I Don't Want to be a Hero - Ch. 26

The 3rd Floor Corridor & Fluffy - 5 Nov. 1991

The Quartet were on the third floor corridor. Draco and Hermione were near the door where the Cerberus was behind. Ron and Draco watched the four paintings that were on the wall of the corridor. One was a pastoral scene populated by grazing sheep, a second was a Medieval dance, the third was a gruesome beheading, and the fourth was a Grecian garden. It was this fourth one that a familiar figure popped up with her lyre, The Fat Lady.

The Grecian garden was a wide painting; as wide as The Fat Lady's own portrait was tall. Both Ron and Draco hefted the painting off of the corridor wall, and then propped it up so it leaned against the wall right next to the door where Fluffy was.

The Fat Lady began to strum her lyre with a bit more talent than any of the children expected.

Hermione leaned toward Harry and asked quietly, "What did Draco say to get her to do this for us?"

"Well, it wasn't so much what Draco said, Hermione. It was that he was sincere, and charming," replied Harry with abundant alacrity.

Hermione's eyes narrowed dubiously. Draco stepped close to Hermione, put his arm across her shoulders, and spoke into her ear, "I told her that if she didn't help us, my father would hear about it, and hex her permanently cross-eyed." He smirked, and chuckled when Ron, then Harry also smiled their amusement at Draco's bombast.

Hermione glared at the Three Twits, shrugged off Draco’s arm, and tried the door. It was locked. Aiming her wand she quietly said, "Alohamora." The lock clicked, and the witch then carefully opened the door just wide enough to peer into the room. She gulped at the intimidating enormity of the Cerberus. She could hear the lyre being played by The Fat Lady, and she could see Fluffy settling down for a long nap. Hermione then saw part of a door with an iron ring on it beneath one of beast's forepaws as part of the floor.

"There's a door!" hissed Hermione over her shoulder.

"A door?" queried Harry.

"I better not get drooled on again," remarked Draco.

"Is Fluffy asleep?" asked Ron. He pushed against Hermione's back so he could peer over her shoulder.

Hermione shoved back at Ron with her elbow. He fell backwards with an 'oof'. "Yes he's asleep. Come on, we've got to go through that door."

Hermione, all of a sudden the leader and apparently braver than the three boys, pushed through the door with her friends directly behind her. She crept over to the door in the floor, and then grimaced at the huge forepaw that lay over part of the door.

Fluffy burped... loudly. Ron and Draco nearest the effluence grimaced.

"Hey," pointed Draco. "There's a bolt."

"Hermione," whispered Harry, "do you have a spell...?"

"No, Harry. Just yank the bolt," she gave him a push towards the door.

"This is really stupid," muttered Harry to himself as he took a cautious step towards the door, and the enormous forepaw. With a quick look at the snoring, huffing Cerberus he bent down, knelt on both knees, and yanked out the bolt, and rolled away.

The door fell open downwards, and luckily did not slam. Draco pushed Ron through the open door, he yelped, and Harry returned the favour by pushing a grinning Draco through the door. His yelp was muffled as was his odd, soft, thud. Harry, not even thinking twice (well, he did but both times he pushed away any and all objections) jumped. Hermione followed just as the lyre playing stopped. Fluffy woke, one head caught sight of Hermione's bushy hair, and all threw heads took to mad barking and slobbering.

"Headmaster! Headmaster! Help!" screamed The Fat Lady. She vanished from the painting and ran through another dozen before bumping one of past Heads of Hogwarts from his painting. "Headmaster! Help! Fluffy's killing the children!"

The meeting with Minerva boringly recounted the attack from the Dark Lord/Quirrell. Minerva had hoped they might have weakened them since Quirrell was not at breakfast that morning. Lucius informed Professor Snape and the acting Headmistress that Quirrell had come by to speak to him about that day’s classes.

“What was he like, Lucius?” inquired Minerva.

“He did not stutter once,” replied Lucius. “Unnerving, to say the least, but he gave no indication that something occurred last night. Could you Legilimise him, Severus?”

“I could but there is every chance the Dark Lord would discover me.”

Minerva huffed slightly, “I suppose there is nothing to do but to watch him until we are able to deal with him.”

“We need the Philosopher’s Stone,” grumbled Severus. “As long as it is here in the castle he will seek it if he is not already doing so.”

“Where would Dumbledore have hidden the Stone?” asked Lucius.

“The attics, the dungeons, the Black Lake…” Severus shook his head. “It could be anywhere.”

“Not anywhere,” smiled Minerva grimly. “The Trials, Severus. What if Albus did not mean those as an addition to the NEWTs but wanted us to create the Trials as a way to protect the hiding place of the Stone?”

"What Trials?" asked Lucius.

Snape explained, "On the third floor corridor that has been forbidden to students there is entrance to a tunnel that snakes its way through the dungeons. Fluffy, a full grown Cerberus, and one of Hagrid's beloved pets, guards the entrance. At the beginning of the year Albus informed myself, Minerva, Quirrell, Pomona, and Filius to devise a magical obstacle course to test our seventh year students at the end of the year. The grade any student received would be added to their NEWTs."

"An admirable test," Minerva commented.

"Indeed," nodded Severus. "Furthermore my Snakes brought to my attention that the Headmaster made an unsolicited visit to their common room the night after the robbery at Gringotts was in the paper. How convenient that he let them know about the Philosopher’s Stone.”

"He told the students in Slytherin?" asked Lucius with mounting fury.

Snape clasped his hands loosely over his lap, and nodded. “My Snakes arrived with representatives from each year that had been present. The pervading sense was that as the Dark Lord was a Slytherin one of them might let slip to their parents that the Philosopher’s Stone was at Hogwarts.”

“Uncommon loyalty,” Minerva huffed.

“My Snakes can be devious and keep their secrets close but we are a family, and no one ever... betrays... family,” he grimaced. Suddenly a change came over the Potions Master’s features as he realised some, “That barmy, old bastard!” Severus rose to his feet angrily. “The Trials are not a test. Albus set up a trap for the Dark Lord so that Harry could fight him!” He smacked his fists on the arms of his chair, “The night of the Welcoming Feast when he warned all the students away from the 3rd Floor corridor!”

“And then Dumbledore went to Slytherin,” muttered Lucius darkly.

“Albus not only told him that he had the Philosopher’s Stone, but where to look. Bloody Merlin!!”

Professor Snape strode across the office in order to leave but was stopped by frantic shouting from the portrait of Phineas Nigellus Black, "Headmaster! Help! Fluffy's killing the children!"

With The Fat Lady's terrified announcement the meeting was quickly broken up. Minerva stepped up to face the crying woman in the portrait of late Headmaster Nigellus Phineas Black. He now stood behind the woman, arms crossed, and glowering for all his paint was worth.

"What is going on?" Minerva began to ask.

"We don't have time for an interrogation, Minerva!" shouted Professor Snape. "Come on!"

Professor Snape ran from the tower office behind Lucius who had left the second The Fat Lady had screamed her terror. Minerva paused only a second, then she lifted the hem of her robes, and ran after Professor Snape.

Pomona Sprout’s Trial

Draco, Harry, Ron and Hermione had all fallen onto a soft, tangled nest of Devil's Snare. Hermione, who had paid attention in her Herbology lessons with Professor Sprout, knew what the Devil's Snare was and so she relaxed her body and slid right through and dropped into a bare chamber.

"Relax!" yelled Hermione. All three of the boys were fighting, squirming, and tugging at the vines that were writhing and winding tighter around each of them.

"Relax?!" cried Ron as a vine circled his middle and made him regret breakfast of a few hours before. "How are we supposed to... mph murgle nelph!!" The Devil Snare overwhelmed the boy and drew him under.

Harry and Draco were trying to relax but both were nervous with the vines running all over them. Relaxation was a bit tough.

Down below Hermione stared up at the writhing mass of vines. "Oh gosh! Silly me! I forgot… I’m a witch!" Taking out her wand she pointed it at the Devil's Snare and shouted, "Maximus Lumos!"

Light burst forth from her wand, and the resultant burst of overly amped magic sent Hermione crashing back into the nearby wall, the music above stopped. Above them Fluffy barked, snarled, and growled. Drool splashed down onto the Devil’s Snare and Draco cried out as he was side-swiped by Cerberus-slime. One, two, three Ron, Draco, and finally Harry all dropped through the Devil's Snare as it wilted and curled away from the bright light.

None of them were concerned with Fluffy now (although Draco knew a cleaning spell that got rid of the drool on his shoulder). Harry and Ron were examining the small, featureless room they were in as Draco walked over to where Hermione had been thrown and helped her up.

"You okay, Hermione?" asked Draco solicitously.

Hermione took Draco's hand and felt the back of her head. "I'm okay, Draco. That burst of light was just unexpected."

"Guys," said Harry, "C'mon there's kind of a doorway here."

Minerva McGonagall’s Trial

A narrow, arched doorway led into a gloomy chamber. They each squeezed through the tight doorway and were startled when torches along the walls burst into flame. The Quartet moved slowly, hyper aware of anything that might jump out at them. The torchlight added little real illumination to the chamber but it was enough light to reveal a giant chessboard.

"Wizard's chess," breathed Ron.

Both Hermione and Harry had seen Ron playing the violent little game of strategy against his brothers in Gryffindor tower. He was obsessed with the game, and never went an evening without playing, or discussing chess moves with the game pieces of the wizard's chess game in the tower.

"Would these players be like the ones in Gryffindor tower... your chess game, Ron?" asked Harry worriedly.

Ron spun slowly as he looked at the huge pieces critically. "These look exactly like the pieces from Groban Hugo's book The Origins of Wizarding Chess."

"Are they dangerous?" asked Draco as he slipped his hand into Hermione's.

Ron nodded. "At this size, yeah. I mean, in wizarding chess the pieces fight to the death so at this size it'd be like a miniature battle."

Hermione, near the White Queen, lifted her chin, higher and higher in order to see the playing piece's features. "What do we do here?"

Harry had spied a small door across the chessboard behind the two rows of the Black chess pieces. They were between them and the door. He moved towards the Black chess pieces, and found himself suddenly threatened by a Bishop with a cudgel.

Draco saw what Harry was doing, and he tried. For his troubles the White Queen crouched down and caught him by his shoulders. Her fingers were tipped by claws that were razor sharp. The White Queen let go and he backed up right into Hermione.

"We have to play a game," Ron said decisively. "We have to get the White side over to the Black side." Immediately in charge he pointed, "Each of us will take a knight. They tend to fight less so we should be safest with them."

Ron and Harry took the White Knights while Draco and Hermione climbed on to the Black horses (the two Knights). All four were bare of riders for the horses.

"Everybody ready?" shouted Ron. As each of his friends yelled that they were ready Ron called out the opening move.

Two pawns (one White and one Black) came together and smashed alarmingly into a fight. Ball maces were used until the White pawn was victorious. Its opponent lay as rubble around its feet.

Draco called out the next move and two more players settled on their squares but did not fight. For several moves Ron and Draco moved the giant pieces until Draco stared with horror at the board. He had little choice; either fight Ron's White Knight with his Black Rook, or his Black King would be in check.

"You have to do it, Draco!" shouted Ron. "The White Queen is almost on the other side."

Draco swallowed then shouted out the direction that sent the Black Rook stomping towards the White Knight with his sword raised. Other than his horse Ron did not have any weapon so he tried to get his horse to attack the Black Rook with its hooves. The Black Rook was quicker and with one slice its sword cleanly cut the knight in half. Ron screamed as he went flying. It was a sickening thing to watch but Hermione shouted to Harry.

"Move the White Queen, Harry! We're almost there!"

With a shouted direction Harry moved the White Queen to put the Black King into checkmate. He then jumped off the horse for the White Knight and ran for the small door.

Hermione tried to go to Ron but she was blocked by a Black Bishop and a White Rook that prodded her towards the small door. Draco grabbed her hand.

"I saw him move, Hermione. He should be all right. Let's go!" Hermione nodded at Draco and they both ran past the White Queen and to the small door.

It was small, very much so. An older wizard might use an Expanding Spell to make the doorway taller and wider, but they were first years and did not know of such a charm. They had no choice but to crawl through. With a few grunts and wiggles the remaining three were through and into the next chamber.

They only had a second to breathe as a huge club came crashing down amongst them.

Hermione screamed.

Harry gaped.

Draco shouted, "TROLL!"