Harry Potter and the Second Chance

Chapter Eleven - The Revelation

We were cuddled up in the Gryffindor common room, with Harry pacing nervously back and forth.

"You mean that You-Know-Who is out there, right now, in the Forest?" Hermione asked.

Harry nodded. "But he's weak. He's living off of unicorns. Don't you see? We had it wrong! Snape doesn't want the Stone for himself, he wants it for Voldemort! With the Elixir of Life, Voldemort will become strong again. He... he'll come back."

"But if he comes back, you don't think he'll try to kill you, do you?" I asked him.

"I think if he'd had his chance, he would've tried to kill me tonight." Harry confirmed.

"Bloody hell! And to think, I've been worried about my Potions final." Ron sighed.

"Hang on a minute, we're forgetting one thing. Who's the one wizard Voldemort always feared?" Hermione asked. She gave us a look, as if she were already expecting us to not know the answer.

"Voldemort." I answered.

"Right! As long as Dumbledore's around, Harry, you're safe." Hermione had a satisfied look on her face, but Harry didn't seem so sure.

"As long as Dumbledore's around, you can't be touched." I reassured him.

---

"I'd heard Hogwarts final exams were frightful, but I honestly found them rather enjoyable." Hermione told us as we walked through the courtyard. I gave my friend an incredulous look.

"Speak for yourself." Ron said. Harry inhaled sharply and grabbed his head. "You alright, mate?"

"My scar. It keeps hurting." Harry said.

Hermione shrugged. "It's happened before."

"Not like this."

"Perhaps you should go see Madame Pomfrey?" I suggested, casting him a concerned look.

"No, I think it's a... a warning." Harry told us. He abruptly stopped, hyper alert. "Ah, of course!"

"What? What is it?" I asked.

"Don't you think it's a bit odd that what Hagrid wants more than anything is a dragon and a stranger turns up and just happens to have one? I mean, how many people wander around with dragon eggs in their pockets? Why didn't I see it before?" Spotting the gamekeeper across the courtyard, we all ran over to him.

"Hagrid, who gave you that dragon egg? What did he look like?" Harry rushed to interrogate Hagrid.

"I don' know. Never saw 'im. He kept his hood up." The gamekeeper answered.

"Surely the two of you must've talked." I added, hoping to jog his memory.

"Well, he wanted to know what kind o' creatures I looked after. And I told 'im, after Fluffy, a dragon's gonna be no trouble."

"Did he seem interested in Fluffy?" Harry asked.

"Well of course he was interested in Fluffy! How often do you come across three-headed dogs, even if you're in the trade? But I told 'im, I said, 'The trick with any beast is to know how to calm him.' Take Fluffy, for example, jus' play him a bit o' music and he falls straight asleep." Hagrid stopped suddenly. "I shouldn't have said that. I should not have said that."

Hermione and Ron caught on quickly, and we all started running back toward the castle.

"Hey, where're ye going? Where're ya going'?" Hagrid shouted after us, but we were in too much of a hurry to respond. Almost magically, we all understood that we had to go straight to Dumbledore. He was the wisest wizard on earth, surely he would believe us.

---

"We have to see Professor Dumbledore immediately!" Harry announced to Professor McGonagall.

"I'm afraid Professor Dumbledore's not here. He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and left immediately for London." McGonagall told us.

"He's gone? But this is important!" I exclaimed. "It's about the Sorcerer's Stone!"

Professor McGonagall looked dumbfounded. "But... how did you know-?"

"Someone's going to try to steal it!" Harry interrupted.

"I don't know how you four found out about the Stone, but I assure you it is perfectly well protected. Now, please go back to your dormitories quietly." She turned her back and walked away. Dejectedly, we all started walking back to the common room.

"That was no stranger Hagrid met. That was Snape. Which means he knows how to get past Fluffy." Harry explained.

"And with Dumbledore gone-" Hermione started.

"Good afternoon. Now, what would four young Gryffindors such as yourselves be doing inside on a day like this?" Snape had snuck up behind us.

"We were... we were just..." Ron stammered.

Snape gave us a disapproving look. "You ought to be careful. People will think you're up to something." Without so much as another glance, Snape briskly walked away.

"Now what are we to do?" Hermione asked.

"We go down the trap door." Harry answered.

"Tonight." I confirmed.
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(Eleanor in picture)