It was a seemingly normal day at Hogwarts. Well, as normal as it could be given the circumstances. Classes were going as scheduled. Students hustled through the hallways with their heads down, loaded with the heaviness of their books. The castle was filled with the shuffle of feet, but it was missing the excitement the start of a new year normally brought. This year was different. Voldemort was at his peak of power. The students were getting letters each day of another family member who was killed, another friend who had gone missing. It was a difficult time in the wizarding world. The muggles knew it too. They could sense the darkness that had begun to permeate their world. Senseless murders, devastation, destruction. It was all their news could talk about. Hogwarts had so far escaped the storm that was brewing so menacingly just outside the castle walls. But it was coming. Everyone knew it was. As soon as Voldemort had returned to his body, his eye had fallen on Hogwarts, but his fear of Dumbledore had so far kept him at bay.

Harry was standing with his head resting on a window looking out over the grounds of Hogwarts. He had been contemplating what his next step should be. Everyone knew about the prophecy. That he was the chosen one. The one that would defeat Voldemort. He knew the time was coming when he would have to make a stand, but he wasn't ready. Fear had crippled him and left him terrified to even set foot from the castle. He carried the burden of the world on his shoulders, but he was trapped in the mundane cycle that each and every day now brought. "Just keep going, be a good student, do what is asked of you, nothing more, nothing less." It was the mantra he repeated to himself daily. He just wasn't ready.

Harry looked away from the window as he heard footsteps coming towards him. As he turned, he saw Hermione walking towards him loaded down with a dozen different books. Her face was filled with concern. He knew it was directed towards him, but he didn't know how to ease her worry. He didn't even know how to stop himself from worrying about the future. About the prophecy he's supposed to fulfill. Harry walked towards Hermione and immediately took the books from her hands. "Hermione, you really shouldn't carry so many books with you. Unless of course, you're trying to strengthen your arms for battle," Harry said with a smirk trying to alleviate some of his own stress. Hermione knew that Harry had been trying to make her smile, but she couldn't smile. Instead, she was filled with more dread for the coming days. Everything she had bottled up inside of her for months came pouring out. "Harry, I can't pretend anymore. I can't pretend that everything is normal! You say it so offhandedly but a real battle is coming and I feel like you are just ignoring it." Hermione looked at Harry intently, expecting him to make another joke. To make another comment about how he's just waiting until the right time. Instead, Harry looked out the window and replied, "I know, Hermione. I just don't want to face it. I'm too afraid. I'm just not ready to admit that I'm going to have to step outside of this castle one day and fight him." Hermione removed her books from Harry's arms and sat them on the ground with care. As she raised up, she took his hand in hers and softly whispered, "But if you don't step outside, he'll come here. He'll bring the battle here." Slowly, she reached up and pushed his messy black hair out of his eyes. Harry caught her hand and brought it to his lips. He kissed her hand gently and quietly said, "Then I guess it's time I do something about it."

Hermione looked into Harry's eyes. Her gaze was full of concern, but instead of saying anything in response, she embraced him, hiding her head in his shoulder. Tears began to trickle down her face. Harry kissed the top of her head and said, "C'mon. We better get to class." She looked up at him and nodded. Harry wiped the tears that had fallen down her face and he bent down to pick up her books. Together they headed down the hallway towards Transfiguration.

—

As they were walking towards the Transfiguration classroom, Harry noticed a door along the hallway that he'd never seen before. He stopped in his tracks. A few years ago, this wouldn't have even made him blink, but after being at Hogwarts for 7 years and being in possession of the Marauder's Map, it was a very big deal. He knew this school like the back of his hand and that door was not supposed to be there. The door was glowing with light. Inviting them in. Harry could feel the pull, telling him to just open the door.

Hermione looked at Harry to see why he had stopped and then saw the door just behind him. "What's that? I've never seen a door there." "There shouldn't be," Harry replied. He began to move closer to the door. His hand reached out as if he was going to grab the door knob. He hesitated just before he touched it. Hermione tried to pull him back. She knew a lot about the castle and she had enough sense to know something was not right about that door. "Harry, I really don't think that's a good idea. We don't know what's in there." Harry tried to push her off. "Hermione, what if this is a new secret passageway that leads out of the castle? If Voldemort found it, we would have no defense to fight back with. I just want to check and see what it is." Harry's hand touched the door knob. Hermione begged and pleaded with him not to open it, not to turn the knob. "Harry, you don't know what's in there. Please, please don't open it." He ignored her, slowly turning the door knob. The door burst open and there was a loud crack. Darkness filled the hall covering every inch of space, leaving no light. All the candles went out. They were left in complete and total darkness. "Harry! Harry, where are you? I can't see anything." Hermione stumbled forward trying to find Harry. She couldn't tell where she was. She didn't know where the door was. She had never been more afraid in her life. She had a legitimate fear of the dark and there was nothing worse than a darkness so black that it made you feel abandoned.

Hermione continued to move forward, using her hands to help her find Harry. The fact that he wasn't responding and that she couldn't hear any other noises terrified her. Hermione finally stopped. Tired of walking forward, not knowing where she was. She called out Harry's name one last time in hopes that this time he would respond, "Harry!" She heard a door slam and an extremely bright light filled the room, knocking her to her knees. She looked up but couldn't see anything. Her hands immediately went up to shield her eyes. The light was so bright. She knew she would adjust to the light eventually, but right now, the light was stinging her unprotected eyes forcing them to water. Slowly, she began to adjust. She could now see that she was in a room and no longer in the hallway. The room was different. She'd never seen anything like it in the castle before. It was all white. Everything. The wall, the floor, the manacles hanging from the ceiling. There was a chair laced with spikes. She felt like she was in a white torture chamber.

As she turned around to examine the room she was in, she saw Harry behind her, laying on the ground surrounded by her text books. Why did she insist on carrying so many! He was crumpled up, unresponsive. She saw small amounts of blood coming from his head. The red looking out of place against the cold white. Immediately, she hurried over to him, fearing the worst. "Harry? Harry?" Nothing. He remained on the ground, not moving. She muttered a quick spell, praying that it would revive him. He began to stir. Hermione dropped down to her knees beside him. She ran her hand softly through his hair, blood staining her fingertips. "Harry? Can you hear me? Harry, please wake up." He opened his eyes slowly and looked up at her. She smiled, full of relief. He began to sit up and look around the room. "What happened? What is this place?" Harry asked. "I don't know. I've never seen it before."

The manacles dangled menacingly from the ceiling as Harry looked around searching for the door they had entered through. "Hermione, where's the door?" The door! Why hadn't she thought to look for the door! The blood that had trickled from Harry's head now long forgotten. Once she realized there was no door in sight, she began to panic. She had always been a little claustrophobic and feeling trapped was not helping her now. Her breathing began to accelerate. Fear gripped her as it often did when she was in situations where she had zero control. She jumped up and began to run her hands along the walls hysterically. She felt Harry touch her shoulder. "It's ok. We'll find a way out. I'm here with you. Just breathe." Hermione turned and focused on Harry's mouth as she watched him breathe in and out slowly. Harry knew her well enough to know that sometimes he needed to force her to calm down. She began to slow her breathing, matching his breaths in and out.

When Hermione spoke, her voice was filled with worry but stable. "We should check the walls and see if the door is hidden like one of the secret passageways in the castle. Since the room is so white, it could probably blend in." Harry nodded at her and they began to make their way around the room, tapping on the walls, looking for a hollow sound alerting them to a potential exit. Harry neared an old white fireplace that had been roughly covered off with white boards. He wondered why briefly, but determined it'd be best not to focus on where he was. He tapped by the fireplace and heard an echo behind the wall. He immediately began pushing and a hidden panel in the wall opened. "Hermione! I found a way out." She rushed over to follow him as he pushed the door open the rest of the way and together they walked through.

—

Professor McGonagall started transfiguration the way she always did, by taking roll. When she got to Hermiome's name, she almost skipped it. Hermione never missed class so sometimes she wondered why she ever bothered. But she said it despite feeling it was pointless. As the last syllable of Granger rang out, no response came. Minerva looked up startled. And began searching through the classroom looking for Hermione. Instead, her eyes landed on the Weasley boy who was sitting alone at their usual table. "Ron, where is Hermione?" "I don't know, professor…..um, Harry hasn't shown up either." As Ron spoke, his face turned red. It was clear he wished he hadn't pointed out that both of his friends were not in class. But Minerva's mind went to the worst possible place. If it had been any other students, she would have just assigned them detention and left it at that. But this was Harry and Hermione. Inwardly, she began to worry that something awful had happened. It wasn't just a matter of them being late, she got the distinct feeling that the two were missing. Ever since the rumors started about Harry being the chosen one, that boy had a permanent target on his back. The Malfoy boy's taunts didn't even come close to what the rest of the world was saying about him. She had always felt protective of Harry and Hermione was obviously one of her favorite students. She knew she had to go make sure that nothing was wrong.

She continued taking roll as if it was no big deal that two of her students were not in class. As she finished with the last name, she addressed the class collectively for the first time that afternoon, "Class, for today, you are to write a 2000 word essay on how to successfully transfigure a tree frog into an owl. I have an urgent matter I must look into. Miss Brown, I expect a full list of anyone who is not working on their assignment while I'm gone. Anyone on that list will get an immediate detention and 200 points taken from their house. Have I made myself clear?" The class grumbled a muddy yes amidst the shuffle of parchment as the students began to start on their essay's. As soon as she was satisfied that the class would behave, Minerva quickly left the room and began her search of the castle.

First stop, tracing the steps from the Transfiguration classroom to the Gryffindor common room, assuming of course that is the direction they would have come from. After Professor McGonagall walked past 10 different empty classrooms, she noticed a door that she had never seen before. It was glowing a weird blue light. It felt cold, dark. There was an odd symbol that she didn't recognize etched into the center of the door. Minerva was never one to be afraid, but something about that door said keep out. She decided to bring it up to Dumbledore later to see if he had any idea what that door led to. But right now, she had more important matters at hand. McGonagall continued on through the castle asking every student she saw if they had seen Harry or Hermione. About 50 no's later, she was now genuinely worried about Harry and Hermione. She feared that they were in grave danger. After expressing her concern to Hagrid when she ran into him in the entranceway, he brushed off her worry as he exclaimed, "Harry and Hermione? Those two? Ah, they're probably off somewhere snogging." Minerva knew that Hermione would never miss a transfiguration lesson for snogging, even if it was with Harry Potter, the chosen one.

—

As Harry and Hermione went through the hidden panel, the grotesque smell of this new room hit them like a wall. Slowly, Hermione began to realize that all they had done was escape from one torture chamber into another. The walls were covered with thick plants that were oozing what Hermione suspected was poison. Inside the room itself, there were dozens of coffins that had been nailed shut and wrapped in heavy chains. She had no desire to find out what was in those coffins, but she knew whatever it was, it wasn't good. They continued to take in their surroundings, but fear was beginning to take hold. "Harry, what is this place? First a torture chamber and now a room filled with coffins?" Harry just shook his head. "I have no idea…You know, I used to think that the worst thing that could happen to me would be to step outside this castle and have to face Voldemort. I never considered that I would end up trapped in the castle with no way to fight." Hermione took Harry's hand in hers and squeezed it softly. "Harry, we'll find a way out. Together, we'll get out of here." Harry nodded, but he was weighed down with worry.

At once, they began to search the room looking for another door, a way out. The one they had entered through had since disappeared. The walls on all sides were covered with plants that were oozing dark liquid. Hermione determined that it was a very deadly poison she had read about in one of her Herbology books. She recalled out loud, "I read that the poison eats away your skin until it reaches bone…which would of course be fatal without an antidote to stop the process. It is definitely not the kind of poison you want to accidentally touch with your skin, unless of course you had a death wish." In all honesty, Harry had kind of tuned her out after a certain point as he often did when she rattled off something she read from a book. He heard her say poison that eats away at your skin and decided to just stay away from the walls.

Their hope of escape was slowly dwindling and once again, they couldn't even find the door they had entered. Hermione began to scan more than just around her, and looked up. At the top of the room, she noticed a large hole in the wall that was illuminated by light. "Harry, look!" She pointed up, Harry's gaze followed the direction of her hand. Once he saw the hole, discouragement covered his features. It looked to be about 30 feet in the air. "How do we get up there?" Hermione's face scrunched up the way it always did when she was thinking really hard. Harry found it was better to just leave her alone until she stopped. Hermione's eyes lit up as she realized a solution, but immediately her shoulders shrank as the reality of the solution set in. "Hermione, what is it?" "We have to climb the walls." "But we can't climb the walls, they're…" "Covered in poisonous plants? Yeah. I know." "There's got to be another way, maybe there's a broom around here or we can levitate up there." Harry pulled out his wand, pointed at Hermione, and muttered Wingardium Leviosa, but nothing happened. "Harry, I don't think magic is going to work in here. This room feels dead. I felt it when we came in. There's no life or magic in here." Harry sighed frustratedly and removed his school robe that was covering his jeans and sweater. "Well, maybe if we cover our hands with our robes, it won't be so bad." Hermione smiled sadly and said, "I think the poison will seep through, but I don't know what other choice we have. The poison should take a few hours before it fully sets in. Maybe we'll find a way to stop it before it does any real damage."

—

Professor McGonagall knew she had no other option. She had to tell Dumbledore. It was really the last thing she wanted to do, but at this point she saw no other choice. While walking to Dumbledore's office, she noticed the door she had seen earlier. It's glow was a little dimmer, but nonetheless still menacing. Inwardly, she reminded herself to mention it to Dumbledore. McGonagall approached the gargoyle that resided outside of Dumbledore's office. "Chocolate frog," McGonagall spoke clearly and the gargoyle jumped from it's post revealing the door that led into the Headmaster's Office. Minerva hurried forward and knocked loudly, each knock echoing loudly through the hall. The door opened and Minerva rushed in. "Professor Dumbledore?" She immediately called out, alerting him to the urgency of the situation.

Dumbledore walked from the shadows and came to stand in front of her. He had a curious expression on his face. He knew she should probably be teaching right now so he was curious as to why she wasn't in her classroom. "Yes, Minerva?" "Professor Dumbledore, Harry Potter and Hermione Granger are missing! They didn't show up to class and no one's seen them. I fear that something awful has happened." Dumbledore lowered his spectacles a little and addressed her, "Minerva, they could just be having fun, skipping class. I understand why you would be worried, but don't you think you might be getting ahead of yourself?" "Professor Dumbledore, this is Hermione Granger we are talking about! She wouldn't miss class unless she was bleeding out of her ears, and even then she'd still try to come. I'm serious. I know something is wrong. I can feel it…and now there's this random door I've never seen before. I was going to wait to tell you, but there's this door in the hallway outside my classroom. It's as if it just appeared out of nowhere. It's glowing this weird blue light and there was a symbol on the door that I've never seen before. It felt dark. Everything about it said keep out….I don't know why I'm rambling about this considering Harry and Hermione are missing but it seemed pertinent." She often rambled when worried, but this was something Dumbledore had not been expecting her to say. His face had turned very white as if he had seen a ghost. He began to recall a legend he heard long ago…something about a door, but no, it couldn't be. He reached out and gripped Minerva's shoulder. "Where did you see this door?" His voice was shaking. 'Why is his voice shaking?' McGonagall wondered. 'I mean, it's just a door.' She stared at him in confusion. "Take me to the door. NOW!" Dumbledore shouted.

—

As Dumbledore and Minerva approached the door, a look of dread filled his eyes. "No, no. No…" Dumbledore began to softly exclaim. "Professor Dumbledore, what is it?" Dumbledore raised his hand to cover his mouth. Shock obvious on his face. "I didn't think it was true….I thought it was only legend." Minerva, clearly now worried, responded, "What legend? What is it?" Dumbledore turned to face Minerva and took a deep breath before speaking. "The legend was about a door. They called it the Door of Darkness since it literally held pure darkness. Do you see this symbol right here?" Minerva nodded as Dumbledore ran his hand across the wood. "It's a symbol from the earliest forms of magic. Before wands were created as vessels, symbols were used to call upon the magic that runs through the earth and in our blood. This symbol was used to call forth the darkest magic. Pure evil. It's said that this door holds all remnants of that dark magic."

Minerva was clutching her hand to her chest when confusion overtook her expression. She knew better than to question Albus' sanity. If he was worried about a door, then there was reason to be scared. However, it still left the question unanswered of what it was doing there. "But Albus, why is the door appearing now?" Dumbledore turned back to face the door. "Legend claimed that when pure evil roamed the earth, the door would appear to aid in the destruction of our world. With Voldemort back in human form and more powerful than ever, the door must have sensed his return."

Dumbledore shook his head almost in disbelief and looked back at her. "Minerva, what lies beyond this door, it's darker than anything we've ever seen even in our worst nightmares. But it's not the darkness that scares me, it's what the darkness does to those who face it. A person who enters pure darkness, pure evil…they can't escape as they were, if they escape at all." Minerva grabbed onto Dumbledore's arm, "But Albus, What if Harry and Hermione are in there? What if that's why I can't find them? You know how Harry is. What if he wandered in there?" "Than I'm afraid all hope is lost. No one must know that this door has appeared or that it's possible that Harry and Hermione have entered it. Guard it, hide it, for God's sake, tell no one about it." "What? Don't even tell the other teachers?" "No. No one must know. If Voldemort found out this door existed, he would come immediately and the only person that could possibly kill him is likely behind that door." Minerva was clearly now shaken up, fear covering ever inch of her face. "What do we do? What do we tell the teachers, the students, the parents?" "Everyone must leave the castle. There isn't much time left for us here. Call all the houses together." As McGonagall ran off to get everyone in the Great Hall, Dumbledore rested his hand on the door and whispered, "Harry, if you are in there, don't let the darkness win. Don't let it break you."

—

Harry and Hermione stood staring at the wall and the poisonous plants dripping in poison. They were faced with an impossible task, but it was this or die. Maybe that's why the room was filled with coffins, but based on the fact that they were nailed shut and chained, they were probably filled with something worse than flesh eating poison. Harry and Hermione both had taken off their school robes and wrapped them around their arms to cover their skin and hands. Their normal clothes covering the rest. Harry looked at Hermione, "Are you ready?" Hermione took a deep breath and nodded.

Together they began climbing the walls. The poison clinging to their clothes. Both of them trying their best to touch as little of the wall as possible. As soon as they were a few feet in the air, Hermione let out a scream. The poison had begun to eat through the school robe covering her hands. A hole visible where the poison had gotten through. Her skin turning a fiery red. "Harry! The poison is burning through!" "Hermione, we have to keep going, try to ignore the pain." Now with every movement, Hermione grimaced, trying to fight back the urge to burst into tears. Harry's own robes weren't working very well either. The poison had burned through in multiple places and he was trying to mask his own pain.

Then without warning, chains began to rattle down below. Harry stopped to look down and investigate the source of the noise. Jus as he looked down, the coffins burst open. Splintered wood and rusted chains shattering and falling to the ground. Nails raining down as the coffins' inhabits broke free. Inferi were emerging from the coffins and they were heading towards the wall. Right towards Harry and Hermione. Their dead bodies devoid of any real life, but controlled by a very dark magic. Hermione was so focused on climbing the wall, she had yet to notice the Inferi.

Harry was usually amazed by her ability to shut out the rest of the world when she focused. He actually thought it was cute, but right now, she needed to unfocus. "Hermione, you might want to climb a little faster." Hermione as if waking from a daze turned to look at him. "Why?" "Normally, I'd say don't look down, but in this case, it'll probably help." Hermione looked away from the wall and down to the ground where she saw the Inferi beginning to climb the poisonous plants. "Harry! Those are Inferi! The poison won't affect them!" "Yeah, now you get why I said look down. So Hermione, it's time to move!"

They both began to climb at a faster pace and with less care. The poison was now seeping through all of their clothes, hitting their skin with each movement. Hermione stifled a scream as the poison burned through her sweater straight through to her stomach, but she kept climbing. Harry was no longer able to hide the pain from his face. The Inferi ruthlessly climbed the wall, making no notice of the poison as it burned their skin. Red burn marks appearing over their arms and legs. Their expressionless faces showing nothing. Harry was almost at the top, but Hermione had fallen behind. Her leg was caught in a vine. The Inferi were nearing her. One of them reached up and grabbed at Hermione's foot, but she yanked her leg out of the vine at the last second. She kept climbing, but the Inferi were gaining on her. Harry reached the opening at the top and climbed off of the wall, covered from head to toe in the poison. Hermione continued to climb as fast as she could. The Inferi were right behind her. They were seconds away from getting her. One of them reached up to grab her, but she kicked out and her foot hit the Inferi in the head, forcing it to lose it's grip. It began to fall, knocking the closest Inferi down off the wall as well. But the rest were still coming. As she reached the top, Harry pulled her up and over and together they ran through the passageway each grimacing in pain, the poison burning their skin. Their footsteps echoing loudly. There was a door in front of them, but something looked off. Something not right about it. That was when Hermione realized, "Harry, the handle is a knife."

—

As the students filed into the Great Hall there was a sense of great unease. Everyone knew that something awful must have happened. The last time a meeting like this had been called, the Chamber of Secrets had been opened and Ginny Weasley had been reported missing. People were spreading rumors that someone had died this time. A few people mentioned that Professor McGonagall had been searching for Harry and Hermione earlier. Students were worried. Some of the 1st Years were crying, while the 7th years looked on with a sense of superiority that undoubtedly masked actual fear. As the last student sat down, Dumbledore rose to speak. Immediate silence filled the room as every eye turned upon the headmaster. Dumbledore cleared his throat and began to talk, "Voldemort is heading towards the castle." Panic spread across the room like wildfire. Dumbledore never sugar coated anything to the students. He felt that they deserved to see the world as it was even if right now, he was telling a lie. Fear evident on every face, even those resting at the Slytherin table were not immune to it. "We must evacuate the castle immediately. Tonight, the trains will take you to London. Your parents will be notified to pick you up at Platform 9 3/4. Hogwarts is no longer safe for you." The students didn't know how to respond. Everything was happening so fast. This was their second home, most of them were scared to go back to their real homes. Their parents had entrusted them to Dumbledore hoping that it would be safer for them here. How could this have happened so suddenly, why do we have to leave? The thoughts raced through each student, but they knew that since Dumbledore had spoken, his word was final.

—

Hermione repeated to Harry in a panicked voice, "Harry, the handle is a knife!" Harry and Hermione had come to a stop in front of the door, but Harry could hear the Inferi behind him, still making their way up the wall. It was only a matter of time before they reached the passageway and found them. "We have to try and open it. I'll cover my hand with my robe and turn it. It'll be fine." Burn marks covered both of their skin. The poison continuing to spread, the marks were getting deeper and more irritated. Harry quickly covered his hand with his robe, making sure to use the cleanest part with the least amount of holes. As he reached toward the door and tried to turn the knife, nothing happened. It wouldn't budge. "Hermione, it's not working!" The Inferi had reached the edge of the passageway. "Hermione, what do we do?" Hermione was looking towards the Inferi in fear. They were gaining speed and getting closer. "Hermione! WHAT DO WE DO?" Hermione turned toward Harry and realized there was only one option. Her voice was shaking as she spoke, "Um…I think it requires a blood sacrifice. You'll have to open it with your bare hand." The sounds of the Inferi's dead corpses rattled through the room. Hermione was slowly backing toward the door. "Harry, do something. They're getting closer." Harry hesitated. The idea of trying to turn a knife with his bare hand didn't sound very appealing, but neither did murder by Inferi. "Harry! Do something!" Harry thrust his hand forward as the blade cut the palm of his hand. Harry turned the knife. The blood now pouring from his hand, but the door opened and Hermione immediately pushed Harry through hoping to find safety behind it. But they were not met with the safety of a floor. They had entered straight into a dark pit and they were free falling. The door above them slammed shut and the last of the light was gone. They both began to scream as they fell through the air into complete darkness.

—

The Great Hall was now filled with the buzz of unease and fear. Students were loudly whispering to one another as Dumbledore continued to give instructions. "Please, exit the Great Hall as quickly as you can. Go to your dormitories and pack only the necessities. The rest will be sent to you." Before Dumbledore could continue, screams filled the air. Two scream to be exact. A boy and a girl. The students begin to look around at each other in a panic looking to see if it had been someone in the room. But everyone in the Great Hall looked fine apart from being extremely afraid. The first years started to cry again as someone yelled out furiously, "What's going on?"

Dumbledore's face had turned white because he recognized those screams. That was when he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Harry and Hermione had indeed entered the Door of Darkness. He could only imagine what they were facing or what they would face. But he had to worry about the students that were before him. The same person who had yelled, spoke out again. This time demanding to know what was going on. Dumbledore's eyes landed on the Gryffindor table, on one Ronald Weasley. He was standing defiantly, his flaming red hair falling into his face. His eyes looked at Dumbledore accusingly.

Everyone in the Great Hall stopped to stare at Ron. "Professor, I've been through enough with Harry and Hermione to know what their screams sound like. So stop lying to us and tell us what's going on!" Dumbledore addressed the rest of the room without ever taking his eyes off Ron. "Everyone, to your dormitories now. Prefects will direct you. Mr. Weasley, up front, now." The students knew better than to question Dumbledore even if they were dying to know what was going on. They began to exit the room. Each of them craning their necks trying to see what Dumbledore was going to do to Ron. Ron walked to the front of the room where Dumbledore stood waiting. "Professor, where are Harry and Hermione? What's going on?" Dumbledore knew he had no choice but to tell the boy the truth. Ronald Weasley may not have been the smartest wizard in the bunch, but he was stubborn to a fault. "Follow me."

—

Harry and Hermione were still falling through the air. The wind whipping through their hair. The school robes they had wrapped around their hands long since gone. Not that they had any more use for them. The robes were completely destroyed with burn marks anyways. There didn't seem to be an end to the pit in sight. If it even was a pit. Screaming wasn't really helping the situation so they both had stopped. Harry could hear Hermione softly weeping in the darkness. Her cries muffled by the wind. He didn't know what to say to comfort her so he just kept quiet. It felt like they had been falling for hours. Maybe they were falling towards the center of the earth. He had no real way of telling how deep this hole was. That was when he saw it. A small light filling the space below, showing cobblestone. They were about to hit the ground and about to hit it fast. "Hermione! The ground!" Even when emotional, she was always quick to respond. Hermione immediately grabbed her wand from her jeans and said a spell she once heard Dumbledore use to slow Harry while falling during a Quidditch Match. "Arresto Momentum!" Their pace began to slow and then eventually, they landed on solid ground. It was painful, but at least they weren't dead. The pit itself wasn't very wide, it looked to only be about 6 feet across. It surprised Harry especially considering how long it had taken to reach the bottom.

Once they got their bearings, they looked for an escape even though it seemed almost pointless in this forsaken place. They both searched the walls for a door or something that could lead out of this pit. But instead of a door, Harry found a tiny black snake resting against the wall. It was so small he almost missed it, but it was undoubtedly a snake. "Hermione, there's a small snake over here." Hermione ran to see what Harry was talking about and saw the tiny snake. It almost didn't look real, but they were out of options. "You should try Parseltongue. Maybe it's like the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. The snake does look similar." Harry nodded in agreement and bent down towards the snake. He hissed "Open." But nothing happened, at first. The snake didn't show any sign of life. But then a loud hiss filled the air. It's tone was menacing as Harry heard the words that sucked any hope of survival right out of his mind, "Yesssss, I will let you through. But a price must be paid. One of you must die."

To Be Continued.