The Philosopher's Stone (A Harry Potter Rewrite)

HAGRID'S MISTAKE

Back in the Gryffindor common room, Harry started pacing around as Ria explained to the other two what exactly had went down in the clearing.

They had found Malfoy and Fangs outside Hagrid's hut. Ria had wanted to chew him out good for being a spineless jerk but the amount of magic she had used had left her drained.

"Snape wants the stone for Voldemort ... and Voldemort's waiting in the Forest ... and all this time we thought Snape just wanted to get rich ..."

"Stop saying the name!" said Ron in a terrified whisper, as if he thought Voldemort could hear them. Harry wasn't listening.

"Firenze saved me, but he shouldn't have done ... Bane was furious ... he was talking about interfering with what the planets say is going to happen ... They must show that Voldemort's coming back ... Bane thinks Firenze should have let Voldemort kill me ... I suppose that's written in the stars as well."

"Will you stop saying the name!" Ron hissed.

"So all I've got to wait for now is Snape to steal the Stone," Harry went on feverishly, "then Voldemort will be able to come and finish me off ... Well, I suppose Bane'll be happy."

Hermione looked very frightened, but she had a word of comfort.

"Harry, everyone says Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was ever afraid of. With Dumbledore around, You-Know-Who won't touch you. Anyway, who says the centaurs are right? It sounds like fortune-telling to me, and Professor McGonagall says that's a very imprecise branch of magic."

"It's not imprecise, Hermione.", Ria finally spoke up, having recovered a bit. "It can't be determined for sure because every little thing in the present can affect and change the future. But some things are set in stones. There are real prophecies."

"So you're saying I'm pretty much dead.", Harry declared in a miserable tone.

"Hey, no..", Ria said, pulling him down on the couch beside her. "What Bane said does not mean that Voldemort will win. It might as easily mean that this is a battle that you will lose if there is outside interference. Have a bit of faith. And if Voldemort wants to get to you, he'll have to get through me first. I saved you once didn't I?", she finishes with a smirk.

Harry gave her a little smile, but she knew he wasn't pacified. He was on edge. Ria could tell he wasn't sleeping well. On asking he confessed to having nightmares again. As the exams drew nearer, the other two were much too busy with revision to care about the stone. But Ria knew Harry was dwelling over it ever waking moment. So was she. The sheer amount of evil the she felt in the cloaked being was beyond terrifying. She didn't want to think what he'd look like in full health.

Eventually, the exams rolled in. They were given special, new quills, which had been bewitched with an Anti-Cheating spell.

They had practical exams as well. Professor Flitwick called them one by one into his class to see if they could make a pineapple tap-dance across a desk. Professor McGonagall watched them turn a vase into a goblet. Snape made them all nervous, breathing down their necks while they tried to remember how to make a Forgetfulness Potion.

The last exam was history of magic, which Ria would have had serious trouble with if it weren't for Hermione and her notes. But it all worked out pretty well. She had aced all the pratical exams without having to use her wand connections and was pretty satisfied with her theory exams as well.

"That was far easier than I thought it would be," said Hermione, as they joined the crowds flocking out into the sunny grounds. "I needn't have learnt about the 1637 Werewolf Code of Conduct or the uprising of Elfric the Eager."