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

Harry, Hermione and Ron walked across the Hogwarts' lawn, having just finished with exams.

"Speak for yourself. All right there, Harry?" Ron checked on his friend, who was pressing the heel of his hand into his forehead.

"My scar," he explained, his face scrunched in pain. "It keeps burning."

"It's happened before," Hermione pointed out.

"Not like this," Harry disagreed, shaking his head.

"Perhaps you should see the nurse," Ron advised.

"I think it's a warning. It means danger's coming," Harry confided. They came to a stop, and he spotted Hagrid outside his hut. "Of course!"

"What is it?" Rosalie asked breathlessly, coming to a stop next to Hermione. She'd been running to catch up with them after exams, and looked over at Hagrid, following the trio's stares.

"Isn't it odd," Harry began as he led the others across the lawn, "that what Hagrid wants more than anything is a dragon, and a stranger turns up who 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?"

Rosalie, completely confused, ran after Harry and the others as they picked up speed.

"Hagrid," Harry began, cutting him off from his flute playing, "Who gave you the egg? What did he look like?"

"I dunno," Hagrid replied, squinting at them, "I never saw his face. He kept his hood up."

"This stranger though, you and this stranger must have talked," Harry pressed.

Hagrid looked thoughtful. "Well, he wanted to know what sort of creatures I looked after. I told 'im, I said that after Fluffy, a dragon's gonna be no problem."

"Did he seem interested in Fluffy?"

"Of course he was interested in Fluffy, how often do you come across a three-headed dog, even if you're in the trade? But I told 'im, I said that the trick with any beast is to know how to calm 'im. Take Fluffy, for example. Play 'im a bit of music and he falls straight to sleep!" He chuckled loudly.

The four students looked at each other, Hermione gasping audibly. Hagrid inhaled, and then said, "I shouldn't have told ya that."

The four students turned and began running back towards the castle, cloaks and hair flying in the wind as they ran. Rosalie nearly dropped her books as she stumbled over a tree root, but managed to find her footing before everything hit the ground. It didn't help that her cloaks were snapping around her feet, similar to how a dress became as you ran. She hoisted the hem up in one hand, determined to keep up with the others.

They burst into Professor McGonagall's classroom, spotting her seated at her desk. She looked up as they ran through the rows of desks, coming to a stop before her. "We have to see Dumbledore! Immediately!" Harry demanded.

The woman surveyed the students. "I'm afraid Professor Dumbledore's not here. He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and left immediately."

"He's gone? Now? But this is important!" Harry protested. "This is about the Sorcerer's Stone!"

Professor McGonagall looked shocked, her lips parting. "How do you know—?"

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

"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," the professor added.

The students surrendered, sighing and shaking their heads as they quietly left the room. Almost right after they exited the classroom, Harry stopped them. "That was no stranger Hagrid met. It was Snape, which means he knows how to get past Fluffy."

"And with Dumbledore gone—" Hermione began, but was cut off by a dull, monotonous voice behind Ron.

"Good afternoon," Snape greeted them. "Now, what would four young Gryffindors, such as yourselves, be doing inside on a day like this?"

He eyed each of them, his stare falling into Hermione as she stammered. "Uh... well—we were just—"

"You ought to be careful," he cut the young girl off, "people will think you're... up to something." He eyed each student again.

Rosalie squinted at the tall professor, unaware Harry held the exact same expression on his face, earning an odd look from Professor Snape. He turned away after giving them all one last glare, stalking back the way he'd come from.

"Well, that's just great," Rosalie stated. "Now what do we do?"

"We go down the trap door. Tonight." Harry informed them, staring after Snape.

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Hermione and Rosalie feigned studying until the last girl went to sleep. Well, Rosalie feigned studying, while Hermione actually took advantage of the time to study. They crept out of the room, meeting Ron and Harry at the top of the stairs. They descended quietly together, dressed warmly. They were stopped by a toad, quickly recognized as Trevor. Rosalie wondered what the toad was doing, especially at this time of night.

"Trevor! Shh, go! You shouldn't be here!" Ron exclaimed in a hushed voice.

"Neither should you." Neville leaned forwards, revealing himself sitting in one of the armchairs dotted around the common room, startling Rosalie . "You're sneaking out again, aren't you?" He rose, moving to plant himself firmly in their path.

"No, Neville, listen. We were—"

"No, I won't let you! You'll get Gryffindor into trouble again! I'll... I'll... I'll fight you!" His fists rose, clearly unsure of just what exactly they were doing.

"Neville, I'm really sorry about this," Hermione apologized as she pulled out her wand. "Petrificus Totalus."

That particular spell left Neville with a harmless but effective total body bind, sending him to the floor, where he landed with a thud. Hermione replaced her wand, earning a disapproving look from Rosalie. "Was that really necessary?" She questioned.

"You're a little scary sometimes, you know that?" Ron asked Hermione, Harry nodding in agreement. "Brilliant, but scary."

They all turned to look at Neville. "Let's go." Harry walked past Neville, the others following suit. "Sorry." Ron apologize, and Rosalie followed suit. "It's for your own good, you know," Hermione added, attempting to make him feel better about having a total body bind on the floor of the Gryffindor common room, in the middle of the night.

They crept along the quietly, just barely managing to keep the cloak wrapped around all four of them. Rosalie was nearly shuffling along sideways to avoid being detected or revealed, the two boys on either side of her and Hermione in front but off to the side. She more had to watch where she placed her feet rather than looking at where she was heading, in order to avoid stepping on anyone's feet. Ron, however, clearly didn't have the same priorities, which Hermione was quick to reveal.

"Ow! You stood on my foot!"

"Sorry." Ron's whispered apology was much quieter than Hermione's voice.

As they neared the locked door, Hermione pulled out her wand. Pointing it at the lock, she whispered, "Alohomora." The unlocking spell did its job, quietly unlocking the door, which swung open, revealing the sleeping, three-headed dog, and some gentle music coming from a harp that seemed to be playing on its own.

"Wait a minute," Harry observed, "he's... snoring."

The cloak slid off of them, and they stood face to face with the sleeping dog.

"Snape's already been here," Harry observed unhappily, "he's put a spell on the harp."

As they approached Fluffy, Ron groaned. "It's got horrible breath." Its breath was also strong, as it blew their hair straight backwards. As they observed the dog, Rosalie pointed at one of its paws.

"We have to move its paw," Harry voiced the thought Rosalie had been dreading to say.

"What?" Ron questioned, clearly certain he'd heard Harry wrong. There was no way they were crazy—or brave—enough to move a sleeping, three-headed dogs' paw off off the trapdoor it was supposed to be guarding. However, their next actions quickly proved them wrong.

Harry, and Ron lined up on one side of the paw, Hermione and Rosalie on the other. "Okay, we'll push, and you pull," Harry instructed. As they did so, one of Fluffy's nails scraped loudly over the wood, resulting in one of the heads sniffing in its sleep. Warily, the four students stood back up, backing away.

Harry opened the trapdoor, gently laying the cover on the floor as to not disturb Fluffy, and they all peered down into the dark hole. "I'll go first. Don't follow until I give you a sign," Harry decided. "If something bad happens, get yourselves out." After a pause, he spoke again. "Does it seem a bit... quiet to you?"

"The harp," Hermione observed, "it's stopped playing."

"If the harp stopped playing, then that means..." Rosalie trailed off as something drooled onto Ron's shoulder. He groans loudly in disgust, wiping what he could off. "Yuck!

They all looked up, coming face to face with and angry Fluffy. As the dog began growling, they quickly jumped down the hole. Rosalie discovered immediately that she'd landed on what seemed to be a tangle of plants, cushioning their fall.

"Lucky this plant thing's here, really," Ron exclaimed.

"Woah!" Harry cried as the plant began moving, stretching and growing as it wrapped itself around the students. Rosalie was quickly left unable to move or defend herself as the plant's tendrils wrapped around her hands, feet, and chest.

"Stop moving, all of you. This is Devil's Snare. You have to relax. If you don't, it will only kill you faster," Hermione quickly informed them.

"What? I didn't plan on dying when I agreed to this!" Rosalie protested, but was unable to struggle, as she was completely bound.

"Kill us faster? Oh, now I can relax!" Ron half-shouted, struggling greatly against the plant.

Rosalie found herself seeming to be engulfed by the plant, her friends' cries following her. She found herself standing below the plant, Devil's Snare, and Hermione quickly joined her. "Just relax!" She called up to the boys.

"Hermione, where are you?" Harry shouted, unable to see where her voice was coming from.

"Do what I say! Just trust me," the girl pleaded.

"It's okay! Just relax," Rosalie agreed.

Harry was the first of the boys to drop down, with Ron shouting for him. "Are you okay?" Hermione questioned.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," he reassured them.

"I don't think Ron's relaxing," Rosalie observed, looking up to where the boy was struggling against the plant and shouting for help.

"Apparently not," Harry agreed.

"We've gotta do something," Hermione insisted.

"Like what?" Harry questioned, completely out of ideas.

"I remember reading something in Herbology. Um... Devil's Snare, Devil's Snare, it's deadly fun... but will sulk in the sun! That's it! It hates sunlight!" Hermione exclaimed. She whipped out her wand, pointing it at the plant. "Lumus Solem."

The plant retracted immediately, pulling away from the sunlight. Ron quickly dropped down through a hole, hitting the ground hard. "Ron, you okay?" Harry questioned, helping him up. "Yeah," the other boy nodded, dusting himself off. He looked up, turning in a circle. "Whew! Lucky we didn't panic."

"Lucky Hermione pays attention in Herbology," Harry corrected him.

A buzzing sound from behind a door caught their attention. "What is that?" The bushy-haired girl questioned.

"I don't know," Harry replied, "sound like wings." He looked back at them before opening the door to a seemingly empty room, until their looked up. "Curious," Hermione whispered, "I've never seen birds like these."

"That's because they aren't birds, they're keys," Rosalie corrected her friend.

"And I'll bet one of them fits that door," Harry agreed.

They came to a stop in front of a broom. After looking it up and down, Hermione faced the others. "What's this all about?" She questioned.

"I don't know," Harry shook his head in reply.

Hermione and Ron approached the next door, while Rosalie wandered to the center of the room, transfixed by the flying keys. She'd never seen such a thing before. Her time at Hogwarts was certainly proving to be the more interesting, scary, and fun time she'd ever had.

"Alohormora!" Ron shouted, rattling the lock. He turned to face Hermione, shrugging. "Well, it was worth a try."

"Ugh! What are we going to do? There must be a thousand keys up there." Hermione was clearly frustrated with the whole situation.

"We want a big, old-fashioned one. Probably rusty, like the handle." Ron decided.

Rosalie looked up, almost spinning in a circle as she searched the crowd of flying keys. All the keys looked exactly the same to her, and she groaned in frustration. "There's so many of them! They all look alike, too." She shook her head, exasperated, but continued searching for the one key they needed.

"There!" Harry's exclamation startled Rosalie , causing her to look away from the keys. "I see it! The one with the broken wing." He watched the key flutter for a moment, and then looked down at the broom. Rosalie immediately knew what he was thinking, and wanted to tell him that she would do it instead, but knew there wasn't much good.

"What's wrong, Harry?" Hermione asked.

He looked up. "It's too simple."

"Oh, go on, Harry! If Snare could catch it on that old broomstick, you can. You're the youngest Seeker in a century!" Ron exclaimed.

"He's right, you know," Rosalie pointed out, "if any of us stand a chance catching that key on a broomstick, it's you."

Harry nodded, looking back to the broomstick with refueled determination. The moment he clasped his hang around the broomstick, however, every single key flew down towards him, flying around him like gnats or flies. Harry swatted at them as he climbed atop the broomstick.

"This complicated things a bit," Ron winced as he watched. Rosalie nodded in agreement, suddenly slightly glad she wasn't the one to be attacked by a bunch of flying keys.

Harry rose into the sky, still swatting at the keys. He seemed to be following the correct key, with all the other keys fluttering behind him. "Catch the key!" He called down to them, tossing it at them as he went by. Hermione caught it, fighting to unlock the door.

"Hurry up!" Ron urged frantically, watching Harry weave around to avoid the keys from attacking him again. They finally tumbled through the door, and waited for Harry to fly in. Once he'd cleared the door, they pushed it shut, listening as the keys pelted the door, some probably getting stuck against it.

Rosalie couldn't figure out just what the next room was about. Large concrete figures resides in a dark room, but she couldn't figure out what on earth they would have to do next.

"I don't like this. I don't like this at all," Hermione whispered.

"Where are we? A graveyard." Harry answered his own question, but Rosalie found it hard to believe that these concrete figures were a part of a graveyard.

"This is no graveyard," Ron disagreed, walking forwards, "it's a chess board."

The room suddenly brightened, showing that Ron was correct. "Well, that's great," Rosalie sighed. "I'm rubbish at chess."

Harry, Hermione and Rosalie followed Ron onto the chess board. "There's the door," Harry pointed at it, which was across the room, behind another two rows of chess figures. They started walking forwards, but just as they were about to pass the first row of figures on the opposite side of the board, they rose, crossing their swords to bar their path. They stepped backwards tentatively, watching as the high red returned to their original poses once the students were far enough away.

"Now what do we do?" Hermione asked in a hushed voice. Rosalie surveyed the room, reevaluating the situation.

"It's obvious, isn't it? We've got to play our way across the room." Ron stepped away and turned to face them, beginning to give directions. "Alright. Harry, you take the empty bishop's square. Hermione, you'll be the queen-side castle. Rosalie, you'll be a rook. As for me, I'll be a knight."

They all went to their respective places, before waiting silently. "What happens now?" Hermione wondered aloud.

"Well, white moves first. And then, we play."

The white side moved a pawn, and Rosalie found it extremely intimidating to watch the large concrete figures slide across the board with seemingly no planning. She wondered if the chess board itself was playing, or if the castle was playing. Either way, she found it either disturbing or incredible that something that wasn't supposed to be able to think for itself was able to do just that. But, she had to remind herself that this was the wizarding world she was in now.

"Ron, you don't suppose this is going to be like... real wizard's chess, do you?" Hermione asked nervously. Rosalie turned to look at Ron, suddenly nervous about his answer. Although she was absolutely rubbish at any and all kinds of chess, she'd watched Ron and Harry play on multiple occasions, and knew what wizarding chess was like.

Ron didn't answer, instead choosing to command a pawn. "You there, D-5!"

The pawn obeyed Ron's command, sliding forwards accordingly. It moved to the square diagonal from the opposing sides' pawn, which promptly pulled out its swords, and crushed the pawn to pieces. Rosalie stifled a gasp, instead biting her lip. She sincerely hopes Ron knew what he was doing, otherwise they were all going to meet the same fate at their pawn.

"Yes Hermione," Ron spoke after swallowing, "I think this is going to be exactly like wizard's chess."

Harry looked around, his mouth open in shock, and Rosalie would have laughed at the expression on Hermione's face if the situation hadn't suddenly become so dire. Instead, Rosalie felt the exact same way, suddenly extremely nervous and unsure of how they were going to complete this challenge. The concrete figures suddenly seemed that much larger and intimidating, and a whole lot more dangerous.

She jumped each time a chess piece was smashed, sending bits of concrete and clouds of dust everywhere. At one point, a share of concrete flew straight towards her, creating a cut on her cheek. Her hand flew up to her face immediately, cupping the wound.

"Alright there, Rosalie?" Ron called out, and she forced a nod before they resumed playing.

"Castle to E-4!"

"Pawn to C-3!"

Harry watched intently, but was forced to duck for cover when the chess pieces directly in front of him were slowly smashed to pieces. Each time a piece was destroyed near one of them, another would call out to check that they were alright.

"Wait a minute," Harry began, looking around at the board.

"You understand right, Harry?" Ron asked. "Once I make my move, the queen will take me. Then you're free to check the king."

"No. Ron, no!" Harry protested immediately, shaking his head.

"What is it?" Hermione questioned almost hesitantly.

"He's going to sacrifice himself," Harry explained, his eyes never leaving Ron.

"No, you can't! There must be another way!" Hermione quickly joined Harry side, protesting against Ron's plan.

"They're right," Rosalie agreed with a sinking feeling in her stomach that no matter how much they protested again the plan, Ron would still follow through with it, "you can't. We'll figure something else out, but you can't sacrifice yourself."

"Do you wanna stop Snape from getting that Stone or not?" Ron spun around. "Harry, it's you that has to go on. I know it. Not me. Not Hermione, not Rosalie. You." He took a deep breath before grabbing hold of the chess piece he was sitting on. "Knight to H-3."

Rosalie felt completely helpless watching Ron move across the board. She absolutely despised that feeling, wishing they'd come up with a better way to get across the board.

"Check," Ron whispered. The queen slowly turned around, almost seeming to take its time. It moved across the board, sliding closer and closer to Ron. Pulling out the sword, it stabbed a hole directly through the knight's middle, knocking off Ron. He yelled as he fell, before hitting the ground as shards rained down around him, unconscious.

"Ron!" Harry shouted. Hermione moved to go to his side, but was immediately stopped. "No! Don't move! Don't forget, we're still playing."

Harry moved across the board as Hermione resumed her spot and Rosalie stood stock still, stopping in front of the king. "Checkmate," He said firmly.

The sword from the king fell straight forward, clattering onto the board. The moment the sword stopped moving, the trio rushed to Ron's side.

"Take care of Ron, then go to the owlery. Send a message to Dumbledore. Ron's right, I have to go on." Harry looked towards the exit, his face determined.

"I'll go with you," Rosalie immediately volunteered herself. Harry shook his head in response. "No, you heard Ron—"

"Whatever's behind those doors, you shouldn't have to face alone. I'm not saying you can't face it alone or handle it, but you should have to face it alone," Rosalie explained quickly. "And besides, if something goes terribly wrong, I'll go for help."

Hermione nodded in agreement. "It's the wise thing to do," she backed Rosalie up. "You'll be okay, you're both great wizards. You really are."

Harry shrugged. "Not as good as you." Rosalie nodded in agreement. There was no doubt Hermione was already the best witch of their age.

Hermione chuckled. "Me? Books and cleverness. There are more important things. Friendship and bravery. And, both of you, just be careful."

The two nodded, before standing. Rosalie followed Harry as they walked across the board, Hermione looking after them.