Alohomora

11) Quidditch and Flamel

Harry came rushing into the common room after quidditch practice. He headed straight over to Ron, Hermione and I. "you will never guess what" he said, slumping down into his seat. "what?"asked Hermione. "Snape has decided that he is going to referee the match"he replied. "Don't play" said Hermione. "Say you're ill"i suggested. "pretend to break your leg!" said Hermione. "really break your leg"cried Ron. Harry sighed. "there isnt a reserve seeker, i have to play otherwise Gryffindor can't play at all". Just then, Neville came jumping through the portrait hole, his legs had been locked together by the Leg-Locker curse. I got up and went over to him, performing the counter-curse. His legs sprang apart and he fell over. "what happened?"asked Hermione, joining us. "Malfoy, he said he had been waiting for someone to practice on" . Anger rose up inside of me. Why would Draco do this? What had Neville ever done to him? Neville was so nice. "go and tell Professor McGonagall!" said Hermione, but Neville shook his head. "i don't want any more trouble" "you've got to stand up to him!" said Ron "don't tell me im not brave enough to be in Gryffindor, because he has already done that!"Neville whispered. That was it, for the first time ever, i was feeling hate towards Draco. Neville didn't deserve it and i couldn't believe what a bully Draco was turning in to. Harry passed Neville a chocolate frog and said "you're worth twelve of Malfoy, the sorting hat chose you for Gryffindor and Malfoy is stuck in Slytherin". Neville gave him a small smile and started to unwrap the chocolate frog. "thanks Harry, im going to go to bed, do you want the card?"Neville asked. He gave Harry the card then made his way up to the boys dormitory. "Dumbledore again" Harry sighed, But then .... "IVE FOUND HIM! I've found Flamel! Professor Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945 for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon blood and his work on alchemy with his partner Nicolas Flamel!" Hermione jumped. "Stay there" was all she said, as she ran off up the stairs. Seconds later she was back with an enormous book in her arms. "i got this for a bit of light reading, i never thought to look in here"she spoke to herself as she flicked through the pages. "i knew it!"she said, showing us she had found what she was looking for. " Nicolas Flamel is the only known maker of the Philosophers Stone!"she cried, looking at us excitedly. Harry, Ron and I had blank looks on her faces. It seemed Hermione had expected us to know what this stone was. "the what?"asked Ron. Hermione rolled her eyes. "read it"she said, pushing the book towards us.

"The ancient study of alchemy is concered with making the Philosophers stone, a legendary substance with astonishing powers. The stone will transform any metal into pure gold. It also produces the Elixir of Life which will make the drinker immortal. There have been many reports of the Philosophers stone over the centuries, but the only stone currently in exsitance belongs to Mr Nicolas Flamel, the noted Alchemist and opera-lover. Mr Flamel, who celebrated his six hundred and sixty-fifth birthday last year, enjoys a quiet life in Devon with his wife Perenelle (six hundred and fifty-eight"

"The dog must be guarding the Philosophers Stone!He and Dumbledore are friends so he probably asked him to look after it, thats why he wanted the stone moved from Gringotts, to keep it safe!" Hermione squeeled, "A stone that makes gold and stops you from dying, no wonder Snapes after it, anyone would want it" said Harry. "cor, if i had one, id buy myself my own Quidditch team!" replied Ron, dreamily. This reminded us all of Snape as ref. "im going to play, if i don't, Slytherins will think im scared but ill show them when we will" said Harry proudly. Hermione and I shared a look. We needed to find a way to stop Snape interfering.

-

After wishing Harry good luck, we made our way up to the stands to take our seats. We had been practicing the Leg-Locker curse to use on Snape incase he showed signs of wanting to hurt Harry. "don't forget, Locomotor Mortis"Hermione told Ron. "i know!" he snapped. The teams made their way onto the pitch, followed by Snape, who looked very angry. "ouch"cried Ron, making me turn around. "oh, sorry Weasley, didn't see you there" sniggered Draco. "how long do you think Potter will stay on his broom for this time, want to bet Weasley?"he laughed.  Hermiones eyes were fixed on Harry, ignoring what was going on next to her. "i think i know how they chose people for the Gryffindor team, its people they feel sorry for. Potters got no parents, Weasleys have no money, i'm surprised you aren't there too Neville, you've got no brains" Neville turned to face Draco. "im worth twelve of you Malfoy"he said, voice shaking. The Slytherins started laughing. "if brains were gold, you'd be poorer than Wealsey"laughed Draco. "stop it Draco!" i cried, but he ignored me. "Ron, Ruby! Harry!" We both turned back to the pitch "where?" asked Ron. My eyes followed Harry as he dashed towards the ground. "oh look Weasley, Potter has seen some money on the ground, its your lucky day" He had gone too far.  Ron had jumped onto Draco, Neville joined him to help take Draco to the ground. Hermione, oblivious was screaming at Harry. I was stuck between wanting to pull Ron and Neville away from Draco, but leaving them to give Draco what he deserved. 

Suddenly, the crowd roared. "WE WON!" shouted Seamus. Harry was on the ground, the snitch shining in his hand. The game had barely lasted five minutes. Everyone from the Gryffindor stands ran out onto the pitch. Snape spat on the ground. Rons nose was bleeding. We shouted congratulations to the team before they made their way back to the changing rooms. 

-

"Harry where have you been?" asked Hermione. Ron was still shouting about the victory. "this has been a good day, we won and i gave Malfoy a black eye and Neville tried to take on Crabbe and Goyle, he is still in the hospital wing but he will be ok" said Ron grinning. "theres a party in the common room, Fred and George have stolen some food from the kitchens" joined in Seamus as he passed. Ron started to follow but Harry pulled him back. "wait, i need to tell you something" he said, before he took us into an empty room. "Snape was talking to Quirrell abouts students not knowing about the stone getting past Fluffy and is getting Quirrell to do his dirty work" Harry said as he shut the door. "so we were right, Fluffy is hiding the stone and Snape is forcing Quirrell to help him get it, i reckon there are other things guarding the stone like spells and Quirrell would have put an anti Dark-Arts spell which Snape needs to know" "so, the stone is safe for as long as Quirrell stands up to Snape?"asked Hermione. "it will be gone by next tuesday" said Ron. Now we were all very worried.