"Nicolas Flamel" said Neville excitedly when he read the title aloud.

"Bout time!" yelled the students.

"While we had the break, we looked all over the place trying to find where Nicolas Flamel was!" shouted a fourth year.

"No dice." said a muggleborn third year.

"What does that mean?" said Malfoy.

"It means no luck." said the muggleborn.

Dumbledore had convinced Harry not to go looking for the Mirror of Erised again,

"Thank you!" said Sirius and Remus gratefully.

and for the rest of the Christmas holidays the Invisibility Cloak stayed folded at the bottom of his trunk.

"I would say that is a little disappointing but you've had enough excitement to last my lifetime." said Sirius wiping the worried sweat off his brow.

"Good idea to stick it on the bottom of the trunk, boy. Don't want people just reaching in and grabbing it." growled Moody approvingly.

Harry wished he could forget what he'd seen in the mirror as easily, but he couldn't. He started having nightmares. Over and over again he dreamed about his parents disappearing in a flash of green light, while a high voice cackled with laughter.

"I still have that one every once in a while." said Harry leaning against Sirius.

Sirius gave his godson a reassuring squeeze.

"You'll see, Dumbledore was right, that mirror could drive you mad," said Ron, when Harry told him about these dreams.

"You never told me about that dream." said Hermione looking at Harry.

"You were worried about the dreams I have now, I don't want to think about how you would have reacted back then." said Harry with a small laugh.

Hermione, who came back the day before term started, took a different view of things.

"She always does when it considers breaking the rules." moaned Fred.

She was torn between horror at the idea of Harry being out of bed, roaming the school three nights in a row ("If Filch had caught you!), and disappointment that he hadn't at least found out who Nicolas Flamel was.

"Well, at least she has her priorities straight. She was thinking about Flamel." said Neville with a smile.

They had almost given up hope of ever finding Flamel in a library book, even though Harry was still sure he'd read the name somewhere.

"At the time, we didn't believe you." said Ron and Hermione honestly.

Once term had started, they were back to skimming through books for ten minutes during their breaks. Harry had even less time than the other two, because Quidditch practice had started again.

"ALRIGHT!" yelled the Quidditch fans and players. Another game, as seen through the eyes of the Seeker!

Wood was working the team harder than ever.

"Why? They did so good during the last game!" said Charlie incredulously.

Even the endless rain that had replaced the snow couldn't dampen his spirits. The Weaselys complained that Wood was becoming a fanatic,

"Little did we know, he could get much worse!" said Fred shaking his head.

but Harry was on Wood's side.

"Traitor." said his Quidditch teammates. Harry couldn't help but laugh.

If they've won their next match, against Hufflepuff, they would overtake Slytherin in the House Championship for the first time in seven years.

"Holy...was it that long of time?" asked Charlie.

"Yes." said Snape with a small smirk.

Quite apart from wanting to win, Harry found that he had fewer nightmares when he was tired out after training.

"Maybe you'll have less nightmares now that you're back on the team, Harry!" said Neville hopefully.

Harry hoped so too, but he wasn't all together sure.

Then, during one particularly wet and muddy practices session, Wood gave the team a bit of bad news. He'd just gotten very angry with the Weaselys who kept dive-bombing each other and pretending to fall of their brooms.

"Hey, he said we were done for the day. We were just letting out some energy." said George, shrugging his shoulders.

"Will you stop messing around!" he yelled. "That's exactly the sort of thing that'll lose us the match!

"Yeah, right. If messing around lost games, your dad would never have won a game in his life." said Remus shaking his head.

"Your dad hardly ever practiced, except for three days before a game, then he would fly around from dawn until dusk." said Sirius.

Snape's refereeing this time, and he'll be looking for any excuse to knock points off Gryffindor!"

Sirius looked up quickly and stared at Neville, then Snape.

"You're refereeing? You've never even played Quidditch!" shouted Sirius.

George Weasely really did fall off his broom at these words.

"Snape's refereeing?" he sputtered through a mouthful of mud.

"It doesn't taste nearly as good as it sounds." said George with his tongue sticking out.

"When's he ever refereed a Quidditch match? He's not going to be fair if we might overtake Slytherin."

"Yeah!" said Sirius looking suspiciously over to Snape.

The rest of the team landed next to George to complain, too.

"It's not my fault," said Wood. "We've just got to make sure we play a clean game, so Snape hasn't got an excuse to pick on us."

"I can't say that we always play a clean game, to be honest, but we do play fairly for the most part." said Harry plainly.

Which was all very well, thought Harry, but he had another reason for not wanting Snape near him while he was playing Quidditch...

"I wouldn't either." said Lionus leaning back in his giant wooden chair.

Snape wanted to send one of his famous glares at him, but he didn't want to pick a fight with the Ranger.

The rest of the team hung back to talk to one another as usual at the end of practice, but Harry headed straight back to the Gryffindor common room, where he found Ron and Hermione playing chess. Chess was the only thing Hermione ever lost at, something Harry and Ron thought was very good for her.

"Works wonders for me." said Harry with a smile. "Getting my butt handed to me."

Hermione huffed and crossed her arms, Harry and Ron couldn't help but laugh.

"Don't talk to me for a moment," said Ron when Harry sat down next to him, "I need to concen-"

"You were being kind." muttered Hermione.

He caught sight of Harry's face. "What's the matter with you? You look terrible."

Speaking quietly so that no one else would hear, Harry told the other two about Snape's sudden sinister desire to be a Quidditch referee.

"Nice way of putting it." said Ginny, trying not to laugh.

"Don't play," said Hermione at once.

"Can't he's the only one to play Seeker." said George.

"Say you're ill," said Ron.

"I can't fake sick to save my life." said Harry with a smile.

"Pretend to break your leg," Hermione suggested.

"How would he do that? It would kind of be obvious." said Dr. Clark.

"Besides, three seconds with Madam Pomfrey and your leg is all better." said Sirius.

"Are you serious?" asked Dr. Clark with widened eyes.

"In both senses, yes!" he said happily.

"What?" asked Dr. Clark missing the joke, much to the dismay of Sirius.

"Don't dwell on it, or he'll use it every single time." warned Remus.

"Really break your leg," said Ron.

"I'm going to advise against that." said Dr. Clark quickly. "You've had enough damage done to your legs."

"I can't," said Harry. "There isn't a reserve Seeker. If I back out, Gryffindor can't play at all."

"There wasn't a replacement? Good lord, no wonder you haven't won in seven years." moaned Charlie.

At that moment Neville toppled into the common room. How he had managed to climb through the portrait hole was anyone's guess, because his legs had been stuck together with what they recognized at once as the Leg-Locker Curse.

"I sat on the edge and pulled my feet up after me. It was a little harder to stand up, though." said Neville.

He must have had to bunny hop all the way up to the Gryffindor Tower.

"It was a really embarrassing." said Neville quietly, Luna patted him consolingly on the back.

Everyone fell over laughing except Hermione,

"Sorry Neville." said Ron, Harry and everyone else who was in the dormitory at the time.

who leapt up and performed the countercurse. Neville's legs sprang apart and he got to his feet, trembling.

"What happened?" Hermione asked him, leading him over to sit with Harry and Ron.

"Malfoy," said Neville shakily. "I met him outside the library. He said he'd been looking for someone to practice that on."

Malfoy shifted uneasily in the gaze of angry Gryffindors.

"Go to Professor McGonagall!" Hermione urged Neville. "Report him!"

"I would have put you in detention faster than you could even say Locomotor Mortis." said Professor McGonagall. Draco squirmed even more.

Neville shook his head.

"I don't want more trouble," he mumbled.

"You've got to stand up to him, Neville!" said Ron. "He's used to walking all over people, but that's no reason to lie down in front of him and make it easier."

"That doesn't just apply to Malfoy, Neville." said Remus kindly.

"There's no need to tell me I'm not brave enough to be in Gryffindor, Malfoy's already done that," Neville choked out.

"You're more than brave enough, to be in Gryffindor." said Harry.

Harry felt in the pocket of his robes and pulled out a Chocolate Frog, the very last one from the box Hermione had given him for Christmas.

"I managed to save that one from Ron." said Harry with a laugh. Ron crossed his arms and pouted.

He gave it to Neville, who looked as though he might cry.

"I didn't know that was your last one Harry!" said Neville looking up from the book.

"That was really nice of you, Harry." said Luna over to him.

The three men in the bowl looked down at him proudly.

"You looked like you could've used it." said Harry simply.

"You're worth twelve of Malfoy," Harry said.

"So that's where he got that statement from." said Malfoy mumbling quietly.

"The Sorting Hat chose you for Gryffindor, didn't it? And where's Malfoy? In stinking Slytherin."

"Sorry!" Harry called over to the Slytherins quickly.

Neville's lips twitched in a weak smile as he unwrapped the frog.

"Thanks, Harry...I think I'll go to bed...D'you want the card, you collect them, don't you?"

"What would have happened if Neville had just kept that card?" asked Hermione in a hushed voice.

"Dang, we never would have found out till we got another Dumbledore card, and his aren't all that common." said Ron.

As Neville walked away, Harry looked at the Famous Wizard card.

"Dumbledore again," he said, "He was the first one I ever-"

"Ah!" said Dumbledore with a broad smile on his face. "I sense an epiphany coming."

He gasped. He stared at the back of the card. Then he looked up at Ron and Hermione.

"I've found him!" he whispered. "I've found Flamel!

The school and some of the guests cheered loudly.

"Finally! Now we get to find out who he is!" shouted Dennis.

I told you I'd read the name somewhere before,

"He kept telling us, we kept not believing him." said Ron with regret.

I read it on the train coming here-listen to this: 'Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the Dark Wizard Grindelwald in 1945,

Dumbledore looked down and at his knees, looking slightly ashamed, when people began to cheer for him. Harry, Remus, Dr. Clark, and Sirius were the only ones close enough who caught his odd behavior. They wanted to ask, but felt it was not the right time.

for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel'!"

"So he's a alchemy...person..."said a first year.

"I think the term you're looking for, Mr. Stapleton, is Alchemist." said Dumbledore kindly, rebounding from his sullen mood.

The first year blushed.

Hermione jumped to her feet. She hadn't looked so excited since they'd gotten back the marks for their very first piece of homework.

"You were way too excited." said Ron shaking his head.

"Stay there!" she said, and she sprinted up the stairs to the girls' dormitories. Harry and Ron barely had time to exchange mystified looks before she was dashing back, an enormous old book in her arms.

"I never thought to look in here!" she whispered excitedly. "I got this out of the library weeks ago for a bit of light reading."

"Light?" asked several people in the hall.

"Saw that coming." said Harry chuckling to himself.

"Light?" said Ron, but Hermione told him to be quiet until she'd looked something up, and started flicking frantically through the pages, muttering to herself.

At last she found what she was looking for.

"I knew it! I knew it!"

"Are we allowed to speak yet?" said Ron grumpily.

The twins clutched at their sides and nearly fell over laughing.

Hermione ignored him.

"What else is new?" shrugged Ron with a small smile.

"Nicolas Flamel," she whispered dramatically, "is the only known maker of the Sorcerer's Stone!"

"What is that?" asked a seventh year. Hermione stared at her.

"See, Hermione, she doesn't know either." said Ron pointing to the seventh year.

This didn't have quite the effect she'd expected.

"The what?" said Harry and Ron.

"We honestly didn't know." said Harry and Ron together.

"Oh, honestly, don't you two read?

"Harry does." said Ron.

Look-read that, there."

She pushed the book toward them, and Harry and Ron read:

The ancient study of alchemy is concerned with making the Sorcerer's Stone, a legendary substance with astonishing powers. The Stone will transform any metal into pure gold. It also produces the Elixer of Life, which will make the drinker immortal.

There have been many reports of Sorcerer's Stone over the centuries, but the only Stone currently in existence belongs to Mr. Nicolas Flamel, the noted alchemist and opera lover. Mr. Flamel, who celebrated his six hundred and sixty-fifth birthday last year, enjoys a quiet life in Devon with his wife, Perenelle (six hundred and fifty-eight).

"He must love his wife very, VERY much to spend over six hundred years of living with her." said Lee quietly.

"She is a wonderful woman." said Dumbledore fondly.

"I thought your card said that you worked on the Stone with Flamel, Sir. How could you have helped him on it if he was already six hundred something?" asked Seamus.

"It was an imperfect stone, it created the Elixer of Life, but it didn't turn metal into pure, solid gold. It was transformed into a thick gold-platedmetal. It wasn't a perfect transformation. So I helped him complete the stone." said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling madly.

"See?" said Hermione, when Harry and Ron had finished. "The dog must be guarding Flamel's Sorcerer's Stone! I bet he asked Dumbledore to keep it safe for him, because they're friends and he knew someone was after it, that's why he wanted the Stone moved out of Gringotts!"

"Very good, Miss Granger. I also wished to confront the person trying to get it. But I unfortunately had another idea. A very cruel idea." said Dumbledore almost silently.

"A stone that makes gold and stops you from ever dying!" said Harry. "No wonder Snape after it! Anyone would want it."

"Almost everyone." said Harry and Dumbledore.

"And no wonder we couldn't find Flamel in that Study of Recent Development in Wizardry," said Ron. "He's not exactly recent if he's six hundred and sixty-five, is he?"

"He's more renaissance." said Blaise with a chuckle.

The next morning in Defense Against the Dark Arts, while copying down different ways of treating werewolf bites,

"The only proper way is to treat the bite is to kill the thing that was bit." said Umbridge loudly before the Ranger could turn towards her and stop her. She smirked in a sort of a superior way.

Lupin made to stand up quickly when the Ranger cracked the whip and struck her with it heavily.

"Nightstrike! That's enough." shouted Lionus. Immediately after Lionus shouted Nightstrike stopped.

"My apologies sir, but I felt the need to be vindicated." said the Ranger who, the school now realized, was called Nightstrike.

"I didn't' say that you shouldn't have done it, but this man wants a shot as well." said Lionus with a grin, nodding over to Lupin.

"Whip, club, sword, what do you want to use?" said Nightstrike down to Lupin.

Lupin walked slowly over to Umbridge and watched as she cringed on the ground. He picked her up off the ground and looked towards the Ranger.

"I've never hit a woman." he said nervously.

"She's not a woman anymore, she's in Ranger custody, she's no longer even a person. Do what you will." said Nightstrike with a smirk.

Without hesitation, Lupin reared his fist back and punched her soundly in the face. Nightstrike laughed. "As one werewolf to another, nice shot." Lupin stared at him.

"You're a werewolf? And a RANGER?" his voice trembled.

"There is a whole squad of werewolves and vampires at Headquarters, not to mention centaurs, merpeople and giants. We don't go into the muggle world, we stick mostly to dealing with the criminal element of the magical world. I'm the only werewolf in my squad." he said proudly. "Handpicked by Captain Lionus, himself."

Harry and Ron were still discussing what they'd do with a Sorcerer's Stone if they had one. It wasn't until Ron said he'd buy his own Quidditch team that Harry remembered about Snape and the coming match.

"That's a massive killjoy." said Katie.

"What would you do with a Sorcerer's Stone, Harry? It doesn't' say." said Colin excitedly.

"I don't remember what I said I would do with it." said Harry thoughtfully.

"I think you wanted to use the money to find someone, Harry. Looking back, must've been Dr. Clark." said Ron.

"Oh, that's right." said Harry quietly.

"You couldn't remember wanting to spend the Stone-made gold to find him?" asked Sirius looking down at Harry.

"He found another way to raise money." said Lionus. Harry looked quickly over to the Ranger again.

"How do you know so much about Harry?" asked Sirius suspiciously.

"You'll find out how and why I know so much about him soon enough, I believe." said Lionus with a cryptic smile.

"I'm going to play," he told Ron and Hermione. "If I don't, all the Slytherins will think I'm just too scared to face Snape. I'll show them...it'll really wipe the smiles off their faces if we win."

"I like how you said the word 'IF'. " said Dr. Clark fondly. "Don't get a swelled head."

"Just as long as we're not wiping you off the field," said Hermione.

"...no offense, Ron, but I would have expected something like that coming from him, not from you, Hermione." said Tonks, with a disappointed look.

Hermione looked down at her feet.

As the match drew nearer, however, Harry became more and more nervous, whatever he told Ron and Hermione.

"We could see it in your eyes, that you were nervous, just about scared out of your mind." said Ron.

The rest of the team wasn't too calm, either. The idea of overtaking Slytherin in the House Championship was wonderful, no one had done it for seven years, but would they be allowed to, with such a biased referee?

Snape shifted a little in his serpentine chair.

"That's one of the reasons why Madame Hooch is the referee, she isn't the Head of any House." said Professor Sprout.

Harry didn't know whether he was imagining it or not, but he seemed to keep running into Snape wherever he went. At times, he even wondered whether Snape was following him, trying to catch him on his own.

"Were you?" asked Bill inquisitively.

"I don't need to answer your questions!" snapped Professor Snape, he was turning a little red.

"I take that to mean 'yes'." said Bill with a frown.

Potions lessons were turning into a sort of weekly torture,

"Torture? TORTURE!? You have been beaten, nearly to death, starved nearly to death, and various other things that we haven't gotten to as of yet, AND YOU VIEW MY CLASS AS TORTURE?" shouted Snape loudly, standing and gnashing his teeth towards the youth. Harry almost jumped right into Sirius's lap, and scrambled out of the bowl. He drew his wand, and was about to mutter a curse, until he caught himself, clawing at his own throat with his free hand.

He gasped, "Don't...look at me like that...your eyes...were like...never mind. Look at me again like that, and I'll go through with the hex." he warned, clutching his heart to steady his breathing.

"Harry, are you alright?" asked Remus while Dr. Clark and Sirius shouted at Snape.

"I'm fine, I haven't been yelled at like that for so many years, I overreacted, I apologize." he said quietly.

"Don't bother, Snape's getting a lesson in when not to overreact, as well. I think you were justified just a bit." said Remus, throwing an arm around the young man's shoulders and guided him back to the bowl. Once Sirius and Dr. Clark were done yelling at Professor Snape, and Mrs. Weasely was able to put her two knuts in , Neville continued.

Snape was so horrible to Harry.

To the astonishment of Harry, the normally mellow Dr. Clark started to growl once again.

Could Snape possibly know they'd found out about the Sorcerer's Stone? Harry didn't see how he could-yet he sometimes had the horrible feeling that Snape could read minds.

"One does not 'read' minds. The mind is not a book." said Snape quietly, he didn't' want to speak too loudly, he wasn't too sure what would set off Potter's 'uncles'.

Harry knew, when they wished him good luck outside the locker rooms the next afternoon, that Ron and Hermione were wondering whether they'd ever see him alive again.

"It wasn't a comforting thought." said Harry, leaning against Sirius. Sirius whimpered quietly, it wasn't a comforting thought to him either.

This wasn't what you'd call comforting.

"Duh." said Harry dully.

Harry hardly heard a word of Wood's pep talk as he pulled on his Quidditch robes and picked up his Nimbus Two Thousand.

"Wood never was much of an 'Inspirational Speaker'." said Angelina with a smile.

Ron and Hermione, meanwhile, had found a place in the stands next to Neville, who couldn't understand why they looked so grim and worried, or why they had both brought their wands to the match.

"I do now." said Neville quietly.

Little did Harry know that Ron and Hermione had been secretly practicing the Leg-Locker Curse.

Harry looked over to his two friends quickly, they simply waved back.

They'd gotten the idea from Malfoy using it on Neville, and were ready to use it on Snape if he showed any sign of wanting to hurt Harry.

Professor Snape glared over to them and snarled. "I wasn't trying to hurt him!" he growled.

"We know, but you were the one most likely one responsible." said Harry apologetically.

"Now, don't forget, it's Locomotor Mortis," Hermione muttered as Ron slipped his wand up his sleeve.

"I know," Ron snapped. "Don't nag."

"Just like an old married couple." said Harry and Ginny at the same time. Ron and Hermione blushed.

Back in the locker room, Wood had taken Harry aside.

"Don't want to pressure you, Potter,

"He did more than that in the next year." said Fred angrily. He never forgave Wood for saying what he did to Harry in the first game of his second year on the team.

but if we ever need an early capture of the Snitch it's now. Finish the game before Snape can favor Hufflepuff too much."

"Oliver couldn't believe that those words came out of his mouth." said Katie, giggling.

"The whole school's out there!" said Fred Weasely, peering out of the door. "Even-blimey-Dumbledore's come to watch!"

Harry's heart did a somersault.

"Your heart does some odd things Harry, maybe it's Rumplepoufs, they like playing with hearts, making them dance around." said Luna dreamily.

"Dumbledore?" he said, dashing to the door to make sure, Fred was right.

"You doubted me?" asked Fred pretending to look hurt.

"I thought it was too good to be true." said Harry honestly.

There was no mistaking that silver beard.

"That's how I knew it was him." said Fred to his twin.

Harry could have laughed out loud with relief. He was safe.

Harry sent a smile over to Dumbledore, Dumbledore however was looking down, a tear sliding down his crooked nose again. "See how much he trusted you, how much he depended on you to keep him safe? And you threw him into fire time and time again! Do you really deserve to know someone so...good, so pure? Do you have any real love for the boy? You say you do, but do you really?" he thought to himself bitterly. He could never make up to Harry enough, he would continue to repay for all his past cruelties, of course but could he ever forgive himself?

Harry saw darkness overtake the old man's eyes, and hopped out of the bowl, took a Calming Draught off the table and held it in front of Dumbledore's eyes. Dumbledore blinked and looked up at Harry.

"You're starting to scare me again." said Harry with a smile. "Don't make me do a repeat performance with the knife and the wire." said Harry still smiling.

There was simply no way that Snape would dare to try to hurt him if Dumbledore was watching.

"No one would dare hurt you in front of me." said Dumbledore sternly, as he took the potion.

Perhaps that was why Snape was looking so angry as the teams marched onto the field,

"If I had some notion of him coming, I wouldn't have bothered of refereeing the match!" muttered Snape over to Dumbledore.

something that Ron noticed, too.

"I've never seen Snape was looking so mean," he told Hermione. "Look-they're off. Ouch!"

Someone had poked Ron in the back of the head. It was Malfoy.

"Oh, sorry, Weasely, didn't see you there."

"One of the only redheads in your school, at least one and a half heads taller than you, and you don't see him?" asked Ginny with a scowl.

Malfoy grinned broadly at Crabbe and Goyle.

"Wonder how long Potter's going to stay on his broom this time? Anyone want a bet? What about you, Weasely?"

"Gambling is prohibited on school grounds!" said Professor McGonagall.

"There goes Poker Night." said Harry over to his dorm mates.

"What?!" screeched McGonagall.

"We play poker on Friday nights. Instead of money, we use candy. five beans are worth one galleon, licorice wands are worth five galleons, pumpkin pasties are ten galleons and chocolate frogs are worth twenty. We never cash in the candy, we just eat it when it's all said and done. And Neville whups us every dang week! We're lucky if we get some licorice wands for ourselves!" said Harry with a laugh.

Neville blushed.

Fred and George looked at each other and then Lee.

"Can we get in on this action?" all three of them said, Ginny also looked eager.

Professor McGonagall looked over to Dumbledore who smiled.

"Minerva, it's only gambling if they use money, but if it's for candy, I see nothing harmful about it." he said with twinkling eyes. McGonagall looked shocked for a moment, but nodded.

"Poker Night's back on then." said Seamus happily.

Ron didn't answer; Snape had just awarded Hufflepuff a penalty because George Weasely had hit a Bludger at him.

"The Hufflepuff Chaser was there! He flew right into the path!" shouted Fred, defending his twin. Snape scowled at Fred, but, amazingly, the combined snarls of the twins overpowered his own.

Hermione, who had all her fingers crossed in her lap, was squinting fixedly at Harry, who was circling the game like a hawk, looking for the Snitch.

"You looked really cool." said Dean.

"You know how I think they choose people for the Gryffindor team?" said Malfoy

"They take only the best?" said Luna curiously. It didn't seem like she knew Malfoy was being sarcastic. The Gryffindors cheered her without restraint.

loudly a few minutes later, as Snape awarded Hufflepuff another penalty for no reason at all.

"There was a reason!" said Snape angrily.

"And that would have been...what?" asked Madam Hooch.

Snape only grinded his teeth.

"It's people they feel sorry for. See, there's Potter, who's got no parents,

Sirius and Remus started to growl.

then there's the Weasely's, who've got no money-

The Weasely family ignored it, Malfoy already said he apologized for all the mean things he was going say in the books.

you should be on the team, Longbottom, you've got no brains."

"Mr. Malfoy, please apologize, for the curse from before, and for this current development." said Dumbledore to Malfoy.

"Sorry, Longbottom." said Malfoy quietly.

Neville nodded, hesitantly.

Neville went bright red but turned in his seat to face Malfoy.

"I'm worth twelve of you, Malfoy," he stammered.

Harry looked up to Neville quickly. Neville, meanwhile, blushed.

Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle howled with laughter, but Ron, still not daring to take his eyes from the game, said, "You tell him, Neville."

"Thanks Ron." said Neville with a smile.

"Longbottom, if brains were gold you'd be poorer than Weasely, and that's saying something."

"Sorry, again." said Malfoy.

Ron's nerves were already stretched to the breaking point with anxiety about Harry.

"I'm warning you, Malfoy-one more word-"

"Ron!" said Hermione suddenly, "Harry-!"

"Dear Lord, what now?" said Dr. Clark worriedly.

"What? Where?"

Harry had suddenly gone into a spectacular dive, which drew gasps and cheers from the crowd. Hermione stood up, her crossed fingers in her mouth, as Harry streaked toward the ground like a bullet.

"Oh no! Is there something wrong with your broom again?" Dr. Clark asked nervously.

"I don't think so, what he's doing is one of the Seeker plays that I've seen James do." said Remus leaning forward.

"You're in luck, Weasely, Potter's obviously spotted some money on the ground!" said Malfoy.

"Okay, that's going too far." said Charlie angrily.

"I'm sorry." said Malfoy, looking down.

Ron snapped. Before Malfoy knew what was happening. Ron was on top of him, wrestling him to the ground.

"GO RON!" yelled the twins excitedly. "Wish we didn't miss that." the added sadly.

Neville hesitated, then clambered over the back of his seat to help.

"GO NEVILLE! Really wish we hadn't missed that." said the twins even sadder.

"Come on, Harry!" Hermione screamed, leaping onto her seat to watch as Harry sped straight at Snape-

"You aimed right at Snape?" said Sirius with a shocked look.

Harry smiled slightly. "I only saw the Snitch."

she didn't even notice Malfoy and Ron rolling around under her seat, or the scuffles and yelps coming from the whirl of fists that was Neville, Crabbe, and Goyle.

"Gee thanks," said Ron and Neville with smirks on their faces.

"You took on Crabbe and Goyle?" asked Harry with a stunned look on his face. "I wouldn't have done that at eleven!"

Neville stared at Harry, paling slightly.

Ron laughed, "See Neville, we told you, you were brave enough to be in Gryffindor!"

Up in the air, Snape turned on his broomstick just in time to see something scarlet shoot past him, missing him by inches-the next second, Harry had pulled out of the dive, his arm raised in triumph, the Snitch clasped in his hand.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he tried fouling you just then." said Dr. Clark calmly.

"He wouldn't have been able to. Once the Snitch is caught, game is over, no matter what." said Madam Hooch.

The stands erupted; it had to be a record, no one could ever remember the Snitch being caught so quickly.

"He did break the previous record for the school, the prior record was ten minutes and forty-two seconds. That was set by your father." said Madam Hooch.

Harry stared at Madame Hooch a moment, then looked down, closed his eyes and smiled.

"The new record, set by you, is four minutes and twenty-four seconds." said Madame Hooch.

"Ron! Ron! Where are you? The game's over! Harry's won! We've won! Gryffindor is in the lead!" shrieked Hermione, dancing up and down on her seat and hugging Parvati

Patil in the row in front.

"I was dancing around too!" said Parvati

Harry jumped off his broom, a foot from the ground. He couldn't believe it. He'd done it-the game was over; it had barely lasted five minutes. As Gryffindors came spilling onto the field, he saw Snape land nearby, white-faced and tight-lipped-

"Most likely ticked off, 'cause you flew so close to him and he couldn't nail you with a foul." said Sirius with a grin.

then Harry felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up into Dumbledore's smiling face.

"Well done," said Dumbledore quietly, so that only Harry could hear. "Nice to see you haven't been brooding about that mirror...been keeping busy...excellent..."

"Quidditch and cooking always takes my mind off of things." said Harry thoughtfully.

Snape spat bitterly on the ground.

Harry left the locker room alone some time later, to take his Nimbus Two Thousand back to the broomshed.

"What would happen if someone tried taking a broom that doesn't belong to them?" asked Ginny.

"Some students place protective charms on their broomsticks." said Dumbledore.

"Harry put a charm on his broom, he made it so that if anyone else, besides him try and take it out of the broomshed, it starts beating them about the head and then it will fly to Harry." said Ron with a smile. "It actually was almost taken one day, the broom came right up to him in Charms class, never did find who tried to take it."

McClaggan rubbed the back of his head, making sure no one could see him. He just wanted a ride on it. Potter shouldn't be so selfish, not sharing his broom with other experienced Quidditch players.

He couldn't ever remember feeling happier. He'd really done something to done proud of now-no one could say he was a just a famous name any more.

Several people flinched and cringed in their seats. They were believers of Umbridge and Fudge, now they were quickly falling behind Harry.

The evening air had never smelled so sweet. He walked over the damp grass, reliving the last hour in his head, which was a happy blur: Gryffindors running to lift him onto their shoulders;

"The last time that happened was at the Track Championships." said Harry remembering fondly.

Ron and Hermione in the distance, jumping up and down, Ron cheering through a heavy nosebleed.

"I couldn't figure out how that happened." said Harry with a laugh.

Harry had reached the shed. He leaned against the wooden door and looked up at Hogwarts, with its windows glowing red in the setting sun. Gryffindor in the lead. He'd done it, he'd shown Snape...

And speaking of Snape...

A hooded figure came swiftly down the front steps of the castle. Clearly not wanting to be seen, it walked as fast as possible toward the forbidden forest. Harry's victory faded from his mind as he watched. He recognized the figure's prowling walk. Snape,

"Hmmm...very impressive..." said Moody and Lionus.

sneaking into the forest while everyone else was at dinner-what was going on?

Harry jumped back on his Nimbus Two Thousand and took off. Gliding silently over the castle he saw Snape enter the forest at a run. He followed.

"Oh Harry, don't go in there!" cried Mrs. Weasely.

The trees were so thick he couldn't see where Snape had gone. He flew in circles, lower and lower, brushing the top branches of trees until he heard voices. He glided toward them and landed noiselessly in a towering beech tree.

"Very good." said the two seasoned warriors.

He climbed carefully along one of the branches, holding tight to his broomstick, trying to see through the leaves.

Below, in a shadowy clearing, stood Snape, but he wasn't alone. Quirrell was there, too. Harry couldn't make out the look on his face, but he was stuttering worse than ever. Harry strained to catch what they were saying.

"...d-don't know why you wanted t-t-to meet here of all p-places, Severus..."

"Oh, I thought we'd keep this private," said Snape, his voice icy. "Students aren't supposed to know about the Sorcerer's Stone, after all."

Students leaned forward in their chairs.

Harry leaned forward. Quirrell was mumbling something. Snape interrupted him.

"Have you found out how to get past that beast of Hagrid's yet?"

"B-b-but Severus, I-"

"You don't want me as your enemy, Quirrell," said Snape, taking a step toward him.

"I-I don't know what you-"

"You know perfectly well what I mean."

Sirius and Remus looked quickly over to Snape with suspicious eyes.

An owl hooted loudly, and Harry nearly fell out of the tree.

"Crud, Harry! Hang on!" shouted Lee.

He steadied himself in time to hear Snape say,"-your little bit of hocus-pocus. I'm waiting."

"B-but I d-d-don't-"

"Very well," Snape cut in. "We'll have another little chat soon, when you've had time to think things over and decided where your loyalties lie."

He threw his cloak over his head and strode out of the clearing. It was almost dark now, but Harry could see Quirrell, standing quite still as though he was petrified.

"You must realize, Severus, you don't put yourself in a good light." said Dumbledore kindly.

"Harry, where have you been?" Hermione squeaked.

"We won! You won! We won!" shouted Ron, thumping Harry on the back.

People started laughing loudly. "Hey, I was excited." said Ron defensively.

"And I gave Malfoy a black eye,

Ron's brothers and his sister all gave him a high-five and pats on the back.

and Neville tried to take on Crabbe and Goyle single-handed!

People who were bullied by Crabbe and Goyle all stood up and cheered for Neville. Neville blushed and continued on.

He's still out cold but Madam Pomfrey says he'll be all right-

"Awww...that sucks." said Lee, shaking his head.

"You did good Neville." said Harry.

"Did you give me that large box of Frogs, Harry?" asked Neville.

"I take it you got them, then?" he said with a smile.

talk about showing Slytherin! Everyone's waiting for you in the common room, we're having a party, Fred and George stole some cakes and stuff from the kitchens."

"Not much danger in doing that, as it turns out." said Ron a little disappointed.

"Never mind that now," said Harry breathlessly. "Let's find an empty room, you wait 'til you hear this..."

He made sure Peeves wasn't inside before shutting the door behind them, then he told them what he'd seen and heard.

"So we were right, it is the Sorcerer's Stone, and Snape's trying to force Quirrell to help him get it.

"That was wrong." muttered Harry.

He asked if he knew how to get past Fluffy-and he said something about Quirrell's 'hocus-pocus'-I reckon there are other things guarding the stone apart from Fluffy, loads of enchantments, probably,

"Very, very good!" muttered Dumbledore smiling broadly.

and Quirrell would have done some anti-Dark spell that Snape needs to break through-"

"So you mean the Stone's only safe as long as Quirrell stands up to Snape?" said Hermione in alarm.

"It'll be gone by next Wednesday." said Arthur shaking his head.

"It'll be gone by next Tuesday," said Ron.

"You were being kind, Ron." said Arthur with a smile.

"That's the end of the chapter. What now?" asked Neville.

"It's almost time for dinner, so I think we should take a bit of a break." said Dumbledore.

Harry stood up and walked towards the Great Hall door.

"What's up, Harry?" asked Remus looking concerned.

"I don't know, I just have the urge to go down to the kitchens and make something. Anything." he said looking back, smiling.

"If you're going to be cooking anything, make that 'Italian Night Pizza' you made for me before I left for the army." said Dr. Clark, licking his lips.

"Alright then, I'll make enough for everyone then. See you in a bit." said Harry as he left the Great Hall.

After Harry left, Sirius turned towards Dr. Clark. "Is the pizza really that good?"

"You have no idea, how good!" said Dr. Clark with a smile. Before Dr. Clark could elaborate on the pizza, a shout rang out.

Neville was staring at the book and the giant glowing scroll that came out of the book.

"Hope it's a good one." said Hermione hopefully.

"What is that thing?" said Dr. Clark.

"It shows us the times that aren't shown in the books." said Sirius looking warily at the scroll.

The scroll unfurled itself and blackness began to enveloped the entire room once again.

"Oh damn, this happened the first time and it didn't go well!" shrieked Ginny.

Darkness over took them all.