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"He'll be all right," said Harry, trying to convince himself. "What do
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you reckon's next?"
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"We've had Sprout's, that was the Devil's Snare; Flitwick must've put
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charms on the keys; McGonagall transfigured the chessmen to make them
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alive; that leaves Quirrell's spell, and Snape's."
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They had reached another door.
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"All right?" Harry whispered.
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"Go on."
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Harry pushed it open.
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A disgusting smell filled their nostrils, making both of them pull their
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robes up over their noses. Eyes watering, they saw, flat on the floor in
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front of them, a troll even larger than the one they had tackled, out
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cold with a bloody lump on its head.
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"I'm glad we didn't have to fight that one," Harry whispered as they
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stepped carefully over one of its massive legs. "Come on, I can't
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breathe."
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He pulled open the next door, both of them hardly daring to look at what
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came next - but there was nothing very frightening in here, just a table
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with seven differently shaped bottles standing on it in a line.
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"Snape's," said Harry. "What do we have to do?"
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They stepped over the threshold, and immediately a fire sprang up behind
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them in the doorway. It wasn't ordinary fire either; it was purple. At
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the same instant, black flames shot up in the doorway leading onward.
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They were trapped.
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"Look!" Hermione seized a roll of paper lying next to the bottles. Harry
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looked over her shoulder to read it:
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Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,
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Two of us will help you, which ever you would find,
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One among us seven will let you move ahead,
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Another will transport the drinker back instead,
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Two among our number hold only nettle wine,
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Three of us are killers, waiting bidden in line.
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Choose, unless you wish to stay here forevermore,
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To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:
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First, however slyly the poison tries to hide
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You will always find some on nettle wine's left side;
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Second, different are those who stand at either end,
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But if you would move onward, neither is your friend;
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Third, as you see clearly, all are different size,
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Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides;
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Fourth, the second left and the second on the right
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Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight.
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Hermione let out a great sigh and Harry, amazed, saw that she was
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smiling, the very last thing he felt like doing.
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"Brilliant," said Hermione. "This isn't magic -- it's logic -- a puzzle.
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A lot of the greatest wizards haven't got an ounce of logic, they'd be
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stuck in here forever."
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"But so will we, won't we?" "Of course not," said Hermione. "Everything
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we need is here on this paper. Seven bottles: three are poison; two are
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wine; one will get us safely through the black fire, and one will get us
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back through the purple."
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"But how do we know which to drink?"
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"Give me a minute."
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Hermione read the paper several times. Then she walked up and down the
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line of bottles, muttering to herself and pointing at them. At last, she
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clapped her hands.
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"Got it," she said. "The smallest bottle will get us through the black
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fire -- toward the Stone."
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Harry looked at the tiny bottle.
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"There's only enough there for one of us," he said. "That's hardly one
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swallow."
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They looked at each other.
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"Which one will get you back through the purple flames?"
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Hermione pointed at a rounded bottle at the right end of the line.
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"You drink that," said Harry. "No, listen, get back and get Ron. Grab
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brooms from the flying- key room, they'll get you out of the trapdoor
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and past Fluffy -- go straight to the owlery and send Hedwig to
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Dumbledore, we need him. I might be able to hold Snape off for a while,
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but I'm no match for him, really."
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"But Harry -- what if You-Know-Who's with him?"
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"Well -- I was lucky once, wasn't I?" said Harry, pointing at his scar.
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"I might get lucky again."
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Hermione's lip trembled, and she suddenly dashed at Harry and threw her
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arms around him.
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"Hermione!"
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"Harry -- you're a great wizard, you know."
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"I'm not as good as you," said Harry, very embarrassed, as she let go of
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him.
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"Me!" said Hermione. "Books! And cleverness! There are more important
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things -- friendship and bravery and -- oh Harry -- be careful!"
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"You drink first," said Harry. "You are sure which is which, aren't
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you?"
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"Positive," said Hermione. She took a long drink from the round bottle
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at the end, and shuddered.
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"It's not poison?" said Harry anxiously.
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"No -- but it's like ice."
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"Quick, go, before it wears off."
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"Good luck -- take care."
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"GO!"
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Hermione turned and walked straight through the purple fire.
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Harry took a deep breath and picked up the smallest bottle. He turned to
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face the black flames.
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"Here I come," he said, and he drained the little bottle in one gulp.
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It was indeed as though ice was flooding his body. He put the bottle
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down and walked forward; he braced himself, saw the black flames licking
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his body, but couldn't feel them -- for a moment he could see nothing
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but dark fire -- then he was on the other side, in the last chamber.
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There was already someone there -- but it wasn't Snape. It wasn't even
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Voldemort.
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CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
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Subsets and Splits
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