Harry jumped off his broom, a foot from the ground. He couldn't believe it. He'd done it—the game was over; it had barely lasted five minutes. As Gryffindors came spilling onto the field, he saw Snape land nearby, white-faced and tight-lipped—then Harry felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up into Dumbledore's smiling face.
«Well done,» said Dumbledore quietly, so that only Harry could hear. «Nice to see you haven't been brooding about that mirror... been keeping busy... excellent...»
Snape spat bitterly on the ground.
Harry left the locker room alone some time later, to take his Nimbus Two Thousand back to the broomshed. He couldn't ever remember feeling happier. He'd really done something to be proud of now—no one could say he was just a famous name any more. The evening air had never smelled so sweet. He walked over the damp grass, reliving the last hour in his head, which was a happy blur: Gryffindors running to lift him onto their shoulders; Ron and Hermione in the distance, jumping up and down, Ron cheering through a heavy nosebleed.
Harry had reached the shed. He leaned against the wooden door and looked up at Hogwarts, with its windows glowing red in the setting sun. Gryffindor in the lead. He'd done it, he'd shown Snape...
And speaking of Snape...
A hooded figure came swiftly down the front steps of the castle. Clearly not wanting to be seen, it walked as fast as possible toward the forbidden forest. Harry's victory faded from his mind as he watched. He recognized the figure's prowling walk. Snape, sneaking into the forest while everyone else was at dinner—what was going on?
Harry jumped back on his Nimbus Two Thousand and took off. Gliding silently over the castle he saw Snape enter the forest at a run. He followed.
The trees were so thick he couldn't see where Snape had gone. He flew in circles, lower and lower, brushing the top branches of trees until he heard voices. He glided toward them and landed noiselessly in a towering beech tree.
He climbed carefully along one of the branches, holding tight to his broomstick, trying to see through the leaves. Below, in a shadowy clearing, stood Snape, but he wasn't alone. Quirrell was there, too. Harry couldn't make out the look on his face, but he was stuttering worse than ever. Harry strained to catch what they were saying.
«...d-don't know why you wanted t-t-to meet here of all p-places, Severus...»
«Oh, I thought we'd keep this private,» said Snape, his voice icy. «Students aren't supposed to know about the Sorcerer's Stone, after all.»
Harry leaned forward. Quirrell was mumbling something. Snape interrupted him.
«Have you found out how to get past that beast of Hagrid's yet?»
«B-b-but Severus, I —»
«You don't want me as your enemy, Quirrell,» said Snape, taking a step toward him.
«I-I don't know what you
«You know perfectly well what I mean.»
An owl hooted loudly, and Harry nearly fell out of the tree. He steadied himself in time to hear Snape say, «— your little bit of hocus-pocus. I'm waiting.»
«B-but I d-d-don't —»
«Very well,» Snape cut in. «We'll have another little chat soon, when you've had time to think things over and decided where your loyalties lie.»
He threw his cloak over his head and strode out of the clearing. It was almost dark now, but Harry could see Quirrell, standing quite still as though he was petrified.
«Harry, where have you been?» Hermione squeaked.
«We won! You won! We won!» shouted Ron, thumping Harry on the back. «And I gave Malfoy a black eye, and Neville tried to take on Crabbe and Goyle single-handed! He's still out cold but Madam Pomftey says he'll be all right—talk about showing Slytherin! Everyone's waiting for you in the common room, we're having a party, Fred and George stole some cakes and stuff from the kitchens.»
«Never mind that now,» said Harry breathlessly. «Let's find an empty room, you wait 'til you hear this...»
He made sure Peeves wasn't inside before shutting the door behind them, then he told them what he'd seen and heard.
«So we were right, it is the Sorcerer's Stone, and Snape's trying to force Quirrell to help him get it. He asked if he knew how to get past Fluffy—and he said something about Quirrell's 'hocus pocuss— I reckon there are other things guarding the stone apart from Fluffy, loads of enchantments, probably, and Quirrell would have done some anti-Dark Arts spell that Snape needs to break through —»
«So you mean the Stone's only safe as long as Quirrell stands up to Snape?» said Hermione in alarm.
«It'll be gone by next Tuesday,» said Ron.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
NORBERT THE NORWEGIAN RIDGEBACK
Quirrell, however, must have been braver than they'd thought. In the weeks that followed he did seem to be getting paler and thinner, but it didn't look as though he'd cracked yet.
Every time they passed the third-floor corridor, Harry, Ron, and Hermione would press their ears to the door to check that Fluffy was still growling inside. Snape was sweeping about in his usual bad temper, which surely meant that the Stone was still safe. Whenever Harry passed Quirrell these days he gave him an encouraging sort of smile, and Ron had started telling people off for laughing at Quirrell's stutter.
Hermione, however, had more on her mind than the Sorcerer's Stone. She had started drawing up study schedules and colorcoding all her notes. Harry and Ron wouldn't have minded, but she kept nagging them to do the same.
«Hermione, the exams are ages away.»
«Ten weeks,» Hermione snapped. «That's not ages, that's like a second to Nicolas Flamel.»
«But we're not six hundred years old,» Ron reminded her. «Anyway, what are you studying for, you already know it A.»
«What am I studying for? Are you crazy? You realize we need to pass these exams to get into the second year? They're very important, I should have started studying a month ago, I don't know what's gotten into me...»
Unfortunately, the teachers seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Hermione. They piled so much homework on them that the Easter holidays weren't nearly as much fun as the Christmas ones. It was hard to relax with Hermione next to you reciting the twelve uses of dragon's blood or practicing wand movements. Moaning and yawning, Harry and Ron spent most of their free time in the library with her, trying to get through all their extra work.
«I'll never remember this,» Ron burst out one afternoon, throwing down his quill and looking longingly out of the library window. It was the first really fine day they'd had in months. The sky was a clear, forget-me-not blue, and there was a feeling in the air of summer coming.
Harry, who was looking up «Dittany» in One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, didn't look up until he heard Ron say, «Hagrid! What are you doing in the library?»
Hagrid shuffled into view, hiding something behind his back. He looked very out of place in his moleskin overcoat.
«Jus' lookin',» he said, in a shifty voice that got their interest at once. «An' what're you lot up ter?» He looked suddenly suspicious. «Yer not still lookin' fer Nicolas Flamel, are yeh?» «Oh, we found out who he is ages ago,» said Ron impressively. «And we know what that dog's guarding, it's a Sorcerer's St —»
«Shhhh!» Hagrid looked around quickly to see if anyone was listening. «Don' go shoutin' about it, what's the matter with yeh?»
«There are a few things we wanted to ask you, as a matter of fact,» said Harry, «about what's guarding the Stone apart from Fluffy —»
«SHHHH!» said Hagrid again. «Listen—come an' see me later, I'm not promisin' I'll tell yeh anythin', mind, but don' go rabbitin' about it in here, students aren' s'pposed ter know. They'll think I've told yeh —»
«See you later, then,» said Harry.
Hagrid shuffled off.
«What was he hiding behind his back?» said Hermione thoughtfully.
«Do you think it had anything to do with the Stone?»
«I'm going to see what section he was in,» said Ron, who'd had enough of working. He came back a minute later with a pile of books in his arms and slammed them down on the table.
«Dragons!» he whispered. «Hagrid was looking up stuff about dragons! Look at these: Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland; From Egg to Inferno, A Dragon Keeper's Guide.»
«Hagrid's always wanted a dragon, he told me so the first time I ever met him, « said Harry.
«But it's against our laws,» said Ron. «Dragon breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks' Convention of 1709, everyone knows that. It's hard to stop Muggles from noticing us if we're keeping dragons in the back garden—anyway, you can't tame dragons, it's dangerous. You should see the burns Charlie's got off wild ones in Romania.»
«But there aren't wild dragons in Britain?» said Harry.
«Of course there are,» said Ron. «Common Welsh Green and Hebridean Blacks. The Ministry of Magic has a job hushing them up, I can tell you. Our kind have to keep putting spells on Muggles who've spotted them, to make them forget.»
«So what on earths Hagrid up to?» said Hermione.
When they knocked on the door of the gamekeeper's hut an hour later, they were surprised to see that all the curtains were closed. Hagrid called «Who is it?» before he let them in, and then shut the door quickly behind them.