A Broken Slytherin (Book 1)

The Philosopher's Stone Part 1/2

The four proceeded through dark halls bunched together. It was like an entirely different part of the castle, hardly any light came through to the dank corridors and it was very cold, too cold. After going down what seemed like miles of stairs, they came to a large wooden door. Harry pushed it open and held it for the group whilst they filed in. They had found the source of the buzzing. y/n looked up and saw hundreds, of not thousands of flying creatures, floating slowly through the air.

"Curious, I've never seen birds like these," Hermione said looking up in awe.

Harry peered closely at them, "They're not birds. They're keys."

At first, y/n didn't believe the boy, but after staring at one closely she saw that they were indeed keys. Keys that had what seemed like dragonfly wings attached to them. y/n was trying to figure out what they were supposed to do and then spotted another large door on the other side of the room.

"We need to find the one that unlocks that door," she announced pointing at the door. As y/n walked closer, something began to take shape in front of her. She got closer and closer until she saw a clear image. A broomstick was floating in the air, just by itself. They all stared at it for a second before Ron took out his wand and marched over to the door.

"Alohamora!" he exclaimed, but of course it didn't work. "Worth a try."

"ugh, what are going to do? There must be a thousand keys up there!" Hermione burst out frustrated.

"We're looking for a big old fashioned one. Probably rusty like the handle." Ron said and they all looked up for the matching key

"There! I see it! The one with the broken wing," Harry yelled pointing to a large bronze key, struggling to stay in the air. Harry looked back to the broom, puzzled.

"What's wrong Harry?" y/n asked

"It's too simple." He breathed out, and y/n had to agree with him. The keys were flying very slowly and they weren't even that high up.

"Oh go on Harry! If Snape could catch it on that old broomstick you can," Ron encouraged, "You're the youngest seeker in a century."

Harry nodded apprehensively and looked down at the broom before apprehensively grasping it. But as soon as his skin touched wood, the keys went into a frenzy. They dove for Harry and swarmed him as rose into the air. They circled him as he chased the desired key like bats, screeches echoing around the tall room. Harry was right on its tail and then grabbed it out of the air. He quickly dived for the ground and called "catch the key!"

y/n grabbed the key before it could fly away and rushed to the door, unlocking it. Hermione Ron and she ran through and held it open for Harry, who flew through the doorway, y/n slammed the door shut before any of the magic keys could get through. y/n let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, she looked the group over, everyone seemed relatively fine. Thank Merlin. Harry dismounted the broom and tossed it to the side.

The next grand door opens as the four step towards it and reveals yet another darkly lit room. What seemed like statues were lined up in a grid-like fashion, whilst the remnants of broken figures littered the room. It was very unnerving.

"Where are we? A graveyard?" y/n asked the room, it was hard to tell from the lack of light.

"This is no graveyard," Ron said stepping further into the room, "It's a chessboard."

Suddenly the room lit up revealing a large marble black and whit grid as the floor, and the statues were the playing pieces. Ron Hermione and Harry spotted the door that was surely their exit and made a start for it whilst y/n examined the chess pieces, curious. She saw the three try and get to the door and knew it wasn't going to be that straight forward. The pawns suddenly took out their long swords from their shafts and blocked the exit. 'Have you guys not learned anything?" y/n stated. The three turned to look at her. "These challenges are meant to make you think, it's not gonna be as easy as waltzing up and opening a door."