Chapter 7

Ron and Jasmine were upset to hear that Sakura had to serve detention in the Forbidden Forest, and, was predictably attacked. Jasmine rightly pointed out it was ridiculous to force students into an area that they are normally kept out of for protection. The old Hermione would have defended authority figures on principle, but Sakura was simply disappointed by the incompetence.

When Sakura had mentioned the centaur's warning of an enemy defeated but not slain that's looking to return, Jasmine immediately thought of Voldemort. Ron thought the idea of Voldemort not being dead absurd but Jasmine was adamant based on nothing but instinct. Sakura wasn't sure what to think of the whole situation. Assuming Voldemort to be the only possible culprit would be imprudent but she had to admit the idea seemed likely.

As the weeks before finals passed by Ron and Jasmine kept fighting over Voldemort's survival until Sakura put her foot down and got them both to admit that unless something changed or they acquired more information there was nothing to be done.

Getting Ron to study for finals was an exercise in futility. Jasmine, meanwhile, got distracted easily but without outside interruptions could study well, which didn't pair well with studying next to Ron. Sakura finally struck gold by making flashcards that corresponded to a wizard's chess set. To move, a player must first correctly answer a flashcard question. If the player couldn't then their turn would be skipped as well. The first day Ron had been soundly trashed by both Sakura and Jasmine. On the third day of studying Ron won a single game. By the end of the week he was winning again half the time and the final week before finals he was once again dominating the game.

One of the seventh years was so impressed he charmed a set of exploding snap to link to a set of flashcards as well. Now players also needed to answer questions rapid-fire or risk getting a small explosion to the face. McGonagall had been shocked to stop by the common room the night before finals began, likely expecting frantic and quiet studying. Instead, she heard shouts of trivia and small pops.

Twenty points to Gryffindor were earned that night.

The actual finals were easier than Sakura imagined. She supposed she shouldn't compare the academy to Hogwarts. The former was designed to weed out the dead weights, they were encouraged to drop out and join the civilian academy whereas the latter was designed to uplift everyone to a minimum standard. Even Ron was surprised at how confident he felt on his exams.

The only one who seemed to be down was Jasmine. The witch had been rubbing her forehead and temples all day.

"You alright there Jasmine?" Ron asked as they walked out onto the Hogwarts campus for some fresh air.

"My scar. It keeps burning," she rasped out.

Sakura itched to scan her friend with a diagnostic jutsu but refrained. "It's happened before, hasn't it? Do you notice any reoccurring triggers such as stress or dehydration that might bring it on?"

Jasmine shook her head. "This is going to sound mental, but I think it's a warning. It means danger's coming."

Sakura noted to herself to research cursed scars and divination later. The idea of a scar hurting to warn of danger sounded ridiculous but she couldn't afford to rule it out in this world of mysterious magic. "I still think you should go see Madam Pomfrey, Jasmine," Sakura quipped.

As they walked towards the Black Lake, the trio looked over to Hagrid's hut and saw him playing a flute on his front porch. Suddenly, Jasmine stopped walking towards the lake and started marching over towards the man.

"Jasmine, what's got into you all of a sudden?" Asked Ron.

"When I first met Hagrid he told me there was nothing he wanted more than a dragon. And don't you find it funny that a stranger turns up who just happens to have one? I mean, how many people wander around with dragon eggs in their pocket? Why didn't I see it before?" Jasmine bit out.

Sakura, meanwhile, was kicking herself for overlooking something so suspicious as well. Soon enough, they stood before the groundskeeper. He stopped playing his flute but before he could greet them Jasmine blurted out, "Hagrid, who gave you the dragon egg? What did he look like?"

Looking a bit confused at this line of urgent questioning, Hagrid responded, "I don't know. Never saw his face, he kept his hood up the whole time."

"Surely you must've talked to him," pointed out Ron.

"Well, he wanted to know what sort of creatures I look after. I told him, I said after Fluffy, a dragon's going to be no problem." Hagrid said with a chuckle.

"Did he seem interested in Fluffy?" Jasmine prodded.

"Well, of course, he was interested in Fluffy, how often do you come across a three-headed dog. But I told him 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 right asleep." Hagrid then seemed to realize what he said. "I should not have told you that."

Jasmine, however, was already sprinting towards the castle. Sakura quickly caught up while Ron trailed behind. They made their way up to the stone gargoyle who guarded the entrance to the headmaster's office. Fortunately, because none of them knew the password, Professor McGonagall was exiting the staircase.

"Professor!" Jasmine called out, skidding to a stop in front of the older witch. "Professor, we think Voldemort is going after the stone, we have to warn Professor Dumbledore."

Instantly the intimidating professor began to scowl. "I don't know how you know about the stone nor about this nonsense with You-Know-Who but Professor Dumbledore is out for an emergency wizengamot meeting and won't return until tomorrow. Now, go start packing, the train will be leaving at noon sharp the day after tomorrow."

The three students all shared looks of disbelief as the woman walked away.

o0o

Later that night the trio met in the abandoned classroom next to the Gryffindor common room.

"I still can't believe she didn't even consider our warning," Sakura bit out. She was not used to having her thoughts and instincts ignored due to her age. Shinobi were adults when they graduated and Sakura took over most of the Konoha hospital by the time she was sixteen.

"If the adults won't do anything, that just means we have to," Jasmine replied before throwing the invisibility cloak over her shoulders and holding up one end in a gesture to get under.

A round of silenced shoes later they were making their way to the third-floor corridor. When they reached the door in question they saw it was already cracked open and heard a harp playing.

Prodding the door open, they saw Fluffy fast asleep with the trap door open. Sakura and Jasmine threw off the cloak and walked forward towards the hole in the ground, only to turn around when they noticed Ron no longer following. He was frozen by the door, staring at Fluffy.

Not wanting to even whisper, Sakura walked back to the boy, grabbed him by the arm and half dragged him to the trap door. As they approached Ron let out a little whimper and the dog's snoring stilled. Not wanting to risk staying longer than necessary, Sakura pulled out her wand and sent a silent lumos variant off the tip of her wand and down the fall to illuminate a wriggling mass of vines. Devil's Snare.

Knowing the plant would break their fall, Sakura grabbed Ron and pushed him down the hole before jumping herself. A split-second fall and a short yelp from Ron later they both landed safely. Jasmine landed a second later next to her. "Ugh, what is this?" Jasmine groaned out.

"Devil's Snare, if you resist it'll strangle you but as long as you relax you're safe," Sakura replied before letting her body go limp. Soon she sunk out of sight of the other two and fell an additional three meters or so. Rolling to bleed off the fall, Sakura looked up to see a mass of vines forming a ceiling.

"Hermione! Hermione!" yelled Jasmine, the girl beginning to freak out. Ron was already yelling.

"I'm fine!" Sakura called back. "Just relax!" Quickly she charmed the ground soft just in time for Jasmine to crash into it. Ron's screaming suddenly became muffled but no less frantic.

"Hermione, we need to do something!" shouted Jasmine.

Sakura was already casting the sunlight variant of the lumos spell though, "Lumos Solem."

A bright beam of sunlight shot from the tip of her wand, illuminating the vines for a brief moment before they skittered away, leaving a falling red-headed child behind. Luckily for Ron, the ground was still softened. Didn't stop the boy from rolling around, coughing, and holding his neck.

"You okay there mate?" Asked Jasmine.

"Do I bloody look okay to you?" rasped Ron.

Sakura cut in, "Ron, can you catch up in a minute? We need to keep going."

"I'm fine, just help me up," he replied. Sakura easily did so, holding him up under his shoulder for a brief moment before he got his feet under him again.

They then made their way through the only door in the chamber. Inside they found themselves in a large, cavernous room. In front of them lay a broomstick and flying all around them, buzzing and whirling, were large flying keys.

"I'll bet one of those keys fits that next door," Jasmine remarked, already eyeing the broom. Deciding to let the seeker do her thing, Sakura and Ron inspected the next door. Ron gave the unlocking spell a try to no success.

"We're looking for a big old-fashioned one, probably rusty like the doorknob," Ron called out.

Meanwhile, Sakura retrieved two of her senbon and transfigured them into a lockpick and tension wrench to try picking the door manually. She heard robes flapping in the wind and excited whooping behind her by the time she identified it as a three-pin lock. Setting the tension wrench up, she began picking to feel when each pin had been lifted. This kind of old-fashioned lock was ridiculously easy to pick compared to modern shinobi locks.

Unlocking the door with a final twist, Sakura turned around to see Jasmine frantically flying, dodging the keys that seemed to have locked onto her like homing missiles. "Hurry up Jasmine, Ron," yelled Sakura. Ron looked at her in shock but quickly rushed through the next door. Sakura went after him and they both waited for Jasmine to fly through the doorway to slam the door shut. Just in time as they heard the keys embed themselves on the other side.

"Ugh, Hermione, why didn't you say you could open the door?" groaned Jasmine. The broom had stopped working as soon as she flew into this room.

"Woah, look at this!" Interrupted Ron before Sakura could respond.

The two witches evaluated the room they found themselves in now. Not as cavernous as the last room, it was still large enough for a game of football. Taking up the majority of the space was a lifesize set of wizarding chess.

"I suppose we'll need to play to get across," drawled Sakura. She was beginning to see a pattern among these tasks and it did not paint a pretty picture. Hopefully, her predictions were wrong.

Ron mumbled something to himself while staring at the pieces. "No…too risky…need to…no…wait…perfect," he mumbled.

Jasmine and Sakura were waiting on the chess prodigy on how to proceed. They played enough in the past two weeks to know that while they could put up a fight against most Gryffindors, Ron tore through everyone other than one sixth-year and one fifth-year.

"Jasmine, you take the bishop square. Hermione, you'll be the queen side's castle. As for me, I'll be a knight," Ron declared.

The next twenty minutes were a blur of callouts and brutally smashed chess pieces. Seeing some of the brutal takedowns made her start doubting her suspicion that this gauntlet of challenges was designed for children to challenge.

Sakura tried to keep up with trying to see Ron's strategy as he played but a few times he avoided a trap she would've fallen into or did something entirely unexpected. She'd never been more glad she decided not to ditch her friends to fight this would-be thief on her own. Only once did he fall for a trick she saw coming. That is why she knew exactly what he was about to do. "Knight to C6," he shakily called out.

"Ron, no!" Sakura shouted.

"It's the only way Hermione. You see its checkmate in two moves, don't you?" Ron asked.

Sakura nodded, resolute. She then watched as the enemy queen's sword smashed through Ron's horse and knocked him to the ground. He was then tossed to the graveyard of fallen pieces. Jasmine nearly stepped outside of her square to go help him before she heard Sakura's yells to freeze. "If you move Jas it'll all be for nothing."

Jasmine clenched her fists until her knuckles turned white but nodded.

"Queen to F7!" Sakura called out. Their queen moved and took out the enemy's last rook. Check, she mentally called out.

The enemy knight tried to block their next move but there was nothing the white side could do. "Jasmine, move to B6 to checkmate," urged Sakura.

Carefully, the other witch walked to the designated square and said "Checkmate."

The moment the word left her lips, the enemy king fell and Sakura was dashing to Ron's unconscious side. Jasmine was a moment behind her. Sakura carefully rolled him onto his back while checking his pulse. "He's alive," she sighed.

However, a gash on his head that was steadily bleeding told Sakura he may be in serious trouble. She looked at Jasmine, who was looking at Ron in horror, staring at his bent right arm. Sakura snapping her fingers in the girl's face got Jasmine to look up at her. "Jas, I know it looks bad but I need you to scout ahead. Trust me on this, I'll patch him up and come after you."

A bit numb, Jasmine nodded and stood up before walking over to the exit.

Sakura, meanwhile, put her body between herself and her friend, making sure to block her view of Ron's head well. Carefully, with the least amount of green glow possible, she activated her Mystical Palm Jutsu. After running a diagnostic she concluded that Ron was suffering from a moderate concussion, a broken arm, three cracked ribs, and contusions all along his back. In a hospital setting a nurse would be assigned to stay with him 24/7 until he woke up from a concussion this bad.

That's assuming there's no competent mednin around and Sakura was the best. Quickly, she stabilized Ron's head trauma; stopping the bleeding and reducing swelling. Mednin were famous for their ability to stabilize patients. As long as a mednin got to you, odds are you'll make it back to Konoha. Recovery may take a long time or may not be entirely possible, but you'll survive.

Sakura could've healed Ron completely. However, not only was it best to let the body heal as much as it could on its own, Sakura couldn't afford Madam Pomfrey finding out she had healed Ron. If she did Sakura's chance for future medical training at Hogwarts would go down the drain faster than she could say 'Quidditch'.

So, despite the guilt clawing at her for leaving an injured comrade, Sakura quickly hid him in the corner of the room, behind a broken chess horse. Hopefully, any possible hostiles would miss him. Before she could dither any further a roar echoed from the next room. Taking that as a cue to help Jasmine, Sakura dashed to her friend.

Inside the next room stood a troll struggling to keep ahold of its club while Jasmine was obviously trying to lift it with wingardium leviosa. Sakura, having heard how Jasmine and Ron defeated the first troll, knew what she was trying. Last time, however, Jasmine had distracted the troll by sticking her wand up its nose, allowing Ron to levitate the club out of its grasp. The troll wasn't distracted this time.

Wishing desperately for her superhuman strength, Sakura dashed forward to get a better angle, drawing her senbon as she went. As soon as she rounded around to the front of the troll she threw.

One. Two. Three. Four. Two senbon per eye, perfect aim, just like Shizune taught her.

"Jasmine, smash its face!" Sakura shouted. The troll had let go of the club in shock and pain. Jasmine was quick to catch Sakura's meaning because she quickly swung her arm and the club followed suit, hammering the senbon through its eyes and into its brain.

The troll crashed to the ground, causing it to shake, almost knocking Jasmine off her feet. Said green-eyed witch stared at Sakura in shock. "What was that Hermione?"

"Senbon, think really big needles. I actually used the matchstick to needle transfiguration on some sticks to transfigure them," Sakura replied, drawing one to show to Jasmine.

Her eyebrows rose. "Only you, Hermione," she muttered. "Where did you learn to throw those anyways?"

"What? Did you think I just ran around the Black Lake every morning?" Sakura replied with a smirk.

A quick look around revealed the door on the other side of the room. The two witches made their way through to find a table lined up with seven potions on it. After they crossed a certain point, however, a wall of green flame rose behind and ahead of them.

"Well, guess there's no turning back now," remarked Jasmine.

Sakura moved closer to the table and noticed a parchment she'd missed before. Reading it, she began to piece together the riddle. Jasmine came up behind her and read over her shoulder, before murmuring a 'you got this' and leaving Sakura to it. Not having parchment and quill made solving the riddle a smidge harder but proved no lasting challenge.

"Second to the left will get you through the flame unharmed," Sakura said while still looking at the parchment, checking for a third time.

Unfortunately, that meant she failed to notice Jasmine grab the potion until she'd already downed it and started running to the other side. "Jas! Wait for me!" Sakura shouted, cursing her foolhardy friend in her head.

"Sorry Hermione, but if this is Voldemort then this is my responsibility!" She called back from beyond the flame.

"Fucking Gryffindors," Sakura cussed out loud this time. She was the one with combat experience! Jasmine was a real child, unlike her seventeen plus thirteen-year-old self. In desperation, she looked at the bottle Jasmine had slammed back down on the table before taking off. It was slowly filling up! It must be designed to refill itself over time.

Now if only Jasmine actually waited for her.

Anxiously Sakura waited three minutes for the potion to fill up enough. Downing it, she jumped through the flames. The heat was enough to sting for a second, a sign she ideally should have taken more potion, but she made it through without any burns.

Immediately she saw a bald Quirrell looming over Jasmine at the bottom of the staircase Sakura stood atop. But even as she started throwing her last four senbon she saw the Professor starting to disintegrate. His hands fell off first. Then his cheeks, where Jasmine had pushed off him, crumbled. When the first senbon struck his eye he burst into ash.

A familiar black smoke rose out of the ashes and seemed to form a face before launching itself through Jasmine. Sakura dove out of the way when it passed her but she didn't doubt it made note of her presence.

Rushing down the steps, Sakura once again used Mystical Palm Jutsu to check one of her friends for injuries. Besides a bump on the head from when she collapsed, Jasmine was perfectly healthy. Magically exhausted, but healthy.

Out of the corner of her eye, Sakura saw that dreaded mirror but refused to directly look at it. Carefully, Sakura bent down and hauled Jasmine over her shoulder. Carrying her was a bit awkward but no trouble at all. Wingadium Leviosa didn't work on magicals, a more advanced levitation charm she didn't know was required. Levitating a person's clothes can circumvent this issue, but Jasmine was too light to bother.

The crunching of moving stones behind Sakura had her darting for cover and raising her wand. An entrance had appeared along the back wall, only for the most ostentatiously dressed wizard to step through. Clad in periwinkle blue robes spotted with twinking yellow stars, Dumbledore strode through with none of the geniality he normally possesses.

For a split second Sakura saw the real Dumbledore. The Dumbledore who fought Grindlewald and all but led Britain for the last half-century. His eyes were sharp, his countenance gave nothing away but its seriousness. Then, as he saw her and a lack of Dark Lords, a switch flipped and he became all warmth and grandfatherly gregariousness. Sakura lowered her wand and stepped out from behind the pillar, revealing herself and Jasmine.

"Ah, Miss Granger. Are any threats near? How is young Jasmine?" Dumbledore quickly asked, his eyes scanning them for injuries.

"No, sir, I got here right as Quirrell disintegrated after touching Jasmine. A wraith flew out of him and through Jas, leaving her magically exhausted. I recognized the spirit from the Forbidden Forest, it was the same one drinking unicorn blood, the one Jasmine thinks is Voldemort," Sakura replied.

The old professor looked alarmed at this news, but with a silent flick of his wand started levitating Jasmine to the secret entrance he came in from. Sakura began following even as he spoke. "I am afraid she was correct. It appears the Dark Lord is not as defeated as we'd hoped. I will inform the right people of this but I need your silence on this matter Miss Granger. It would not due to cause unnecessary panic."

"I'll be discrete Professor Dumbledore," Sakura reassured. Then she nearly jumped. "I forgot about Ron!"