Year 1: Tonight

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Felicity's POV

"Harry Potter," the centaur greeted grimly, ignoring me, "You must leave. You are known to many creatures here, and the forest is not safe at this time. Especially for you."

Harry gulped. "But... what was that thing you saved us from?" he asked, awed.

Well, at least Harry acknowledged me.

"A monstrous creature," the centaur replied solemnly. "It is a terrible crime to slay a unicorn, but drinking its blood can keep you alive, even if you are an inch from death."

I exchanged a confused glance with Harry as the centaur continued, "But at a terrible price. You've slayed something so pure, that from the moment the blood touches your lips, you will lead a half-life. A cursed life."

"But who would choose such a life?" Harry breathed. The centaur raised an eyebrow. "Can you think of no one?" he asked. Realization dawned on me me and my eyes widened in shock.

"You mean to say," Harry said slowly, trying to process this new information, "that the thing drinking the unicorn blood... that was Voldemort?"

The centaur nodded. "Harry Potter," he began, "Do you know what is hidden inside the school at this very moment?" Harry's jaw dropped a little as he said, "The Sorcerers Stone..."

The sound of Fang barking a few yards away stirred me from my thoughts. "Felicity! Harry!" Hagrid, Malfoy, Ron, Fang, and Hermione quickly came into sight and I sighed in relief.

"Hello, Firenze," Hagrid greeted the centaur gruffly, "I've see you've met Harry Potter and Felicity Longbottom. You two okay?"
Firenze looked to us. "This is where I leave now. You two are safe," he said, before trotting off into the dark forest.

***

"You mean to say," Hermione stated skeptically, "You-Know-Who's out in the forest right now?"

The four of us were sitting in the Common Room; everyone else had left for bed hours ago. "He's been feeding off of unicorn blood," Harry explained, beginning to pace. "We had it all wrong! Snape doesn't want the stone for himself, he wants it for Voldemort! With the Elixir of Life, he'll be strong again! He'll come back..."

Harry finally sat down in an empty seat by the fire, a look of defeat on his face. "I-If he comes back, do you think he'll try to... you know... kill you?" Ron asked fearfully.

"Ron," I said patiently and slowly, as if I were speaking to a child, "Shut. Up. That's not exactly a confidence booster." He gulped and nodded quickly. I turned to Harry, with a reassuring look on my face. "It'll be fine, Harry," I said, "You'll be fine."

"Thanks, Felicity. And, Ron... I think he would've killed me tonight, if Firenze hadn't came and saved us," Harry replied. Ron shook his head in disbelief and gulped. "And to think, I've been worrying about my Potions final..." he said, his voice trailing off.

Harry, Ron, and I laughed as the tension broke, but Hermione's expression remained serious as ever before she finally spoke. "Think about it: Who's the one wizard You-Know-Who always feared?"

Ron and Harry exchanged puzzled looks, but my eyes widened. "Dumbledore!" I blurted out. Hermione smiled at me. "Exactly. As long as Dumbledore's here, You-Know-Who can't hurt you, Harry."

Harry nodded absentmindedly and gazed into the fire, his gaze troubled.

***

"I'd always heard that Hogwarts's final exams were quite frightening, but I found them rather enjoyable," Hermione said, proud and nonchalant. I agreed with her, for the most part, but Ron rolled his eyes. "Speak for yourself," he scoffed. "You alright there, Harry?"

I looked up from my shoes at Harry, who had his hand pressed to his forehead. "It's my scar," he said with a pained expression, "It keeps burning."

My brow furrowed in worry. "It's happened before, though, right?" I asked. He nodded. "But not like this," he said, sounding as confused as I felt. "Maybe you should go to the Hospital Wing," Ron suggested. Harry shook his head. "I've felt this before," he insisted, "It means danger is coming."

He paused for a second before his jaw dropped."Oh. Of course," he said, realization dawning him. He began walking quickly to Hagrid's hut. "What is it, Harry?" Hermione asked, almost jogging to keep up.

"Don't you think it's a bit odd, how all Hagrid wants is a dragon, and a stranger just shows up with one? I mean, how many people wander around with dragon eggs in their pockets? Why didn't I see it before?"

We approached Hagrid, who was outside of his hut and playing the flute. "Hagrid," Harry addressed urgently, "Who gave you that dragon egg? What did he look like?"

Hagrid seemed bewildered by the questions, but answered warily. "Well, I dunno. I didn't see his face; he kept his hood up." Harry seemed frustrated. "Well, you two spoke, didn't you?" Hagrid tilted his head to the side. "Uh, he wanted to know what animals I deal with. So I told him, I said 'After Fluffy, a dragon'll be no problem.'"

Ron, Harry, Hermione, and I all exchanged cautious glances. "Hagrid, did he seem interested in Fluffy?" I pressed.

"Well, of course he seemed interested in Fluffy. It's not everyday you come across a giant three-headed dog," he scoffed. "But then I told him, 'The trick to any beast is to know how to calm it'. Take Fluffy, for example. Just play a little music, and he falls right asleep...." Hagrid trailed off.

Without a word, the four of us began running back up to the castle. "Hey!" Hagrid shouted, "Where ya goin'?"

***

We burst into McGonagall's office, breathing heavily.

There has been way too much running this past half hour.

"We have to see Professor Dumbledore!" Harry announced, "Now!" I cleared my throat a little. "Please," I added.

McGonagall looked over each of us with a cross expression. "I'm afraid Professor Dumbledore isn't here at the moment. He received an urgent letter from the Ministry," she replied firmly. "He's gone?" Harry asked, sounding horrified, "Now? But this is important! This is about the Sorcerers Stone!"

McGonagall's head snapped up from the papers she was grading. "How do you know about the Sorcerers Stone?" she asked, her voice shrill, but quiet. "Someone's going to try to steal it!" Harry practically shouted, ignoring her question.

"I don't know how you four found out about the Stone, but I assure you, it is very well-protected. Now, would you go back to your dormitories?" She looked down to her papers again, clearly dismissing us.

We left her room one by one, dejectedly.

"That was no stranger Hagrid met at the pub, that was Snape," Harry said as soon as we exited her office, "Which means, he knows how to get past Fluffy, and-" "-with Dumbledore gone, he'll steal the Sorcerers Stone!" I finished. Hermione opened her mouth to speak when a voice came from behind us.

"Hello," none other than Professor Snape drawled, glaring at us suspiciously, "Now, what would four young Gryffindors like yourselves be doing inside on a pleasant day like this?"

Ron, Harry, and I all turned expectantly to Hermione, who fidgeted. "Um, I... well, we were... you see..." she stuttered.

"Mm hmm," Snape hummed distastefully, "You must be careful, or people will think you are..." he said, switching his gaze from Hermione to Harry, "up to something."

He gave us one last malicious look before stalking away. "Now what do we do?" Hermione asked in a hushed voice. "We go down the trapdoor," I replied, as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

"Tonight."

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my lil angsty babies:')

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