Of Christmas and Hidden Chambers
Hogwarts has seen it's fair share of mythical creatures: Slytherin's basilisk, Hagrid's spiders, Dumbledore's phoenix, a few Hippogriffs and Mermaids just to add to the list. So it shouldn't be much of a Christmas surprise if Harry were to find Gryffindor's Golden Gryffin, hidden in another secret chamber. Right?
Ginny was starting to think that this whole business was getting ridiculously blown out of proportion. Sure, she had been caught red-handed setting one of Fred and George's new and improved portable swamps, but she was bored out of her mind, being stuck inside for the whole of Christmas holidays. It was all perfectly justifiable, she thought.
She couldn't deny, of course, that to escape from Filch, she had exploded a Dungbomb right under Mrs. Norris nose… But that had simply been a preservation instinct, if she had been thinking straight, she'd never have done it.
However, she reflected, maybe it had been the fireworks she'd used to distract Filch that had spoiled the mood… She had missed after all, and his hair had caught very effectively on fire. But, in her defence, it had all been done with the purest of intentions, and it certainly didn't warrant the harangue she was in the process of getting!
"… but of course, little spoiled brats like you have no proper respect! You wave your pretty shiny wands around, as if it was the most natural thing in the world, causing as much mayhem as is humanely possible. When I was your age, no one would have ever even dreamt of doing this kind of thing, we knew our place, we did, we showed an inkling of respect for our elders and betters. But of course, this is only old Filch talking, the old squib, the bitter caretaker who can't do any magic. Humph, if only they knew!"
Ginny interrupted her internal musings at this.
"If only they new what?" she asked curiously. "uh, sir?" she added as an afterthought.
Filch shot her an annoyed and hate filled look, before grabbing her by the arm, and forcing her inside his office.
"Sit down, you little piece of wizarding filth, you'll pay for this one. Oh yes, you'll pay. That a Filch would sink this low… My poor father must be turning in his grave!" He was mumbling more for himself than for Ginny's benefit.
"Uh, sir, what are you talking about?" she asked tentatively. Truth be told she was feeling rather ashamed of herself, her pranks weren't meant to actually hurt anyone. That firework had been an accident.
"What I'm talking about, what I'm talking about?" he mumbled, looking at her with eyes that sent chills down her spine. They were crazed, wild, as if something in his mind had finally snapped. "A Filch to be reduced to this kind of humiliation! Oh, life is much too cruel!" He was walking around his office in a frenzy, pulling forms out of drawers.
Ginny didn't really know what to do: apparently the hair on fire incident had been some sort of last straw for Filch.
"Uh, sir, I'm really sorry about your hair." she finally said. "It was really an accident."
Apparently, this wasn't the right thing to say.
"Oh, it was an accident, was it?" He yelled at her, making the girl cower in her seat. "Students really have no shame, all those pranks, all the humiliation, it was all nothing but an accident, was it?" He sat down and continued, his face twisted in anger and, Ginny had to look twice to be sure, misery. "Old pureblood family… Oh what a shame! Nothing but a useless squib! Oh, my poor mother…"
Ginny sucked in a deep breath, as shock numbed her brain: Argus Filch came from an old line? No wonder he was so very bitter, he must have been a complete outcast.
"She died, did you know that you little excuse of a witch, my own mother died of shame because of me! Not a year after I was born!" Filch's whole countenance was twisted, his eyes seemed about to pop out of his skull, he was seriously starting to scare Ginny, while at the same time making her feel, for the first time in as long as she could remember, pity. She actually felt sorry for Argus Filch.
While she assimilated what he had just said, a look of pure and utter terror had spread along the caretakers face, he was looking at her, panic etched in his whole being.
"Don't worry sir, that will be a secret between you and me." She said quietly, looking him in the eye.
Filch's eyes were wide, as if he was seeing her for the first time. Suddenly, he got up and threw the handful of parchment he had in hand into the fire.
"Go!" he said. "Just go!"
With a last pitying look behind her, Ginny got up and left. It had certainly been an interesting morning.
Ginny was still lost in her thoughts when she entered the common room. It was quite full: with the renewed Death Eater activity, most parents had left their children at school, where it was safe. Hermione was seated near the fireplace, a bag of wool and half a dozen needles in front of her. In the floor, in neat little stacks, were about a dozen woollen scarves. Ginny thought that Hermione was getting quite good with the knitting, in her own meagre opinion. Most of the scarves had complex patterns; some done in multiple colours and other even had beautiful figures ay the ends. Whoever had said that practice makes perfect couldn't have been more right.
"Hey Hermione, that wasn't here the first time I looked!" Ginny said, motioning towards the scarves on the floor.
"Yes, I just finished them. It really was a bother, not being able to go shopping this year. But I'm finding ways around that. And you, have you thought about what you'll do about gifts?" the other girl answered, not taking her eyes off the spelled needles.
"You know that I hardly ever have any money to spend, so I'm used to making my gifts by hand anyway. I'm working on them, they should be ready by tomorrow."
"That's good, Ginny, that's good." Hermione answered absentmindedly.
"Where's Ron and Harry anyway?" Ginny asked, searching the room and coming up with no one.
"I haven't seen Harry today, Ron went looking for him, we were worried."
At the same moment, the portrait blasted open and Ron came in, looking rather short of breath.
"Hermione, Ginny! I can't find him! I can't find him!" He looked about to panic.
Hermione's needles went crashing to the floor as she looked at him, worry etched on her face.
"Are you sure you looked everywhere, Ron?"
"Yes! Quidditch pitch, library, even the room of requirement! I circled the whole castle, Hermione!"
"Come on, let's go looking for him together."
The three of them left the common room, and had already covered three floors of the castle, when Ginny, who was beginning to panic too - after all, Harry had been particularly depressed those last few days, she suspected it was all the holiday cheer getting to him - had a sudden illumination:
"Ron, did you check the map?" She asked, hurriedly.
"What?" He looked at her as if she had grown another head.
"Did you check the map? You know, Harry's map?" How could he be so very slow on the uptake? A few moments later, he finally exclaimed,
"Oh! Of course! Wait here you two." And he dashed off towards the dormitories.
Ginny looked out the window and felt her heart clench when she saw the white and cold desolation that surrounded Hogwarts. The winter was particularly harsh this year, and she shuddered at the simple thought that Harry might have left the castle all alone. The whole staff had warned them that they were not to leave: if the Death Eaters lurking about didn't find you, the cold would, and the snow as well.
She continued to stare outside, searching for something in the undisturbed snow that might show her where Harry had gone; then she heard her brother's footsteps come back. He was frowning at something in the map, not really looking where he was going.
"Ron? What's wrong?" she asked concernedly.
"Nothing… He's inside. But I'm not too sure where. Take a look." And he handed the girls the old piece of parchment.
Ginny soon found what she was looking for, a small black dot labelled Harry J. Potter. When she found it, and realized where exactly it was, she blinked. Then she blinked again.
"Mione, are you seeing what I'm seeing?"
"He seems to be inside the wall!" The older girl shook her head, as if to clear it, then said: "Do you think he's alright? Maybe we should continue looking…"
"Maybe the map is malfunctioning?" This was Ron. "Or maybe someone messed up with it! Yes, a confusion charm, perhaps?"
Hermione frowned; her first instinct would be to say that Ron was being paranoid, but maybe… She had to acknowledge that Ron might be right.
"Then we must go looking for him!" said Ginny, holding the map in front of her, using it as a guide up to the dot.
When they finally arrived at the small, dusty corridor, they found themselves face to face with a solid, merciless wall.
"But there's nothing here!" whined Ron, looking at the obvious dead end.
"Obviously, Ronald, there's something, or else the map wouldn't show Harry here." Hermione answered scathingly.
Ginny ignored the snapped reply and started running her hands across the walls. There was nothing showing at the map. But that didn't mean that there was nothing there! James and Sirius were brilliant, but they didn't know all the secrets at Hogwarts. Harry had said that to her once, and she never forgot.
Something about the wall was sending warning signs to her brain, and she kept going back to it: while most of the stone bricks that made it were rough and uneven, there was a sequence of them that showed signs of use. Running her hands over them, she noticed that they were smooth to the touch, as if people had caressed those stones years on end, until they were rounded and worn out.
"Hermione!" she cried. "Take a look at this!"
"There's nothing there, Ginny! It's a wall!" was the exasperated reply.
"No, look at those rocks! They're smooth and even, I'm sure there's a pattern here!" Ginny was becoming frantic, she tried pressing the stones, pulling at them with her fingernails, but nothing seemed to work.
"Calm down Ginny. You might be right, maybe a hidden chamber, or another secret passageway? We just have to find out what opens it. If Harry can do it, I certainly can!"
The girl ignored Ron's snort behind her, and got down to work. She examined each smooth stone carefully. Running her fingers lightly over the rock, feeling for any spells that might be there… Gotcha!
Taking out her wand, she tapped each of the stone, and quietly muttered a spell, tracing a wide circle with the tip of her wand. There was a bright flash that was absorbed by the wall, and then it simply… disappeared.
"Wow!" said Ginny. Ron simply whistled at Hermione's handiwork.
The girl smiled and said, "A simple alohomora, that has to be focused on all of the smooth stones at the same time. No big deal! You simply have to feel the magic connecting those five stones together."
"No big deal!" exclaimed Ron. "Hermy, you're a genius!" The girl smiled delightedly, and was in the process of getting lost in his eyes when Ginny huffed exasperatedly.
"So, are we going in or what?" asked Ginny exasperatedly. She wanted to find Harry. He might be all right, simply gone somewhere to cool his head, but she needed to be sure, needed to see him with her own eyes, feel him near her, warm and alive…
She turned towards the wall, and stepped inside. Everything was dark, and she had no idea where she was going. She heard Ron and Hermione behind her, but didn't wait for them. She continued onwards, using the walls to find her way.
She was obviously inside some sort of corridor, but it had no lights. The whole thing smelled of humidity and dust, all meshed together. It made her slightly nauseated, but she went forward. If Harry was in here, she was determined to find him.
Behind her, Hermione had tried lighting her wand, but it kept going out after a few moments. Ginny felt that there was something different about the atmosphere in this place. Suddenly the older girl said, whispering for some reason, "I definitely believe we're not supposed to be here." She paused, as if waiting for an answer. "Why don't we go back, maybe warn a staff-member?"
"The map says Harry is here," said Ginny, "we need to - ahhhh!"
Her feet slipped, and she fell down. But she didn't drop to the floor. She'd fallen on something cold that felt like a slide, the sort of thing she'd played on when she was a kid. She tried to hang on to something, but all her hands found was stone, and the whole thing was too steep to try to stop her descent. She could hear her brother and Hermione calling, but she was too stunned to answer. She was falling, falling into the unforgiving darkness that surrounded her. She closed her eyes, and hoped that it would end soon.
"Hermione! Hermione, she disappeared!" Ron said, terror sipping out of his every word.
"No, she didn't disappear, she fell." Hermione said reasonably. Her wand blinked once more and died, as she tried to see what was in front of her. "Blasted! Why won't my magic work here?"
"I think it has something to so with this place, can't you feel how heavy the air is? It's like concentrated magic!" said Ron. After a moment silence, Ran said: "I'm going after her."
"Ron! No! We must warn someone! The headmaster! It will do us no good to enter there by ourselves!"
"I don't care, I'm going after her." And with that, he let himself fall down the slide. Hermione, completely frightened, and hanging to her control by a thread, slowly followed, saying a silent prayer to whatever god was in the sky.
She landed on something wet that felt suspiciously like mud. Her clothes felt dirty and she doubted even one of her mother's scourgify would be able to salvage them. She eased her wand from her sleeve, more for comfort than to actually use it. She could feel that any spell she cast here would fizzle the moment it left her wand. The accumulated magic was so great that it was oppressive.
She closed her eyes, and opened her magical senses. It was so dark that it was easier to direct her movements this way. She took a tentative step forward, taking care not to trip on anything that might be on the floor. Ginny took care to muffle the sound of her steps; thankful for the comfortable dragon-hide boots Bill had given her for her birthday.
She continued moving, taking care where he put her feet. Suddenly, the wall gave way, and her hand found nothing but empty air. She had reached the end of the corridor. She opened her eyes and the sight that met her was one that would forever stay with her.
Harry stood in the centre of the room, a look of pure elation in his eyes. A soft glow surrounded him, joining him to the very structure of the castle. His hair and clothes moved to an invisible wind that only he could feel. His arms were stretched, palms forward, tying him - no, she corrected herself - tying his magic to the magic in the walls.
"Harry?" she asked softly. She didn't want to disturb him; it was obvious that, whatever it was that he was doing, it wasn't an everyday occurrence. He heard her, however, and slowly opened his eyes, that were glowing with the same ethereal light that encompassed the room.
"Ginny? What are you doing here?" he asked softly, slowly lowering his arms, dissipating the flow of magic.
"I - I came looking for you. We were worried, you disappeared!" When she said that, he laughed aloud.
"That's funny," he explained, " I was looking for you when I found this place, after my training with the Headmaster. Come here, I'll show you. It's amazing." He was playing with a small sphere of - whatever it was this place was so full of - that kept the room alight.
"What is this place, Harry?" Ginny wondered, as she walked towards him. "And how come you're so clean? I had to crawl through the mud to get here!"
"Mud? What mud? I came in through the portal there." And he pointed to a huge arch that adorned one end of the chamber.
"Well," grumbled Ginny, "I had to come down through the psycho-killer slide, but that's okay, every road leads to Rome, after all."
Ginny was staring around her. The room was huge, every wall carved with runes and ancient magical symbols, most of which she had never seen before. Other than the entrance at one end, the room had only one door, the one she had entered through. Harry was standing in the middle of a circle, drawn on the floor by a series of dark, oddly shaped stones that seemed to mark the geometrical centre of the whole structure.
"This place is amazing!" said Ginny, even as she wrapped her arms around Harry's neck, and basked in the simple pleasure that was holding Harry. Feeling his body next to hers, warm and alive and so very comforting.
"It is, isn't it?" mumbled Harry, as he deposited light kisses along Ginny's neck, paying particular attention to the spot where he could feel her heartbeat. He was slowly creeping up to her face, and eventually her mouth when they heard a crash, a muffled curse and finally Ron's angry voice.
"Bloody Hell! Get off me, Hermione! Ouch! I can't see, where are we? Ginny!"
Ginny sighed at the interruption and cried, "In here Ron, just keep walking, you'll eventually find the light."
Harry smiled at the volley of curses that reached them, and dropping a small kiss on Ginny's lips, which only served to let her wanting more, said, "I'm glad you came, Gin, I missed you."
"Well, you prat, you can't run away from me. I was so bored without you that I had to prank someone and ended up getting caught by Filch." She frowned at that and added, as an afterthought. "I hope I'm not losing my touch, Fred and George would never forgive me." And she laughed her crystal laugh, the one that sent shivers down Harry's spine, and made him long for her in a way he never thought he'd long for anything.
He smiled, and was about to once more cross the small distance that separated him from Ginny's tantalizing mouth when a shout rang through the room, "Oi! Potter! Keep your hands to yourself, will you! That's my sister you're snogging!"
Harry closed his eyes in annoyance, but Ginny was the one that answered, "Why don't you mind your own hands, Ron? I've got quite the compromising picture of you, wouldn't want it to inadvertently end up in my mail to mum, would we?"
Ron grimaced, and decided that a change in subject was in order, he asked, looking around the room, "What is this place? How did you end here, Harry?"
"I think this is another hidden chamber. A cousin of the Chamber of secrets if you will. There was a Gryffin at the front, so I assume it's Gryffindor's. We'll have to search for others, see if they really exist, it should be fun!"
"That's nonsense, Harry, Hogwarts a History says quite clearly that, if there ever were a Hidden Chamber, it would be Slytherin's Chamber. The idea of another three sprang from myth and legend, and people's love for secrets and mysteries. There is no historical accuracy at all, and it's ridiculous to even talk about it." Hermione's voice had taken the patronising tone of someone sure of her sources. Ron mumbled something that sounded like, "You haven't realized that book is full of junk yet?" Ginny huffed exasperatedly.
Harry, however, simply laughed, "Maybe legend wasn't legend after all, and there are really four of them." He chuckled and continued, "If professor Binns wasn't dead already, I think this one would do it for him."
Hermione was running her eyes around the room, trying to absorb all she was seeing, afraid she might never see it again. "I'll have to take a look around then. I won't take your word for it, this is way too farfetched to even consider. This place shouldn't even exist. Where is your proof?"
"I'm not quite sure, Hermy," answered Harry, "I was just fooling around with the magic before you guys appeared."
"Fooling around?" Hermione asked, puzzled.
"Yeah, here." And he motioned towards the bright light coming from his two joined hands, the sparks that sometimes escaped and fluttered around his body, making his hair ruffle and his school robe fly.
"This, this shouldn't be possible. It's impossible to conjure magical energy without a clear purpose, Harry. How are you doing that?" She held out her hand but stopped a few centimetres before touching the bright pulsating mass. "Does it, does it hurt?" she asked tentatively.
Harry laughed, "No! It's brilliant, Hermy, try it."
"Stop calling me Hermy!" she snapped. "How do I do it?"
"I want to try it too, Harry! I can't seem to get my wand to work, so I guess this is the only way we can use magic in here." Ginny said eagerly.
"Okay. How did I do this…" He paused, gathering his thoughts. "You see, I got lost in this shortcut, and I found myself in a sort of dead end. A wall on one side, windows on all the others. When I touched the wall, I felt a kind of tingling sensation like - just like the first time I touched a wand! Yes, that's it. You felt it too, with your first wand?"
The other three nodded, and made impatient noises for him to continue with his story.
"So, the tingling was the same, but it wasn't just on my hand, I felt it in my whole body. It startled me, so I pulled my hand away, and that's when the doorway appeared. I don't know why. I entered to try and find out what this is."
"But we're miles under the school, Harry. You couldn't have simply crossed a door from one of the towers, we're underground!"
"I don't know about that, Hermy, I was in the southern tower when I entered. Anyway, let me finish. In here, the tingling is much stronger, and the magic seemed to tug at my own, so I let go, you know, how we're continually restraining our powers, so it doesn't wreck havoc? Well, I let go, and everything meshed together, and it was brilliant." Harry's eyes were twinkling, and he seemed more relaxed then Ginny had seen him in months. Maybe Christmas wouldn't be so bad after all, if she could only keep him in a good mood a small while longer!
She smiled at him, and extended her hand, touching one of the stones in the ground. She did feel the tingling Harry talked about, but she had no idea how he made everything become visible.
"What are those stones? They feel like the most magical things in here."
Hermione squatted down next to her, and lightly traced the circle. "This looks like a druidic protection circlet, the type they used during… I'll have to check, but around Merlin's time I think. But historians placed Hogwarts construction only a millennium ago, around the eleventh century! This is too old for that."
"So, do you think we're at the oldest point in the castle?" Ron asked.
"Maybe… But it this is really a druidic circlet, then this chamber is at least thirteen centuries old." Hermione's whole countenance was alight with passion. "I have to research, maybe there were still a few magical clans that used this magic in the eleventh century? But it doesn't make sense, they should have vanished decades before…"
Harry felt like he was stating the obvious, but did anyway. "Uh, Hermione, couldn't the circlet exist before Hogwarts was constructed? And the castle was built here because of the circlet?"
"Yes, that would make sense Harry, but look at the veins in the stone." She pointed at the stone circlet in the floor, and showed how brightly coloured veins connected those stones to the rest of the chamber.
"So the whole chamber existed already? Maybe a whole portion of the castle? Maybe-" Harry's voice grew exited at the possibilities, "there was a castle before, perhaps Gryffindor's castle, and they simply used that to found the school, and built more of it as the number of students grew!"
"Makes sense," said Ginny, "use an existing structure as base. I can't imagine how long it would take to build something this huge at that time, even with magic. Much more practical to use something that existed already."
Hermione nodded, "And this circlet, it would certainly be a perfect base for wards. And rumour has it that the wards at Hogwarts are the most powerful there is. This circlet could explain why!" Her eyes glowed, as she looked each of them in turn. "Do you guys realize that we could have finally cracked the mystery around one of the most obscure bits of wizarding history?"
Harry laughed at her statement, and Ron simply stared as if she'd suddenly grown another head.
"Come! We need to find proof to support our theories! There must be something else in here, and it's not as if we have anything better to do."
No one had anything to say to that, and they begun to slowly circle the room, trying to decipher the inscriptions on the walls. Hermione was frowning; it was obvious she didn't understand what was written. Harry, however, couldn't quite bring himself to care. He was still reeling in the aftershocks of whatever had happened between him and the magic in this place. His arm draped lightly around Ginny, his eyes roaming the room, all he could wish for was a quiet evening, followed by a warm and fuzzy Christmas morning. Some Posset would be nice too, Ginny had promised to make some of her mother's special recipe.
Harry was still lost in daydreams about stuffed turkey and crackers when Ron suddenly gave a startled yelp. Harry was so far away that it took him a moment to realize what was happening and another to push his body into action and after his best mate.
His heart suddenly beating a mile a minute, Harry starred uncomprehendingly at the sight that met his eyes. One of the walls had obviously hid some sort of back room, and Ron had somehow opened it. What seemed to have frozen his brain however was the creature sleeping behind it.
Ginny held back a scream. When that wall had suddenly gave way after Ron slouched against it, all she could see was his body slowly falling backwards, and the enormous, golden form that was shaped against the darkness.
Ron seemed frozen in place, he had gotten halfway up, and seemed transfixed by the creature in front of him. One could have easily taken it for a largely overgrown lion. Or maybe a lion hit wit and engorgio charm. A very potent engorgio charm. One could have taken it for a lion, that is, if it weren't for the wings.
They were the brightest shade of gold Ginny had ever seen in a live animal. Neatly tucked close to the animal's body as he slept, she couldn't see just how long they were, but she could phantom their strength.
Hermione, beside her, was breathing quickly, muttering under her breath. "Impossible!" She shook her head. "This is impossible! Impossible! A fable! A myth!"
"What's impossible Hermione?" snapped Harry exasperatedly.
"The Golden Gryffin! Godric Gryffindor, don't you see? He got his name because he is said to be the only known wizard to have ever befriended a Golden Gryffin. But it's a myth, Golden Gryffins aren't supposed to exist!"
"This is a Gryffin then? But where's the eagle's head?" asked Harry.
"That's just it, the Golden Gryffin is said to have the whole Lion's body, the mane, the teeth and all, but to have those incredibly magical wings. A winged lion, if you will. The feathers of a Golden Gryffin's wings are more powerful than those of a whole phoenix put together, legend says. But they don't exist!" She was twisting her hands nervously together, watching Ron that was still frozen in place.
"This one seems real enough! What is it with Founders and trapping dangerous monsters inside the school?" Ginny said, a slight tremble in her voice,
"The Golden Gryffin is the Basilisk natural enemy. Gryffindor probably thought he was doing the school a favour. But that doesn't solve our problem… He seems to be waking up!" Hermione said, her voice quaking.
And indeed, the deep, even breaths of the Gryffin seemed to have changed, his body was stretching, and Harry knew without being told that in a moment it would open it's eyes, and stretch its wings, and then…
"Ron! Move!" he cried.
Ron scrambled back, reaching his friends and getting up. He was obviously still in shock, his eyes wide and unblinking. Harry grabbed him by the shoulders and said urgently, shaking him slightly to drive his point across.
"Get out of here, through the archway. Run as fast as you can, and get Dumbledore. We'll try to keep this thing from getting out. But I don't know anything about it, so be fast, I don't know how long we can keep it trapped, especially without wands."
Ron nodded, and disappeared through the back of the room. Harry focused his attention on the beast before him. Quietly, he turned to the girls, "Stay behind me."
"The door is jammed, Harry! I can't close it!" Hermione said frantically.
"It wouldn't matter Hermione. Whatever spell kept this thing sleeping for so long is broken. It could get out of there in a heartbeat. Stand back, and let's see what it does."
A low grumbling sound was coming from the beast now. Harry wasn't surprised to see that the creature's eyes were golden, and that they shone like a beacon in the chamber's darkness. Harry stretched his hands, and opened his magic, feeling the incredible rush that was melding himself to the ancient school. He willed the magic to take a definite form, tried to order it, but nothing would do it.
Discouraged, he started backing away from the entry to the second room. The Gryffin was on its feet now, looking around, reacquainting itself to its surroundings. The beast was easily the size of a small dragon, and Harry didn't want to think how much damage the claws in its quite "delicate" paw could do.
Desperate, Harry asked, begged, whatever force was behind the magic contained in this room to help him, and suddenly the glowing shield he was seeing in his mind's eye took form, blocking them from the monster. It gave a low roar at the now shinning obstacle.
Harry sighed in temporary relief, and kept his hands aimed at the shield, feeling for weaknesses. He really hoped that Dumbledore knew how to deal with this thing, he wasn't sure how long he could keep this up.
There was a sudden roar, and a large golden form suddenly flung itself against the barrier. Harry's arms shook, and Ginny tightened her hold on her wand, hoping that, in a tight spot, it might buy them all a few moments. But the barrier held.
Harry's brow was moist with effort, his arms were burning, having to control so much magic all at once, and with no focal point. All in all, he felt as if he were about to pass out from exertion. Ginny put a comforting hand on his back, lending him as much support as she could. She was feeling wretched, not knowing what to do, and she urged her brother to run faster, and Dumbledore to appear soon, and get this whole situation out of their hands.
As if in answer to her prayers, there was suddenly a great flash of light, and the whole chamber filled with Phoenix song, as Fawkes flew around, analysing the situation.
"What is going on in here?" asked Dumbledore imperiously. Hermione immediately launched into a clear and succinct explanation of everything that had happened, from Harry's alleged disappearance, to their discovery of first the chamber, then the druidic circlet, and finally of this impossibly alive mythical creature.
Dumbledore's brows furrowed with each passing moment, and he experimented using his wand, when Hermione let him know that theirs were useless. He paused for a moment, and then turned to Fawkes. Softly, so that only the bird could hear, he said, " Care to do a little reconnaissance Fawkes? Maybe reacquaint yourself with an old friend?"
The bird disappeared once more in a burst of flame, and soon they could all hear him singing on the other side of the barrier. Dumbledore seemed to relax, and the twinkle returned to his eyes in full force.
"I think you can lower that extraordinary barrier now Harry. Later on you'll have to explain to me how you conjured it. There is no danger to us behind it." He gave an amused chuckle at all the incredulous stares that met his eyes.
"Go on, Harry. No need to worry, you can trust me. Lower it slowly, we don't want to startle anyone!"
Against his better judgement, Harry did as he was told, but stood ready to bolt out of the way as soon as the bloodthirsty monster bolted out. When the barrier faded out, he found himself face to face with the Gryffin. Their eyes quite unexpectedly locked, and Harry felt the same pull he had felt the moment he'd entered the Chamber. A sort of primal draw, that connected him to this creature, to this place. He didn't understand what it was, but he knew, as well as he knew that he was Harry Potter and no one else, that he was in no danger as long as he was here.
Suddenly, from deep inside his mind, he heard a rumbling voice, and he knew that they were the thoughts spilling out of the Gryffin. I'm honoured to meet you master, but let it be noted that I resent being called a bloodthirsty monster.
Harry woke up on Christmas morning aching all over. He hadn't realized what using so much could do to someone. But this was soon forgotten, as he realized just who had come to greet him. Ginny was sitting at the end of his four-poster, surrounded by presents, watching him wake up with a dreamy expression on her face. When she saw that his eyes were open, she smiled, "Good morning, sleepy head! Merry Christmas! How are you feeling on this lovely day?"
Harry yawned, and let himself be pulled out of bed and into the flurry of activity that was Gryffindor tower in this particular Christmas morning.
He laughed and joined everyone in the opening of presents, but kept one small box in his pocket. He cheered Hermione's hand-knit scarves, and congratulated her on how much work she had put on those. He laughed as Neville handed out strangely coloured plants that he said were his newest Herbological experiment. He had to admit that the emerald green everlasting rose he had handed Ginny was quite a sight. Neville had told the redhead that it was supposed to remind her of Harry's eyes. Ginny had been at a loss for words, but Neville had understood the look in her eyes.
When the celebration settled down some, and the floor was littered with multi-coloured papers and laces, Harry padded over to Ginny. Whispering a few words in her ear, he pulled her to her feet, and together they left the room. They walked up to the southern tower, where the entrance to Gryffindor's Chamber was still visible. He'd have to pay Balthazar a visit later on.
"So Harry, did you have something to tell me, or did you simply want a taste of my lovely company?" Ginny asked, flashing him a dazzling smile.
"Didn't you miss any gifts today, lovely lady?" he answered, in the same light tone.
"Umm, I'm not sure, should I have missed one?"
Harry didn't answer, but pulled the long thin box out of his pocket. He handed her the brightly wrapped package, and waited until she saw what was inside. Her eyes widened, and she whispered, "It's beautiful Harry! It looks like - it looks just like - "
"It does, doesn't it? I couldn't believe my eyes yesterday when I saw Balthazar clearly for the first time. I'd been keening this gift for you for quite some time already." He smiled at her glowing eyes, happy beyond belief to have this slight girl beside him.
"That's an amazing coincidence!" she cried, handing him the delicate chain of a necklace so that he could put it on her. At the bottom of the collar, in expert craftsmanship, dangled a small Golden Griffin.
Ginny clutched the small box in her hands. She'd had to throw everything together so fast that the gift was more of an assembly of odd items than a real Christmas present. There was all she had left of her mother's fudge and caramels, some warm woollen socks she'd knitted for Ron, but that he'd changed boxes at the last moment, as well as a small wooden cat she'd spent the night carving, that represented Mrs. Norris, down to the glowing eyes. She'd done something similar for Harry, only this one represented Hedwig, and he now wore it in a leather cordon around his neck.
She hoped that Filch appreciated the sentiment, and overlooked the obviously hastily put together gift. So it was with not a little apprehension that Ginny finally knocked on the old caretaker's door. When the grouchy face appeared, she hastily spilled out, "Merry Christmas, sir! I, uh, I brought you a gift. I thought it was fitting, you know, to thank you. And I wanted to assure you that I'd keep my promise. What happened was between the two of us and it will stay that way. I don't tell other people's secrets."
With those parting words, she dropped the box in Filch's hands, and quickly turned away. She missed the small, relieved smile that her actions caused, or the way his eyes lit at the sight of her delicate carving. Christmas, Filch realize, might not be so bad after all.