"And did he — did he seem interested in Fluffy?" Harry asked, trying to keep his voice calm.
"Well — yeah — how many three-headed dogs d'yeh et, 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'?"
Harry, Ron, and Draco didn't speak to each other at all until they ca to a halt in the entrance hall, which seed very cold and gloomy after the grounds.
"I knew sothing was wrong," Harry comnted.
"Bid old loaf getting interviewed at Hog's Head? Even your owl knew sothing was wrong, Potter," Draco sneered.
Ron's lips twitched. "Can you not call him that?"
"Alright," Draco nodded. "What about Pottersch?"
Harry, despite the grave sense of oddness in his heart, smiled. "Soone's missing Black."
Draco's sneer beca a frown.
Exams had co and gone, yet Darcie and Black were still at the hospital, out cold.
McGonagall had let them know that a special exam would be conducted for the two of them once they returned; which was very soon as told to School by the Healers.
Yet, the situation at hand had taken a worse turn too suddenly.
Soone, probably Voldemort, was after the Philosopher's Stone, Harry knew. Ever since Hagrid had told him that the one who killed his parents might be alive, he had been having doubts about this all.
But they didn't know what to do about it. Anyti, the Dark Lord could infiltrate Hogwarts, ignoring the heavy security, and steal the Stone.
Then there was the Yellow Warlock and the Lord of Azkaban.
Enemies were endless.
Once they got their hands on the Stone... That would be the end of everyone.
Harry looked at Ron and Draco, who were already looking at him. "Let's go to Dumbledore," he said.
Suddenly, they saw two girls running out of the Great Hall, smiling.
They were Daphne and Hermione.
Once they saw the three boys, they shifted their direction.
Daphne ca to a stop near Draco. "Good news," she said, composing herself. "Darcie woke up."
Draco's eyes widened.
"What about Black?" Harry asked.
"He woke up as well," Hermione told them. "Professor Dumbledore got the letter from the hospital. He's gone there to et them with Madam Villanelle."
Despite the good news, the boys' hearts skipped a beat.
"What..." Daphne caught onto the strangeness. "What happened?"
Not finding that it mattered anymore, Harry told the two girls about everything, hoping they would shine so new light on this.
Daphne and Hermione shared a glance.
"You think soone faked the hospital's letter?" Daphne asked, her mood gaining a downcast expression.
"I am afraid so," Harry nodded. "With Professor Dumbledore gone, there's no one to stop dark wizards like them."
"Why don't you ask your father?" Hermione asked, looking at Draco. "I heard he's a Governor."
Draco scoffed. "My father would gladly wait for the Stone to get stolen and then bla it on Dumbledore to get him sacked."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione's mouth dropped.
Only Daphne knew, for a fact, that what Draco said was the truth.
Now what?!
"Good afternoon."
The hissing voice jolted them.
Harry, Ron, and Draco wheeled around and found Snape, eying them all.
"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 sothing. "
Snape's gaze landed on Hermione. "Girl, did you take the potion? Today's full moon."
Hermione flushed. She looked around shyly, wondering if soone heard the Professor. "Yes, Professor."
They turned to go outside, but Snape called them back.
"Be warned, Potter — any more nightti wanderings and I will personally make sure you are expelled. Good day to you."
He strode off in the direction of the staffroom.
Professor Snape hadn't gone even for a mont when the Weasley twins ca shouting at them.
"Oh, you all are here!" Fred shouted.
George threw a package at Harry, which he caught, surprised.
"For you," Fred said, winking.
"From soone hilarious," George smiled.
Then, they ran off, leaving the five first-years stunned.
Ron, Draco, Daphne, and Hermione gathered around Harry and saw the line written on the roughly packed box.
— White hates ! Help!!
Harry sniggered. "It's from Black!"
They ran out of the school lest Snape caught them again.
Near the lake, they opened the box and, to their surprise, found five pairs of gloves and... shoes.
The pair of gloves was familiar to them, but the shoes were new, but as looked as magical as the gloves.
"When did he..." Draco mumbled.
Ron put the gloves on and they lit up with blue shine. "That's Black for you..."
"He must have told Fred and George to give it to us, if sothing happened to him," Harry guessed, his sight blurring. "They waited until the exams..."
They all looked at Harry.
His face had paled, but his eyes were glittering.
"I'm going out of here tonight and I'm going to try and get to the Stone first."
"You're mad!" said Ron.
"You can't!" said Hermione. "After what Snape has said? You'll be expelled!"
Strangely, before Harry could let out his heart's feelings about all this, Daphne nodded. "He's right," she said, shocking them all. "If Darcie was here, she would have done the sa."
Draco clutched the gloves and shoes tightly.
"I'll use the invisibility cloak," said Harry.
"But will it cover all five of us?" said Ron.
"All — all five of us?"
"Trying to get the lilight in this, too, Pottersch," Draco sneered.
"How do you think you'd get to the Stone without us?" Hermione asked. "I'd better go and go through my books, there might be sothing useful...."
"Darcie has a few potions left in her suit... things," Daphne said. "I will get them."
"But if we get caught, you four will be expelled, too." Harry looked at them with a stunned gaze.
"Only if... they caught us..." Draco said, putting on the shoes.
Suddenly, the shoes glowed and Draco blurred out of sight, leaving an afterimage.
...
Late at night, they were all there, outside the third-floor corridor — and the door was already ajar.
"Well, there you are," Harry said quietly, "Soone's already got past Fluffy."
Harry, Ron, and Draco had used Harry's Invisibility Cloak, while Daphne and Hermione had used Darcie's old cloak.
Harry pushed the door open.
As the door creaked, instead of low, rumbling growls, only silence t their ears.
"Where's Fluffy?!" Harry exclaid.
The others shared a horrified glance, but entered the room, anyway.
Harry turned to the other four.
"If you want to go back, I won't bla you," he said. "You can take the cloaks, I won't need them now."
"Don't be stupid," said Ron.
"We're coming," said Hermione.
"Who will pat you on the head if you start crying?" Draco hissed out a chuckle.
"Do you have nothing good to say, like ever?" Daphne complained.
Harry sighed, shaking his head. Gryffindors and Slytherins... who would have thought?!
He bent and pulled the ring of the trapdoor, which swung up and open.
After strange turns and stranger interactions, the diverged, main storyline had finally entered the last stages of the 1st year.
And doom waited for them at the end, like an unseen beast!
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100 Power Stones: 1 Bonus Chapter
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