The Labyrinth
"I've got you now, Snape—you treacherous cur and the little Gryffindor princess too," Voldemort gloated as he looked at the pair.
Hermione had been captured and brought to the Dark Lord two days ago, and Snape tried to free her. He'd been caught. Now, they stood in a cavern which had several tunnels leading out of it. Their wands had been taken, of course.
Behind Voldemort stood several Death Eaters in full attire. The torches on the walls cast eerie flickering shadows and the air was close and stale. Hermione stood very close to Snape, her side pressed into his as she wondered how Voldemort would kill them.
Voldemort gave the pair a lipless smile.
"I could have easily just Kedavra'd the both of you and been done with it," he lisped. "But, what would be the entertainment value in that. Dueling my Death Eaters would have been interesting for about five minutes, but I'm not sure you would have lost. A little too fair for my tastes. So, I thought something up that's far more sporting."
Voldemort nodded slightly, and a Death Eater stepped forward, reached beneath his robes and pulled out a rather dull short sword and tossed it at Snape's feet. The wizard quickly picked it up, looking at it for a moment, then up at Voldemort.
"A weapon?" he asked in disbelief.
"Of sorts. I don't want this to end too quickly. Now, look around you at this cavern. The walls are made of sandstone. Relatively stable, but it can be easily dug away with the right tools. Perhaps your sword will come in handy," Voldemort replied. "If you get far enough away from—well, you'll see. Anyway, as you can see there are large tunnels to travel through. There is supposed to be an exit somewhere in this labyrinth. I don't think anyone has ever found it. There are also a number of large caverns like this one, dotted throughout. They are well-lit. The torches are magical and ignite when anyone approaches. So you will have light at least while you—travel."
"There is a monster in here, isn't there?" Hermione demanded.
"Besides me? No, Hermione—no monsters. I would not put monsters on you. I have decided on something much worse."
The Death Eaters began to back out of the doorway until they were all gone.
"Release them!" Voldemort ordered.
Suddenly loud clucking started and about ten chickens flew into the cavern noisily, wings whirring, feathers flying as they milled about, scratching the floor and pecking at nothing. They were skinny things and looked very hungry.
"Chickens?" Hermione said incredulously as she stared at the strutting, cackling birds.
Voldemort reached into his pocket and flicked a single kernel of corn into their midst. The birds all converged on it violently, scratching and pecking at each other to get the morsel. Bracks of disappointment rose from the flock as the kernel was gobbled down by one lucky and determined chicken. They looked up at Voldemort expectantly, but nothing more was forthcoming.
"Chickens are considered quite ordinary creatures. Dull. Mundane," Voldemort said softly as the birds once again began scratching and pecking at the stone floor. "But anyone who knows about them is aware that they are, shall we say, 'opportunistic feeders.' They are cannibalistic and will kill and eat any wounded or weakened chicken in their flock. They will also descend upon, kill and eat anything smaller than they are. Marvelously macabre fowl, chickens."
Hermione stared at the birds.
"You intend to shrink us!" Hermione hissed.
Snape said nothing, his black eyes reflecting the chickens in the firelight.
"Oh no. I'm not going to do that," the Dark Lord said, backing away. "It would hardly give the both of you a fighting chance."
"First you give us a sword, and then offer us a fighting chance. It seems out of character for you, Voldemort," Hermione responded, using his name directly. She meant to be disrespectful and it worked. Voldemort's face twisted murderously for a moment.
"You dare use my name? My name, you little bitch!" he snarled. Then he composed himself and gave Hermione a very nasty smile, and began to back away into the doorway.
"Goodbye, traitor," his voice hissed from the dark doorway. Then,
"Gallus Grandius!"
A stream of sickly yellow light enveloped the flock.
Snape didn't hesitate. He grabbed Hermione's hand and pulled her toward one of the tunnel entrances, but she dragged her feet as the door to the cavern closed heavily.
"What? They're just chickens!" she cried as Snape yanked her forward. The shadows on the walls were growing larger.
"Run, damn you!" he yelled at Hermione, dragging her toward the closest tunnel. "Chickens are the most vicious, insatiable birds on earth if they're big enough! And I'm certain the Dark Lord has made them big enough!"
A number of loud roaring clucks filled the cavern as the chickens saw their now much smaller quarry running toward the tunnel. The birds had to be at least eight feet at the shoulder. A large black, red-combed rooster led the charge as the fowls pursued them, necks outstretched, wings turned upward and sharp beaks glistening. Snape and Hermione dashed down the nearest tunnel as the chickens bottle-necked at the entrance, all trying to enter at once and getting into an awful brawl, feathers flying everywhere as they scratched, pecked and shouldered one another.
"Good thing chickens are notoriously stupid," Snape hissed as they darted down another tunnel, torches lighting before them.
"The torches are staying lit!" Hermione cried. "The chickens are naturally going to follow the light!"
"Damn Voldemort. He knew this would happen," Snape replied. "Come on, we have to find a way to make the lighted tunnels loop back on each other or we'll lead them right to us."
In his throne room, Voldemort was seated on his throne watching the couple through a magic mirror enhanced by a tracking charm he'd placed on both of them. He was eating sardine-flavored popcorn, his favorite snack. He tossed Nagini a couple of pieces as she lay beside him on the floor, watching as well. She snapped the pieces up with an appreciative hiss. Nagini was a great companion because she never interrupted a show with needless commentary. The Death Eaters watched silently as well, but were lined up against the wall uncomfortably. Chairs would have been nice. But, the Dark Lord wasn't nice. They were peons and never allowed to forget it.
"Damn, I wish this mirror had sound," the despot groused as Snape and Hermione doubled back.
* * * *
A/N: I know. Chickens? There's a reasonable explanation for chickens being the antagonists. I recently changed my facebook profile pic to the "Evil Chicken." You can find it online. It's a real chicken that looks extremely pissed off. Then I got into a discussion with someone who owns chickens and found out how vicious they can be. Soooo, yeah. Chickens. I thought something ordinary rather than magical hunting them down would be interesting. Hey, at least I wrote something. :) A shout-out to Krista who stated that chickens are "opportunistic feeders."