The Unknown: A Harry Potter Story

Chapter 24: Exams

It was just before two in the morning when Jason got back to the Gryffindor common room. He was greeted by the sound of snoring and saw that Ron was sound asleep in one of the chairs near the fireplace. Jason sat down in a chair next to him to think.

He had come to the conclusion that he wouldn't tell the others about his conversation with Flitwick. Based on what Flitwick said, Jason was confident that Snape wasn't the one trying to steal the Sorcerer's Stone, but he was still involved somehow. Dumbledore definitely trusted the heads of houses and that included Snape, and Dumbledore's decision to have Snape be Jason's backup dueling tutor showed Jason they were wrong to suspect Snape.

Flitwick said that Dumbledore knows everything that goes on in Hogwarts, Jason thought. So that means that he knows what we were looking into and having Snape as a possible tutor for me was a hint. He was showing me that he trusts Snape and I should too.

That line of thinking brought up another question. Why would Dumbledore think Jason needed dueling training? Does one of the Stone's protections involve dueling?

Jason's thoughts were interrupted when the portrait hole swung open, revealing Harry and Hermione. Harry barreled into the room, upon seeing Jason and Ron, who was still sound asleep, he came right over. Harry had a panicked look in his eyes, while Hermione looked confused. He violently shook Ron awake and as soon as Ron's eyes were open Harry took off talking.

"Snape wants the Stone for Voldemort ... and Voldemort's waiting in the forest ... and all this time we thought Snape just wanted to get rich...."

"Stop saying the name!" Ron said in a terrified whisper.

Harry didn't hear a word he said. Instead, he went on a long rant, it took a while but, with help from Hermione, Jason and Ron figured out what he was talking about.

Harry, Hermione, Neville, and Malfoy served detention with Hagrid in the Forbidden Forest. While in the forest, Harry was attacked by a cloaked figure and a centaur named Firenze saved him. Another centaur named Bane got mad at Firenze for saving Harry, saying Frinze interrupted the future they predicted from the stars. Firenze identified the cloaked figure as Voldemort, saying that he was using unicorn blood to stop himself from dying until he could get the Stone to fully restore his life. He also guessed that the future Bane talked about was that Voldemort would kill him.

Harry was sure that Snape was trying to steal the Stone for Voldemort, Jason considered telling them that he didn't think it was Snape trying to steal the stone anymore, but once again decided to keep his mouth shut.

"Will you stop saying the name!" was all Ron had to say when Harry finished.

"So all I've got to wait for now is Snape to steal the Stone," Harry said 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."

"Besides," Jason added in, "who can say the centaurs are right? Reading the stars is a form of fortune-telling, which is known to be very imprecise magic."

The sun was starting to rise by the time they stopped talking. They went to bed exhausted. After quickly changing into his sleepwear, Jason collapsed into his bed and was met by a sharp pain in his back. He moved the covers to reveal a book. The book was called Extreme Incantations. A specific chapter was marked in the book: The Reductor Curse.

Following that night, Jason would sneak off to practice the Reductor Curse. Someone was making sure he could learn the spell and Jason had an idea who it was. Even after reading through the chapter on the Reductor Curse, and practicing it at every chance he could, he still never managed to correctly cast the spell. Reducto is a very powerful spell, but it's also extremely difficult to learn.