8 Chapter Eight - Memory Don't Fail Me!

POV Jade/Hermione

The boys had come down late, and while I was waiting for them, my mind kept wandering back to the events of the previous day, the only positive thing was meeting Firenze, I didn't know if he was aware that I was a reincarnate, but it was enough that I had his trust.

On the other hand, there was the fact that the oaf Malfoy seemed more annoying than usual to me when that was supposed to happen in the second year after betting him on the classes. We had a not-very-pleasant meeting, which was attended by Theodore Nott, who just listened to what Malfoy said.

The exams came like a hurricane ravaging the brains of my classmates, and when we finished them it was all a relief for us, it was time, I was sure, not that we had to wait for Harry to realize it, he had to mention it once and for all, but in a subtle way.

- "Guys..." - I said, catching the attention of Ron and Harry, who were heading to the lake to relax with the twins. I grabbed them by the cloak and pulled them away from the twins and Lee Jordan. - "We need to talk...." - I assured them, making my best expression of fear and concern, as we slowly changed direction.

- "Hermione... Are you alright?" - Harry was the first to ask.

- "I... it's just that haven't you thought about it? I know that Dumbledore's presence at the school will keep the stone safe, but maybe the person who wants the stone already knows how to get past Fluffy?"

- "That's ridiculous, Hermione, you said it yourself, Hagrid would never betray Dumbledore, he won't say anything." - Said Ron, a bit surprised by my assumptions.

- "Look, Hagrid is loyal, but he's also very naive" - They both gave me a dirty look, but they thought about it - "Sometimes he can talk too much, besides, it's a coincidence that, what Hagrid wanted the most, was to have a dragon, and out of nowhere a stranger appears who brought him one and was willing to give it to him?"

After that was said, both opened their eyes with surprise, as if it was a revelation, and they had the missing piece in the puzzle, everything clicked, and we left in the direction of Hagrid's hut, so the gears of the end of the first Harry Potter book fit and began to move as I expected.

We arrived at Hagrid's hut and the one who started the interrogation was Harry, probing as much as we could until he revealed what he told the stranger who gave him the dragon egg, we waited no longer and headed in the direction of the castle, going to our tower and entering the common room.

They started talking about telling Dumbledore, being questioned by Ron, arguing that he wouldn't believe us. We went in search of Dumbledore at the end, but they didn't know where he was, which I did, however, Professor McGonagall arrived and Harry had to explain everything that had happened, as Dumbledore had left the school, so we had no choice, we had to get on with the plot.

In the end, the teacher didn't believe us, which was obvious, we were 3 eleven-year-olds talking about a possible robbery, it seemed like a bad joke, after that, she made us leave the office we weren't going out to sunbathe as the teacher suggested, it was time to act.

As we began to discuss what to do, as the robbery would surely take place tonight, we ran into Snape, I have to admit I considered talking to him about what was going to happen today, but when I heard him bothering about taking points off I couldn't help but get angry, we could do it alone, after all, I had read the books and watched the films, I knew what to do in the tests, I was also aware of the mistakes the boys made in their plans. We headed to the common room, we would talk there and this time, I would lead the evil plan, so we wouldn't lose points.

- "Well, before you think of the silly thing where you make the situation we're in worse, we can't watch Snape let alone go and watch the third floor as I'm sure you've considered, we have to take the stone before Snape does, it's the only way to stop Voldy from coming back."

- "Voldy?" - Ron asked quizzically.

- "Ron, concentrate please," - I said as I rolled my eyes in exasperation, - "Remember this could cost us Hogwarts, whether we don't make it or not." - Their gazes turned serious - "Prepare the invisibility cloak, we have things to do tonight, I will go over some things, remember there are certain obstacles we must overcome to get to the stone, don't forget your wands and please, don't let anyone see you, one more in this plan, and we will fail."

After that they nodded and disappeared, I felt weird, it was as if I was a sergeant and my only recruits were kids, it's a situation that, in the eyes of others may be regrettable, but well, at least we have to admit that they have potential and talent, they just have to polish it and trust themselves more.

.

The night came early, and I was writing at a table, as time went by, excusing ourselves to the others so that they would go ahead and let us go over some things that we got wrong in the exams.

When we were completely alone, it was time to leave, Harry had hidden his cloak, and I had a small bag with an undetectable expansion spell, so that's where we would keep it when the time came. I sighed, and we looked at each and then nodded and left the common room.

We met Mrs. Norris, passed her, and continued on our way to the third floor, where we unfortunately met Peeves, he noticed our presence, but before he could say anything I came out from under my cloak.

- "Boss?!" - He exclaimed, intrigued, lowering himself to my height. - "What are you doing here? Is this another adventure to test your experiments?" - He said, more excited.

- "Yes, something like that, I need nobody to come near this area for a while, we don't have much time, so here" - I said extending a bag with bombs - "They are the ones you already know, but there are also some surprise bombs, the purple one and the red one, you decide when to use them."

- "Aye, aye, boss," - He said, disappearing.

We went inside and saw Fluffy, he was already asleep, I didn't let them comment on anything, before the music was over, we would have to move on. I played Harry's flute that he brought with him, I couldn't play music from my mobile, it would draw too much attention, the boys jumped up and that's when they called me.

I jumped without hesitation, I knew what was going to happen, the instant I landed I stepped away from the devil's snare. As I hit the ground again, I launched fire, instantly knocking the plant back, while the boys alarmed ran.

- "Are you crazy?! Why did you do that?!" - Ron reproached me as soon as he got close.

- "That plant is the devil's snare, in short, it's used to protect valuable things because it kills those who fall into it." - I explained simply - "You're welcome. Let's move on."

They didn't say anything, they just followed me, we walked along the stone path, finding the next challenge, the keys, I stopped the boys.

- "Look at the brooms, we have to get the key that will take us to the other side, the next test, we have to move on, take the brooms, we have to corner them, it's the big one with bright blue wings and a damaged feather" - At that, the boys hesitated - "Boys, this is Flitwick's test, we passed Professor Sprout's and Hagrid's, we are still missing, we have to concentrate, remember what Hagrid said." - After saying that, they nodded.

We managed to corner the key and open the door, which led us to the other test, McGonagall's magical chess game, it was clear that she would let Ron show off, after all, she knew he would win it.

- "Ron, it's your turn, you have to win this chess game to move on." - I said confidently - "Get close to a piece, soon, just like you Harry, we have to be like a piece on the board, otherwise we won't get through."

Instantly they obeyed me, and it was time for Ron to play better than ever, we soon reached the point where Ron would have to sacrifice himself, convincing Harry, we nodded and finished with the game, the pieces tilted and moved aside, making way for what would be one less test, as Quirrell had already defeated the troll, it was considerably bigger than the one I buried, but all in all, this one did look bad, I had still tempted my heart by leaving it alive.

We passed through the door, which would lead us to the real penultimate test, behind us the purple flames rose, which started the game, I needed to see it to remember exactly what the book said as an answer, as this part was a bit complicated to remember when there was a lot to learn, I took the roll of paper that was near the bottles.

If I remember correctly, the smaller ones were the ones that saved us, I took a deep breath, and from here to the real thing, I knew I had to let Harry act. I would have no choice, I would take Ron to the infirmary through my portals, and then I would return to pick up Harry, the positive thing was that Ron was unconscious, I will make my excuses.

- "Harry... this is based on logic, the third one gets you to the last test, only one can get to the other side... it's only one drink... the one that gets you back is the seventh one" - I said sadly taking both potions in my hands.

- "Hermione, you helped me get here, you've helped us a lot, but I think I have to go, I'll stop Snape as long as I can..."

- "Harry, it's not Snape." - I said for sure.

- "What do you mean? What I heard..." - He said, and I interrupted him.

- "He might be annoying, and it's also obvious that he can't stand us, but the troll that came into the castle, that was a distraction... it wasn't him... the previous test was a troll, and it was Quirrell's test..." - He looks like he was listening to something crazy - "Trust me..."

- "All right... take care of Ron, go back to Dumbledore, we'll need his help, take the potion first..."

I took the contents of the round bottle without hesitation, I hugged Harry and went out the doorway, telling him to be careful, I got to Ron instantly and carried him as best I could, he was still completely unconscious, I went through the portal, which took him in front of the infirmary, I went in and told him he received a blow that knocked him out, I answered no more questions and went out, I was aware that Dumbledore would already be on his way to Hogwarts. Then I would also gain time....

I opened another portal that led directly to a corner of the room where the mirror was, no one could see me as I had the invisibility cloak, they were just at the moment when Harry got the stone, it was then that Quirrell showed Voldemort, who was behind his head, I started to move stealthily.

Voldemort began to talk his gibberish ending with the summary, if you value your life give me that stone once and for all, when Harry shouted "Never" and ran for the door Voldemort shouted again "Get him"

Instantly I pulled out one of my creations, my special whip, it would be the first time I would use it on someone besides myself.

I summoned all my courage and taking off my cloak, I threw it at his feet dragging him towards me, instantly an electric current spread through the whip and enveloped him.

- "Nobody messes with my friends," - I said with more confidence.

The truth was it wasn't strong enough to kill him, I would have to do it more intensely in the future, by the time I realized, I had dragged him into the middle of the room again.

- "Hermione, what are you doing here?" - He said, distracting me, stopping the flow of my attack abruptly.

- "Harry, don't come near me!" - I shouted at him in warning.

- "How dare you interfere, you idiotic brat!" - He said in my direction, raising his wand at me.

- "Coming from you, it's a complete compliment" - Now I look suicidal.

- "You'll die first," - He said, about to cast the killing spell.

Instantly Harry lunged at him from behind, knocking him to the ground, I watched as they both suffered from the contact, Quirrell's skin seemed to burn like hell.

- "Harry, get away from him!" - I shouted, pulling out my letter that would bury him.

I approached taking Harry while Quirrell was squirming, and I ended up throwing my card seeing how his body was held by the earth being submerged firmly, Voldemort disappeared and Harry was unconscious in my arms, I felt a look on my face that vanished instantly, while Professor Dumbledore entered the scene surprised to see only Quirrell's face expressing agony sticking out of the ground, but it gradually crumbled leaving only ashes, until it disappeared completely.

- "Professor, we have to take him to the infirmary" - I said a bit worried, we almost put our feet in our mouths, if I had left Harry more time in contact with him, I don't even want to think what would have happened.

- "Don't worry, Miss Granger, he will be fine." - I didn't know until I heard it, but I needed to hear those words.

After that, I took Harry's cloak and put it in my bag along with my whip, Dumbledore took care of taking us outside, I was exhausted, in the end, we had to tell the truth about the event that happened to Madam Pomfrey, to whom I apologized for lying to her and leaving her in doubt, although only half of what I told her at first was a lie, but well, I had Dumbledore's gaze at that moment.

- "I know you're probably exhausted, but I'd like to talk to you tomorrow." - I just nodded and left the infirmary to go straight to Gryffindor Tower.

When I got to the tower, I was very tired, so I lay down on the couch in the common room, it was a few hours before the others would come down, but I didn't care, I just closed my eyes and let myself fall into the arms of Morpheus, I would go and see the boys tomorrow.

.

The next morning, or rather, hours later, I was woken up by a Percy who was more than intrigued, after I realized that more eyes were on me, I just wanted to sleep a little more, but I had to resign myself, it was time to go to see the boys. I had to explain what happened to the redheads, as we were on our way to the infirmary, where we were only allowed to see Ron.

After that Ron came out of the infirmary, and the news spread fast, meanwhile, I was summoned to Dumbledore's office, I was nervous, as I didn't know how I should answer his questions, just in case, I would have to raise my Occlumency Shields. Once inside, Dumbledore offered me some lemon drops.

- "Well, Miss Granger, I think you must have some idea why you're here," - I nodded at that statement, - "Do you have something to tell me?"

- "Perhaps..." - I said unsure to the point that it almost sounded like a question, then he looked at me waiting for an answer and I sighed - "Well, okay, I admit that there must be one thing or another... as you may have deduced, I took care of the troll, maybe it wasn't in my plans, but I found it on the way and I used some toys I designed. Before you say anything, I made them specifically to use against Malfoy if he ever bothered me" - Then I made eye contact and his face said: Explosives? Really? - "Just to give him a little scare, not to kill him, I wouldn't throw it at his head either, I'm not crazy. Well, not so much" - I said reconsidering the last thing - "Maybe I was reckless, I'm also responsible for giving Peeves toys to play pranks on the other houses, I'm sorry for that." - I kept talking like crazy, both truths and lies were coming out of my mouth, then Dumbledore raised his hand as a sign for me to stop and breathe, I hadn't realized that I was short of breath.

- "Miss Granger... that magic you used, to 'bury' the troll and Professor Quirrell? How did you learn to use it?" - He seemed very curious, so I thought a bit.

- "How to explain it... it only came up when I wanted the Troll to stop following me, and when the battle with Professor Quirrell happened, it was a wish for him to get away from Harry because my friend was suffering, I know I have to learn to control my accidental magic rants... but I'm glad it came up that way." - I said confidently and the professor nodded.

- "Indeed, that event was effective...." - He looked at me, analyzing my expressions, I think - "I'm sorry to have made you uncomfortable Miss Granger, you can go back to your classes..." - He looked thoughtful... it was certain that there were some gaps in my explanations, but it didn't go any further.

I left there more intrigued than he was, so now it was up to me to find out about that kind of magic and why he was intrigued that I was using it. For me, it was already normal to use it, even fun, but no one would take Dumbledore's expressions out of my head.

.

The three days passed quickly, and the story spread around the castle, but I excluded my role in the battle, it was fine that I was not the center of attention, I had enough with the fact that I was the insufferable know-it-all or the book-eater of the school, but it didn't matter.

By that time I had already gone to talk to Hagrid, so as not to make him feel so bad, I told him that Harry was not alone, I was with him, and we managed to cope with the situation until Dumbledore arrived.

I went to visit Harry with Ron, and just after Dumbledore had finished talking to him, Harry turned me upside down and told Ron the true events of what had happened. I had to tell him that I had stolen potions from Snape to catch up with him. They admitted that they were suspicious of me when we went after the thief, but after explaining how I knew and deduced each piece of evidence, with excuses like "the texture of the plant helped me identify it" or "I perfectly observed the keys flying and the door that would open with it", ending with "I'm good with logic problems".

- "Hermione... just one more question... that lasso you used against Quirrell... What was it? What did it do to Quirrell?" - He asked, intrigued.

- "Well... that..." - They both looked at me waiting for an explanation - "It's a whip that I made to use as a defense, I created it from what happened in the forest the night of the punishment..." - I lied, I had made it before going, just at the time when I created items out of sheer nerves, but they still hadn't tried one on, so I went for the safest one - "It only electrocuted him a bit, it doesn't have enough voltage to kill him, so he was fine." - At my words, they shuddered - "Not a word of this to anyone, I don't want it confiscated."

- "It's creepy... brilliant but creepy." - Said Ron, as Harry nodded in agreement.

I was used to those comments by now, so I didn't bother, I just laughed proudly changing the subject with them, from now on, we would be friends, they already trusted me, and evidently, I trusted them.

I asked them to keep my intervention a secret, I preferred not to share the spotlight with Harry, after all, problems get bigger if you don't work from the shadows without drawing attention to yourself.

.

Soon the results of our exams came in, and evidently, I got a perfect score, thank you wicked dragon who brainwashed Raven and taught black magic and spells to learn the content of the books faster, I wish I could have done that in my previous life, it would have been easier, after all, with this, the written exams were easy, although everything I know about Strange's magic will be harder to learn without having the books.

Harry was able to go to the end-of-term celebration, where everything was full of Slytherin colors, who beat us by just a few points, but then Professor Dumbledore started giving out points, Ron 50 points for the chess game, then he mentioned Harry's 60 points, for his mettle and courage, that surprised me, With that, we had already won the house cup, however, he awarded me 70 points, which was almost impossible, what he said surprised me, after all, he mentioned the cold logic I used, but he also said it was for my loyalty to my friends, so the victory ended up being ours, changing the house colors and celebrating with everyone.

.

In the end, I packed my things, and we were taken by Hagrid to the station, where I said goodbye to the boys, but not before giving Harry some special bombs to use when necessary, since magic could not be done outside Hogwarts, so what better than my artifacts to do magic for him, he thanked me and I went to meet my parents, the fun of having finished this book, is that I can prepare for the next one, and maybe I get a well deserved holiday before returning, I don't want to be petrified, but anything can happen. Well, firstly, I'm going to have to hand in the manuscript.