In the years to come, Harry would never quite remember how he had managed to get through his exams when he half expected Voldemort to come bursting through the door at any moment. Yet the days crept by and there could be no doubt that Fluffy was still alive and well behind the locked door.
It was swelteringly hot, especially in the large classroom where they did their written papers. They had been given special, new quills for the exams, which had been bewitched with an Anti-Cheating spell. Fred and George Weasley had assured all the Gryffindor firsties (much to Percy's consternation) that they'd tried every trick in the book and these quills were the real deal.
They had practical exams as well. Professor Flitwick called them one by one into his class to see if they could make a pineapple tap-dance across a desk. Professor McGonagall watched them turn a mouse into a snuff-box – points were given for how pretty the snuff-box was, but taken away if it had whiskers. Snape made them all nervous, breathing down their necks while they tried to remember how to make a Forgetfulness Potion. Professor Tonks had a replica of a human torso that showed the insides, and he had them come in one by one and identify parts of the body and explain how their core affected it.
Harry did the best he could, trying to ignore the stabbing pains in his forehead which had been bothering him ever since his trip into the Forest. When asked, Elowen admitted that her scar still ached a bit, but not nearly as bad as his was, and she wasn't saying anything because Draco tended to hover whenever one of the group was hurt. Neville thought Harry had a bad case of exam nerves because Harry couldn't sleep, but the truth was that Harry 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. More than once since the Forest, he'd kept Elowen downstairs in the common room and fallen asleep against her. She hadn't seen what he had that night and wasn't having nightmares, though, and Harry felt a bit guilty keeping her from her bed, no matter how much she said she'd rather stay with him.
Maybe it was because they hadn't seen what Harry had seen in the Forest, or because they didn't have scars burning on their foreheads, but Ron, Neville and Draco didn't seem as worried about the Stone as Harry (even Hermione, who had seen what Harry had, seemed to brush it aside, though this was more expected given that she'd thrown herself into studying). The idea of Voldemort certainly scared them, but he didn't keep visiting them in dreams, and they were so busy with their (Hermione-approved) revision they didn't have much time to fret about what Snape or anyone else might be up to.
Their very last exam was History of Magic. One hour of answering questions about batty old wizards who'd invented self-stirring cauldrons and they'd be free, free for a whole wonderful week until their exam results came out. When the ghost of Professor Binns told them to put down their quills and roll up their parchment, Harry couldn't help cheering with the rest.
"That was far easier than I thought it would be," said Hermione, as they joined the crowds flocking out into the sunny grounds. "I needn't have learnt about the 1637 Werewolf Code of Conduct or the uprising of Elfric the Eager."
"I don't think those are even in the first-year curriculum," Draco sighed. "Really, you should join the study group next year. The older Slytherins have made a self-study guide for History that we've been using."
"I know they weren't in the curriculum but what if they were on the test?" Hermione said. "You truly never know. What did you say for the question about the goblin uprising of 1489?"
They all groaned. Hermione always liked to go through their exam papers afterwards, but Ron said this made him feel ill, so they dropped their bags in the Den and wandered down to the lake to flop under a tree. The Weasley twins and Lee Jordan were tickling the tentacles of a giant squid, which was basking in the warm shallows.
"No more revision," Ron sighed happily, stretching out on the grass.
"A whole week of nothing to worry about," Elowen added as she laid back, head on Draco's lap and her feet on Harry's.
"You could look more cheerful, Harry," Ron said as he caught Harry's frown, "we've got a week before we find out how badly we've done, there's no need to worry yet."
Harry was rubbing his forehead.
"I wish I knew what this means!" he burst out angrily. "My scar keeps hurting — it's happened before, but never as often as this."
"Go to Madam Pomfrey," Hermione suggested.
"We tried that after the detention," Elowen said. "There was nothing physically or magically wrong with our scars that she could see."
"You didn't tell me your scar was still hurting," Draco frowned down at El. She waved it away.
"It's really not that bad, don't worry."
"It happens every so often," agreed Harry irritably. "And I'm not ill," he told Hermione. "I think it's a warning… it means danger's coming…"
Ron couldn't get worked up, it was too hot.
"Harry, relax, Hermione's right, the Stone's safe as long as Dumbledore's around. Anyway, we've never had any proof Snape found out how to get past Fluffy. He nearly had his leg ripped off once, he's not going to try it again in a hurry. And Neville will play Quidditch for England before Hagrid lets Dumbledore down."
"Hey!" Neville whined good-naturedly. He tossed a twig at Ron and turned to Harry. "I wouldn't worry, Harry, Ron's right. Hagrid's really loyal to Dumbledore, I can't see him telling anyone."
Harry nodded, but he couldn't shake off a lurking feeling that there was something he'd forgotten to do, something important. When he tried to explain this, Hermione said, "That's just the exams. I woke up last night and was halfway through my Transfiguration notes before I remembered we'd done that one."
"Is that why you had your wand lit half the night?" Elowen grumbled. "Lavender was talking this morning about putting a curfew on Lumos charms next year."
The others chattered on, but Harry was quite sure the unsettled feeling didn't have anything to do with work. He watched an owl flutter towards the school across the bright blue sky, a note clamped in its mouth. Narcissa and Hagrid were the only ones who ever sent him letters, and Hagrid would never betray Dumbledore. Hagrid would never tell anyone how to get past Fluffy, never, but…
Harry suddenly jumped to his feet, dislodging Elowen's.
"Whoa, hey, what's wrong?" she asked, sitting up.
"Where're you going?" said Ron sleepily.
"I've just thought of something," said Harry. He had gone white. "We've got to go and see Hagrid, now."
"Now?" Draco sighed, already getting to his feet. "It's only a couple of hours to dinner."
Harry was already halfway across the lawn.
"Why?" panted Hermione, hurrying to keep up.
"Don't you think it's a bit odd," said Harry, scrambling up the grassy slope, "that what Hagrid wants more than anything else is a dragon, and a stranger turns up who just happens to have an egg in his pocket? How many people wander around with dragon eggs if it's against wizard law? Lucky they found Hagrid, don't you think? Why didn't I see it before?"
"See what before?" Neville asked in bewilderment.
"What are you on about?" said Ron, but Harry, sprinting across the grounds towards the Forest, didn't answer.
Hagrid was sitting in an armchair outside his house; his trousers and sleeves were rolled up and he was shelling peas into a large bowl.
"Hullo," he said, smiling. "Finished yer exams? Got time fer a drink?"
"Yes, please," said Ron, but Harry cut across him.
"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."
He saw the six of them look stunned and raised his eyebrows.
"It's not that unusual, yeh get a lot o' funny folk in the Hog's Head – that's one of the pubs 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.
"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 look 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."
"Oh, Hagrid," Elowen sighed as Harry's conclusion dawned on the other Sprigs.
"And did he… did he seem interested in Fluffy?" Harry asked, trying to keep his voice calm.
"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'?"
The Sprigs didn't speak to each other at all until they 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. Firenze might back us up if Bane doesn't stop him."
"Ok," Hermione said. Harry was leading the group through the halls. "How do you know where Dumbledore's office is?"
"Oh, he called us in near the beginning of the year," Elowen informed them. She scoffed. "Tried to tell us that we were getting Harry's name wrong."
Draco rolled his eyes. "How dimwitted does he think you are?"
"Exactly!" Elowen agreed. "Anyway, he lives behind a giant gold eagle statue. Last time it was a candy as the password, hopefully he kept that theme."
"We'll just have to —" Harry began, but a voice suddenly rang across the hall.
"What are you six doing inside?"
It was Professor McGonagall, carrying a large pile of books. She looked very annoyed to see them.
"We want to see Professor Dumbledore," said Hermione, rather bravely, the others thought.
"See Professor Dumbledore?" Professor McGonagall repeated, as though this was a very fishy thing to want to do. "Why?"
Harry swallowed and looked at the others. They couldn't tell her why, she'd never believe them – now what?
"It's sort of secret," he said, but he wished at once he hadn't, because Professor McGonagall's nostrils flared. Behind him, he heard Draco's hand hit his face.
"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."
"Wait, he's gone?" said Elowen frantically. "He's the headmaster, why's he leaving?"
"Professor Dumbledore is a very great wizard, Ms. Potter, he has many demands on his time."
"But this is important," Elowen continued. "We have to talk to him."
"Something a group of first years has to say is more important than the Ministry of Magic, Ms. Potter?"
"Look," said Harry, throwing caution to the winds, "Professor, it's about the Philosopher'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.
"Please, we've known for months," a Draco scoffed.
"What he said," Harry confirmed. McGonagall paled even further. "Professor, I think – I know – that Sn– that someone's going to try and steal the Stone. We've got to talk to Professor Dumbledore."
She eyed him 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—"
"Mr. Potter, I know what I'm talking about," she said shortly. She bent down and gathered up the fallen books. "I suggest you all go back outside and enjoy the sunshine."
But they didn't.
"It's tonight," said Harry, once he was 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 —"
Hermione gasped, cutting Neville off. The others wheeled round.
Snape was standing there.
"Good afternoon," he said smoothly.
They stared at him.
"You shouldn't be inside on a day like this," he said, with an odd, twisted smile.
"That's not a rule, is it?" El wondered aloud, earning herself an icy glare.
"We were —" Harry began, without any idea what he 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 Gryffindor really can't afford to lose any more points, can they?"
Harry flushed. They turned to go back outside, but Snape called them back.
"Be warned, Potters – any more night-time wanderings and I will personally make sure you are expelled. Good day to you." He strode off in the direction of the staff room.
Out on the stone steps, Harry turned to the others.
"Right, here's what we've got to do," he whispered urgently. "One of us has got to keep an eye on Snape – wait outside the staff room and follow him if he leaves it. Hermione, you'd better do that."
"Why me?"
"Yes, may I remind you Uncle Sev is my godfather?"
"Your godfather who you haven't been spending nearly as much time with lately?" Harry pointed out.
"Hermione makes more sense," agreed Ron. "You can pretend to be waiting for Professor Flitwick, you know," he put on a high voice, "Oh Professor Flitwick, I'm so worried, I think I got question fourteen b wrong…"
"Oh, shut up," said Hermione. "There wasn't even a question fourteen b on the exam."
"Snape being Draco's godfather is still helpful though," El thought aloud. "They should both go, what if Flitwick comes out first and Hermione is distracted by her own ruse?"
"And no one should go off alone, anyway," Neville added.
"Nev and I can go get the Cloak and your flute from the dorms," Elowen said. "We'll send a note off to Dumbledore, too, maybe it'll intercept him and he'll turn around. If anything goes wrong, we all meet back in the Den."
"Good idea," Harry said, then to Ron said, "And we'd better stay outside the third-floor corridor. Come on." Everyone split off in different directions.
Harry and Ron's part of the plan didn't work. No sooner had they reached the door separating Fluffy from the rest of the school than 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 another fifty points from Gryffindor!" Ron's jaw dropped and she nodded sharply. "Yes, Weasley, from my own house!"
Harry and Ron went back to the Den. Harry had just said, "At least Hermione and Draco are on Snape's tail," when Basil swung open and Hermione came in.
"I'm sorry, Harry!" she wailed. "Snape came out and asked us what we were doing, so Draco said he wanted to talk to him and I said I was waiting for Flitwick, and Snape went to get him, and I've only just got away. I don't know where Snape and Draco went."
El and Neville came in, both looking frustrated. El dropped the Cloak and flute on the nearest surface and flopped into a chair.
"McGonagall is on the warpath," she grumbled. "She caught us on the way to the Owlery and confiscated our note to Dumbledore."
"She threatened us with detentions for the rest of the year," Neville added. "Sorry, Harry." He looked around. "Where's Draco?"
"Right here," came the miserable voice as Draco climbed through the portrait hole. "I've really hurt Sev's feelings, I think." He dropped into the open seat next to Elowen. "He took me into an empty classroom and basically told me that he understands my distance and that I need to pick better friends and then he left. I don't know where he went, he was gone by the time I left the room."
"Well, that's it then, isn't it?" Harry said. El was the only one who seemed to understand his train of thought. The other four just 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 mean we're going," Elowen said sharply, getting up to stand next to him. He hesitated, then nodded to her.
"You're mad!" said Ron. "Both of you!"
"You can't!" said Hermione. "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 the Dark Arts! Losing points doesn't matter any more, can't you see? D'you think he'll leave you and your families alone if Gryffindor win the House Cup? If El and I get caught before we can get to the Stone, well, we'll have to go back to the Dursleys and wait for Voldemort to find us there. It's only dying a bit later than we would have done, because neither of us are ever going over to the Dark Side! I'm goin— El and I are going through that trapdoor tonight and nothing you four say is going to stop us! Voldemort killed our parents, remember?"
He glared at them.
"You're right, Harry," said Hermione in a small voice.
"We'll use the Invisibility Cloak," said Harry. "It'll fit both of us, easy. It's just lucky we got it back."
"I don't think luck had anything to do with it," Elowen muttered.
"But it won't cover all six of us," said Ron.
Harry blinked and looked at Elowen. She shrugged.
"All… all six of us?"
"Do you honestly believe any of us are letting the two of you go off alone?" Draco drawled. "Especially when there's a threat of death?"
"We can't ask you guys to—"
Neville cut her off. "You're not asking. We're telling you. You're our friends, this is what friends do."
"Anyway, how do you think you'd get to the Stone without us?" Hermione said briskly. "I'd better go and look through my books, there might be something useful…"
"But if we get caught, you four will be expelled, too."
"Not if I can help it," said Hermione grimly. "Flitwick told me in secret that I got a hundred and twelve per cent on his exam. They're not throwing me out after that."
"And no way is Dumbledore expelling you two, you're the Twins-Who-Lived, it'd be a scandal," Draco added. "And I'm sure I can convince my father to let the rest of us stay too."
~~~
After dinner, the five Gryffindors sat nervously apart in the common room. Draco had insisted that they all be seen in their common rooms until everyone else was in bed — then they could meet at the third floor.
Nobody bothered them; none of the Gryffindors had anything to say to the twins any more, after all. This was the first night Harry hadn't been upset by the ostracism. Hermione was skimming through all her notes, hoping to come across one of the enchantments they were about to try and break. Neville and Elowen were playing Go Fish with an Exploding Snap deck. Harry and Ron didn't talk much. Both of them were thinking about what they were about to do.
Slowly, the room emptied as people drifted off to bed.
"Better get to the third floor," Ron muttered, as Lee Jordan finally left, stretching and yawning. Harry ran upstairs to their dark dormitory and pulled the Cloak and flute out of his bag where he'd stashed them before going to dinner.
"We'd better put the Cloak on here, and make sure it covers all five of us the best we can – if Filch spots one of our feet wandering along on its own —"
"What are you doing?" said a voice from the top of the stairs. The five Sprigs spun around. Fred and George Weasley made their way down to the common room floor and stopped in front of them.
"Nothing, nothing," said Harry, hurriedly putting the Cloak behind his back. The Weasley twins stared at their guilty faces.
"You're going out again," Fred said.
"No, no, no," said Hermione. "No, we're not. You can go back to bed."
"I see what's happening," Fred smirked.
"Little firsties want to break the rules just one more time this year," George continued.
"Why should we let you go?"
"What if you get caught again?"
"Put us dead last in the House Cup?"
"You don't understand," said Harry, headache beginning to form. "This is important."
The twins shook their heads.
"We appreciate a good rule breaking every now and then…"
"But what's important now is you going back to bed like good little first years."
"We can't let Slytherin win the House Cup."
"Fred, George," Ron exploded, "get away from that hole and don't be idiots —"
"Who are you calling idiots?"
"You said you'd let us know if you were doing anything dangerous," George said to Elowen.
"Yeah, well…" Elowen looked over to Hermione and hissed "Do something!"
Hermione stepped forward.
"Fred, George," she said, "I'm really, really sorry about this."
She raised her wand.
"Petrificus Totalus!" she cried, pointing it at Fred. She repeated the process on a gaping George.
The Twins' arms snapped to their sides. Their legs sprang together, and whole bodies rigid, they swayed where they stood and then fell flat on their faces, stiff as a board.
"For the record, not what I meant," Elowen said when she recovered from the shock.
Hermione and Ron went to turn the Weasley twins over. Their jaws were jammed together so they couldn't speak. Only their eyes were moving, looking at them in indignation.
"What've you done to them?" Harry whispered.
"It's the full Body-Bind," said Hermione miserably. "Oh, guys, I'm so sorry."
"We had to, no time to explain," said Harry.
Neville laid a blanket over them.
"You'll understand later," said Ron, as they stepped over him and pulled on the Invisibility Cloak.
But leaving the twins lying motionless on the floor didn't feel like a very good omen. In their nervous state, every statue's shadow looked like Filch, every distant breath of wind sounded like Peeves swooping down on them.
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," Ron whispered in Harry's ear, but Harry shook his head. As they climbed carefully around her, Mrs Norris turned her lamp-like eyes on them, but didn't do anything.
They didn't meet anyone else until they 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 they climbed towards 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 them. "Should call Filch, I should, if something's a-creeping around unseen."
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 Ron.
A few seconds later, they found Draco, leaning against the wall outside the third-floor corridor – and the door was already ajar.
"Finally," he said when he saw them, pushing off the wall. "What took so long?"
"Ran into Peeves," Elowen answered. She waved at the door. "I don't suppose it was you who opened the door?" Draco shook his head. "Of course not."
"Well, there you are," Harry said quietly. "Snape's already gotten past Fluffy."
Seeing the open door somehow seemed to impress upon all three of them what was facing them. The Potter Twins turned to the other four.
"Last chance to back out," Elowen told them.
"If you want to go back, we won't blame you," Harry added. "You can take the Cloak to get back to the dorms, we won't need it now."
"As if we'd leave you alone," Draco scoffed.
"Don't be stupid," said Ron.
"We're coming," said Hermione.
"You're stuck with us now," Neville finished.
"Don't say we didn't warn you," Elowen joked halfheartedly as Harry pushed the door open.
As the door creaked, low, rumbling growls met their ears. All three of the dog's noses sniffed madly in their direction, even though it couldn't see them.
"I think you really underplayed how terrifying the beast was," Draco hissed.
"What's that at its feet?" Hermione whispered.
"Looks like a harp," said Ron. "Snape must have left it there."
"It must wake up the moment you stop playing," said Harry. "Well, here goes…"
He put Hagrid's flute to his lips and blew. It wasn't really a tune, but from the first note the beast's eyes began to droop. Harry hardly drew breath. Slowly, the dog's growls ceased – it tottered on its paws and fell to its knees, then it slumped to the ground, fast asleep.
"Does this really count as music?" Draco sighed. Neville elbowed him.
"Just be glad it does."
"Keep playing," Ron warned Harry as they crept towards the trapdoor. They could feel the dog's hot, smelly breath as they approached the giant heads.
"I think we'll be able to pull the door open," said Ron, peering over the dog's back. "Want to go first, Malfoy?"
"Why, are you scared?"
"Oh, for Merlin's sake," Neville sighed. "I'll do it. Gryffindor bravery, right?" He gritted his teeth and stepped carefully over the dog's legs. He bent and pulled the ring of the trapdoor, which swung up and open.
"What can you see?" Hermione said anxiously.
"I can't see anything," Neville reported. "It's pitch black. I think we're just going to have to drop down."
Harry, who was still playing the flute, waved at Neville to get his attention and pointed at himself.
"You want to go first? Are you sure?" said Ron. "We don't know how deep this thing goes." Harry shrugged. "Give the flute to Elowen so she can keep him asleep."
Harry handed the flute over. In the few seconds' silence, the dog growled and twitched, but the moment Elowen began to play, it fell back into its deep sleep.
Harry climbed over it and looked down through the trapdoor. There was no sign of the bottom. He lowered himself through the hole until he was hanging on by his fingertips. Then he looked up at the others and said, "If anything happens to me, don't follow. Go straight to the owlery and send Hedwig to Dumbledore, alright?"
"Alright," said Ron.
"See you in a minute, I hope," and he let go. Cold, damp air rushed past him as he fell down, down, down and –
FLUMP. With a muffled sort of thump, he landed on something soft. He sat up and felt around, his eyes not used to the dark after so many months out of the cupboard. It felt as though he was sitting on some sort of plant.
"It's OK!" he called up to the light the size of a postage stamp which was the open trapdoor. "It's a soft landing, you can jump!"
Ron followed straight away. He landed sprawled next to Harry.
"What's this stuff?" were his first words. Draco, Neville and Hermione followed quickly after.
"Dunno, sort of plant thing," Harry said. "I suppose it's here to break the fall. Come on, El!"
The distant music stopped. There was a loud bark from the dog, but Elowen had already jumped. She landed on Harry's other side.
"We must be miles under the school," Hermione said, looking around the cave like room.
"Lucky this plant thing's here, really," said Ron.
"What about this is lucky?!" Draco demanded. "We're all trapped in vines!"
He was right. The moment they had each landed, the plant had started to twist snake-like tendrils around their ankles. For Harry, Ron and Neville, their legs had already been bound tightly in long creepers without their noticing. Hermione had managed to free herself before the plant got a firm grip on her. Now she watched in horror as the others fought to pull the plant off them, but the more they strained against it, the tighter and faster the plant wound around them.
"Oh!" Neville exclaimed cheerfully. He was the only who didn't seem panicked. "This is Devil's Snare!"
"Oh, I'm so glad we know what it's called, that's a great help," snarled Ron, leaning back, trying to stop the plant curling around his neck.
"It's really rare," Neville continued, now stroking the tendril that was snaking its way around his torso. "Professor Sprout must be really proud of it!"
"That's great, Neville, but how do we kill it?" Hermione asked frantically.
"We can't—!" Neville started indignantly and was cut of by a sharp "Neville!" from Draco. He sighed. "I can't reach my wand, Hermione, you're going to have to do it."
"Whatever it is, hurry up, I can't breathe!" Harry gasped, wrestling with it as it curled around his chest.
"Light and heat! Devil's Snare likes the dark and the damp —" Neville started.
"So light a fire!" Harry choked.
"Right, yes, but there's no wood!" Hermione cried, wringing her hands.
"HAVE YOU GONE MAD?" Ron bellowed. "ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?"
"Oh, right!" said Hermione, and she whipped out her wand, waved it, muttered something and sent a jet of the same bluebell flames she had used on Snape at the plant. In a matter of seconds, the other Sprigs felt it loosening its grip as it cringed away from the light and warmth. Wriggling and flailing, it unravelled itself from their bodies and they were able to pull free.
"Third year is when we learn the Lumos Solem charm," Neville told Hermione, less cheerful now. "Much less destructive than fire."
"Can't be helped, Nev," Elowen said sympathetically. "And look, the plant seems okay."
Indeed, the vines were already creeping back over the opening.
"We're lucky Neville pays attention in Herbology," said Draco from where he'd landed on the floor. "Though maybe next time you could show a little less concern for the plant trying to kill us!"
"Yeah," said Ron, "and lucky Harry doesn't lose his head in a crisis – 'there's no wood', honestly."
"This way," said Harry, pointing down a stone passageway which was the only way on.
All they could hear apart from their footsteps was the gentle drip of water trickling down the walls. The passageway sloped downwards and Harry was reminded of Gringotts. With an unpleasant jolt of the heart, he remembered the dragons said to be guarding vaults in the wizards' bank. If they met a dragon, a fully grown dragon – Norbert had been bad enough…
"Does anyone else hear that?" Elowen whispered as they approached the end of the corridor.
Harry listened. A soft rustling and clinking seemed to be coming from up ahead. He looked back at the three magic-raised. "Do you think it's a ghost?"
"Ghosts don't make noise when they move," Draco said.
"Yeah, it sounds like wings to me," Ron added. "There's light ahead, I can see something moving."
They reached the end of the passageway and saw before them a brilliantly lit chamber, its ceiling arching high above them. It was full of small, jewel-bright birds, fluttering and tumbling all around the room. On the opposite side of the chamber was a heavy, wooden door.
"Oh this is pretty," Elowen breathed. Hermione nodded in agreement.
"Do you think they'll attack us if we cross the room?" said Ron.
"Probably,"said Harry. "They don't look very vicious, but I suppose if they all swooped down at once…"
"Nothing for it, really," Elowen mused, then took off running across the room. Nothing happened, and when she reached the door she turned back and yelled back to the others, "I feel like that was a bit underwhelming."
The other five joined her. They all tugged and heaved at the door, but it wouldn't budge, not even when Hermione tried the Alohomora Charm.
"Now what?" said Ron.
"These birds… they can't be here just for decoration," said Hermione.
They watched the birds soaring overhead, glittering – glittering?
"Do birds sparkle in the magical world?" Elowen asked Draco. He shook his head.
"They're not birds!" Harry said suddenly, "they're keys! Winged keys – look carefully. So that must mean…" he looked around the chamber while the others squinted up at the flock of keys. "Yes, look! Broomsticks! We've got to catch the key to the door!"
"But there are hundreds of them!" Neville moaned. "How are we going to know which one we need?"
Ron examined the lock on the door. "We're looking for a big, old-fashioned one – probably silver, like the handle."
"And we have to catch it while flying?" Hermione asked nervously.
Elowen hummed. "Probably not all of us? There are only three broomsticks. Harry's the best flier out of us, and Draco's the next best, so it should probably be them and maybe Ron."
"Neville should stay on the ground, we don't need him to fall off and hurt himself," Ron said, then threw an awkward look at Neville. "No offense, Nev."
"None taken," Neville said agreeably. "I know I'm no good at flying."
Harry, Ron and Draco seized a broomstick each and kicked off into the air, soaring into the midst of the cloud of keys. They grabbed and snatched but the bewitched keys darted and dived so quickly it was almost impossible to catch one.
Not for nothing, though, was Harry the youngest Seeker in a century. He had a knack for spotting things other people didn't. After a minute's weaving about through the whirl of rainbow feathers, he noticed a large silver key that had a bent wing, as if it had already been caught and stuffed roughly into the keyhole.
"That one!" he called to the other two. "That big one! There, no, there — with bright blue wings — the feathers are all crumpled on one side."
Ron went speeding in the direction that Harry was pointing, crashed into the ceiling and nearly fell off his broom.
"We've got to close in on it!" Harry called, not taking his eyes off the key with the damaged wing. "Ron, you come at it from above; Draco, stay below and stop it going down; and I'll try and catch it. Right, NOW!"
Ron dived, Draco rocketed upwards — the key dodged them both and Harry went streaking after it; it sped towards the wall, Harry leant forward and with a nasty crunching noise, pinned it against the stone with one hand. His friends' cheers echoed around the high chamber.
The boys landed quickly and Harry ran to the door, the key struggling in his hand. He rammed it into the lock and turned – it worked. The moment the lock had clicked open, the key took flight again, looking very battered now that it had been caught twice.
"Ready?" Harry asked the others, his hand on the door handle. They nodded. He pulled the door open.
The next chamber was so dark they couldn't see anything at all. But as they stepped into it, light suddenly flooded the room to reveal an astonishing sight.
They were standing on the edge of a huge chessboard, behind the black chessmen, which were all taller than they were and carved from what looked like black stone. Facing them, way across the chamber, were the white pieces. The Sprigs all shuddered as they looked at the pieces — the towering white chessmen had no faces.
"Now what do we do?" Harry whispered. Speaking any louder felt wrong, like he was in a large, creepy library.
"Isn't it obvious?" Draco answered. "We have to play our way across the room." He looked at the twins, Hermione and Neville. "It'd trap you four here for ages, you're all hopeless at chess."
"Yes, thank you, Draco," Hermione said dryly. She waved at the door they could just see behind the white chessmen. "How do we play our way, then?"
"I think," said Ron, "we're going to have to be chessmen."
He walked up to a black knight and put his hand out to touch the knight's horse. At once, the stone sprang to life. The horse pawed the ground and the knight turned his helmeted head to look down at Ron.
"Do we, er, have to join you to get across?"
The black knight nodded. Ron turned to the other five.
"This wants thinking about…" he said slowly. "I suppose we've got to take the place of some of the black pieces…"
The others stayed quiet, watching Ron think. Finally he said, "Now, don't be offended or anything, but I think I'm the best at chess out of all us —"
"We're not offended," said Harry quickly. "Just tell us what to do."
"Even I will admit that you are far better than me," Draco told Ron. "I'll follow your lead."
"Ok," Ron said, looking a bit more self-important. "I don't think we all have to play so Harry, you take the place of that bishop, and Hermione, Draco, you go there and there instead of those castles."
"Smart choice," Elowen said as she and Neville moved to the side of the board. "Nev and I are the worst at this game."
"What about you?" Harry asked.
"I'm going to be a knight," said Ron, and if his chest puffed a bit at that, no one mentioned it.
The chessmen seemed to have been listening, because at these words a knight, a bishop and both castles turned their backs on the white pieces and walked off the board leaving three empty squares which Harry, Ron, Draco and Hermione took.
"White always plays first in chess," said Ron, peering across the board. "Yeah, look…"
A white pawn had moved forward two squares. What followed was the most tense game of chess any of them had ever seen.
Ron started to direct the black pieces. They moved silently wherever he sent them. Elowen had a feeling the scrape of the stone as they went would live in her nightmares for a while if they survived this.
Harry's knees were trembling. What if they lost?
"Harry, move diagonally four squares to the right."
Their first real shock came when their other knight was taken. The white queen smashed him to the floor and dragged him off the board, where he lay, next to a horrified Elowen and Neville, quite still, face down.
"Chess seems much more violent when it's life size," Neville said in an almost whimper.
"Had to let that happen," said Ron, looking shaken. "Leaves you free to take that bishop, Hermione, go on."
Every time one of their men was lost, the white pieces showed no mercy. Soon there was a huddle of limp black players slumped along the wall. Elowen and Neville had to dodge several times as chunks of stone went flying. A couple of times, Ron only just noticed in time that Harry, Draco and Hermione were in danger. He himself darted around the board taking almost as many white pieces as they had lost black ones. Everyone was pale and trembling as the game progressed, and no one was saying a word, lest they distract Ron.
"We're nearly there," he muttered suddenly. "Let me think, let me think…"
The white queen turned her blank face towards him.
"Yes…" said Ron softly. Harry and Hermione, the closest to him, looked at him quizzically. "It's the only way… I've got to be taken."
"NO!" they shouted.
"What's wrong?" Draco called to them from his position across the board.
"That's chess!" snapped Ron. "You've got to make some sacrifices! I'll make my move and she'll take me – that leaves you free to checkmate the king, Harry!"
"What?!" Elowen stopped just short of stepping onto the board. "Ron, you can't!"
"Do you want to stop Snape or not?"
"Ron –"
"Look, if you don't hurry up, he'll already have the Stone!"
There was nothing else for it.
"Ready?" Ron called, his face pale but determined. "Here I go – now, don't hang around once you've won."
He stepped forward and the white queen pounced. She struck Ron hard around the head with her stone arm and he crashed to the floor – Hermione screamed but stayed on her square — the white queen dragged Ron to the side. Elowen and Neville ran to pull him safely out of the way. A nasty bruise was already forming on his forehead, and he looked as if he'd been knocked out.
Shaking, Harry moved three spaces to the left.
The white king took off his crown and threw it at Harry's feet. They had won. The chessmen parted and bowed, leaving the door ahead clear. Harry, Draco and Hermione ran off the board.
Hermione's voice shook as she stared at a motionless Ron. "What if he's…?"
"He's breathing," Neville said. "You guys have got to keep going. I'll stay here with him until you come back through." When the others hesitated, he raised his voice. "Go! You have to stop Snape!"
With one last look back at Ron, the twins, Hermione and Draco left through the now open door.
"He'll be all right," said Harry as they ran towards the next room, trying to convince himself. "What do you reckon's next?"
"We've had Sprout's, that was the Devil's Snare," Hermione thought aloud. "Flitwick must've put charms on the keys. McGonagall transfigured the chessmen to make them alive, that leaves Quirrell's spell, and Snape's…"
They had reached another door.
"Alright?" Harry whispered. Elowen nodded.
"Go on."
Harry pushed it open.
A disgusting smell filled their nostrils, making them pull their robes up over their noses. Eyes watering, they saw, flat on the floor in front of them, a troll even larger than the one they had tackled, out cold with a bloody lump on its head.
"Oh, thank Morgana it's already knocked out," Draco said quietly in relief. "One troll was one too many for the year."
"I'm glad we didn't have to fight that one," Harry whispered, as they stepped carefully over one of its massive legs. "Come on, I can't breathe."
He pulled open the next door, the four of them hardly daring to look at what came next – but there was nothing very frightening in here, just a table with seven differently shaped bottles standing on it in a line.
"Snape's," said Harry. He glanced at Draco. "What do we have to do?"
They stepped over the threshold and immediately a fire sprang up behind them in the doorway. It wasn't ordinary fire either; it was purple. At the same instant, black flames shot up in the doorway leading onwards. They were trapped.
"Look!" Hermione seized a roll of paper lying next to the bottles. Harry looked over her shoulder to read it:
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 you in 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 on the right
Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight.
Hermione let out a great sigh and Harry, amazed, saw that she was smiling, the very last thing he felt like doing.
"Brilliant," said Hermione. "This isn't magic, it's logic, a puzzle. A lot of the greatest wizards haven't got an ounce of logic, they'd be stuck in here for ever."
"Hey," Draco protested halfheartedly.
"But so will we, won't we?" Harry asked her.
"Of course not," said Hermione. "Everything we need is here on this paper. Seven bottles: three are poison; two are wine; one will get us safely through the black fire and one will get us back through the purple."
"But how do we know which to drink?" Elowen asked.
"Give me a minute."
Hermione read the paper several times. Then she walked up and down the line of bottles, muttering to herself and pointing at them. At last, she clapped her hands.
"Got it," she said. "The smallest bottle will get us through the black fire – towards the Stone."
Harry looked at the tiny bottle.
"There's only enough there for one of us," he said. "That's hardly one swallow."
"I've seen Sev have several cauldrons brewing all year," Draco said. "I'd bet that they were these potions, and that means they're probably refilling."
"Well that's helpful," Elowen said. She scanned the bottles. "Which one will get you back through the purple flames?"
Hermione pointed at a rounded bottle at the right end of the line.
"Ok, you two drink that," Elowen said. Hermione and Draco immediately tried to protest. "No, listen. Get back to Ron and Neville. You can use brooms from the key room to get out of the trapdoor and past Fluffy. Take Ron to the Hospital Wing, he's got to have a concussion, and if he doesn't he should still be checked out."
"And then go straight to the owlery and send Hedwig to Dumbledore, we need him," Harry continued. "We might be able to hold Snape off for a while, but even two of us are no match for him really."
"And what if the Dark Lord is with him?" Draco demanded.
"Well, we were lucky once, weren't we?" said Harry, pointing at his scar. "We might get lucky again."
"So you're relying on luck?" Draco shook his head. "Gryffindors."
Hermione's lip trembled and she suddenly dashed at Harry and threw her arms around him.
"Hermione?"
"Harry – you're a great wizard, you know," she said tearfully. "You and Elowen both."
"I'm not as good as you," said Harry, very embarrassed, as she let go of him.
"Me!" said Hermione. "Books! And cleverness! There are more important things – friendship and bravery and – oh Harry – be careful!" And she hugged him again, then pulled El into a tight hug too.
"You drink first," said Harry, handing the round bottle to Hermione. "You are sure which is which, aren't you?"
"Positive," said Hermione. She took a long drink from the round bottle at the end and shuddered, handing it off to Draco
"It's not poison?" said Harry anxiously.
"No, but it's like ice."
Draco took a drink and made a face. "Oh, that is unpleasant. It's like a ghost passed through."
"Quick, go," Elowen said, "before it wears off."
"Good luck, take care —"
"GO!"
Hermione turned and walked straight through the purple fire. Draco made to follow, then paused and turned back.
Elowen looked at him confusedly. "Dra—"
The Slytherin took a few steps and pulled Elowen into a hug. After a few shocked seconds, she hugged back.
"You will come back safely," he commanded, and let go of her.
"I'll do my best," El told him softly.
"Merlin be with you," Draco said. He nodded at Harry and stepped through the fire.
Harry looked at Elowen. "You ready for this?"
"As I'll ever be," she responded.
Harry took a deep breath and picked up the smallest bottle. He turned to face the black flames.
"Here we come," he said and he drained the little bottle in one gulp, then handed it to his twin. "Oh, they were right, that's not good."
It was indeed as though ice was flooding his body. He put the bottle down and walked forward; he braced himself, saw the black flames licking his body but couldn't feel them – for a moment he could see nothing but dark fire – then he was on the other side, in the last chamber. Seconds later, Elowen was at his side. He grasped her hand tightly as they stared.
Elowen's voice was barely a breath next to his ear. "You have got to be kidding me."
There was already someone there in the chamber, but it wasn't Snape. It wasn't even Voldemort.