"Mars is bright tonight"
After Harry, Hermione, Malfoy and Neville get caught out of bed past curfew, by Filch, McGonagall takes 50 each from their respective houses and assigns them detentions. Losing a 150 points puts Gryffindor behind Slytherin, in the House Championships. This really pisses off the rest of the school who ostracize Harry and Hermione. Regretful, Harry decides to not meddle in business that isn’t his own and concentrate on studying (famous last words). They throw themselves into studying but even as Harry practices spells and memorizes dates, his resolve is put to test when he overhears a conversation between Snape and Quirrell that leads him to believe that Quirrell's about to crack.
Detention takes place in the Forbidden Forest - along with Hagrid and Fang, the four of them try to find a dying unicorn. They meet centaurs before running across a hooded figure drinking unicorn blood. Thankfully, a centaur rescues Harry and warns him to be careful. Shaken by his experience, the trio contemplate going to Dumbledore but decide to keep their heads down.
It isn’t until their exams are over, however, that Harry realizes that the timing of Norbert was very convenient. Things come to a head when the trio discover that Hagrid blurted out the secret to taming Fluffy to a random hood-wearing stranger to a pub aka Snape. They immediately decide to go to Dumbledore except Dumbledore has left to London. McGonagall is surprised to discover that they know about the Stone but dismisses their concerns. The trio make up their mind to go after Snape themselves that night. When they try to sneak out of Gryffindor Tower, Neville confronts them and refuses to let them out. Hermione ends up having to use the body-bind curse on him so that they can continue with their mission.
They sneak through the castle using the Invisibility Cloak and make it to the Forbidden Corridor easily where Harry uses the flute to lull Fluffy to sleep. The trapdoor is open and a lyre is next to it, convincing them that they were right in assuming that Snape intended to steal the Stone that very night. They escape the Devil's Snare, use brooms to catch charmed keys, play chess with inanimate chessmen and solve a logic puzzle. Hermione goes back to take Ron to safety and alert Dumbledore while Harry walks through fire to confront Snape.
HARRY POTTER STORIES
This episode’s Harry Potter story shared by a listener and a friend of the podcast - Samyuktha Dega.
If you are interested in sharing your story with us, just record yourself telling the story of how you starting reading the books and send it to mimblewimblepodcast@gmail.com.
Are you just starting the Harry Potter series? No problem. Here's what you should read before listening to this episode from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone -
Chapter 15: The Forbidden Forest
Chapter 16: Through The Trapdoor
You can also listen to this podcast on iTunes or any other favorite podcast app. Just search for Mimblewimble - The Harry Potter Podcast.
FOOTNOTES:
- Read more about the Chiron Aishwarya mentions in this episode. If you know of any fantasy books with centaurs in them, please mention it in the comments section!
- We only have one more episode and that's the end of season one!
