Little Black Sheep

Chapter Eleven: Going Down Below
A week has passed since the night I sent my mom the letter. You know what that means… I survived my exams. Personally I was torn between two desires, one for it to never end so time could never go on and two, for it to finally cease so I wouldn’t have to endure the millions of questions anymore. It seemed impossible how I got through all of my exams, and even more unbelievable, is that they were easy.
I remember every exam perfectly. I can recall how it was boiling hot, how the windows were open and let the sweet, refreshing breeze flow, our papers fluttering slightly. Explaining this, I can just feel the sweat that poured down my back in apprehension about the tests and from the heat. The ghost of the pencils scribbling on papers are still ringing through my ears and it seemed like my hand would be permanently handicapped for life. I could feel the anti-cheating charm that was casted on our quills pulse through the feather and into my sweaty palm. The only thing that seemed completely wrong during the exams was my wrist. It continued to mildly burn and I rubbed it every once in a while, the pain flaring up. I didn’t tell anyone besides Hermione, who said that since Voldemort wasn’t near; it had to be my anxiety for the exams. When I persisted, she changed the subject. It seemed like no one understood.
It seems all surreal now, seeing my biggest worry was the exams, but now I had an even greater conflict I had to consult. The burn worried at my scar and dreams visited me every night. Sometimes, I would wake up in the middle of the night, my forehead drenched in cool sweat and an evil cackle ringing in my ears. One night, it was different from my usual hooded creature nightmare. It happened in the middle of the testing week. This one gave me a bizarre de ja vu feeling, like I had it before, but it was different.
“Master! Things haven’t changed!” The familiar voice pleaded.
I could see a silhouette of a crouched man, the light dull and revealing nothing. The man seemed to be trembling in fear. Another voice answered the man.
“Don’t worry, my slave. It’ll be soon, oh so very soon, and then you’ll have everything you can possibly think off. The world will be at your finger tips,” A malevolent voice cooed, the voice smooth as honey, “You just have to do what I say. Everything will be just fine.”
“Yes, Master. Sorry, Master. Everything will be fine.” The man’s voice seemed to be more at ease now.
“Something will change.”
I shot up, gasping and my head seemed like it was going it explode. My wrist throbbed like nothing before and I felt incredibly dizzy. The last words of the dream rung through my mind.
“Something will change.”
I just sat there, my head against the backboard of my bed, my fingers clutching my scar. My breathing soon slowed, but was still ragged. Adrenaline coursed through me, and I could tell my pillow was soaked with sweat. Still shaky, I lifted off my covers and gingerly swung my legs off my bed. I could hear the peaceful deep breathing of the other girls in the dormitory. I glanced over at Hermione. Her bushy hair was splayed over her maroon pillow and her mouth was slightly open. She looked more serene than she had in months. The exams had really taken a lot out of her. I gave a weary smile and started padding down the tower’s stairs.
As I reached the bottom, my toes touched the soft, red carpet that was so like the floor at home. I headed toward my usual spot in front of the fire place, adding some logs to the dying fire and fell onto the red, velvety chair. I let my mind wander as I stared into the flames, as usual. I always did my deep thinking down here, where it was quiet, but not lonely and cold.
My fingers traced the puckered skin under my arm. I never got a replacement for my wrist band, but no one seemed to notice, which was fine by me. Although, the fact I didn’t get a letter back from my mom had me worried. What happened to it? Did she ever even send one in the first place? Did she just think I would forget about it in time? Not going to happen. She had to explain everything.
Was I really the Girl-Who-Lived? Why was I there? Why that night? My mother’s voice echoed through my head:
“You were never a mistake.”She smiled, rubbing away a stray tear, “You’re here for a reason.”
My mother always told me that my whole life. What was my reason? Why was I here?
Suddenly, I could hear a creaking noise. I turned around to see Harry’s barefoot was paused on the last step and he gave me a sheepish smile as he looked up and saw me. I smiled in amusement and he walked over to where I was sitting.
“May I join you?”
“Sure, go ahead.”
I motioned for a spot next to me and he gingerly took a seat.
We sat there for a few moments when I finally cleared my throat, “Still having bad dreams?”
“Ya, you?” He asked.
“Ya,” I whispered, “What are yours about?”
“It always has him in it. He’s always there, mocking me. It’s either at my old house or in the forest, but it always ends the same. My parents die.” He explained, his jade eyes hard as diamonds as he stared into the fire.
“He’s always lurking in the shadows. He’s always cloaked and he’s always taunting me too, Harry. He says, ‘You’ll never win, Emily. You can’t fight it.’ But I don’t know what he’s talking about! It frustrates me so much and my darn scar… it keeps burning!” I finally started rubbing my scar furiously, aggravated at how nothing made sense.
“Mine is too, Emily. I don’t know why! It has to mean something, but I can’t figure out what!” He imitated my movements, rubbing his forehead.
“I have the same feeling. I told Hermione about my dreams… but it doesn’t seem like she knows. She’s too worried with her exams, rightfully so, but Voldemort is such a more important matter…she didn’t see what we did, Harry. She didn’t watch the life being drained out of that poor defenseless creature and him lunge at us. She doesn’t feel the burning…” I drifted off, “But you do.” I glanced over at his face, waiting for him to answer.
“It’s as if they’re not worried. Sure, they’re afraid of him, but it doesn’t seem like a true threat to them. Maybe, if they did see them, they would feel like it’s more real.” Harry finally looked over at me.
“Did you ever feel alone when you had those dreams, Harry?” I asked suddenly.
He looked away again, “Yes, but now… now that you know what I know, I’m not alone anymore.”
I gave a small grin, “You’ll never be alone Harry.”
And with that, we just sat there, happy knowing that there was someone else who knew what was happening with us. An hour or so later, we bid each other good night and vanished into our dormitories once more.
Our exams were more than just writing on papers and filling in bubbles. We had on-the-spot tests too. Like in Charms, Professor Flitwick had us make a pineapple tap dance across our desk. Just to let you know, mine did an Irish jig. In Transfiguration, we were given a mouse and had to change it into a snuffbox. The more decorated it was, the better the grade, unless it still had a tail or squeaked, of course. I remember my potions exam. Snape glares burned into the back of my skull and I for once was glad to be in the cool, moist dungeons and away from the heat. His breath pressed on the back of my neck as he loomed over my cauldron, just looking for some excuse to mark me down, but I studied Potions even more than the other subjects. I wanted to show Snape that I he could hate me, but that wasn’t going make me flunk his class.
Finally my last exam had arrived. I wanted to get it over as soon as possible, but at the same time I wish the time before it would go on forever. It was for History of Magic, of course. The subject that I despised more than Potions. I spent an hour, a full hour, enduring questions about rebellions and inventions that formed our world today. When Professor Binns finally announced the time was up, I jumped for joy. The exams were over! Finished!
As I met back up with Ron, Hermione, and Harry, the grounds were suddenly crowded with other chattering students. Everyone was happy to be in the fresh, summer air compared to being jammed in stuffy classrooms and were running about, enjoying their freedom.
I walked alongside the other three.
“That was far easier than I thought it would be,” Hermione remarked as she kept in step with us, “I needn’t have learned about the 1637 Werewolf Code of Conduct or the uprising of Elfric the Earger.”
“Which you insisted were going to be on the test and drilled into my head,” I said with a playful tone and a grin on my face.
“Well, I guess I’m guilty as charged.” Hermione shrugged, an equally playful smile on her lips, “Also, in Potions, I almost stirred that Forgetfulness potion once too much, but caught myself. I hope it still turned out alright.”
“Erg, now that exams are over, I don’t want to talk about them until we get the results. It makes me nauseous thinking about it.” Ron muttered.
Ron led us over to a shading tree by the black lake. Ron’s two twin brothers and Lee were prodding the tentacles of a giant squid, which was relaxing in the shallows by the shore. I giggled at their amusement.
I plopped on the ground, laying in full view of the sun, basking in the warmth.
“Mmmmm…exams are over.” I murmured peacefully.
“Yes, nor more studying,” Ron softly sighed in complete content, stretching in the shade of the tree’s branches, “You could look more cheerful, Harry, we’ve got a week before we find out how badly we’ve done, there’s no need to worry yet.”
I glanced over at Harry’s scrunched up face. He was rubbing his scar, which reminded me of mine. The burn which I had learned to ignore flared up again.
“I wish I knew what this means!” Harry suddenly burst out, obviously aggravated and my serene feeling melted away and anxiety started to knot in my mind, “My scar keeps hurting- it’s happened before, but never as often as this.”
I wrapped my fingers around my scar and started to worry at it like a dog with a bone. I was about to say something when Hermione spoke, her tone casual.
“Go to Madam Promfrey,” Hermione said, brushing her hair out of her eyes.
“He’s not sick, Hermione. Mine is stinging too. It can’t be a coincidence.” I insisted, willing them to understand.
“Maybe it’s a warning….it means danger’s coming…” Harry tried to explain, but I could tell Hermione and Ron weren’t about to stress over this after the exams.
“Harry, Emily, 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.” Ron tried to reassure us, but Harry got me worried.
There was a reason why our scars were acting so weird and it had to be about Voldemort. Something was going to happen… We sat there a little quiet and then started talking again.
“Man, I feel like I forgot to do something…” Harry said, his voice exhausted.
“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.” Hermione used the ‘exams excuse’ again.
I laughed, “I remember that! You woke me up too and was all frazzled. You had your notes scattered everywhere, nearly screaming ‘I forgot to study!’ When I told you the Transfiguration exam was over.”
The other guys were laughing along with me and she blushed, a flaming red with a grin on her face.
“Well, you woke me up one night you wanted to know the date when Elfric the Earger had his uprising.” She started laughing uncontrollably and it was my turn to blush as I recalled that night.
I was a complete mess, my belongings were everywhere all over the floor and I shook Hermione awake. As I rushed to ask her my question, she just smiled sleepily and giggled.
“Your hair looks funny.”
That’s when I noticed my hair was all knotted up into some fluff ball on the top of my head from my thrashing.
We all continued small conversation when I noticed Harry was quiet. I mean, deathly quiet. That’s when he abruptly got to his feet.
“Where’re you going?” Ron wearily asked.
“I’ve just thought of something,” Harry answered, his voice sounding a little eager, but his face was as white as a piece of parchment, “We’ve got to go see Hagrid, now.”
Harry started speed walking away from us, all of his limbs stiff. Ron, Hermione, and I jogged to catch up.
“Why?” I asked, a little out of breath.
“Don’t you think it’s a bit odd,” Harry started to explain as we were hurrying up a small hill, “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?” Harry increased his pace.
I started to connect things together. It was all too convenient…
“See what, Harry?” Hermione asked, but Harry just ignored her and began sprinting, panic written on his face. I sprinted with him to keep up.
When Hagrid’s hut came into view, I could see he was sitting on a wooden rocking chair on his porch, pea pods in hand and a bucket full of shelled peas by his side. Hagrid beamed when he saw us approaching.
“Hullo,” He greeted, “Finished yer exams? Got time fer a drink?”
“Yes, please,” Ron eagerly agreed, seeing as we were sitting out in the heat, but Harry hurriedly brushed what he said aside.
“No, we’re in a hurry. Hagrid, I’ve got to ask you something.” Harry’s voice was anxious and rushed, “You know that night you won Norbert? What did the stranger you were playing cards look like?”
“Dunno,” Hagrid answered nonchalantly, “he wouldn’ take his cloak off.”
Suddenly, I knew why Harry was so worried. A hooded person was playing cards with him and just happened to have a dragon. What if…
“It’s not that unusual, yeh get lot o’ funny folk in the Hog’s Head- that’s the pub down in the village. Mighta bin a dragon dealer, mightn’ he? I never saw his face, he kept his hood up.”
The three of us sat down, suddenly feeling like the energy was drained from us and we were preparing for the worse.
“What did you talk to him about, Hagrid? Did you mention Hogwarts at all?” I asked, a little hesitant for the answer.
“Mighta come up,” Hagrid retorted, his forehead full of wrinkles as he tried to recall the night, “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 wanted was a drgon… an’ then… I can’ remember too well, ‘cause he kept buyin’ me drinks… Let’s see… yeh, then he said he had the dragon egg an’ we could play cards for it, he didn’t want it ter go to any old home… So I told him, after Fluffy, a dragon would be easy…”
“And did he- did he seem interested in Fluffy?” Harry asked, his voice straining to stay cool and I put a reassuring hand on his arm.
“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,” Hagrid was smiling at the memory, “jus’ play him a bit o’ music an’ he’ll straight off to sleep-“ Hagrid suddenly snapped out of the memory, terror written all over his face, “ I shouldn’ta told yeh that!” He suddenly cried out, “Forget I said it! Hey- where’re yeh going?”
Hagrid started calling out to us, but we were already running towards the castle.
Thoughts were flashing through my mind. Hagrid told. He promised not to, but he did. The cloaked person knew. He knew. Voldemort knew. He was going to get the stone. Hagrid told. Neville was going to be on the England Quidditch team after all. But we would all be dead before that happens.
We finally reached the entrance hall and suddenly everything felt so cold. So hopeless. He knew. He was going to get it. How could Hagrid be so careless? I shivered and we all turned to Harry.
“What are we going to do, Harry?” I asked, my voice small.
“We’ve got to go to Dumbledore,” Harry answered, his tone solemn, “Hagrid told that stranger how to get pass Fluffy, and it was either Snape or Voldemort under that cloak- it must’ve been easy, once he got Hagrid drunk. I just hope Dumbledore believes us. Firenze might back us up if Bane doesn’t stop him. Where’s Dumbledore’s office?” Harry asked and everyone stopped.
“It’s marked by a gargoyle, but I don’t know where that is,” I said, looking around worriedly.
“Does anyone know where that might be-“ Harry asked when another voice called out to us from the end of the corridor.
“What are you four doing inside?”
The voice belonged to none other than Professor McGonagall, who was struggling with a large pile of books in her arms.
The boys and I stood there, tongue tied, until Hermione spoke up, “We want to see Professor Dumbledore.” Hermione’s voice was confident and, at least to me, it must have taken a lot of courage.
“See Professor Dumbledore?” Professor McGonagall asked, probably seeing it was very strange for us to ask for him, “Why?”
What do we do now? Harry spoke.
“It’s sort of a secret,” He told her, but I really wish he chose a different choice of words.
Professor McGonagall’s eyes sharpened and her lips pursed, “Professor Dumbledore left ten minutes ago,” Her voice was like ice, “He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and flew off for London at once.”
My panic started to rise.
“He’s gone?” Harry blurted, “Now?”
“Professor Dumbledore is a very great wizard, Potter, he has many demands on his time-“ Professor McGonagall tried to explain, but I cut her off.
“But this is important!” I butted in and she glared even harder.
“Something you have to say is more important than the Ministry of Magic, Blarsh?” she loomed over me, daring me to answer.
“Look,” Harry said, his voice defeated, “Professor- it’s about the Sorcerer’s Stone-“
At that single moment, Professor McGonagall dropped her books, having them clatter onto the stone floor. She didn’t make a move to pick them up. Obviously, she didn’t expect hearing that from a student’s mouth.
“How do you know-?” She was stuttering in amazement.
“Professor, I think- I know – that Sn- that someone’s going to try and steal the Stone. I’ve got to talk to Professor Dumbledore.” Harry tried to persuade her, but she just stared at us, full of astonishment and doubt.
“Professor Dumbledore will be back tomorrow,” She said after a few moments of accusing stares, “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-“
“Potter, I know what I’m talking about,” She snapped and leaned over to pick up her rather large books, “I suggest you all go back outside and enjoy the sunshine.”
We didn’t make a move towards the door.
“It’s tonight,” Harry told us as soon as Professor McGonagall turned the corner, “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 we can-“ I started to say when Hermione suddenly gasped.
Ron, Harry, and I span around to see the devil himself, Snape.
He had a coy smile on his lips, “Good afternoon.”
We stayed silent, stunned like rabbits.
“Shouldn’t be inside on a day like this,” His voice reminded me of a snake’s.
“We were-“ Harry began to explain, but suddenly realized we didn’t have any excuses.
Snape eyed us suspiciously, “You want to be more careful. Hanging around like this, people will think you’re… up to something. And Gryffindor really can’t afford to lose anymore points, can it?”
Heat rushed to my cheeks. Obviously, even if I scored high on my Potions exam, Snape wouldn’t treat me any different. We slowly turned towards the entrance doors when Snape called out to us.
“Be warned, Potter, Blarsh- any more nighttime wandering and I will personally make sure you are expelled. Good day to you.” And then he started walking towards the staffroom.
“Right, here’s what we’ve got to do,” Harry whispered to us as we reached the front steps, “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.” Harry explained and we looked over at Hermione.
“Why me?” She asked.
“It’s obvious. You can pretend to be waiting for Professor Flitwick, you know,” Ron pointed out and then changed his tone into a high, girly one, “‘Oh Professor Flitwick, I’m so worried, I think I got question fourteen b wrong…’”
“Oh, shut up,” Hermione snapped at Ron and I glared at him. Despite Ron’s taunting, Hermione reluctantly agreed.
“And we’d better stay outside the third-floor corridor,” Harry glanced over at Ron and I, “Come on.”
Problem was, we ran into trouble. Like, fire-breathing dragon Professor McGonagall trouble. Once we reached the third-floor corridor door, she popped out of nowhere and her temper flowed over.
“I suppose you’re harder to get past than a pack of enchantments!” She boomed, “Enough of this nonsense! If I hear you’ve come near here again, I’ll take another fifty points form Gryffindor! Yes, Weasely, from my own house!”
We begrudgingly shuffled our feet to our common room. We sat on the velvet chairs and Harry sighed.
“At least Hermione’s on Snape’s tail.”
Suddenly, the portrait door swung open, revealing a distressed Hermione.
“I’m sorry, Harry!” She cried, “Snape came out and asked me what I was doing, so 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 went.”
We sat deathly silent and I could feel my face lose its color and a chill ran through my limbs.
“Well, that’s it, isn’t it?” Harry quietly said after a while, his face equally as white and his green eyes shining, “I’m going out of here tonight and I’m going to try and get to the Stone first.”
At first, I opened my mouth to protest. But a thought occurred to me, “If we don’t stop him, who will?”
Hermione and Ron went bonanza!
“You’re mad!” Ron exclaimed, incredulous.
“You can’t!” Hermione insisted, “After what McGonagall and Snape have said? You be expelled!”
“SO WHAT?!” Harry exploded, “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 be expelled from! He’ll flatten it, or turn it into a school for the Dark arts! Losing points doesn’t matter anymore, can’t you see? D’you think he’ll leave you and your families alone if Gryffindor wins the house cup? If I get caught before I can get to the Stone, well, I’ll have to go back to the Dursely’s and wait for Voldemort to find me there, because I’m never going over to the Dark Side! I’m going through that trapdoor tonight and nothing you three say is going to stop me! Voldemort killed my parents, remember?” Harry finished, breathing hard, and a glare boring into my skin.
“You’re right,” Hermione croaked.
“I’ll use the invisibility cloak,” Harry said, rushing to get up, “It’s just lucky I got it back.”
“I’m coming with you.” I whispered and Harry paused.
“What?” He asked, surprised.
“I’m coming with you!” I said louder and looked up at him.
“No way! You’ll get in trouble, this is between Voldemort and me!” Harry exclaimed and I stood up, anger flaring my eyes.
“No it’s not! I was there that night too, Harry, and you’re not the only one who has lost people you love because of him! My dad is gone, and it being on the same night is no mere coincidence! I’m going whether you like it or not!” I screamed in his face and I felt unstable.
Harry just stood there looking at me when Ron spoke.
“Will that cloak cover all four of us?”
“What, not you guys too!” Harry cried.
“Oh, come off it, you don’t think we’d let you go without us?” Ron stood up too.
“Of course not,” Hermione added vigorously, “How do you think you’d get the Stone without us? I’d better go and look through my books, there might be something useful…” She got up and stood by my side.
I smiled at Harry, “There’s no way you’re getting rid of us.”
“But if we get caught, you three will be expelled too.” Harry tried convincing us, but I brushed it aside.
“If Voldemort takes over, that doesn’t matter very much, now does it?” I used his reasoning against him.
“Besides, Flitwick told me in secret that I got a hundred and twelve percent on his exam. They’re not throwing me out after that.” Hermione explained and I grinned at her.
We sat alone in the common room after dinner. I sat by the fire, as Hermione sat by the door, her arms full of notes and books, probably looking through her Charms notes in case we get stuck in a situation that needed that. Ron and Harry sat by the window, silent and staring into space. People continued to ignore us, but this was the one night I wished no one would bother me.
I had my Potions notes clutched in my hands and I rapidly went through them. Knowing that Snape ‘helped’ put protections on the Stone, I was preparing for whatever he put in there. As I was flipping through the pages of my textbook, a shadow suddenly loomed over me. I looked up to see the smiling face of Oliver Wood.
“Hey, Emily. You studying? I thought exams were over.” Oliver asked, coming around to sit next to me.
I nervously shuffled through my notes, frazzled, looking for an excuse, “I told Snape I would do an extra credit essay to get a higher grade.” I made up, hoping it sounded good.
“Really? I thought he hated you and Harry, why would he let you do that?” Oliver asked, suspicious.
“I got Dumbledore to convince him.” I added quickly, turning back to my notes.
“Emily, are you ok? You don’t seem like your usual self.” He asked, concern color his irises.
“I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be fine? Everything’s perfectly fine,” I rushed and he gave me a ‘ya, right look.’
“Emily, what’s wrong?” Oliver asked, his voice final.
I sighed and hung my head, my hands pausing, “I can’t tell you,”
“Why? You can tell me anything, Little Emily.” Oliver tried to persuade me.
I shook my head, “It’s a secret.”
“Come on , Emily. Nothing’s can’t be so bad you can’t tell me.” He smiled and I finally looked all the way up to him.
“You have no clue, Wood. You’ll find out soon enough. But if things go bad…and I don’t come back… run away. Get as far away as you possibly can.” I pleaded him with my eyes, “Promise me.”
Wood backed up a little, “Emily, calm down. Really, what’s wrong?”
“Promise me!” I begged him louder.
“Ok, ok, I promise, Just relax Emily. It’ll be fine.” And then he gave me a hug.
Oh, how I wished that was true.
Soon, Wood left grudgingly and told me to go to bed. I told him I would in a little bit. I lied, again. After that, many other students emptied out of the common room, yawning. I waited ‘till it was just Hermione, Ron, Harry, and I.
“Better get the cloak,” I heard Ron mutter to Harry and he disappeared up the stairs.
“Hermione, I’ll take your notes and put them away. I have to get something, anyways.” I told her and grabbed her parchment and rushed up the girls’ dormitory stairs.
I heard the deep breathing of the girls around me and smiled, knowing this might be my last time seeing them. I put Hermione’s and my notes in the top drawer of my nightstand and spotted something gold glitter. It was what I was looking for, my necklace. I grabbed the chain, watching the heart shaped locket bob in the air. I pulled the delicate chain over my head. I instantly felt better and more reassured. I hurried down the steps, seeing Harry, Ron, and Hermione waiting for me.
“We’d better put the cloak on here, and make sure it covers all four of us- if Filch spots one of our feet wandering along on its own-“ Harry explained when a voice interrupted him.
“What are you doing?” I heard Neville’s voice call from behind me.
I looked over at him to see he was bent over behind an armchair, with Trevor in his hands. Trevor must have been trying to break loose again.
“Nothing, Neville, nothing,” Harry rushed, grabbing the cloak and putting it behind his back.
I could tell that guilt was written all over my face and he stared at us for a while when he finally concluded what we were about to do.
“You’re going out again,” He plainly said, like it was obvious. Which, I guess, it was.
“No, no, no,” Hermione tried to reassure him with her flattering tone she used on Hagrid, “No, we’re not. Why don’t you go to bed, Neville?”
Her honey smooth tone didn’t work on Neville like it did on Hagrid. I saw Harry worriedly look over at the clock that was ticking in the corner. Time was running out.
“You can’t go out,” Neville’s voice started to get more panicky, “you’ll be caught again. Gryffindor will be in even more trouble.”
“You don’t understand,” Harry tried to explain, “This is important.”
Neville kept his position and looked like he was going to do something rash.
“I won’t let you do it,” Neville ran to the portrait exit, “I’ll- I’ll fight you!”
“Neville, come on. We’re doing something important! We can’t explain it to you! We’re running out of time!” I tried to explain to him and it seemed like he was slightly budging when Ron exploded.
“Neville! Get away from that hole and don’t be an idiot-“Ron yelled.
“Don’t you call me an idiot!” Neville shouted back, “I don’t think you should be breaking anymore rules! And you were the one who to me to stand up to people!”
“But not to us. “ Ron said in a ‘this is hopeless’ tone, “Neville, you don’t know what you’re doing.”
Ron took a step forward and Neville let go of his toad, raising his fists like a boxer.
“Go on then, try and hit me!” Neville stayed firmly in position, awaiting the first punch, “I’m ready!”
I looked over at Hermione, anxious.
Harry whispered to her, “Do something.”
Hermione nodded and had a saddened look on her face, She stepped towards Neville and raised her wand, “Neville, I’m really, really sorry about this.”
She took a deep breath and raised her wand higher, “Petrificus Totalus!”
Neville suddenly went ridged, his arms clamped to his sides and his legs snapped together. He swayed like a concrete statue and I almost thought he was going to crack when he fell. Neville was face first into the red carpeting.
Hermione rushed over to his side and roll him over so he was looking up. Neville’s lips were glued together and the only thing visibly moving was his eyes.
“What did you do to him?” I asked Hermione, breathless.
“It’s a full Body-Bind,” Hermione said sorrow coloring her tone, “Oh, Neville, I’m so sorry.”
“We had to, Neville, no time to explain.” Harry said as we walked over him.
“No hard feelings, Neville. We had a good reason.” I barely glanced at him in shame and walked over.
“You’ll understand later, Neville,” Ron told him and soon we were all in the corridor and pulled the invisibility cloak over us.
I felt uneasy, but still had that warm feeling I had when I put on my necklace. We shuffled through the dark hallways, the moonlight making every statue look like Filch. I flinched at every noise, worried that Peeves would catch us.
At the first stairs we reached, I could see Mrs. Norris lounging at the top of the stairs.
“Oh, let’s kick her, just this once,” Ron whispered, a once in a life time opportunity in front of us.
Harry just shook his head and we instead tip-toed around Mrs. Norris. Her glowing, yellow eyes stared at us, but she didn’t make a move to get up. We didn’t encounter anyone else until our last staircase.
Peeves was meddling with the carpet, so that people would trip on it tomorrow. We continued slowly up the steps.
“Who’s there?” Peeves asked and glared around him, as if that would make him see better, “Know you’re there even if I can’t see you. Are you ghoulie or ghostie or wee student beastie?”
A wicked smile came onto his face as he squinted at us, “Should call Filch, I should, if something’s a-creeping around unseen.”
My stomach fell. We were done for. That’s went Harry started talking.
His voice was deep and gravely, “Peeves, the Bloody Baron has his own reasons for being invisible.”
Peeve’s jaw fell and he lost control for a second, dipping towards the ground.
“So sorry, your bloodiness, Mr. Baron, sir,” Peeve’s said in a groveling voice and it took all my might not to snicker, “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,” Harry grumbled again, “Stay away from this place tonight.”
“I will, sir, I most certainly will,” Peeve’s rose up in the air again, very nervous, “Hope your business goes well, Baron, I’ll not bother you.”
He then swooped out of sight and I gave Harry a praising glance.
“Brilliant, Harry!” Ron whispered to Harry.
When we reached the door, it was still slightly open. I slump in defeat.
“Well, there you are,” Harry spoke softly, “Snape’s already got past Fluffy.”
At this point, everything suddenly felt more dangerous and my life more precious. I was only eleven years old, almost twelve, but it felt like I might never make it to twelve. The warmth from necklace still burned under my worry and it gave me hope. This wouldn’t be my last night down here. I clutched the locket, the gold cool against my sweaty palm, and I traced the emerald that lay in the center. I won’t fail you, Dad.
Harry suddenly looked back at us, “If you want to go back, I won’t blame you,” Harry told us, “You can take the cloak, I won’t need it now.”
“Don’t be stupid,” Ron scoffed, a smile.
“We’re coming,” Hermione added.
“Harry, we’re going to be there for you, whether you like it or not.” I answered with a small grin.
We pushed the door open. Its hinges gave a small creak, but growls echoed through the room and I was glad we had an invisibility cloak. The dogs sniffed hurriedly in our direction, puzzled.
“What’s that at its feet?” Hermione asked.
“Looks like a harp,” Ron squinted at the dog’s large paws.
“Snape probably left it here, too large to carry and it would make coming back a lot easier.” I mused.
“It must wake up the moment you stop playing,” Harry explained, “Well here it goes…”
I saw Harry dig into his back pocket and pull out the wooden flute he got form Hagrid. Harry started putting his fingers on random holes on the flute, blowing into it. It was terrible to me, but Fluffy’s eye lids began to slide closed as soon as Harry blew into it. Harry barely paused his playing and the dog soon started to slump towards the floor. Its rumbling growls soon faded into snores as it finally fell onto the ground, sleeping like a baby.
“Keep playing,” Ron cautioned Harry as we slipped out of the cloak and headed towards the trapdoor.
The dog’s hot, moist breath blew my hair back the closer we got to the heads. I always had a soft spot for dogs, but this Fluffy was put onto the ‘cat’ list in my book.
“I think we’ll be able to pull the door open,” Ron glanced behind the dog, “Want to go first, Hermione?”
“No, I don’t!” Hermione said indignantly.
“All right,” Ron clenched his jaw and tip toed over the dog’s legs. He pulled the brass ring on the wooden trap door and it revealed nothingness.
“What can you see?” I asked, worried.
“Nothing- just black- there’s no way of climbing down, we’ll just have to drop.” I shuddered at what Ron said. We had to free fall…
A rapid motion caught my eye and I saw Harry waving madly at Ron. Ron looked over and Harry pointed to himself.
“You want to go first? Are you sure?” Ron asked, “I don’t know how deep this thing goes. Give the flute to Emily so she can keep him asleep.”
As Harry pulled the flute form his lips and handed to me, the dogs started to growl slightly and move from their sleeping positions, so I played the first song that came to my head, “Mary had a Little Lamb” The creature’s heads dropped back to the ground and their snores returned.
I watch anxiously as Harry swung his legs over the edge of the abyss. Harry was hanging from his fingertips when he spoke to us, “If anything happens to me, don’t follow. Go straight to the owlery and send Hedwig to Dumbledore, right?”
“Right,” Ron promised, watching Harry worriedly.
“See you in a minute…I hope.” And then he was gone.
I flinch and broke my tune a little, but hurriedly got back on track. I couldn’t risk these guys waking up. A few moments later I heard a weird thump and Harry called up to us.
“It’s ok!” Harry yelled, “it’s a soft landing, you can jump!”
Ron disappeared down the dark hole. A few seconds later Harry called out for Hermione. I then knew it was my turn. I shoved the flute into my pocket and sprinted towards the hole. Growls chased after me and I heard a huge ripping sound when I jumped into the whole. The dog just barely grabbed part of my robes and ripped the bottom off.
I landed with an ‘oof’ behind Harry.
“We must be miles under the school,” Hermione said and I nodded.
The things under me felt like it was squirming, almost like I was on ropes that were moving. It seemed to be some type of plant.
“Lucky this plant thing’s here, really,” Ron said and Hermione jumped up.
“Lucky!?” Hermione cried as she tried running, “Look at you guys!”
I looked down to see the rope things were wrapping around my ankles and arms. I screamed, “Hermione! What is this!?”
I watched as she jumped over to the concrete wall. The vines tried getting at her ankles, but she tugged free. I started to squirm, watching Harry and Ron get more and more enveloped in the plant’s arms.
“Stop moving!” Hermione commanded us, “I know what this is- it’s Devil’s Snare!”
“Oh, I’m so glad we know what it’s called, that’s a great help,” Ron snapped, straining his neck up and away from the vines.
I tried to relax, although my panicky instincts were making it hard. The vines were pulling me down so fast and now were instead slowly crawled on my body, which was saving me some time.
“Shut up! I’m trying to remember how to kill it!” Hermione shouted.
“Well, hurry up, I can’t breathe!” Harry gasped from behind me.
I looked behind me to see it was constricting his chest and I started to panic, pulling away from the vines to help Harry, but they held fast.
“Harry!” I cried and at that moment, I thought we were going to die. I would truly never make it to age twelve.
“Devil’s Snare…Devil’s Snare…” Hermione repeated, trying to jog her memory, “what did Professor Sprout say?- it likes the dark and the damp-“
“So light a fire,” I heard Harry croak out.
“Yes- of course- but there’s no wood!” Hermione screamed, breaking under pressure.
“HAVE YOU GONE MAD?” Ron roared, “ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?!”
“Oh, right!” Hermione cried and pulled out her wand. Flicked it, and murmured a spell. The blue flames that she used on Snape’s robes at the Quidditch match spewed out of the tip. The plant recoiled and the vines released us, crawling away. I wretched myself free and ran over to Hermione, trembling a little.
“Lucky you paid attention in Herboloy, Hermione,” Harry thanked her, wiping sweat off his forehead.
“Lucky she did it at the right time,” I added and we started walking.
“Yeah,” Ron said sarcastically, “and lucky Harry doesn’t lost his head in a crisis- ‘there’s no wood’ honestly.”
“This way,” Harry interrupted and led us down the stone passageway.
The walls were moist and dripping sounds could be heard echoing through the tunnels. It reminded me of medieval dungeons. Maybe there would be skulls and other bones lying around too. I gulped, trying not to puke at the thought.
“Can you hear something?” Ron quietly mumbled.
I strained my ears for a noise. It sounded like a thousand bees, without a lot of buzzing. It seemed to be coming from the passageway in front of us.
“Do you think it’s a ghost?” Hermione asked form behind me.
“I don’t know… sounds like wings to me,” I answered, a little hesitant to see what was making the noise.
“There’s light ahead- I can see something moving.” Harry whispered.
That when we reached a chamber and the light grew brighter. We looked up in awe at the high ceiling to see many creatures fluttering around the room. I had a suspicion that they were the main part of the challenge. I glanced at the opposite wall to see a large wooden door.
“Do you think they’ll attack us if we cross the room?” Ron asked.
“Probably,” answered Harry, “They don’t look vicious, but I suppose if they all swoop at once…well, there’s no choice… I’ll run.”
Before I could argue, he sucked a large amount of air into his lungs, covered his head and sprinted towards the door. I expected all the flying things to make a beeline for Harry, but they didn’t do a thing. Harry tugged on the handle, but the door didn’t budge. He waved over to us and we walked over, cautious about the flying things.
We pulled and pushed on the door, but it wouldn’t move, it didn’t even creak. Hermione tried her Alohomora charm, but it had no effect.
“Now what?” Ron asked, exasperated.
I looked around us, “These bird things… they can’t be here just for show.” I mused.
I looked more closely to see these birds were glinting… glinting? I looked closer, they were metal.
“They’re not birds!” Harry suddenly exclaimed, “They’re keys ! Winged keys- look carefully. So that must mean…” I saw him glance around the chamber when he spotted something, “…yes- look! Broomsticks!”
“But there’s hundreds of them!” Hermione cried.
I saw that Ron was observing the lock, “We’re looking for a big, old fashioned one- probably silver, like the handle.”
We all grabbed the broom sticks and I gulped. I wasn’t really good at flying, but I had to do this. I lifted off, squinting at the keys, looking for the right one. We spent a few minutes snatching poor winged keys, but they were wickedly fast and incredibly hard to snatch. Suddenly, Harry called out.
“That one!” He yelled, pointed at one, “That big one- there- no, there- with bright blue wings- the feathers are all crumpled on the one side.”
Suddenly, I spotted it. It looked pitiful, barely staying aloft with only one good wing. It seemed that someone has already snatched it and shoved it through the lock.
I saw Ron rush towards it, but it flew out of the way and Ron bonked his head on the ceiling. I cringed, it looked like it hurt.
“We’ve got to close on it!” Harry ordered, his eyes staring at the crippled key, “Ron you come at it from above- Hermione stay below and stop it from going down- Emily, stay behind it to keep it from flying away- and I’ll try to catch it. Right… NOW!”
I zoomed to my position and Harry rushed in. The key started heading towards me, and so was Harry. I rushed out of the way, just in time for Harry to grabbed the key and smash it into the wall. We floated down to the floor and ran over to the door. Harry hurriedly thrust the key into the whole and let it go. The key was in even worse shape and could barely fly. I felt sympathy for it and then we pushed through the door and fell out on the other side.
What lay ahead of us was a table with four glasses filled with a blue liquid. We tried to walk pass it, but it blocked our path, keeping us away from the door on the other side.
“What is it?” Hermione asked and I was personally shocked.
“This must be Snape’s.” I realized and started searching through my brain for what it was, “I know what it is… it’s… it’s the Monoeutempus Temporis Potion! It was used in the early third century as a protective potion, but no one’s really heard of it since, unless you read the right books. The potion’s name is Latin or Greek and it means ‘one good stage.’ There’s four stages in making the potion, but they’re all very similar unless you know what makes them unique. Three of the stages are poisonous and will kill you, but one is safe. It seems we’ll have to drink one in order to get by.” I explained and looked over at the others.
“Hermione! What have you done to her?!” Ron cried, his eyes wide.
“I didn’t do anything! I didn’t even know that. Emily, how did you know?” Hermione was gob stopped.
I blushed, “I studied for the Potion’s exam a lot.” I murmured, embarrassed.
“That’s evident. Wow. Well, which one’s the safe one?” Harry asked.
I turned back to the table and started walking towards it, “The safe one is a combination of all four, so it has to have a sweet smell, have little viscosity, but acts like gel when it’s on a hard surface, and most importantly, it needs to turn pink when heated.”
“How are we going to test all those?” Ron asked, incredulous.
“Like this.” I lifted up one of the bottles and sniffed it. It smelled like sugar cookies and I moved onto the next one.
It had a bitter smell, so I set it to another corner of the table. I continued sniffing and found that was the only one that was bitter. I looked over at the others as they stared at me, worried.
“Can you help me pour them on the table? Just make sure you don’t get any yourself.” I asked and they stiffly walked over.
Hermione, Ron, Harry, and I all poured the blue concoction. Hermione’s didn’t even pour, and Ron’s spilled all over the table. Only mine and Harry’s stayed a stiff gel when it hit the surface. I took a deep breath.
“Hermione? Could you heat my bottle?” I asked and she brought out her wand.
I set the bottle on the table and she lifted her wand, muttering a spell. A small blue fire shot out and the mixture slowly turned a rose pink.
I sighed, “I’ll try it first.”
“But Emily, if it’s poison, you’ll die!” Hermione cried out.
“I know…” I whispered, “But you guys have to make it on to the next step. If this potion is bad, drink the other one, forget about me. I just wanted you guys to know, you were the bestest friends I could ever have…”
“You too, Emily.” Harry said, his voice a little gruff.
“You’re not going to die, Emily. Don’t worry.” Ron tried to reassure me, but he didn’t seem so sure of himself.
Hermione hugged me and let go. I nodded and lifted to glass to my lips.
The blue liquid rolled down my tongue and gelled a little when it reached my throat it was slimy and I had to keep gulping to get it down. I put the glass down puckered my face and groaned.
“Emily, you ok?” Harry worriedly asked.
“Ya, it’s just really gross. Like swallowing jellied cotton candy.” I muttered and walked pass the table and towards the door. The table stayed stationary and the other three took a sip.
“Eww, it is like cotton candy.” Hermione murmured, wiping her mouth on her sleeve.
We pushed open the door to reveal another dark room. As we stepped forward, lights suddenly fluttered on and a familiar image laid before us, except it was much, much bigger.
We were on the very edge of a chessboard, the squares a black and white pattern. Black chessmen towered over our heads and on the other side of the board the pieces were just as big, but a ghostly white. I shuddered as I saw each piece’s faces were vacant, just a smooth white. It seemed like all the pieces were made of some type of stone and I was puzzled. What was the challenge?
“Now what do we do?” I heard Harry mutter.
“It’s obvious, isn’it it?” Ron said, “We’ve got to play our way across the room.”
Wizard’s chess. The only person here that was good at it was Ron. Oh no.
A door was slightly shadowed behind the white chess pieces.
“How?” Hermione asked apprehensive.
“I think we’re going to have to be chessmen.” Ron explained and I gulped.
I watched as Ron walked across the board and tap onto a black knight. The horse and man sprang to life and the man’s head turned and looked down at Ron, awaiting an order.
“Do we- er- have to join you to get across?” Ron asked nervously.
The knight’s head slowly shook up and down.
“This needs thinking about…” Ron mumbled, “I suppose we’ve got to take place of four of the black pieces…”
I stayed silent as Ron thought about it. Harry and Hermione didn’t even breathe a word.
Ron finally made up his mind, “Now, don’t be offended or anything, but neither of you guys are that good at chess-“
“We’re not offended,” Harry said before Hermione or I could say anything, “Just tell us what to do.”
“Well, Harry take place of that bishop, and Hermione, you go next to him instead of that castle and Emily, take place of the other castle.”
“What about you?” I asked, walking across the board.
“I’m going to be a knight.” Ron explained, standing where the knight that explained to him what to do used to be.
The other chess players seemed to just have walked off to the sidelines, maybe a little relieved they didn’t have to be smashed into a million pieces.
“White always plays first in chess,” Ron explained and pointed toward the other side of the board, “Yes…look…”
Their white pawn moved up two squares.
Ron started barking out orders to the other pieces and they didn’t speak, just moved to his requested location. I was shuddering slightly… what were the consequences if we lost?
“Harry- move diagonally four squares to the right.” Ron ordered and Harry slowly stepped into the square.
I flinch when I saw the queen move up and swing her arm at the other black knight. It cracked and crumpled to the ground. The queen swung his body to the side lines, where it remained still. What would happen to use if we were ‘killed’?
“Had to let that happen,” Ron tried to explain and his voice wavered, “Leaves you free to take that bishop, Hermione, go on.”
The game continued and more and more of our pieces disappeared, thrown into the sidelines. Every time I would cringe as the white pieces brutally smashed out chessmen each time they were taken. Ron was a very skilled player, but at times, he seemed to forget that Harry, Hermione, and I were flesh and blood and not stone. He had to move us a couple of times to keep us from being smashed. Ron made his way around the board, ‘killing’ as many white pieces he could. Our teams were pretty even, with only a few players left.
“We’re nearly there,” I could hear Ron mumble quietly, “Let me think- let me think…”
That’s when the white queen faced Ron and my blood turned to ice. Even though she had no face, her intentions were clear.
“Yes…” Ron whispered, “It’s the only way… I’ve got to be taken.”
“NO!” Ron, Hermione, and I shouted.
“That’s chess!” Ron shouted to us, “You’ve got to make some sacrifices! I take one step forward and she’ll take me- that leaves you free to checkmate the king, Harry!”
“But-“ Harry tried to speak.
“Do you want to stop Snape or not?”
“Ron-“ Hermione butted in.
“Look, if you don’t hurry up, he’ll already have the Stone!”
I realized there was no way out. I looked up sadly at Ron, “Don’t die.”
“I won’t.” He promised me and called out, “Ready? Here I go- now, don’t hang around once you’ve won!” Ron’s face was furious and his eyes glittered. I hoped that wasn’t the last time I would see his eyes with so much life.
Ron took his steps forward and the Queen jumped up, almost delighted to vanquish another opponent. She swung her stone arm, smashing it in the side of Ron’s head and he crumpled to the floor.
“Ron!” I cried out, tears stinging my eyes and Hermione screamed too, but we remained in our squares. It was almost over.
The queen grabbed Ron’s shirt and dragged him to the side of the board. I hoped to god that Ron was just knocked out and not… dead.
I watched as Harry shook and took his three spaces to the left. Without a word, the white king clutched his crown and threw it on the floor, it clattering onto the checkered board. The rest of the pieces bowed and parted, leaving an opening for the door. I glanced at Ron again, to see he was still motionless and we ran up to the door, towards out next challenge.
“We’ve had Sprout’s, that was the Devil’s Snare; Flitwick must’ve put a charm on the keys; Snape must have set out the Monoeutempus Temporis Potion; McGonagall transfigured the chessmen to make them alive; that leave’s Quirrell’s spell and Dumbledore’s…”
We took a deep breath, “All right?”
“Go on.” I whispered and he pushed the door open.
A familiar, revolting smell met my nose. I described it as spoiled milk and sewage on a summer’s day… it couldn’t be. I pulled my robe over my nose and my eyes watered just like they did when I cut onions. There was a troll laying face down on the floor. It was huge compared to the other troll we saw on Halloween, and it had a gruesome bump on its head. Someone already took care of it.
“I’m glad we didn’t have to fight that one.” Harry muttered as we leaped over the monster’s legs, “Come on, I can’t breathe.”
I was blinking uncontrollably as a reflex to what I thought was next. It was like when you anticipated a balloon, but it didn’t pop and the longer you waited the more you blinked. Well, right now, I was having one of those times. As Harry pulled the door I closed my eyes and looked away, but when I didn’t hear anything from the others I opened one eye and peeked.
It wasn’t revolting, it wasn’t frightening, in fact, it was just a table with seven bottles that were all different shapes.
“Dumbledore’s,” Harry concluded, “What do we have to do?”
We passed through the doorway and walked towards the table. Suddenly, a fire sprung up behind us, although, it was purple, very unusual. As if they were synchronized, there was a pure fire on the other side, covering the other door. We were screwed.
“Look!” Hermione grabbed a piece of rolled up parchment that was next to the bottles. I leaned over her shoulder and read:
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 forevermore,
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 onward, 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.
I looked over at Hermione to see she let a relieved sigh and looked up to the ceiling smiling, as if saying ‘thank you!’ I looked at her puzzled, what was wrong with her?
“Brilliant,” she exclaimed, “This isn’t magic-it’s logic- a puzzle. A lot of the greatest wizards don’t have an ounce of logic, they’d be stuck in here forever.”
“But so will we, won’t we?” I asked, a little worried about her well being.
“Of course not,” Hermione said like that was silly, “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 fire.”
“But how do we know which one to drink?” Harry asked.
“Give me a minute.” She muttered and started reading the paper over again, mumbling.
I casted a worried glance at Harry and he just shrugged. Hermione then walked up to the bottles and murmured, pointing her finger to each one. Suddenly, she clapped her hands, making me jump at the sudden noise.
“Got it,” a smile on her face, “The smallest bottle will get us through the black fire- toward the Stone.”
Harry and I glanced at the bottle.
“There’s only enough for one of us,” He commented, “That’s hardly one swallow.”
I inspected the bottle even more. It could just barely be enough for two.
All three of us looked at each other.
“Which one will get you guys back through the purple flames?” Harry asked and Hermione pointed to the rounded one at the table.
“You two drink that,” I was about to open my mouth when Harry continued, “No, listen get back and get Ron. Grab brooms from the flying-key room, they’ll get you out of the trapdoor and Fluffy- go straight to the owerly and send Hedwig to Dumbledore, we need him. I might be able to hold Snape off for a while, but I’m no match for him, really.”
“Harry, what if You-Know-Who is with him?” I protested, thinking of a way to trick Harry into giving me a sip.
“Well- I was lucky once, wasn’t I?” Harry said and motioned towards his scar, “I might get lucky again.”
My eyes started to sting and I could tell that Hermione’s lip was wobbling. She suddenly jumped up and hugged Harry.
“Hermione!”
“Harry- you’re a great wizard- you know.” Hermione murmured into his ear, but I still heard.
“I’m not as good as you,” Harry’s face was red and I giggled.
She let go of him and looked at him in astonishment, “Me!? Books! And cleverness! There are more important thing- friendship and bravery and – oh Harry- be careful!”
“You drink first,” Harry told Hermione, “You are sure which is which aren’t you?”
“Positive,” Hermione answered I remained quiet. This was her goodbye.
She took a sip, leaving a little left, presumably for me and she shuddered. I stared at her worriedly.
“It’s not poison?” Harry asked apprehensively.
“No- but it’s like ice.”
“Quick, go before it wears off.”
“Good luck- take care-“
“GO!” Harry yelled and she scampered off into the purple fire, almost done with this mess.
Harry turned to me and I realized I had tears streaming down my face. This might be our last few moments on earth.
“Emily…there isn’t much time, you’re going to have to have some of the potion and go now.” Harry said softly, but urgently.
“No, Harry. I want to see you off. I might not get an elaborate goodbye, but I want to remember the last time I see you,” my voice quivered.
“Emily-“ Harry tried to convince me to go, but I stood up.
“No! Harry, just drink it and go!” I walked up to him.
He grabbed the bottle and uncapped it. He looked at me and then brought the glass to his lips. When I saw that about half the liquid was gone, I snatched the bottle from his hands, careful not to spill any and drained it. Harry looked at me in astonishment and I shuddered as my insides turned into ice.
“Come on! We have to go before it wears off!” I shouted and pushed him towards the door.
“Emily-“ he started to say, but we went through the flames, no burning sensation at all and we reached the other side.
This was the last room and I saw a figure standing in the center. It wasn’t greasy haired Snape. It wasn’t even the hooded creature that was Voldemort. It was someone I thought was the victim, not the villain.