Chapter Summary: It's down the trap door with Hermione and friends. How is she going to cope with the prospect of Harry dying at the hands of the dark lord?
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It had taken them a surprisingly short amount of time to make it to the forbidden third floor corridor. Their only obstacle was Peeves the Poltergeist but Harry had dealt with him in a clever manner by pretended that they were really the invisible ghost of the Bloody Barron, the only thing in the castle, besides Dumbledore, that Peeves really feared. Now they were about to come face to face with Fluffy.
"If you want to go back, I won't blame you. You can take the cloak, I won't need it now." Harry said to Ron and Hermione as they stood, beneath the invisibility cloak facing the already ajar door to the forbidden corridor. It was obvious Snape had already beaten them there.
"Don't be stupid." Ron said determinedly.
"We're coming," Hermione agreed.
Harry nodded and pushed open the door. Hermione was half expecting the three-headed dog to attack the moment the door opened but when they stepped inside the dark corridor she saw that it was asleep. There was a harp near one of the dog's massive paws. This must have been what Snape used to play Fluffy to sleep. Obviously though the slumber was not permanent. The moment they stepped inside, Fluffy began to arouse. It suddenly occurred to Hermione that although they knew how to put Fluffy to sleep, they hadn't really talked about what they would bring to do so. She was about to panic when she saw Harry pull out a makeshift flute.
"Talk about prepared," she thought as Harry began to play. He wasn't particularly good, but Fluffy didn't seem to be picky. The dog immediately began to doze.
They slipped out of the invisibility cloak and moved towards the trap door as the dog drifted off to sleep.
Ron peered over Fluffy, "I think we'll be able to pull the door open. Want to go first, Hermione?" he offered in a pleading sort of voice.
"No, I don't," Hermione answered flatly.
"Alright." Ron began to creep over the feet of the sleeping beast and finally reached the trap door and pulled it up and open. He stuck his head down.
Hermione was trying to make her way over to him. "What do you see?"
"Nothing; just black. There's no way of climbing down, we'll just have to drop."
Ron had a look on his face that said all too clearly that he was going to ask Hermione if she wanted to drop down first. She was debating slapping him for even thinking it but then Harry caught their attention. He wanted to go first.
For a split second Hermione thought, "Better him than me," but then she realized that Harry was facing a potentially lethal drop and silently chastised herself for not being as brave as he was.
Harry handed Hermione the flute so she could continue playing Fluffy to sleep. She suddenly realized how difficult playing it really was. She watched as Harry prepared himself to drop down the hole. More than anything she wanted to wish him luck or tell him something encouraging. None of them knew what would happen when he let go and for a fleeting moment she wondered if she'd ever see him again. But she couldn't express any of this with the flute in her mouth and she had to keep playing or Fluffy would wake up.
Hermione let out a shrill note when Harry dropped out of sight. Ron gave her a funny look but then resumed peering down the hole. They waited for what seemed like an eternity. Hermione was so nervous that her hands were sweating and she could barely hold or play the flute.
"He says it's okay," Ron said with a huge grin. He jumped down the hole without another word.
Hermione stepped over the last of Fluffy's paws. She pocketed the flute as she stepped up to the edge of the trap door. For a moment, she hesitated not knowing if she wanted to jump into the unknown abyss below, but the low growls of the three-headed dog awakening behind her made Hermione make up her mind very quickly. She jumped and seemed to float slowly down to the chamber bellow. Then suddenly her fall was broken by something soft and squishy. She landed right beside Harry.
"We must be miles under the school," she said as she looked up at the trap door. Suddenly, she felt something slimly around her ankle. "What in the…" She looked wildly around and realized they were on a plant, but not just any plant. This plant was silently creeping up their bodies, binding them. It had already worked its way up Harry and Ron's legs without their knowledge and now it was starting on her.
"Lucky this plant thing's here really," Ron was saying now.
Hermione jumped up, kicking at the plant. "Lucky! Look at you both!" She started running towards the wall. It was a struggle but she was able to break free.
Harry and Ron quickly realized that they were being bound and tried to run as well. Hermione finally got a good look at the plant and finally was able to figure out what it was.
"Stop moving," she ordered. "I know what this is; it's devil's snare."
"Oh I'm so glad we know what it's called. That's a great help," Ron said sarcastically.
Hermione scowled at him. "Shut up, I'm trying to remember how to kill it."
It wasn't as if this was frustrating enough. She was trying hard to think of how to break them free of the plant but it was as if her mind had gone completely blank. It was like she was back in the girl's bathroom with the troll advancing on her. But this was different. She wasn't the one in trouble. It was Harry in trouble now. The devil's snare plant was just moments away from cutting off his oxygen. She had to do something but she couldn't. Her brain just couldn't work.
She realized this must be Sprout's obstacle to reaching the stone. She remembered what she told them about it in class one day. "It likes the dark and the damp."
"So light a fire!" Harry called to her.
"Yes of course…" Hermione looked around for something to make a fire with. Her mind was racing. She was running out of time. "But there's not wood."
"Have you gone mad? Are you a witch or not!" Ron said with his last bit of breath.
Hermione seemed to snap out of her stupor. She was a witch, not just any witch, but the best witch in her year. She pulled out her wand and performed the spell she'd used countless times since her very first day at Hogwarts. A stream of bluebell flames flew from her wand. The devil's snare loosened and finally Harry and Ron were able to escape.
"Lucky you pay attention in Herbology, Hermione." Harry told her as he wiped sweat from his brow.
Hermione gave him an "I'm sorry I almost got you killed" look and Harry nodded in an "it's okay, you did your best," sort of way.
Ron wasn't as forgiving. "Yeah and lucky Harry doesn't lose his head in a crisis. 'There's no wood' honestly," he added mockingly.
Hermione frowned and Harry quickly changed the subject, pointing out the route they should take now.
As they started down the stone corridor Hermione started scolding herself mentally. "I can't believe I froze like that again. How am I supposed to be useful if I can't even remember simple Herbology in a crisis?"
Suddenly she remembered what Harry had told her the night after his first quidditch match. "You can be the same clever, resourceful witch that you always are, even when the stakes are high." Harry trusted her and was depending on her. He had told her as much only a few hours ago. "I don't think we could pull it off without you."
"Okay Hermione," she said resolutely to herself. "It's time to get over your neurosis. You have the knowledge, you have the skills, now you just have to have the courage."
She rubbed her wand, remembering that it contained the core of a sphinx hair. She'd read all about sphinxes during the summer. They were extremely strong but also terribly intelligent. She had the intelligence; she just needed the strength now. She needed to be the sphinx.
A nearby rustling told them that there was something in the room up ahead. It sounded like wings. The trio entered the large chamber. Hermione looked up and saw the source of the noise they heard. The room was full of small sparkling birds hovering around near the ceiling. Across the room was another door. They debated about what would happen if they attempted to make a run for the door and finally Harry decided to risk it.
Hermione watched as he covered his head and speed towards the distant door. Nothing happened; none of the birds attacked but when he reached the door, he found that it was locked.
Ron looked at Hermione, "Well it seems safe; let's go help him out."
Hermione nodded and the two ran across the room. The birds still didn't attack.
"Let me try the door," Hermione said pulling out her wand. "Alohomora." But nothing happened. "I don't understand. That charm can unlock just about any door. This must be Flitwick's doing. Only he could charm-proof a lock."
Ron banged on the door. "Now what?"
Hermione was staring at the ceiling. "These birds; they can't be here for decoration."
Harry took a step forward, his eyes fixed on the ceiling. "They're not birds. They're keys, winged keys."
"How is it that he wears glasses and still has the best eyesight of all three of us?" Hermione wondered vaguely. She stared harder and soon saw what Harry saw. It became apparent what they had to do. There were broomsticks on the far wall. They had to catch the key, one among hundreds, that would unlock the door. They each grabbed a broomstick and soared into the air. Ron and Hermione tried their best to grab any key that looked likely to open the door. Harry however, had a different tactic. He flew through the keys, hunting, until he found the right one; a large silver key with a bent blue wing as if it had already been grabbed and shoved in the lock.
Ron and Hermione helped him corner the key by coming at it from above and bellow. Then Harry chased it into a wall.
Hermione and Ron cheered. "Well if all of the challenges are going to be this easy, we have a chance of making it." Hermione thought as they ran to the door and unlocked it with the struggling key. Harry opened the door and they stepped into the next chamber. It was completely dark and Hermione wondered if something was going to jump out and attack them since they couldn't see but as they stepped tentatively forward, light flooded the room to reveal a giant chessboard. They were standing behind 7 foot tall, stone black chessmen. On the other side of the room stood the equally sized stone white chessmen.
Hermione gulped when they realized that they had to play their way across. The three of them would have to each become one of the black wizard's chessmen and win the game to get through the door on the other side of the room.
"I hate playing this game. I certainly don't want to be in it." Hermione thought as Ron, who was the best chess player of the three, assigned her to be the queen side castle. Harry was near her as the queen side bishop. Ron was the king side knight. Their black statue counterparts retreated from the board. The chessmen didn't have faces but if she didn't know better, Hermione would have sworn the stone pieces were relieved not to be participating in the match.
"Do you think this is like regular wizard's chess," she whispered to Harry as Ron started directing their pieces to counter the white pieces.
Harry shook his head. "I don't know. I just hope Ron knows what he's doing."
"For all the grief I give him, Ron really is the best chess player in the house. He'll figure this out."
"Harry, move diagonally four squares to the right." Ron called. Harry obediently stepped forward, leaving Hermione alone in the corner.
Soon she was moving around the board as well. Then suddenly, the queen side knight was captured by the white queen and Hermione had the answer to her question. This was exactly like wizard's chess. The queen showed no mercy as it struck down the knight and dragged it off the board.
"See!" Hermione squealed. "This is why I hate this game. We're going to get killed out here."
"I'm not going to let anything happen to you two, I promise," Ron assured her. "Had to let that happen. Leaves you to take that bishop, Hermione. Go on."
Hermione nodded numbly as she stepped forward to capture the bishop.
She turned to face the others and then noticed something. "Ron, the white knight is going to take Harry," she called as she watched the knight go into position.
Ron whirled around. "I'm on it."
The game move forward. As the knight, Ron captured several pieces while he made sure that Hermione and Harry were safe from danger.
"We've got to hurry," Hermione called as she looked at her watch.
"I know, I know." Ron said in frustration. "Just give me a moment."
Hermione looked around the chessboard. Something about the configuration looked strangely familiar to her. She closed her eyes and tried to imagine the chessboard from a birds eye view. She mentally placed all the pieces where they were and thought hard. What was the next move? It soon became obvious. The white queen needed to be diverted. That was the only way to capture the king. She'd been in this same predicament in her last chess match with Ron months ago. It was almost the exact same layout. That meant that to win the game, Ron would have to trick the queen by…
"I've got to be taken," Ron announced.
He was the knight, the same knight Hermione moved in her match against Ron to make him move his queen.
"No," Hermione shouted when she finally put the pieces together.
But Ron was being just as stubborn as Harry had been about facing Snape in his last quidditch match. It was the only way, and they all knew it. Ron took a step forward and for a split second Hermione saw him give her a knowing look. "He knows… he knows exactly what move he's doing. Knight to H-3. I guess we'll see if it actually works."
Hermione watched in horror as the queen pounced on Ron and struck him hard on the back of the head. She was sure that if he didn't have wizarding blood, the blow would have decapitated him. As it was, Ron just collapsed to the chessboard in a dead faint. Now it was Harry's turn to move and checkmate the king. The king threw his crown at Harry's feet and just that quickly the game was over.
Hermione ran up to where Harry stood. "We should go get Ron."
Harry looked at the pile of black pieces where Ron was. "We can't risk going back. We might have to do this all over again. We've got to go forward." He grabbed her by the arm and dragged her to the door. There was another stone passage behind it.
"What if he…" Hermione started.
"He'll be alright," Harry said determinedly though she could tell he barely believed it himself. "What do you reckon's next?"
Hermione ticked off the obstacles they had faced so far. Sprout was the devil's snare. Flitwick had charmed the keys. The massive chessboard had to be McGonagall's doing. That left Quirrell and Snape.
As they reached the next door, Hermione wondered what they would be facing next and if they would be able to get through it without Ron to back them up. Harry pushed open the door and Hermione immediately knew what awaited them. The smell was so horrific it could only be one thing, a troll. Hermione almost froze with fright. She didn't think she could face another troll, not after what happened the last time. She was about to tell Harry this when she noticed that the troll in question was already lying flat on its back in the middle of the floor. Snape had obviously already been through here and taken care of the troll for them.
"What a stroke of luck. Glad we didn't have to face that," Hermione thought as they walked up to it. Harry expressed the same thought as they carefully stepped past the troll. It was even bigger than the one they'd faced on Halloween. They quickly made their way to the next door and Harry pulled it open.
Hermione peeked inside and saw a table with seven differently colored and shaped bottles sitting in a line. This was obviously Snape's obstacle. As they stepped inside to get a closer look, a wall of purple flames shot up in the threshold behind them and at the same time, black flames shot up to block the doorway that would lead them forward. They were completely trapped inside the room now.
Hermione continued towards the table and found a scroll lying next to the bottles. She unrolled it and began to read.
"Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,
Two of us will help you, which ever you would find,
One among us seven will let you move ahead,
Another will transport the drinker back instead,
Two among our number hold only nettle wine,
Three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line.
Choose, unless you wish to stay here forevermore,
To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:
First, however slyly the poison tries to hide
You will always find some on nettle wine's left side;
Second, different are those who stand at either end,
But if you would move onward, neither is your friend;
Third, as you see clearly, all are different size,
Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides;
Fourth, the second left and the second on the right
Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight."
Hermione grinned. This was going to be bloody easy. It wasn't even magic. It was pure simple logic. Now she saw why Snape had picked this as his challenge.
"A lot of the greatest wizards haven't got an ounce of logic. They'd be stuck in here forever," she explained to Harry.
"But so will we; won't we?" Harry looked disheartened.
"Of course not," Hermione said giving him one of her trademark disapproving looks. Did he really think she couldn't handle a simple puzzle like this? If there was one thing a Granger was good at, it was logic. "Everything we need is here on this paper: seven bottles, three are poison, two are wine, one will get us safely through the black fire, and one will get us back through the purple."
Harry still looked confused. "But how do we know which to drink."
Hermione gave him a knowing look. "Give me a minute," she said with a grin.
She stepped up to the table and began to pace. "Okay Hermione, you can do this," she muttered to herself. Harry waited patiently behind her, not interrupting her thoughts. She continued to talk to herself to organize her thoughts as she processed the four clues.
"Okay, the third clue is the easiest. The shortest and the tallest aren't poison." She identified the two bottles. The shortest was the third from the left. The tallest was the second from the right. She marked them mentally in her mind. These two weren't poison.
Hermione looked at the parchment again. "Okay, the second from the left and the second from the right have to be identical drinks. That means they're either both poison or both wine. The second from the right is the tallest and I know it's not poison. It has to match the second from the left so that means it must be wine. Got it. The second from the left and the second from the right are wine." She marked these two mentally.
Hermione looked down at the riddle again. "Okay I know that wherever there's wine, there's a poison to the left of it. The second from the left and the second from the right are the two wines. That means the bottle on the left end of the line is poison and the third from the right is poison as well." Hermione marked these two mentally.
This meant from left to right: the first bottle was poison, the second was wine, the third couldn't be poison but she didn't know what it was, the fourth was still an unknown, the fifth was poison, the sixth was wine, and the seventh was still unknown. She was making good progress.
"Okay," she started pacing again while she reread a few lines of the riddle. "It says that to go forward, neither of the end bottles will do the trick, but it also says that they're different drinks. So if the bottle on the far left is poison, that means the bottle on the right can't be poison because they'd be the same. It can't be wine because I've found the two wines already, and it can't be the potion to let me go forward so it must be the one that lets me go back through the purple flames. Got it." Hermione mentally marked this bottle.
This meant from left to right: the first bottle was poison, the second was wine, the third and shortest was not poison, the fourth was still an unknown, the fifth was poison, the sixth was wine, and the seventh was the potion that would take them back.
"That means," Hermione concluded to herself. "That the shortest bottle is the potion that will take us forward since it can't be the last poison. The one to its right must be the last poison."
From left to right: the first bottle was poison, the second was wine, the third was the potion forward, the fourth was poison, the fifth was poison, the sixth was wine, and the seventh was the potion that would take them back.
"Got it!" Hermione finally announced loud enough for Harry to hear her. "The smallest bottle will get us through the black fire toward the stone." She looked quite pleased with herself until Harry stepped forward to exam the bottle.
"There's only enough there for one of us. That's hardly one swallow," he said. They stared at each other for a moment that seemed to last for an eternity. Hermione knew what he was thinking and her suspicions were confirmed when Harry asked, "Which one will get you back through the purple flames?"
Hermione pointed silently to the bottle on the far right.
"You drink that." Harry said immediately. Hermione opened her mouth to protest vehemently. She wasn't about to let Harry go ahead without her but he quickly cut her off. "No listen: get back and get Ron. Grab brooms from the flying key room; they'll get you out of the trap door and past fluffy. Go straight to the owlery and send Hedwig to Dumbledore. We need him. I might be able to hold Snape off for a while but I'm no match for him really."
Hermione bit her lower lip. "But Harry, what if… 'you know who' is with him."
Harry gave her one of his famous half grins. "Well I was lucky once wasn't I? I might get lucky again."
Hermione stared at him in amazement. How he could be so calm at a time like this was beyond her. She felt like she was going to cry. Harry was marching both bravely and foolishly off to what very well might be his premature demise and there was nothing she could do to help him or stop him. What if she never saw him again? The thought of losing him at the hands of the dark lord was too much to bear. Before she knew what she was doing, she ran over and flung her arms around him, almost dissolving in tears.
"Harry, you're a great wizard, you know?" There was so much more she wanted to say to him, but she couldn't find the words.
"I'm not as good as you." Harry said as she finally let go of him, wiping her eyes.
"Me!" Hermione gave him a stunned look. "How could he possibly think that? He really doesn't know how special he is." She stared into his eyes. "Books and cleverness. There are more important things; friendship and bravery and…" she could see that even though he was resolute about going forward, he was also as scared as she was. "Ooo, Harry, be careful."
Harry nodded at her. Hermione drank her potion first. It felt like ice was running through her veins. She wished him luck before turning and walking straight through the purple fire with one last backward glance at Harry. She hopped it wouldn't be the last time she saw him.
Hermione covered her nose and went running through the chamber with the troll. Then she took off down the next stone corridor as fast as she could. The large chessboard came into view. As she stepped into the room, she noticed immediately that all the pieces were back in place as if their last game had never been played. Ron however was still lying off to one side. She panicked for a moment, wondering if she'd have to play her way to get back across but the moment she stepped up behind the white pieces, they parted out of her way. Relieved, she rushed to Ron's side and checked his pulse. He was definitely still alive.
Hermione pulled out her wand hoping that the spell she was thinking of would work and also wondering if she had the skill to cast it. "Ennervate."
To her relief, Ron's eyes fluttered open. "Oy, that was quite a ride, but I'd much not like to go again. You?"
Hermione hugged him. "I'm so glad you're alright. You know that was very brave and very stupid of you. You know that don't you?" She was shaking him angrily now.
"And I have you to thank for it. It was your move after all that won the game. I remembered it from the last time we played. Knight to H-3, distract the queen and all. Worked rather well."
"Yes I noticed, but if I thought it would almost get you killed, I'd have never done it." Hermione helped him up. "You know what this means don't you. I would have won the game."
"It tricked the queen, but it wouldn't have tricked me. I saw right through it," Ron told her matter-of-factly.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Whatever, we've got to go."
"Where's Harry?" Ron asked finally noticing their missing companion.
"Facing off with Snape and probably 'you know who' as we speak."
"What!" Ron said in horror. "We've got to go help him."
"No we can't," Hermione said quickly. "There's no way to go after him. We have to get out of here and try and reach Dumbledore in London, before it's too late."
"But…" Ron was still keen on going after Harry but Hermione dragged him in the opposite direction.
"Trust me, we can't do anything for Harry except try and reach Dumbledore. He's the only one who'll believe us."
They ran through the ranks of the black chessmen and out the door that led to the charmed key room.
"Grab a broom, we're going to fly out of here," Hermione ordered.
They both took broomsticks and flew through the last stone passageway and into the first chamber.
"Wait for me to play Fluffy to sleep," Hermione shouted as they sped upwards to the trap door. "Then we can go up into the corridor."
Hermione came to a hovering halt just below the trap door. She could here the growls of the giant three-headed dog just above her. She took out the flute and began to play. After only a few seconds she could hear the dog snoring. With her free hand, she motioned for Ron to go up past her. He did. Then, still playing the flute, she ascended slowly herself. Ron was already by the door, waiting for her. Hermione dismounted her broom and crept over the dog's paws, all while still playing a rather crude melody on the makeshift flute. She didn't pull the instrument from her lips until she was standing at the open door with Ron. She dropped her broom and scooped up the discarded invisibility cloak, cramming it in her robe pocket with her free hand. They rushed out and slammed the door behind them, just as fluffy started to wake up again.
"Well that was easy enough," Ron said wiping sweat from his brow. "Now what?"
"To the owlery," Hermione answered. "Harry wants us to send Hedwig to Dumbledore."
"But that could take hours," Ron said as he ran to catch up with Hermione. "Harry won't be able to last that long with 'you know who.'"
"Do you have a better option?" Hermione asked impatiently as they rounded a corner only to find the way blocked. "Drat. The staircase moved again. Come on, we'll have to take the long way 'round."
Living in a castle where the staircases moved at different times during the day had never bothered Hermione until now. They descended down another flight of stairs and made their way to the entrance hall. From there they could start up to the owlery again.
"We've got to hurry," Hermione panted, clutching a stitch in her side as she started up the main stairs in the entrance hall.
"Mr. Weasley, Ms. Granger," came a voice from behind them.
Hermione whirled around to see none other than Professor Albus Dumbledore standing in the main doorway.
"Professor," Hermione panted, she barely had breath to explain but apparently no explanations were needed. The headmaster's blue eyes were wide with shock and knowledge all mingled together.
"Harry has gone after him, hasn't he?" Dumbledore said in a surprisingly calm voice.
Hermione nodded, dumbstruck. It was like he had known all along.
"I must hurry," He took off up the stairs past them. Hermione would have never guessed such an old wizard could move that fast. Hermione and Ron ran as fast as they could to keep up with him.
"I'm ashamed of myself for not seeing through this rather transparent deception." Dumbledore said as he ran. "It wasn't until I reached London that I realized that this was the very place I needed to be." He bounded up the next flight of stairs.
"We'd just found out earlier that Hagrid had let slip how to get past Fluffy." Ron said through pants. "When McGonagall told us you had left, we knew that Snape would go after the stone tonight."
"Professor Snape?" Dumbledore repeated. "I'm afraid you're mistaken on that point. It's not Snape who is after the stone."
"Huh?" Ron was definitely confused. "But, he let the troll in on Halloween."
"No," Dumbledore said stoically. "There's only one person in this school with the skills to lure a troll. I had just hoped he would come to his senses but I guess he gained more from his time away than he bargained for." They finally reached the entrance to the forbidden third floor corridor. "I want the two of you to go back to your dormitories."
"But Professor," Hermione protested. "I want to go with you. I want to make sure Harry is okay. I won't just leave him alone down there."
"No," Dumbledore said sternly as he pulled out his wand. "I can make it down quicker on my own and I don't want you two getting hurt. Please do as I say."
They watched as he pushed his way into the forbidden corridor and slammed the door behind him. They suddenly heard loud classical music playing.
Ron turned to Hermione, a confused look on his face. "I don't understand; if it's not Snape who's helping 'you know who' then who is it?"
Hermione was replaying the conversation in her head. It suddenly came to her. "Quirrell… it was Quirrell all along. How could we have been so stupid?"
"Quirrell? I don't get it," Ron said still confused. They were walking slowly back to the tower, not in any particular hurry to get there.
"What's the one thing that Quirrell actually knows about when it came to Defense Against the Dark Arts?" Hermione asked rhetorically. "Trolls! But didn't you say he fainted that night on Halloween when the troll got in."
"Right, well old Quirrell would faint if he saw his own shadow; you know that."
"I don't think so," Hermione said pensively. "I think it's all just been an act. I think Quirrell's been the one behind this whole thing and we've just been too thick to realize it."
Ron shook his head. "But Snape was threatening him. He was trying to get Quirrell on his side so he could steal the stone."
"Maybe Snape wasn't threatening him so he could steal the stone, maybe he was trying to keep him from stealing the stone. Snape probably knew all along that Quirrell was a fake and was just trying to stop him by himself, just like we've been trying to do."
"But the quidditch game," Ron reminded her. "Snape tried to kill Harry, remember."
Hermione thought about this. "I don't believe it…" she started slowly. "I think I was wrong."
"Well that would be a first," Ron said sarcastically.
Hermione ignored him, "It was probably Quirrell all along who was jinxing Harry's broom and I just never saw him because I was only looking at Snape. I remember though, when I was running to stop Snape, I pushed Quirrell out of the way."
Ron was still unconvinced. "Well then what was Snape doing."
Hermione thought for a moment. "Maybe he was performing the counter-jinx," she concluded with a shrug.
"Snape, trying to save Harry?" Ron scoffed at the thought. "Hermione you're losing it. I don't care what Dumbledore says, I know it's got to be Sna…" his voice trailed off because strolling right towards them was none other than Professor Snape.
"Ms. Granger, Mr. Weasley," Snape hissed. "I thought I made it clear this afternoon that if I caught you out of bed again, you'd be expelled but you obviously think you're above the rules. I suppose Potter is sneaking around here too. When the headmaster hears about this…"
"Professor Dumbledore already knows we're out of bed. In fact he's probably with Harry right now." Hermione informed him matter-of-factly and with a bit of disdain in her voice.
"What?" Snape looked angry and surprised all at the same time.
"Yes, he's gone down the trap door in the third floor corridor to stop Quirrell and 'you know who' from stealing the Sorcerer's Stone. If you hurry you might be able to catch up with him." Hermione continued past the stupefied professor, dragging an equally shocked Ron with her.
"Hermione!" Ron hissed finally, when they were out of earshot of Snape. "I can't believe you just did that."
"Even if he wasn't the one trying to steal the stone or kill Harry, I still can't stand him." Hermione said scowling. "Come on; let's hurry up and get to the tower. I just remembered something."
"What?" Ron asked.
"Neville."