The Almost Chosen Ones: The Longbottom Twins (A Harry Potter Fan Fiction)

Dragons, Centaurs, and Cloaked Figures, Oh My!

Quirrell must have been braver than we thought. As weeks past he seemed to be getting thinner and a bit more pale, but it didn't look as though he'd cracked yet.

The Stone wasn't the only thing on our minds. Exams were creeping closer and Hermione wouldn't let any of us forget it. She started color coding all her notes and enforcing her study schedules that she gave us for Christmas. "Hermione, the exams are ages away." Ron complained, as usual. Hermione snapped, "Ten weeks, that's not ages. That's like a second to Nicholas Flamel." Ron lifted his head from his book. "But we're not six hundred years old," Ron reminded her. "Anyway, what are you studying for, you already know it all."

"What am I studying for? Are you crazy? You realize we need to pass these exams to get into second year? They're very important, I should have started studying a month ago, I don't know what's gotten into me." I don't get why Hermione puts so much pressure on herself. I mean, I know that she feels that she has a lot to prove, as a muggleborn, but she has to know that she could take the exams right now and get an O. She has nothing to worry about. "I'll never remember this," Ron burst out as he looked around for anything to distract himself with. "Hagrid! What are you doing in the library?"

Hagrid shuffled into view trying to hide something behind his back. "Jus' lookin'," he said in a shifty voice that got our interest at once. ...Yeah, right. "And what're you lot up to? Your not still lookin' for Nicolas Flamel, are yeh?" He asked suspiciously. "Oh, we found him ages ago," Ron said impressively. "And we know what that dog's guarding, it's a Sorcerer's St-"

"Shhhhh!" Hagrid looked around to see if anyone was listening. "Don' go shoutin' about it, what's the matter with yeh?" The big guy has a point, if there was one trait Ron lacked it was subtlety. "There are actually a few things that we wanted to ask you in fact," Harry said, "about what's guarding the Stone apart from Fluffy-"

"SHHHHH!" Hagrid shushed again. "Listen-come an' see me later, I'm not promising I'll tell yeh anything, mind, but don't go blabbin' about it in here, students aren't s'pposed to know. They'll think I've told yeh-" Harry nodded, "See you later, then." Hagrid shuffled off. "Wonder what he was hiding." Ron's growling stomach at the perfect time, I didn't feel like studying anymore anyway. We dropped off our books and things at Gryffindor tower before we made our way to the Great Hall.

After dinner Nev went to Herbology Club while the rest of us walked to Hagrid's Hut. All the curtains were closed. That's strange. We knocked on the door. Hagrid called "Who is it?" before he let us in, even though he knew we were coming. He shut the door quickly behind us. It was stifling hot inside. Even though it was a warm day, Hagrid had a fire blazing in the grate. He made us tea and offered us his infamous rock cakes, which we politely declined. "So-yeh wanted to ask me somethin'?"

"Yes," Harry said, getting straight to the point. "We were wondering if you could tell us what's guarding the Sorcerer's Stone other than Fluffy?" Hagrid frowned at him. "O' course I can't," he said. "Number one, I don' know meself. Number two, yeh know too much already, so I wouldn' tell yeh if I could. That Stone's here for a good reason. It was almost stolen outta Gringotts-I s'ppose yeh've worked that out an' all? Beats me how yeh even know about Fluffy."

"Oh, come on, Hagrid, you might not want to tell us but you do know, you know everything that goes on around here," said Hermione in a warm, flattering voice. Hagrid's beard twitched and we could tell he was smiling. Look out world, Hermione's got brains and charm. "We only wondered who had done the guarding, really. We wondered who Dumbledore had trusted enough to help him, apart from you." Girl knows how to lay it on thick. She's got it. "Well, I don't suppose it could hurt to tell yeh that ... he borrowed Fluffy from me ... then some of the teachers did enchantments ... Professor Sprout, Professor Flitwick, Professor McGonagall," he listed as he ticked them off on his fingers. I knew it. "Professor Quirrell, and Dumbledore himself did somethin', o' course. Hang on, I've forgotten someone. Oh yeah, Professor Snape."