Cursed|| Harry Potter [1]

Chapter 11

Quirrell, however, must have been braver than they'd 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 they passed the third-floor corridor, Harry, Ron, Lyra and Hermione would press their ears to the door to check that Fluffy was
still growling inside. Snape was sweeping about in his usual bad temper, which surely meant that the Stone was still safe.

Whenever Harry passed Quirrell these days he gave him an encouraging sort of smile, Lyra gave him encouraging words of comfort saying that he was braver then he believed himself to be and Ron had started telling people off for laughing at Quirrell's stutter.

Hermione, however, had more on her mind than the Stone. She had started drawing up study schedules and colour-coding all her notes.

Harry, Lyra and Ron wouldn't have minded, but she kept nagging them to do the same.

"Hermione, the exams are ages away," Lyra whined.

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

"But we're not six hundred years old. Anyway, what are you studying for, you already know it." Ron told her.

"What am I studying for? Are you crazy? Do you realize we need to pass
these exams to get into the second year? They're very important, I should have started studying a month ago, I don't know what's gotten into me." Hermione scolded herself.

"You're becoming relaxed because of us. You're welcome." Lyra smiled.
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Unfortunately, the teachers seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Hermione. They piled so much homework on them that the Easter
holidays weren't nearly as much fun as the Christmas ones. It especially uncomfortable for Lyra when Hermione was reciting the twelve uses of dragon's blood.

The foursome spent most of their free time in the library trying to get through all their extra work.

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

The rest of the three didn't pay that much attention to him until they heard Ron say,

"Hagrid! What are you doing in the library?"

They looked up. Hagrid shuffled into view, hiding something behind his back. He looked very out of place in his moleskin overcoat.

"Jus' lookin', " he said, in a shifty voice that got their interest at once.

"An' what're you lot up ter? Yer not still lookin' fer Nicolas Flamel, are yeh?"  He looked suddenly suspicious

"Oh, we found out who he is ages ago," said Ron impressively.

Lyra facepalmed

Nobody knows how to keep their mouth shut... She thought.

"And we know what that dog's guarding, it's a Philosopher's St -" Ron began.

"Shhhh!" Hagrid looked around quickly to see if anyone was listening.

"Don' go shoutin' about it, what's the matter with yeh?" He said in a whisper tone.

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

"SHHHH!"  Said Hagrid again.