Courage

-13-

Book: Courage
Chapter 13
Word Count: 2310

Somehow, the story of what had happened had got out. Harry was in the hospital wing, unconscious, and many students of all ages, mainly Gryffindor with some Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, would bring up sweets to the hospital wing for Harry when he woke up. Ron, however, had been stealing a lot of them.

"They're for Harry!" Hermione had scolded. Ron had rolled his eyes at her.

"Well, he's not going to eat them all, is he? I'm just helping him out."

Three days later, Ron, Layla, and Hermione were playing exploding snap as a trio when a second year boy ran into the common room, claiming that Harry was awake. Ron, Layla, and Hermione didn't have time to look at each other before they got up and rushed to the hospital wing.

They could hear Harry trying to negotiate with Madam Pomfrey inside.

"Just five minutes," Harry pleaded.

"Absolutely not."

"You let Professor Dumbledore in..."

"Well, of course, that was the headmaster, quite different. You need rest."

"I am resting, look, lying down and everything. Oh, go on, Madam Pomfrey..."

"Oh, very well," she said. "But five minutes only."

And she let Ron, Layla, and Hermione in.

"Harry!" Layla looked ready to fling her arms around him again, but decided it against it since Harry must still be sore.

"Oh, Harry, we were sure you were going to — Dumbledore was so worried—" rambled Hermione.

"The whole school's talking about it," said Ron. "What really happened?"

Harry told them everything: Quirrell; the mirror; the Stone; and Voldemort. Ron, Layla, and Hermione were a very good audience; they gasped in all the right places, and when Harry told them that Voldemort was hiding under Quirrell's turban, the two sharing one body, Hermione screamed out loud.

"So the Stone's gone?" said Ron finally. "Flamel's just going to die?"

"That's what I said, but Dumbledore thinks that — what was it? — 'to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.'"

"I always said he was off his rocker," said Ron, looking quite impressed at how crazy his hero was.

"So what happened to you two?" said Harry.

"Well, I got back all right," said Layla. "I found Ron and Hermione by the Devil's Snare and handed them a broom each so we could all fly up and out of the trapdoor and past Fluffy quickly. We were dashing up to the owlery to contact Dumbledore when we met him by the entrance hall — he already knew — he just said, 'Harry's gone after him, hasn't he?' and hurtled off to the third floor."

"D'you think he meant you to do it?" said Ron. "Sending you your father's cloak and everything?"

"Well," Hermione exploded, "if he did — I mean to say that's terrible — you could have been killed."

"No, it isn't," said Harry thoughtfully. "He's a funny man, Dumbledore. I think he sort of wanted to give me a chance. I think he knows more or less everything that goes on here, you know. I reckon he had a pretty good idea we were going to try, and instead of stopping us, he just taught us enough to help. I don't think it was an accident he let me find out how the mirror worked. It's almost like he thought I had the right to face Voldemort if I could..."

"Yeah, Dumbledore's off his rocker, all right," said Ron proudly.

"Listen, you've got to be up for the end-of-year feast tomorrow," said Layla. "The points are all in and Slytherin won, of course — you missed the last Quidditch match, we were steamrollered by Ravenclaw without you."