J.K.Rowling. Harry Potter and the sorcerer's stone
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..."When they told him about Charlie's letter, his eyes filled with tears,
although that might have been because Norbert had just bitten him on the
leg.
"Aargh! It's all right, he only got my boot — jus' playin' — he's
only a baby, after all."
The baby banged its tail on the wall, making the windows rattle. Harry
and Hermione walked back to the castle feeling Saturday couldn't come
quickly enough.
They would have felt sorry for Hagrid when the time came for him to say
good-bye to Norbert if they hadn't been so worried about what they had to
do. It was a very dark, cloudy night, and they were a bit late arriving at
Hagrid's hut because they'd had to wait for Peeves to get out of their way
in the entrance hall, where he'd been playing tennis against the wall.
Hagrid had Norbert packed and ready in a large crate.
"He's got lots o' rats an' some brandy fer the journey," said Hagrid in
a muffled voice. "An' I've packed his teddy bear in case he gets lonely."
From inside the crate came ripping noises that sounded to Harry as
though the teddy was having his head torn off.
"Bye-bye, Norbert!" Hagrid sobbed, as Harry and Hermione covered the
crate with the invisibility cloak and stepped underneath it themselves.
"Mommy will never forget you!"
How they managed to get the crate back up to the castle, they never
knew. Midnight ticked nearer as they heaved Norbert up the marble staircase
in the entrance hall and along the dark corridors. Up another staircase,
then another — even one of Harry's shortcuts didn't make the work much
easier.
"Nearly there!" Harry panted as they reached the corridor beneath the
tallest tower.
Then a sudden movement ahead of them made them almost drop the crate.
Forgetting that they were already invisible, they shrank into the shadows,
staring at the dark outlines of two people grappling with each other ten
feet away. A lamp flared.
Professor McGonagall, in a tartan bathrobe and a hair net, had Malfoy
by the ear.
"Detention!" she shouted. "And twenty points from Slytherin! Wandering
around in the middle of the night, how dare you --"
"You don't understand, Professor. Harry Potter's coming — he's got a
dragon!"
"What utter rubbish! How dare you tell such lies! Come on — I shall
see Professor Snape about you, Malfoy!"
The steep spiral staircase up to the top of the tower seemed the
easiest thing in the world after that. Not until they'd stepped out into the
cold night air did they throw off the cloak, glad to be able to breathe
properly again. Hermione did a sort of jig.
"Malfoy's got detention! I could sing!"
"Don't," Harry advised her.
Chuckling about Malfoy, they waited, Norbert thrashing about in his
crate. About ten minutes later, four broomsticks came swooping down out of
the darkness.
Charlie's friends were a cheery lot. They showed Harry and Hermione the
harness they'd rigged up, so they could suspend Norbert between them. They
all helped buckle Norbert safely into it and then Harry and Hermione shook
hands with the others and thanked them very much.
At last, Norbert was going... going... gone.
They slipped back down the spiral staircase, their hearts as light as
their hands, now that Norbert was off them. No more dragon — Malfoy in
detention — what could spoil their happiness?
The answer to that was waiting at the foot of the stairs. As they
stepped into the corridor, Filch's face loomed suddenly out of the darkness.
"Well, well, well," he whispered, "we are in trouble."
They'd left the invisibility cloak on top of the tower.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
THE FORIBIDDEN FOREST
Things couldn't have been worse.
Filch took them down to Professor McGonagall's study on the first
floor, where they sat and waited without saying a word to each other.
Hermione was trembling. Excuses, alibis, and wild cover- up stories chased
each other around Harry's brain, each more feeble than the last. He couldn't
see how they were going to get out of trouble this time. They were cornered.
How could they have been so stupid as to forget the cloak? There was no
reason on earth that Professor McGonagall would accept for their being out
of bed and creeping around the school in the dead of night, let alone being
up the tallest astronomy tower, which was out-of-bounds except for classes.
Add Norbert and the invisibility cloak, and they might as well be packing
their bags already.
Had Harry thought that things couldn't have been worse? He was wrong.
When Professor McGonagall appeared, she was leading Neville. "Harry!"
Neville burst Out, the moment he saw the other two. "I was trying to find
you to warn you, I heard Malfoy saying he was going to catch you, he said
you had a drag --"
Harry shook his head violently to shut Neville up, but Professor
McGonagall had seen. She looked more likely to breathe fire than Norbert as
she towered over the three of them.
"I would never have believed it of any of you. Mr. Filch says you were
up in the astronomy tower. It's one o'clock in the morning. Explain
yourselves."
It was the first time Hermione had ever failed to answer a teacher's
question. She was staring at her slippers, as still as a statue.
"I think I've got a good idea of what's been going on," said Professor
McGonagall. "It doesn't take a genius to work it out. You fed Draco Malfoy
some cock-and-bull story about a dragon, trying to get him out of bed and
into trouble. I've already caught him. I suppose you think it's funny that
Longbottom here heard the story and believed it, too?"
Harry caught Neville's eye and tried to tell him without words that
this wasn't true, because Neville was looking stunned and hurt. Poor,
blundering Neville — Harry knew what it must have cost him to try and find
them in the dark, to warn them.
"I'm disgusted," said Professor McGonagall. "Four students out of bed
in one night! I've never heard of such a thing before! You, Miss Granger, I
thought you had more sense. As for you, Mr. Potter, I thought Gryffindor
meant more to you than this. All three of you will receive detentions --
yes, you too, Mr. Longbottom, nothing gives you the right to walk around
school at night, especially these days, it's very dangerous — and
fifty points will be taken from Gryffindor."
"Fifty?" Harry gasped — they would lose the lead, the lead he'd won in
the last Quidditch match.
"Fifty points each," said Professor McGonagall, breathing heavily
through her long, pointed nose.
"Professor — please
"You can't --"
"Don't tell me what I can and can't do, Potter. Now get back to bed,
all of you. I've never been more ashamed of Gryffindor students."
A hundred and fifty points lost. That put Gryffindor in last place. In
one night, they'd ruined any chance Gryffindor had had for the house cup.
Harry felt as though the bottom had dropped out of his stomach. How could
they ever make up for this?
Harry didn't sleep all night. He could hear Neville sobbing into his
pillow for what seemed like hours. Harry couldn't think of anything to say
to comfort him. He knew Neville, like himself, was dreading the dawn. What
would happen when the rest of Gryffindor found out what they'd done?
At first, Gryffindors passing the giant hourglasses that recorded the
house points the next day thought there'd been a mistake. How could they
suddenly have a hundred and fifty points fewer than yesterday? And then he
story started to spread: Harry Potter, the famous Harry Potter, their hero
of two Quidditch matches, had lost them all those points, him and a couple
of other stupid first years.
From being one of the most popular and admired people at the school,
Harry was suddenly the most hated. Even Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs turned on
him, because everyone had been longing to see Slytherin lose the house cup.
Everywhere Harry went, people pointed and didn't trouble to lower their
voices as they insulted him. Slytherins, on the other hand, clapped as he
walked past them, whistling and cheering, "Thanks Potter, we owe you one!"
Only Ron stood by him.
"They'll all forget this in a few weeks. Fred and George have lost
loads of points in all the time they've been here, and people still like
them."
"They've never lost a hundred and fifty points in one go, though, have
they?" said Harry miserably.
"Well — no," Ron admitted.
It was a bit late to repair the damage, but Harry swore to himself not
to meddle in things that weren't his business from now on. He'd had it with
sneaking around and spying. He felt so ashamed of himself that he went to
Wood and offered to resign from the Quidditch team.
"Resign?" Wood thundered. "What good'll that do? How are we going to
get any points back if we can't win at Quidditch?"
But even Quidditch had lost its fun. The rest of the team wouldn't
speak to Harry during practice, and if they had to speak about him, they
called him "the Seeker."
Hermione and Neville were suffering, too. They didn't have as bad a
time as Harry, because they weren't as well-known, but nobody would speak to
them, either. Hermione had stopped drawing attention to herself in class,
keeping her head down and working in silence.
Harry was almost glad that the exams weren't far away. All the studying
he had to do kept his mind off his misery. He, Ron, and Hermione kept to
themselves, working late into the night, trying to remember the ingredients
in complicated potions, learn charms and spells by heart, memorize the dates
of magical discoveries and goblin rebellions....
Then, about a week before the exams were due to start, Harry's new
resolution not to interfere in anything that didn't concern him was put to
an unexpected test. Walking back from the library on his own one afternoon,
he heard somebody whimpering from a classroom up ahead. As he drew closer,
he heard Quirrell's voice.
"No — no — not again, please --"
It sounded as though someone was threatening him. Harry moved closer.
"All right — all right --" he heard Quirrell sob.
Next second, Quirrell came hurrying out of the classroom straightening
his turban. He was pale and looked as though he was about to cry. He strode
out of sight; Harry didn't think Quirrell had even noticed him. He waited
until Quirrell's footsteps had disappeared, then peered into the classroom.
It was empty, but a door stood ajar at the other end. Harry was halfway
toward it before he remembered what he'd promised himself about not
meddling.
All the same, he'd have gambled twelve Sorcerer's Stones that Snape had
just left the room, and from what Harry had just heard, Snape would be
walking with a new spring in his step — Quirrell seemed to have given in at
last.
Harry went back to the library, where Hermione was testing Ron on
Astronomy. Harry told them what he'd heard.
"Snape's done it, then!" said Ron. "If Quirrell's told him how to break
his Anti-Dark Force spell --"
"There's still Fluffy, though," said Hermione.
"Maybe Snape's found out how to get past him without asking Hagrid,"
said Ron, looking up at the thousands of books surrounding them. "I bet
there's a book somewhere in here telling you how to get past a giant
three-headed dog. So what do we do, Harry?"
The light of adventure was kindling again in Ron's eyes, but Hermione
answered before Harry could.
"Go to Dumbledore. That's what we should have done ages ago. If we try
anything ourselves we'll be thrown out for sure."
"But we've got no proof!" said Harry. "Quirrell's too scared to back us
up. Snape's only got to say he doesn't know how the troll got in at
Halloween and that he was nowhere near the third floor — who do you think
they'll believe, him or us? It's not exactly a secret we hate him,
Dumbledore'll think we made it up to get him sacked. Filch wouldn't help us
if his life depended on it, he's too friendly with Snape, and the more
students get thrown out, the better, he'll think. And don't forget, we're
not supposed to know about the Stone or Fluffy. That'll take a lot of
explaining."
Hermione looked convinced, but Ron didn't.
"If we just do a bit of poking around --"
"No," said Harry flatly, "we've done enough poking around."
He pulled a map of Jupiter toward him and started to learn the names of
its moons.
The following morning, notes were delivered to Harry, Hermione, and
Neville at the breakfast table. They were all the same:
Your detention will take place at eleven o'clock tonight. Meet Mr.
Filch
in the entrance hall.
Professor McGonagall Harry had forgotten they still had detentions to
do in the furor over the points they'd lost. He half expected Hermione to
complain that this was a whole night of studying lost, but she didn't say a
word. Like Harry, she felt they deserved what they'd got.
At eleven o'clock that night, they said good-bye to Ron in the common
room and went down to the entrance hall with Neville. Filch was already
there — and so was Malfoy. Harry had also forgotten that Malfoy had gotten
a detention, too.
"Follow me," said Filch, lighting a lamp and leading them outside.
I bet you'll think twice about breaking a school rule again, won't you,
eh?" he said, leering at them. "Oh yes... hard work and pain are the best
teachers if you ask me.... It's just a pity they let the old punishments die
out... hang you by your wrists from the ceiling for a few days, I've got the
chains still in my office, keep 'em well oiled in case they're ever
needed.... Right, off we go, and don't think of running off, now, it'll be
worse for you if you do."
They marched off across the dark grounds. Neville kept sniffing. Harry
wondered what their punishment was going to be. It must be something really
horrible, or Filch wouldn't be sounding so delighted.
The moon was bright, but clouds scudding across it kept throwing them
into darkness. Ahead, Harry could see the lighted windows of Hagrid's hut.
Then they heard a distant shout.
"Is that you, Filch? Hurry up, I want ter get started."
Harry's heart rose; if they were going to be working with Hagrid it
wouldn't be so bad. His relief must have showed in his -face, because Filch
said, "I suppose you think you'll be enjoying yourself with that oaf? Well,
think again, boy — it's into the forest you're going and I'm much mistaken
if you'll all come out in one piece."
At this, Neville let out a little moan, and Malfoy stopped dead in his
tracks.
"The forest?" he repeated, and he didn't sound quite as cool as usual.
"We can't go in there at night — there's all sorts of things in there --
werewolves, I heard."
Neville clutched the sleeve of Harry's robe and made a choking noise.
"That's your problem, isn't it?" said Filch, his voice cracking with
glee. "Should've thought of them werewolves before you got in trouble,
shouldn't you?"
Hagrid came striding toward them out of the dark, Fang at his heel. He
was carrying his large crossbow, and a quiver of arrows hung over his
shoulder.
"Abou' time," he said. "I bin waitin' fer half an hour already. All
right, Harry, Hermione?"
"I shouldn't be too friendly to them, Hagrid," said Filch coldly,
they're here to be punished, after all."
"That's why yer late, is it?" said Hagrid, frowning at Filch. "Bin
lecturin' them, eh? 'Snot your place ter do that. Yeh've done yer bit, I'll
take over from here."
"I'll be back at dawn," said Filch, "for what's left of them," he added
nastily, and he turned and started back toward the castle, his lamp bobbing
away in the darkness.
Malfoy now turned to Hagrid.
"I'm not going in that forest, he said, and Harry was pleased to hear
the note of panic in his voice.
"Yeh are if yeh want ter stay at Hogwarts," said Hagrid fiercely.
"Yeh've done wrong an' now yehve got ter pay fer it."
"But this is servant stuff, it's not for students to do. I thought we'd
be copying lines or something, if my father knew I was doing this, he'd - "
" - tell yer that's how it is at Hogwarts," Hagrid growled. "Copyin'
lines! What good's that ter anyone? Yeh'll do summat useful or Yeh'll get
out. If yeh think yer father'd rather you were expelled, then get back off
ter the castle an' pack. Go on"'
Malfoy didn't move. He looked at Hagrid furiously, but then dropped his
gaze.
"Right then," said Hagrid, "now, listen carefully, 'cause it's
dangerous what we're gonna do tonight, an' I don' want no one takin' risks.
Follow me over here a moment."
He led them to the very edge of the forest. Holding his lamp up high,
he pointed down a narrow, winding earth track that disappeared into the
thick black trees. A light breeze lifted their hair as they looked into the
forest.
"Look there," said Hagrid, "see that stuff shinin' on the ground?
Silvery stuff? That's unicorn blood. There's a unicorn in there bin hurt
badly by summat. This is the second time in a week. I found one dead last
Wednesday. We're gonna try an' find the poor thing. We might have ter put it
out of its misery."
"And what if whatever hurt the unicorn finds us first?" said Malfoy,
unable to keep the fear out of his voice.
"There's nothin' that lives in the forest that'll hurt yeh if yer with
me or Fang," said Hagrid. "An' keep ter the path. Right, now, we're gonna
split inter two parties an' follow the trail in diff'rent directions.
There's blood all over the place, it must've bin staggerin' around since
last night at least."
"I want Fang," said Malfoy quickly, looking at Fang's long teeth.
"All right, but I warn yeh, he's a coward," said Hagrid. " So me,
Harry, an' Hermione'll go one way an' Draco, Neville, an' Fang'll go the
other. Now, if any of us finds the unicorn, we'll send up green sparks,
right? Get yer wands out an' practice now — that's it — an' if anyone gets
in trouble, send up red sparks, an' we'll all come an' find yeh — so, be
careful — let's go."
The forest was black and silent. A little way into it they reached a
fork in the earth path, and Harry, Hermione, and Hagrid took the left path
while Malfoy, Neville, and Fang took the right.
They walked in silence, their eyes on the ground. Every now and then a
ray of moonlight through the branches above lit a spot of silver-blue blood
on the fallen leaves.
Harry saw that Hagrid looked very worried.
"Could a werewolf be killing the unicorns?" Harry asked.
"Not fast enough," said Hagrid. "It's not easy ter catch a unicorn,
they're powerful magic creatures. I never knew one ter be hurt before."
They walked past a mossy tree stump. Harry could hear running water;
there must be a stream somewhere close by. There were still spots of unicorn
blood here and there along the winding path.
"You all right, Hermione?" Hagrid whispered. "Don' worry, it can't've
gone far if it's this badly hurt, an' then we'll be able ter - GET BEHIND
THAT TREE!"
Hagrid seized Harry and Hermione and hoisted them off the path behind a
towering oak. He pulled out an arrow and fitted it into his crossbow,
raising it, ready to fire. The three of them listened. Something was
slithering over dead leaves nearby: it sounded like a cloak trailing along
the ground. Hagrid was squinting up the dark path, but after a few seconds,
the sound faded away.
"I knew it, " he murmured. "There's summat in here that shouldn' be."
"A werewolf?" Harry suggested.
"That wasn' no werewolf an' it wasn' no unicorn, neither," said Hagrid
grimly. "Right, follow me, but careful, now."
They walked more slowly, ears straining for the faintest sound.
Suddenly, in a clearing ahead, something definitely moved.
"Who's there?" Hagrid called. "Show yerself — I'm armed!"
And into the clearing came — was it a man, or a horse? To the waist, a
man, with red hair and beard, but below that was a horse's gleaming chestnut
body with a long, reddish tail. Harry and Hermione's jaws dropped.
"Oh, it's you, Ronan," said Hagrid in relief. "How are yeh?"
He walked forward and shook the centaur's hand.
"Good evening to you, Hagrid," said Ronan. He had a deep, sorrowful
voice. "Were you going to shoot me?"
"Can't be too careful, Ronan," said Hagrid, patting his crossbow.
"There's summat bad loose in this forest. This is Harry Potter an' Hermione
Granger, by the way. Students up at the school. An' this is Ronan, you two.
He's a centaur."
"We'd noticed," said Hermione faintly.
"Good evening," said Ronan. "Students, are you? And do you learn much,
up at the school?"
"Erm --"
"A bit," said Hermione timidly.
"A bit. Well, that's something." Ronan sighed. He flung back his head
and stared at the sky. "Mars is bright tonight."
"Yeah," said Hagrid, glancing up, too. "Listen, I'm glad we've run
inter yeh, Ronan, 'cause there's a unicorn bin hurt — you seen anythin'?"
Ronan didn't answer immediately. He stared unblinkingly upward, then
sighed again.
"Always the innocent are the first victims," he said. "So it has been
for ages past, so it is now."
"Yeah," said Hagrid, "but have yeh seen anythin', Ronan? Anythin'
unusual?"
"Mars is bright tonight," Ronan repeated, while Hagrid watched him
impatiently. "Unusually bright."
"Yeah, but I was meanin' anythin' unusual a bit nearer home, said
Hagrid. "So yeh haven't noticed anythin' strange?"
Yet again, Ronan took a while to answer. At last, he said, "The forest
hides many secrets."
A movement in the trees behind Ronan made Hagrid raise his bow again,
but it was only a second centaur, black-haired and -bodied and
wilder-looking than Ronan.
"Hullo, Bane," said Hagrid. "All right?"
"Good evening, Hagrid, I hope you are well?"
"Well enough. Look, I've jus' bin askin' Ronan, you seen anythin' odd
in here lately? There's a unicorn bin injured — would yeh know anythin'
about it?"
Bane walked over to stand next to Ronan. He looked skyward. "Mars is
bright tonight," he said simply.
"We've heard," said Hagrid grumpily. "Well, if either of you do see
anythin', let me know, won't yeh? We'll be off, then."
Harry and Hermione followed him out of the clearing, staring over their
shoulders at Ronan and Bane until the trees blocked their view.
"Never," said Hagrid irritably, "try an' get a straight answer out of a
centaur. Ruddy stargazers. Not interested in anythin' closer'n the moon."
"Are there many of them in here?" asked Hermione.
"Oh, a fair few... Keep themselves to themselves mostly, but they're
good enough about turnin' up if ever I want a word. They're deep, mind,
centaurs... they know things... jus' don' let on much."
"D'you think that was a centaur we heard earlier?" said Harry.
"Did that sound like hooves to you? Nah, if yeh ask me, that was what's
bin killin' the unicorns — never heard anythin' like it before."
They walked on through the dense, dark trees. Harry kept looking
nervously over his shoulder. He had the nasty feeling they were being
watched. He was very glad they had Hagrid and his crossbow with them. They
had just passed a bend in the path when Hermione grabbed Hagrid's arm.
"Hagrid! Look! Red sparks, the others are in trouble!"
"You two wait here!" Hagrid shouted. "Stay on the path, I'll come back
for yeh!"
They heard him crashing away through the undergrowth and stood looking
at each other, very scared, until they couldn't hear anything but the
rustling of leaves around them.
"You don't think they've been hurt, do you?" whispered Hermione.
"I don't care if Malfoy has, but if something's got Neville... it's our
fault he's here in the first place."
The minutes dragged by. Their ears seemed sharper than usual. Harry's
seemed to be picking up every sigh of the wind, every cracking twig. What
was going on? Where were the others?
At last, a great crunching noise announced Hagrid's return. Malfoy,
Neville, and Fang were with him. Hagrid was fuming. Malfoy, it seemed, had
sneaked up behind Neville and grabbed him as a joke. Neville had panicked
and sent up the sparks.
"We'll be lucky ter catch anythin' now, with the racket you two were
makin'. Right, we're changin' groups — Neville, you stay with me an'
Hermione, Harry, you go with Fang an' this idiot. I'm sorry," Hagrid added
in a whisper to Harry, "but he'll have a harder time frightenin' you, an'
we've gotta get this done."
So Harry set off into the heart of the forest with Malfoy and Fang.
They walked for nearly half an hour, deeper and deeper into the forest,
until the path became almost impossible to follow because the trees were so
thick. Harry thought the blood seemed to be getting thicker. There were
splashes on the roots of a tree, as though the poor creature had been
thrashing around in pain close by. Harry could see a clearing ahead, through
the tangled branches of an ancient oak.
"Look --" he murmured, holding out his arm to stop Malfoy.
Something bright white was gleaming on the ground. They inched closer.
It was the unicorn all right, and it was dead. Harry had never seen
anything so beautiful and sad. Its long, slender legs were stuck out at odd
angles where it had fallen and its mane was spread pearly-white on the dark
leaves.
Harry had taken one step toward it when a slithering sound made him
freeze where he stood. A bush on the edge of the clearing quivered.... Then,
out of the shadows, a hooded figure came crawling across the ground like
some stalking beast. Harry, Malfoy, and Fang stood transfixed. The cloaked
figure reached the unicorn, lowered its head over the wound in the animal's
side, and began to drink its blood.
"AAAAAAAAAARGH!"
Malfoy let out a terrible scream and bolted — so did Fang. The hooded
figure raised its head and looked right at Harry — unicorn blood was
dribbling down its front. It got to its feet and came swiftly toward Harry
— he couldn't move for fear.
Then a pain like he'd never felt before pierced his head; it was as
though his scar were on fire. Half blinded, he staggered backward. He heard
hooves behind him, galloping, and something jumped clean over Harry,
charging at the figure.
The pain in Harry's head was so bad he fell to his knees. It took a
minute or two to pass. When he looked up, the figure had gone. A centaur was
standing over him, not Ronan or Bane; this one looked younger; he had
white-blond hair and a palomino body.
"Are you all right?" said the centaur, pulling Harry to his feet.
"Yes — thank you — what was that?"
The centaur didn't answer. He had astonishingly blue eyes, like pale
sapphires. He looked carefully at Harry, his eyes lingering on the scar that
stood out, livid, on Harry's forehead.
"You are the Potter boy," he said. "You had better get back to Hagrid.
The forest is not safe at this time — especially for you. Can you ride? It
will be quicker this way.
"My name is Firenze," he added, as he lowered himself on to his front
legs so that Harry could clamber onto his back.
There was suddenly a sound of more galloping from the other side of the
clearing. Ronan and Bane came bursting through the trees, their flanks
heaving and sweaty.
"Firenze!" Bane thundered. "What are you doing? You have a human on
your back! Have you no shame? Are you a common mule?"
"Do you realize who this is?" said Firenze. "This is the Potter boy.
The quicker he leaves this forest, the better."
"What have you been telling him?" growled Bane. "Remember, Firenze, we
are sworn not to set ourselves against the heavens. Have we not read what is
to come in the movements of the planets?"
Ronan pawed the ground nervously. "I'm sure Firenze thought he was
acting for the best, " he said in his gloomy voice.
Bane kicked his back legs in anger.
"For the best! What is that to do with us? Centaurs are concerned with
what has been foretold! It is not our business to run around like donkeys
after stray humans in our forest!"
Firenze suddenly reared on to his hind legs in anger, so that Harry had
to grab his shoulders to stay on.
"Do you not see that unicorn?" Firenze bellowed at Bane. "Do you not
understand why it was killed? Or have the planets not let you in on that
secret? I set myself against what is lurking in this forest, Bane, yes, with
humans alongside me if I must."
And Firenze whisked around; with Harry clutching on as best he could,
they plunged off into the trees, leaving Ronan and Bane behind them.
Harry didn't have a clue what was going on.
"Why's Bane so angry?" he asked. "What was that thing you saved me
from, anyway?"
Firenze slowed to a walk, warned Harry to keep his head bowed in case
of low-hanging branches, but did not answer Harry's question. They made
their way through the trees in silence for so long that Harry thought
Firenze didn't want to talk to him anymore. They were passing through a
particularly dense patch of trees, however, when Firenze suddenly stopped.
"Harry Potter, do you know what unicorn blood is used -for?"
"No," said Harry, startled by the odd question. "We've only used the
horn and tail hair in Potions."
"That is because it is a monstrous thing, to slay a unicorn," said
Firenze. "Only one who has nothing to lose, and everything to gain, would
commit such a crime. The blood of a unicorn will keep you alive, even if you
are an inch from death, but at a terrible price. You have slain something
pure and defenseless to save yourself, and you will have but a half-life, a
cursed life, from the moment the blood touches your lips."
Harry stared at the back of Firenze's head, which was dappled silver in
the moonlight.
"But who'd be that desperate?" he wondered aloud. "If you're going to
be cursed forever, deaths better, isn't it?"
"It is," Firenze agreed, "unless all you need is to stay alive long
enough to drink something else — something that will bring you back to full
strength and power — something that will mean you can never die. Mr.
Potter, do you know what is hidden in the school at this very moment?"
"The Sorcerer's Stone! Of course — the Elixir of Life! But I don't
understand who --"
"Can you think of nobody who has waited many years to return to power,
who has clung to life, awaiting their chance?"
It was as though an iron fist had clenched suddenly around Harry's
heart. Over the rustling of the trees, he seemed to hear once more what
Hagrid had told him on the night they had met: "Some say he died.
Codswallop, in my opinion. Dunno if he had enough human left in him to die."
"Do you mean," Harry croaked, "that was Vol-"
"Harry! Harry, are you all right?"
Hermione was running toward them down the path, Hagrid puffing along
behind her.
"I'm fine," said Harry, hardly knowing what he was saying. "The
unicorn's dead, Hagrid, it's in that clearing back there."
"This is where I leave you," Firenze murmured as Hagrid hurried off to
examine the unicorn. "You are safe now."
Harry slid off his back.
"Good luck, Harry Potter," said Firenze. "The planets have been read
wrongly before now, even by centaurs. I hope this is one of those times."
He turned and cantered back into the depths of the forest, leaving
Harry shivering behind him.
Ron had fallen asleep in the dark common room, waiting for them to
return. He shouted something about Quidditch fouls when Harry roughly shook
him awake. In a matter of seconds, though, he was wide-eyed as Harry began
to tell him and Hermione what had happened in the forest.
Harry couldn't sit down. He paced up and down in front of the fire. He
ws still shaking.
"Snape wants the stone for Voldemort... and Voldemort's waiting in the
orest... and all this time we thought Snape just wanted to get rich...."
"Stop saying the name!" said Ron in a terrified whisper, as if he
thought Voldemort could hear them.
Harry wasn't listening.
"Firenze saved me, but he shouldn't have done so.... Bane was
furious... he was talking about interfering with what the planets say is
going to happen.... They must show that Voldemort's coming back.... Bane
thinks Firenze should have let Voldemort kill me.... I suppose that's
written in the stars as well."
"Will you stop saying the name!" Ron hissed.
"So all I've got to wait for now is Snape to steal the Stone," Harry
went on feverishly, "then Voldemort will be able to come and finish me
off... Well, I suppose Bane'll be happy."
Hermione looked very frightened, but she had a word of comfort.
"Harry, everyone says Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was ever
afraid of With Dumbledore around, You-Know-Who won't touch you. Anyway, who
says the centaurs are right? It sounds like fortune-telling to me, and
Professor McGonagall says that's a very imprecise branch of magic."
The sky had turned light before they stopped talking. They went to bed
exhausted, their throats sore. But the night's surprises weren't over.
When Harry pulled back his sheets, he found his invisibility cloak
folded neatly underneath them. There was a note pinned to it:
Just in case.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
THROUGH THE TRAPDOOR
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.
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 AntiCheating spell.
They had practical exams as well. Professor Flitwick called them one
byone into his class to see if they could make a pineapple tapdance across a
desk. Professor McGonagall watched them turn a mouse into a snuffbox --
points were given for how pretty the snuffbox was, but taken away if it had
whiskers. Snape made them all nervous, breathing down their necks while they
tried to remember how to make a Forgetfulness potion.
Harry 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.
Neville thought Harry had a bad case of exam nerves because Harry couldn't
sleep, but the truth was that Harry 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 Harry 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 Harry. The idea
of Voldemort certainly scared them, but he 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 selfstirring 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, Harry 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. "No more
studying," Ron sighed happily, stretching out on the grass. "You could look
more cheerful, Harry, we've got a week before we find out how badly we've
done, there's no need to worry yet."
Harry 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 Harry. "I think it's a warning... it means danger's
coming...."
Ron couldn't get worked up, it was too hot.
"Harry, relax, Hermione's right, 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 Neville 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. When he tried to
explain this, Hermione said, "That's just the exams. I woke up last night
and was halfway through my Transfiguration notes before I remembered we'd
done that one."
Harry was quite sure the unsettled feeling didn't have anything to do
with work, though. He watched an owl flutter toward the school across the
bright blue sky, a note clamped in its mouth. Hagrid was the only one who
ever sent him letters. Hagrid would never betray Dumbledore. Hagrid would
never tell anyone how to get past Fluffy... never... but --
Harry suddenly jumped to his feet.
"Where're you going?" said Ron sleepily.
"I've just thought of something," said Harry. He had turned white.
"We've got to go and see Hagrid, now."
"Why?" panted Hermione, hurrying to keep up.
"Don't you think it's a bit odd," said Harry, 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?" said Ron, 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 said, smiling. "Finished yer exams? Got time fer a drink?"
"Yes, please," said Ron, but Harry cut him off.
"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 three of them look stunned 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?" Harry asked, 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'?"
Harry, Ron, and Hermione 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," said Harry. "Hagrid told that stranger
how to get past Fluffy, and it was either Snape or 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.
Where's Dumbledore's office?"
They looked around, as if hoping to see a sign pointing them in the
right direction. They had never been told where Dumbledore lived, nor did
they know anyone who had been sent to see him.
"We'll just have to --" Harry began, but a voice suddenly rang across
the hall.
"What are you three doing inside?"
It was Professor McGonagall, carrying a large pile of books.
"We want to see Professor Dumbledore," said Hermione, rather bravely,
Harry and Ron thought.
"See Professor Dumbledore?" Professor McGonagall repeated, as though
this was a very fishy thing to want to do. "Why?"
Harry swallowed — now what?
"It's sort of secret," he said, but he wished at once he hadn't,
because Professor McGonagall's nostrils flared.
"Professor Dumbledore left ten minutes ago," she said coldly. "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."
"Look," said Harry, throwing caution to the winds, "Professor — it's
about the Sorcerer's Stone --"
Whatever Professor McGonagall had expected, it wasn't that. The books
she was carrying tumbled out of her arms, but she didn't pick them up. "How
do you know --?" she spluttered.
"Professor, I think — I know — that Sn- that someone's going to try
and steal the Stone. I've got to talk to Professor Dumbledore."
She eyed him with a mixture of shock and suspicion.
"Professor Dumbledore will be back tomorrow," she said finally. I don't
know how you found out about the Stone, but rest assured, no one can
possibly steal it, it's too well protected."
"But Professor --"
"Potter, I know what I'm talking about," she said shortly. She bent
down and gathered up the fallen books. 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 --"
Hermione gasped. Harry and Ron wheeled round.
Snape was standing there.
"Good afternoon," he said smoothly.
They stared at him.
"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. 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," he whispered urgently. "One of us
has got to keep an eye on Snape — wait outside the staff room and follow
him if he leaves it. Hermione, you'd better do that."
"Why me?"
"It's obvious," said Ron. "You can pretend to be waiting for Professor
Flitwick, you know." He put on a high voice, "'Oh Professor Flitwick, I'm so
worried, I think I got question fourteen b wrong....'"
"Oh, shut up," said Hermione, but she agreed to go and watch out for
Snape.
"And we'd better stay outside the third-floor corridor," Harry told
Ron. "Come on."
But that part of the plan didn't work. No sooner had they reached the
door separating Fluffy from the rest of the school than Professor McGonagall
turned up again and this time, she lost her temper.
"I suppose you think you're harder to get past than a pack of
enchantments!" she stormed. "Enough of this nonsense! If I hear you 've come
anywhere near here again, I'll take another fifty points from Gryffindor!
Yes, Weasley, from my own house!" Harry and Ron went back to the common
room, Harry had just said, "At least Hermione's on Snape's tail," when the
portrait of the Fat Lady swung open and Hermione came in.
"I'm sorry, Harry!" she wailed. "Snape came out and asked me what I was
doing, so I said I was waiting for Flitwick, and Snape went to get him, and
I've only just got away, I don't know where Snape went."
"Well, that's it then, isn't it?" Harry said.
The other two stared at him. He was pale and 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 McGonagall and Snape have said?
You'll be expelled!"
"SO WHAT" Harry shouted. "Don't you understand? If Snape gets hold of
the Stone, Voldemort's coming back! Haven't you heard what it was like when
he was trying to take over? There won't be any Hogwarts to get expelled
from! He'll flatten it, or turn it into a school for the Dark Arts! Losing
points doesn't matter anymore, can't you see? D'you think he'll leave you
and your families alone if Gryffindor wins the house cup? If I get caught
before I can get to the Stone, well, I'll have to go back to the Dursleys
and wait for Voldemort to find me there, it's only dying a bit later than I
would have, because I'm never going over to the Dark Side! I'm going through
that trapdoor tonight and nothing you two say is going to stop me! Voldemort
killed my parents, remember?"
He glared at them.
"You're right Harry," said Hermione in a small voice.
"I'll use the invisibility cloak," said Harry. "It's just lucky I got
it back."
"But will it cover all three of us?" said Ron.
"All — all three of us?"
"Oh, come off it, you don't think we'd let you go alone?"
"Of course not," said Hermione briskly. "How do you think you'd get to
the Stone without us? I'd better go and took through my books, there might
be something useful..."
"But if we get caught, you two will be expelled, too."
"Not if I can help it," said Hermione grimly. "Flitwick told me in
secret that I got a hundred and twelve percent on his exam. They're not
throwing me out after that."
After dinner the three of them sat nervously apart in the common room.
Nobody bothered them; none of the Gryffindors had anything to say to Harry
any more, after all. This was the first night he hadn't been upset by it.
Hermione was skimming through all her notes, hoping to come across one of
the enchantments they were about to try to break. Harry and Ron didn't talk
much. Both of them were thinking about what they were about to do.
Slowly, the room emptied as people drifted off to bed.
"Better get the cloak," Ron muttered, as Lee Jordan finally left,
stretching and yawning. Harry ran upstairs to their dark dormitory. He
putted out the cloak and then his eyes fell on the flute Hagrid had given
him for Christmas. He pocketed it to use on Fluffy — he didn't feel much
like singing.
He ran back down to the common room.
"We'd better put the cloak on here, and make sure it covers all three
of us — if Filch spots one of our feet wandering along on its own --"
"What are you doing?" said a voice from the corner of the room. Neville
appeared from behind an armchair, clutching Trevor the toad, who looked as
though he'd been making another bid for freedom.
"Nothing, Neville, nothing," said Harry, hurriedly putting the cloak
behind his back.
Neville stared at their guilty faces.
"You're going out again," he said.
"No, no, no," said Hermione. "No, we're not. Why don't you go to bed,
Neville?"
Harry looked at the grandfather clock by the door. They couldn't afford
to waste any more time, Snape might even now be playing Fluffy to sleep.
"You can't go out," said Neville, "you'll be caught again. Gryffindor
will be in even more trouble."
"You don't understand," said Harry, "this is important."
But Neville was clearly steeling himself to do something desperate.
I won't let you do it," he said, hurrying to stand in front of the
portrait hole. "I'll — I'll fight you!"
"Neville, "Ron exploded, "get away from that hole and don't be an idiot
--"
"Don't you call me an idiot!" said Neville. I don't think you should be
breaking any more rules! And you were the one who told me to stand up to
people!"
"Yes, but not to us," said Ron in exasperation. "Neville, you don't
know what you're doing."
He took a step forward and Neville dropped Trevor the toad, who leapt
out of sight.
"Go on then, try and hit me!" said N...
