we didn't say a word to each other at all until we came to a halt in the entrance hall, which seemed very cold and gloomy after the grounds.
"We've got to go to Dumbledore," said Harry. "Hagrid told that stranger how to get past Fluffy, and it was either Snape or Voldemort under that cloak -- it must've been easy, once he'd got Hagrid drunk. I just hope Dumbledore believes us. Where's Dumbledore's office?"
We looked around, as if hoping to see a sign pointing us in the right direction. We had never been told where Dumbledore lived, nor did we know anyone who had been sent to see him.
"We'll just have to -- " Harry began, but a voice suddenly rang across the hall.
"What are you two doing inside?"
It was Professor McGonagall, carrying a large pile of books.
"We want to see Professor Dumbledore," said Harry, rather bravely, but I felt as if I might faint.
"See Professor Dumbledore?" Professor McGonagall repeated, as though this was a very fishy thing to want to do. "Why?"
We shared a glance -- now what?
"It's sort of a secret," I tried, but at once, I wished I'd stayed quiet, because Professor McGonagall's nostrils flared.
"Professor Dumbledore left ten minutes ago," she said coldly. "He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and flew off for London at once."
"He's gone?" said Harry frantically. "Now?"
"Professor Dumbledore is a very great wizard, Darken, he has many demands on his time--"
"But this is important."
"Something you have to say is more important than the Ministry of Magic?"
"Look," I finally said, throwing caution to the winds, "Professor -- it's about the Sorcerer's Stone--"
Whatever Professor McGonagall had expected, it wasn't that. The books she was carrying tumbled out of her arms, but she didn't pick them up.
"How do you know -- ?" she spluttered.
"Professor, We think -- we know -- that Sn -- that someone's going to try and steal the Stone. I've got to talk to Professor Dumbledore."
She eyed us with a mixture of shock and suspicion.
"Professor Dumbledore will be back tomorrow," she said finally. "I don't know how you found out about the Stone, but rest assured, no one can possibly steal it, it's too well protected."
"But Professor--"
"Darken, I know what I'm talking about," she said shortly. She bent down and gathered up the fallen books. "I suggest you two go back outside and enjoy the sunshine."
But they didn't.
"It's tonight," said Harry, once we were sure Professor McGonagall was out of earshot. "Snape's going through the trapdoor tonight. He's found out everything he needs, and now he's got Dumbledore out of the way. He sent that note, I bet the Ministry of Magic will get a real shock when Dumbledore turns up."
"But what can we--" I began when Harry suddenly gasped and we spun around.
Snape was standing there.
"Good afternoon," he said smoothly.
We stared at him.
"You shouldn't be inside on a day like this," he said, with an odd, twisted smile.
"We were -- " I began, without any idea what I was going to say.
"You want to be more careful," said Snape. "Hanging around like this, people will think you're up to something. And Slytherin really can't afford to lose any more points, can it?"
We flushed and turned to go outside, but Snape called us back.
"Be warned, Darken -- both of you — any more nighttime wanderings and I will personally make sure you are expelled. Good day to you."
He strode off in the direction of the staffroom.
Out on the stone steps, Harry turned to me as he pulled out his wand and got a piece of quill and piece of parchment out to send a note to have Draco and Urie come find us. It was only a couple moments before they arrived and once they did, Harry and I explained to them what we learned.
"That's… not okay." Draco muttered and the look on his face, I knew he was scared to think about anyone getting to that stone. Even if his father had once been a death eater, I knew he wasn't eager for Voldemort to rise to power again, especially after we'd all become friends. We trusted him enough now that if it weren't for all the mind reading that went on around this stupid school, we'd probably have shared more with him, like about the existence of the cloak and map — though tonight, we may have to share that information.
"Right, here's what we've got to do," Harry now whispered urgently. "Two of us has got to keep an eye on Snape -- wait outside the staff room and follow him if he leaves it. Urie and Draco, you'd better do that."
"Why us?"
"It's obvious," I said. "Urie, you can tell anyone if they ask that you're so paranoid about failing again and Snape likes Draco, so he's less likely to be as suspicious of him."
With a nod, Urie and Draco agreed to go and watch out for Snape.
"And we'd better stay outside the third-floor corridor," Harry told me. "Come on."
But that part of the plan didn't work. No sooner had we reached the door separating Fluffy from the rest of the school when Professor McGonagall turned up again and this time, she lost her temper.
"I suppose you think you're harder to get past than a pack of enchantments!" she stormed. "Enough of this nonsense! If I hear you've come anywhere near here again, I'll take fifty points from Slytherin!"
Harry and I went back to the common room, as Harry said, "At least Draco and Urie are on Snape's tail," when the stone wall suddenly slid back and Draco and Urie came in.
"I'm sorry, guys!" Urie said, anxiously. "Snape came out and asked us what we were doing, so I said I was waiting for Flitwick, and Snape went to get him, and we only just got away, I don't know where Snape went."
"Well, that's it then, isn't it?" Harry said.
We stared at him. He was pale and his eyes were glittering.
"I'm going out of here tonight and I'm going to try and get to the Stone first."
"You're mental!" said Draco.
"You can't!" said Urie. "After what McGonagall and Snape have said? You'll be expelled!"
"SO WHAT" Harry shouted. "Don't you understand? If Snape gets hold of the Stone, Voldemort's coming back! Haven't you heard what it was like when he was trying to take over? There won't be any Hogwarts to get expelled from! He'll flatten it, or turn it into a school for his Death Eater Youth! Losing points doesn't matter anymore, can't you see? D'you think he'll leave you and your families alone if Anyone wins the house cup? If I get caught before I can get to the Stone, well, I'll have to go home — and that won't even be that bad, I'd just be waiting for Voldemort to find me there, it's only dying a bit later than I would have, because I'm never going over to the Dark Side! Even if everyone thinks Slytherin is oh so evil! I'm sick of the adults not listening to us. We tried to tell McGonagall but she didn't listen. Teachers here have literally got to be denser than water a hundred feet down. I'm going through that trapdoor tonight and nothing you guys say is going to stop me! Voldemort killed my--" My cousin shut his mouth before he could fully out himself.
That last part he hadn't meant to say and looked horrified that he had as we all stared at him, but finally, I decided to just pretend like he hadn't said it at all.
"You're right James," I said solemnly.
"I'll use the cloak," said Harry.
"But will it cover all both of us?"
"You mean all four of us."
"All -- all four of us?"
"Oh, come off it, you don't think we'd let you go alone?" Draco smiled.
"Of course not," said Urie briskly. "How do you think you'd get to the Stone without us? Four brains are better than one."
"But if we get caught, you three will be expelled, too."
"My fathers a school governor." Draco said, "He'd be able to get us out of any trouble and we could tell him about how no one listened to us about the stone and everything."
After dinner the four of us sat nervously apart in the common room. Nobody bothered us; especially considering no one liked us still. This was the first night none of us were upset by it. Harry and I were leaning in close with the others as we told them about the cloak and the map. We didn't tell them much that would give too much away, just that Sirius had stole them from Dumbledore to give to 'James'. Both seemed mesmerized as we explained to them about the items we'd be using to help us and with these items, we came up with what felt to me like a solid plan.
Slowly, the room emptied as people drifted off to bed.
"Better get the map and the cloak," I finally muttered, as some second years finally left, stretching and yawning. Harry ran downstairs to the dark dormitory and returned just a couple minutes later, the cloak over his arm and a bulge in his pocket I knew to be the map. Urie had also left and returned just as Harry did, a beautiful viola in her hands.
"It's April's — she's a third year."
"You stole it?" Draco asked and she nodded with a shrug.
"Like James said, nothing matters anymore if Voldemort gets that stone. I doubt she'd be missing it if that happened."
"Can you play?" She nodded with a shrug.
"I love music, though I'm not the most skilled, I'm decent on a viola. It's why I picked it over Nash's Guitar."
"We'd better put the cloak on here, and make sure it covers all four of us - if Filch spots one of our feet wandering along on its own--" Harry said and we nodded.
In our nervous state, every statue's shadow looked like Filch, every distant breath of wind sounded like Peeves swooping down on us. At the foot of the first set of stairs, they spotted Mrs. Norris skulking near the top.
"Oh, let's kick her, just this once," Draco whispered in Harry's ear, but Harry shook his head. As we climbed carefully around her, Mrs. Norris turned her lamplike eyes on us, but didn't do anything.
Luckily, we didn't meet anyone else until we reached the staircase up to the third floor. Peeves was bobbing halfway up, loosening the carpet so that people would trip.
"Who's there?" he said suddenly as we climbed toward him. He narrowed his wicked black eyes. "Know you're there, even if I can't see you. Are you ghoulie or ghostie or wee student beastie?"
He rose up in the air and floated there, squinting at us.
"Should call Filch, I should, if something's a-creeping around unseen."
Frantic, I tried to think of something, when it seemed that Harry had a sudden idea.
"Peeves," he said, in a hoarse whisper, "the Bloody Baron has his own reasons for being invisible."
Peeves almost fell out of the air in shock. He caught himself in time and hovered about a foot off the stairs.
"So sorry, your bloodiness, Mr. Baron, Sir," he said greasily. "My mistake, my mistake -- I didn't see you -- of course I didn't, you're invisible -- forgive old Peevsie his little joke, sir."
"I have business here, Peeves," croaked Harry. "Stay away from this place tonight."
"I will, sir, I most certainly will," said Peeves, rising up in the air again. "Hope your business goes well, Baron, I'll not bother you."
And he scooted off.
"Brilliant, Harry!" whispered Draco and I high-fived him silently as Urie grinned.
A few seconds later, we were there, outside the third-floor corridor -- and the door was already ajar.
"Well, there you are," Harry said quietly, "Snape's already got past Fluffy."
Seeing the open door somehow seemed to impress upon all of us what we were about to face. Underneath the cloak, Harry turned to the rest of us.
"If you want to go back, I won't blame you," he said. "You can take the cloak, I won't need it now."
"Don't be stupid," said Draco.
"We're coming," said Urie.
I pushed the door open.
As the door creaked, low, rumbling growls met our ears. All three of the dog's noses sniffed madly in our direction, even though it couldn't see us.
"What's that at its feet?" Hermione whispered.
"Looks like a harp," I said. "Snape must have left it there."
"It must wake up the moment you stop playing," said Urie. "Well, here goes..."
She stepped bravely out from under the cloak, viola and bow poised to play. What she played wasn't really a tune, but from the first note the beast's eyes began to droop. The rest of us hardly breathed. Slowly, the dog's growls ceased -- it tottered on its paws and fell to its knees, then it slumped to the ground, fast asleep.
"Keep playing," I warned Urie as we slipped out of the cloak and crept toward the trapdoor. As we went, we could feel the dog's hot, smelly breath as the giant heads drew ever nearer.
"I think we'll be able to pull the door open," said Harry, peering over the dog's back. "Want to go first, Draco?"
"No, I don't!"
"All right, I'll go." I grit my teeth and stepped carefully over the dog's legs. Bending, I pulled the ring of the trapdoor, which swung up and open.
"What can you see?" Urie said anxiously, still playing the Viola as she spoke.
"Nothing -- just black -- there's no way of climbing down, we'll just have to drop."
"I'll go first." Harry finally said.
"Are you sure?" I asked. "I don't know how deep this thing goes."
"Yes." Harry climbed over it and looked down through the trapdoor. Like us, he saw no sign of the bottom.
He lowered himself through the hole until he was hanging on by his fingertips. Then he looked up at me and said, "If anything happens to me, don't follow. Go straight to the owlery and send Hedwig to Dumbledore, right?"
"Right," I nodded.
"See you in a minute, I hope..."
And Harry let go. Cold, damp air rushed past him as he fell down, down, down and --
I couldn't see him anymore.
"It's okay!" he called up to the open trapdoor, "it's a soft landing, you can jump!"
Nodding, I followed right away. and seemed to fly down before— FLUMP. With a funny, muffled sort of thump I landed on something soft. Sitting up, I felt around, my eyes not used to the gloom. It felt as though I were sitting on some sort of plant.
Draco soon followed and moving, he landing, where I'd just been moments ago.
"James?"
"Yeah? Henry?"
"Right here."
"What's this stuff?"
"Dunno, some sort of plant thing. I suppose it's here to break the fall. Come on, Urie!"
The distant music stopped. There was a loud bark from the dog, but Urie had already jumped.
It was official, we were all finally on our way to the stone.
I just hoped we could catch Snape before he could get it.
A/N: Reeeeeviiiiiiieeeeewwwwwwwwwww!
