Stormseeker: Borrowed Destiny

Chapter 10: Gauntlet of Traps

---

Exams are finally upon us. I'd like to think that I've learned a lot this year, or at least I've gotten a solid foundation for my magical skills. I still have a depressingly long way to go, however. There's so much to learn still. But at least I got through the year.

All the while, the Philosopher's Stone is a niggling worry in the back of my mind. I have faith in Dumbledore, and figure that if he thinks it's safe, it's probably safe. But what if Quirrell finds a way past the defenses? He's a teacher, after all. Would Dumbledore have knowingly hired on a teacher that he could not trust? I don't think so. Quirrell might have inside knowledge to help him get in to where the Stone is being kept.

And it doesn't help that Ron and Neville don't believe me about Snape. Neville's been even more nervous in Potions than usual. I wind up pairing up with him just to try to ease his nerves and make sure his potions don't blow up in his face just because of that. We're still both a failure at it, but at least Ron is doing better due to not having to deal with Neville's screw-ups on top of his own.

I think I've done well enough on my exams, for the most part. Nothing spectacular, but passable. Better in some subjects than others. My Transfiguration has definitely improved, for one thing. I'm successfully able to to transform a mouse into a snuffbox, not a particularly fancy one, but without any telltale whiskers left over. My Charms work is sufficient as well. I'm able to make a pineapple dance across a table, even if it did fall off afterward and nearly go dancing out the door. And Potions, well, the less said about that, the better.

The day after exams are over, we're supposed to be relaxing outside, but I can't help but still be worried about the Philosopher's Stone. Are the defenses really going to be sufficient? Well, it couldn't hurt to go check. I'll just slip into the third-floor corridor and take a peek to make sure the three-headed hound is still on watch like it's supposed to be.

Professor McGonagall intercepts me along the way. "What are you doing inside?" she wonders. "Go out and enjoy the sunshine."

"I, er, forgot something," I say. Namely, I forgot to put on my invisibility cloak.

"Very well," McGonagall says with a sigh. "I will escort you to your common room, then."

No use trying to dissuade her. That'll just look suspicious. "Thank you, Professor," I say.

She comes along with me to the Gryffindor common room. "Now, hurry up, young man. I have things to do."

Once in my dorm room, I pull on my invisibility cloak, and then try to slip out past Professor McGonagall. Her back is toward the portrait hole and attention on the stairs to the boy's dormitories, thankfully. I manage to slip out of the common room without attracting her attention. I feel a little guilty about it, as she'll be standing here waiting for a while, though. Oh well. No help for it.

I make my way down to the third floor and over to the forbidden corridor, unlocking the door with a quick "Alohomora." Inside, the three-headed hound is still guarding the corridor... but there's an open trapdoor underneath it this time. That wasn't there before, or at least it definitely wasn't open. Somebody's down there. Or has been down there. I just hope that the Stone hasn't already been stolen.

I should just go and tell somebody about this, but there might not be time. They might be in the process of stealing the Stone even as I try to convince someone that there's a problem. Damn. I decide to try to sneak in myself. The three-headed hound isn't fooled by the invisibility cloak, however. I imagine it can probably smell me and hear me. It's definitely looking straight at me as if trying to decide if something is really there or not.

I make a break for the trapdoor. The huge hound quickly decides that, yes, something is certainly there, and pounces upon me. The cloak is knocked from my body, and razor-sharp fangs rip and tear my flesh apart. A few agonizing moments, and I'm dead.

---

I wake in my dorm room, and rub my eyes with a sigh. Well, that was unpleasant, if not entirely unexpected. How am I supposed to get past the hound? Maybe I can wheedle the information out of Hagrid somehow.

I eat breakfast again, and after we're sent outside to "enjoy the sunshine", I head out to Hagrid's hut. He's currently sitting in a chair outside, working on removing peas from their pods by hand, for some reason. Maybe he thinks it's relaxing or something?

"Hello, Harry," Hagrid says. "How'd your exams go? Got time for a drink?"

"Well enough, I suppose," I say. I wonder how I should approach this. For starters, I head inside and accept the tea Hagrid offers me. At least it's private in here. "Hagrid, you provided the three-headed hound on the third floor to help guard the Philosopher's Stone, right?"

Hagrid almost drops his tea. "How'd you know about Fluffy? And the Stone?"

I stare at him for several moments. "You named a vicious, gigantic three-headed dog Fluffy?"

"Well, yeah," Hagrid says. "He's really a sweet thing, if you know how to handle him. But what are you doing poking into this, anyway? This business is between Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel. You shouldn't be involved at all."

"I think someone's going to try to steal the Stone," I say.

"Now, don't you worry none about that," Hagrid says. "Nobody can get past the defenses the teachers have put around it."

"But what if it's a teacher that tries to steal it?" I ask.

"None of them would do a thing like that," Hagrid says. "And besides, even if they did, they don't know what the other teachers have done. They only know about their own part in the defenses. Why, I doubt they could even get past Fluffy!"

"You haven't told anyone about Fluffy, have you?" I ask.

"Of course not!" Hagrid says. "I'd never intentionally betray Dumbledore's trust in me!"

"What about unintentionally?" I suggest. "Could you have possibly let something slip, perhaps while drunk? Have you made any mention of Fluffy at all to anyone?"

"Well, there was that fellow down at the pub, now that you mention it," Hagrid says. "The bloke I won Norbert's egg from. He was concerned that I might not be able to handle a dragon, and I said after Fluffy, it should be no problem."

I frown faintly. "You've always wanted a dragon, haven't you? Isn't it a little convenient that someone just happened to have one for you, despite their being illegal?"

"Well, he might've been a dragon dealer," Hagrid says. "Didn't really think about it. I imagine he wanted to get it off his hands real quick."

"What did he look like?" I ask. "Tell me everything you remember."

"Didn't get a good look at him. He had a cloak, and he kept his hood up, you see," Hagrid says. "I don't really remember too much, since he kept buying me drinks and all..."

I groan softly. "Go on," I urge him. "Did he seem interested in Fluffy?"

"Who wouldn't be?" Hagrid says. "He's a rare kind, you don't see many like him in this part of the world. I got him from a Greek chappie last year. But I told him, Fluffy's a piece of cake if you know how to handle him. Just play a bit of music and he'll go right to sleep..." Hagrid suddenly looks mortified. "I shouldn't have told you that! Gah, I shouldn't have told him that!"

"Damn it!" I say, shooting to my feet. I rush on out the door, ignoring Hagrid's protests.

I head into the castle, and run straight on into Professor McGonagall again. "What are you doing inside, Potter?"

"I forgot something," I say. Yeah, I forgot to put on my invisibility cloak. Again. I'm such an idiot.

McGonagall escorts me to the Gryffindor common room again. I head on up to my dorm room and decide to poke through my trunk for something to grab, not caring to just leave her waiting there again. Ah! Here's the wooden flute Hagrid gave me for Christmas. I forgot all about that. And never bothered to learn how to play it, either. With that in hand, I head down to the common room again.

I show McGonagall the flute. "Hagrid gave it to me for Christmas," I tell her. "I wanted to entertain my friends with it."

"I see," McGonagall says. "That seems innocent enough. Come along, now. Back outside you go."

McGonagall leaves me outside the castle. Once she's out of earshot, I put the flute to my lips and blow on it a bit. It takes me several tries just to get it to work. Shazmar, I'm terrible at this. No help for it, though. I slip away somewhere out of sight, and throw my invisibility cloak over myself. Time to try this again.

I return to the third floor, cast an Unlocking Charm on the door, and head inside. Here goes nothing. Facing the three-headed hound -- who names a beast like this Fluffy, anyway? -- I put the flute to my lips and attempt to play. Yeah, I'm really bad at this. I manage to get out some random, breathy notes with no discernable tune. Thankfully, giant three-headed dogs don't really know anything about music, and it's close enough. Fluffy drifts off straight to sleep.

I continue playing as I make my way across to the trapdoor, just in case. There's no ladder or anything, so I suppose I'll just have to drop down and hope for the best. Here goes nothing. I fall down, down, down, and just as I'm starting to think this is going to end in a splat, I land with a fwump as something soft breaks my fall.

It seems to be some sort of plant. Good thing it's here. I imagine it was put here so you could get down here without breaking your neck. I go to climb out of the plant. Vines tighten around my limbs. Ah, crap, it's that sort of plant. Silly me for expecting something benign down here. I struggle to extract myself from the vines, only to find a tendril worming its way around my neck. I can't breathe. It's too tight. I'm getting light-headed. How embarrassing, being killed by a damned plant.

---

I wake. Alright, well, at least I know how to get past the dog now. Before going to breakfast, I open up my trunk and pull out the flute, and tuck it away in my robes. But the plant, hmm... I didn't recognize what sort of plant it might be, besides the obvious that it strangled me to death.

Maybe I should ask Neville. He's the resident Herbology expert, after all. I'd rather not have to actually take him along. I'll feel better if I'm only putting myself in danger, after all. So maybe I can think of a way to ask him, discreetly, and figure something out.

I approach him out by the lake after breakfast. "Hey, Neville," I say, sitting down next to him. "You know a lot about plants, right? I expect you aced the Herbology exam."

"I'd be really disappointed if I didn't," Neville says. "It's not like I'm good at anything else. How do you think you did?"

"Eh," I say. "Not so well, I think." I chuckle softly. "I think I'm liable to get strangled to death or something if I ever run across any remotely dangerous or unusual plants."

"Well, there's certainly a few sorts you'd need to watch out for," Neville says. "Although you're not likely to run across them at Hogwarts! Planning a trip to the jungle over the summer?"

"Hey, I might do some traveling in the near future," I say. "There's a whole world out there to see, after all. So, if I'm ever in a damp, dark place being strangled by a vine, what should I do?"

Neville looks at me suspiciously. He's not stupid, and I think I'm being a bit obvious. But he answers the question anyway. "Well, that would depend upon what sort of plant it is. If it's a Devil's Snare, for instance, you'd want to fend it off with bright light or fire. Although, if it's a Demon Vine, it would absorb fire. And if it's a Strangler, light would make it grow faster. And if it's a Moon Tendril, only sunlight would discourage it."

I stare at Neville. "How do you tell the difference?"

"Hmm," Neville says. "Demon Vine is by far the most dangerous of them, but also the rarest. But it's also pretty distinctive. The vines are red and warm to the touch. You'd want to freeze that. Let's see. Moon Tendrils have little white flowers. The biggest difference between a Devil's Snare and a Strangler is that the Devil's Snare has a mass of multiple tentacles, whereas the Strangler has only a single one."

"Plants are complicated," I say. No wonder I'm so bad at Potions and Herbology.

"There's also differences in behavior, of course," Neville says. "With Devil's Snare, it'll tighten itself on you if you try to struggle. Demon Vine is attracted to heat rather than movement, however. Moon Tendrils will only attack males. And Stranglers can hear your heartbeat."

I rub my temples. "I think I'll just... take a walk, and leave the Herbology to you, Neville," I say. "Have fun."

I head off to get somewhere out of sight, and put on my invisibility cloak. I still have no idea what sort of plant attacked me. It's not like I even got a good look at it. It was dark, after all. Oh well, at least I've got a couple things I can try. I sneak off to the third floor and let myself into the forbidden corridor, play my flute badly to get past Fluffy, and drop down into the trapdoor.

Still can't get a good look at the plant. "Lumos," I say. My wand lights up, giving me a good view of the vines. No flowers, no distinctive red color. And the light doesn't seem to be encouraging it overly much. It's also not drawing itself upon me too enthusiastically with me just calmly sitting there. So it must be Devil's Snare.

I poke my lit wand at the vines and try to climb out of the plant. The light isn't very bright and it takes a bit of work to get myself free, but I do manage to extract myself after several minutes. Maybe I should have just burned the damned thing. It would have been quicker.

Letting my wand light my way, I make my way down the corridor, and come upon a large room with a high ceiling. Man, I'm far enough beneath Hogwarts for there to be room enough for this place? High above, there are small winged creatures fluttering about, but they don't seem immediately inclined to attack.

Cautiously, I head across to the far door. Still nothing attacks me. I try the door. Locked, of course. "Alohomora," I say. Hmm, no, still locked. It must be enchanted to prevent that spell from working. I suppose I'll need a key or something. But where?

I look up at the objects flitting about overhead. Are they... glittering? Metallic? Are they winged keys, perhaps? I glance around and notice some broomsticks propped up by one wall. Yes, this must be a test for catching the correct key. I'm screwed. I am so screwed.

No help for it. I sigh and go over to grab one of the brooms, and mount it awkwardly. I fly up into the flock of keys, trying to get a good look at them and figure out which one I'm going to need. They're all different shapes and sizes, different materials, different colored wings. I have my doubts as to whether I can catch even one of these, never mind enough of them to get through the door by trial and error.

I chase after the keys, darting this way and that, trying to reach out and grab one while avoiding falling off my broom. After a couple near-slips, I think I might manage to catch one. I zip after it, stretching out with my right hand to snatch at it.

Crash. I slam squarely into the wall. Gah. Ow. Not again. Head spinning, I go tumbling to the ground. I fall head first at the floor. Impact.

---

I wake, rubbing my head. At least having my skull shattered was a quick death. And at least I've gotten a little further into the trap gauntlet. I'm exhausted, so I pull out some Wideye Potion before retrieving my flute.

I'm going to need to get the help of someone who can fly. I didn't want to involve anyone else, but no way around it. I simply can't do this one on my own. Perhaps someone on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. I'm pretty friendly with the Weasley Twins. Maybe they'll be willing to help.

After breakfast, I catch the two of them outside, huddled up and looking to be preparing their latest prank. I approach them quietly, and say, "Hey. Got a minute? I think I'm going to need your help with something."

"Ah, if it isn't Harry Potter!" Fred says. Or George. Whichever. The one on the left. I mentally assign them names at random until proven otherwise.

"Brother of mine, this might be even better than what we've got planned ourselves," George says.

"What do you have in mind, Harry?" Fred asks.

I give them a wry grin. "This is all a big secret that I'm going to share with you," I say. "You know that third floor corridor? The one forbidden on pain of death?"

"Forbidden on pain of being ripped apart by a three-headed dog," George says.

"Why am I not surprised that you looked inside?" I say, chuckling.

"The very night Dumbledore announced it, of course," Fred says.

I nod. "Dumbledore's keeping something rare and valuable hidden down there, past a gauntlet of protections," I explain. "And I have reason to believe that someone's going to try to steal it. I've managed to learn a bit about the defenses, and I'd like your help in getting past them."

The twins look at me thoughtfully. "Do you know what the object is?" George asks.

"And who would want to steal it?" George adds.

"It's a Philosopher's Stone," I tell them quietly.

They frown in unison. "I've heard of those," Fred says.

"They can transmute gold," George says.

"And brew the Elixir of Life," Fred adds.

"Who wouldn't want that?" George says.

I raise my hand, smirking. "I've no real interest in either of those things. That's not why I'm after it. Although I wouldn't mind studying it, if we can get our hands on it."

"You sure you shouldn't have been in Ravenclaw?" Fred says, chuckling.

"Nah," George says. "Pulling the wool over the eyes of both Dumbledore and the potential thief by going into a dangerous place? That's all Gryffindor."

"So, will you help me?" I ask.

"Of course!" Fred says.

"We'll just need to sneak into the castle without getting caught," George says.

"Let's go," Fred says.

"Oh, another secret for you," I say, pulling them aside to a nook out of sight. "This will help avoid being spotted." I pull out the invisibility cloak.

"Whoa!" George says.

"You have an invisibility cloak?" Fred says.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" George says.

"Where did you ever get it?" Fred says.

"It used to belong to my dad," I say. "Hmm, I think we can all fit under there. Is this thing an invisibility cloak, or an invisibility tent?"

The twins give one another a look, and George says, "Tell you what."

"Since you told us about your secret," Fred says.

"--we'll tell you about ours," George says.

Fred brings out a piece of parchment from his robes. At first glance, it appears to be blank, but Fred touches it with his wand and says, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."

The parchment is suddenly covered with a map of the castle, with little dots, each of them labeled with a name. "Whoa," I say. "That's awesome."

"You can borrow it from time to time, if you like," George says.

"--if you let us borrow your lovely cloak, too," Fred adds.

"Deal," I say, grinning broadly.

Between the cloak and the map, we have no trouble avoiding running across anyone who might catch us. Either one or the other would suffice, but both seems almost like overkill.

"Do you see Quirrell anywhere on the map?" I ask.

"Hmm," Fred says, peering at it.

"Nope," George says. "Nowhere to be seen."

"I guess the place we're going isn't on the map," I say.

We make it to the third floor, and I pull off the cloak and tuck it away outside the forbidden corridor. I pull out my flute, unlock the door, and step inside. I start playing, and Fluffy yawns and curls up to sleep.

"Good thing the dog isn't a music critic," George says.

"Yeah, you're really bad at that," Fred says.

I roll my eyes and point to the trapdoor, continuing to play.

"Alright, alright, we're going," George says.

The twins drop down the trapdoor, and I follow right behind them. Once we land in the Devil's Snare, I ready my wand and say, "Incendio!" Fire bursts from my wand, and the plant shrinks away. "Lumos. Alright, let's go."

We come upon the room with the flying keys. "What are those things?" George says.

Fred squints up. "Those aren't birds."

"Looks like metal," George says.

"The door is locked," I say. "Alohomora. Nope, no good. We need a key."

"Could those be..." Fred says.

"...flying keys?" George finishes.

"But which is the correct one?" I say.

"Leave this one to us," Fred says.

"We're real champions at Quidditch, after all," George adds.

"Alright," I say. "I'll keep an eye out from down here. I'm rubbish at flying, anyway."

The twins grab brooms and zip up into the air. "Wonder what we're looking for?" Fred says.

"Maybe one to match the door," George says.

"Harry!" Fred calls. "Describe the door handle for us!"

I give it a close look. "It's ornate and silver," I reply. "And the keyhole is pretty big."

"So we're looking for a big, fancy silver key, I bet," George says.

I watch them from down below, darting about from this way and that. After several minutes, they catch a key that matches that description, with bright blue wings, one of them appearing to have been bent. They land and set their brooms aside.

"This is probably it," Fred says. He inserts the still-struggling key into the lock and turns. Click. The door opens.

"Got it!" George exclaims. "We are brilliant, brother of mine."

"Yes, we are," Fred agrees.

We head through the door and into the next room. Here, there is a giant chessboard taking up much of the room, with pieces the size of people. Another puzzle? I'm starting to wonder just why Dumbledore set up these sorts of "protections" around the Philosopher's Stone. These are games, not defenses.

"Chess?" George says.

"It's a pity ickle Ronniekins isn't here to see this," Fred says.

"He's that good at chess?" I say.

"He could beat us, I'm sad to admit," George says.

"He could beat anyone," Fred adds.

"I suppose we'll have to play our way across the board," I say. "I'm not very good at this, though."

I take the position of the queen, and Fred and George become the knights. The game looks to be going fairly well at first, but then I get overconfident and make a wrong move. An enemy knight comes in out of nowhere and attacks me. Gah, the movements of the knights always confuse me. I collapse and black out.

---

I wake with a sigh. So close. Perhaps I should have just let Fred and George decide all the moves, instead. And why am I so exhausted? I haven't been awake for that long. Maybe it has something to do with the number of deaths in such a short period, too. I grab a Wideye Potion and down it, snatch up my flute, and head out of the dorm.

After breakfast, I go and catch Ron out by the lake. "Ron," I say. "I think someone's going to try to steal it today."

"You think Snape will try to make his move while everyone's out of the castle?" Ron says.

"It's not Snape, Ron!" I insist. "But right now it doesn't really matter who it is. We've got to stop them."

"Shouldn't we just tell Dumbledore about it?" Ron suggests.

I sigh. "Maybe you're right. Dumbledore will do something, surely."

Neville approaches us. "Hey," Neville says. "What're you up to?"

"We're going to go see Dumbledore," I say. "And warn him that someone's going to try to steal the You-Know-What."

"I'll go with you," Neville says.

I nod. This should be harmless enough. I'd rather claim the Philosopher's Stone for myself, but Dumbledore really ought to be warned, and I do trust him, after all. But he's made mistakes before.

We head up toward the Headmaster's office. Sure enough, we're intercepted by Professor McGonagall along the way. "What are you boys doing inside on such a beautiful day?" McGonagall says.

"We need to see Professor Dumbledore," I say.

"I'm afraid you're out of luck there," McGonagall says. "He left the castle early this morning and won't be back until tomorrow. He's currently visiting the Ministry of Magic."

My heart skips a beat. I didn't realize Dumbledore is out of the castle. What better opportunity to attempt to steal the Stone while he's gone? "Professor," I say. "We think someone's going to try to steal the Philosopher's Stone."

McGonagall drops the stack of books she was carrying. "How do you know about that?" she demands.

"Magic," I say vaguely.

"Well, you don't need to worry yourselves about it," McGonagall says. "I assure you that the Stone's defenses will prove quite adequate. No one will be able to get past them."

I don't mention that a halfway competent group of first years could get past these amazing defenses. I take a deep breath, and keep myself calm. "I'll take your word on that, Professor," I say.

"Good," McGonagall says. "Now, run along outside and play, and don't worry about these things that are none of your business."

The three of us return outside again. Neville says, "You know what this means, right?"

Ron nods. "Yeah," he says. "We're going to need to stop Snape from getting it ourselves."

"It's not-- bah, never mind," I say. "Let's see if we can get some more help with this. It's probably going to be dangerous. How about we go ask Fred and George to lend a hand?"

"Good idea," Ron says. "They're experts in getting into places they aren't supposed to be."

We locate the twins, and I proceed to convince them as I did before. I show them the cloak, and they show us the map. There's too many of us to fit under the cloak, however, so we just use the map this time.

"How long have you had that?" Ron wonders.

"Since our first year," Fred replies.

"Nicked it from Filch's office," George says.

"I bet Mum would've gone spare if she knew the half of what you two get up to," Ron comments. "Do you see Snape anywhere on the map?"

Fred peers at the map for a few moments. "There he is, in his office."

"So he's not going after it right this minute," Neville says.

"I keep telling you, it's not Snape," I say.

"You're the only one who thinks Quirrell is the least bit competent enough to do this," Ron says, smirking. "And what would he do about that dog? Stutter at it?"

I sigh. It's a losing battle, trying to convince them of that. Hopefully it won't matter. We'll get in there and see Quirrell, and they won't be able to argue with that. We get to the third floor and unlock the door. I play my flute to put Fluffy to sleep.

"I'm going to be polite and not comment on your playing," Neville says.

"I'm not," Fred says. "You suck."

I roll my eyes and point at the trapdoor.

"Alright, alright," George says. "Let's go."

I continue playing, and we drop down one at a time, and I come down last. We land in the Devil's Snare, thankfully managing not to land on top of one another, too.

"Don't struggle!" Neville says. "This is Devil's Snare! We need bright light, or fire!"

"Lumos," Ron says. The plant is only slightly discouraged by the faint light.

"Not good enough," I say. "Incendio!"

The plant shrinks away from the fire, and the five of us extract ourselves from the snare. We continue on and get to the room of keys. Neville and I opt to stay on the ground and let the three Weasleys take care of this. It's Ron that winds up catching the correct key, and we move on to the next puzzle.

"Wicked," Ron says, eyes widening upon seeing the giant chessboard. "This one's mine."

I take the queen, the twins take the knights, Ron takes a rook, and Neville takes a bishop. We follow Ron's directions to play our way across the board. I think we're doing pretty good, but I'm hardly one to judge.

"Alright," Ron says. "On this next move, the queen will take me. Neville, you need to make your move after that to put the king in checkmate. It'll be up to the rest of you to stop Snape and get the Stone!"

"Wait a minute," I say, alarmed. "Isn't there a better way to do this?"

"Sometimes sacrifices must be made," Ron says.

"I'm not going to sacrifice my friends!" I exclaim.

"You're not going to," Ron says. "I'm going to sacrifice myself."

Before I can say another word, Ron makes his move. I scream as the enemy queen knocks him out, and realize I'm not the only one screaming. Neville looks as though he might piss himself at any moment, but he keeps his head on and makes the necessary move to checkmate the king and win the game. The pieces bow and leave the board.

Fred and George rush over to their brother's side. "He's just unconscious," Fred says.

"He doesn't look hurt," George says.

"He'll be alright, I'm sure," Fred says.

Why is it that Ron is just unconscious, but I was killed? Does the universe just hate me or something? No matter. I'm relieved that Ron is alright. "Neville," I say. "Could you take Ron and get out of here?"

Neville nods. "Alright."

The twins and I continue on to the next room. This one contains an enormous, rank-smelling troll. Unconscious. I freeze in terror upon seeing it. I know it can't be the same one that killed Hermione, but it's still an unpleasant sight nonetheless.

"What an amazing new smell we've discovered," George comments.

The troll stirs. Shit, it's coming to? The troll climbs to its feet and hefts a giant club. The twins begin shouting spells ineffectually, but I can't move a muscle. The troll swings its club, smashing into Fred. George cries out as his twin slumps down against the wall. Is he dead? I don't know, but he's clearly hurt. I try to make myself move and pull out my wand, but I'm too slow. The club comes down on top of me, crushing my head.

---

I wake, rubbing my head. Ugh, not again. So tired. I fumble around for the box of Wideye Potions and manage to down one. I'm still pretty tired even after that, so I quaff a second one as well.

Alright. That'll do. I pull out my copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and look up the section on trolls. They're resistant to magic, but vulnerable to fire. Good enough.

I grab my flute and head out. Breakfast. Then I collect Ron and Neville, and Fred and George, and the five of us head back to the third floor corridor. Past Fluffy, past the Devil's Snare, past the flying keys, past the chessboard. I send Neville back with the unconscious Ron, and head into the troll room with the twins once again.

"Incendio!" I exclaim, pointing my wand at the troll. A jet of flame strikes the creature, and it shrinks back, roaring in pain. The twins take my hint and hurl fire at the beast themselves. After being bombarded with several spells, the troll collapses against the far wall.

"Is it... dead?" Fred wonders.

"Don't know," I say. "Don't really care, either."

We continue on into the next room. Here, there's a table with several bottles laid out in a row. As we step into the room, purple flames erupt behind us, blocking the door we just came in through. The far door is blocked as well, by black flames.

"What is this?" Fred says.

"We need to figure out which potion to use?" George suggests.

There's a piece of parchment on the table detailing what appears to be a puzzle, clues to determine which potions to use. More games. The troll and the Devil's Snare were the only proper defenses in this entire place! What is Dumbledore playing at here?

I don't understand the puzzle, so I decide to just grab the first potion on the left and try it. "Here goes nothing," I say, downing the contents of the bottle.

It tastes like fire going down, and I quickly realize that I've made a mistake. I die choking in agony as my insides burn up rapidly.

---

Well, that didn't go well. Time to try again. I'll get through there if I have to test every bottle the hard way, damn it! Even as I have the horrible thought of the twins being trapped in that room after watching me die painfully. I shudder involuntarily at the mental image. I down two Wideye Potions, grab my flute, and head out to breakfast.

I collect my four friends, and we return to the third floor corridor, and pass through the puzzles. The twins and I make it back to the potion room. Well, the first bottle was poison, so I try the second one. Hmm, nettle wine. I try the third one. This one feels like ice going down as I feel its magic working on it. Benign rather than deadly magic.

"I think that was it," I say.

"There wasn't enough in there for us," Fred says.

"What will we do?" George asks.

"Wait here, I suppose," I say. "Unless you really want to take your chances and try to figure out which one will take you back."

They nod, and Fred says, "Good luck, Ickle Harrikins."

"Ugh," I say. "Don't mention luck." I chuckle at them, and head on through.