Third Place - Action/Adventure

Days turned into weeks where Harry and his four friends spent every minute of their spare time revising for the approaching exams. Harry was certain that they knew what they needed to already, especially considering he personally was reading through the second year books that his fathers had bought him for Christmas. But practice and revise they did and the castle became silent almost as student�s heads were bent and their noses buried in books.

Since the day Harry saw that � thing � in the forest, his scar had been giving him trouble. A flash of pain here or there, normally a few times a day at least. He put up with it silently, it was nothing he couldn�t handle and he didn�t want to worry his friends, but the more the days went on, the stronger the pain became, the longer it lasted until eventually it was there continuously, a dull throb that quickly became irritating.

It was rather hard to concentrate on his exams when they finally rolled around but he did his best, he worked hard and he was positive that he had passed them all with flying colours. As well as written exams, they had practical too. Professor Flitwick called them one by one into his classroom to see if they could make a pineapple tap-dance across the desk... though why anybody would actually want to do that was beyond Harry.

Professor McGonagall had them turn a mouse into a snuff-box. Points were given for how pretty said snuff-box was, but taken away if it still had whiskers. Harry was rather proud of his own, it had been red and silver and the Corvus mark had been engraved expertly into the top. Around the mark there had been pictures of his Da and his Pa and he grinned when he saw that, it had turned out exactly as he had pictured it in his mind.

Professor Snape tried, and failed, to make him nervous by breathing down his neck while they tried to remember how to make a Forgetfulness Potion. Harry had been over this particular potion a few times during his revising and so could remember it perfectly, unfortunately there were a few who were doing bad enough anyway, but Snape certainly didn�t help things alone. Like Neville Longbottom for instance.

In Herbology they had to successfully identify many different plants and then name ways in which said plant could be useful or dangerous. In Defence Against the Dark Arts, they had to list what they had learnt that year and answer questions. Points were given if they listed more than they had been taught, and taken if they missed any.

It was after the final exam of the year, History of Magic, now and Harry was sat outside by the lake with his four friends. He glanced over at them and smiled wryly, things had been exceptionally quiet lately, there had been no attacks or anything. Quirrell hadn�t acted and, apart from the odd glare sent his way when they passed in the corridor, didn�t appear to have done much of anything really.

The whole school had been somewhat subdued over the last few weeks as the students had their heads bent and their noses in books. Remus was prowling around the castle and Harry spent as much time as possible with him when he wasn�t revising. The Ministry were still being complete and utter pricks when it came to releasing Sirius and Dumbledore was beginning to get irritated and angry. He promised to have Harry�s godfather out by the end of the school year.

From what Harry could see of his friend�s carefree smiles now, they had completely forgotten about the stone that was held in a part of this school. Had forgotten about the constant attacks that had quietened down just a bit too much lately but more importantly, had forgotten about Quirrell and what Harry had told them was riding in the professor somewhere: Voldemort.

He couldn�t blame them really; they didn�t have the constant dull throb of pain in their heads that made it difficult to sleep. The dreams of a flashing green light and the laughter of a cold maniac, nor did a figure cloaked in shadows with unicorn blood dripping down its chin visit them in their dreams either.

"Harry? I said do you want to go and see Hagrid?" Hermione asked, sounding completely frustrated and Harry blinked over at her before he grinned.

"Aye sure, why not?" He murmured as he jumped to his feet. He waited for his four friends to get up as well and then led the way across the grounds. Hagrid was sitting in an armchair outside his house when they got there, his trousers and sleeves were rolled up and he was shelling peas into a large bowl.

"Hullo," he said with a smile and Harry returned it and plonked himself down on the grass in front of him. "Finished yer exams?" he asked and Harry nodded again.

"Hagrid...? Can I ask you about � fluffy?" Harry asked carefully after a minute, ignoring Hermione as she poked him hard in the ribs. He saw Hagrid was about to say no and tell him to mind his own business and so he elaborated quickly. "I mean � I�m just interested to know about him as a dog, I�ve never before seen anything as amazing as he is nor heard that they existed... so I just wanted to know about him."

"Oh. That�s alright then," Hagrid said with a huge proud grin. "I don�t know how many others like �im there are, or if he�s on his lonesome like. Like I said before, I bought him off A Greek Chappie I met in the pub las� year. I was rightly sure that I should buy �im and bring �im to the school and all, I mean he�s dangerous he is, but he said that Fluffy�s a piece o� cake if yeh know how to calm him down, jus� play him a bit o� music an� he�ll go straight off ter sleep-" he explained and then stopped, wondering whether he should have said that but Harry just waved it off quickly before he realised his mistake.

"That sounds brilliant, a three-headed dog though, I wonder whether there really are anymore out there," He mused out loud and it worked like a charm as Hagrid puffed up proudly.

"I doubt it, he�s original he is."

"Has anyone else shown an interested in Fluffy? I mean, in general, considering its not very often you see a three-headed down is it?" Harry asked again and Hagrid chuckled as he continued to shell the peas.

"Aye, the teachers were interested to know of him, of course. Then there was this one Chappie in the pub the other day, didn�t quite catch his name and he kept the hood of his cloak up the whole time... but that�s usual in the Hogshead, not many people want to be seen there. So anyway, this chappie came up to me and bought a drink, said he�d heard of my like of interesting creatures and asked about what I�d handled before, just friendly like," Hagrid said again and Harry really did have to swallow a groan this time, his friends seemed to have caught on to where this was going because they all stood stiffly and pale.

"What did he say?" Harry asked, managing to keep his expression eager and calm.

"Nothing much, I told him about some �o the creatures in the forest and then he kept buying me drinks so I can�t rightly remember much. Oh, I mentioned Fluffy and he seemed shocked at the thought of a huge three-headed dog. He started saying about how dangerous a beast like that must be up at the school and I panicked, thinking he was gonna try and get fluffy removed, so I told him he�s a piece o� cake when you play music," Hagrid finished with a grin and Harry returned it, even if it was a little forced.

"You should write a book, about all the misunderstood creatures of the world," he said seriously and Hagrid blushed at that. "Anyway, we�ve gotta get up to dinner now, but we�ll be down to see you soon alright?"

With that, the five friends walked silently up tot the castle. They stopped in the Entrance Hall then and just looked at each other, unable to contain the shudder as they imagined just what Quirrell could do with that stone.

"We better go up and tell Dumbledore," Harry said after a minutes thought. "Quirrell now knows how to get past Fluffy; the enchantments will most likely prove to be easy for him, now that he has Voldemort riding on his back somewhere. Dumbledore will believe us and he�ll take measures to do what needs to be done,"

"What are you five doing inside?" A voice cut Harry off suddenly, ringing across the hall. Harry turned and smiled as he saw professor McGonagall making her way down the stars with a huge pile of books in her arms.

"We need to see Professor Dumbledore," he said smoothly and McGonagall blinked over at him suspiciously.

"Why, what have you done now?" she asked and her eyes only narrowed even further at the indignant look Harry flashed her way.

"I�ve done nothing!" he grumbled and then frowned inwardly as a strong sense of dread twisted in his stomach.

"The Headmaster left ten minutes ago," she said after a minute, "He received an owl from the Ministry and he�s gone to retrieve your godfather from Azkaban along with Remus. He will be back tomorrow," she said and Harry closed his eyes with a groan.

"I don�t suppose there�s a way we could contact him? Only it is rather urgent, it�s about the Philosopher Stone," he said quietly and McGonagall gaped at him, the books she was carrying tumbled out of her arms but she didn�t seem to notice.

"How did you know?" she spluttered and Harry couldn�t stop the smirk of amusement even if he wanted to.

"Professor, I�m a Corvus, it�s my job to know. Someone�s gonna steal it, by the way," he said and quirked an eyebrow when she eyed him with a mixture of shock and suspicion.

"I don�t know how you found out about the Stone, but rest assured, it is well protected. No one could steal it even if they wanted too. I know what I�m talking about," she said shortly and she bent down to gather the books again. "I suggest you all go back outside and enjoy the sunshine,"

"It�ll be tonight then," Harry said when she was out of earshot. "Quirrell�s going through the trapdoor tonight. He�s found out everything he needs now and he�s got Dumbledore out of the way. How convenient that the Ministry stops playing around and releases Sirius when Quirrell has what he needs," he murmured and then smiled wryly. "He�s good; you�ve got to give him that."

"But what can we do?" Hermione asked with frustration and Harry grinned.

"Why, we can go and stop him of course. Tonight proves to be interesting indeed."

When night fell, Harry and Blaise went to meet Susan, Hermione and Terry in the Entrance Hall. Harry had spent the entire day on pondering his choices for that evening, and had spent most of it trying to convince his friends to stay in the Common Rooms out of the way, but they wouldn�t hear of it.

The two vampires wrapped the shadows around them once more until they couldn�t be seen and then stepped out into the Entrance Hall, unsurprised to see their three mortal friends hiding behind various suits of armour. Harry grinned at them for their lack of creativity but when he was sure nobody was around to see or hear them, he made himself visible and waited for his friends to approach.

"Terry and Susan, I want you two to stay here in the Entrance Hall and wait for Dumbledore to return. No, no arguing. Terry I asked you because you can change into anything if anyone comes near, and Susan because I�m lending you my invisibility cloak. Hermione, Blaise and I will head down to the trapdoor and see if anything looks different." He explained softly. Terry and Susan exchanged looks and then sighed and nodded with resignation.

"If Dumbledore comes back before we do, then tell him what�s happened and to get his old ass down there to help us." Harry said again and then he paused as his four shadow guards stepped into view and he grinned at them. "You can�t come," he said softly and held up his hand to still their protests. "It�s a prophecy thing; I feel it in my bones. This is something I have to do, and I have to do it alone. I�ll explain it to Da before he tries to decapitate you," he added with amusement.

The four guards exchanged hesitant looks and then nodded with a sigh, vampires, especially the Corvus clan, had a high respect for seers and prophecies in general and there were strict laws to not interfere with something. He nodded then and held out his cloak to Susan before he brought Hermione close and manipulated the shadows to cover them both, watching as Blaise did the same.

"Who�s there?" A voice boomed suddenly and Harry cursed as he saw it was Peeves, if he didn�t say anything now then the poltergeist would make enough racket to wake the dead.

"Peeves, it�s me Harry," he whispered softly and watched as Peeves turned to look at him, or well, look in the direction his voice came from. "We�ve got some stuff to do here tonight, if you try and keep people away, namely Filch, McGonagall and Snape, then I promise we�ll help you with a huge prank soon okay?"

"Will you let me into the Great Hall?" Peeves asked excitedly and Harry snorted his amusement.

"We�ll try, I�m not guaranteeing anything though, because we�re not sure how."

"Okay, fine." Peeves said again and Harry breathed a sigh of relief before continuing up the stairs. A few seconds later, they were outside of the third-floor corridor � and the door was already ajar.

"Oh hell, I hate being late," Harry murmured with a grin and he ignored Hermione�s growl if irritation as he slipped them both inside the room and made sure Blaise was in before he shut the door. All three noses of the dogs began to sniff in their direction, even though they couldn�t see them yet. At the feet on it though was a beautiful golden harp, which Quirrell must have left.

Harry pulled out a flute that he�d had since he was nine and he played the first tune that came to his head, hardly breathing as Hermione and Blaise slipped into view and crept closer to the droopy-eyed three headed dog. Slowly the dog�s growls ceased, it staggered backwards and forwards and then fell to its knees before it slumped to the ground, fast asleep.

Blaise clenched his teeth and stepped over the dog�s leg as he bent and pulled the ring of the trapdoor, and then peered inside as it swung open.

"What can you see?" Hermione asked anxiously and Blaise shrugged.

"Nothing, just black, we�ll just have to drop down because there�s no ladder or anything that we can climb down." He replied and Harry nodded, still playing the flute, he stepped closer, his eyes trained on the three headed dog, and then he pushed Blaise into the hole with a smirk. He heard Blaise�s yell of surprise and irritation but then a faint, sort of muffled thump.

"It�s alright!" Blaise called softly, "it�s a soft landing, you can jump!" he called again, Harry motioned for Hermione to go next and with a nervous smile, she followed him. Harry continued to play, his eyes fixed on the dogs and he was still playing when he stepped off the edge of the hole and fell, landing besides Blaise.

"We must be miles under the school," he muttered as he looked around and then he jumped to his feet with a yell and backed up against the wall. "You idiots! Just sit there why don�t you?" he called as he dragged out his wand and tried to remember the name of the plant. "Stop moving, you�re making it worse!"

He rolled his eyes as they glared at him and instead pointed his wand and muttered under his breath. A jet of bluebell flames shot out of the end of his wand and in a matter of seconds, the Devils snare had released them enough to pull themselves free. He looked around as they jumped to his side and could only see one way to go so he grinned and nodded off in the direction of a stone passageway.

All they could hear apart from their footsteps was the gentle drop of water trickling down the walls. The passageway sloped downwards, taking them deeper below the castle. He paused when he heard a soft rustling and clinking that seemed to be coming from up ahead.

"Can you hear something?" Hermione asked and Harry rolled his eyes.

"No, I�m just stood here, listening, for the good of my health," he muttered and Hermione glared at him before slapping him across the back of his head.

"You just might be yet, Corvus. So don�t jinx it," she snapped and Harry grinned before shrugging. He went first this time with his two friends closely following him, and he wondered whether he should call his two fathers down here with him, but quickly decided against it. Not only would they probably make him turn back, but they would lecture him for his stupid �suicidal tendencies� that he was displaying again...

Just like the time he saved Malfoy�s life.

Though to be fair, the conversation he had overheard that night in the common room made up for everything. He thought back to it with an amused smile as they drew on further down the corridor.

Harry walked quietly down to the common room, intending to sit down with a book for a while until sunrise. The events of the evening so far had left him wide awake and he couldn�t get the image of that � thing � out of his mind no matter how hard he tried. He walked softly, so that he didn�t wake Blaise or any of the other boys in his dormitory and crossed the little landing to the stairs.

Then again, maybe not.

Harry was pulled from his thoughts as they reached the end of the passageway and saw before him a brilliantly lit chamber. Its ceiling arched high about them and the room was full of small, jewel-bright birds, fluttering and tumbling all around the room. On the opposite side of the chambers was a heavy wooden door.

"Do you think they�ll attack us if we cross the room?" Hermione mused and Harry nodded but then he paused and did a double-take.

"They�re not birds... they�re keys. Winged keys � look carefully. And over there�s some broomsticks! So we�ve obviously got to find the key to the door," he replied and then he stepped into the room, grinned when he wasn�t attacked and walked across to the large door. He looked at the lock as Hermione exclaimed her dislike for both flying, and for spending hours, perhaps even days, looking for what they needed.

"We�re looking for a big, old-fashioned one. Probably silver, like the handle," he said thoughtfully and then he seized a broomstick, smiled when he saw Blaise and Hermione do the same and then kicked of into the air, soaring into the midst of the cloud of keys. They grabbed and snatched but the bewitched keys darted and dived so quickly that it was almost impossible to catch one.

Harry wasn�t the youngest seeker in the century for nothing though.

He pulled his broom to a stop and then peered at the keys that passed him. After a minute of weaving about though, he noticed a large silver key that had a bent wing, as if it had already been caught and stuffed roughly into the keyhole.

"That one!" he called to the others. "That bit one � there � no, there � with bright blue wings � the feathers are all crumpled on one side." He called again and watched with amusement as Blaise went speeding in the direction that Harry was pointing and then crashing into the ceiling, nearly falling off his broom.

"We�ve got to close in on it or something," Hermione called and Harry nodded, not taking his eyes off the key with the damaged wing.

"Blaise, you come at it from above � Hermione, stay below and stop it going down � and I�ll try and catch it. Right, NOW!" Harry shouted and then Blaise dived, Hermione rocketed upwards, the key dodged them both and Harry streaked after it. It sped towards the wall and Harry leant forward and snatched it out of the air quickly before pulling the broom to a stop before he crashed too.

The three of them landed quickly and Harry made sure they were both alright before he hurried over to the door with the key struggling in his hands. He rammed it into the lock and turned � it worked. The moment the lock had clicked open, the key took flight again, looking very battered now that it had been caught twice.

Can you believe Harry almost felt guilty?

"Ready?" he asked the other two, his hand on the door handle. When they nodded, he pulled the door open and the three of them stepped inside at the same time.

The next chamber was so dark that they couldn�t see anything at all, but as they stepped into it, light suddenly flooded the room to reveal an hopeless sight. They were standing on the edge of a huge chessboard, behind the black chessmen, which were all taller than they were and carved from what looked like black stone. Facing them, way across the chamber, were the white pieces. Harry, Blaise and Hermione shivered slightly, the towering white chessmen had no faces.

"Fucking hell! I hate chess and I suck at it!" Harry grumbled and Hermione rolled her eyes as Blaise nodded his agreement.

"We�ve got to play our way across the room. Right, Harry, you take the place of that bishop, and Blaise you go next to him instead of that castle," Hermione said after a pause to think. Harry and Blaise exchanged looks but then shrugged and went to stand on the places they were told.

"What about you?" Harry asked and Hermione beamed.

"I�m going to be a knight," she said and then stepped onto her square. The three of them peered across the room and watched as a white pawn moved two steps forward. Hermione started to direct the black pieces and they moved silently wherever she sent them. "Harry, move diagonally four squares to the right,"

The game seemed to go on for ages, both Harry and Blaise flinched when the white pieces took some of the black, they showed no mercy whatsoever and crushed them. Twice Hermione only just noticed in time that Harry and Blaise were in danger while she herself shot around the board, taking almost as many of the white pieces as they had lost black ones.

"We�re nearly there," she said softly and then she groaned and looked over at the two of them. "There�s only one way we can win this now, with one more move," she said and then hesitated once more. Harry and Blaise looked around, and they both knew enough about chess to see what had to happen.

"Blaise has got to be taken," Hermione said again, confirming their thoughts. Blaise looked from her to Harry and back again before he shrugged and nodded for her to continue. He took a step forward and the white queen pounced on him immediately, slamming him across the head with her huge stone arm. Blaise went down with a crash and Harry flinched as his friend was dragged off to the side.

He pulled himself together, knowing that Blaise would be alright, and then took three spaces to the left. The white king took off his crown and threw it at Harry�s feet. They had won. The chessmen parted and bowed, leaving the door ahead clear. With one last desperate look at Blaise, Harry and Hermione charged through the door and up the next passageway.

"What if he�s-"

"He�s a vampire Hermione, he�s absolutely fine, you�ll see," Harry interrupted, trying to convince himself as much as he was her. "What do you thinks next?" he asked, changing the subject quickly.

"We�ve had Spouts, that was the Devils Snare � Flitwick must�ve put the charms on the keys � McGonagall transfigured the chessmen to make them alive � that leaves Quirrell�s spell and Snape�s-" she said matter-of-factly and then trailed off as they came to the door.

Harry took her hand comfortingly in his own and then pushed said door open, wrinkling his nose as a disgusting smell filled their nostrils. Eyes watering, they saw, flat on the floor in front of them, a troll even larger than the one they had tackle, out cold with a bloody lump on his head. Harry smirked.

"I�m glad we didn�t have to fight that one," he whispered with a grin and Hermione returned it weakly as he led her over one of its massive legs. He clamped his hand over his nose and mouth, his head pounding more with each move he made, though whether that was because of the smell, or because they were getting close, he didn�t know.

He pulled open the next door and they both stepped inside quickly and shut it behind them, trapping the smell out. Here there was a table with seven differently shaped bottles standing on it in a line. As soon as they stepped over the threshold, a fire sprang up behind them in the doorway. It wasn�t ordinary either, it was purple. At the same instant, black flames shot up in the doorway leading onwards.

They were trapped.

"Well, this is exciting," he murmured mostly to himself and Hermione threw a glare his way before she stepped closer to the bottles. She seized a roll of paper lying next to the bottles and Harry looked over her shoulder to read it:

Harry grinned as he read it through a second time; he would have to remember to commend Snape on both his ingenious idea and his rhyming. Hermione, too, was smiling and he could hear her muttering under her breath.

"This isn�t magic � its logic � a puzzle. A lot of the greatest wizards haven�t got an ounce of logic; they�d be stuck in here for ever." She said and then she read the paper several times and then walked up and down the line of bottles, muttering to herself and pointing at them. Harry leant against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest, thoroughly amused when she finally clapped.

"The smallest bottle will get us through the black fire � towards the stone." She said and Harry peered over at said bottle.

"There�s only enough for one of us, that�s hardly one swallow. Which one will get you back through the purple flames?" he asked, and Hermione pointed at a rounded bottle at the right end of the line. "You drink that. Listen to me. Get back to Blaise � grab brooms from the flying-key room, they�ll get you out of the trapdoor and past Fluffy and then go to the Entrance Hall and wait for Dumbledore with the others."

"But Harry � what if you-know-who�s with him?" Hermione asked and Harry grinned

"Then I�ll be lucky and get to kick his ass, again, wont I?" he replied and Hermione scowled at him before she picked up the bottle to get her back, she paused and then threw her arms around Harry�s neck, hugging him tight.

"Be careful and come back to us, Harry" she said softly and then she swallowed the potion and quickly stepped through the fire. When he was sure he was gone, Harry took a deep breath and then picked up the smallest bottle. He looked at it, shrugged, and then necked it back, shuddering as it felt like ice. He stepped through the black fire and opened his eyes when he came out on the other side.



The Heir of Corvus I: The Philosopher�s Stone - Chapter 20

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