SABAISM | H. POTTER

TWELVE. | FIGURING IT OUT

GEMINI WAS ONCE AGAIN SITUATED ON HARRY'S BACK AS THEY ALL WALKED THROUGH THE OUTDOOR COURTYARD. It was starting to become a habit that Harry dared not question.

"I've always heard Hogwarts' end of the year exams were frightful, but I find that thought rather enjoyable. Weren't you stunned not to be asked about Elfric the Eager?," Hermione queried. Ron shook his head in disagreement, "Speak for yourself. All right there, Harry?" Harry had kept removing his right hand from underneath Gemini to angrily rub at his forehead. "My scar...it keeps burning," Harry exclaimed wearingly. "It's happened before," Gemini whispered reassuringly in his ear. "Not like this," Harry said as his worries took over him. Ron looked further concerned, "Perhaps you should go see the nurse."

Harry ignored his statement and said, "I think it's a warning. It means that danger is coming. Ugh!," he exclaimed frustrated as he once again rubbed at his forehead. Gemini, who had been listening but looking around, spotted Hagrid exiting his Hut. She pointed to him, and Harry immediately ran for the Hut; Gemini jerked around on his back. Hermione hustled after them, "What is it?"

"Don't you find it a bit odd that what Hagrid wants more than anything is a dragon, and a stranger shows up and just happens to have one? I mean, how many people wander around with dragon eggs in their pockets? Why didn't I see it before?," Harry let out. Gemini had to give him recognition for that connection; the boy could be smart when he wanted to be. Hermione' silence obviously meant the other girl had subconsciously agreed with the unsaid claim. When they had finally reached Hagrid the boy then asked, "Hagrid! Who gave you that dragon egg? What did he look like?" The sound of flute playing stopped as Hagrid looked at them, "I don't know. I never saw his face. He kept his hood up."

"Didn't that strike you as unusual? The stranger, though, you and he must have talked," Harry pushed; a bit more frantically. "Well," Hagrid started out, "Yeh meet a lot o' unusual types in the village. Ain't exactly usual myself. Course we talked, he wanted to know what sort of creatures I looked after. I think he wanted to know I was able to take care of Norbert. I told him. I said, "After Fluffy a dragon's gonna be no problem." Harry slowly nodded his head and asked, "Did he seem interested in Fluffy?" Hagrid looked a little offended as Harry asked that, "Well, of course he was interested in Fluffy! How often do you come across a three headed dog, even if you're in the trade? But I told him, I said, "The trick with any beast is to know how to calm him. Fluffy, for example, just play him a bit of music and he falls straight to sleep." I think he was impressed with how much I knew." The four of them gaped in response to his statement.

"I shouldn't have told you that," Hagrid grumbled once his words had caught up to him. "You tell us a lot you aren't supposed to," Gemini mused out jokingly. Then the four took off. "Where are you going? Wait," Hagrid yelled out.

Gemini, still situated on Harry's back, turned and offered a small wave.
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"You know, when we ran away from Hagrid I had assumed we were going to the library. Why are we in Minnie's domain," Gemini questioned out. At the sound of Gemini's voice, the woman snapped her head up from her desk to see the four standing expectedly. "Miss. Lupin-Black kindly detach yourself from Mr.Potter," she stated; slightly amused. Gemini huffed theatrically as she clambered off of Harry, and the boy frowned at the newfound coldness. "Now, What can I help you with?," she asked.

"We have to see Professor Dumbledore, immediately!," Harry shouted once he remembered what was at stake. McGonagall appeared taken aback before she informed, "I'm afraid Professor Dumbledore is not here. He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic, and he left straight away to London." Harry looked even more stressed at hearing the news, "He's gone?! Now? This is extremely important. It's about...the Philosopher's Stone." Gemini shot the boy a look for how he just ratted them out. Harry definitely needed to work on the art of being nonchalant. "How do you know about that?," the Professor asked in shock. "Someone's going to try and steal it," Harry stated and ignored the previous question.

"I don't know how you four found out about the stone, but I can assure you it is well protected. Now, would you go back to your dormitories? Quietly," McGonagall stated sternly. "Bye Minnie!," Gemini yelled before jumping on Harry's back. "Why do you insist on antagonizing her?," Hermione asked. The other girl scoffed before she said, "Oh, don't let her fool you. Minnie loves me."

As they continued their walk; Harry said, "That was no stranger Hagrid met in the village. It was Snape, and that means he knows how to get past Fluffy." Gemini wanted to call him a downer, but she knew the moment was too serious. "With Dumbledore gone...," Hermione trailed off with a nervous edge to her voice. The devil in question walked past them in the corridor, and he turned to say something once he saw their stares. "Good afternoon. Now, what would four young Gryffindors such as yourselves be doing inside on a day like this?" Hermione glanced around, "Uh...we were just..," Gemini interrupted her before the situation could get any more awkward, "What's it to you?"

Snape's glare narrowed at the girl who was comfortably situated in Potter's arms. "You want to be careful," Snape started out condescendingly, "People will think you're up to something." Harry shot the man a furious glare; nearly identical to Gemini's. The older man was shocked for a moment; as he had briefly seen flashbacks of his old enemies in nearly this exact setting. "Hypocrite!," Gemini yelled out to Snape's retreating figure, "He is such a greasy haired git."

"Now, what do we do?," Hermione asked no one in particular. Harry sighed, "We go down the trapdoor, tonight."