Fluffy the Guard-dog and Friends

There is so much I want to say, but can't.  Simply because not everyone knows exactly what happened, so some details have to be left out.  What I can say for sure, because it is what everyone already knows, is that Harry Potter is the Boy Who Lived... Again.

After exams were over and done with, Harry had some sort of inspiration.  And I personally think we should have caught this way earlier.  Harry pointed out the fact that the one thing Hagrid wanted the most was a dragon egg and someone just happened to pass by with exactly what he wanted.
Hagrid is not someone who would ever betray Dumbledore, he would never tell anyone how to bypass Fluffy.  But if he gets drunk enough, and then given something to keep his mind off of what he might have said... and to a stranger at that.

Except whoever it was that gave Hagrid the egg was not a stranger at all.

Hagrid accidentally told us how to pass Fluffy when we started askng questions, and without a word all three of us set off to Dumbledore at once.  Except he wasn't there.  Instead Professor McGonagall was, and she informed us that he had, in fact, just left.

Great timing.

I was reluctant to tell her, but she was the next best thing to Dumbledore, so we just started spilling everything we knew, except what we knew about Snape.

So we made a plan to keep an eye on Snape and the third floor corridor.  I went and waited outside the staff room to make sure Snape didn't leave, but when he saw me waiting, I told him I was actually waiting for Professor Flitwick.  Snape actually went to get him and that's when I made my escape.

Apparently as Harry and Ron went to their lookout, they got caught by McGonagall and were sent back to the common room under threat of losing another fifty points.

That night, we used Harry's Christmas cloak and snuck back to the third floor where Fluffy was guarding, but only after being caught by Neville. I had to freeze him with a spell so that he wouldn't be able to do anything until I got back.

When we got to Fluffy, someone had left a harp in the room already, meaning someone (Snape, we thought) had already gone in.  Harry played the flute as best we could, and we passed only barely into the trap door when Fluffy started waking up again.

I... admit, when we fell into the trapdoor, I had a bit of a freakout when I realized we were surrounded by Devil's snare.  I knew we could kill the plant (before it could kill us) with fire, but I... temporarily forgot that I was a witch.  Heheh...

Ron (of all people) had to remind me.  It wasn't my brightest moment.


Afterwards, we had to find the key to the next door, but we had to find the key out of hundreds.  AND they were flying.  Luckily, Ron figured out the one we needed and Harry found it.  His Seeker skills came in handy.


The next chamber was a huge chess board, but not just any old chess, it was wizard's chess.  I'd played with Ron and Harry a countless number of times during the year, but I never did get any good at it.  I'm not even that good at regular old chess.

Ron sacrificed himself to the Queen so that the game could finish, but he was terribly hurt.  I didn't want to leave him behind, but there was one more chamber left and Harry had to go through. 

There was a dead troll already defeated, and then a potions table.

The lucky thing is that the last one was simple logic, a riddle and if I was good at anything, it was logic puzzles.  I figured it out in a cinch, and said which potion to take,but Harry insisted I go back and get Ron some help.

You have no idea how much I wanted to cry at that moment.  I was tired, stressed, worried.  Ron was hurt, but Harry could potentially die.  And what if He Who Must Not Be Named were there?

But Harry insisted.  He said I had to get the message to Dumbledore. So that's what I did.

Harry drank the other potion and went on to the next chamber.

I tried everything I could to wake up Ron, and when he finally came around, we were on our way to the owlery when we ran into Dumbledore.  He already knew and made his way to where Harry was on the third floor.

Harry was still passed out when Ron and I went to see him in the infirmary.  I almost cried when I saw him, he was so till that I thought he was dead.  But Dumbledore told us what happened.

Apparently the one who had tricked Hagrid, let out a troll on Halloween, and was setting out to steal what Fluffy was guarding for the same of He Who Must Not Be Named wasn't Professor Snape at all.

It was Professor Quirrell.  And He Who Must Not Be Named was literally attached to his body.

We didn't get much more detail than that, and neither did the entire school, so if anything else is presented to Ron and I (from Harry) then that would be confidential-- remember?

Update:
It's been three days since Harry was brought into the hospital wing.  And he woke up today.  I was so happy I hugged him as hard as I could, and even Madam Pomfrey looked like she would yell at me for bothering the patient.  Dumbledore was in to see him right before Ron and I were allowed in.

We talked all about what happened to each other until we got kicked out by Madam Pomfrey for staying too long.

Thank Goodness (and Thanks Dumbledore) Harry is safe.

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Information based on the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling; Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Rowling, J. K., and Mary GrandPre. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Ch. 16-17. New York, NY: Scholastic, 1999.  Print.

Exams

Hi all.

This is yet again another update regarding exams.  Yes, once more.  I'm extremely excited, nervous, and frustrated.  I'll be taking written exams in all my classes all week: Astronomy, History of Magic, Potions, Herbology, Charms, Transfiguration, and Defense Against the Dark Arts.

In addition, I will also be taking practical exams for each of these classes as well.  I've been prepping the last ten weeks for this specific week; actually I've been preparing since I got my Hogwarts letter.  My future is riding on these exams, and I will be very stressed until I receive the results next week.

Until next time/ Wish me the best of luck,

Hermione Granger

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All Information based on the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling; Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. 

Rowling, J. K., and Mary GrandPre. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Ch. 16. New York, NY: Scholastic, 1999.  Print.

Detention

The days leading up to today were horrible.  I'm not the best known at school, after all I'm not in any way popular or famous, but even still I was shunned by my fellow Gryffindor peers for losing so many points. Neville's experience was similar to mine, but I felt pretty bad for Harry.  His fame precedes him, and with that fame comes the oozing disapproval from every. single. person. in. Gryffindor. House.  It, to be frank, sucked.

Detention was to be served in the Forbidden Forest.  Now I realize that I deserve punishment. I do.  I accept that.  But (and I don't think this is just the muggle in me talking here) should detention for FIRST YEARS really be served in the FORBIDDEN FOREST, with no other real supervision but the guy who is kind of the reason I'm here (*ahem* Hagrid, You're the best ever, but really?) and the school caretaker whose best friend is a cat that I swear is a reanimated corpse?  I would've voiced my concerns out loud, but Malfoy beat me to it, and I will in no way associate myself with him.  He's probably turn around and make fun of me after he'd just said the same exact thing.

Anyway, Harry, Neville, and I went out to meet Mr. Filch in the entrance hall at eleven o'clock on the dot.  Filch led the way with a lantern and we all met up with Hagrid and Fang before we grouped into two teams.  Harry, Hagrid and I went into the forest on one side while Malfoy, Neville and Fang went the other direction.  We were searching for any traces of unicorn's blood, which was apparently roaming around the forest injured, poor thing.

Hagrid went on the alert a few times, and he even said that there was something unnatural in the forest that must be after the unicorn.  Either way, it'd be better for us if we'd find the unicorn first.


Harry and I were in for another surprise.  It turns out that there are centaurs in the forest, and the ones we met were named Ronan and Bane.  They were both very strange creatures, and no matter how many times we asked them if they'd seen anything unusual in the forest, they kept talking about Mars.  I admit the night sky is beautiful at Hogwarts, but they were really avoiding the questions.

At this point, we had to switch around our teams simply because Malfoy can't leave well enough alone, so Hagrid, Neville, and I were in one team and Harry, Malfoy, and Fang in the other.

The team didn't find anything at all, except for some more spots of silvery blood here and there, until we heard a loud scream from the direction of the boys. 

We all bolted.  I ran as hard as I could, I was so worried.  After a while we ran into the clearing where Harry stood standing, Malfoy nowhere in sight.  Turns out Malfoy let out that scream when he saw the dead unicorn.

When we got back to the Common room, Harry began to tell both Ron and I what actually had happened.  Apparently whatever was feeding on the unicorn (with it ending up dead and drained) was none other than He Who Must Not Be Named.  Harry used his name quite casually the whole time he was explaining and Ron couldn't stop flinching each time.

A centaur name Firenze had saved him, lucky for Harry because those other centurs weren't exactly running for the rescue. 

And so we concluded that Snape must be working for Voldemort.  All he would need is the stone and then Voldemort would come for Harry.

Ron and I have to stop this from ever happening.

The only good thing is that Dumbledore is at Hogwarts, and the only wizard that He Who Must Not Be Named has ever feared was Dumbledore himself.

At least we can sleep safe tonight.

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All Information based on the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling; Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. 

Rowling, J. K., and Mary GrandPre. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Ch. 15. New York, NY: Scholastic, 1999.  Print.