Exams finally arrived at Hogwarts and Harry couldn't concentrate. The images of what he witnessed in the forest keep replaying in his head. Then, he wondered about the dragon egg and perhaps Hagrid might have let it slip on how to get past Fluffy to the stranger he met at the pub. When they asked him, Hagrid said, "Play him a bit of music and he'll fall straight to sleep" So now the stranger knew how to get by Fluffy but more importantly, so did Harry! Later on, Harry found out that Dumbledore had gone to the Ministry of Magic which left Harry with no choice but to stop Snape from getting the stone that night. With Hermione and Ron at his side, he knew that they had an excellent chance to stop Snape.

Late into the night the trio reached the 3rd floor corridor with the massive Cerberus guarding the tap door. Harry immediately began to play the flute that Hagrid had given him for Christmas. Fluffy fell asleep almost at once allowing them to sneak by and slip down into the trapdoor. They fell several feet until they landed on something soft. When Hermione shrieked realizing what it truly was, Devil's Snare. It was coiling it's tentacles around their bodies and if they didn't get out of there soon, the Devil's Snare would crush them with in a few minutes. Hermione was able to get out of it before it had gotten a good hold on her. It took her a moment to remember how to kill the massive plant. Then she remembered, Fire! She pulled out her wand and created a 'blew bell flame' which cause the Devil's Snare to release Ron and Harry. Then they came to a chamber that was full of hundreds of flying keys. Only one would open the next door. Harry, Ron and Hermione mounted the brooms that were levitating in the center of the room. They worked together to catch the correct key, which was an old rusty key with an already damaged wing. Once on the other side of the door they found them selves in a chamber with an enormous chess board topped with life size pieces. The Trio played their way a crossed only to have Ron sacrifices himself so they could move on to the next challenge. But what they were faced with was something neither of them could have guessed. It seems that someone had already been in this chamber because a giant mountain troll was unconscious on the stone ground. They were glad that they did not have to deal with it, so they moved on.

In the final room, there was a table with 7 potion bottles on it. The moment they stepped away from the door, purple flames shot up blocking their exit. This was followed by black flames blocking the door onward and they were trapped. Upon the table Hermione found a scroll lying next to the bottles. It was a clever logic riddle they had to solve to know what each bottle contained and what they did. It took Hermione a moment, but she solved it. Unfortunately the potion that lead the drinker forward was just enough for one to pass. Harry knew that it must be him that had to do it. Hermione gave Harry a big hug and told him to be careful while he ventured on. Harry watched as Hermione drank her potion first, then did the same and passed through the black flames to whatever lies ahead..

If you have read Chapter 16 and feel pretty confident that you know everything, then test your knowledge and take the quiz, click on the link below!

CHAPTER 16 QUIZ