Suddenly two small fireworks emerged from the dark, and the faces of Fred and George Weasley came into sight when the lights lit again.

“As we had visited a friend in the kitchen today…”

“… and you know how the house elves are…”

“… they gave us a few items…”

“… for a little house party.”

Under the applause of their housemates, one of them put a box with bottles of butterbeer onto the table. The other twin put a huge bag with sweets down next to the bottles.

The party was loud and jolly, and the Gryffindors had much fun until their Head of House came to scold them for making so much noise and to send them to bed at 2 o’clock in the morning.

-----

A few weeks later, Harry, Ron and Hermione were just on their way to lunch, when they met Hagrid, who invited them to visit him on Saturday afternoon. However, Harry already had promised to spend the day with Draco and Blaise, so he asked Hagrid if they would be welcome too.

“Of course they’re welcome. Your friends are my friends, Harry,” Hagrid bellowed.

Unfortunately, Harry fell ill after playing Quidditch in the rain on Friday evening, and Poppy had to keep him in the Hospital Wing over the weekend. On Saturday night, far beyond curfew, his four friends came to visit him and told him something about Hagrid having a dragon they had watched hatch. Later, Harry wasn’t sure if the visit of his friends had been reality or if it just had been a fevered dream. However, during the next weeks his friends kept talking about the dragon, and Harry slowly understood that Hagrid in fact was keeping a dragon in his hut, which could be very dangerous to the whole school.

“Can’t you ask your brother, Charlie, to take the dragon? You told me that he was working with dragons, didn’t you?” he asked Ron one day who then stared at him in awe.

“Of course! Why didn’t I think about that earlier?” he answered and went to write a letter to his brother.

-----

During the next weeks, Harry started to make a habit of visiting Professor Snape on Saturday afternoons in order to help him brewing Potions. Although his friends could not understand in the least why he would join the grumpy professor during the weekends, Harry just loved to brew potions with Severus. Brewing itself was incredibly soothing, and Severus was very easy to talk to.

His Transfiguration lessons with Professor McGonagall had been reduced to once a week and took place on Saturday evenings, while on Sunday evenings Professor Dumbledore taught Harry in the use of wandless magic, although Harry already was very good at it.

With his Animagus transformation he hadn’t made any more progress so far. Every time he tried to transform, he managed to transform his whole body except for the head. However, the transformation itself had become very fast. But one day… suddenly… he managed it!

He was a phoenix!

The professor studied the beautiful bird from all angles, before she said, “Congratulations, Harry! I am very proud of you. 100 points to Gryffindor.”

#Wow, thank you, Professor,# Harry exclaimed in phoenix tongue, although he knew that Minerva wouldn’t understand. He flapped his wings a few times and tried to fly over to the window… and fell onto the floor. Fortunately, it didn’t hurt too much, and he flapped his wings and tried again and again. It was more difficult than he had imagined. However, it finally worked! Would he be able to flash as well? When he had visited Fawkes a few days ago, the phoenix had told him that he was able to flash to other places; he had even told him what he had to do. Harry thought of the Transfiguration Classroom, and with a flash of a whirlwind, but nothing happened. He concentrated on his magic for the next try – and suddenly, he was gone. An instant later, he reappeared in the classroom, where he transformed back into Harry, knocked at the Professor’s door and re-entered her office.

“Very good, Harry,” he was commended.

Suddenly Harry had an idea. “May I try to flash to Fawkes’ perch in the Headmaster’s office?” he asked the teacher, who gave him a worried glance.

“Harry, I believe you have done quite enough for today. I don’t want you to overexert yourself.”

“Oh, please, Professor. I feel fine, and I promise I won’t do anything else today. Let me just flash to see Fawkes, please,” Harry begged.

The Professor sighed and finally gave him an encouraging smile. He transformed into Breeze again, and shortly later, Breeze sat next to Fawkes on his perch, who was so surprised that he nearly fell off. Fawkes and Breeze exchanged some phoenix pleasantries, until Albus transformed as well and joined them on the perch, where Fawkes introduced him to Breeze as Firefly.

The three phoenixes chatted happily until a very annoyed Professor McGonagall entered the room and didn’t know if she should laugh seeing the three birds sitting next to each other or if she should scold them for missing dinner.

-----

One evening a few weeks later, when Harry was eating dinner at the Gryffindor table, Ron told him that Draco, Blaise, Hermione, and he were going to help Hagrid to take the dragon baby to the Astronomy Tower, where Charlie, Ron’s older brother, would meet them after midnight and take the dragon with him. Ron asked Harry to join them, but Harry declined as he wouldn’t be able to run away when danger or a professor approached. He was too tired anyway, but Ron didn’t have to know that. However, he promised Ron that they could use his Invisibility Cloak.

“Oh, that’s great, Harry. Thank you very much,” Ron said very pleased, before he stood up and went over to the Slytherin Table to talk to Blaise and Draco.

When Ron’s alarm clock went off shortly after 11 o’clock the same evening, Harry was already fast asleep and didn’t even stir. Ron took Harry’s Invisibility Cloak and silently left the dormitory to meet with Hermione, who was already waiting for him in the Common room. Hidden under the Cloak they met with the two Slytherin boys at the Castle’s Entrance Door. Unfortunately, none of them noticed the shadow quickly hiding in one of the arcades.

So far, everything had gone well. They had fetched the Dragon, who really had grown a lot during the few weeks, from Hagrid and had transported it up to the Astronomy tower under the Invisibility Cloak. Charlie had already been waiting for them and had happily taken the dragon baby.

“His name is ‘Norbert’,” Ron told his older brother, and Draco snorted. He still couldn’t get used to the name that he thought really unfit for a dragon.

Suddenly they could hear voices from downstairs.

“Charlie, you have to leave with Norbert. Somebody is coming,” Hermione whispered urgently, before the four students ran back down the stairs, hoping to be able to hide somewhere before being caught by a teacher. The Invisibility Cloak remained forgotten in the Astronomy tower. Draco and Blaise had managed to efficiently hide under a shelf the Astronomy classroom; however, Hermione and Ron ran straight into their Head of House, who was accompanied by a girl they recognized as Cho Chang, a second year Ravenclaw.

As Cho insisted she had at least heard three voices and had watched them taking a dragon out of Hagrid’s hut, McGonagall quickly strode up the remaining steps onto the top of the Astronomy tower, where she found Harry’s cloak.

“So that means Mr. Potter has been here as well,” the teacher said and took the Invisibility Cloak with her when she ushered the students downstairs into her office. Although Hermione and Ron denied Harry’s participation immediately, McGonagall didn’t believe them.

“The four of you, including Mr. Potter, will serve detention with Mr. Filch tomorrow night,” she said strictly, “for being out of bed after curfew.”

“Sorry, Professor, did I hear correctly? You said the four of us. This was a mistake, wasn’t it?” Cho asked the professor.

“No, Miss Chang, you have been out of bed exactly like the others. Therefore, you will have your detention together with the others. And each of you will lose 50 house points.”

-----

Harry nearly cried in exasperation when his friends told him about the detention. He hadn’t done anything, but unfortunately he couldn’t prove it. He didn’t care so much about the detention, but to have lost so many points for his Houses was hard.

“Could you talk to Professor Snape, Harry? Maybe he can help you,” Hermione suggested.

However, Harry replied, “No, I will serve the detention with you. The professor is already helping me a lot, and as I cannot prove that I didn’t accompany you anyway…” He slowly trailed off.

“But Draco and Blaise could confirm that you weren’t with us,” Ron insisted.

Harry shook his head. “If I had spent the night in Slytherin, they would have been able to confirm that I was there. But they can‘t prove where I haven’t been except for the case they were there. However, they can’t tell anyone that they were with you, because they’d be more in trouble with Professor Snape than we are with Professor McGonagall. So please don’t talk to them about the matter at all!”

Ron still had to argue. “Hagrid could confirm that you weren’t there last night.”

“No! If he confirmed that he would have to tell about the Slytherins. Please drop it. I will do the detention with you, and then we can forget about it. Fortunately, half of the points I lost will be taken from Slytherin, which the House deserves anyway because of Draco and Blaise. What I was wondering about is why Cho was watching you at all. Does anybody know her?”

His friends shook their heads. They had no idea either.

As Professor McGonagall had instructed them the previous night, they met with Filch at 9 o’clock in the evening at the Entrance doors. He took them over to Hagrid, who led them into the Forbidden Forest for their detention in order to look for a unicorn, wondering why Harry was with them and where the two Slytherin boys were.

Harry was not very keen on going into the forest, especially as Hagrid divided the group and he had to go only with Cho and Fang as company. If he had known what kind of detention awaited him, he would surely have talked to Professor McGonagall or Severus.

-----

At the same time in the Slytherin first years’ dormitory, Draco asked Blaise, “Do you know where Harry is? Did he tell you anything?”

Blaise shook his head. “No, Draco, I don’t know, but as it is already half an hour after curfew let’s go and ask Severus if he knows anything. Maybe Harry’s in danger somewhere.”

They went over to Severus’ office and knocked, impatiently waiting for the door to be opened.

“Professor, do you know where Harry is? He’s supposed to stay in Slytherin tonight, but he hasn’t shown up yet,” Draco asked immediately when his godfather opened the door.

“He is serving detention together with his Gryffindor friends and some second year Ravenclaw,” Severus said with a hint of anger in his voice.

“Detention?!” Draco repeated flabbergasted. “Why?”

“Because of being out of bed after curfew yesterday night,” Severus said grudgingly.

“WHAT?!” Blaise and Draco exclaimed together.

“What is wrong with detention if someone deserves it?” the teacher asked appalled.

“Wrong is when someone has to serve detention although he has done nothing to deserve it,” Draco told his godfather firmly. “Harry wasn’t out of bed yesterday night, I’m sure!” he insisted.

Professor Snape went over to his fireplace, called McGonagall and asked her to join him in his office for a few minutes. Seconds later, the stern Professor stepped through the Floo.

“These boys,” Severus explained, “say that they are sure that Potter was not out of bed last night.”

Minerva frowned. “Weasley and Granger told me the same, but I think it is proof enough that I found his Invisibility Cloak and that Miss Chang said she had heard three voices under the cloak. She seems to have watched them the whole time.”

Draco and Blaise had turned white hearing what the professor said. They exchanged a short glance, and Blaise gave Draco a confirming nod.

“Um… Professors, we’re sorry, but that wasn’t Harry; that was us. We were with Hermione and Ron.” He told the two stunned teachers the whole story about Hagrid’s dragon and how they had pulled the rescue action through.

“Harry never does anything after curfew,” Draco added finally. “He knows that he can’t run and wouldn’t have a chance to get away if there was any danger. We have met with the Gryffindors several times, but Harry never joined us even once, although he is the one responsible for the fact that we even do things together with Gryffindors.”

McGonagall let out a deep sigh. What had she done to the poor boy? In fact, she didn’t have any reason to doubt what Granger and Weasley had told them about Potter’s participation. However, she hadn’t believed them. But why hadn’t Harry come to her to complain about a detention he didn’t deserve at all? She shook her head and said, “Fifty points back to Gryffindor and Slytherin, and 20 more points for Harry Potter’s reasonable behaviour to stay in bed when all his friends were out.” Then she threw a look at the two Slytherin boys and added, “20 points each to Slytherin for accusing yourself in order to help a friend.”

“You may return to your dormitory,” Severus addressed the boys and added, “we will talk about your punishment later. However, I appreciate that you told us.” He turned to his colleague, “Minerva, let us go and look for Filch in order to get Harry off the detention.”

Together they left the office in search for Filch, who sent them to Hagrid’s hut and told them, “As far as I know Hagrid wanted to take them into the forest to look after unicorns or something.”

Severus caught a glance of his colleague’s face. Minerva had turned white. Severus said calmingly, “Minerva, go back to your quarters; I will go and search for them, and I shall contact you as soon as I have found him.”

Minerva shook her head and countered, “Let me go with you; that’s the least I can do.”

Together, Minerva and Severus turned in the direction of the forest. They didn’t have to go far into the forest until they met Cho, who was running back to the castle on her own. She told them that she came from their detention, that Harry was still in the forest, and that she didn’t know where the others were. Snape shook his head, wondering why she hadn’t at least waited for Harry. However, they didn’t have to search for long, because suddenly Harry appeared. He was riding on Firenze’s back and was shaking when he climbed down from the centaur.

“Harry! Are you all right?” they suddenly heard Hermione’s voice, and seconds later, Hermione, Ron and Hagrid had joined them.

“I believe that was enough of detention, especially as Mr. Potter shouldn’t have served any at all,” Severus said sneering. “Miss Granger, Mr. Weasley, please follow your Head of House and return to your dormitories. Mr. Potter, you will accompany me to my office.”

-----

Harry trailed along the empty halls, not noticing that the professor was watching him in a concerned way. When they arrived at the office, Severus pulled Harry through to his private quarters and made him sit down on the sofa. He glanced at the shaking hands of the boy, who hadn’t moved yet.

“What happened?” he asked as casually as possible.

To his astonishment, Harry proceeded to look at him for once. “It was Voldemort,” he blurted out. “He’s there… in the forest, feeding from unicorns and waiting for someone to steal the Stone for him.”

Trying to hide his shock by this revelation, Severus sat down next to Harry and waved his hand to Accio a calming draught for his student.

“Harry,” he sighed, “I have already told you that the stone is protected extremely well, right?” Harry nodded. “Very well. If you hear or notice anything strange, come to see me or any other teacher immediately. I shall talk to the other professors, so that they will know about this too.” He vowed to teach Harry more difficult spells during their defence lessons.

‘Will he be able to harm me if I meet him alone again?’ Harry worried but didn’t voice his question.

“Harry?” The teacher’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts. “Why did you serve detention in the first place? Why did you not tell Professor McGonagall that you did not leave your bed last night?”

‘How does he know?’ Harry thought, confused.

Seeing Harry’s puzzled expression, Severus proceeded to tell him about his conversation with Blaise and Draco. Harry was stunned that his friends had turned themselves in on his behalf.

“I didn’t know how to prove my innocence without blaming others,” he replied flatly.

Severus sighed. “As noble as that was, it was very foolish as it put you in danger. If something like this happens again, you will come to me immediately. I promise that I will not punish others in your place.”

He threw a glance at his watch and stated, “It is nearly two o’clock in the morning. As it was not your fault that it got so late, I will allow you to sleep in tomorrow morning. However, I expect you to brew the potion you will miss tomorrow evening, and you have to attend your second class.”

Harry vowed to himself that he would be up for his first class but only told the teacher, “Thank you very much, sir.”

Severus threw him a small smile and said softly, “You are welcome, Harry. Now, let me accompany you to your dormitory.”

In the morning, Harry attended his Potions lesson – to Severus’ great astonishment. He hadn’t expected the boy to show up in spite of being allowed to sleep in. Naturally the child managed again to brew a flawless potion.

After the Transfiguration class, Professor McGonagall kept Harry for a few minutes in order to apologize for not believing his friends and assigning him an undeserved detention. When she asked if everything was all right, Harry simply told her, “Yes, of course, Professor.”

-----

On Saturday was the last Quidditch match of the school year - Slytherin vs. Hufflepuff. The day dawned warm and sunny – ideal conditions for a Quidditch match.

However, Harry was not in too good of a mood this morning. As his House mates of Gryffindor and Slytherin had spent the last evenings counting how many points Slytherin had to get in order for each house to win the Quidditch Cup, Harry knew that he had to catch the Snitch with a Slytherin lead of 40 points or less in order for Gryffindor to win the cup. If he caught the Snitch with a Slytherin lead of 50 points or more, Slytherin would win the Cup.

By the time the players went out to the Quidditch pitch, surrounded by the tribunes full of students – the whole school seemed to have come to see the match – Harry groaned inwardly. ‘Bad enough that I have to play for both houses – but to have the responsibility for the decision which of my Houses will win the Quidditch Cup is the last thing I wanted.’