“Blaise! Put that down!” Hermione insisted “You’ll hurt yourself!”

“Hermione, as Purebloods, we have, naturally, been instructed in the art of fencing” Draco said loftily, dropping his stiletto dagger and looking around for something more… impressive.

*“Harry hatchling”* Harry turned, recognising Salazar’s voice, and noticed a small golden dagger (with a familiar serpentine, emerald ‘S’ on the hilt). He slipped it into his pocket.

“I knew it was a bad idea to ask the Secret Room for weapons” Theo sighed nudging a gigantic club with his toe.

“Well I think it was a very good idea” snapped Draco “It was one of mine, after all.”

“Now, has everyone got their mirrors?” Harry asked, anxious to avoid a further argument.

“Yup.”

“And I’ve got my recorder” sniffed Hermione, as Draco, with a look of triumph, dragged a huge, ruby-hilted, silver broadsword out from a pile of miscellaneous blades.

“Everyone know a spell to reattach severed limbs?” Harry asked, torn between amusement and concern.

“Nope” Blaise sighed, reverently setting the katana aside and selecting, instead, a slender dagger “Come on, let’s go.”

“Before Draco picks up the shotgun” Hermione muttered under her breath “Boys!”

oOoOo

When the children-all minus swords, save Draco- reached the door which opened into Fluffy’s Corridor, they discovered, much to Harry’s consternation, that it was ajar.

“We’re too late” murmured Harry, his voice suffused with despair.

“We might not be.” whispered Hermione “I bet the stone’s really well guarded. He might not have got there yet.”

Peering into the darkness beyond the door, Harry swallowed; the enormity of what he'd convinced his friends to follow him into suddenly stuck him. “Look, um, if anyone wants to go back, I won’t blame them or anything…”

“Blaise, please kick Harry for me.” Draco’s voice hissed.

“Tempting.” Blaise whispered, making no move to obey Draco's request. “Okay, Hermione, have you got your recorder ready”

“Yeah,” the young girl whispered, holding the instrument to her lips.

“Okay. Let's go.”

Harry pushed the door fully open and the children slipped inside. It seemed that the door's jarring creak had awoken Fluffy, who growled; six orange eyes looked towards the door and three huge, black noses twitched, sniffing determinedly in their direction.

Hermione placed the recorder to her lips and played ‘Mary had a little lamb”

The Cerberus’ growling ceased and a smile tugged at the corners of each of his slavering mauls. Eyes drooping, the great beast stumbled and rolled over onto his back, his legs in the air and eyes shut. Fluffy began to snore.

“He’s kind of sweet like that” Theo joked, in an attempt to lighten the atmosphere.

“Look” Blaise hissed “There’s a trapdoor just behind him”

“And a harp!” Harry added “Quirrell must have left it.”

Amid the somewhat jerky strains of Hermione’s music, the children tiptoed towards the trap-door. Draco cast finite and, grabbing the ring which topped the square of wood, hauled the trapdoor open.

“I’m going first!” insisted Harry, staring into the blackness.

Draco opened his mouth, a furious expression on his face, and Blaise quickly said “Let’s see what’s down there first. Lumos!”

In the pale wandlight, the anaemic tendrils of Devil’s Snare coiled back as if burnt.

“Right” Theo said, reappearing next to Draco “Sprout obviously arranged this one.”

“Let’s send down some fire” grinned Draco, bluebell flames balling around the end of his wand.

“Whatiftheplantbreaksthefall” shot Hermione, before hastily continuing her tune.

“Huh?”

“The plant may break the fall” interpreted Harry.

“Right” Blaise said thoughtfully “Okay, well, let’s all get our flames ready, then jump.”

Harry nodded and, grasping his wand, stepped into the blackness. As soon as he hit the soft bed of creepers, the Devil’s Snare’s tendrils began coiling around his legs. Harry’s wand flared and, as the plant slithered away, Harry took in his surroundings.

“There’s a passageway” he called up to his friends’ concerned faces, “It’s to the left.”

Blaise, Draco, Theo and finally Hermione dropped onto the soft vines of the increasingly battered Devil’s Snare who, by now, was flinching at the slightest glimmer of light. Dusting themselves off, the children entered the stone passageway.

The corridor was unpleasantly gloomy: no light, save for that of their wands, no sound, save for their muffled footsteps, the echoing drip of water and the occasional clunk as Draco’s heavy broadsword knocked against the craggy walls. The passageway sloped downwards and Harry found himself thinking of Gringotts and wondered, for a horrible second, if they might meet a dragon. However, he held his peace; sharing a worry doesn’t always half it- sometimes the worry multiplies.

After walking for what felt like a hours- but was probably closer to five minutes- the children started to hear a faint rustling and clinking, which became louder, by degrees, the further they walked.

“Sounds like wings” said Blaise thoughtfully.

“Recon they’ve got a Kludde?” asked Theo with a strained grin.

“Not likely, Hagrid doesn’t get along with them” Harry replied, trying his best to sound assured.

“It’s getting lighter!” Hermione whispered “I think we’re close to the exit.”

Their wands clasped tight in their hands, the children stepped toward the doorway.

“I’ll go first” Draco said, unsheaving his sword, which glittered keenly.

“Be careful” whispered Hermione.

Draco leapt into the brightly-lit room, the ceiling of which was swarming with small, fluttering birds. To Draco’s eternal gratitude, they totally ignored him.

“They’re just birds” Draco called, relief surging in his voice, “They’re not attacking or anything.”

Theo, Harry, Blaise and Hermione cautiously stepped into the room, squinting as their eyes protested at the bright light.

“You recon they’re dangerous?” Theo asked, peering up at the fluttering, jewel-hued creatures.

“Not at the moment, I think.” replied Harry, hesitantly.

“Though they might attack if we try to cross the room” Draco ventured.

Blaise stared intently at the birds for a moment then laughed “They’re keys. Winged keys”

“Huh?” Harry

“Look, their bodies are metal” Blaise said, pointing.

“Oh, yeah!” laughed Draco, grinning as realisation dawned “And there’s a door on the other side. Bet one of them opens it.”

“Yeah, look!” replied Harry, pointing to the far wall, against which a couple of broomsticks were propped.

“We must have to catch one” smirked Blaise. “Good thing we’ve got Harry and Draco with us.”

“Which one, though” said Hermione thoughtfully.

“Well, the door has a big keyhole” said Theo “So probably one of the larger keys.”

“And it might be damaged as it’s already been caught once” added Draco thoughtfully.

“The handle’s silver so maybe the key is too” suggested Hermione.

“Okay” Draco unbound the scabbard from his hip and grabbed the brooms, one of which he chucked at Harry “Come on, let’s get the sucker.”

Harry and Draco shot into the air, flying amid the keys, their sharp eyes flickering this way and that, scanning each key for colour, size and flaws.

“Look! That one there” Harry cried.

“What, the one with the blue wings!” Draco shouted, zooming over “Yeah! I see! It’s got a crumpled wing!”

Harry thought: the keys were very fast and, if they wanted to catch this one, they’d have to be strategic “If you fly down from the left and I fly up from the right…”

“Yeah, pincer movement” Draco nodded. “That should work.”

Draco dived, Harry rocked upwards and the key, with nowhere else to go, flew towards the wall, which was a big mistake as, a fraction of a second later, Harry and Draco had it pinned underneath their hands.

“Got it!” On the ground, Theo, Blaise and Hermione cheered.

Draco swooped down and, grabbing his sword, thrust the key into the lock and turned it with a loud ‘click’. The children paused, suddenly finding themselves unwilling to move forward.

“Wonder what’s next?” said Blaise after a moment.

“Could be anything” replied Draco with forced indifference, lowering his eyes as he rebound the scabbard to his waist with his tie.

“Well, we’ve had Fluffy, whose Hagrid’s, some charmed keys, Flitwick, and a plant, that’s Professors Sprout’s” Theo said thoughtfully “I expect that Professors McGonagall and Snape have done something, maybe Quirell too.”

“So, transfiguration and potions, as those are their specialties?” suggested Blaise.

“Dad might have done something a bit different, though” Harry said proudly “he’s talented in lots of things.”

After another long pause, Hermione took a deep breath “Ready?” she asked, putting a hand on the door handle.

“Yeah” Blaise said. “Wands out, everyone.”

The door creaked open into a room which was darker than a moonless night.

“Best foot forward, I guess” Harry said nervously, stepping over the threshold.

Light blazed into the room, revealing a gigantic chessboard manned by human-sized chess-pieces. The kings were even taller than Professor Snape! What made matters worse was that, in wizard-chess, the chessmen bore human forms and, while this was not especially creepy when the pieces were an inch high, at over six foot, the faceless statues made Harry’s stomach curdle.

“Okay…” whispered Blaise, looking away from the eerie figures “I think this must be McGonagall’s.”

“Yeah” said Theo “Heard she was a chess-master in her youth.”

“Surprising she ended up in Gryff. All the best chess-players come from Slytherin” Draco said, his voice heavy with false bravado.

“Okay” said Blaise after a pause “I expect we have to play our way across”

Taking a deep breath, Harry walked towards the Black Knight: the helmeted Knights were, by far, the least creepy and, after spending time with Threstrals, Harry just felt more comfortable about reaching out and softly, hesitantly, touching the warhorse’s muzzle.

The statue sprang to life; the horse reared, Harry jumped back, Hermione gave a startled cry as Draco threw her behind him, and Theo, in falling on his backside, tripped Blaise, causing the children to land in a heap.

As Draco, the only one still standing, offered his hand to help Hermione up, Theo cursed and Blaise, with an air of calm resignation, cured their grazes, Harry turned back to the Knight “Do we, um, have to play our way across?”

The White Knight nodded and Harry turned to his friends “So, er, what are we going to do?”

“Draco, you’re decent at chess, you can be a Knight” said Blaise “Theo, ditto. Hermione, you’re the King, no arguments, Harry can be a Bishop and I’ll” Blaise sniggered “I’ll be the Queen.”

Draco rolled his grey eyes “Weasley will just love that.”

Despite their inanimate state, the chessmen appeared to be listening; the Black Knights, a Bishop and the King and Queen stepped aside, leaving their places empty. Draco, Theo Harry, Hermione and Blaise took their places, their bodies tense.

“Don’t worry” Blaise whispered to Hermione, who was biting her lip, “We can do this.”

The White pawn moved forward two squares and the game began. Draco and Theo took command; Theo was a defensive player, while Draco, on the other hand, preferred to go on the offensive. However, they both understood the deadly seriousness of the situation, how could they not after seeing the White Queen smash a pawn and drag his lifeless form to the side of the board.

At the back of the board, amid her bodyguard of pawns, Hermione gasped, tears in her eyes. Blaise looked back at her ruefully “Sorry, Hermione, it had to happen” he said, banishing the White Queen from the board.

After losing their Queen, the White chessmen showed no mercy, relentlessly clubbing any black pieces which Theo was forced to sacrifice. However, Draco was equally ferocious, darting across the board, taking White pieces left, right and centre. Eventually, the White King was surrounded by Harry, Theo and Draco. Accepting his fate with good grace, the King stepped out of Blaise’s path and into Harry’s.

“And we have Checkmate!” crowed Draco as the White crown landed at Harry’s feet.

Breathing a deep sigh of relief, the children dashed across the board and, wrenching open the door, scrambled into the next room.

“Eww!”

“What’s that smell?”

“Troll!” gasped Harry, turning white.

Blaise put an arm around the quaking boy’s shoulders “It’s knocked out, Harry, look” he said, pointing to the inert figure of the troll.

Gulping, Harry nodded and the children, their sleeves over their noses, tiptoed passed the gigantic creature, each relieved that Quirell had vanquished it so thoroughly.

It was with considerably more caution that the children opened the door of the next chamber.

“It’s okay” Draco grinned back at Theo and Blaise “Just a table with loads of bottles on it”

“Must be your Dad’s” Theo grinned at Harry “Potions!”

However, when the children stepped over the threshold, they were alarmed to hear the whomph of flames: black fire consumed the doorway leading onwards and, when they span around, they discovered that the threshold was barred by purple fire.

“Your Dad’s such a Slytherin” sighed Blaise to Harry. “Pyrianus’s Pyre…”

“And Emeric’s Inferno” groaned Theo. “He doesn’t take any chances, does he?”

“Look!” cried Hermione, seizing a roll of paper. “It’s a riddle!”

Harry grinned “Dad loves logic puzzles, let’s see ‘two… will help’ but only one will take us forward..."

"So the other 'helper' must allow us to return through the purple fire…” frowned Hermione

As Harry and Hermione pored over the scroll, Blaise sauntered up to the row of bottles and started perusing them, bopping down to inspect their respective levels.

“Two hold nettle wine…”

“At least we’ll have something to drink” Draco whispered to Theo.

“Three are poison Draco!" Snapped Hermione "Oh, but the poison is always to the left of the wine!”

“And ‘neither dwarf nor giant holds death on their insides’!” added Harry.

“Second left and second right are twins… so they must be the nettle wine!”

Blaise picked up the smallest bottle and ran a finger around the lip; liquid shone on his finger-tip.

“So it’s the smallest one to get through the black fire” grinned Harry

“Yes!” beamed Hermione, “I’m sure of it!”

“So am I” grinned Blaise, raising an eyebrow at their incredulous expressions “Someone’s already taken a swig out of this but the rest are full.”

As Draco and Theo laughed, Harry stared hard at the bottles “And the one will get someone back through the purple flames…that's in the bottle on the far right.”

“There’s scarcely enough for one person, though!” Draco cried, pointing at the tiny bottle in Blaise's hand.

“I’m going through” Harry said firmly “I was the one who wanted to do this, so it’s only fair.”

“But…” Draco gasped “You can’t! It’s… only a complete moron would attempt to fight an unknown opponent in unknown territory absolutely alone. You’ll be killed!”

“We’ve come this far, though!” Harry insisted “I’ve got to go on, I’ve just got to! What if it is Voldemort!”

“Then you will be killed, Harry!” Draco cried.

“Why don’t we all just wait here, behind the walls, and ambush whoever it is when they try to leave?” Hermione suggested.

“What if there’s another way out?” Harry asked anxiously “There are some wards which allow you to leave but not enter!”

“If that was the case, why did your Dad create a potion to get people through the purple fire?” Blaise pointed out.

“Because he didn’t think whomever it is would be able to work out his riddle! Just because you can’t get out of this room, doesn’t mean you can’t get out of the last!” Harry insisted “I can’t take that chance.”

Draco opened his mouth to protest but Blaise laid a hand on his shoulder “We’ve got to let him go, Dray.”

“I don’t see why!” cried Hermione “He could die!”

Blaise shook his head “Some things, people have to decide for themselves. Harry’s made up his mind and we’ve got to respect that.”

Theo, who was paler than alabaster, nodded “It’s… it’s the way our society has always worked, Hermione. People choose their own destiny.”

Hermione's eyes were bright with tears and Draco turned his head away but neither argued further.

“Thanks” Harry said quietly, taking their silence for compliance “Look, um, one of you’d better go and see if Mr Malfoy’s at home, just in case, you know.”

“I’m not leaving!” Draco said firmly “If that bastard… well, if he gets past you, I’ll give him what he deserves.”

Blaise and Theo looked uncomfortable. They had been trained in duelling since they had been able to grasp a wand but, well, letting Hermione struggle back through the challenges alone... Okay, it'd be less dangerous than staying here if You-Know-Who really was behind the curtain of fire but, then again, a Hungarian Horntale with a toothache was probably less dangerous than He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

“I’ll go.” Hermione said quietly “I’m not as good at Defence and, well…”

Harry nodded “Okay, well, um, I’ll see you later.”

“You’d better” replied Draco in a tight voice.

Harry forced a smile and took a swig from the tiniest bottle: the liquid burnt like ice in his throat. Not able to bring himself to meet his friends' eyes, Harry clutched his wand and stepped through the black flames, into the final chamber.