The Final Trial (I)

Time passed quickly, and exams were almost upon them.

You asked about Malfoy's punishment? Going to the Forbidden Forest was like going home for him now. There was no longer any scene like in the films where he was scared half to death. It was good enough if the creatures in the Forbidden Forest did not run when they saw him—after all, Slytherin students formed parties to grind monsters in the Forbidden Forest every night. Acromantulas shrank back at the sight of silver-green robes, Red Caps burrowed underground when they heard Slytherin footsteps, and even Werewolves went around them. Even if there was danger, the Kurama Cloak would protect them.

It was a bit of a shame that Malfoy had not caught the black-robed man who had killed the Unicorn that night. He wandered through the Forbidden Forest for most of the night and saw only a Unicorn's corpse and blood trails dragged across the ground. By the time he followed them, the figure had already vanished into the depths of the forest.

The day of the exams was unbearably hot.

Hogwarts was truly hot in June.

Especially in the large classroom where they took their exams. All the windows were open, but there was no wind, and even the curtains could not be bothered to move. They had to write with the special quills handed out to them, because those quills had been enchanted to prevent cheating.

After the written exams came practical tests. Professor Flitwick called them into the classroom one by one and tested whether they could make a pineapple tap-dance across a table.

Professor McGonagall had them turn a mouse into a snuffbox. The prettier the transformation, the higher the marks, but if it did not look right, points would be deducted. The mouse in front of Su Yu was a small, dusty-gray thing crouching on the tabletop, its black-bean eyes staring at him. Su Yu raised his wand, aimed it at the mouse, and recited the spell.

The mouse began to transform. Its body shrank into a lump, its fur took on a metallic texture, its tail retracted, and its nose became the lid of a box—but the color was wrong. It should have been silver, yet it was gray, and the shape was not quite right either: flat, like a crushed tin can. Professor McGonagall came over and took one look, pressing her lips together without saying anything. Su Yu did not know what that meant, but he felt it probably did not mean points were being deducted.

When it was Professor Snape's turn to test them, everyone was terrified. They tried desperately to remember how to make a Forgetfulness Potion, thinking so hard their eyes went blank. Su Yu's Potions had improved quite a bit from before, but that only meant he had gone from "completely hopeless" to "barely managing." Snape came over and glanced down at his large cauldron. His black eyes lingered on the potion's color for a second before moving away. He did not say anything, but Su Yu felt the corner of his mouth twitch—not a smile, but a kind of confirmation that said, "Just as expected."

Their final exam was History of Magic, where they had an hour to answer questions about an eccentric old wizard who had invented the cauldron.

When the ghostly Professor Binns told them to put down their quills and hand in their papers, students throughout the school cheered all at once. They had a week of holiday to wait for their exam results.

After the exams, Su Yu dragged his nearly hollowed-out body to the lakeside with Daphne supporting him, where Fa-jie and Ka-jie had already been waiting.

This was the story of three top students and one poor student.

The four of them found a large tree and sat down beneath it. Su Yu lay on the grass with his head resting on Ka-jie's long legs. Kurama jumped out of Su Yu's arms and crouched in a corner of the blanket, pawing at the pastries in the basket. Fa-jie smacked her paw, and she drew it back, only to sneak it out again once Fa-jie turned away.

Daphne sat beside Su Yu, took out a pastry from the basket, broke it into small pieces, and fed him one bite at a time, hoping to restore his drained brain as quickly as possible.

Fa-jie leaned against the tree trunk, watching Daphne feed Su Yu. The corner of her mouth was raised, and her eyes gleamed. "Daphne," Fa-jie said, "you spoil him too much. Sooner or later, Su Yu is going to be spoiled rotten by you."

Daphne smiled gently and did not say much. She broke off another piece of biscuit and brought it to Su Yu's lips. Su Yu opened his mouth and ate it, chewing twice before suddenly sitting up, turning sideways, and kissing Daphne on the lips.

A ring of biscuit crumbs clung to the corner of Daphne's mouth from Su Yu's kiss. Daphne froze for a moment, her face flushing slightly, then reached out and pinched Su Yu at the waist.

The pain made Su Yu gasp sharply. He curled his waist and dodged to the side, calling out as he fled, "Fa-jie! Blow on it for me! It hurts!"

Fa-jie rolled her eyes at him. Then, with a look of disdain, she reached out and shoved Su Yu toward Ka-jie.

Taking advantage of the push, Su Yu fell back onto Ka-jie's legs and muttered, "Ka-jie, save me." Ka-jie looked down at him, the corner of her mouth lifting slightly. She neither pushed him away nor said anything. She merely reached out, brushed the hair from his forehead, and lightly pressed a finger between his brows.

The four of them enjoyed the quiet afternoon like that. Occasionally, a fish leaped from the lake and splashed back into the water, ripples spreading outward in rings.

Kurama finally stole a biscuit from the basket. She crouched at the edge of the blanket and nibbled it bite by bite, her amber eyes narrowed into slits.

They did not return until the sun was nearly setting.

That night, Su Yu had just finished bathing and stepped out of the bathroom, drying his hair as he prepared to sleep with Fa-jie in his arms.

Peeves burst in.

He came straight through the wall, his purple body flipping through the air, his pointed hat nearly stabbing the chandelier on the ceiling.

Kurama exploded.

She had been dozing at the foot of the bed. Startled by Peeves's sudden appearance, she sprang straight up from the bed, all four legs kicking in the air. Her nine tails flared open at once, her body instantly swelling by a full size as Spinosaurus Form activated.

Her mouth opened, and a ball of golden light gathered in her throat—that was the sign of a miniature Tailed Beast Bomb.

"Don't!" Su Yu rushed over and pressed one hand on Kurama's head, forcing her mouth shut. Kurama's teeth clacked together, and the Tailed Beast Bomb went out inside her mouth, releasing a wisp of green smoke. She glared at Su Yu, but he ignored her.

"Peeves," Su Yu said as he turned around, lowering his voice, "what exactly happened?"

Peeves did a somersault in midair, his hat slipping crookedly to one side. "Harry! Ron! Hermione! They broke into that room on the fourth floor! But it seems that room has run into some unknown problem, and now the three of them are neither dead nor alive!"

Su Yu frowned.

In the film, that place was simply a trial ground Dumbledore had prepared for Harry. There was not much danger there at all. Aside from the slightest bit of danger when Harry faced Quirrell in the end, Dumbledore had been watching from nearby. So Su Yu had not concerned himself with the three of them. A little trial was good, after all, and Hermione needed a chance to prove herself too.

Something was wrong.

Su Yu's frown deepened.

He had been played by Dumbledore again.

That Flame Troll that night—

Su Yu did not think any further. He hurriedly dressed, turned to Fa-jie, and said, "I'm going to the fourth floor." Then he rushed out of the dormitory.

Fa-jie sat on the bed with her book still open in her hands, but her gaze did not rest on the pages. Her brows furrowed faintly, and her fingers tapped the edge of the page twice—that small habit only appeared when she was thinking. After considering it, she felt something was wrong.

Fa-jie set down her book, got off the bed, put on her slippers, threw on an outer robe, and left the dormitory.

There were still several people chatting in the Slytherin common room. The fire in the fireplace burned brightly, and three or four people sat on the dark-green sofas drinking tea. Fa-jie walked to the fireplace and rang the bell Slytherin used specifically for assembly.

Three minutes. Within three minutes, every Slytherin student had appeared in the common room. From first-years to seventh-years, there were nearly a hundred of them.

Fa-jie stood before the fireplace, firelight reflecting across her face.

"The Chief has gone to that room on the fourth floor," Fa-jie said. "But I have a bad feeling about this."

She paused.

"Now, you decide for yourselves. Those who want to follow, take one step forward."

There was no hesitation.

Nearly a hundred people stepped forward together. The sound of their feet hitting the ground was so synchronized that it sounded like one person. Crabbe and Goyle were not even half a beat slow this time—Crabbe's mouth was still hanging open, Goyle's eyes were still wide, but their feet had already moved.

Fa-jie's gaze swept across every face.

"Good. Go back and prepare your equipment. In two minutes, we move out!"

The common room immediately became busy. Everyone returned to their dormitories to gather their equipment. Two minutes later, nearly a hundred people stood neatly in the common room. The boys all wore white shirts, green ties, black suits, and black trench coats. The girls all wore white shirts, green ties, black jackets, pleated skirts, and black stockings. Silver-green badges glimmered faintly inside every robe.

Fa-jie walked at the front, Ka-jie beside her, while Daphne walked in the middle of the group. Nearly a hundred people formed a long line, silently crossing the corridors and climbing the stone stairs.

Filch and Mrs. Norris trembled at the sight. For now, they would not be catching students who stayed out after curfew.

On Su Yu's side, the Kurama Cloak was already wrapped around him.

He even took the stairs by jumping directly upward—he pushed off the ground and shot up half a floor, tapped the railing with his toes, then shot up another half-floor.

If not for the fact that Apparition was impossible, he would have gone up long ago. The Anti-Apparition Charm in Hogwarts Castle had been personally set by Dumbledore. No one could do anything about it.

Su Yu rushed to the fourth floor and kicked open the door.

The first room was empty. The Three-Headed Dog was not there. Only several thick iron chains lay on the ground, stretching from iron rings in the walls to a large cushion in the center of the room. The chains had been broken, their fractures jagged and uneven.

Su Yu had no time to think about where the Three-Headed Dog had gone. He saw the trapdoor in the floor. It was open. He jumped in.

The second trial was darkness.

Before his feet even touched the ground, something curled toward him from all around—it was vines.

Su Yu's eyes changed. Black tomoe rotated within red pupils, joining into a circle: the Mangekyō Sharingan.

Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu.

He drew in a deep breath, chakra surging in his chest, then breathed out a massive torrent of flame. The vines twisted and shriveled in the fire, turning to ash with a scorched smell. The remains of Devil's Snare writhed on the ground a few times before falling still.

The third trial was a massive room, its ceiling densely filled with keys. Thousands upon thousands of keys flew through the air, the sound of their wings like a flock of startled sparrows. At the other end of the room was a door. It had already been opened. It seemed Hermione and the others had passed this trial.

Su Yu did not take a broom. He jumped straight through the door.

A huge chessboard stood in the fourth trial room.

The moment Su Yu entered, he heard Ron shout, "A sacrifice can't be avoided! Harry, I'll step forward and let it take me. Then you can checkmate that king! Don't you want to stop Snape as soon as possible?"

As he spoke, he stepped forward and was knocked unconscious by the white queen. Ron's body fell to the ground like a puppet with cut strings, a trace of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth. Then the white queen dragged him aside, while Harry moved three steps to the left and won the match.

Su Yu jumped down beside the two of them. Hermione stared at him in surprise, then hurriedly rushed over and threw her arms around him.

"Su Yu!" Hermione's voice was sharp and bright, trembling with the aftermath of survival.

"It's all right now." Su Yu placed a hand on the back of Hermione's head, his fingers threading into her fluffy curls.

Su Yu walked over to Ron and crouched down to check him. Ron's breathing was steady, and his heartbeat was normal. There was only a lump on the back of his head, where he had hit it after being knocked unconscious by the white queen. Su Yu told Harry to move him to the side.

All the chess pieces stepped aside, bent their knees, and knelt, clearing the path to the exit. Su Yu, Hermione, and Harry passed between the pieces and pushed open the door to the next trial.

There was only a dead troll in the fifth trial room.

The air was thick with a pungent medicinal smell mixed with the troll's distinctive rotten stench, enough to make anyone vomit.

"I'm really glad we don't have to fight it," Harry whispered as they carefully stepped over its enormous leg. His voice was very low, as though he was afraid of waking the troll.

"Hurry up, I don't dare breathe!" When Harry pushed open another door, he and Hermione both barely dared to look inside. Su Yu found the two of them a little amusing—cowardly and brave at the same time.

But contrary to Harry's expectations, there was nothing frightening inside. Only seven bottles of different shapes stood neatly in a row on a table.

"This is Snape's trick," Harry said. "What do we have to do now?"

The moment they crossed the threshold, a burst of purple fire ignited behind them at the entrance. At the same time, a burst of black fire roared to life at the doorway ahead.

They were trapped in the middle.

"Look!" Hermione pulled a piece of paper from beside the bottles and called Su Yu over to see.

It read:

There is danger ahead, and safety behind, if you can find it. Two of us will help you among the seven bottles. One will help you move forward, another will send you back where you came from. Two are merely ordinary Nettle Wine, while three are deadly poison. Choose quickly if you do not wish to stay here forever!

To help you choose, we offer four clues:

First, no matter how secretly the poison is hidden, you will always find it to the left of the Nettle Wine; second, the bottles at the ends are always different, but if you move further inward, there is no good wine; third, as you can see, all the bottles are different sizes, and neither the small nor the tall bottles are dangerous; fourth, the second from the left and the second from the right are actually a pair, though they do not look alike.

Reading it gave Su Yu a headache. Only Hermione was unusually excited. She liked solving riddles like this. And Harry? Looking at Harry made Su Yu want to laugh. Did Snape expect Harry to have a brain? This was clearly making things difficult for a blockhead.

Before long, Hermione clapped her hands.

"I've got it!" she said excitedly. "The smallest bottle will let us pass through the black fire and find the Philosopher's Stone!"

Harry looked at the small bottle. It was only as big as his thumb. "There's only enough for one person," he said. "It's barely even one swallow. Then which bottle lets someone pass through the purple fire and go back?"

Hermione pointed to the round bottle on the far right. It was a little larger than the thumb-sized bottle, and the liquid inside was red.

There were three people now, but only two doses of potion.

Hermione spoke first. "I won't drink it. Su Yu, you should. Whether you go forward or back, I'll just wait for you to save me."

"This little fire can't hurt me," Su Yu said. "You should hurry back."

He poured the red potion into Hermione's mouth and casually added a Kurama Cloak around her.

"Hurry back and wait," Su Yu said. "I'll come back. Be good."

Hermione hugged Su Yu, looked at him one last time, and moved her lips without making a sound before disappearing.

Su Yu turned to look at Harry.

"Let's go."

He stretched out his hand, and golden chakra spread across Harry's body too, forming a layer of armor. "Drink the potion. We're going in."

Harry poured the potion into his mouth.

"Follow me," Su Yu said.

Su Yu led Harry into the seventh trial, where they would face Voldemort.