Charmolypi

Chapter 24

The Gryffindors huddled together under the invisibility cloak, as they made their way to the third floor. They magically unlocked the door, only to reveal a sleeping Fluffy, while and enchanted harp played.

"Wait a minute, he's...snoring. Snape's already been here. He's out a spell on the harp." Harry said panicked. The three-headed dog let out a snore, huffing directly onto the group. "Ugh! It's got horrible breath."

"We have to move his paws." Hermione and Thea said simultaneously. The girls looked at each other and shared a small smile.

"What?" Ron asked startled.

"Come on!" Thea said as she and Hermione went for the paw. Instantly, Harry and Ron joined them. "Alright, push!" the quartet were able to move the paw and open the trapdoor. The quartet were blissfully unaware that the music had stopped, causing Fluffy to wake up.

"The harp. It stopped playing." Hermione whispered. Everyone froze in fear. One of Fluffy's heads drools on Ron's shoulder, causing the boy to squirm in disgust.

"Run!"

"Get out of there!"

"They're going to die!"

"Ugh! Yuck!" he gagged. When they looked up, they saw Fluffy was wide awake, ready to attack.

"Jump! Go!" Thea told them, as she shoved them through the trapdoor, narrowly avoiding the dog's attacks.

"This girl has a death wish..." Regulus whispered, while rubbing his temples.

"Tell me about it" Narcissa answered him, surprisingly worried about the girl.

The group fell on a plant like, and suddenly, it started moving, wrapping around the kids like snakes. The boys tried to get out of the plant's grip, while the girls were sitting calmly.

"Stop moving, you two." Thea instructed them, but her words went ignored. "This is Devil's Snare. You have to relax. If you don't, it'll kill you faster."

"Very well done! They have obviously been paying attention in their herbology classes." Professor Sprout said.

"Kill us faster?" Ron screamed, freaking out. "Oh, now I can relax!"

"Thea's right. Just calm down and things will be fine." Hermione instructed. Instantly, both girls sank through.

"Hermione! Thea!" The boys screamed. Watching the girls disappear did nothing to help them calm down.

"We're alright!" came Thea's voice from somewhere below. "Do what we told you! Trust us!"

Harry saw how bad Ron was panicking. Despite his concern for his withering friend, he follows his sister's instructions and starts to sink. When Harry lands on the other side, he looks up only to find his sister and friend looking at him.

"Help! Someone help me!" Ron kept calling for help.

Thea sighed annoyed. "He's not relaxing, is he?" Hermione asked earning a look from her friends. "We've got to do something!"

"'Devil's Snare, Devil's Snare, it's deadly fun, but will sulk in the sun.'" Thea sang. "That's it! Devil's Snare hates sunlight." She took out her wand and pointed it at the plant above her head. "Lumus Solem!" a blinding light was emitted from under the plant, causing it to instantly shriek and shrivel, releasing Ron in the process.

"Ron, are you alright?" Hermione crouched down beside him.

"Yeah, I'm alright." He reassured her. "Whew! Lucky we didn't panic." Before anyone could answer the boy, they heard a fluttering. "What is that?" Ron whispered.