Love at First Sight (Harry Potter)

The Man With Two Faces

|HARRY POTTER'S P.O.V|

"And I'm not leaving him," Alexandria Weasley finalized.

The ginger witch was leant over her unconscious brother, her small arms wrapped around his upper body — which she was supporting on her lap.

"All right," I nodded, deciding against arguing because her decision may not only be better for Ron but also safer for her.

And so, after casting one last desperate look at the two siblings, Hermione and I charged down the cleared path. We continued through the door and halfway up the next passageway before either of us spoke again.

"What if he's —?"

"He'll be all right," I immediately dismissed Hermione's suggestion, trying to convince the both of us with my assurance. "What do you reckon's next?"

"We've had Sprout's, that was the Devil's Snare; Flitwick must've put charms on the keys; McGonagall transfigured the chessmen to make them alive; that leaves Quirrell's spell, and Snape's. . . ."

"All right?" I whispered, once we had reached another door.

"Go on."

I pushed against the heavy wood, swinging it open to reveal another room. Almost immediately, a disgusting smell infiltrated our nostrils — our eyes watered as we pulled our robes up over our noses in an attempt to block it out, only to see a troll (this one larger than the one we had tackled on Halloween) flat on the floor before us with a bloody lump on its head.

"I'm glad we didn't have to fight that one," I kept my voice hushed as we stepped carefully over one of its massive legs. "Come on, I can't breathe."

I pulled open the next door, which was identical to every other one we had passed through that evening, hardly daring to glimpse at whatever came next — but there was nothing very frightening in here, just a table with seven differently shaped bottles standing on it in a line.

"Snape's," I acknowledged, glancing at the bushy-haired witch beside me. "What do we have to do?"

The moment we had stepped over the threshold, a purple-flamed fire instantly ignited behind us in the doorway. The two of us were forced into the middle of the room, for a contrasting black fire had sprang to life in the doorway leading onward — we were trapped.

"Look!" Hermione had seized a roll of parchment lying next to the bottles, which I peered over her shoulder to read:

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 forevermore,
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 onward, 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.