Chapter Ten: Into the Darkness
Harry, now dressed in a red sweater, that he had gotten from Mrs. Weasley, and a pair of blue jeans and his sneakers, looked at his two fellow dormmates, who had also finished getting dressed. Ron now sported a flannel shirt over a t-shirt, and a pair of jeans himself, while Riley wore an open brown leather vest over his blue t-shirt with a red and yellow Superman symbol on it, a pair of dark blue sweatpants, and his brown work boots.
"Are you two ready?" the former asked.
"I'm ready." said Ron.
"Me, too." agreed Riley.
"Good, let's get Hermione and Tony."
Riley picked up his school bag and followed his fellow Gryffindors out of the boys' dormitory. As they did so, Hermione, now dressed in a colorful button-up sweater and a black skirt and shoes, just stepped out of her dormitory as well. They walked down the spiral staircase and started to head for the Slytherin dungeons to pick up Tony. Once reaching the common room, they heard a soft croaking, causing the four sets of eyes to fall on Trevor the toad, who was seated on the arm of a chair.
"Trevor." breathed Harry.
"Trevor! Shoo! Go!" hissed Ron. "You shouldn't be here!"
To the quartet's great surprise, Neville poked his head out from the side of the chair.
"Neither should you." he announced.
He stood up and faced his friends, bravely, but also timidly.
"You're sneaking out again, aren't you?" he asked.
"Neville, listen, we were-We were-" Harry started, pleadingly.
"No! I won't let you! You'll get Gryffindor into trouble again! I-I-I-I'll fight you!"
The others watched as he put up his fists, appearing to be ready to truly fight them if it came to it. Then Hermione took out her wand.
"Neville, I'm really, really sorry about this." she apologized. "Petrificus Totalus!"
Before any of the Gryffindor males knew it, Neville's body froze up, his arms suddenly stuck to his sides like they were magnetized, and his legs seemed to fuse together. Within seconds, he had fallen over, not making a sound except for the thud. Ron merely gulped as Hermione casually returned her wand to her pocket.
"You're a little scary sometimes, you know that?" Ron spoke, amazed. "Brilliant. But scary."
"You're now noticing?" asked Riley.
"Let's go." said Harry.
Neville watched in horror as his four Housemates piled out of the common room through the portrait, muttering their apologies to him.
Tony stood outside of the stone wall passageway, dressed in a black and white baseball button-up shirt over a white t-shirt and a pair of black slacks with black and white Van sneakers, and waited for his companions to show up. He did not, however, count on them showing up unseen.
"Tony!" hissed Ron.
Tony looked around for the source of the sound, until he felt a hand clap his shoulder, and forced himself to hold in the scream that yearned to come out of his mouth. Harry's head suddenly appeared in front of him, causing Tony to stare, surprised.
"Wow, how'd you do that?" he asked.
"Invisibility cloak, no time to explain." replied Harry. "Get under here."
Tony did so, and the five of them started moving through the castle to the third floor. They made sure not to make any noise, or at least tried not to.
"Ow!" hissed Hermione. "You stood on my foot!"
"Sorry." whispered Ron.
A torch lit up as the five children approached their destination, then Hermione took out her wand.
"Alohomora." she whispered, pointing the wand at the handle.
The lock disengaged, and she pulled the door open. The quintet were greeted with the sounds of melodic harp-playing and multiple sounds of loud snoring.
"Wait a minute,...he's..." Harry observed, as the middle head's snoring blew the cloak off of him and his friends. "...snoring."
"Aww, they're so cute when they're not about to rip us to shreds." said Riley.
"Focus, Riley." Tony told him.
Harry looked around the room, then saw a harp standing nearby, it's strings being plucked by an invisible force.
"Snape's already been here." he pointed out. "He's put a spell on the harp."
"Ugh, it's got horrible breath." Ron commented, as the group moved in closer.
"We have to move it's paw."
"What?"
"Come on!"
Harry, Ron, and Tony worked together to gently shift the three-headed dog's paw away from the trapdoor. Then just as they pulled the trapdoor open, the music died down, and the room became almost completely quiet.
"I'll go first," Harry told the others. "Don't follow until I give you a sign. If something bad happens, get yourselves out."
Riley nodded in agreement, then noticed that the three heads of Fluffy had woken up, their eyes now fixed on him and the other kids.
"Harry." he whispered, urgently.
"Not now, Riley." said Harry.
"Harry."
"Riley, be quiet!"
Then his eyes narrowed, as if realizing the music had stopped playing.
"Does it seem a bit...quiet to you?" he asked.
He, Hermione, Ron, and Tony looked back to see that the harp had stopped playing.
"The harp, it stopped playing." observed Hermione.
As they turned back forward, Ron felt something wet drop down onto his shoulder, and saw something gooey dripping down his shirt.
"Ugh! Yuck!" he grimaced.
"Harry!" shouted Riley.
Harry turned to look at him, and saw he was looking upwards, causing him and the others to follow his gaze. The three heads were glaring down at him, growling ferociously.
"Jump!" shouted Harry.
He leapt in first, followed by Tony, Hermione, and then Ron, just as the center head tugged on the trapdoor, yanking it off the hinges, and threw it into the wall. The four of them landed in a dark room, but what they landed on was a mystery.
"Whoa, lucky this plant thing is here, really." said Ron.
"Oh, my God," Hermione gasped in realization. "Where's Riley?!"
Harry and Ron looked at each other, terrified, and then up at the trapdoor.
"Riley!" called Harry.
"Scream if you're alive, Ry!" shouted Ron.
"Riley!" Tony screamed, worriedly.
"I think we've got bigger problems to deal with right now." said Hermione. "Look!"
Harry noticed that the tendrils behind Ron had started to shift around, causing him to scoot back in shock.
"Whoa!" he exclaimed.
As the four kids started to move, they felt something wrap around their bodies tightly. The four kids started to struggle hard to free themselves, while above the trapdoor, Riley backed against the wall as Fluffy moved towards him, still growling. Riley took a deep breath, closed his eyes, then stepped forward, his hand outstretched towards the three-headed canine. The center head leaned in to sniff it cautiously a few times, then one by one, the other two heads sniffed at the boy's hand. A second later, Riley felt one of the canine heads leaning down to lick his face.
"Mom was right, dogs can tell a good person from bad just by avoiding prolonged eye contact with them, and smelling their hand." he chuckled, as he reached up to pet the dog. "Who's a good boy? Who's a good puppy?"
Underneath the room, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Tony were still struggling with the plant-like attacker who was still entangling the four children in it's tendrils. Suddenly, Hermione's face lit up, and she looked at the other three with her who were still trying to break free.
"Stop moving, the three of you!" she told them. "This is Devil's Snare. You have to relax. If you don't it will only kill you faster."
"'Kill us faster'?!" repeated Ron. "Oh, now I can relax!" he added, sarcastically.
Hermione shot him a look just as she started sinking down into the ground, much to the horror of her friends.
"Hermione!" the three boys called.
"Now what are we gonna do?!" Ron asked, horrified.
"First Riley, now Hermione, I'm just about done with this place!" Tony screamed, panickedly. "I promise if I get out of this alive, I'll watch who I tease from now on! If Riley were still alive, I'd never complain about his love for superhero comics again, I'll never pull pranks unless the situation completely calls for it!"
"Just relax!" Hermione's voice called out to them.
Harry looked around for the source of the noise.
"Hermione, where are you?!" he asked.
"Do what I say!" Hermione shouted back. "Trust me!"
"I'm gonna die by a plant. I'm gonna die by a plant." Tony chanted, quickly. "I'm gonna probably have a heart attack in the midst of it, but I'm gonna die by a plant."
"Shut up already, Tony." Riley's voice spoke from above them.
Harry, Ron, and Tony watched as Riley jumped down in the center of the ground, appearing unharmed.
"How are you still alive?!" asked Ron.
"I'll explain later, just remain calm." replied Riley.
He felt the tendrils of the plant now ensnare him, but kept calm.
"Riley! Riley!" shrieked Tony.
"Tony, listen, just think happy thoughts, and take deep breaths." Riley instructed him.
Tony did so, and he began sinking down a little bit after Riley himself did.
"Riley!" shouted Harry.
"Tony, come back!" Ron called out.
Harry closed his eyes, and took a deep breath to calm himself, then felt himself sinking into the ground as well, much to Ron's horror.
"Ah! Harry!" the latter screamed.
Harry collapsed to the ground in another room beside Hermione, Riley, and Tony, who were standing up by the wall. Hermione was rubbing at her sore wrist, while Riley rocked back and forth on his heels, and Tony was leaning forward with his hands on his knees, panting heavily.
"Are you okay?" asked Hermione.
"Yeah, I'm fine." replied Harry.
Above them, Ron was screaming non-stop for help.
"He's not relaxing, is he?" asked Hermione.
"Apparently not." sighed Harry. "Riley, how were you able to relax? We thought Fluffy mauled you up there."
"My mom's a veterinarian." Riley explained, looking at his friends. "We used to work with strays, and she taught me a few tricks. You show a dog you're trustworthy by letting them sniff your hand, and not make eye contact for too long."
"I don't think that'll work in this situation though." Tony told them.
"He's right, we've gotta do something." said Hermione.
"What?" asked Harry.
Hermione then began to wrack her brain for some kind of solution.
"I remember reading something in Herbology,...um..." she muttered to herself. "'Devil's Snare, Devil's Snare. It's deadly fun,...but will sulk in the sun'! That's it, Devil's Snare hates sunlight!" she added, her expression brightening considerably.
The female Gryffindor thrusted her wand toward the massive plant, quickly.
"Lumos Solem!" she spoke the incantation.
A bright light shone from her wand, nearly blinding the occupants of the room, and suddenly Ron fell to the ground beside his friends, screaming.
"Ron, you okay?" asked Harry.
He and Hermione knelt beside the redhead, who slowly got back up to his feet.
"Yeah." the latter spoke. "Whoo! Lucky we didn't panic, and Riley's still alive, I see."
"Lucky Hermione pays attention in Herbology, and Riley picked up a few good tricks from his mother." Harry told him.
The room became filled with silence, then the five kids heard soft fluttering sound coming from behind a nearby door.
"What is that?" asked Hermione.
"I don't know." Harry answered, slowly moving towards the door. "Sounds like wings."
Ron reached out and grabbed Harry's shoulder to stop him.
"Uh, let's have Riley go first." he suggested, nodding at the brown-haired boy behind them. "If it is another animal, maybe Riley can handle that one."
"Gee, thanks a lot." said Riley.
He stepped forward and opened the door to lead his friends into the next room. Above them, there were tiny, thin objects flying high into the air, shining brightly in the moonlight.
"Curious." said Hermione. "I've never seen birds like these."
"Neither have I." agreed Tony.
"They're not birds," whispered Harry. "They're keys, and I'll bet one of them fits that door."
As they walked further into the moonlight, they spotted a lone broomstick floating above the stone floor in the center of the light.
"What's this all about?" asked Hermione.
"I don't know." replied Harry.
Ron then withdrew his wand from his pocket, and moved toward the door, with Hermione behind him.
"Strange." Harry breathed, as he reached out towards the broomstick.
"I'll say. First a giant three headed dog guarding the entrance, then the Devil's Snare, now this." Tony commented, ticking off the list on his fingers. "What gives? It's like they're all..."
"Tests of some sort." Riley realized, smiling. "Harry's right, we need one of those keys."
"Or Hermione could use-"
"Alohomora!" Ron's voice shouted.
Harry, Riley, and Tony looked at the door to see Ron trying to open the door with the same spell he learned from Hermione.
"That plan failed." Tony muttered, pushing his hair back against his head.
"Well, it was worth a try." said Ron.
Hermione gave a strangled growl of frustration, as she and Ron turned back to look at the swarm of keys in the air.
"What are we going to do?!" she groaned. "There must be a thousand keys!"
"But maybe there's one that's not like the other!" Tony exclaimed, clapping his hands together. "Like one of those games in the puzzle book!"
"Okay, so, we want a big, old-fashioned one." Ron suggested. "Probably rusty, like the handle."
"There, I see it!" shouted Harry. "The one with the broken wing!"
He pointed up at the swarm of keys, and sure enough, there was one key that was floating around a little more slowly than the rest because of it's bent wing.
"Okay, we found the key." Tony announced, looking around at his friends. "Now who wants to volunteer to get it down?"
"Don't look at me, I hate heights." Riley declined, quickly.
"Superman would-"
"Tony, didn't you say if you and Riley lived through that little situation with the Devil's Snare that you would never pick on him about his love for comic books again?" Hermione reminded the Slytherin student.
"...Man." sighed Tony.
Harry looked back down at the broomstick, his eyes narrowing in realization.
"What's wrong, Harry?" asked Hermione.
"It's too simple." replied Harry.
"Oh, go on, Harry." Ron encouraged him. "If Snape could catch it on that old broomstick, you can! You're the youngest Seeker in a century!"
Harry nodded, and slowly reached out to grab the broomstick. However, the moment he gripped it, almost all of the keys sped down towards him and started circling around him like gnats. Riley and Tony quickly ducked away towards Ron and Hermione, startled from the sudden attack.
"I thought they were keys, not heat-seekers!" yelped Tony.
"This complicates things a bit." said Ron.
The four friends watched as Harry flew into the air through the swarm of keys, chasing after the damaged one. After a few minutes, Harry had finally grabbed onto the key with the broken wing, and started spiraling towards his friends.
"Catch the key!" he shouted.
The key was thrown down towards his friends, and Hermione jumped up to grab it. She hurried back to the door to unlock it, while Ron and Tony shouted for her to hurry up. Harry circled around in the air for a bit to buy some time for his friends to unlock the door, and saw it was swung wide open for him to get through. He flew down on the broomstick, and zoomed through the door while Riley and Tony shut the door behind him. The sounds of tiny objects hammering against the door followed a second after the door shut.
"Good work, team." said Tony.
"What's the next challenge, drinking poison?" asked Ron.
"Thanks, Ron." muttered Harry.
The five friends marched down the stone path until they came at an intersection. The path now divided into two hallways.
"What's the plan now?" asked Ron.
He and the others looked from the right hallway to the left, trying to figure out which way to go. Then Tony stepped forward, and looked at his friends.
"We should split up." he announced. "Ry and I will go right, you guys go left."
"That's a dangerous idea!" objected Hermione.
"Well, we all knew what we were risking coming down here, didn't we?"
Harry looked at the ground for a moment, nodding in agreement.
"He's right." he agreed. "We'll meet up with you in a bit."
"Right." said Riley.
He and Tony walked down the path on the right, while Harry led Ron and Hermione down the left hallway, all five praying silently that the others would be safe.
To make up for the short chapter, I've decided to update again. Okay, there are two chapters remaining now. They've made it past the guard dog, they've survived the Devil's Snare, and they've succeeded in getting through the room with the killer winged keys. What challenges await the kids next? Find out in the next chapter.
Disclaimer: I own the Cross family, and the Gabriels. I don't own the Harry Potter series (books, movies, you get it), or any of the DC comics, books, the Walkman player, any artists or songs that appear in this story. If I did, I'd be richer than Lex Luthor, Bruce Wayne, the Malfoys,...okay, you guys get the picture.