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