||Rain's Storm||The Sorcerer's Stone||Year 1||

Chapter Ten: Rush

"You mean, You-Know-Who is out there, right now, in the forest?" Hermione demanded, staring at Harry. They were huddled in an empty classroom, talking.

"But he's weak. He's living off the unicorns. Don't you see," Harry was pacing to and fro, "We had it wrong. Snape doesn't want the Stone for himself. He wants it for Voldermont. With the Exiler of Life, Voldermont will be strong again. He'll come back." Harry finally sank into one of the desks.

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

"I think he would have tonight if he had the chance," Harry admitted.

"But we're forgetting one thing. Dumbledore is the one wizard You-Know-Who is afraid of. As long as he's around, you're safe Harry. He can't touch you," Hermione said. Harry smiled at her. Rain suddenly stood up without a word, and left. She didn't even glance back at them.

*

'She was in the Forbidden Forest, alone. She could hear something walking around her, but it stayed hidden in the shadows. "Who are you?" she cried. The cracking of leaves and twigs stopped. The beast stood before her now, only its yellow eyes visible. Then it lung....'

Rain awoke, gasping. She had never had such a dream, such a nightmare. Closing her eyes, she willed it away. She just wanted to be left alone.

*

Exams went rather quickly and smoothly for Rain. However, she was now avoiding Harry, Ron, and Hermione. No matter how hard they tried to corner her to talk, she always managed to avoid them. What had happened in the forest, along with the dream that night, was still bothering her, but she spoke of it to no one. Instead, she remained nearly glued to Sabrina's side. If Draco noticed this, he left it alone. He had not spoken of that night either.

Sabrina was talking about her summer job she had waiting for her as she and Rain walked across the grass after class. Rain was only ever nodding, not really listening. She suddenly spotted Ron, Harry, and Hermione rushing to Hagrid's hut. "I'll catch you later Sab," Rain called as she took off after them. Sabrina stared at her back.

"Hagrid, who gave you the dragon egg?" Harry was asking as Rain ran up behind. Hermione glanced back at her, but didn't say a word. "What did he look like?"

"I dunno. I never saw his face," Hagrid told him. "He kept his hood up."

"This stranger, you and he must have talked."

"Well, he wanna to know what kind of creatures I looked after. I told him, I said after Fluffy, a dragon's gonna be no problem."

"Did he seem interested in Fluffy?"

"Well of course he was interested in Fluffy. How often do you come across a three-headed dog even when you're in the trade? But I told him, I said, the trick with any beast is to know how to calm it. Take Fluffy for example. Play him a bit of music and he fells straight to sleep."

Harry looked back at them, their horror mirroring each other's.

"I shouldn't have told yeh that," Hagrid said. The four of them took off, running all the way to Professor McGonagall's office.

"We have to see Professor Dumbledore! Immediately!" Harry cried as the four of them barely stopped in front of McGongall's desk. She looked up from her work, studying them.

"I'm afraid Professor Dumbledore is not here. He received an urgent owl from the Minster of Magic and left immediately for London," she told them.

"He's gone? But this is important! This is about the Sorcerer's Stone!"