~ Through The Trapdoor ~
The final exams were coming up and Lucy, Ophelia, Louisa and Stella had spent the last time sitting in the library and studying.
But the days flowed slowly, and the girls didn't give much thought to the philosopher's stone or the giant three-headed dog now.
It was muggy, especially in the large classrooms where they were writing their papers.
For the exams, they had been given new, very special feathers that were enchanted with a spell against cheating.
They also had practical exams.
Professor Flitwick called them into his classroom one by one and asked if they could tap-dance a pineapple across a desk.
Professor McGonagall had them turn a mouse into a snuffbox - points were given if it made a nice box, points were deducted if it had whiskers.
Lucy's box was round and had fine gold ornaments.
Snape made them all nervous; they could feel his breath on the back of their necks as they tried desperately to remember the ingredients for the forgetfulness potion.
The very last exam they had was History of Magic.
They spent an hour answering questions about quirky old wizards who invented self-stirring cauldrons, and then they had a whole glorious week off until the certificates came out.
When the ghost of Professor Binns told them to put down their quills and roll up their parchment, the twins too were carried away by each other's cheers.
---
"It was a lot easier than I thought," said Lucy as they joined the small groups of students making their way out into the sun-drenched castle grounds. "“I needn’t have learned about the 1637 Werewolf Code of Conduct or the uprising of Elfric the Eager."
The girls walked down to the lake and lay down under a tree.
The Weasley twins and Lee Jordan tickled the tentacles of a giant octopus wallowing in the warm water near the shore.
Lucy closed her eyes and concentrated on the sound of the wind blowing through the leaves.
"Finally, no more learning," Stella sighed, stretching out happily on the grass.
A group of seventh graders walked past them, chatting about what they were going to do after school.
"When I'm done with school I'll travel. I've never been on vacation," Lucy said when the group was out of earshot.
"Alone?" Louisa wanted to know.
"No, with friends or my partner," Lucy said.
Ophelia made a face.
"Partner. Who needs a relationship?", she said. "I am fine on my own."
"Some people are very cute," Lucy pointed out.
"You have one in mind, I assume?"
Wordlessly, Lucy pointed to one of the Weasley twins who were tickling the tentacles of a giant squid.
"Is that Fred or George?" Leyla asked.
"Fred."
"He is cute," Ophelia confirmed.
"I know," Lucy sighed. "We will marry in spring."
"And he knows about it, of course," Stella inquired, raising an eyebrow at her best friend.
"Not yet," Lucy replied simply, waving at Fred, who was looking in their direction.
He waved back. However, he was then caught by the tentacle and knocked to the ground.
--
In the middle of the night, the tabby cat crept through the dormitory and jumped onto his owner's bed. Lucy was instantly awake.
"Newt, what are you doing?" she moaned softly at her cat.
Newt had a small piece of paper tied to his collar. The young witch unfolded it and there it was in Harry's distinctive handwriting: 'Today. trapdoor.'
Lucy quickly woke Stella and then they ran. On the third floor to Fluffy.
Unfortunately, the dog was awake.
He straightened up and started snapping at the two girls.
Lucy and Stella ducked for cover.
"I'll distract him. Run to the trapdoor," Lucy called to Stella.
"What trapdoor do you mean... oh the trapdoor."
Lucy tried to distract the dog with a water charm. Stella jumped through the trapdoor and was gone.
"So Fluffy, how about you let me through the trapdoor? Then you can go back to sleep."
The three headed dog Fluffy growled at Lucy and started snapping at her again.
All three heads at once -
"Fine as you like - Petrificus Totalus!"
The dog fell to the ground like a stone.
Lucy slowly walked up to him and ruffled his fur.
"I'm sorry.," she murmured, and then jumped through the trapdoor.
--
Lucy and Stella found their friends a short time later.
Ron was hurt and Stella chose to stay with him. Lucy, Harry and Hermione walked on.
They opened the next door, scarcely daring to look at what was to come next.
But there was nothing particularly scary in here.
Just a table with seven bottles lined up, all different shapes.
"Snape's," said Harry. "What do we have to do?"
As soon as they crossed the threshold, a fire blazed up in the doorway behind them.
It was no ordinary fire: it was crimson.
At the same moment, black flames shot up in the doorway opposite.
They were trapped.
"Look!"
Hermione reached for a rolled-up piece of paper that was lying next to the bottles.
Lucy stood next to her and read:
Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,
Two of us will help you, which ever you would find,
One among us seven will let you move ahead,
Another will transport the drinker back instead,
Two among our number hold only nettle wine,
Three of us are killers, waiting bidden in line.
Choose, unless you wish to stay here forevermore,
To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:
First, however slyly the poison tries to hide
You will always find some on nettle wine’s left side;
Second, different are those who stand at either end,
But if you would move onward, neither is your friend;
Third, as you see clearly, all are different size,
Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides;
Fourth, the second left and the second on the right
Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight
Lucy looked at the riddle with wide eyes.
Hermione sighed loudly and the twins were confused to see her smiled.
"Brilliant," said Hermione. "This isn't magic - it's logic - a puzzle. A lot of the greatest wizards haven't got an ounce of logic, they'd be stuck in here forever."
"But so will we, won’t we?"
"Of course not," Hermione said.
"Everything we need is here on this paper. Seven bottles: three are poison; two are wine; one will get us safely through the black fire, and one will get us back through the purple."
"But how do we know which to drink?"
"Give me a minute."
Hermione read the paper through several times. Then she paced in front of the bottles, muttering to herself and pointing at them.
"Do you think this will work?"
"It's Hermione, of course it works."
Finally, Hermione clapped her hands.
"Got it," she said. "The smallest bottle will get us through the black fire - toward the Stone."
Harry eyed the small bottle.
"It's just enough for two," he said.
They looked at each other.
"Which one will get you back through the purple flames?"
Hermione pointed to a bulbous bottle at the right end of the row.
"You drink that," said Harry. "No, listen, get back and get Ron and Stella. Grab brooms from the flyingkey room, they'll get you out of the trapdoor and past Fluffy - go straight to the owlery and send Hedwig to Dumbledore, we need him. I might be able to hold Snape off for a while, but I'm no match for him, really."
"But, what if You-Know-Who's with him?"
"Well, we got lucky last time," Harry said, pointing at his scar. "We might get lucky again."
Hermione's lips trembled and suddenly she ran towards the twins, throwing her arms around them.
"Hermione!"
"Harry, you are a great wizard, you know that. And you're a great witch, Lucy."
"We're not as good as you," Harry said, embarrassed.
Hermione let go of them.
"Me?" said Hermione. "Books! And cleverness! There are more important things - friendship and bravery and - oh - be careful!"
"You drink first," said Harry. "You are sure which is which, aren't you?"
"Positive," said Hermione. She took a long gulp from the round bottle and shuddered.
"It's not poison?" said Harry, scared.
"No, but it's like ice cream."
"Quick, go, before it wears off."
"Good luck, take care -"
"GO!"
Hermione turned and walked straight through the purple fire.
Harry took a deep breath and picked up the smallest bottle.
He took a sip, gave the bottle to Lucy, and turned to the black flames.
Lucy also took a sip.
It really was like ice pouring through his body.
She put the bottle back.
The twins gathered all their courage and set out.
Lucy saw the black flames licking up her body but didn't feel them.
For a moment she could see nothing but dark fire, then they were on the other side, in the last crypt.
Someone was already there - but it wasn't Snape. It wasn't Voldemort either.