The Realization
Harry
In years to come, Harry would never quite remember how he had managed to get through his exams when he half expected Voldemort to come bursting through the door at any moment. Yet the days crept by, and there could be no doubt that Fluffy was still alive and well behind the locked door.
He had been weak and shaken for a whole day after his encounter with Voldemort in the forest. Charles had also felt a sharp pain, and he told it, but for Harry, it was more than that. A kind of pain he couldn't even begin to describe. Harry still felt uneasy and kept rubbing his chest occasionally. When he had told Jéricho about this, his friend had been very worried. They decided to tell their parents when they got home for the summer.
It was sweltering hot, especially in the large classroom where they did their written papers. They had been given special, new quills for the exams, which had been bewitched with an Anti-cheating spell.
For Harry, the examinations were a breeze, especially practicals. His best ones were DADA and Runes, his best subjects, and his worst were Astronomy and Arithmancy. He hadn't inherited his father's prodigious skill in Transfiguration like Charles had, and he wasn't a natural in Charms or Potions like Lily, something he felt his parents were still a bit sore about. But oh well, he was good enough.
The ironic thing was that while Jéricho was great at Potions, Harry's talent in DADA was reminiscent of Sirius' talent in the subject, which James had been very jealous of, swearing that Sirius had secretly adopted his oldest son. They had had a good laugh about that.
"How was your exam?" Adrian asked with some dread as they headed for their spot beneath a tree's shadow near the lake. The day was perfect, and they had just had their History exam.
"Good enough." Harry shrugged.
Due to Binn's rubbish teaching, it was their official 'nap class'. Instead, they all read their books afterwards and made notes to revise by themselves. Cedric, however, hated anything to do with History, and always just passed with the combined help of his friends.
"I'm not sure I did the seventh question right..." Sera fretted. The boys all just rolled their eyes. She always fretted after every exam, and they had to calm her down. Jéricho was the best at it, though.
Harry suddenly burst out, itching his chest. "I wish I knew what this means! My chest keeps hurting - like I'm suffocating!"
"Go to Madam Pomfrey," Sera suggested.
"I'm not ill," Harry insisted. "I think it's a warning... it means danger's coming...."
Adrian sighed. "Harry, relax. 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 Sera will play Quidditch for England before Hagrid lets Dumbledore down."
Harry nodded, but he couldn't shake off a lurking feeling that there was something he'd forgotten to do, something important. He watched an owl flutter toward the school across the bright blue sky, a note clamped in its mouth. Hagrid would never betray Dumbledore. Hagrid would never tell anyone how to get past Fluffy... never... but -
He suddenly jumped to his feet. "Where're you going?" Cedric asked.
"I've just thought of something," Harry had turned white. "We've got to go and see Hagrid, now."
"Why?" panted Sera, hurrying to keep up.
"Don't you think it's a bit odd," Harry gushed, scrambling up the grassy slope, "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?"
"What are you talking about?" Adrian asked, but Harry, sprinting across the grounds toward the forest, didn't answer.
Hagrid was sitting in an armchair outside his house; his trousers and sleeves were rolled up, and he was shelling peas into a large bowl.
"Hullo," he smiled. "Finished yer exams? Got time fer a drink?"
"No, we're in a hurry. Hagrid, I've got to ask you something. You know that night you won Norbert? What did the stranger you were playing cards with look like?"
"Dunno," said Hagrid casually, "he wouldn' take his cloak off." He saw the others look stunned and alarmed and raised his eyebrows.
"It's not that unusual, yeh get a 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."
Harry sank down next to the bowl of peas. "What did you talk to him about, Hagrid? Did you mention Hogwarts at all?"
"Mighta come up," said Hagrid, frowning as he tried to remember. "Yeah... he asked what I did, an' I told him I was gamekeeper here.... He asked a bit about the sorta creatures I took after... so I told him... an' I said what I'd always really wanted was a dragon... an' then... I can' remember too well, 'cause he kept buyin' me drinks.... Let's see... yeah, then he said he had the dragon egg an' we could play cards fer it if I wanted... but he had ter be sure I could handle it, he didn' want it ter go ter any old home.... So I told him, after Fluffy, a dragon would be easy..."
"And did he - did he seem interested in Fluffy?" Jéricho asked, who had caught up and was trying to keep his voice calm.
"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, jus' play him a bit o' music an' he'll go straight off ter sleep -"
Hagrid suddenly looked horrified.
"I shouldn'ta told yeh that!" he blurted out. "Forget I said it! Hey, where're yeh goin'?"
They didn't speak to each other at all until they came to a halt in the entrance hall, which seemed very cold and gloomy after the grounds.
"We've got to go to Dumbledore," Harry said. "Hagrid told that stranger how to get past Fluffy, and it was either Snape or Quirell or even Voldemort under that cloak -- it must've been easy, once he'd got Hagrid drunk. I just hope Dumbledore believes us. Firenze might back us up if Bane doesn't stop him."
"What are you all doing inside?" came a voice. It was Professor McGonagall, carrying a large pile of books.
"We want to see Professor Dumbledore," said Sera, rather bravely.
"See Professor Dumbledore?" Professor McGonagall repeated, as though this was a very fishy thing to want to do. "Why?"
Harry swallowed. "It's sort of personal."
Professor McGonagall frowned. "Professor Dumbledore left ten minutes ago. He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and flew off for London at once."
"He's gone?" said Harry frantically. "Now?"
"Professor Dumbledore is a very great wizard, Potter, he has many demands on his time-"
"But this is important."
"Something you have to say is more important than the Ministry of Magic, Potter?"
Harry just shook his head, knowing better than to argue. "When will he be back?"
She eyed him with suspicion. "Professor Dumbledore will be back tomorrow. Now, I suggest you all go back outside and enjoy the sunshine."
But they didn't.
"It's tonight," said Harry, once he was sure Professor McGonagall was out of earshot. "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 what can we --"
"Good afternoon," a smooth voice said.
They wheeled around and Snape was standing there.
"You shouldn't be inside on a day like this," he said, with an odd, twisted smile.
"We were -" Harry began, without any idea what he was going to say.
"You want to be more careful," said Snape. "Hanging around like this, people will think you're up to something. And Gryffindor really can't afford to lose any more points, can it?"
Harry flushed slightly as his nostrils flared. They turned to go outside, but Snape called them back.
"Be warned, Potter - any more nighttime wanderings and I will personally make sure you are expelled. Good day to you."
He strode off in the direction of the staffroom. Out on the stone steps, Harry turned to the others.
"Right, here's what we've got to do..."
Charles
Charles wasn't doing as well as his brother, but he was fine. His best subject was Transfiguration, and when Professor McGonagall watched him turn a mouse into a snuffbox, she awarded him a rare smile. He knew he'd get full marks in that. Professor Flitwick called them one by one into his class to see if they could make a pineapple tapdance across a desk, and Charles' had fallen off the table in excitement. Snape made them all nervous, breathing down their necks while they tried to remember how to make a Forgetfulness potion, and Charles' was the worst.
He did the best he could, trying to ignore the stabbing pains in his forehead, which had been bothering him ever since his trip into the forest. He had told Harry that the pain was gone, but it was a lie because he hadn't wanted to worry him. Neville thought Charles had a bad case of exam nerves because he couldn't sleep, but the truth was that Charles kept being woken by his old nightmare, except that it was now worse than ever because there was a hooded figure dripping blood in it.
Maybe it was because they hadn't seen what Charles had seen in the forest, or because they didn't have scars burning on their foreheads, but Ron and Hermione didn't seem as worried about the Stone as Charles, and nor did Lyra and the Slytherins. The idea of Voldemort certainly scared them, but they didn't keep visiting them in dreams, and they were so busy with their studying. They didn't have much time to fret about what Snape or anyone else might be up to.
Their very last exam was History of Magic. One hour of answering questions about batty old wizards who'd invented self-stirring cauldrons and they'd be free, free for a whole wonderful week until their exam results came out. When the ghost of Professor Binns told them to put down their quills and roll up their parchment, Charles couldn't help cheering with the rest.
"That was far easier than I thought it would be," said Hermione as they joined the crowds flocking out onto the sunny grounds. "I needn't have learned about the 1637 Werewolf Code of Conduct or the uprising of Elfric the Eager."
Hermione always liked to go through their exam papers afterward, but Ron said this made him feel ill, so they wandered down to the lake and flopped under a tree. The Weasley twins and Lee Jordan were tickling the tentacles of a giant squid, which was basking in the warm shallows. Harry and his friends were nearby too.
"No more studying," Ron sighed happily, stretching out on the grass. "You could look more cheerful, Charles, we've got a week before we find out how badly we've done, there's no need to worry yet."
Charles was rubbing his forehead. "I wish I knew what this means!" he burst out angrily. "My scar keeps hurting - it's happened before, but never as often as this."
"Go to Madam Pomfrey," Hermione suggested.
"I'm not ill," said Charles. "I think it's a warning... it means danger's coming...."
That was when he saw Harry running across the grounds with his friends, looking white. Charles frowned and when they were out of sight, he carefully pulled out his cloak from underneath his shirt. "What are you doing with that?" Ron asked in befuddlement.
Charles shrugged. He'd taken to keeping it hidden with him at all times, just in case. Blame his increasing paranoia.
"C'mon."
They saw the others come sprinting back and to the school, and hid under it when they were sure no one was looking. Then they followed them and listened in on their conversations, which was probably not the best thing to do...
"...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."
Then Snape appeared and, after threatening Harry, went along on his way.
"Right, here's what we've got to do," Harry whispered urgently. "We need to get to the trapdoor tonight. Maybe we can stop him."
"Are you mental?" Sera hissed at him. "We're bloody third-years!"
"We have to try!" Harry scowled back.
Cedric nervously offered. "We can tell McGonagall."
Adrian sighed. "Won't work. She's too uptight. Will tell us off, won't even check the stone. She'll trust it's safe and we're babbling nonsense."
"Flitwick would listen." Sera desperately tried.
"No." Harry shook his head. "Too much of a risk... Look, not all of us would go... Only Jéricho and I."
"No way!" the other three immediately protested.
"Please, just listen!" Harry said. "It's better this way. People would suspect if five children went missing the same night! And it would be an inconvenience for so many to go in a crowd."
"Then at least take Adrian!" Cedric said firmly. "No one would suspect you three. You're almost always out after curfew planning something."
Harry sighed. "Fine."
"The cloak?" Jéricho asked.
"Nope. I'm not asking Charles for it again, or he'll get suspicious. He followed me last time and got into trouble!"
"You could just take it," Adrian suggested.
Harry shook his head. "No, we'll use passages and meet there together at midnight. Make sure to not get caught by anyone."
After they were gone, Charles took the cloak off them and set his jaw. "I'm going, too."
"Are you mental?!" Hermione hissed the same as Sera. "They're third years, even. We're firsties, though! What will you do if we face Voldemort, throw transfigured needles at him?!"
"I don't know, but I'm going. I can't just let Harry go alone! Either come with me or don't. And I have the cloak. All three of us could fit in, and we can leave a while after Harry. He won't know! I'll just be there for backup, anyway!"
Ron nodded. "I'm with you, mate."
Hermione chewed her lip but relented, too. "But if we get caught-"
"-we won't." Charles assured her. "We'll be careful."