Harry Styles and the Sorcerer's Stone

Chapter 16: 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 Salvatore to come bursting through the door at any moment. Yet the days crept by, and there would 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 Anti-Cheating spell.

They had practical exams as well. Professor Tomlinson called them one by one into his class to see if they could make a pineapple tap-dance across a desk. Professor Gomez watched them turn a mouse into a snuffbox – points were given for how pretty the snuffbox was, but taken away if it had whiskers. Sprouse 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. Liam 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 that hadn't seen what Harry had seen in the forest, or because they didn't have scars burning on their foreheads, but Shawn, Maia, and Ariana didn't seem as worried about the Stone as Harry. The idea of Salvatore 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 wizard who'd invented self-stirring cauldrons and they'd be free, for a whole wonderful week until their exam results came out. When the ghost of Professor Schmidt 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," Maia sighed, relieved, 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," Ariana sighed, sounding a little disappointed.

Ariana always liked to go through their exam papers afterward, but Shawn said this made him feel ill, so they wandered down to the lake and flopped under a tree. The Pattinson twins and Jordan Fisher were tickling the tentacles of a giant squid, which was basking in the warm shallows.

"No more studying," Shawn 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 Tisdale," Ariana suggested.

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

Shawn couldn't get worked up, it was too hot.

"Harry, relax, Maia's right, the Stone's safe as along as Dumbledore's around. Anyway, we've never had any proof Sprouse 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 Niall lets Apa 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, Ariana 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."