For a moment the room was pitch dark, then Blaise lit the lamps along the side of the cell with his wand, which cast a faint glow in the gloom.
"Do you really think you imbeciles can take us four? Three Aurors?" Hermione's voice called out in the half-light. Blaise and Goyle looked at each other in disbelief, and began walking towards her, with her gag hanging loosely around her neck. She continued talking, "Oh, you two look tough enough, sure, but are you really?" Blaise and Goyle looked angrier with each step they took towards her. "I mean, yeah, you and Crabbe made a good pair, but alone you're just a thug. And Zabini – Pansy chose Malfoy over you – how did that make you feel?"
The two of them were fuming. "You're going to regret that, Mudblood," said Blaise as he pointed his wand at her. They were now inches away.
Then from their left, they heard Hermione say, "Are you sure about that?"
Confused, the men jerked their heads their left and saw Hermione sitting there, her gag loose as well. Suddenly, with a roar from behind, Ron stood up – still tied to his chair – and charge the two of them, with just enough time to see Teddy transform from Hermione back into his usual self.
The two men were rammed into the opposite wall behind Hermione, and Goyle, on the bottom, was knocked out. Ron had fallen sideways on his chair and couldn't get up.
Harry, with sudden initiative and adrenaline, stood up and fell onto his back, shattering the chair he was tied to. Harry ran towards Blaise, who was standing over Ron, his foot pinning him down and his wand raised. Hermione was still tied and she was resisting against the bonds holding her. Blaise also saw this and turned his wand from Ron to Hermione. Ron and Harry's eyes both widened, Ron struggled as Harry dove for Blaise. As Harry was in mid-air, Blaise shot two spells, "Impedimenta!" at Harry which caused him to freeze in mid-air, then a spell Harry did not understandat Hermione.
Below Hermione, a trap door appeared out of the stone, and with a scream from both Ron and Hermione, Hermione and Harry simultaneously fell; Harry hit the floor while Hermione kept falling through the hole, then it sealed itself.
Harry looked over at Blaise and Ron just in time to see Teddy punch Blaise in the face and knock him out cold. Teddy bent over Blaise and Goyle and took their wands, then pointed one at Ron's back and said, "Relashio." The rope untied itself and Ron crawled to the spot where Hermione had fallen and tried to budge the stone floor. Teddy then tied up Blaise and Goyle with a spell.
Harry stood up warily, holding his ribs and took the wand Teddy offered him and said to Ron, "Ron, let me try," Ron immediately moved from the spot and Harry said, "Diffindo," which with several cracks revealed the seams of the previous trap door, then "Wingardium Leviosa," and he lifted the slab. It revealed a small area directly underneath, just big enough for a person. But no Hermione.
Ron began to sob and pounded his fist on the stone floor. Harry bent down onto his knee and said to Ron, "Mate, they would have wanted to capture her, not kill her. This must have been some sort of dark magic," Harry said as he pointed to the hole, "This Kalem is smart, he had to have a back-up plan – this must have been it. We'll get her back." Ron pulled himself together and stood up.
"How're we going to get out of here, Boss?" Teddy asked.
"Fly," Harry said as he pointed Blaise's wand at Ron's intact chair, still lying on its side and transfigured it into a broom. Teddy repaired Harry's and his own chair while Harry transfigured them. "They're no racing brooms, but they'll work," he said. The three of them threw their legs over the brooms, Harry setting fire to the ropes, leaving Goyle and Blaise, and kicked off the ground, flying towards the spot where Harry knew there was an opening. As they neared the top, Harry pointed the wand he had taken at the spot and yelled, "Defodio!" blasting open the trap door at the top, and flying through it, landing on the floor of what seemed to be the basement of Bathilda's home.
"Homenum Revelio," said Ron, borrowing the wand Teddy took and waving it upward. Nothing happened. "Thought it'd be something Hermione would do …" and he gave Teddy the wand back.
Harry, convinced no one was in the house, lit his wand and walked up the stairs. The stairs led to the main room – the room they had been ambushed in. Harry had no way of telling how long they had been down there, but as he looked out the window, he saw faint rays of light across the sky. The sun was about to rise. Harry found their four wands on a table, simply left. Disbelieving their luck, he grabbed for his phoenix feather wand and felt the welcoming warmth as it was returned to its master. Harry also handed Teddy his wand and Ron his and Hermione's, "You can give it to her when we find her," he said, and Ron gave a faint nod of agreement.
Harry walked out the door onto the wet pavement and out onto the street.
"What now, Boss? The Ministry?" Teddy asked.
"Dean and Katie's," Harry said unexpectedly with looks of confusion from the other two. "We can't risk endangering the others at the Burrow; I'll send a message to Ginny and Kingsley after we sleep, then we're going to visit your Gran, Teddy. We need to know exactly who we're up against."