“So you’re saying that You-Know-Who is out there in the forest, right now?” Hermione asked.
No wonder the forest was dangerous. Not just becuz of other mythical creatures that resided in the woods, but becuz Lord Voldemort resided there, for now. Sera’s brother was pacing up and down, in front of the fireplace.
“Yes. But don't you see? Snape doesn’t want the Stone for himself as we originally thought he wanted. He wants to give it to Lord Voldemort. And if Voldemort gets his hands on the Stone then he’ll . . . he'll come back.”
He sat back down next to Sera. She reached her hand out took her brother’s hand, squeezing it reassuringly. He clung tightly to his sister’s hand back. As the older twin (even though it was by two minutes), she still felt the responsibility to protect her brother.
“Harry? Sera?” said Ron nervously. “If You-Know-Who does come back, you don’t think that he’ll try to . . . . to kill you, do you?”
Harry gave Ron a tight smile. “I think that if he had the chance before, he might have the chance again.”
“Wait a minute,” said Hermione out of the blue. “What is the one person that Voldemort fears the most?” Everyone gave her weird looks in return. They were clearly clueless. “Dumbledore! As long as Dumbledore is around, Sera and Harry, you can’t be touched. If Dumbledore is around, you’re both safe.”
That gave Sera a bit of relief, though not by much. She had a feeling that something was going to happen, and that it was going to happen quickly.
By the end of their morning exams, Sera’s scar behind her ear was burning with intense pain. She tried soothing it by giving the small space behind her ear a massage. She grumbled incoherently to herself while listening to Hermione gush about the first-year exams.
“Speak for yourself,” Ron whined. He finally noticed his sister in pain. Though her scar was hurting, it wasn't nearly as bad as it was last night. At least she wasn’t going numb. But it still bothered her. “Are you alright, Sera?”
“My scar,” she mumbled. “It keeps burning. It’s been like this all morning.”
“It’s happened before, hasn’t it?" Dante asked, giving Sera a quizzical look.
“Yes, but not nearly as often as this. The only good thing about it is that the pain is not as severe as it was last night in the Forbidden Forest.” She stopped in her tracks. They had come to the entrance of the castle. In the distance, she could see Hagrid's hut. The half-giant sat on a barrel, playing a flute. Then, the realization dawned on her. “Oh! Of course!”
“What?” said Hermione as they began to hurry alongside Sera. The red-headed girl began to explain her theory in a rush.
“Don’t you think that it's a bit odd? That what Hagrid wants more than anything in the world is a dragon? And a stranger so happens to turn up with one in his pockets? Why didn’t I see this before?!”
They broke into a sprint before skidding to a halt in front of Hagrid.
“Hagrid! The man you were with the other night. What did he look like?”
“I dunno, he wouldn’t take his hood off,” the giant answered at once.
“But this stranger,” Sera pressed on. “You knew that he must have talked, right?”
“Of course he talked! He wasn’t mute or deaf! He asked me what kind of creatures I looked after. I told him that I looked after Fluffy.”
“Was he interested in Fluffy?” Harry asked, his voice peaked with interest.
“Of course he was interested in Fluffy! I mean, come on! How often do you come across a three-headed dog? No one knows how to get past Fluffy, except me, Dumbledore, and Flamel.” He chuckled proudly to himself. “But there is one trick to calm him, though. Just play him a bit a music and he'll fall straight to sleep.”
Sera’s ears perked up at his comment.
There! That was the answer that they had wanted! The five of them gave each other glowing, excited looks. Hagrid immediately regretted what he said.
“I shouldn’t have said that!” he exclaimed. But the five friends had already sprinted back to the castle. He called after them, but they didn’t listen. They sprinted all the way to Professor McGonagall’s office. Luckily for them, it wasn’t very far away from the castle's front door.
Although Sera was still furious with Professor McGonagall for docking 50 points from Gryffindor — each — she still had her respect to the professor. And if anyone knew where Professor Dumbledore lived, it would be her. And they had to get the headmaster immediately.
“We have to see Professor Dumbledore! Immediately!” Sera demanded at once.
She found herself panting, out of breath. She hadn't run so hard before in her entire life. And now, the spike of adrenaline she had felt just moments earlier was beginning to fade.
Professor McGonagall looked up at the five teens in surprise. “I’m afraid that Professor Dumbledore has gone out! He won’t be back until tomorrow morning, at the latest.”
Sera was becoming frantic. She found herself beginning to tremble in fear.
“Gone?!” she repeated. Her voice was high and shrill. “Now?! But, Professor! This is extremely important! It’s about the Sorcerer's Stone!”
Professor McGonagall looked even more shocked than she had been when the five teens had barged into her classroom. Her body was rigid.
“How did — How did you know —?” she stuttered, unable to get her words out. But Sera frantically interrupted her, pleading the old professor with her eyes.
“And we think that someone is trying to steal it!”
Professor McGonagall had finally recovered and straightened up her robes, giving the five teens a stern look.
“Now, I don’t know how the five of you found out about the Sorcerer’s Stone. But I can assure all five of you that the Stone is completely safe. I’m sure that you've heard that the Stone is guarded by spells and enchantments?” Before the five of them could say anything, she added, “I suggest that you should go back to your dormitories. Quietly.”
They sighed in defeat. Sera’s shoulders slumped. They slowly made their way out of the Transfiguration classroom. Once they got out of Professor McGonagall’s ear shot, they gathered in a tight-knit circle to discuss plans.
“That was no mere stranger Hagrid was with that night,” he hissed. “That was Snape!”
Sera nodded and add just as quietly, “And with Professor Dumbledore gone —”
“Well, hello,” said a greasy voice from behind them. Sera slowly raised her head and felt her insides growing numb. She slowly turned to come face-to-face with Severus Snape, the Potions Master and the soon-to-be stealer of the Sorcerer's Stone. “And what are five young Gryffindors doing inside. . . . . on a day like this?”
Hermione tried to whip up a quick lie.
“We were just — We were just —”
“You might want to be careful,” said Professor Snape oily. “You probably don’t want to be caught walking around the castle on a beautiful day like this. Or maybe, people will begin to think that you’re . . . . up to something.”
He nodded before turning on his heel, walking away. They waited until the Potions professor was out of sight before speaking again.
“Now what are we going to do?!” Hermione hissed desperately.
“Sera and I are going down that trap door,” Harry answered quietly. “Tonight.”