Weasley

Chapter 14

Quirrell, however, must have been braver than Allium 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.

Allium still wasn't sure what Snape was trying to get but she figured that Quirrel was one of the things stopping him.

Snape was sweeping about in his usual bad temper, which surely meant that the Stone was still safe. Whenever Allium passed Quirrell these days he gave him an encouraging sort of smile, and she as well as 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 not only started studying for exams but was having a thoughts about telling Allium about what was going on. Harry had told her that Allium had also been there when he saw Quirrel and Snape. She figured that Allium already had some Idea on what was going on. She knew that Harry and Ron would be annoyed though she couldn't help but feel that this would have a better chance with Allium.

Though she wanted to tell Allium whenever she tried the only thing that came out was a study question. The two girls were tied for the smartest in the year. They would hang out in the library studying for the exams. Hermione was stressed over the exams, she had started drawing up study schedules and color coding all her notes. Hermione helped Allium do the same, when she found out Allium had no idea what a highlighter was she was horrified.

The teachers seemed to be thinking along the same lines as The two girls. They piled so much homework on them that the Easter holidays weren't nearly as much fun as the Christmas ones.

One day when Allium was in the library she had heard something that peaked her interest. "Hagrid! What are you doing in the library?" She heard Harry say.

She saw Hagrid shuffle into view, hiding something behind his back. He looked very out of place in his moleskin overcoat.

She was a few tables away so she could see what was behind Hagrids back.

A dragon keepers guide!?!?!?!?

"Jus' lookin'," he said, in a shifty voice that clearly got the threes 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--"
This shocked Allium, THATS WHAT QUIRREL WAS KEEPING FROM SNAPE. She tried to keep her surprise to a minimum and kept listening.

"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."