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With George's help, everyone else touched down safely. The second they landed, their eyes landed on the glowing green stick Tom was casually holding.
Their expressions turned complicated. Still, given how weird Tom was and the fact that the thing had literally been stuck in the ground earlier, nobody said a word. They just kept stealing sideways glances at it every few seconds.
Tom didn't think twice about it. He figured they were just jealous he had a perfectly good light source that didn't drain any magic.
[Quit staring. If you guys really want one, hand over enough Galleons and I'll whip up a copy. No big deal.]
"Cough—uh, we're good," Ron choked out, nearly swallowing his own spit. Touch a Killing Curse with your bare hands? Even a Gryffindor wasn't that suicidal.
Ariana, on the other hand, looked genuinely intrigued. Killing Curses didn't work on ghosts anyway. If the thing really lit up like a glow stick, borrowing one for fun later didn't sound half bad.
But that could wait.
"So… any guesses what we're walking into next?" Harry asked, trying to change the subject. He was actually a little nervous.
The dark tunnel reminded him of the Gringotts vaults and the rumors about the dragon that guarded them.
"You think there's a dragon waiting down here?"
"Probably not," Draco said, shaking his head. "Just because Hagrid got his hands on one doesn't mean they're easy to come by. Even Dumbledore would have a hard time getting a live dragon. And using one as a guard? That's just stupid."
"Dragons have nasty tempers. They don't get tame. The goblins at Gringotts only keep theirs in line because they know exactly how to scare it. Doesn't mean the dragon won't still try to roast anyone who gets too close."
"Squeak!"
Before Draco could finish, a tiny head popped out of Tom's fur and started yelling at him in outrage.
[Norberta says she doesn't like you anymore. She's not some ungrateful wild animal. Oh, and that'll be ten Knuts for the translation. Thanks.]
Tom fought back a grin as Draco turned gray.
"Wait—did anyone else hear something?" Ron suddenly cut in. "There's a noise up ahead."
"Must be the other professors' defenses Hagrid mentioned," Hannah said, thinking. "But if Professor Quirrell already got through, wouldn't those traps be broken by now—"
She shut her mouth mid-sentence.
The room in front of them was brightly lit. Hundreds of winged keys fluttered through the air, and at the far end a heavy door stood firmly shut. Everything looked completely untouched.
"So… we got here before Quirrell?" Harry asked.
"Or the traps reset themselves," Hermione said, shaking her head.
"Doesn't matter why," Ariana said calmly. "We only have one job right now—keep moving."
She walked to the end of the room and gave the door a tug. Locked.
"Alohomora!"
Hermione fired off the unlocking charm. Nothing happened.
"Looks like it's got a counter-charm on it," she muttered. "So the only way through is probably—"
She glanced up at the swarm of flying keys. The meaning was obvious: they'd have to catch the right one.
"Look—brooms!" Harry pointed. "We can fly up and grab it!"
"Perfect. Time to show you what real flying looks like," Draco said, eyes lighting up. He still hadn't gotten over losing to Harry in flying class. "Let's race—whoever catches the key first—"
Click.
Before Draco could finish, the locked door behind them gave a soft metallic clack.
He turned mechanically. Tom stood there, calmly pulling his paw back from the lock.
Under Draco's accusing stare, Tom just shrugged.
[Come on. We're trying to beat Quirrell to the Stone, right? So why waste time playing the game? Just skip the level.]
"But the door had a counter-charm on Alohomora—"
[So what? Muggles open locks without magic all the time.]
Tom rolled his eyes. Hermione's brain usually ran at full speed—how did it glitch at the simplest stuff? She and Harry were the ones actually raised in the Muggle world!
"Uh…" Hermione looked away, suddenly embarrassed. Harry's gaze also drifted guiltily to the side. Clearly he'd forgotten that part too.
[All right, let's keep moving.]
Tom didn't press it. He stepped through the now-open door first. The others followed close behind.
Just like in the stories, they stepped into a giant chessboard.
Tom almost lost it right there.
What the hell was Quirrell—or the Voldemort fragment riding him—thinking? Smashing the pieces would've been the fastest way through. Why play by the rules?
Same with the keys back there—why not just break the door? Or blast a hole in the wall? Hell, dig a tunnel if you had to. Way faster than hunting for one stupid key.
And now this chess set. McGonagall had only transfigured the pieces; she wasn't controlling them in real time. Just smash them and walk across. Why sit down and play an actual game?
Unless… the old bee had Professor McGonagall reset everything after Quirrell passed? Nah, he couldn't be that petty… right?
Tom grumbled to himself. Though honestly, that sounded exactly like something Dumbledore would do. No way Voldemort would waste time playing chess.
"Looks like we have to play chess to—" Ron started, eyes sparkling. Wizard's chess was one of the few things he was actually good at. He was dying to show off.
Tom cut him off with an eye-roll.
[Why make it complicated?]
He pulled out the broom he'd swiped from the last room.
[Just fly across.]