Through the Trapdoor Again
"I was really glad you asked me to hang out today," Hannah said cheerfully as she and Ron walked down the corridor together. "I feel like I haven't seen much of you lately, but I really love spending time with you."
"Oh, yeah, um, me too," Ron stammered. The truth was that he'd been avoiding her, both because he didn't want to encourage the apparent crush that she seemed to have formed for him, and also because there was no telling when Taylor would suddenly be watching him through her eyes. Perhaps he always was, watching silently from inside the unsuspecting girl's head. They needed to end this for Hannah's sake as well as their own.
"What would you like to do?" Hannah asked, not picking up on Ron's hesitation. "We could always go for another walk, the weather is really nice today. Or we could play a game, you're really good at chess, aren't you? I've seen you playing in the Great Hall sometimes. I've never played, but I'd love to learn. Maybe you could teach me?"
"Um… well, yes, I do play chess. And I suspect we will be playing a bit of chess later, actually," Ron said, thinking of the protections to the Sorcerer's Stone that awaited them. Hannah beamed, still envisioning a nice quiet game on a tabletop somewhere rather than the giant, horrendously violent game pieces they would be encountering. "But first, I actually need your help with something."
"Oh, you need my help? I'd be happy to help you in any way I can, Ron," Hannah said earnestly.
"I knew I could count on you," Ron said, much to Hannah's delight. "It's actually something we're going to be doing with Harry and Hermione."
"Oh! Like a double date?" Hannah asked. Ron suddenly choked on his own spit, launching into a massive coughing fit. Hannah, concerned, began patting him on the back. "Oh my goodness, Ron, are you okay?"
"Fine," Ron managed to croak out. He aggressively cleared his throat, all while Hannah continued to stare at him with a horrified expression on her face. "I'm fine." He coughed again before regaining his composure. "I'm sorry about that, I'm fine now."
"Okay…"
"Um, we um, we just need your help with something. I really appreciate you agreeing to come, this is really important," Ron said, trying to get back on topic.
"It is?" Hannah asked, confused. "What exactly is it that you need help with, Ron?"
"It's… a long story," Ron said, trying to decide how best to explain what they were about to do. "Basically, there's something that Professor Dumbledore is keeping hidden in the castle, and an evil man is trying to steal it, but the teachers won't take us seriously when we try to tell them what's going on so now we have to go get the thing so that the evil guy won't get the thing."
Hannah was staring at Ron as if he had as many heads as Fluffy. "And… then we're going to go play chess?"
"...Sure."
They walked in a bit of an awkward silence for a bit until they neared their destination. Then Hannah began to grow visibly uneasy. "Ron, wait. This is the third floor."
"Yeah, this is where we're meeting Harry and Hermione."
"But… isn't this corridor off limits? It's the one Professor Dumbledore told us about at the start of term feast, we shouldn't be here."
Ron sighed. Hannah was sounding a lot like first year Hermione. "He did say that," Ron conceded. "Because this is where he's hidden the thing. But if we're going to stop the bad man from getting it, we're going to have to break the rules. It's really important that the bad man doesn't get the thing, Hannah. Can you be brave? For me?"
Hannah hesitated. "Just what is this thing that we're trying to get?"
"Fair question," said Ron. "It's a stone. A shiny rock, but it's way more powerful than it looks. If it falls into the wrong hands, a lot of people are going to get hurt."
Hannah seemed even more confused. "And you want my help to protect this rock?"
"I do," Ron confirmed. "Because… because I know I can trust you. This is a delicate matter, as you can imagine."
"Wow, you would really trust me to help with something this important?" Hannah's eyes went wide.
"Of… course I do. Will you help?"
Hannah seemed to consider this for a second, but then nodded. "Okay. Yes. I trust you. I'll help."
Ron smiled. "Thank you, Hannah. This really is important."
"If it's important to you, it's important to me." Hannah smiled at Ron, affectionately squeezing his hand.
Ron blushed and cleared his throat. "Shall we go, then? The others are waiting."
Hannah nodded. "We can't let the bad man get the stone, right?"
"Right."
"Who is this bad man, anyway?"
"Okay, so I know this is really hard to believe, but it's Professor Quirrell."
"Professor Quirrell? But why-"
"I know it sounds crazy," said Ron. "There's no time to explain everything, I just need you to trust me."
Hannah nodded, though she seemed less certain as they finally met up with Harry and Hermione outside the door that separated them from Fluffy. The professors had managed to get the giant three-headed dog back in place after Ron rode him through the corridors months previously. It was a wonder they hadn't increased security in the third floor corridor after that.
"Hello, Hannah," Hermione said politely as they approached. "Thank you for agreeing to help us out."
"I was honored that Ron trusted me enough to ask," Hannah said, grinning back at Ron, who was going red behind the ears.
"We should get moving," said Harry. He pulled out the wooden flute that Hagrid had given him for Christmas. He'd only ever played it to put Fluffy to sleep the first time they'd done this, and hadn't picked the instrument up since. Presumably the Hagrid of his own time thought he was a musical failure, but was too polite to say so.
"I can sing to him if you'd like, Harry. He loves the sound of my voice," said Ron.
"We're not trying to ride him like a horse, Ron. We'd best let Harry put him to sleep," said Hermione.
"Who are we putting to sleep?" Hannah asked.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged glances. "There's a giant dog with three heads on the other side of this door," Harry said bluntly. Hannah instantly looked horrified. "But, don't worry! He falls right to sleep if you play him some music. That's why I brought a flute."
"Do you even know how to play it?"
"Well… no," Harry admitted. "But, Fluffy's not picky."
"Fluffy? The giant three-headed dog has a name?"
"We were as surprised as you are," said Hermione.
"I won't let anything hurt you, Hannah," Ron promised. Hermione rolled her eyes. Hannah grabbed onto Ron's arm.
"Hermione, could you open the door on three?" Harry asked as he lifted the flute to his lips.
Hermione nodded and unlocked the door with the same basic unlocking charm she'd used the first time they'd all met Fluffy. Then she rested her hand on the doorknob and began the countdown. "Three… two… one…" She flung open the door and Harry immediately began to play. The giant dog on the other side of the door growled and snarled, not taking kindly to the disturbance. But then, despite the lack of any discernible melody coming from Harry's flute, Fluffy's six eyelids began to droop. And within seconds, the giant beast was fast asleep.
"It's absolutely mad that he responds to music like that," Ron commented, Hannah still holding on tight to his arm. It was her first time seeing the oversized creature, after all.
"How likely are we to die while trying to get this stone?" Hannah asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Nothing's going to happen to you, Hannah," Harry insisted as he and Hermione pulled one of Fluffy's massive paws off of the trapdoor.
"Now, when we get down there, there's going to be a lot of devil's snare to break our fall. Don't struggle or it will strangle you to death," said Hermione.
Hannah looked at Ron with renewed horror. "We're going to be strangled by some plant?"
"No one is getting strangled, you just have to relax and you'll fall right through," Ron said helpfully. Hermione resisted the urge to chuckle as she recalled that Ron had refused to relax last time.
"Why don't we all just plan on casting 'Incendio?'" Hermione suggested. Devil's snare hated sunlight, and fire seemed to be the next best thing in a pinch.
Harry and Ron nodded, pulling out their wands as they stepped up to the now open trapdoor. Hannah lagged behind in the doorway. "You three seem to have it covered, maybe I should wait in the corridor. Then I can go get help if something happens and you lot don't make it back," Hannah said hopefully.
Hermione exhaled through her nose, exasperated. "Ron will hold your hand the whole time," she said reluctantly.
"I will?" Ron blurted. Hermione shot him a stern look. "I will." He offered Hannah his hand. She hesitated, but ultimately sauntered into the room, placing her hand in Ron's.
"I'll go first," Harry volunteered before jumping feet first into the trapdoor. He was significantly less hesitant about it this time around despite the fact that the space beyond the door was so dark he couldn't see the bottom. It was a long way down, as expected, but he eventually landed among the wriggling vines of the devil's snare. It was a bit unnerving to know that it could strangle him, and would if given the opportunity, but thankfully he now knew how to deal with it. "I made it to the bottom!" he called out, mostly for Hannah's benefit.
Hermione went next, landing beside Harry amongst the deadly plant, her wand out and ready. A few seconds passed, presumably with Ron having to re-convince Hannah to take a leap of faith, but then a long, high pitched scream could be heard, growing louder and louder until Ron and Hannah also landed in the devil's snare, which was starting to slowly wrap around Harry and Hermione. Hannah stared at them with wide eyes. "Is… is it strangling you?" she asked as she started to squirm, causing the devil's snare to go after her.
Hermione was prepared for this. She raised her wand as best she could with the vines already wrapped around her arm, and shouted, "Incendio!" flames erupted from the end of her wand, causing the vines of the devil's snare to recoil, releasing its captives. The four of them quickly moved out of the plant's deadly reach.
Hannah was breathing heavily. "First a giant dog, then strangling plants, what else is down here?" she demanded.
"That's the deadliest bits behind us," Hermione said soothingly. "Unless you count the poison." Hannah paled.
"Or the giant enchanted chess pieces that clobber you if you get in their way," Harry added.
"They don't kill you exactly, they just knock you unconscious," insisted Ron, who knew from personal experience.
"What? Why is all of this horrible stuff down here?" asked Hannah, her hands on her hips and her expression more stern than Harry had ever seen it, even in his own time.
"These are the protections our professors put in place to protect the stone," Harry explained.
"And you don't think our professors are up to the task of protecting it themselves? Surely you don't think four first years will be able to get past the defenses if all of our teachers put them together." The reality was that three first years had managed to get past all of the teachers' defenses to get the stone. But they couldn't share their gift of clairvoyance with Hannah.
"Well, maybe one first year wouldn't be able to get past all the defenses," Ron agreed as he placed a comforting hand on Hannah's shoulder. Hannah seemed to soften under his touch. "But with all of us putting our brains and talents together? We'll get through it no problem. We already got past Fluffy with Harry's flute, and we escaped the devil's snare with Hermione's Herbology knowledge. There's nothing that we can't do together."
Harry and Hermione exchanged glances, unsure of where this pep talk side of Ron had come from. Hannah, on the other hand, was enchanted. "You're right, Ron, I'm sorry I doubted you. I do think that you and I could do anything together," she said, seeming to forget that Harry and Hermione were even there.
Hermione rolled her eyes as she headed for the door that led to the next room, with Harry following behind her and Ron bringing up the rear with Hannah's hand in his own. "When I suggested that Ron would hold her hand, I didn't mean that she had to do it the whole time," Hermione muttered, though she only spoke loud enough for Harry to hear her.
At first glance, the next room seemed like it was full of little birds flying up into a rather high ceiling. But Harry recalled that they were not birds, but rather keys with wings. The challenge was to use one of the brooms provided to catch the correct key, so they could use it to unlock the next door.
"If memory serves," said Hermione, "we're looking for a large silver one."
Harry scanned the air above them, spotting a few possibilities. Last time, they'd had the benefit of Quirrell going through before them, and so he could tell which key it was based on some disturbed feathers on one of the wings. He tried to picture that wing in his mind. "I think… it has a blue wing," he said.
"Well, it looks like there's only one key matching that exact description. At least as far as I can see," said Hannah.
"How are you at flying, Hannah?" Ron asked. "We could use your help if we're to catch it."
"Oh, but Harry's the flyer, right? He's on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team as a first year."
"I'm sure Harry will be the one to catch it," Hermione confirmed. "But if we work together, we can corner it and make it easier for him."
Hannah nodded. "Okay. This is the first room that hasn't tried to kill us, so I'd love to help." The four of them grabbed the brooms that had very helpfully been left behind for them to use. It was no wonder that three first years had been able to get past all the teachers' defenses if they were going to leave them everything they needed to complete each task, but none of them were complaining.
"Let's go get that key," Harry said. And with that, they all pushed off from the ground and began to fly amongst the keys. It wasn't long before Harry, with the eye of a trained seeker, spotted the key they were looking for. "It's there!" he called out, pointing to the opposite side of the room. The others followed his point and all changed direction at once, coming at the key from different angles. The key tried to flee, but each way it turned, it found its path blocked. Then Harry swooped in, hand outstretched, and snatched the key out of the air as if it was the golden snitch at a Quidditch match. Ron, Hermione, and Hannah cheered as Harry dramatically held the key up into the air, and all four of them lowered their broomsticks until they touched back down on the floor.
"That was exhilarating!" said Hannah. "Now I get people who like sports."
"You don't follow any Quidditch teams?" Ron asked incredulously.
"Focus," said Hermione. "We'll have plenty of time to talk about Quidditch later." Though she hoped that this wasn't the case, and that they'd be sent back to their own time the second this was over. Harry hurried to unlock the door, the key flying off as soon as its job was done, and the four of them moved on to the next room.
"I told you we'd be playing some chess," Ron said to Hannah as they entered a large chamber with a giant chessboard.
"This wasn't quite how I was expecting to learn to play," Hannah teased.
"Well, thankfully Ron is really good at this," said Hermione. "Go ahead, Ron. You're in charge for this one."
"Ron, do you think you could find a way to win without making any… sacrifices this time?" Harry asked. He'd rather not have anyone knocked out this time if they could help it.
Ron smiled at his friend. "Don't worry about me, Harry. We know I'll be fine, the most important thing is for the three of you to continue on."
"Wait, Ron, what are you talking about? Are you not coming with us?" Hannah asked, her voice saddened by the thought of leaving Ron behind.
"We won't all be able to make it through," Ron said bravely. "It's more important for you, Harry, and Hermione to get through than it is for me. But don't worry, I'll be alright."
"Oh, Ron, you're so brave."
Hermione sighed. "Hannah, why don't you wait here by the door while we sort this out? It looks like we only need the three of us to complete this challenge, no sense in putting you in danger." Hannah didn't respond, instead looking at Ron, who nodded.
"We're not going to let anything happen to you. We promised, remember?" said Ron.
Hannah nodded. "Good luck, Ron," she said.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione took their places on the chess board, as directed by Ron. It was strange to be back, reliving all of this. It had seemed like such an arduous task at the time, but so much had happened since then. They'd faced so many challenges that battling sentient chess pieces seemed like nothing in comparison. And as they worked through the game, pieces from both sizes destroying each other in a familiar pattern, Harry just hoped that their plan was going to work. There were plenty of far more difficult moments in his life that he had no desire to relive.
"Well, this is it," Ron said after a while. They were close to the end. "Once I make my next move, the queen will take me. But that will leave Harry free to checkmate the king."
Hermione sighed. "We never could have done this without you, Ron." And Ron knew that she meant that both about this time, and the first time they'd done this. "I hope that by the time you wake up…" She trailed off, but Ron understood. Perhaps, if everything went to plan, he would get knocked out as a first year, but would awaken as a sixth year.
Ron took a good look at his friends, hoping to find them looking quite different the next time he saw them. But knowing that these could be the final moments in which he would see them this way, he was suddenly filled with a sense of nostalgia. Everything had been much simpler when they were first years, even if it didn't seem that way at the time. And getting the chance to see his friends the way they were when he'd first met them was such a unique experience, such a big reminder of how far they'd come, and that they'd stuck together through it all. "I love you both," was all he said before making his move. And, as he knew she would, the white queen moved toward him, knocked him over the head, and everything faded to black.
Hannah screamed and Harry and Hermione looked on with sympathy as the queen dragged an unconscious Ron off to the side of the board. But the game wasn't over yet. Harry moved three spaces to the left, and the white king removed his crown, tossing it at Harry's feet. The white pieces bowed, acknowledging their victory, and moved out of the way, clearing the path to the door on the other side of the room.
"Ron!" Hannah cried out as soon as the game was over, running to Ron's unmoving form. "I love you, too," she whispered, clearly not understanding who Ron's parting words had been for.
"He'll be alright," Harry assured her. "We need to keep moving."
Hannah looked at Harry as if he'd just suggested they set Ron on fire. "And leave him here alone?"
"He'll be okay without us," Hermione insisted. "He'll wake up in a bit with no more than a bit of a bump on his head. But he made that sacrifice so that we can move on together. You don't want it to be in vain, do you?"
"I guess not," Hannah said, still sounding unsure. "I'll be back for you, Ron." And with that, she kissed his forehead. Hermione made a weird face, but held her tongue.
"The way is clear, let's go," said Harry. And so he, Hermione, and Hannah moved on to the next room.
"Oh no," Harry muttered.
"Crap, I forgot about this!" said Hermione. Hannah just screamed, drawing the attention of the giant troll who was guarding the room.
The first time they'd encountered this troll, Quirrell had already knocked it out cold and all they had to do was skirt around it into the next room. Thankfully, as they proved when they first arrived back in their first year bodies, they had gotten much better at battling trolls over the years.
The troll roared and charged toward them, Hannah letting out another scream as she covered her head with her hands. But Harry and Hermione quickly pulled out their wands and pointed them at the troll before yelling, "Stupefy!" in unison. The troll stopped in its tracks, swayed a bit, and then began to fall… toward them. Harry and Hermione grabbed Hannah and quickly scrambled out of the way, diving off to the side and landing together in a pile just before the troll could fall on them and crush them to death.
Harry, Hermione, and Hannah were all silent as they disentangled themselves and got to their feet. Hannah was staring wide-eyed at the troll. "It was true, then?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. "You two and Ron defeated the troll that got loose in the castle on Halloween?"
Harry grinned at her. "We told you we weren't going to let anything happen to you." Hannah was staring at him and Hermione with awe.
"It's not much farther, now," Hermione said. "Let's get out of here before this guy wakes up."
And so the three of them moved on to the room with the potion challenge. Seven bottles were lined up on a table, along with a piece of paper with Snape's riddle. And as they stepped toward the table, purple flames sprung up to block the door behind them while black flames blocked the way forward.
"We're trapped," said Hannah. "What do we do now?"
"We solve this riddle," Hermione explained, indicating the piece of paper. "One of these bottles contains a potion that will allow us to move ahead, one contains a potion that will allow us to move back, then there are two bottles of nettle wine and three that are poisoned."
"And the riddle tells us which bottles are which?" Hannah asked. Hermione nodded, but remained silent as she read over the clues, resolving the riddle as she'd done before. Harry and Hannah waited patiently for her to finish, knowing that this was Hermione's area of expertise.
"Okay, got it," Hermione announced after a minute or two. "The smallest bottle here will allow the drinker to move forward."
"It's so small," Hannah pointed out. "There's barely enough in there for one person, we can't all drink it."
"I didn't think about that," Harry said, looking at Hermione in a panic. But Hermione's face was calm.
"Harry, could you pour out the contents from that bottle?" Hermione asked, pointing to one of the green ones. "It's just nettle wine, but we need an empty bottle to work with." Harry did as she asked, suppressing the urge to take a drink to calm his nerves. They were so close, it would be soon that they knew if their plan worked, or if they were stuck in the past after all. Once the bottle was empty, he handed it to Hermione who poured in the contents of the smallest bottle. Then she pointed her wand at the bottle, muttered some incantations, and the liquid levels in the bottle began to increase.
A wide grin stretched across Harry's face. "Hermione, have I told you how brilliant you are lately?" he asked.
Hermione blushed, but smiled. "It never hurts to hear it again," she said.
"How did you do that?" Hannah asked.
"Oh, well, it's actually Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration," Hermione explained. "You can't create something from nothing, but you can increase the quantity of food or drink if you already have some."
Hannah blinked. "I guess Susan was right about you being the smartest witch in our year," she said, shaking her head.
"Susan said that?"
"And she's absolutely right, Hermione, but can we talk about it after we get the stone?" Harry asked, eager to get everything over with.
"Right," Hermione agreed. "I guess we all need to take a sip."
Hannah seemed hesitant. "You're sure it's not poison?"
"I'll drink first to ease your mind," Harry said, taking the bottle from Hermione and confidently taking a sip. The potion was ice cold and gave him quite a chill, but it definitely wasn't poisoned. Hermione drank next, shuddering as the liquid went down her throat before passing the bottle to Hannah.
"Well, you both seem fine, so here goes nothing," she said before taking a sip, causing her to shiver. "Wow, that's cold."
"Let's go quick before it wears off," said Harry. He walked straight through the black flames, not even feeling them on his skin. Hermione and Hannah followed behind him, and soon they were all in the room with the Mirror of Erised.
"I never thought I'd see this mirror again," Harry said as he moved toward it.
"Where's the stone? Is this the last room, or do we have to do something with the mirror?" Hannah asked. She stepped forward, making to follow Harry, but Hermione stopped her.
"Harry has to fetch the stone from the mirror. Let's wait back here and leave him to it," Hermione said. The stone could only be fetched from the mirror by someone who wanted to get it, but didn't want to use it for themselves. Harry and Hermione certainly met that criteria, but it was possible that Hannah did as well, even if the person who sometimes possessed her body did not. They didn't want Hannah to get ahold of the stone before they did.
Harry walked up to the mirror, seeing his 16-year-old self staring back at him. Sixth year Harry reached into his pocket, pulled out the stone, winked, and then put it back in place. And when the Harry that was still trapped in his 11-year-old body reached into his pocket, he felt two stones inside. Harry's blood turned to ice in his veins as he suddenly realized that both the real stone and the fake stone were in the same pocket, and he had no idea which was which.