Pennelope and the Trapdoor (Harry Potter love story) book 1

Ridding of a Creature

Edited
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Quirrell must have been braver than we thought. In the weeks that followed he did seem to be getting paler and thinner, but it didn't look as though he'd cracked yet. Every time we passed the third-floor corridor, Harry, Hermione, Ron, and I would press our ears to the door to check that Fluffy was still growling inside.
Snape was sweeping about in his usual bad temper, which surely meant the Stone was still safe. Whenever Harry and I passed Quirrell we would give him an encouraging sort of smile, and Ron has started telling people off for laughing at Quirrell's stutter. Hermione however, had more on her mind than the Sorcerer's Stone. She had started drawing up study schedules and color-coding all her notes.

"Hermione exams are ages away." Ron said annoyed.

"Ten weeks," Hermione snapped. "That's not ages, that's like a second to Nicolas Flamel."

"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 realise we need to pass the 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. . ."

Unfortunately, the teachers seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Hermione. They piled so much homework on us that the Easter holidays weren't nearly as much fun as the Christmas ones, but I have it under control. Harry and Ron spent most of their free time in the library with Hermione and I, trying to get through all the extra work.

"I'll never remember this," Ron burst out one afternoon, throwing his quill down and looking longingly out the library window. It was the first fine day we'd had in months. The sky was clear, forget-me-not blue, and there was a feeling in the air that summer was coming.

"Hagrid! What are you doing in the library?" Ron said, I looked up as Hagrid came into view, watching in suspicion as he hid something behind his back, he looked very out of place in his moleskin overcoat.

"Jus' lookin'," he said, in a shifty voice which got all our interest at once. "An' what're you lot up ter?" He suddenly looked suspicious. "Yer not still lookin' fer Nicolas Flamel, are yeh?"

"Oh, we found out who he is ages ago," I said waving Hagrid off.

"And we know what the dog's guarding, it's a Sorcerer's St-"Ron started.

"Shhhhh!" Hagrid looked around quickly to see if anyone was listening. "Don' go shoutin' about it, what's the matter with yeh?"

"There are a few things we wanted to ask you, as a matter of fact," Harry said, turning to face him, "About what's guarding the Stone apart from Fluffy-"

"SHHHHH!" Hagrid said again. "Listen - come an' see me later, I'm not promisin' I'll tell yeh anythin', mind but don' go rabbitin' about it in here, students aren' s'pposed ter know. They'll think I've told yeh-"

"See you later, then," Harry said.

Hagrid shuffled off.

"What was he hiding behind his back?" I said thoughtfully, tapping my quill against my chin.

"Do you think it had anything with the stone?"

"I'm going to see what section he was in," Ron said who'd had enough of working. He came back a minute later with a pile of books in his hands and slammed them down on the table.

"Dragons!" He whispered. "Hagrid was looking up stuff about dragons! Look at these: 'dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland; From Egg to Inferno, A Dragon Keeper's Guide."