Born From Madness (Harry Potter Fanfic)

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Ron had fallen asleep when Hermione and Harry returned. Harry roughly shook him awake. In a matter of seconds, he was wide-eyed as Harry and Hermione began telling him what had happened. 

"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..." Harry spoke, pacing in the room. 

"Stop saying the name!" Ron whispered. 

"Firenze saved Hermione and me but he shouldn't have done so..." Harry continued, "Bane was furious... talking about interfering with the planets and their saying of what was to happen... they must show Voldemort's coming back and Bane thinks Firenze show have let Voldemort kill me. I suppose that's written in the stars as well." 

"Stop saying the name!" Ron growled. 

"Now we don't know for sure that's why Bane was mad about. Remember, he complained about Firenze giving us a ride. It must be against their honor to carry humans on them." Hermione defended Bane. 

"So all I've got to wait for now is Snape to steal the Stone," Harry went, ignoring what they were saying, "then Voldemort will be able to come and finish me off... I bet that would make Bane happy." 

"Harry!" Hermione called out to him, "Dumbledore is the one thing You-Know-Who fears the most. With Dumbledore around, You-Know-Who can't touch you. Besides, all this sounds like fortune-telling which Professor McGonagall says that's a very imprecise branch of magic." 

That was the last thing Hermione told them before heading to bed exhausted. But just as Hermione went to bed, she noticed the two potions her Grandma had given her on top of her nightstand with a note pinned to it: You may want to keep these on your person.  

Throughout the exams, Hermione pushed herself to keep focus on them and not on the fact Voldemort may come bursting through the doors to kill Harry or them. The last exam was finally over and Hermione felt she had did pretty well on her exams. Ron and Harry looked misery but for different reasons. Ron looked like he was about to vomit from nerves while Harry was clinging to his forehead and groaning in pain. 

"My scar," Harry groaned, "It's burning. I think it's a warning." 

"Why don't you relax?" Ron suggested, "The Stone's safe as long as Dumbledore's around. Besides we don't know if Snape actually know how to get pass Fluffy." 

Suddenly Hermione jolted up. 

"Oh no!" She shouted before rushing down towards Hagrid's Hut having Ron and Harry running after her, "Don't you think it's odd! That what Hagrid wants more than anything is a dragon and suddenly a complete stranger turns up and just happens to have one? How many people wander around with dragon eggs if it's against the law? Lucky they found him, don't you think? Why didn't I see it before?" 

"What is she talking about Harry?" Ron asked Harry, who shrugged his shoulders. Hermione hurried over to where Hagrid was sitting in an armchair, shelling peas. 

"Hello, Finished your exams?" Hagrid asked, "Got time for a drink?" 

"No, we're in a hurry. Hagrid, I must ask... you know that night you won Norbert? What did he look like?" Hermione asked. 

"Dunno, never saw his face. Kept his cloak on." Hagrid stated, "But it's not unusual you know. Get tons of funny folks at the Hog's Head Pub." 

"What did you talk about?" 

"A little of this and a little bit of that. He was interested in the sort of creatures I look after because he wanted to make sure I could take care of the dragon. But I said, after Fluffy, a dragon would be easy!" 

"Did he seem interested in Fluffy?" Hermione asked. Hagrid burst out laughing. 

"Well yeah! How often do you see a three-headed dog? Even when you're in the business. So I told him, Fluffy's a piece of cake if you know how to calm him. Just play him a bit of music and he'll go straight to sleep." 

Hermione's eyes widened. Before Hagrid could tell them to forget it, Harry, Ron, and Hermione went running up to look for Dumbledore. They hurried over into McGonagall's office to see she was sitting behind her desk. 

"We have to see Professor Dumbledore!" Harry told her. McGonagall looked at them like they lost their heads. 

"I'm afraid he left ten minutes ago. He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and flew off for London at once." McGonagall told them. 

"He's gone? Now? But this is important! Someone's is after the Sorcerer's Stone!" Harry claimed. McGonagall flew wide opened as she dropped her quill onto the test she was grading. 

"I don't know how you found out about the Stone, but rest assured, no one can possible steal it. Now I suggest you go outside and enjoy the sunshine." She ordered in a tone that dared them to try to talk to her. Glancing between each other, they hurried out of her office. 

"It's tonight. Snape's going through the trapdoor tonight. We need to do everything we can to stop him. This is what we've have to do. One of us has to keep an eye on Snape. Hermione you better do it," Harry said, looking her dead in the eye. 

"Why?" She asked. 

"Because out of all three of us, you're the one could can cover up what you're doing with acting like you care about your tests." Ron stated. Hermione grumbled before she agreed. She turned on her heel and followed behind Snape, wondering if this was even such a good idea.