The-Trapdoor-Challenges.

Well, here we are, - Said Harry in a whisper to the others. - Damn it, Quirrell's already passed Fofo. - He continued, seeing the trapdoor wide open with the sleeping Cerberus.

Harry turned to the others. He still kept to the idea of preserving both of them, because he really didn't want to force them into it, with only Tonks being an exception, since she had complained a lot about the monotony of this end of her year and wanted to be able to leave on a high note.

- If you want to go back, it's ideal now. You can take your cloak, I won't need it now.

- Don't be stupid. - Neville replied, with his unique way that surprised everyone, as they hadn't seen it in him before.

- We're going with you. - Said Hermione, convinced to stay by her best friend's side, after everything he'd done and confronted to protect her this whole year.

Seeing a nod from Ron and a smile on Tonks' face, Harry could only sigh in frustration at the madness they were about to get into.

When the first step had been taken towards the trapdoor, Harry had noticed that there was a harp at the back of the room and, to his confusion, the melody from a few seconds before was no longer being played.

Only growls reached their ears. The three dogs' snouts sniffed furiously as they stood up. Taking a step back, Harry soon noticed the affectionate look on the three dogs' heads.

Stepping forward: A growl.

Step back: A docile puppy face.

I step forward: A growl and a threat to advance.

Step back: A happy wag of the tail.

- So that's the limit, Harry, what should we do? - Tonks asked, already thinking of drawing her wand, but Potter's hand stopped her.

- What's it doing here? - Hermione whispered in the direction of the harp. It certainly wasn't the last time she had come.

- It sounds like a magic harp. - Ron replied, while Harry took the opportunity to stroke the dog in its safe confines. - Snape must have left it there.

- It was playing while we were talking a few minutes ago. He wakes up the moment you stop playing, maybe some kind of spell to deactivate the harp when someone tried to enter. - Said Harry, not giving a damn about Weasley who still believed it to be an evil plan by Slytherin. - Well, using our wands or any magic will be met with an attack... let's go then: - Harry explained as he slowly put his hand into his trouser pocket, under the scrutiny of three huge heads ready for any sign of threat.

He pulled out a slightly long object he had gotten from Hagrid for Christmas, brought it to his lips and blew. It wasn't really a complex tune that the flute emitted, but a slow, calm soundtrack that they had always heard Hagrid play.

The three-headed beast swayed its tail slightly to the rhythm of the music as it slowly lay down, its eyes darting slowly and calmly as Tonks took the opportunity to pet the three-headed dog, allowing it to doze off slightly.

Slowly, the dog's grunts ceased, with only the sound of triple breathing.

- Keep playing. - Ron warned Harry, as this time his whole body came out from under the cloak. He headed towards the trapdoor.

- I think we'll be able to open the door. - Said Ron, peering over the dog's back. - Do you want to go in first, Hermione?

- No, not me! - Hermione denied it, as if he were crazy.

- All right. - Ron gritted his teeth and stepped cautiously around the dog's legs. Then, bending down, he pulled on the trapdoor ring, which opened.

- What do you see? - Hermione asked anxiously.

- Nothing... just darkness... there's no way down, we'll have to jump. - Ron explained.

Harry, who was still playing the flute, signaled to attract Ron's attention and pointed at himself.

- Do you want to go first? Are you sure? - Ron said. - I don't know how deep this thing is. Give the flute to Hermione to keep Fluffy asleep.

Harry handed her the flute. In those few minutes of silence, the dog growled and stirred, but as soon as Hermione began to play slightly out of tune due to lack of practice, as she said she had given up studying after coming to Hogwarts, he fell back into a deep sleep; it might not have been as good a tune as the one Harry was playing, but it still worked.

Harry stepped over Fluffy and peered through the trapdoor. He saw no sign of a bottom.

He lowered his body through the hole until he was hanging by his fingertips, then he looked up at Ron and said:

- If anything happens to me and I stop talking, don't follow me. Tonks is more than capable of protecting everyone while I see what's down there. - Harry explained to the girl, smiling at her as he continued to pet Cerberus. - Use it if you have to... I'll see you in a bit, I hope... - Harry said, unbuckling the belt that held the scabbard of his sword.

- Right. - Neville said, receiving the belt with the heavy blade as he tied it around his waist.

And Harry let go. A cold, damp wind rushed past him and he fell, fell, fell, fell and, after sixty seconds of a rapid fall, he finally felt something solid.

With a funny, deaf thud, he hit something soft. He sat up and felt around, his eyes unaccustomed to the darkness. He seemed to be sitting on some kind of plant.

- All right! - He shouted to the seal-sized light above, which was the open trapdoor. - The fall is magically soft, you can jump.

Ron followed him immediately. He fell sprawling next to Harry:

- What's that? - Those were his first words.

- I don't know, some kind of plant. I suppose it's here to cushion the fall, even if it doesn't make sense. - Harry explained. - Come on, Neville.

Jumping up quickly, Harry could see the same man getting to his feet, only for the music upstairs to finally stop with a double female scream, one frightened and the other euphoric.

Along with a loud triple bark, Hermione and Tonks finally collapsed, with Harry seeing the two in front of him completely fine.

- We must be miles below the school. - Tonks commented.

- It's really lucky that this plant is here. - Ron said.

- Lucky! - Hermione shouted. - Look at you two.

She jumped up and struggled to reach the damp wall. She had to struggle because, as soon as she reached the bottom, the plant began to twine like the tendrils of a vine around her ankles. As for Harry and Ron, their legs had already been tightly bound by long branches without them noticing.

Hermione had managed to pull herself free before the plant had a real hold on her. Now she watched in horror as the two boys struggled to free themselves from the plant, but the harder they tried, the faster and tighter the plant wrapped itself around them.

Tonks seemed extremely calm in the situation, and Neville analyzed everything as if trying to remember something.

- Stop moving! - Neville ordered. - I know what that is. It's devil's mink! - He said, with Tonks laughing at the boy's logical thinking.

- Ah, I'm so glad you know what it's called, it's a great help. - Grumbled Ron, trying to stop the plant from getting tangled in his neck.

- Shut up! I'm trying to remember how to get out of it alive. - Neville said.

- Well, come on, mate, I'm going to die like this. - Harry gasped in pure irony, with only his head free of the plant and a look of pure boredom.

- Devil's mink, devil's mink... What did Professor Sprout say? It likes damp and darkness...

- Then set it on fire! - Harry choked, now afraid of the plant, since it was making not-so-innocent signs towards his mouth with that protruding, suggestive vine. - Holy shit, the plant is crazy.

- É... Of course... but there's no wood... - Hermione lamented, further away from them.

- COME ON, I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE. - Ron became exasperated when he saw Tonks being pulled down the stairs because she was barely moving.

- Neville... - Harry said, staring at his wand.

- Oh, right! - Neville said and, pulling out his wand, shook it, muttered something and shot out a jet of blue flame that Hermione recognized as the one he had used on Snape in the Quidditch match.

In a matter of seconds, everyone felt the plant loosen and shrink away from the light and heat. Twisting, it unfurled itself from the bodies of the boys, who were able to stand up.

- Lucky you pay attention to your Herbology lessons, Neville. - Said Harry, massaging his neck lightly with a mental note not to leave Herbology as a second option.

- Yeah. - Said Ron. - And it's lucky he didn't panic. - He pretended as if he hadn't been desperate before.

- But tell me, Tonks, why were you pulled down? - Harry asked.

- Devil's mink is not an extremely wild plant, you avoid moving and showing threat and it loosens its grip. - Tonks said with a smug laugh. - But never mind, let's go that way. - She said, pointing to a stone corridor that was the only way through.

- Wild, the plant's a freak, that's what it is. - Harry said, huffing and walking after her, whereupon the shapeshifter hugged him, trying to comfort her boyfriend in the face of the plant that, just a few seconds ago, was starting to want to deflower his mouth.

[ ... ]

All they could hear apart from their footsteps were the muffled drips of water running down the wall. The long corridor began to descend and Harry remembered Gringotts. With a jolt, he remembered the dragon that was said to guard the bank's safe deposit box. If they came across a dragon, an adult dragon... Then things would get crazy.

Harry was already becoming fanatical about beasts, mythological animals and rare specimens. Imagine finding another dragon right here, then he'd go crazy and steal everything.

- Do you hear something? - Ron whispered.

Harry sharpened his ears. A rustle accompanied by a metallic noise seemed to be coming from further ahead, but even further away he could hear a roar like that of the troll who had threatened Hermione in the past, and a sound that followed that sounded like a fight.

- Do you think it's a ghost? - The red-haired man continued.

- To me, they look like... wings. - Tonks commented curiously.

- There's light ahead, I can see something moving. - Harry said as he stood in front of everyone.

They reached the end of the corridor and came across a brightly lit chamber with a high vaulted ceiling. It was full of little birds, sparkling like jewels, which fluttered and bumped around the room. On the opposite side of the chamber, there was a heavy wooden door.

- Do you think they'll attack us if we go through the chamber? - Neville asked.

- Probably. - Harry replied. - They don't seem very brave, but I suppose if they all dived in at the same time... Well, I'll lead the way.

He took a breath, covered his face with his arms and ran across the chamber. He expected to feel sharp beaks and claws attacking him at any minute, but nothing happened. He reached the door unscathed. He turned the handle, but the door was locked.

- "Son of a bitch, couldn't I be fucking lucky that this door is unlocked?" - Harry cursed to himself.

The other four followed. They pushed the door open, but it didn't even budge, not even when Hermione tried her Alohomora spell or Harry tried to kick it down, an act repeated by Neville, who tried to stab the door and almost fell over under the weight of his sword.

- What now? - Ron asked.

- These birds... they can't be here just to decorate. - Hermione said.

They watched the birds flying overhead, shining. And, as Harry saw it, there was something different about them: they weren't birds, they had wings, but they were something else.

- They're not birds! - Harry suddenly exclaimed. - They're keys! Look closely. So that must mean... - And he looked around the chamber while the other four squinted to see the bunch of keys overhead.

- Look! There are some brooms! So... one of the keys must be the right one.

- But there are hundreds. - Tonks said while examining something else.

Hermione examined the lock and then dictated:

- We're looking for a very large and old key, probably gold, like the doorknob.

Harry, beginning to theorize something in his mind, soon noticed a connection in the previous tests, but he still didn't know anything, so he just aimed to get on a broomstick and boost it into the air, aiming for the middle of the cloud of keys.

He tried to grab them, but the enchanted keys ran and dived so fast that it was almost impossible to catch one.

But it was no wonder that Harry was the youngest catcher of the century. He had a knack for finding things that the others didn't. After a minute of weaving through the whirlpool of wings, he started looking for something unique, just like a game of Quidditch, but here there were hundreds of keys and he had to find the golden apple.

He noticed a large silver key with a bent handle, as if it had already been picked up and slipped into the lock. He noticed it and immediately rushed after it, while all the keys immediately aimed to follow, like blades about to strike him.

- That one! - He shouted to the others. - That big one... there... no... there... with the strong blue wings. The feathers are all crumpled on one side.

Harry dived, shot upwards, the key dodged with every maneuver and Harry kept going after it. The key ran into the wall, Harry bent forward and, with a nasty thud, pinned it against the stone with his hand. Ron and Hermione's cheers echoed through the chamber.

However, Neville and Tonks kept their guard up, and Harry was still on their tail.

He lowered his flight quickly to the ground, but without going straight at his friends. He threw the key to Tonks, who grabbed it and smashed into the door, unlocking it.

All that had happened was in a few seconds, with Harry performing one last loop in which he jumped off his broom towards the open door, which could only be closed with the continuous sound of hundreds of keys being brutally slammed into the door.

- Whew... that was intense. - Harry had said, standing up immediately, with Tonks jumping on him euphorically.

- Not as intense as what will happen when we leave here. - The shapeshifter whispered mischievously in his ear, to Potter's laughter.

- Do you want to keep traumatizing the children? - Harry whispered to her, who could only laugh at the blushing state of the other three presences.

Then, looking around, they noticed that the next chamber was so dark that they couldn't see anything at all. But as they entered, light unexpectedly flooded the room, revealing a surprising scene.

They were standing on the edge of a huge chessboard behind the black pieces, which were all taller than them and carved out of a material that looked like stone. Facing them, on the other side of the chamber, were the white pieces. Everyone felt a slight chill at the sight of the blades that the starting pawns held, and according to what Ron theorized, this could become a massacre based on what would influence this early game.

- Now, what are we going to do? - Harry whispered.

- It's obvious, isn't it? - Ron said. - We have to play to get to the other side of the chamber.

Behind the white pieces, they could see another door.

- How? - Hermione asked nervously.

- I think we're going to have to turn pieces. - He walked over to a black horse and stretched out his hand to touch its rider. At the same moment, the stone came to life. The horse patted the board and its rider turned his helmeted head to look at Ron.

- Do we have to join you to get to the other side? - The black knight nodded. Ron turned to the other two.

- I suppose one more of you will have to ride the other horse, while the rest of you replace some of the parts. - Harry and Hermione remained quiet, watching Ron ponder. Finally, he said: - Now, you won't be offended, but neither of you is that good at chess...

- We're not offended. - Harry interrupted quickly. - Tell us what we're going to do.

- Well, Neville, you take the place of that Bishop and Hermione, you stand next to him, replacing the nearest Rook. Tonks, get on the other horse.

- And Harry, you have to be the King. - Ron finally dictated, while he was already formulating some strategy for the game he would lead.

The pieces seemed to be listening, because when they heard this, a bishop, a rook and the king himself turned their backs on the white pieces and left the board, leaving three empty squares, which Harry, Ron and Hermione occupied with Tonks jumping over the remaining knight piece.

- In chess, white always plays first. - Explained Ron, looking at the board. - And then... we play.

A white pawn has advanced two squares.

Ron began to command the black pieces. They moved silently, going where they were told. Hermione's knees trembled. What if they lost?

Of all the people who moved and went to each position, Harry was the only one who didn't move at all. But he wouldn't complain, because Ron was the expert there, his way of commanding and reasoning in the game was truly unique and, if he used it in his daily life, he would notice that he was a much better person than the little boy with fits of jealousy and inferiority to his brothers.

- Neville, move four squares diagonally to the right.

- Ron, you don't think this game is really going to be like real Wizard's Chess, do you? - Hermione asked, afraid of what would happen.

The first real shock they got was when the other rook was eaten. The White Queen smashed it on the ground and dragged it off the board, emphasizing the royal massacre of a Witch's Chess.

- Yes, Hermione... I think it's just like Wizard's Chess. - Said Ron, looking shaken. - Go on, you're free to eat that Bishop, Hermione, come on.

Every time they lost a piece, the white pieces showed no mercy. Soon, there was a collection of inert black pieces leaning against the wall. Twice, Ron noticed, on top of the move, that Tonks and Hermione were in danger. He himself shot across the board, eating almost as many white pieces as the black ones they had lost.

- We're almost there. - He muttered suddenly after yet another piece was destroyed on his side. - Let me think... let me think... - The brutality of the white pieces was something to mess with anyone's head.

The White Queen turned her blank face to him.

- Wait a minute... what's this business? - Harry muttered, worried about the path the queen was aiming for.

- You understand, don't you, Harry? - He continued quietly. - When I make my move, I'll be attacked.

- WHAT! - Hermione, Tonks and Neville shouted in chorus.

- This is chess! - Ron retorted. - You have to make some sacrifices! I move forward and she hits me, leaving Hermione free to checkmate the King.

- But... - Harry tried to say.

- Do you want to stop Quirrell from getting the stone or not? - The red-headed boy finally said, for the first time convinced that it wasn't Snape looking for the stone. His prejudice against Slytherin didn't affect his intensity in the game.

- Ron... - Hermione murmured, frightened by everything.

- Harry, it's up to you to carry on, we don't know how many more tests there will be, when that happens, you'll need Hermione, Neville and Tonks with you! - Ron said, his face pale but determined.

- Whew... Horse on H-3 - Ron said, sighing as his play went ahead.

Mere seconds seemed like centuries in everyone's view, arriving at his post, his position still targeted by the enemy Queen, and soon he dictated:

- Check!

The white queen, who until then had been standing still, soon changed course and headed towards Ron, his pale and frightened face was noticeable, but his eyes showed his courage not to jump out of his role there.

It was a matter of a single stroke, a blow from the sharp blade to the horse's thorax aimed at tearing it apart, with Ron falling from his four-meter height.

The pieces were falling on him, practically burying him, making everyone notice in sheer despair that he wasn't moving.

Trembling, Hermione tried to move to Weasley's aid...

- No! - Harry shouted to the girl's fright. - Don't move sideways, we're still playing.

- Go on, Hermione, you just have to finish the game and then we'll rescue him. - Harry explained, with the trembling girl agreeing as she walked forward to the enemy King's position.

Neville was more to the left and Tonks more to the right, prompting the girl to dictate:

- Check Mate. - She said with conviction as she watched the king's great sword leave her hands in a sheer crash.

That was it. They had won the game. The pieces moved sideways and curved, leaving the way clear to the door ahead. With one last desperate look at Ron, they were soon off the board as they cleared the rubble off it.

- What if he? - Neville said, already thinking the worst.

- He'll be fine. - Tonks said, using healing magic on the little boy. - We're lucky it's just a concussion. Let's leave him here in the corner with a protection spell, who knows what's coming next could be much worse and really put him at more risk.

- What do you think is going to happen now? - Hermione asked shakily, with Harry calming her down by holding her hand.

- Knowing the Herbology teacher well, I believe we had the protection of Sprout, the Devil's Visage. - Neville told her what he thought.

- Flitwick must have enchanted the Winged Keys. He's one of the best spell teachers and a professional duelist. - Tonks explained with the key in hand, handing it to Harry, who put it in his pocket.

- Mcgonagall probably planned the Wizard's Chess. That's why she explained that the Stone was so safe. - Harry dictated, remembering a long time ago.

- Quirrell's challenge and Snape's are missing. That's if we follow the logic that it's these professors who are looking after the defenses of the Philosopher's Stone. - Hermione said, trying to imagine what was to come as they walked towards the other door.

- Are you all right? - Harry whispered to his friends, as he took one last look at Ron, who had a blue dome of defense around him.

- Let's go. - They answered, with Harry pushing the door open.

A horrible stench entered their nostrils, making them both pull their robes up to cover their noses. With their eyes watering, they saw, far ahead, walking aimlessly and snorting heavily, a Troll even bigger than the one Harry had faced when he had his first Obscurial appearance.

It was possible to see a wound on his arm, and he looked very angry. And when he felt the breeze coming from the open door, he could smell the perfumes of everyone in the room, and he turned with a grotesque face towards Tonks and Hermione.

- Disgusting... - Tonks said with a scowl at the monster's sickly, malicious face. - Let's get this over with, I can't breathe properly. - She continued as she withdrew her wand and prepared for a confrontation.

- Wait... - Harry dictated to his girlfriend. - Take Neville with you, I want him to take part in this. - Harry explained, under the boy's worried gaze.

- Harry, I don't know if I can do it. - Neville said, trying to imagine what crazy thing his best friend was trying to do. - I'm not even used to offensive spells.

- I think you have something very offensive on you. - Harry said in reference to the blade Neville had been carrying until now. - Use it... this will be a path to justice against the attempt on your parents' lives.

- Just as I'm going to confront Voldemort for justice for what he did to my parents, I want to see you confront your fears and not hide your true self for fear of what people will think. - Harry explained with a smile. - Come on, I've already defeated one, it's easy.

- You forgot to say that you became a dark and destructive flying mass, didn't you, Harry? - Hermione said ironically, under Potter's steady gaze.

- You're absolutely right. - He replied wryly. - But the result was that I saved you.

- Go on, Neville, finish off the slug, I don't want to die here. - Harry said, feigning fear as he sat down on the floor. Under the laughter of Tonks, who was currently keeping the troll immobile with a sharp flick of her wand.

- Damn... - Neville said, astonished by the way his friend was acting.

Drawing the katana at his waist, Longbottom quickly inhaled and exhaled deeply, in a way to control the trembling of his hands.

- Listen, Neville. - Tonks began, with her wand pointed in the direction of the slug that had just been freed from its magical restraint. - There are several ways to stop a large opponent like that.

- In particular, I'd take care of the club he's carrying, you never know when he's going to make fun of himself by throwing it at someone at full speed, but... as we're in a duo, we'll make very quick work of it.

- You run up behind him, stab him in the back of the knees and walk away. He'll probably lose his balance and fall forward, which is where I finish.

Seeing the little boy nod while showing great nervousness, Tonks could see that Harry was doing this so that in the future his friend wouldn't be so nervous about his lack of confidence in his abilities.

- All right... let's go! - She ordered, with the little boy running to the other side of the room.

Taking another deep breath, Neville sharpened his eyes with the sole thought that it would make him stronger and maybe one day his parents would see him as someone powerful.

Sneaking up to the Troll's back, who was about to drag his club towards Tonks and her friends, Longbottom wasted no more time, and with a long horizontal stroke using all his strength not to fall with the sword, it was possible to see how sharp this blade was, because even without any practice, the effect was enormous.

The Troll grunted loudly and angrily as he knelt on the ground from the excruciating wound he had received from his left leg to his right. It hadn't been a professional martial skill, but a simple blow that had caused a great deal of damage with the right blade.

- MAXIMUM BOMBARD! - That's what Tonks conjured up, with a very happy face for using a great spell.

And the result, of course, was inevitable. Hearing a grotesque explosion, Neville immediately looked up, where to his shock, thinking that the bombard spell would only cause a mere explosion or colorful effect, he saw a head inevitably explode with a lot of blood spurting everywhere, especially where he was standing.

- Okay... that was unexpected. - Harry said as he imagined Tonks disconcerting the troll and not murdering him.

- Sorry... - Tonks said, scratching the back of her head, only for her first step away from the troll to cause her to trip and fall when her rare magic took a few centimeters off one of her legs.

- Ah... it was about time. He was even surprised that his stubborn side had disappeared for a few moments. - He answered her, who had childishly punched him in the arm with an embarrassed face.

- People! Neville. - Hermione said exasperatedly, with everyone ignoring the catatonic boy on his feet.

- Are you all right, kid? - Harry asked, touching him on the arm as he had his head down.

- I think so... Grandpa will be proud that I helped kill a wild troll. - He said softly.

- Come on, man, you saved me too, you saved Hermione... and well, Tonks did what she does best. - Harry said, with her hugging him comically.

- Did I save you? - He said looking up and now with his eyes shining, even though he was covered in blood, there was a clear new emotion in those little eyes. Harry didn't know very well, but his role in taking Neville under his wing in order to make him a strong man was guiding him forward, but also towards something else.

His eyes gleamed with something Harry knew very well, something he had been searching for long before his metabolism changed, eyes that looked for any sign of hope and acceptance, a look that searched for the truth in knowing if he had really been useful and not a nuisance.

Facing Tonks, who smiled at him, Harry quickly replied:

- Of course, and that's just the beginning. I'm going to need someone with the courage to stand up to a troll to watch my back for years to come... You never know when more threats might arise when I enter my inert state of self-study, and I'm relying on you for that.

Seeing that the boy soon smiled to himself at what he had heard, and Hermione seemed to see something else that Harry didn't notice, she soon approached Neville and began to talk to him with a touch on the shoulder.

- Very well... we still have more challenges to complete. - Harry explained, taking the katana from Neville. - Tonks, please take care of him, I don't think he even noticed. - Potter finished in a whisper to the little boy, who still kept his eyes shining in recognition, barely noticing the blood-soaked state and pieces of the Troll's head.

Walking beside Hermione to the next door, she finally said:

- It's really nice what you did to him. - Hermione said, with Harry laughing internally.

- I don't know what you're talking about... I just asked him to slice off a troll's leg. - Harry ran away from the subject, with Hermione laughing, following him.

Feeling the girl grasp his hand as tightly as he had at the end of the board, he waited for her to say something while he returned the touch by entwining his fingers in hers:

- Do you think there's something even more dangerous than a troll in there? - She asked fearfully.

- Quite possibly, but whatever's in there, I want you to see if you can sort it out... remember that I'm here, so is Neville and there's even an aspiring Auror. - Harry explained, pulling her through the door.

Hermione hardly dared to look at what followed, but when Harry asked her to trust him and open her eyes, she could see that there was nothing very frightening there, just a table and seven bottles of different shapes on it.

- It's Snape's. - Harry said. - So the previous one was Quirrell's... What a bastard, so he was the one who released the Troll in the dungeons, ages ago. - Harry explained in pure reasoning.

- What do we have to do? - Neville asked curiously, his body clean of all the blood, but not his clothes.

As they crossed the threshold, flames immediately erupted behind them. These were no ordinary flames, nor were they blue. At the same time, they could see the black flames already burning on the door ahead.

They were trapped and Harry understood that only a creature of fire could get through this, without any problems with potions or defenses. Feeling the creature rummaging quietly in his pocket, he laughed as at least one escape plan for his family was safe.

- It's Cursed Fire... Harry, that's evil. - Tonks said, startled by flames so different in color from the usual forbidden spell. - Damn, it must be Dumbledore's defenses.

- Hm... Dumbledore is it? - Harry muttered, wondering if he knew about Quirrell.

- Look!" Hermione picked up a roll of paper from beside the bottles. Harry peered over her shoulder to read the paper:

"Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,

Two of us will help you, whichever 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 for evermore,

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 onwards 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 let out a great sigh and Harry, perplexed, saw that she was smiling, the last thing he thought of her doing just then.

- Great! - She said euphorically. - This isn't magic, it's logic, a riddle, most great wizards don't have a shred of logic, they'd be stuck here forever.

- And us too, right? - Tonks said with a laugh shared by Harry, who really was the worst person to unravel a riddle.

- Of course not. Everything we need is right here on this piece of paper. Seven bottles: three contain poison, two contain wine, one will help us pass safely through the black flames, and one will take us back through the blue flames.

- But how do we know which one to drink? - Neville asked, still confused, because potions really weren't his strong suit, since Snape only harassed him in class.

- Give me a minute. - Hermione read the paper several times. Then she looked up and down the row of bottles, muttering to herself and pointing at the bottles. Finally, she clapped her hands. - I've got it. The smallest bottle will get us through the black flames, towards the stone.

Harry aimed at the bottle.

- There's only enough for one of us. Not even a sip.

They looked at each other and then at Harry, with an understanding look that he was the guinea pig.

- Which one will make you go back through the blue flames? - He asked, with Hermione pointing to a rounded bottle at the right end of the row.

And he noticed that the potion in question had a larger quantity, specifically enough for three people. Something that made Harry sharpen his gaze in suspicion of why it had that amount, everything seemed to be very well manipulated to his liking.

- You drink that. - Said Harry, to the protest of the three of them. - Now, listen, my scar is throbbing just as a sign that something really dangerous is inside.

- I want you to go back and collect Ron, get the spare brooms from the winged key chamber, they'll take you out of the trapdoor and over Fofo. Go straight to the owlery and send Hedwig's to Dumbledore, we need him for whatever comes of this.

- Maybe I can hold Quirrell off for a while, or really screw everything up. But I don't want whoever comes out of there to see the three of you and an unconscious Ron, you've been with me long enough.

- But Harry, what if You-Know-Who is with him? - Tonks asked, knowing how worried her mother had been about Harry's headaches and how he had left a security letter with information and clues about everything that had led him to hunt down Quirrell, strongly suspected of being the former Dark Lord.

- There's certainly something of Voldemort in there, but I'll only find out about my past if I go and confront him.

- Guys, I'm not a professional wizard, I'm a pumped-up first grader with a photographic memory. - Harry explained ironically with a laugh.

- I at least need you to complete this, and bring a competent wizard while I try to hold off whoever is trying to steal the Philosopher's Stone. Besides, I'm always pretty lucky, aren't I? - Harry said, pointing to the scar. - Maybe I'll get lucky again in a case of life and death.

Hermione's mouth twitched and she suddenly ran to Harry, hugging him tightly as he returned the embrace.

- Hermione. - Harry tried to say.

- Harry, you're a great wizard, you know that?

- I'm not as good as you. - Said Harry with her in his arms.

- Promise me you'll come back to me... you're my best friend. - She said with tears in her eyes as she remembered how many people had tried to treat her badly during her first year at Hogwarts, but Harry had always protected her, even against Ron.

- Of course... I've survived death, whether in the magical world or the non-magical world. - Harry explained. - Come on, I want to go and kick Voldemort's ass. - Harry said wryly, his forehead hurting even more.

Having let go of Hermione, Harry soon received another hug, but now with the addition of a very intense kiss from Nynphadora.

- Hm... that was good. - Harry said, stunned, as she laughed.

- Just focus on the fact that you'll have a lot more of me and my mother when you get out of here alive, and throw it in the face of the whole of Hogwarts that you stole the Philosopher's Stone to stop a thief from stealing it. - The shapeshifter replied with another kiss, then walked away, with Harry continuing to find their logic of stealing something to stop a thief from stealing it funny.

- Good luck, Harry. - Neville said, closing his fist and holding it out to Harry. - Make sure you don't die.

- Thanks, buddy, I'll see you later. - He said, returning the fist bump.

- Let's go! You drink first. - Harry told them.

It had been very quick, each of them had taken a quantity of the potion, with nothing left in the vial, there was a noticeable shudder in everyone's eyes, and Harry immediately asked:

- Isn't it poison? Isn't it? - He asked anxiously and worriedly.

- No... but it looks like ice. - Hermione explained. - My body is freezing.

- Well... go soon before the effect wears off.

- Good luck / Take care / Kick the little dark lord's ass. - Hermione, Neville and Nynphadora said in order.

- I'll see you later... - Harry told them: - Bye, guys. - He murmured at last, quietly to himself, with a feeling that things might not really allow him to get out alive and that at the very least he wanted to keep them all safe.

Hermione turned and walked straight through the blue flames, with Neville and Tonks by her side.

At the same time, Harry took a breath and picked up the smallest bottle of all.

He turned to face the black flames, while letting out a wry laugh.

- You better not kill me, Albus. - Harry said in reference to the Cursed Fire. - Not until I punch that bastard in the face.

He emptied the bottle down his throat in one gulp.

It was, in fact, as if the ice was invading his body. He left the bottle on the table and stepped forward, full of courage, he saw the black flames licking his body, but he didn't feel them, for a moment he saw nothing but the black flames, then he saw that he was on the other side, in the last chamber.

There was someone there, but it wasn't Snape as Ron believed. Nor was it Voldemort in the flesh, as Harry could even theorize from the pictures in the books and the creatures in the forest, standing there now, facing him down the stairs, while smiling smugly.

Whatever was going to happen that night, one thing was certain: he was going to avenge what they had done to his mother and father, given all the visions he had been having of the day of their murder and how his mother had gone mad when she had been cooped up in that house with her son and absent father.

Not even if it makes you go against them.

And with that I bring another chapter of Changed Prophecy to an end.

I hope you like the way I've approached the tests. I've aimed to give importance to each one, however small or great.

In the next chapter we'll have some extra quotes from Occlumency that have helped me with ideas in past chapters, and I really hope you're enjoying the work.

We're nearing the end of the first book, and soon we'll have a second, on the way to one day passing the ten-book mark.

I'll be waiting for you all in the comments section. XD

Melody that Harry Played to Calm the Cerberus:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0Ce7GqNWdU