SuperPotterLock- The Philosopher's Stone

The Forbidden Forest

'Cheer up, Fred and George have lost loads of points before and they've always forgiven them,' Ron said bracingly one day.

'They've never lost two hundred and fifty points at once before though,' Harry said miserably. Ron grimaced.

'Gabriel got close once,' Castiel piped up. The past few days had been especially taxing on Castiel's nervous disposition and he had been refusing to leave the hospital wing except for lessons and only if he was accompanied by Sherlock. They were all in there now, keeping him company and having a respite from the glares of their fellow students.

'Really? What did he do?' Hermione asked curiously. Castiel smiled slightly.

'In his second year, he played a trick on our cousin Anna and accidentally set the whole fourth floor on fire. Professor McGonagall was furious. She took a hundred points from Hufflepuff and sent him home for a week,' he told them. It was hard to imagine Gabriel doing something so ridiculously reckless, but it made them giggle nevertheless.

Now that the exams were practically upon them, they were glad that they could spend their time buried in books rather than in the view of the rest of the school and Harry made a resolution to stop meddling in things that didn't concern him. Sherlock made no such resolution and continued to follow Lucy whenever possible and to try unsuccessfully to watch John while he was sleeping.

About a week before the exams were due to start, Sherlock followed her up to the Owlery, sneaking around and hiding in shadowy corners until she settled near a window and leaned on the sill, shaking in anticipation, tapping her hands and feet impatiently. Then a large, tattered-looking screech owl flapped up in front of her with a note tied to its leg. As she untied it, the owl pecked at her viciously, but she didn't seem to notice, even as blood dripped from her fingers. Her eyes raked through the letter, looking for something. Clearly she didn't find it as her eyes filled with tears. For a moment she looked like she might disintegrate into despairing sobs, but instead she brushed the water from her eyes and Sherlock could see the rage boiling up inside her. Her face twisted into a snarl and her hands shook so much she could barely keep hold of the letter. Suddenly she ripped the letter to shreds and screamed as loudly as she could, lashing out at the owl. It made a half-hearted attempt at her hand before fleeing for its feathery life. As soon as the pieces of parchment fluttered to the ground, Lucy yelled, 'Incendio!' at them, setting the room ablaze. Lucy screamed again while the owls hooted and flew past her away from the fire. Breathing heavily, she surveyed the destruction around her and her face became a mask of icy calm. She pointed her wand ant the flames and said, 'Aguamenti' and put everything out, leaving the Owlery in a cloud of black smoke. As soon as Sherlock was sure she was gone he crawled along the floor in search of anything, anything, that could be used as evidence, but unfortunately every bit of parchment had been burnt to a crisp. He groaned and stood up, brushing down his robes before running back up to the hospital wing where Ron and Hermione were studying with Castiel and John was sleeping soundly on the bed. Madam Pomfrey wasn't particularly pleased with them using the hospital to study but as far as she was concerned, as long as John was getting some rest and Castiel was safe, then it was fine by her. Sherlock sat down by Hermione and John twitched in his sleep.

'Any luck- why do you smell like smoke?' Hermione asked suspiciously.

'It doesn't matter. Where's Harry?'

'Dunno, I think he went for a walk or something,' Ron answered. 'Look, Hermione, I'm never going to remember all the stars in Orion-'

At that moment Harry re-entered the room and told them all about the encounter he'd just had with Professor Quirrell.

'Snape's done it then!' cried Ron. 'If he's broken through Quirrell's Anti-Dark Force spell...'

'There's still Fluffy though,' said Hermione.