"Until the very end." - James Potter
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Father wasn't speaking to me. I was worried. If it weren't for Firenze, we could've died. Would he even care? What if he really had something to do with the stone?
I sighed. The bell went signaling end of the morning lessons. The four of us made our way through the corridors out onto the grounds. Hagrid was playing his flute to Fang in the distance. Harry's eyes suddenly lit up. "Of course!" He began to run towards Hagrid. We raced behind him trying to keep up. "Don't you find it weird, that all Hagrid wants is a dragon, and a stranger shows up, and just happens to have one? I mean, how many people walk around with dragon eggs in their pocket? Why didn't I see it before?!"
"Hagrid!" Harry yelled. Hagrid beamed and place down his flute.
"Who gave you the dragon egg?" I finished.
"Well, I dunno, I didn't see his face, he kept his hood up."
"This stranger, did he ask you anything?"
Hagrid appeared to be deep in thought. "Yeah, he kept buying me drinks, and he asked if I had any pets of my own."
"And did you tell him?" Harry asked.
"Well, yeah. I told him I had Fluffy, a dragon's gonna be no problem." Now we were finally getting somewhere.
"Did he seem interested in Fluffy?"
"O' course he was interested! How many three-headed dogs do you see? Hagrid continued. "But I told him, the trick to owning a pet is knowing how to calm him. Take Fluffy for example. Just play about of music, and he'll go straight to sleep!" We stared at each other in horror.
Hagrid's eyes widened. "I shouldn't have told you that." We didn't wait for him to talk before racing towards the castle. "Hey! Where yer going, where yer-"
"That stranger must've been Snape! Now he knows how to get past Fluffy!" We raced into Professor McGonagall's classroom. "We have to see Professor Dumbledore! Immediately!" Hermione yelled frantically.
Professor McGonagall gave us a suspicious glance. "I'm afraid Professor Dumbledore is not in right now. He received a letter from the Ministry of Magic and left immediately. Whatever you have to say will have to wait."
"But this is important!" Professor McGonagall raised an eyebrow. "This is about the Philosopher's Stone!" Professor McGonagall did a double take.
"H-how do you-"
"Sn-Someone's gonna try and steal it!"
She looked at us suspiciously. "Well I don't know how you three found out about the stone but rest assured as it is well protected." I sighed in exasperation. We couldn't just say Hagrid told someone. We had no proof. "Now you four go back to your common room-quietly." Disappointed, we left.
We stood outside the Transfiguration classroom. "She won't believe that Snape's trying to steal it, what're we gonna do?!"
"What if we-" I was about to retort when a shadow loomed over us.
"Now what would four Gryffindor students, such as yourselves, be doing inside on such a bright, sunny day?" I groaned inwardly.
Hermione turned to face him. "Uh, we were-we were just-"
"You better take extra care not to lose any more points for Gryfindor." At this, he sneered at us and left the way he came from.
"What're we gonna do now, Harry?"
"We go down the trapdoor, tonight." Harry said determinedly.
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That afternoon in charms, I clearly wasn't paying attention, as I nearly set my quill on fire. I decided to leave father a letter, just in case something bad happened tonight. After a lot of thought, I finally sealed it, hoping to leave it by his desk prior to leaving.
Dear Father,
When you see this letter, I will probably have already left my dormitory. I want to tell you that no matter what I've heard, I don't believe you would want the stone for Lord Voldemort. I trust you, because you wouldn't lie to me, right?
About sneaking out the other day, I'm sorry, but it had to be done. I know you were angry, but I hope that's because you care. You know, a lot of the times I wonder if you are so strict because you care about me, or because you despise me, or a little bit of both. I know I don't make the smartest decisions all the time, but I'm glad you're there to guide me.
I know I have broken a lot of rules since I have arrived here. It definitely is not because I want to be disrespectful. All my life, there have been so many unanswered questions, and it wasn't until last year that I found out what truly happened to my parents. They've sacrificed a lot for us, and when the person that is responsible for their death is concerned, I cannot stand back and watch. I hope you can understand.
I want to thank you for all you've done for me since I was placed in your care. Although you can't replace my dad, you've been a great parent to me, despite how you always tell me you're not good at parenting. I might not be able to hear you say it back, but I really do love you like my own father, and I'm really grateful for all you've taught me. Thank you for protecting me all these years, but this time, it'll be up to me to protect myself.
Your Goddaughter,
Cindy
Hopefully, everything will follow according to plan and he won't see this until the morning.
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"C'mon! Hurry up!"
"Just a sec, I need to make sure the cloak can cover the four of us!" With the invisibility cloak in hand, we raced downstairs. We tiptoed through the common room and were nearly to the door when we heard a croak.
"Trevor! You shouldn't be here!" I slapped a hand over Ron's mouth and shushed him.
"Neither should you." Surprised, I turned on my heel to see Neville.
"Neville, what are you doing down here?" I laughed nervously.
He ignored my question. "You're trying to sneak out again, aren't you?"
"Now listen, Neville-" Harry started.
"No, I won't let you! You'll get Gryffindor into trouble! I'll-I'll fight you!" Neville held up his fists. Ron stared at him as if he was insane.
"Neville I'm really really sorry about this." Hermione stepped in front of us and pointed her wand at him. "Petrificus Totalus!" Neville went as stiff as a board and fell to the ground. I gasped. Harry ushered us out, and we muttered a sorry to Neville.
"Hermione, you're a little scary sometimes, you know that? Brilliant, but scary." Ron whispered.
We raced to the third floor corridor with the cloak on. Performing the spell, we entered the forbidden room. There was an enchanted harp playing soothing music. Fluffy was snoring loudly. Harry groaned. "Snape's already been here." I bit my tongue to avoid an argument. The big dog's paw was covering the trapdoor. Harry noticed this too.
"We have to move it's paw." He stated.
"What?!" Ron says incredulously.
"Come on!" Walking towards Fluffy we count to three and push its paw. Harry lifts the trapdoor. Suddenly, it seems too quiet. "On the count of three, we jump."
"I'll go first." I insisted. "Just in case."
"Alright, Cindy and I will go first. If anything goes wrong, get yourselves out." Suddenly Harry frowns. "Does it seem too quiet to you?"
"The harp! It stopped playing." We hear a growl from above.
"Jump!" We leapt through the trapdoor without hesitation with Fluffy chewing and clawing at the trapdoor. We landed almost immediately on something soft. I glanced around. It looked like some sort of plant or snake. Suddenly the vines started weaving around us. Ron and Harry started struggling.
"Stop! This is Devil Snare! You have to relax, or it'll only kill you faster."
"Kill us faster?! Oh now I can relax!" Ron exclaimed sarcastically. Hermione sent him a scathing look as she disappeared through the Devil Snare.
"Hermione!"
"Just relax! Trust me!"
I closed my eyes and tried to relax. Soon, I fell through too. A moment later Harry came crashing down.
"Harry!" Ron's screams were heard from above. Hermione and I helped Harry up. Ron's shrieks from above were as clear as ever.
"He's not relaxing, is he?!" Hermione wailed.
"Apparently not."
"I've got to do something!" Hermione started pacing frantically.
"What?!"
"I remember reading about this in Herbology. Devil Snare, Devil Snare, likes the dark and-"
"Light!" I practically screamed.
"But there's no wood!" I stared at Hermione incredulously. "Oh right! Lumos Solem!" The Devil Snare recoiled and Ron fell to the ground. Harry and I helped him up.
"Lucky we didn't panic." I gaped at him.
"Lucky some of us pay attention in Herbology." I corrected him.
"C'mon." We ushered into the next room. It was buzzing strangely. I saw Harry looking up and I followed his gaze. There were creatures with large wings. Dragonflies? Something told me they weren't. In the center on the room was a broomstick, suspended in mid air. "They're keys. And I bet one of them fits that door!"
Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Ron struggling with the next locked door.
"Alohomora!" He rattled the door several times. He couldn't possibly think it was that simple? He turned and met our gazes with a sheepish look. "Well it was worth a try."
"Ugh! What're we gonna do?! There must be a thousand keys up there." Hermione exclaimed.
"We're looking for a big, old-fashioned one, probably rusty like the handle."
"There, I see it!" I followed his gaze. The key of interest had a broken wing, as if it had already been caught previously. Harry hesitated. "It's too simple." I frowned. He had a point. All the other puzzles were more difficult to break. It didn't make sense.
"Never mind that, we don't have time to waste." As far as I was concerned, the sooner we retrieved the stone, the sooner we could leave. Harry grasped the broom. I let out a scream. All of a sudden, all the keys came flying at him. Harry ignored them and soared into the air rapidly beating his arms at the keys.
"Well this complicates things." Ron whimpered.
"To your left, Harry!" I screamed. Harry made an arc, grabbing the key before zooming down and tossing to Hermione. Hermione ran to open the door while Harry created a distraction.
"Hurry up!" Once the door was open, we raced through, slamming the door behind Harry who flew through. I breathed a sigh of relief before taking a look at our surroundings.
This was strange. We appeared to be in some sort of room. There were stone carvings scattered everywhere. It was pitch black.
"Is this a graveyard?" Ron glanced around nervously. He took several steps forward onto a large square.
"This is no graveyard." He took a breath before saying: "It's a chessboard." As if on cue, the torches surrounding the chessboard lit up. Harry, Hermione, and I followed behind.
"I see it! There's the door!" As we advanced on it, the white pawns on the opposite side held up their swords, blocking us.
"Now what?"
"Isn't it obvious? We play our way across the room." Ron stated. Glancing around, he spoke again. "Harry, you take that empty bishop square. Hermione, you'll be the queen's side castle. Cindy, you can be the queen." We nodded, moving into our assigned places.
"What happens now?"
"Well, white moves first, then, we play." A white pawn moved forward two squares.
"R-Ron, you don't suppose this will be like real wizard's chess, do you?" Having seen wizard's chess, I, too was hoping it wasn't the affirmative. Ron looked at Hermione thoughtfully, then pointed to a pawn.
"You there! E5!" The black pawn moved forward until it was at a diagonal from the white pawn. The white pawn withdrew it's swords and rammed them into the black pawn, blowing it straight off the board, but not before shattering into pieces. We watched, wide-eyed. Ron drew in a breath. "Yes, Hermione. I think this is gonna be e-exactly like wizard's chess." Harry, Hermione, and I turned to stare at him.
The game continued. Several times, we were in danger, but Ron zipped across the board taking as many pieces as he could. Soon, not many of us were left, and Ron turned to look at Harry. "Wait a minute-"
"You understand, right, mate? When I make my move, the queen will take me, then you're free to check the king." I stared in horror.
"No, Ron, no!"
"What is it?!" Hermione asked, exasperated.
"He's gonna sacrifice himself."
"No you can't! There must be another way!" Hermione protested.
"Do you wanna stop Snape from getting that stone or not?!" Ron retorted. Hermione stopped talking. "Harry, you two have to go on, I know it." We nodded. Ron took a deep breath. "Knight to H3." As the knight moved, Ron's forehead was covered in sweat, his face pale. I started chewing my fingernails. "Check." He whispered.
The white queen approached Ron and drew its sword at the last moment, stabbing it ferociously into the chess piece Ron was riding on. Ron let out a scream as he fell to the ground. Hermione took a step towards him.
"Stop!" I screamed.
"Don't move. Don't forget, we're still playing." Hermione nodded. Harry took several steps towards the enemy king. Once in front of him, Harry yelled; "Checkmate." The white king dropped its sword and it fell to a clatter at Harry's feet. After taking another look to make sure we had won, we rushed over to Ron. Placing my hand on his wrist, I relaxed upon sensing a heartbeat.
"He's fine." We all sighed, relieved. I stood up.
"Ron's right. You two have to go on. You'll be careful, won't you?" We nodded.
"Take care of Ron, we'll be back." With that, we grasped each other's hand and raced through the next door.
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Hey! How's everyone doing? This chapter is finally out. There will be two more chapters and an epilogue. I will be beginning book 2 soon!
Vote and comment!
Lots of love,
-Lily