Sydney Dadzie-Granger and the Philosopher's Stone

Chapter 20 - The House Cup

Sydney's POV:

The dorm room door burst open, and I hastily stashed the letter from Professor McGonagall into my pocket, looking up just in time to be engulfed by Susan's hug, quickly followed by Meg and Hannah.

"Don't ever do anything like that again!" said Hannah firmly, squeezing me tightly.

I felt a slight pain in my ribs but ignored it, hugging her back tightly.

"I promise I'll never go hunting for the Philosopher's Stone again," I said cheekily as Hannah and I separated. 

Susan smacked me lightly on the shoulder.

"You cannot go on a death-defying adventure to save the world without inviting us, got it?" demanded Meg firmly, who was perched on my bed next to the other two. I sat down next to her, completing a small square on my bed.

"It wasn't that death-defying - " I protested, but got severe looks from both Hannah and Meg.

"What was it like?" asked Susan eagerly. "What happened? There's tons of rumours floating around."

"What are the rumours saying?" I questioned, feeling slightly nervous.

"That you, Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom, Ron Weasley, and Hermione battled it out with Professor Quirrell for some ancient artifact," said Meg in a hushed, slightly awed voice. "Quirrell lost and vanished without a trace, and Professor McGonagall came to rescue the five of you."

"Sort of," I said, before recounting the adventure in a low voice.

My roommates were a great audience - gasping in all the right places, and Hannah shuddered when I explained about Voldemort taking control of Quirrell. Susan seemed awed as I explained the duel that we had - Meg was particularly interested in how I'd taken down the troll.

All three of them looked furious and worried when they learned that I had been held under the Cruciatus Curse for several minutes, and Meg hugged me tightly, her light brown hair gently brushing the side of my face.

Once I had finished my tale, each of them hugged me again, making me swear to tell them if I was going to fight Voldemort again so that they could join me.

"You're one of my best friends, Syd," said Hannah, a small smile on her face. "All three of us were really worried when the teachers came and told the prefects what had happened."

"We thought you had died," Susan stated, worrying at her lip with compassion in her eyes.

"If we're gonna die, we have to die together, got it?" said Meg firmly.

I chuckled, but nodded, and the four of us shared a group hug.

* * * * *

We spent the afternoon relaxing together in our dormitory. Rather than going to lunch to risk the stares, I brought my roommates to the kitchen - Susan and Hannah were both awed at the sight. The house elves were all too happy to give us some leftovers from lunch, along with some extra dessert. I took a brief nap, before being woken up by Meg in time for the Leaving Feast. 

The four of us headed into the common room to find that it was about half-full. Through the open doors, I could see about a dozen students on comfortable armchairs reading in the library, while other pairs and small groups were in the main section of the common room playing Gobstones, Exploding Snap, and Chess.

I shuddered at the sight of the chessboard, remembering Ron's fall from the horse. I wasn't planning on playing chess anytime soon.

"Are you four already headed down?" asked Hailey, standing up from her armchair where she had been chatting with Matthew and two others who I remembered were Alyssa and Brody.