Till The End | h.p

making plans

"I'd heard Hogwarts' final exams were frightful," Hermione says, "but I found that enjoyable."

A few weeks have gone by, while the four have been studying for their finals.

"Speak for yourself. All right there, Harry?" Ron asks.

Harry is holding his forehead, "My scar. It keeps burning."

Sam looks up, "It's happened before."

"Not like this."

"You should see the nurse, Harry," Hermione states.

"I think it's a warning. It means danger's coming." Harry claims.

The four of them walk through the courtyard, until Harry stops and they hear a whistled tune coming from Hagrid's Hut.

"Of course!" Harry exclaims.

"What is it?" Hermione questions.

Harry starts making his way to Hagrid's, "Don't you think it's a bit odd that what Hagrid wants more than anything is a dragon and a stranger turns up and just happens to have one? I mean, how many people wander around with dragon eggs in their pockets? Why didn't I see it before?"

They run over to meet Hagrid. Breathing heavily, Harry asks, "Hagrid, who gave you the dragon egg? What did he look like?"

Hagrid sets his flute down, "I don't know, never saw his face. He kept his hood up."

Sam speaks up, "You and this stranger must've talked."

Hagrid looks away, thinking back to the night he got the egg, "He wanted to know what sort of creatures I looked after. I told him, I said, 'After Fluffy, a dragon's gonna be no problem.'"

Harry looks down for a moment and then back up, "Did he seem interested in Fluffy?"

"Of course he was interested in Fluffy. How often do you come across a three-headed dog? But I told him, 'The trick with any beast is to know how to calm him,' Take Fluffy, for example. Just play him a bit of music and he falls straight to sleep."

The four of them look between each other.

"I shouldn't have told you that."

They run back off towards the castle as Hagrid shouts after them. They run straight into McGonagall's empty classroom.

Harry, out of breath informs, "We have to see Dumbledore. Immediately!"

"I'm afraid Professor Dumbledore is not here. He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and left immediately for London."

"He's gone? But this is important! This is about the Sorcerer's Stone!" Sam exclaims.

McGonagall looks up from her desk, slightly shocked, "How do you know-".

Harry interrupts quickly, "Someone's going to try and steal it."

She looks between all four of them, "I don't know how you four know, but I assure you it is perfectly well protected. Now would you go back to your dormitories? Quietly."

Harry shakes his head in disappointment as they leave the classroom. "That was no stranger Hagrid met. It was Snape. Which means he knows how to get past Fluffy."

"And with Dumblefore gone-" Hermione starts.

"Good afternoon."

They turn to see Snape standing behind them, "Now what would four young Gryffindors, such as yourselves, be doing inside on a day like this?"

Hermione tries to answer, but only a stutter comes out. Which only makes Snape tilt his head further.

"You ought to be careful. People will think you're..." Snape says before glancing at Harry, who is already glaring at him. Snape's eyes widen and he aggressively continues, "up to something."

Snape looks between them and then turns on his heel, leaving them alone in the hall.

"Now what do we do?" Hermione asks.

"We go down to the trap door," Harry begins.

"Tonight." Sam concludes with a fierce glare as her eyes follow Snape.