Slytherin Raised by Wolfstar: Harry Potter and the Philosopher Stone

Chapter Fifteen: Through the Trapdoor

In years to come, Harry would never quite remember how he had managed to get through his exams when he half excepted 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 swelteringly 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.

They had practical exams as well. Professor McGonagall watched them turn a mouse into a snuff-box, points were given for how pretty the snuff-box was, but taken away if it had whiskers. Professor Flitwick called them one by one into his class to see if they could make a pineapple tap-dance across a desk.

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. Malfoy and his goons kept making fun of Harry because he 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 Theodore, Allison, and Tracey 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 revisions they didn't have much time to fret about what Snape or anyone else might be up to.

Their very last exam was Potions. It was difficult as Snape made them all nervous, breathing down their necks while they tried to remember how to make a Forgetfulness Potion. But when the hour was up even Harry couldn't help cheering with the rest.

'Man that was easy,' said Theodore, who had been getting more skilled in Potions than all the others. 'I think I could have done that with fifteen minutes less.'

'Speak for yourself Theo, that was not easy, I barely managed to get mine to work.' Allison complained.

The group made there way to the school's courtyard, they all sat down on some of the benches and relaxed. Only Harry couldn't relax as he was in to much pain.

'One more week of school and than at vacation time.' Tracey said very cheery, the other two didn't quite share her sentiment. Theodore and Allison were happy to be done school, but both had pretty hard home life's to return to. Harry couldn't think about them to long as his scar sent another very painful zing and he rubbed 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.'

'Maybe you should get it checked out,' Theodore suggested, 'Madam Pomfrey can heal anything.'

'I'm not ill,' said Harry. 'I think it's a warning...it means danger's coming...'

'Harry, Allison was right, you and the Stone are safe as long as Dumbledore is around.' Tracey reminded him, 'If Snape hasn't cracked Hagrid yet he never will. Just try and get through these next few days and than you can go home and relax.'

Harry nodded, but he couldn't shake off a lurking feeling that there was something he'd forgotten to do, something important. He tried to explain this to Theodore and he gave some advice.

'Try and think back when you first started feeling like you were forgetting something important. What were you doing? Who were you talking too?'

Harry thought and thought but it didn't come to mind. Instead he took a page out of Tracey's advice and relaxed, letting his mind wander. He watched an owl flutter towards the school across the bright blue sky, a note tied around its ankle. Harry received a few letters a week, but only Hagrid sent little notes. Hagrid would never betray Dumbledore. Hagrid would never tell anyone how to get past Fluffy...never...but-