SILENT MIND - YEAR 1

9. The Philosopher's stone

To say that the past few months were entertaining would be the understatement of the year.

At the end of January we eventually discovered why Fluffy was locked into the fourth floor and what the dog was guarding. After unsuccessful tracking of mysterious Nicholas Flamel, Harry finally found his name on a Chocolate Frog's card. It took a moment for Hermione to find the right book.

I had heard the legends about the Philosopher's Stone as a kid, but now it turned out that such stone truly existed. And it was hidden here, in the castle. My friends were convinced that it was Snape who wants to steal it. When I asked the reason for their suspicions, Harry hesitated at first, then dragged me into an empty classroom.

"After the first Quidditch game I saw him sneaking out of castle and followed."

"And he didn't noticed you?" I asked, surprised.

"No, I was on my broom," said Harry. "He met with Quirrell in Forbidden Forest and questioned him about how to get past the dog."

"So? How does that prove that he wants to steal the Stone?"

"Don't you understand, Bella? You saw him sneaking to the fourth floor in Halloween and how he was limping later! He let the troll in school, then he went to the restricted corridor, but the dog bit him!" Ron eagerly said.

I had to admit that it really seemed suspicious. Though I was not entirely sure that Snape could try to steal something that belongs to Dumbledore, all evidence spoke against him. Could I be wrong about Snape? One thing was clear – that man got me totally confused. Was he good or bad after all?

"Fine, let's keep an eye on him," I suggested. "But we must not tell anyone about this whole thing. First, we're not even supposed to know about the Stone. Second, we don't have enough evidence that Snape really is up to something. And don't look at me like that, Ron, I'm not saying that because I'm Slytherin."

With that our conversation ended. We closely watched Snape, but everything seemed normal as normal it could be for him. In potion lessons he still demonstrated an open loathing for Harry, but otherwise everything was the same as it used to be.

Luckily for us, Hagrid let a slip of another detail – the Stone was protected not only by Fluffy. The other teachers did their spells and wizardry, including Snape. Harry and Ron thought that it helped him to figure out how to get past the rest of magical barriers. So far – as we knew – he did not know only what Quirrell did to protect the Stone and, of course, Fluffy.

Lately was a hard time for both Harry and Hermione. They were caught while helping Hagrid to solve a little problem with dragon. How the heck he managed to get a dragon was beyond my imagination. Anyway, Neville and Draco also got themselves involved (one tried to warn them, another set them up) and in the end Gryffindor lost fifty points for each one of them. Of course, fifty points were taken away from Slytherin too. Not that I cared much.

After that our investigation came to an end. Ron still had doubts especially after Harry accidentally heard Quirrell sobbing and pleading in one of empty classrooms, but both Hermione and Harry himself refused to continue the snooping. Until one night something happened that shook our resolve.

Harry, Hermione, Neville and Draco had to spend their dragon detention with Hagrid. They were going into the Forbidden Forest, or so I heard from Filch. When Draco returned, he was pale, shaken and obviously frightened like never before. Of course, as soon as he saw me, sitting in common room all alone, he raised his chin high, scornfully glared at me and marched away to the dormitory.

In next morning I hoped to find my friends before the breakfast to ask what happened, but they were already at Gryffindor table as I entered the Great Hall. We waved greeting to each other, but there was no chance to get a talk without being eavesdropped. I hoped to catch up with them later, but they quickly ate and rushed away to the class before I had a chance to say a word.