Cassie mustn't have had as much potion as she needed to, because while Hermione came away fine, Cassie felt slightly singed around the edges.
Hermione stared at the closed door in horror.
"Come on," said Cassie, holding her robe over her nose to block out the smell of the troll "We need to get Ron and then go send Hedwig to Dumbledore"
Hermione nodded and together the two girls ran past the troll and pulled the door open.
"Harry'll be alright as long as we get Dumbledore", thought Cassie, trying to persuade herself that everything would be fine if they could get a message to the headmaster.
Cassie and Hermione sprinted past the chess pieces towards Ron, he was just starting to stir. Hermione knelt down next to him,
"Ron," she said, shaking his shoulders gently "Ron, wake up."
Ron groaned and opened his eyes, putting a hand to his head,
"Wos' 'appenin'," he slurred "Where's 'arry ?"
"He's gone to face Snape alone." said Cassie, running her hands through her hair in worry.
"WHAT ?!" Ron sat up, instantly ten times more awake.
"We can't explain now." said Cassie, giving Ron a hand so he could get up
"We've got to go and get Dumbledore,'' said Hermione, who looked close to tears.
Ron stood up and the three of them ran out of the door and down the passage towards the key room. They wrenched open the door and didn't even pause to look at the keys before each grabbing a broom and speeding off down the next corridor. If Cassie wasn't on a mission to save one of her best friends from their evil potions teacher, she would have immensely enjoyed the broomstick ride. The feeling of the air rushing past her face and the swooping of her stomach, as she turned a corner, was amazing. Within minutes, Cassie, Hermione and Ron had reached the trapdoor. Ron pushed the trapdoor up and open, and gestured for Hermione to start playing the wooden flute again. Cassie left her broom hanging in mid-air and pulled herself up after Ron and then tugged Hermione up. The three of them hurried past Fluffy and went out into the corridor. Luck was on their side because they did not run into any teachers, ghosts or peeves on their way to the owlery. Once they got there, Hermione went to find Hedwig while Cassie wrote the note.
Dear Dumbledore she wrote in slanting letters
Harry's gone to face Snape
Please come and help
Cassie Black, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley
Hermione attached the note to Hedwig's leg and the owl flew out of the window. Cassie, Ron and Hermione then quickly made their back down to the entrance hall. They were all brought to a stop when the large front doors crashed open and Albus Dumbledore stood there, midnight blue robes fanning out behind him like a superheroes cape, the three of them opened their mouths to speak but he held up a hand.
"Harry's gone after him, hasn't he?" Dumbleore said, looking uncharacteristically serious.
They nodded and he set off at a sprint towards the third floor corridor. Suddenly, another smaller door banged open and Professor Mcgonagall came hurrying out. She seemed to know exactly what had happened without anyone telling her.
"Why don't we get you three to the Hospital Wing to see Madam Pomfrey." Mcgonnagal said kindly.
She guided them up the stairs and through several corridors before they came to a place of the castle Cassie had never seen before. The Hospital Wing was a white room with twelve beds and it reminded Cassie of when she went to work with her Mum. A small greying witch with a starched apron bustled over.
"What's happened to these three Minne ?" asked Madam Pomfrey
"I'll explain later Poppy," replied Professor Mcgonnagall "If you could just check them over."
"Of course." said Madam Pomfrey, pushing Ron down onto a bed and raising her wand. "A concussion."
She handed Ron a purple potion that she had conjured from nowhere. Madam Pomfrey turned towards Cassie,
"You next dear." she said
"No no, do Hermione first." Cassie protested, wanting to make sure her friends were fine before she allowed herself to be checked.
Once Hermione had been declared fine, Cassie allowed Madam Pompfrey to cast a diagnostic spell over her. As the nurse was studying the colourful bubbles resting over Cassie's head, the Hospital Wing's doors burst open and Dumbledore strode in carrying Harry's limp body in his arms.
"Today's the day, I can feel it." proclaimed Cassie as she, Ron and Hermione climbed out of the portrait hole.
"The day for what ?" asked Hermione.
"Harry'll wake up today." replied Cassie confidently.
"Pity he couldn't of woken up yesterday." said Ron grumpily
"Oh Ron," said Hermione, exasperated "Quidditch isn't everything."
She quickly backtracked once she saw the looks on Cassie and Ron's faces.
"I mean even if he had woken up, he wouldn't have been well enough to play."
"Still," moaned Ron "We were this close to winning."
He held his thumb and index finger a minuscule amount apart to demonstrate how close Gryffindor was to winning the Quidditch Cup.
"Oh come on Madam Pomfrey." said Cassie
"Just five minutes." pleaded Hermione
"He's our best friend," said Ron "You've got to let us in."
They were at the Hospital Wing and had just been given the news that Harry had woken up that morning. Unfortunately, Madam Pomfrey wasn't convinced about letting Cassie, Ron and Hermione see him. The three of them gave Madam Pomfrey their best puppy dog eyes and she dithered for another minute before saying,
"Oh go on then, just five minutes."
Cassie, Ron and Hermione rushed in and all of their faces lit up once they saw their bespectacled, messy-haired best friend sitting up in bed with a bandage around his head.
"Harry!" Cassie launched herself at Harry, throwing her arms around him.
"Oh, Harry, we were sure you were going to-, Dumbledore was so worried." said Hermione, wiping under her eyes.
"The whole school's talking about it," said Ron. "What really happened?"
Harry told them everything: Quirrell; the mirror; the Stone; and Voldemort.
"So the Stone's gone?" said Cassie finally. "Flamel's just going to die ?"
"That's what I said, but Dumbledore thinks that, what was it? 'To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.'" replied Harry
"I always said he was off his rocker," said Ron, looking quite impressed at how crazy his hero was.
"So what happened to you three?" said Harry.
"Well, me and Cassie got back alright," said Hermione. "We brought Ron round and we dashed up to the owlery to contact Dumbledore and on the way back down we met him in the entrance hall, he already knew, he just said, 'Harry's gone after him, hasn't he?' and hurtled off to the third floor."
"D'you think he meant you to do it?" said Ron. "Sending you your dad's cloak and everything?"
"Well," Cassie exploded, "if he did, I'd-, you could have been killed."
"No, it isn't," said Harry thoughtfully. "He's a funny man, Dumbledore. I think he sort of wanted to give me a chance. I think he knows more or less everything that goes on here, you know. I reckon he had a pretty good idea we were going to try, and instead of stopping us, he just taught us enough to help. I don't think it was an accident he let me find out how the mirror worked. It's almost like he thought I had the right to face Voldemort if I could..."
"Yeah, Dumbledore's off his rocker, all right," said Ron proudly. "Listen, you've got to be up for the end-of-year feast tomorrow. The points are all in and Slytherin won, of course, you missed the last Quidditch match, we were steamrollered by Ravenclaw without you, but the food'll be good."
At that moment, Madam Pomfrey bustled over.
"You've had nearly fifteen minutes, now OUT" she said firmly.
The next evening, Cassie, Ron and Hermione were sitting in the Great Hall waiting for Harry. It was decked out in the Slytherin colours of green and silver to celebrate Slytherin's winning the house cup for the seventh year in a row. A huge banner showing the Slytherin serpent covered the wall behind the High Table.
When Harry walked in there was a sudden hush, and then everybody started talking loudly at once. Dumbledore arrived moments later and the babble died away.
"Another year gone!" Dumbledore said cheerfully. "And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully, your heads are all a little fuller than they were, now you have the whole summer ahead to get them nice and empty before next year starts. Now, as I understand it, the house cup here needs awarding, and the points stand thus: In fourth place, Gryffindor, with two hundred and sixty-two points; in third, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two; Ravenclaw has four hundred and twenty-six and Slytherin, four hundred and seventy-two."
A storm of cheering and stamping broke out from the Slytherin table.
"Yes, Yes, well done, Slytherin," said Dumbledore. "However, recent events must be taken into account."
The room went very still. The Slytherins' smiles faded a little.
"Ahem," said Dumbledore. "I have a few last-minute points to dish out. Let me see. Yes...
"First, to Mr. Ronald Weasley, "
Ron went purple in the face; he looked like a radish with a bad sunburn.
"For the best-played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."
Gryffindor cheers nearly raised the bewitched ceiling; the stars overhead seemed to quiver. Percy could be heard telling the other prefects,
"My brother, you know! My youngest brother! Got past McGonagall's giant chess set!"
At last there was silence again.
"Second, to Miss Hermione Granger, for the use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."
Hermione buried her face in her arms; Cassie strongly suspected she had burst into tears. Gryffindors up and down the table were beside themselves, they were a hundred points up.
"Third, to Miss Cassandra Black, for unfailing loyalty, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."
Cassie's smile could have split her face as the Gryffindors nearest to her thumped her on the back and the rest roared with appreciation.
"Fourth, to Mr. Harry Potter," said Dumbledore. The room went deadly quiet. "For pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor house sixty points."
The din was deafening. Those who could add up while yelling themselves hoarse knew that Gryffindor now had four hundred and seventy-two points, exactly the same as Slytherin. They had tied for the house cup, if only Dumbledore had given Harry just one more point.
Dumbledore raised his hand. The room gradually fell silent.
"There are all kinds of courage," said Dumbledore, smiling. "It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends. I therefore award ten points to Mr. Neville Longbottom."
Someone standing outside the Great Hall might well have thought some sort of explosion had taken place, so loud was the noise that erupted from the Gryffindor table. Harry, Cassie, Ron, and Hermione stood up to yell and cheer as Neville, white with shock, disappeared under a pile of people hugging him. He had never won so much as a point for Gryffindor before.
"Which means," Dumbledore called over the storm of applause, for even Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were celebrating the downfall of Slytherin, "we need a little change of decoration."
He clapped his hands. In an instant, the green hangings became scarlet and the silver became gold; the huge Slytherin serpent vanished and a towering Gryffindor lion took its place. Snape was shaking Professor McGonagall's hand, with a horrible, forced smile.
Cassie had almost forgotten that the exam results were still to come, but come they did. To their great surprise, she, Harry and Ron passed with good marks; Hermione, of course, had the best results of all the first years. Even Neville scraped through, his good Herbology mark making up for his abysmal Potions one. They had hoped that Goyle, who was almost as stupid as he was mean, might be thrown out, but he had passed, too. It was a shame, but as Ron said, you couldn't have everything in life.
And suddenly, their wardrobes were empty, their trunks were packed, Neville's toad was found lurking in a corner of the toilets; notes were handed out to all students, warning them not to use magic over the holidays ("I always hope they'll forget to give us these," said Fred Weasley sadly); Hagrid was there to take them down to the fleet of boats that sailed across the lake; they were boarding the Hogwarts Express; talking and laughing as the countryside became greener and tidier; eating Bettie Bott's Every Flavor Beans as they sped past Muggle towns; pulling off their wizard robes and putting on jackets and coats; pulling into platform nine and three-quarters at King's Cross Station.
It took quite a while for them all to get off the platform. A wizened old guard was up by the ticket barrier, letting them go through the gate in twos and threes so they didn't attract attention by all bursting out of a solid wall at once and alarming the Muggles.
"You must come and stay this summer," said Ron, "All three of you, I'll send you an owl."
"Thanks," said Harry, "I'll need something to look forward to."
People jostled them as they moved forward toward the gateway back to the Muggle world. Some of them called:
"Bye, Harry!"
"See you, Potter!"
"Still famous," said Cassie grinning at him.
"Not where I'm going, I promise you," said Harry.
Harry, Cassie, Ron, and Hermione passed through the gateway together.
"There he is, Mummy, there he is, look!"
It was Ginny Weasley, Ron's younger sister, but she wasn't pointing at Ron.
"Harry Potter!" she squealed. "Look, Mummy! I can see-"
"Be quiet, Ginny, and it's rude to point."
Mrs. Weasley smiled down at them.
"Busy year?" she said.
"Very," said Harry. "Thanks for the fudge and the jumper, Mrs. Weasley."
Cassie looked past Mrs Weasley's shoulder and spotted two familiar faces.
"Have a good summer you three," Cassie told Harry, Ron and Hermione before pushing her trolley towards her parents.
"And remember to write! " she called over her shoulder
"We will !" her three best friends called back.