"Let's see… first year creatures… Zombies, Gnomes, Imps, Hags, Gytrashes, Vampires and Werewolves…" Hermione listed off from her text book, then flipping open her notes from class. "Pop Quiz! Give me a spell to use against a Gytrash!"
"Vermillious, or Red Sparks, although most light spells will work. Don't use green sparks, they seem to be resistant to them." Harry answered quickly.
"Good! Next!" Hermione said, moving onto the next creature. The trio worked through all of the creatures they had studied in the first year, getting Harry mentally prepared for what was happening. Harry was glad his friends cared so much.
Ten o'clock rolled around and Harry waited at the stairs to the third floor with his bag he had filled for this excursion. Hermione had insisted that he take some of her first aid equipment with him, just in case he got injured, the worry she had on her face had made it impossible for Harry to say no.
Professor Quirrel arrived, and Harry followed him to a door he recognized. This was the door that the cerberus was behind. "As you may be aware, Hogwarts houses many magical artifacts for safekeeping, your obstacle course will be to simply make your way to the artifact by any means necessary. I will be watching you, and will stay out of your way." Quirrel said. Harry's stomach dropped a bit, but he trusted the professor to make sure nothing happened to him. He wished he had Professor Flitwick here with him as well however, as the small professor would have been a comforting presence.
Harry took a deep breath and opened the door, the massive mound of fur that was Fluffy the cerberus raised his heads and growled. Harry reached into his bag and pulled out his flute, playing a quick lullaby and lulling the cerberus to sleep. That had been easier than anticipated.
"Good job Mr. Potter. I'll be disillusioning myself to stop from distracting you. Just know I will be here in case anything were to happen." Quirrel said, before waving his wand. Harry lost sight of the man, but a quick examination showed that he was still there, just easily ignorable.
Opening the trapdoor that Fluffy guarded, Harry fell down, his fall broken by a plant of some kind. Harry examined the plant, it's inky black tentacles revealing it's true nature to him quickly. This was Devil's Snare, a plant Neville was particularly fond of. It didn't like light or heat, so Harry quickly produced some of Hermione's favorite Bluebell flames, which had the plant drop him to the floor below.
"So far so good Harry, nothing you can't handle." Harry said to himself, trying to ready himself for whatever trial awaited him next.
The door to the next room wasn't locked, and when Harry entered he was surprised to see it's high ceiling, as well as the plethora of birds flying about within the room. Harry moved to the next door and found it locked. A quick cast of the unlocking charm failed to open it as well. "Okay… door is locked and the unlocking charm doesn't work.. Where would I find a key?" Harry wondered aloud, before glancing at the birds. They weren't birds at all, but keys with enchanted wings. "Alright, now there's a thousand keys, which one would it be?" Harry looked to the door. It itself was old, made of a very sturdy wood, and likely magically reinforced to stop him from simply blasting his way through it if he were so inclined. The doorknob and lock assembly were a distinct blue-ish silver color… was that a clue?
Harry looked through the cloud of keys, he saw many old and new styled keys, but only spied one old style key that was the same color as the door fittings. That had to be it. Now how to get it? Harry glanced around, and found a broomstick in the corner, one of the practice ones he had used in class six months ago. Getting on and kicking off, he rockeded through the cloud of keys, managing to snag the one he needed within a few seconds. Harry descended, putting the key in the lock and unlocking the door. He kept a firm hold on the broom stick, it could be useful for later challenges.
The next room was not quite as tall, but much larger, with most of the room being taken up by a massive chess board. Harry saw that he was on the Black side of the board, and that the only other door to the room was immediately behind the White King. Harry understood the rules of chess perfectly well, and enjoyed an occasional game against Daphne, who was a big fan of the game. His skill however was quite lacking and he didn't trust his chances to play a game for this test…
Well, Quirrel did say by any means necessary.
Harry kicked off with the broom again, sailing over the Black side pieces and over the board. The white pieces though began to try and swing their weapons at him as he passed overhead, the queen swiping at him with a large greatsword made of marble. They couldn't handle his speed however, and Harry sailed to the door and opened it, making it into the next room.
Behind him, purple flames shot up, and Harry jumped, spooked by their sudden appearance. At the same time, menacing black flames shot out of a hallway on the opposite side of the room. The only other objects in the room were a table with seven bottles and a roll of paper on it.
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