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"This is where I leave you," Firenze murmured as Hagrid hurried off to
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examine the unicorn. "You are safe now."
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Harry slid off his back.
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"Good luck, Harry Potter," said Firenze. "The planets have been read
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wrongly before now, even by centaurs. I hope this is one of those
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times."
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He turned and cantered back into the depths of the forest, leaving Harry
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shivering behind him.
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Ron had fallen asleep in the dark common room, waiting for them to
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return. He shouted something about Quidditch fouls when Harry roughly
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shook him awake. In a matter of seconds, though, he was wide-eyed as
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Harry began to tell him and Hermione what had happened in the forest.
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Harry couldn't sit down. He paced up and down in front of the fire. He
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was still shaking.
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"Snape wants the stone for Voldemort... and Voldemort's waiting in the
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forest... and all this time we thought Snape just wanted to get
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rich...."
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"Stop saying the name!" said Ron in a terrified whisper, as if he
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thought Voldemort could hear them.
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Harry wasn't listening.
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"Firenze saved me, but he shouldn't have done so.... Bane was furious...
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he was talking about interfering with what the planets say is going to
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happen.... They must show that Voldemort's coming back.... Bane thinks
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Firenze should have let Voldemort kill me.... I suppose that's written
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in the stars as well."
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"Will you stop saying the name!" Ron hissed.
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"So all I've got to wait for now is Snape to steal the Stone," Harry
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went on feverishly, "then Voldemort will be able to come and finish me
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off... Well, I suppose Bane'll be happy."
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Hermione looked very frightened, but she had a word of comfort.
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"Harry, everyone says Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was ever
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afraid of With Dumbledore around, You-Know-Who won't touch you. Anyway,
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who says the centaurs are right? It sounds like fortune-telling to me,
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and Professor McGonagall says that's a very imprecise branch of magic."
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The sky had turned light before they stopped talking. They went to bed
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exhausted, their throats sore. But the night's surprises weren't over.
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When Harry pulled back his sheets, he found his invisibility cloak
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folded neatly underneath them. There was a note pinned to it:
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Just in case.
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CHAPTER SIXTEEN
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THROUGH THE TRAPDOOR
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In years to come, Harry would never quite remember how he had managed to
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get through his exams when he half expected Voldemort to come bursting
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through the door at any moment. Yet the days crept by, and there could
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be no doubt that Fluffy was still alive and well behind the locked door.
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It was sweltering hot, especially in the large classroom where they did
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their written papers. They had been given special, new quills for the
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exams, which had been bewitched with an AntiCheating spell.
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They had practical exams as well. Professor Flitwick called them one by
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one into his class to see if they could make a pineapple tapdance across
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a desk. Professor McGonagall watched them turn a mouse into a snuffbox
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-- points were given for how pretty the snuffbox was, but taken away if
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it had whiskers. Snape made them all nervous, breathing down their necks
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while they tried to remember how to make a Forgetfulness potion.
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Harry did the best he could, trying to ignore the stabbing pains in his
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forehead, which had been bothering him ever since his trip into the
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forest. Neville thought Harry had a bad case of exam nerves because
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Harry couldn't sleep, but the truth was that Harry kept being woken by
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his old nightmare, except that it was now worse than ever because there
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was a hooded figure dripping blood in it.
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Maybe it was because they hadn't seen what Harry had seen in the forest,
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or because they didn't have scars burning on their foreheads, but Ron
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and Hermione didn't seem as worried about the Stone as Harry. The idea
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of Voldemort certainly scared them, but he didn't keep visiting them in
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dreams, and they were so busy with their studying they didn't have much
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time to fret about what Snape or anyone else might be up to.
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Their very last exam was History of Magic. One hour of answering
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questions about batty old wizards who'd invented selfstirring cauldrons
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and they'd be free, free for a whole wonderful week until their exam
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results came out. When the ghost of Professor Binns told them to put
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down their quills and roll up their parchment, Harry couldn't help
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cheering with the rest.
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"That was far easier than I thought it would be," said Hermione as they
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joined the crowds flocking out onto the sunny grounds. "I needn't have
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learned about the 1637 Werewolf Code of Conduct or the uprising of
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Elfric the Eager."
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Hermione always liked to go through their exam papers afterward, but Ron
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said this made him feel ill, so they wandered down to the lake and
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flopped under a tree. The Weasley twins and Lee Jordan were tickling the
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tentacles of a giant squid, which was basking in the warm shallows. "No
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more studying," Ron sighed happily, stretching out on the grass. "You
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could look more cheerful, Harry, we've got a week before we find out how
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badly we've done, there's no need to worry yet."
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Harry was rubbing his forehead.
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"I wish I knew what this means!" he burst out angrily. "My scar keeps
|
hurting -- it's happened before, but never as often as this."
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"Go to Madam Pomfrey," Hermione suggested.
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"I'm not ill," said Harry. "I think it's a warning... it means danger's
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coming...."
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Ron couldn't get worked up, it was too hot.
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"Harry, relax, Hermione's right, the Stone's safe as long as
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Dumbledore's around. Anyway, we've never had any proof Snape found out
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how to get past Fluffy. He nearly had his leg ripped off once, he's not
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going to try it again in a hurry. And Neville will play Quidditch for
|
England before Hagrid lets Dumbledore down."
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Harry nodded, but he couldn't shake off a lurking feeling that there was
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something he'd forgotten to do, something important. When he tried to
|
explain this, Hermione said, "That's just the exams. I woke up last
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night and was halfway through my Transfiguration notes before I
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remembered we'd done that one."
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