Chapter 14: Halloween Night
It was Halloween night and all the students were sitting in the Great Hall enjoying their Halloween dinner when suddenly the heavy oak doors opened and in came Filch, running and panting heavily, lifting his knees up high as he made his way to the staff table. Mikael, who was sitting with a group of friends, sniggered. "I bet the ol' codger 'as lost 'is cat!" This caused a few people down the table to go red in the face, as they tried to not laugh out loud. Dasha traded glances with Jai and frowned as she tried to hear what he was whispering to McGonagall. "Mirror of Erised…Dungeons...Snake….Someone tried to steal…" He was abruptly cut off by the Headmistress as she stood to address the Hall. "Prefects, please lead the members of your House back to your common rooms. Teachers, follow me please," she said, briskly exiting the Great Hall through a side door, followed by the teachers. Theo noticed as he got up to leave, that Transfigurantes wasn't amongst them.
Outside in the hallway, Dasha stood and waited for the rest of her friends to join her. When they were all standing together, Dasha told them what she had heard. Theo frowned but the next moment, it immediately disappeared and he smirked. "Who cares if there's something in the dungeons? The teachers will take care of it." Dasha opened her mouth to say something when she was suddenly pulled away by Mikael. "Seeya guys later, huh?" called Jai as she was too, pulled the crowd. Theo watched as she moved away and turned around just in time to stop Patrick before he left. "What is it?" asked Patrick as Theo pulled him away. "We've got to find Transfigurantes. I'm sure he's up to something. He's in the dungeons? Right?" he asked his friend as they hurried down an empty corridor. Patrick shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, I think so. But which dungeon is he in?" he asked, confused. Theo stopped and swerved sharply down an empty short-cut, which led them straight to the dungeons. Patrick frowned as they stopped short. In front of them, were at least a dozen doors, all exactly the same. Patrick began to say something when Theo gestured for him to be quiet. As they listened, the boys could hear a soft hissing sound, issuing from behind one of the dungeon doors. Suddenly, the hissing grew louder and then formed into a strangled choking noise, which then faded away. Theo made a shushing noise as they crept towards the door and slowly opening it, they crept in soundlessly. Once inside, they looked around, and stood rooted to the spot with fear. Standing in the corner of the dungeon, was a tall, gaunt figure, wearing dark robes. Before the figure, lay the body of a snake, the same size as a crocodile, only with a longer tail. Theo wondered why the snake wasn't moving. He didn't realise why until he saw Patrick's horror-struck face. He saw him silently make a neck-slitting action and looking back at the snake, Theo saw what he meant. The snake lay so still and quiet because his throat had been slit or bitten, but the wound was deep and the snake was dead. Turning their attention to the still figure, Theo heard him mutter familiar words, in an unknown language. "Maestru dominum, aici orationem mea et stiu quia va ipse aduce adducet jertfa hostiam doua in, la anni anului, Cubiculo in Aeterni." Patrick took a step back and at the noise of his foot hitting the stone floor, the figure sharply turned around, and Theo saw that it was the same figure from his dreams. The figure made to turn around when he stopped suddenly. Theo and Patrick watched in fear as the figure robes began to swirl around him even though there was absolutely no wind. Then, it became a swirling, moving ball. The ball hissed and shot itself towards the boys, who had to duck, as it flew out into the corridor.
The boys sighed with relief, releasing their breath, which they had been unconsciously holding. "Who was that, d'ya know?" asked Patrick as he moved forward. Theo shrugged. "No idea." "Do not touch anything," said the stern voice of McGonagall as she briskly entered the dungeon, followed by Professor Longbottom and Madam Hooch. Professor Longbottom saw them and instantly came over. "What are you two doing here?" he asked them with raised eyebrows. "Well….uh, you see we...we just uh," mumbled Patrick, trying to think of something. "You see we had been on our way to our common rooms when we heard someone cry out and we went in here to help them," explained Theo, gazing calmly at the Professor. "And what did you see?" he asked them. Theo told him what had happened and the Professor frowned. "You two are excused. Five points from each of you," he said worriedly, watching them make their way to the door. Theo let Patrick through first and managed to overhear what Madam Hooch and McGonagall were talking about. "It's looks like a bite, a very deep bite. A lot of blood was released…." Theo looked grim as he walked out of the dungeon, when he suddenly came face-to-face with Transfigurantes. The Professor had been in the act of wiping his mouth and as Theo passed, he saw that it was stained with something dark and, what appeared to be, red. "Careful, boys. You wouldn't want to be injured at night, now, would you," the Professor said, glaring at the two boys before entering the dungeon. Theo shuddered as he thought of the figure in the dungeon. He had sounded so much like someone he knew, someone at Hogwarts, but he didn't know who.
They stopped just after they had taken the passageway back to the corridor. "Goodnight mate!" called Patrick as he ran off in the direction of the kitchens. "'Night!" returned Theo, heading the opposite way.
That night, Theo dreamt the same dream he had before