Chapter 10 - The Secret Vault

For two weeks Harry, Ron, Hermione and Draco continued to research Gringotts Bank and found all they could about the tunnel that supposedly began in the cellar of Borgin and Burkes. Finally, in mid November, Harry felt that they were ready to go.

He was very nervous as he packed his invisibility cloak getting ready to leave. When he left with Dumbledore there hadn't been much time for nerves. And he had been with the greatest wizard in the world, so there wasn't much need to worry until they were well into the mission. This time it was just him and his friends and they were planning to go into a very dangerous situation. They'd been in plenty of those before, but it was never so planned out. Usually it was just a spur of the moment decision to risk his life. And this time Harry knew exactly what to expect. He knew how well the Horcrux would be hidden and what kinds of traps to expect from Voldemort. Worst of all, he knew what kind of danger he was leading his best friends into.

Oddly enough, the only part that Harry wasn't nervous about was taking Malfoy along. They had argued about this for days. Ron was completely opposed to him going. Harry was completely in favor. And Hermione was undecided. Whether it was because she didn't want to go against Ron or if she was truly having doubts about the blond's loyalty, Harry didn't know, but eventually she agreed that they needed Malfoy's help. He knew his way around Knockturn Alley and knew more about the tunnel than the others. He also had become quite knowledgeable in medical magic and Hermione wanted him along to help if there was an injury. They were even giving him his wand for the night, which is something that sent Ron into a rage when he found out. He was certain that Draco would kill them all at the first available moment.

"Just remember," he had said to Draco before they left, "I'm going to be watching you very closely."

Draco smirked at him, "You know, I believe that. However, if I were going to try something, your words wouldn't have scared me off. You have to work on that intimidation a little, Weasley. Death Eaters aren't scared of hot-tempered redheads."

That only made Ron even angrier and he refused to let Malfoy out of his sight. Draco walked ahead with Harry, while Ron and Hermione followed. They apparated to the entrance to Diagon Alley just before dark. Hidden under dark cloaks, they made their way to Knockturn Alley and past Borgin and Burkes. There were few people around; most didn't stay down that particular street past dark anyway. They waited until they were sure no one was watching and ducked down an alley between Borgin and Burkes and the apothecary next door. From there, Hermione led the way breaking into the back of the shop with one of the many spells she had found in a book. Harry snuck out into the main part of the store, making sure no one was there and then closed the back room door so that they could light their wands without being seen from the street.

"Look for any sign of a hidden door," said Harry once they were down the cellar stairs.

"Do you feel anything, Harry?"

"No, but there's too much magical energy in this part of town to feel any subtle differences."

"Are you trying at least?"

"No, I just thought we could spend the night staring at walls."

"No need to get huffy."

"No need to get condescending either. Ron, you see any clues?"

"Nah. Hey, where's the ferret?"

"In here," Draco called from the next room.

"Find anything?"

"How about a giant hole in the wall marked 'Keep Out'?"

"Are you serious?" Harry asked coming around the corner.

To his amazement, there was indeed a hole, reinforced with wooden beams. It was the size of the average door frame and there were just some flimsy boards nailed across it which held various warnings about not entering.

"The room was locked, but it opened with just alohamora. There were no other locks or spells."

"That was their idea of stopping people from going in?" said Ron.

"No," said Harry, "The boards just act as a door. They're giving you the choice of whether to go in or not. They probably figured there was no point hiding the tunnel if people already knew it was there."

"What do you think is behind there?"

"Maybe nothing for a while. It might not begin until you get closer to the vaults. The good news is I don't t feel any wards that would physically keep us out. That means that Burke probably didn't make it all the way to the bank. Of course there's always the possibility that they collapsed the tunnel further down. We'll just have to go in and find out. Let's climb in between the boards. We don't want to leave any clues that we were here. Come on."

Even with all four wands lit the tunnel seemed dark. After about ten minutes of walking the path narrowed a bit and there were places where Ron, as the tallest of the group, had to stoop down just to get through.

"He must have got lazy, huh?" Harry commented.

"The Burkes have always been underachievers," Draco replied. "I wouldn't be surprised if we end up crawling into Gringotts."

Most of the journey was downhill. There were sections where it leveled out for a bit and then continued its steep slope again. Normally, the journey from Knockturn Alley to Gringotts would have taken less than twenty minutes, but Burke's plan had been to go into some of the deepest vaults and that took time. The air was getting very cold and Harry guessed that they'd been walking for thirty minutes when they came to a large, iron gate with a sign hanging from it.

Property of Gringotts Wizarding Bank of London

No Trespassing

"I don't feel anything on the gate or sign."

"Nothing?" exclaimed Hermione. "It's Gringotts, there has to be something."

"No. Except an Apparition barrier that begins here."

"Everyone knows the kind of security Gringotts has," said Malfoy. "For most people, just seeing the sign is enough to turn around."

"Yes, but wouldn't Voldemort have left some kind of enchantments?" asked Ron.

"No. Just in case the Goblins stopped by to check their gate, he wouldn't have left any evidence he, or anyone else, was here."

"Potter's right. I think I can see the end of the tunnel from here. That's where we'll most likely see the Dark Lord's work."

Harry cautiously pushed the gate open. He didn't think there were any booby traps, but it didn't hurt to be careful. The tunnel was even narrower there and they could only go through it one at a time. Harry went first, lit wand out before him. Ron thought it was a better idea to send Malfoy through first, in case there were any traps, but this only earned him a slap on the arm from Hermione and Harry went ahead.

Malfoy had been right about the end of the tunnel being so close. It simply ended with a wall of stone and earth and nothing to indicate that anyone had ever been there other than a single torch hanging on the side wall. But Harry could feel the magical energy.

"Don't touch anything."

"I can feel the magic too," said Hermione.

"Somehow we've got to get the door to open."

"Didn't the one in the cave want blood or something?"

"Doesn't mean that this is the same."

"Maybe there's a clue somewhere," said Ron. "If we light the torch we could see better."

"No! Don't touch it. He would have cursed it."

"How do you know?"

Harry shook his head. "Just a feeling. In the cave, everything was very precise. There was no room for error. We had to do it exactly the way that he wanted or else it wouldn't work. He would think that lighting the torch is a sign of weakness or insecurity."

"I think you know far too much about him, Potter."

"I'd rather I didn't, but as long as I do, I'm going to use it to my advantage." He paused, feeling the wall. "It feels like some sort of transfiguration was used here."

"A concealment spell," said Hermione. "To cover up the proper way through."

Harry agreed that it was, but his first try at removing it brought nothing. Hermione and Draco both suggested various counter spells, but none worked.

"Harry," said Ron finally. "The Marauder's Map. No reveal spell works on that, you have to say the right words. Almost like a password. What if this is the same?"

Harry was proud that his best friend came up with it. Usually it was Hermione with all the really bright ideas, but she didn't think sneaky enough. And she never really liked the map either. It did present a problem though. What kind of code would Voldemort use? Harry had never asked the twins how they figured out how to use the Marauders Map. How many combinations of words had they tried before they got the right ones?

"Anyone have ideas?"

"Maybe you could try something in parseltongue."

"There aren't any snakes here."

"Well then I don't know."

"Quick someone, write this down. Granger doesn't know the answer. It's got to be a first, right?"

"We could always offer you as sacrifice, Malfoy."

"It doesn't want a sacrifice, it wants words. Ron was right. I have to think of something Voldemort would say."

"How about asking the Junior Death Eater?" said Ron. "Any super secret Death Eater slogans, Malfoy?"

"Kill mudbloods." Ron scowled at him. "What? It's not like they're some after-school club with code words and secret handshakes. The Dark Lord says a lot of things. Some are repeated occasionally, but most are better forgotten."

Harry thought about the times he'd come face to face with the monster. What things had he said that would have relevance here, at the hiding place for his Horcrux? He had said many things about power and immortality over the years. Harry clearly remembered his speech to his own Death Eaters the night he had regained his body about his goal to conquer death–

And then Harry realized that was it. It was the whole point of having Horcruxes in the first place. Something he had always desired. Anyone else might think that the most powerful Dark wizard desired power or control or riches. But Harry knew that Voldemort only desired those things because it would give him access to the one thing he truly wanted: immortality.

Instinctively, Harry put his wand out, touched the wall in front of him and spoke very clearly, "To conquer death."

Even though he'd been expecting something, he jumped in surprise when the stone and dirt opened from an invisible seam in the middle to allow them through. He turned to look at the others and smiled.

Ron seemed somewhat horrified. "Like Malfoy said; you know far too much about him."

"I just hope that after he's dead I can forget."

The path was even narrower on the other side of the door and they were forced to continue in single file. Harry led the way, but even with his wand lit to its brightest he didn't see the huge hole in the path. It wasn't a far drop, not even twenty feet, but it took him by surprise, and he hit hard. When he looked back up at the ceiling of the cave he didn't see where he had come out from, but he could hear the confusion of the others above him.

"Potter! Where the fuck are you?"

"What did you do to him, Malfoy?"

"Nothing Weasel! Potter!"

"I'm here! I'm okay!"

"What the fuck happened?"

"Uh... I fell I guess." The ceiling was rather low and Harry felt along the hard rock until he came to where his hand went right through. It looked just like the rest of his surroundings, but there was nothing really there. Voldemort had used a concealment charm to hide his entrance just in case the goblins ever wandered back there. Too bad he hadn't also put a cushion at the bottom, Harry thought, rubbing the sore spot on his backside. He transfigured a rock into a fluffy mattress.

"It's safe, go ahead and come down."

One by one they landed safely.

"Lucky this cushion was here, huh?" said Ron.

Harry snorted. "Lucky I'm not quite as bad in Transfiguration as I am Potions."

"Look up ahead!" said Hermione. "There's light, it could be one of the main tunnels in the bank."

"Be careful," said Harry.

"So whose traps should we be more scared of? His? Or the Goblins'?" asked Ron

That was a good question and one that Harry couldn't answer. And maybe that was the whole point. Goblins defend gold the same way Voldemort would defend his immortality. He must have figured that only a wizard with near the same magical abilities as himself would be able to get through the bank. The location was part of the security.

As they emerged from the tunnel, Harry could see the track that the bank cart used to transport its customers, but there were no vaults in that particular section. The main tunnel extended right and left, but they could already see several smaller ones branching off from that. The passage was lit with torches every thirty feet or so, but it was still very dim.

"Which way now?"

"Further down," said Harry, pointing to the left where the path sloped downward. "We're not deep enough."

They followed that tunnel for twenty minutes as it went deeper and the air got even colder. So far they hadn't seen any sign that there were traps, but finally, they came to a fork in the road. One way lead to higher ground, while the other went deeper and they could see the end of it just a little further ahead. The end was lit brighter and as they got closer they saw that it opened into a much larger room.

Standing at the entrance to the room Harry saw several things that troubled him. First, there were no less than eight passageways leading out of the room and he had no way of knowing which one to follow. Second, there was a very large dragon curled up facing away from them on the opposite side of the room. He would recognize it anywhere. Scaly black skin and large horns protruding from its tail. There was a huge opening, not far from the beast, to Harry's far right, where no tracks went and Harry assumed that it was the dragon's tunnel where the others may be. Harry's stomach flipped as he thought about how they were going to get past it. He motioned for the others to go back inside the tunnel with him while he thought about it.

"Do you realize how deep we are, Harry?" Hermione whispered. "I could see the tracks that the trolley takes through the bank far above us."

"No, I didn't see that. I was too busy staring at the Hungarian Horntail across the room."

"I saw that too."

"How do you know it was a Horntail?" asked Ron, craning his neck to see back into the dragon's room.

Harry gave him a look that clearly said "How the hell do you think" and turned back to Hermione. "Any ideas?"

"We could try to stun it if it wakes up."

"The last time I saw someone do that there were several trained professionals all firing at the same time. I doubt the four of us could handle it."

"Let's just try to sneak past it and if it wakes up we'll run into the tunnels. It can't eat us in there."

"I'm not worried about getting eaten, Ron. I'm much more concerned with getting burnt to a crisp. The Horntail has a range of more than forty feet. I've heard it can do fifty. So unless you can run really fast, then we'll come up with something else."

"How about a shield charm," said Malfoy. "If we all cast it at the same time then it would definitely hold long enough to get out of range."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "That would work. And you didn't want to bring him, Ron."

Ron scowled, but they all agreed that was the best option and headed back to the mouth of the dragon's lair.

"How do we know which tunnel?"

"I don't know. We better mark this one though or we'll never find it again on the way back."

Hermione nodded and put a red "X" next to their tunnel. Harry began examining each tunnel, starting at the first one to the left of where they originated. The first two didn't seem to slope at all and the third went up, so he passed them without much consideration. The fourth, however, continued to go downward, so Harry felt along its edges for any sign of magic. Not finding any, he went on to the fifth and then the sixth. That one was tricky because he was coming nearer to the sleeping dragon and he didn't know how easily they woke up. He could feel the warmth of the creature's breath on his legs, but it didn't stir.

Luckily, it was the last one that he had to try. He felt magic on it right away and then noticed a small, but clear snake magically engraved into the stone. It was so faint that he doubted that the goblins or anyone would have noticed it without looking for it. Still wary of the dragon, Harry motioned his friends to follow him into the tunnel.

They carried on in complete silence afraid they may wake whatever else lay there. At one point they passed holes in the tunnel wall that were like windows overlooking an underground lake much like the one that Harry always passed on the way to his own vault. There they saw more dragons gathered, sleeping and a big doorway the size of the one they'd seen in the Horntail's room. Everything was connected and Harry realized that even when they couldn't see the dragons, the dragons could see and hear anyone in the tunnels that their flames could reach. They hurried past the lake and continued their journey into the cold depths.

It wasn't long after the lake that they came to the end of the tracks. They hadn't seen a vault in several minutes and the path ahead was no longer lit for them. Harry felt around and found the snake. They were still going the right way. Several times they came to another fork and Harry took the path with the snake on it, while Hermione marked where they had come from.

The only sound Harry had heard since they found the dragon was four sets of feet hitting the stone floor, so when one of them stopped suddenly Harry stopped too and turned. Hermione had stopped and was facing back down the dark passage.

"What is it?" Harry whispered.

"I heard something behind me."

"What do you see?"

"Rocks and darkness."

"It's your imagination then. Come on."

They walked a few more yards when she stopped again.

"I know I heard something."

Harry finally went back to where she was standing and looked around. He finally looked back down at her with a raised eyebrow.

"I can't afford to have you crack up on me now."

"Harry James Potter, I am not crazy! There is something back there somewhere."

"I didn't say you were crazy, but the dark can play tricks on you."

"Well I hope you're so sure of yourself when I'm eaten by some creature in the dark."

Harry rolled his eyes and kept walking.

"Oh you probably won't even notice. You'll just say 'Hermione, stop joking around' and keep right on."

Harry really didn't want to argue with her, so he said nothing again and focused on the magic. He hadn't felt the goblins' magic in a while and had begun to ignore the little bit of energy the lumos charm put forth, so when Harry suddenly felt a very strong power and mixture of types of magic, he stopped.

"Is this it?" Hermione whispered.

Harry didn't answer, but felt along the wall to where the magic was strongest. In the center of the energy source was a small snake just like the ones he had been following all along. The magic was different though. It wasn't just a snake left on the wall. There were other magics behind the snake. Many charms and curses filled the wall.

"It's another password sort of thing, I think."

Harry ran his hand over the little snake and another picture appeared next to it. This one was a wizard and he looked as if he was talking to the snake. Harry knew what he had to do. He bent down next to the door and hissed "open" in Parseltongue. The doors automatically began to reveal a room even bigger than Harry's own vault and filled with gold coins and chests of jewels and trinkets. It was lit brightly on the inside with magical torches. All four of them stood in shock, staring at the treasure. It reminded Harry of pirate movies. After raiding villages the pirate captain buries the treasure on some sandy island with an "X" marking the spot. He hadn't thought of Voldemort in that way before. Had he stolen riches from the people he killed? Was there any particular significance in the items he had placed here?

"Oh Harry," Hermione finally managed. "How are we ever going to find it?"

"A lot of looking. At least we know it has to be here. How many other people besides me and him can speak Parseltongue? Even if the Goblins ever noticed it, they wouldn't be able to open it."

"It would help if I knew what we were looking for," drawled Malfoy.

"We're not completely sure. It may be that cup of Helga Hufflepuff's. Or something from one of the other founders. Try not to touch anything."

"How are you going to get it then?"

"Just trust me. If you find something let me know."

Harry entered the secret vault first, feeling a tingle of magical energy go through his body. He was missing something. It was subtle, but there was just something that wasn't quite right about it. He cautiously motioned for the others to follow, holding his breath as they entered. When nothing happened, they began searching the vault, but Harry knew it could take hours, possibly the whole rest of the night. He didn't figure the goblins often came to the lower levels, but he didn't fancy finding out. Not to mention they would have a hell of a time explaining why they were emerging from Borgin and Burkes cellar in the morning.

"There's some really old stuff in here," said Draco. He knelt down next to some of the treasure. "This edition of the Galleon hasn't been used since the middle ages. Father has a few in his collection, but they're very rare."

"Don't touch it."

"I'm not. Look, there's Romanian currency too. Actually there's some I've never seen before. And this all belongs to him?"

"It must."

"Where did he get it all?" asked Ron.

"From the people he killed probably."

"What would You-Know-Who want with a bunch of money that he can't even easily get out?"

"Trophies," said Harry, thinking of young Tom Riddle and his collection of stolen items at the orphanage. "Keep looking. I don't really want to stay here any longer than absolutely necessary."

"I still don't get what we're looking for or why. How can you know it's here if you don't know what it is? How do you know it's not one of these million or so coins?"

"It's not. But it could be jewelry."

"Harry this chest over here is locked."

Harry rushed over to where Hermione was standing on the far end of the room next to a small wooden chest with gold latches. There was no lock on it, but it was sealed tight. Ron and Draco had both stopped their search to watch Harry.

"An unlocking charm?"

"Worth a try."

But of course it didn't work. Harry laid his hands on it, attempting to figure out what kind of spell had been used. It was faint.

"What do you think?" asked Hermione.

"I don't know. The spell is older than me and there's other magic in the object of course, but if I had to guess, I'd say it's been transfigured."

"This is it."

Harry looked up at her and smiled. "You wanna do the honors?"

"Me?"

"You're better at transfiguration than I am, and I'm sure it will have to be precise or it won't work at all."

She took her wand out confidently and waved it toward the chest. The others watched in amazement as the chest transformed into a beautiful gold cup with two small handles and a badger engraved on the front. Harry recognized it at once from the scene he saw in the pensieve. Hermione reached out to take it, but Harry grabbed her hand first, remembering Dumbledore's injured limb as a result of Slytherin's ring.

"It could be cursed."

"Can you feel it?"

"I feel something. But with all the other magic in it, I can't tell if it is."

"Levitate it," suggested Malfoy.

That didn't work either. Neither did trying to pick it up with his hands covered with the edge of his robes.

"He wants me to pick it up with my hand."

"Harry..." she sounded anxious, but he didn't look up at her.

"I know. But there's no other way."

Harry slowly reached his hand out to the cup. Hermione inhaled sharply when the cool metal connected with his skin. But nothing happened. He had been prepared for pain or burning, perhaps even some delirious state like Dumbledore had been in after drinking the green potion. But he felt completely normal. He looked back at Hermione, confused, picking it up from the floor as he did so.

And then it happened. The floor began to give way. Hermione screamed and Harry looked down to see that the stone floor that had been there was now quicksand and he had already sank up to his ankles. Ron and Draco were close enough to the door that they'd been able to step into the solid doorway before becoming trapped in the mush. Harry and Hermione were at the very end of the large room though, and now unable to free themselves. Ron was yelling at them, panicked and Harry found it was hard to think with all the shouting. The more he tried to move the faster he sunk.

"Shut up, Ron! Hermione, do you have ideas?"

"Uh..."

"Sooner, rather than later would be nice."

"Ron, try to levitate us out."

Ron said the incantation and his "swish and flick" was perfect, but nothing happened.

"Shit. The anti-levitation wards were on more than just the cup!"

"Conjure ropes or something and pull us out. Hurry!"

They were up to their waists in muck now.

"I'm no good at conjuring."

"Here, let me," said Draco. "If we wait any longer they'll be too far in to pull out."

He conjured two ropes and gave one to Ron, while he threw the other to Harry and started pulling him. It was hard work, the quicksand being thick and unwilling to give up its victim.

"God you're heavy Hermione."

Despite the circumstances, Draco let out a laugh at that.

"I'll remember to slap you for that later, Ron. Right now just get me out of here!"

Once Harry was out he stayed on the cool stone floor trying to catch his breath and then glanced up at Draco.

"Thanks, Malfoy."

"Yes," said Hermione. "Thank you."

"Not bad for not doing any magic since July."

"Let's get the fuck out of here."

Harry started to leave, but Hermione's gasp made him turn.

"Look!" She was pointing to the secret vault where the quicksand was turning back to stone once more. All the treasure had come back to the surface and laid there just the same as when they first entered. It was as if nothing had happened.

"Genius," said Harry. "It kills you and then leaves everything perfectly the way it was. And if there hadn't have been more than one of us it would have worked."

"The important thing is that we got it," said Ron.

"Yeah." Harry looked down at the cup in his hand and the same creepy feeling came across him that he had when holding the locket. A piece of Voldemort's soul was in his hands.

"Let's go," said Malfoy. "It's still a long way out."

Harry nodded. "Hermione, remember to get rid of the marks you made, too. If anyone finds out that someone was here Voldemort may come down here himself to make sure it's still here. As far as he knows, he's the only one who's ever made it this far."

They continued back the way they came, but not five minutes after they started Hermione had stopped on the path again.

"Merlin, 'Mione. You don't still hear it, do you?"

"I didn't when we were in the vault."

"See," said Harry. "That's just proof that it's the dark and quiet playing tricks."

"It's not."

Harry shook his head and began walking again.

"Hang on," said Ron suddenly. "I hear it too."

"There, see, it's not just me!"

Ron and Draco both turned back with their wands out and looked behind Hermione.

"Is that a rock?"

Draco bent down to pick it up when it suddenly jumped up to reveal a small, hairy body underneath his rock-like head. Malfoy let out a cry and jumped back as the creature lunged at him. Ron tried to get a good aim at it with his wand and when that wasn't possible he finally just kicked the thing. It landed a few feet away and got up again, but before it could decide what to do Harry stunned it.

"What the fuck was that?"

"I think," said Hermione, moving closer to it. "It's a Pogrebin. They're supposed to live in Russia though."

"Well, Gringotts imported a Hungarian dragon, so I reckon they can import a Russian... thingy."

"Demon, Ron. It's a Russian demon."

"Come on, let's go." Harry reached down to help Malfoy off the ground and then continued down the tunnel.

Several turns later, they had made it back to the lit Gringotts tunnel again and Harry breathed a sigh of relief. They were that much closer to being out of there. But his relief was short-lived when he heard Hermione let out a little gasp. He wouldn't have thought much of it if he hadn't heard the sound himself that time. And it didn't sound like anything they had heard yet that night. It wasn't just something moving, it was more of a grunt.

"Please let that be another Russian demon."

"I don't think so." Hermione's voice was uncharacteristically high.

Harry turned slowly and saw something furry and big coming out of the shadows. Its steps were dull and heavy and it sounded like there were many of them or they were moving fast. When Harry got his first look at them it took a moment for rational thought. They were about half his height, with five legs bringing it closer. Its eyes glowed yellow, but when it got near the light Harry could see that its mouth was blood red with sharp, jagged teeth protruding from it.

"Run." Harry fired a stunning spell at it, but the creature was faster than it looked and dodged it. "Run!"

They took off quickly. Harry only looked back to make sure that he hadn't lost the others. To his horror, he realized that the things could jump and there were more of them coming closer. Hermione was behind everyone else and he could hear her casting hexes over her shoulders at them.

The next sound made Harry stop so quick that Draco ran right into his back. He spun around to see Ron on the ground, the beast on him biting at his arm. Harry quickly fired a stunning spell just as Hermione did the same. The creature, not having time to dodge them, dropped immediately and Harry helped Ron off the ground. It appeared only his arm had been injured, but there was no time to look it over, as more furry things were coming closer. They kept running and didn't notice at first that they were passing the lake where the dragons had been. They could have done no different if they had noticed with the creatures chasing them, but at some point Harry did register where they were and what that meant. The dragons were no longer sleeping quietly by the lake and he yelled to the others to run faster. The dragons spewed flame through the holes, burning most of the hairy creatures. Hermione let out a scream when she felt the heat come closer, but they didn't burn her and she kept running.

Harry couldn't remember the last time he had run so fast. His chest hurt from the effort, but he didn't dare slow. Not now with the dragons awake. He came to a stop briefly when he realized that they were back in the Horntail's room, but it was empty. He looked behind him and the other three weren't far away, so he kept running eyes fixed firmly on the tunnel marked with Hermione's spell work.

The Horntail seemed to come out of nowhere, probably from above, where Harry hadn't thought to look. They were almost across the large room when it landed behind them near where it had been sleeping earlier. The first blast of fire missed them, but came too close for Harry's comfort. He had reached the tunnel, but Hermione and Ron were far enough behind he knew they wouldn't make it in time, so he stopped and used the shield charm to block the tunnel entrance. He knew he couldn't hold it forever. When they had talked about using the shield charm it was supposed to be all four of them together, but he figured he could keep it up long enough to get everyone to safety.

"Get to that first tunnel! That's where we came out of, but make sure you're around the corner or his blast will still get us! I'll hold him off until then!"

"Harry, he'll get you!"

The dragon let out another blast of fire then, but Harry's charm was holding back the flames.

"Just run!"

The other three went through his charm. Hermione let out a little "oh" and went back to long enough to remove her red mark from the wall. When Harry was sure that they were safe he started backing into the tunnel, struggling to keep the shield in place as he went. He was thirty feet from the passageway and still well within rage when the dragon blew another stream of fire toward him. The shield charm held– at first. Harry felt it giving out, but not in time to do anything about it other than begin to cover his face with his right arm. He didn't hear Hermione scream his name when the shield finally went down. He didn't hear or think or see. He could only feel the most intense burning pain of his life. He'd felt the Cruciatus curse, but this was far worse. Some part of him registered the dragon drawing back his head ready to strike again, and then the fact that he was going to die occurred to him. He closed his eyes, prepared– and partly relieved– to leave this world. But the release never came. Through watery eyes he saw two figures with wands out in front of him. Even in as much pain as he was he wanted to yell at them to go and leave him. He couldn't stand the thought of one of them getting hurt trying to save him.

"Bloody hell! Hermione, you'll have to look at him!"

"Just get him back around the corner, Ron! We'll hold off the dragon!"

Ron awkwardly picked Harry up and carried him to the safe tunnel. Harry felt like he was suffocating in the pain and heat and smoke and the movement was almost more than he could take. Ron finally laid him down and looked over his burns.

"Shit! Hermione, hurry! Hold in there, Harry."

Harry nodded, but couldn't say anything. His eyes were squeezed shut trying to block out the pain. He barely even noticed Hermione and Malfoy running toward them. She knelt down beside him and examined the burns running all the way up his right side.

"This is bad. It just about got his entire body."

"Fix him!" yelled Ron.

"I... Okay, burns..."

"Dragon burns are different," said Malfoy suddenly. He was staring down at Harry with an unreadable look. He seemed frozen in shock or fear, perhaps both. "If you use standard healing charms on it the burns may spread faster."

Hermione looked up at him with wide eyes fearful eyes. "You're right. Do you remember the charm?"

"I-I think so."

"Hurry!"

Hermione was crying now, Harry could tell that much, though he didn't notice much else besides the gnawing burning through his leg and side and arm. There were no flames, but it felt as though he were still on fire, the heat going deeper and deeper inside him. Would this finally be what killed him? At least Voldemort was denied the honor. And Ron and Hermione would carry on without him and complete the mission.

He vaguely registered Malfoy waving his wand over him, saying words that Harry didn't understand or care to know. He did feel a wonderful cooling sensation beginning in his side, where the pain had been most intense, and washing over him. It still hurt, the worst pain he had ever felt, but the burning was fading and he was breathing easier.

"Granger, conjure a damp cloth. He needs a salve, but we don't have that here. It stopped spreading, and I'm doing some basic disinfectant charms, but it needs to be cleaned properly when we get back. And some of the clothes have melted to him. That will require looking up a few more charms at the house."

"We don't really have everything we need at the house either. I'll have to go to the apothecary for ready-made potions." She handed him the cloth. "First we have to get out of here."

"I'll carry him if you two fend off anything we might come across."

"I'll carry him, he's my best friend!"

"As touching as that is, Weasley, I should carry him. If anything is wrong I'll have to know right away to fix it. Not to mention, you still have a nasty bite wound on your arm. And, as every second we argue is making things worse for your best friend I suggest that you let me have my way."

Ron nodded, but Malfoy wasn't even looking his way as he stooped over to pick Harry up. It was an awkward job, trying not to rub against the burned side, but he managed. Harry was barely still conscious and the cup rolled out of his cloak pocket.

"I'll take it," said Hermione.

Malfoy stared at the cup for a few moments and then glanced down at Harry. "I hope it was worth it. Almost getting killed for a cup that's older than Hogwarts."

Hermione looked as if she wasn't sure of that herself, but said nothing and headed back through the tunnel.

Harry was aware that he was being carried, but didn't really care who was doing the carrying. He moaned in pain when he was shifted and wished desperately that he would just pass out. He only realized who was holding him when he felt breath on his cheek and heard a quietly whispered, "Don't die on me, Potter."

And then there was only blackness.

A/N: I need to note that both the Quintaped and the Pogrebin can be found in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Neither one exists natively in London, but I brought them over just for the story! I made up parts of the Quintaped's appearance because the book wasn't thorough in describing their size or teeth.