Chapter 13- Problems and more Problems

Hey there all! Sorry for this really, REALLY late update! I lost my muse for a very long time and it was only a few days ago that I actually felt the need to complete another chapter for this fanfic. Hope you all will forgive me and like this chapter.

NOTE: Please read the previous chapter as I've re-edited it.

Avery sighed as he made his way up to the Gryffindor tower after a grueling Quidditch practice. Wood had not forgiven him for not catching the Snitch in the last match and doubled the number of Quidditch practice. They have to win the next match with Hufflepuff if they ever want to get at least second place. Slytherin had flattened Hufflepuff in their previous match with a hefty score of 270 to 30. Slytherin was most likely going to win first place again and Wood had been lamenting this prediction for quite a while now. The whole team was feeling the effects of Wood's misery. Avery too has been sour almost every day since he would see that Septimus's face every time.

The news that Snape would be refereeing their next match also brought more misery to the Gryffindor Quidditch players, especially Avery. After hearing from Hermione and Ron that Snape was the one trying to curse him during the previous match, Avery was certain that Snape was going to try to do the same at his next match. Avery wondered how he was supposed to avoid falling off his broom this time. With Snape as the referee, he could do anything to Avery.

But Quidditch wasn't the only reason why he was so moody. His has been moody ever since his encounter with that enchanted mirror. He couldn't forget the images of his parents and that haunting feeling that he knew the shadow with green eyes in the mirror. The feeling confused him. Since when did he ever meet a shadow with green eyes? More specifically, a shadow with green eyes that were identical to his mother's? Avery was almost certain he never met anyone like that.

Despite Avery's attempts to forget the images in the mirror, he couldn't help but think about them sometimes. And every time he think about them, he would feel a familiar ache in his heart.

Avery gave the password to the Fat Lady (Persephone) and trudged into the Common Room with heavy steps. Hermione and Ron were sitting in the red armchairs, poring over books, no doubt looking for Nicolas Flamel.

"Hey guys," Avery greeted them glumly as he flung himself into an armchair beside Ron.

Ron glanced at him and took in his best friend's dark expression. "You look upset! Did something happen during Quidditch practice?"

"Snape happened. He's going to be the referee for the next match."

"What? Snape is going to be the referee?" Hermione exclaimed. "He's going to try to hurt you again!"

"I know." Avery rubbed his face tiredly. "But what am I supposed to do?"

"Maybe you should not go to the match," Hermione advised, her eyebrows furrowed in worry.

"But I can't do that! The team needs me!"

"Well, losing a match is better than you losing your life!" she snapped in return.

Avery opened his mouth to retaliate saying that she didn't understand the pride, honour and importance of Quidditch but halted as the portrait of the Fat Lady swung open. The trio looked towards the open hole nervously hoping that whoever it is, they didn't hear their conversation.

The person who entered the Common Room was Neville. And he wasn't walking into the room, he was hopping. His round face was scrunched up in distress and it was obvious that he was more concerned about his situation than eavesdropping on their conversation.

As they were releasing the breath they were unknowingly holding in, Neville stumbled over the carpet and fell face first onto the red carpeted floor. They immediately jumped out of their seats to help him up.

As Ron and Hermione was pulling Neville back to his feet, Avery asked, "What happened?"

"M-Malfoy. He jinxed by legs together."

Avery growled under his breath at the mention of that blonde Slytherin. "Was Septimus with him?"

"N-no... Septimus wasn't there."

So that blonde jerk only dares to act like a bully when the big bad Blood Lord isn't around, Avery thought angrily as he filed that information in his mind for later use.

Avery watched as Hermione undo the enchantment. As Neville was standing up, Avery suddenly felt that he needed to remind the cowardly Gryffindor what it means to be a Gryffindor.

"You've got to start standing up to Malfoy, Neville. You can't just let him walk all over you."

Neville nodded sadly, making feel Avery sorry for the chubby boy. Digging into his robe pockets, he extracted his last Chocolate Frog that he received as a Christmas present from Ron. He handed the candy to Neville wordlessly and the latter accepted it with a muttered thanks.

Neville tore the packaging and chomped off the frog's head before it jumped away. He pulled out the card and inspected it.

"I've got Dumbledore again- I have more than hundreds of them. Here, Avery, take it. And thanks again."

Neville turned and ran up the tower stairs to the boys' dorms above after handing the card to Avery. Avery turned the card, uninterested, as he too has hundreds of the Dumbledore card.

But before he lost complete interest in it and throw it in the fire, a certain set of words caught his eyes:

"...his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel..."

Avery's eyes jerked wide open and his mouth fell open and he began to gape wordlessly which incited Hermione and Ron to ask what was wrong.

The moment he thrust the card to Hermione and allowed her to read it, the girl's eyes widened to two huge saucers and she rushed off to her dorm in a flash.

It didn't take long for the three Gryffindors to figure out who was Nicolas Flamel and what was hidden under the trapdoor that the dog named Fluffy was guarding. As they pondered and worried over their discovery, another boy down in the dungeons was also worrying over the Stone and the reasons why it was in Hogwarts rather than in the hands of Nicolas Flamel.

It was the Hufflepuff vs Gryffindor Quidditch match and once again, the noise made by the students were spectacular. The Slytherins and Hufflepuffs were united in their want to see Gryffindor lose while the Ravenclaws were remaining as neutral as ever and reserved cheering for good moves done by any player on the field.

At the Slytherin stands, a small boy dressed in impeccable black robes sat alone, far away from his other year mates. His green eyes seemed to be watching the match but upon closer look, one could see that his eyes were glassy and far from focused. Even when a Bludger rippled through the air a foot above his head at an alarming speed, he did not flinch nor did he give any indication that he realized that he could have died if the Bludger was a little lower.

The boy was Septimus and he was brooding. Again. It has been weeks and Primus was still trapped in a ship. Harry was getting more and more restless as each day passed and he couldn't do anything about it. He had his orders from Primus- leave the Stone alone and to not go after it. Harry had restrained himself with much difficulty and he found himself more agitated and worried everyday. Nothing had happened in Hogwarts yet, not since the incident of Avery's cursed broom and although that should put Harry at ease, it didn't. He was a suspicious boy by nature and he did not like the idea of silence after two failed attempts. That could only mean two things. First- it could mean that whoever was trying to steal the Stone had given up. Second- it could mean that the person was biding his time and waiting for the perfect time to strike. Harry knew in his gut that the latter was more likely. No one would just give up on the Stone, not after two miserable attempts. Hundreds had spent their entire lives in the pursuit of the Stone and there was just no way that the person would just give up.

Harry felt a headache coming on and he rubbed his forehead tiredly. He couldn't concentrate in this noisy environment. Getting up, he ignored the startled and curious glances of his Housemates as he made his way off the stands and away from the deafening match. But instead of going back to the school, Harry decided to take a little walk in the Forbidden Forest. Casting a Disillusionment charm on himself, he headed off towards the forest, his mind so occupied again that he did not notice the ear-splitting roars that came from the Quidditch pitch.

Avery grinned widely as he rose in the air, his fist punching the air as he relished the feeling of the Snitch fluttering weakly in his hand. His team members were rushing towards him and when they reached him, they hugged him hard and thumped on his back enthusiastically. The Gryffindors and about half of the Ravenclaws were making a din as they cheered for Gryffindor's victory. As expected, the Slytherins and the Hufflepuffs looked rather put out by Hufflepuff's defeat. Avery flashed a triumphant smirk towards the Slytherin stands, hoping that Septimus could see it. Avery was still sore over the fact that he was saved by the Slytherin who also happened to catch the Snitch at the same time. It was a feat almost unheard of and although he would deny vehemently if asked, Avery did feel a little jealous over it.

As the Gryffindor team slowly lowered themselves to the ground in a tight group hug, the other Gryffindors were streaming onto the pitch to meet them. The moment Avery's touched the ground, he was enveloped in hugs. His hair was ruffled, making it messier than it usually is and his back was whacked so many times that it was beginning to hurt. But it didn't matter to Avery as his elation was drowning out the pain from his back as well as the pain from his ears that came from a hundred Gryffindors screaming themselves hoarse into each other's ears.

And to make it better, Dumbledore himself came down to the field to congratulate Avery on a job well done. His blue eyes twinkled merrily as he petted the boy on his shoulder and Avery grinned back at the old man, proud to be congratulated personally by the Headmaster. Snape on the other hand, looked bitter and he spat on the ground before stalking off. Avery's grin became wider as he watched the Potions Professor's retreating back and he felt a sense of accomplishment for not allowing Snape's plan to succeed.

After more hugs and hits on his back, the Gryffindors finally left the field as they cheered their way to the Gryffindor Tower. Avery went off towards the locker room, his elation making each step more like a bounce. He was proud of himself for finally doing something that he could be proud of. No longer was he just the Boy Who Lived; now he was also an accomplished Seeker. He caught the Snitch and he did it less than ten minutes into the game. Now, that was something to be proud of, he thought happily.

After changing, he went out of the locker room, shouldering his broom as he made his way to the broom shed, humming a little victory song under his breath. He managed to pull Gryffindor back into the race for the House Cup. Although the Quidditch Cup seemed to be out of reach, the House Cup was still there to be taken by Gryffindor. Slytherin was still in first place but Gryffindor was following closely behind. It would not take much for Gryffindor to jump to first place and Avery was determined to make it happen. He had shown Snape that he could win the match; even with the latter being the referee and that put the grin on Avery's face again.

But talking about Snape… Avery's eyes caught on a movement further away from the Quidditch pitch and his eyes narrowed immediately. It was Snape- Avery would recognize that prowling walk anywhere. He watched Snape carefully and was puzzled when Snape disappearing into the forest. Avery became even more perplexed. Why would Snape be running off to the forest when everyone else was at dinner?

Swinging his leg over his broom, Avery took off into the night air and zoomed towards the forest. Snape had already vanished into the forest and due to the thick forest canopy, Avery could not see the professor. Flying lower over the trees, his feet were brushing the top of the trees as he flew around in circles when he heard voices. He glided towards the direction of the voices and landed on a branch of a tall beech tree.

Avery climbed through the branches, keeping a tight hold on his broomstick as he tried to find a spot where he could see through the leaves. Then he spotted Snape in a clearing that was overshadowed by the towering trees. But he was not alone. Quirrell was there too and his face was beyond terrified. His stuttering was worse than usual too and Avery strained to hear their conversation.

"…d-don't know why you wanted t-t-to meet here of all p-places, Severus…"

"Oh, I thought we'd keep this private," said Snape, his voice icy. "Students aren't supposed to know about the Philosopher's Stone, after all."

Avery's eyes widened and he leaned forward to try and pick up what Quirrell was mumbling but before he could hear it, Snape interrupted him.

"Have you found out how to get past the beast of Hagrid's yet?"

"B-b-but Severus, I—"

"You don't want me as your enemy Quirrell," said Snape, taking a step toward him.

"I-I don't know what you-"

"You know perfectly well what I mean."

An owl hooted loudly somewhere behind Avery, nearly causing him to fall out of the tree. As he was steadying himself, he heard Snape say, "—your little bit of hocus-pocus. I'm waiting."

"B-but I d-d-don't—"

"Very well," Snape cut in. "We'll have another little chat soon, when you've had time to think things over and decided where your loyalties lie."

Snape then threw the hood of his cloak over his head and vanished into the darkness of the forest. Although it was very dark by now, Avery could see Quirrell's still form, as though he was petrified.

Slinking back from the scene, Avery quickly climbed back onto his broom and flew off toward Hogwarts at full speed, his mind replaying the conversation. He needed to find Ron and Hermione.

He found them in a corridor going towards the Gryffindor Tower. They looked breathless, as though they were searching for him for quite some time now. The moment they spotted him, they ran over to him.

"Where have you been?" Hermione squeaked. "We've been looking all over for you!"

"We won! We won!" Ron cheered, thumping on Avery's back hard. "And I gave Malfoy a black eye and Neville tried to take on Crabbe and Goyle by himself! He's in the Hospital Wing right now but he'll be okay. Haha, talk about showing Slytherin! Fred and George had set up a party in the Common Room- they stole some cakes and stuff from the kitchens. Let's go, everyone's waiting for you!"

Avery shook his head. "Never mind that! I need to talk to you two. Let's find an empty room…"

Ron and Hermione looked at each other before following Avery into an empty classroom. Avery quickly ensured that Peeves was not in before shutting the door behind him.

"We were right. It is the Philosopher's Stone and Snape's trying to get it. I saw him trying to force Quirrell into helping him get it. He asked about how to get past Fluffy as well Quirrell's 'hocus-pocus' which is no doubt Quirrell's enchantment to protect the Stone and Snape has to break through it—"

"Wait, you mean that the Stone's only safe as long Quirrell stand up to Snape?" said Hermione in alarm.

"It'll be gone by next Tuesday," said Ron.

The trio kept an eye on Quirrell and Snape in the following weeks. Quirrell was braver than they thought- he didn't look as though he cracked and told Snape everything although he did look thinner and paler than before. He was also much more jumpy and that caused him to faint at the Staff table one breakfast when the Weasley twins set off a firework. Snape remained in the same bad mood and fiery temper, which was a sign that the Stone was still safe. In order to help Quirrell fight off Snape, Avery would give the man an encouraging smile whenever he passed him and Ron had taken on himself to telling people to stop laughing at Quirrell's stutter.

Hermione, however, was more concerned about something else. She was preparing for the exams. Apart from making a revision timetable and colour coding all her notes, she began to recite her notes out loud at every possible time and her reading pile had increased by twice in height. The boys would not have minded if she kept her revision mania to herself but she had begun nagging at them to do the same. She continuously reminded them that the exams were only ten weeks away and then she would list down all the consequences of not passing the exams.

To make it worse, the teachers were piling them with homework too. With so much homework to be done, the Easter holidays were not as fun as Christmas. Even when they were done with the homework, it was not possible for Avery and Ron to relax when they had Hermione reciting the twelve uses of dragon blood or practicing wand movements. They spend much of their time in the library with Hermione, trying to get through all the extra work.

Once again, they were heading up to the library; Hermione at the front, her face full of determination while the two boys moaning and groaning and dragging their feet behind her. As they walked, they passed the Slytherin first years who glared at them and received glares from Avery and Ron in return. Avery noticed that Septimus looked paler and thinner than before and he looked much wearier. Avery was about to shout a jibe at Septimus when Hermione yelled at them to hurry up. Not wanting to anger a short-tempered Hermione, Avery and Ron quickened their pace, leaving the Slytherins behind.

"Hagrid!" Ron shouted, causing Avery to look up from his own revision. "What are you doing here?"

Leaping up from their seats, Ron and Avery abandoned their research to talk to Hagrid. Hagrid was looking shiftily from Ron to Avery and back to Ron and he was hiding something behind his broad back.

"Jus' lookin'" Hagrid muttered which Avery raised an eyebrow at. He was hiding something.

Then Hagrid looked suspiciously at them. "What're you lot up ter? Not lookin' fer Nicolas Flamel again, are yeh?"

"We found that out ages ago," Ron replied. "We know what the dog's guarding. It is the Philosopher's Sto—"

"And we also want to ask you about some things as well. About what else is guarding the Stone apart from Fluffy –"

"SHH!" said Hagrid, checking around him to see if anyone heard them. "Don' go shoutin' about it! Listen- come an' see me later. Not promisin' anythin' though."

With that, Hagrid stumbled away. Hermione walk toward them, only the top of her head visible over the pile of books she was carrying.

"What was he hiding behind his back?" she questioned.

Ron picked up a book from a pile that Hagrid was searching through and exclaimed, "Dragons! Hagrid's researching dragons! Look at this: Dragon Keeper's Guide!"

"Hagrid always wanted to keep a dragon," Avery said.

The trio looked at each other in exasperation. They would not put it past Hagrid to try and raise a dragon, which was forbidden in Britain. All of them were thinking the same thing: What on earth was Hagrid up to?"

As it turned out, Hagrid was up to his usual beast-loving ways. He managed to obtain a dragon egg and although the three Gryffindors had tried to advice him against letting it hatch and raising it, their advice fell on deaf ears since Hagrid was already completely enamoured by the egg.

Avery, Ron and Hermione found themselves worrying about Hagrid alongside the problem of the Philosopher's Stone. Hagrid had told them that the teachers had placed their own enchantments too, including Snape. It seemed to the trio that Snape only did not know how to pass Quirrell's enchantment as well as Fluffy. But when Hagrid told them that only he and Dumbledore knew how to get past Fluffy, the trio relaxed a little and felt that they could let the matter of the Stone rest.

But then one breakfast, Hagrid sent a letter with two words written- It's hatching.

Ron immediately wanted to skip Herbology and go straight to the hut to watch the egg hatch but Hermione was not hearing a word of it.

"Come on Hermione! How many times in your life can you watch a dragon egg hatch?" Ron tried to convince her.

"We've got lessons and if we skip, we'll get into so much trouble! Furthermore, that's nothing compared to what Hagrid's going to be in when someone finds out what he's doing—"

"Shut up!" Avery hissed.

Malfoy and Septimus were deadly close to them and both had stopped in their tracks to listen. Avery did not like the look on Malfoy's face and felt unsettled by the gleeful look in the blonde's grey eyes. Septimus, however, looked the same as ever with a stony face and that made it hard for Avery to determine if they heard enough of their conversation to cause trouble. Before Avery could properly read their faces, Septimus walked off and Malfoy hurriedly followed him.

After bouts of arguing, Hermione finally agreed to run down to Hagrid's hut with them. Once the school bell rung, signaling the end of Herbology, they dropped everything and hurried off to Hagrid's hut. They banged on the door and they were greeted by a flushed, excited Hagrid who said: "It's nearly out."

The egg was lying on the table and there were deep cracks running around the egg. The four of them sat around the table and watched. None of them realized they were holding their breaths.

There was a scraping inside the egg and all at once, the egg split open and the baby dragon flopped out. It was not a pretty little thing. It had a skinny body that was jet black and the spiny wings were large in comparison to its body. It had little stubbed horns, a long snout with huge nostrils and orange bulging eyes. When it sneezed, sparks flew out of its snout.

Hagrid watched dewy-eyed and whispered, "Isn't he beautiful?"

He reached out to touch it and the dragon snapped at him with pointed teeth. Hagrid smiled at it and said, "Bless him, he knows his mummy!"

Hermione looked less than impressed and was more worried. "Hagrid, how fast do Norwegian Ridgebacks grow, exactly?"

But before she got her answer, Hagrid turned pale and leapt towards the window.

"What's the matter?" Ron asked.

"Someone was lookin' through the gap in the curtains- a kid- he's runnin' back ter school."

Avery jumped to his feet and bolted out of the door. Even at a distance, Avery knew who the kid was.

Malfoy had seen the dragon.

This could not bode well for Hagrid or the three of them.

"A dragon, Harry! The oaf has a dragon and Potter, Weasley and the mudblood Granger know about this!"

Harry watched his friend pace around their dormitory with narrowed eyes. He did not like the look in Draco's eyes. The blonde was planning something to get the Gryffindors in trouble. Harry wanted to sigh. If Draco was planning something, no doubt he would get himself into trouble. Harry, however, lacked the energy to tell Draco off or to tell him to leave the Gryffindors, the gamekeeper and the dragon alone. He was more concerned about something else.

The conversation he overheard in the forest was weighing heavily on his mind. He was walking aimlessly in the forest when he happened to overhear Snape threatening Quirrell. It seemed that Snape wanted to take the Stone and he needed Quirrell's help for it.

But that did not make sense to Harry. Why would Snape want the Stone? Although the Stone gives eternal life and turn any metal to gold, Harry could not see Snape wanting the stone for those purposes. He was not the materialistic type and if Harry was reading him right, Harry would say that his head of house was not interested in living forever. In fact, it always seemed to him that Snape wanted to die but had something holding him back.

So why would Snape want the Stone? No reason that Harry thought of was logical enough to explain the scenario well. And the fact that he could not solve this mystery was pressing down on him. He lacked the sleep and the energy to do pretty much anything anymore. Most of his energy was used up in Quidditch practices, homework, entertaining his friends and thinking about the situation at hand. He knew that the stress on his mind and body was unhealthy for him but he could not shake the worry off.

Watching his blonde friend plot, Harry wondered how much more of bickering Gryffindors and Slytherins combined with evil plots and unsolved mysteries he could take. Taking a deep breath, he said wearily, "Just leave them all alone Draco. What have they done to you recently that you have to do this to them?"

"It's not about revenge Harry! It's about them being so convinced of their own superiority! Gryffindors are always like that- thinking that they are better than everyone else. They are not just breaking a school rule- they are breaking a law! Getting them caught would put them in their place," replied Draco, his voice dripping with disgust when he mentioned the trio.

"And it will give me a laugh too when the three of them land themselves in detention."

Harry dropped his head into his hands and left it at that. Oh, how he wished he was home, away from all the petty fights and darkness of Hogwarts!

Shaking his head, Harry left Draco alone and set his mind on stopping Draco from doing something stupid again.

Over the week, the three Gryffindors remained nervous and constantly watched Malfoy. There was some sort of triumphant glaze in his eyes and whenever he looked at them, he smirked, causing them to be more unsettled than before. They spent as much of their free time in Hagrid's hut, trying to reason with him to let the dragon go.

"You have to let him go! Set him free!" Avery urged everytime.

Hagrid would shake his head and say that the dragon was still too little and that he would die if Hagrid was to let him free. It was obvious that Hagrid had fallen in love with the reptile. He had given the dragon a name- Norbert. Although the dragon was three times the length it was in just a week, Hagrid remained adamant about keeping him.

Finally, Avery had enough. "Hagrid, in two weeks, Norbert is going to be as long as your house! Malfoy could go to Dumbledore any minute, or worse- his father! You have to let him go!" Avery said, tugging his hair in frustration.

"I—I know I can't keep him forever, but I can't jus' dump him!"

Then Avery's mind clicked. He turned to Ron and asked if Charlie, Ron's brother in Romania who was working with dragons, could take Norbert and take care of him. Ron said that he would have to write but it was likely that Charlie could take care of it.

After talking to Hagrid about it, he finally agreed and they sent a letter to Charlie.

It was a week before they received an affirmative from Charlie. On the down side however, they had to get Norbert to the tallest tower at midnight on Saturday so Charlie's friends could take it.

And things just got worse from there. Ron was bitten by Norbert the night the letter came and his hand had swollen to twice its size and he had to go to Madam Pomfrey to treat it. Ron was in a terrible state and he told them that his hand felt like it was going to fall off. To make it worse, Malfoy had taken from Ron the book which had the letter hidden in its pages. Although every instinct Avery got told him to change the plan, he knew he couldn't as it was already too late. So he and Hermione told Hagrid to prepare Norbert for Saturday which made their giant friend tear up. Even though Avery and Hermione did not like to see Hagrid upset, they could not stir up much sympathy when they thought about what they had to do.

It was very dark when they reached Hagrid's hut and Hagrid had Norbert packed in a large crate. "He's got lots o' rats an' some brandy fer the journey," Hagrid said in between muffled sobs. "An' I've packed his teddy bear in case he gets lonely."

After Hagrid bade a tearful goodbye to Norbert, Avery and Hermione covered themselves and the crate with Avery's invisibility cloak. Then they spend almost two hours huffing and puffing as they carried the heavy crate towards the tower. It was difficult enough to carry the crate with Norbert thrashing around inside but to carry the crate and ensure that the cloak remained over them- almost impossible. They had no idea how they did it.

It was nearing midnight when they were nearing the tower. They heaved the crate up marble staircases, down empty corridors and they were almost there when they heard a sudden sound at the end of the corridor they were in. Nearly dropping the crate, Avery and Hermione quickly went into the shadows, forgetting that they were invisible.

It was Professor McGonagall, in a bathrobe and hair net and to Avery's mirth, she had Malfoy by the ear. And to his great delight, even Septimus was there, watching the professor and his friend without any expression.

"Detention to both of you!" she shouted. "And twenty points from Slytherin, each! Wandering around in the middle of the night, how dare you—"

"You don't understand, Professor! Avery Potter is coming and he's got a dragon! Tell her Septimus!"

Septimus did not say anything. He merely shrugged which incited the professor further. McGonagall then twisted Malfoy's ear a little more, causing him to yowl.

"What utter rubbish! How dare you tell such lies! Come on—I shall bring you two to Professor Snape!"

With that, she dragged Malfoy away by the ear, Septimus following closely behind. As they passed the Gryffindors, Septimus stopped and glanced towards the spot Avery and Hermione were standing. Praying that he would not come any closer, they held their breath and willed Norbert to remain quiet. After a few seconds, Septimus turned away and walked off, letting the Gryffindors to sigh in relief. Then they continued walking.

The steep spiral staircase to the top of the tower seemed to be the easiest part of the whole journey. No doubt it was because of their renewed vigour and elation that Malfoy and Septimus received detention. Hermione was especially happy and looked as though she wanted to sing. They spent about ten minutes laughing about the two Slytherins demise as they waited in the cold night air for Charlie's friends.

They were a pleasant lot and they helped Avery and Hermione suspend the crate in the harness between their brooms. After shaking their hands and thanking them, Avery and Hermione watched Norbert go until he was gone.

They went back down the spiral staircase, their hearts light now since the burden of Norbert had been relieved. Furthermore, Malfoy and Septimus received detention. They were very much elated but their elation died out the moment they saw Filch sneering at them from the foot of the stairs.

"Well, well, well. Aren't we in trouble?"

Avery and Hermione glanced at each other in horror. They had left the cloak at the top of the tower.

There you go! I know it is a little short and as you can see, I squeezed two chapters into one. Trying to get a move on with this story you know. This chapter has a lot of sentences from the original HP book as well and again, I apologise if that made you bored. Losing my muse had made me not very creative and that means I couldn't write one whole chapter completely in my own words.

Please review!

~xoxo Rin