AN: So, here is the next chapter. I have edited this quite a bit today and I was supposed to have Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione in the last chapter, but I forgot to add them, so here they are instead. No, Hermione is NOT dead, as I know many of you will be happy about, and you will have to read on to find out why. Also, Sian makes a rather impressive speech in this chapter - well, I hope it's impressive, anyway - and gets an outfit change, fit for a warrior. Enjoy this chapter.
Chapter 10
The Battle of Dragon Mort
KIARA
The enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall was dark and scattered with stars, and below it the four long house tables were lines with dishevelled students, some in travelling cloaks, others in dressing-gowns. Here and there shone the pearly-white figures of the school ghosts. Every eye, living and dead, was fixed upon Professor Darbus, who was speaking from the raised platform at the top of the Hall. Behind her stood the remaining teachers, including the palomino centaur, Fauna, and the members of the Order of the Centaur who had arrived to fight.
" … evacuation will be overseen by Mr Match and Matron. Prefects, when I give the word, you will organise your house and take your charges, in an orderly fashion, to the evacuation point."
Many of the students looked petrified. However, as I skirted the walls, scanning the Lion-Heart table for Chris and Chrissie, with Sian right behind me, Emily Mac stood up at the Badger-Stripes table and shouted, "And what if we want to stay and fight?"
There was a smattering of applause.
"If you are of age, you may stay," said Professor Darbus.
"What about our things?" called a boy at the Raven-Wings table. "Our trunks, our owls?"
"We have no time to collect possessions," said Professor Darbus. "The important thing is to get you out of here safely."
"Where's Professor Triphorm?" shouted a boy from the Snake-Eyes table.
"She has, to use the common phrase, done a bunk," replied Professor Darbus, and a great cheer erupted from the Lion-Heart, Badger-Stripes and Raven-Wings.
Sian and I moved up the Hall alongside the Lion-Heart table, still looking for Chris and Chrissie. As I passed, faces turned in our direction, and a great deal of whispering broke out in our wake.
"We have already placed protection around the castle, "Professor Darbus was saying, "but it is unlikely to hold for very long unless we reinforce it. I must ask you, therefore, to move quickly and calmly, and do as your Prefects - "
But her final words were drowned as a different voice echoed through the Hall. It was cold, high and clear: there was no telling from where it came; it seemed to issue from the walls themselves. Like the monster it had once commanded, it might have lay dormant there for centuries.
"I know that you are preparing to fight." There were screams amongst the students, some of whom clutched each other, looking around in terror for the source of the sound. "Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Dragon Mort. I do not want to spill magical blood."
There was silence in the Hall now, the kind of silence that presses against the eardrums, that seems too huge to be contained by walls.
"Give me Kiara Pride-Lander," said Zira's voice, "and none shall be harmed. Give me Kiara Pride-Lander, and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Kiara Pride-Lander, and you will be rewarded.
"You have until midnight."
The silence swallowed us all again. Every head turned, every eye in the place seemed to have found me, to hold me frozen in the glare of thousands of invisible beams. Then a figure rose from the Snake-Eyes table and I recognise Parry Parker as he raised a shaking arm and screamed, "But she's there! Pride-Lander's there! Someone grab her!"
Before I could speak, there was a massive movement. The Lion-Hearts in front of me had risen and stood facing, not me, but the Snake-Eyes. Then the Badger-Stripes stood, and, almost at the same moment, the Raven-Wings, all of them with their backs to me, all of them looking towards Parry instead, and I, awestruck and overwhelmed, saw wands emerging everywhere, pulled from beneath cloaks and from under sleeves.
"Thank you, Mr Parker," said Professor Darbus in a clipped voice. "You will leave the Hall first with Mr Match. If the rest of your house could follow."
I heard the grinding of benches and then the sound of the Snake-Eyes trooping out on the other side of the Hall.
"Badger-Stripes, follow on!" cried Professor Darbus.
Slowly the four tables emptied. The Snake-Eyes table was completely deserted, but a number of older Raven-Wings remained seated while their fellows filed out: even more Badger-Stripes stayed behind, and half of Lion-Heart remained in their seats, necessitating Professor Darbus' descent from the teachers' platform to chivvy the underage on their way.
"Absolutely not, McCreevey, go! And you, Peet!"
Looking around the partially empty Lion-Heart table now, I could see no sign of Chris and Chrissie, which must have meant that they were down in the Chamber of Mysteries after all. But I was distracted by terrified mutterings all around the Hall: despite what had just happened, Zira's message must have really got into their heads. Before anyone could do anything, Sian ran to the teachers' platform and, standing on Professor Darbus' recently vacated spot, Sian clapped her hands once and said loudly, "Listen well, all of you!"
Her strong voice rang through the Hall, and just like it had been with Professor Darbus, all eyes were fixed upon Sian, some shocked, others curious, intrigued. Sian, unused to having so many eyes fixed on her, staggered for a moment, but she quickly recovered.
"I see that you are all afraid, and you know what? So am I. I may not look or sound it, but I am, and I would consider all of you fools if you weren't, but you should not let your fear hold you back from fighting. For when we fight tonight, we fight for our friends and family who are already dead or else in hiding, our freedom, our dignity and our lives! But those aren't the only reasons we should all fight, oh no ...
"Consider this school, for instance," she said, holding her arms out wide and looking around the Hall. "This once great school, where laugher and love once ran freely through the corridors, a place that all of us loved, and still love despite its many changes. And now look at it …" Sian's face darkened as an angry look covered her face. "A school for the Dark Arts, which none of us wanted to happen - and yet, here we are. So fight to get this school back to the amazing place we all knew it once was for all to live in, and let's fight to make Dragon Mort that place again.
"And let's not forget my mother," Sian went on, her voice turning softer, quite sadder now, "Susan Crighton, quite possibly the greatest Headmistress this school has ever had, who gave her life and her love for this school to try and protect us in some way. So fight, not just for her, but so we can get a Head that will take our school back to those happier, better times once more."
As Sian spoke, I could see everyone hanging on attentively to Sian's every word, and I saw some looking at each other, nodding their heads, becoming more and more roused by every word Sian spoke, and the whole Hall seemed to buzz with anticipation. Even I was enraptured by the words she spoke. However, her next words caught me off guard.
"Fight for Kiara and her family!" Sian called suddenly, and many eyes flickered to where my parents, Grandmother Sarabi and I were before turning back to Sian. "Many of you know how desperately they have wanted to become whole again. Well, tonight that could possibly well happen. Fight for them!"
As Sian finished, her eyes found mine. I smiled and nodded at her. She nodded at me, and then turned her attention back to everyone else, her expression turning harsh and angry again.
"So, after all that, if any of you decide to let your fear get the better of you and decide to not help us fight, despite you all claiming to have been behind Kiara all these months she, Chris, Chrissie and I have been gone, then that means you haven't really showed your loyalty to us at all. Cowardice and disloyalty, that's what that is … COWARDICE AND DISLOYALTY!" Sian barked, making everyone jump, as her sharp eyes bore into all of ours.
"So now's the chance to prove ourselves, my friends. Now's the chance for us to go out there, show the Evil Scary People just what we're made of, stand up and fight for what we believe in and say, 'you don't own me'. So let's go out there, put our fighting masks on, and show them, and the world, that love is the greater power, and that good justice still lives on and can indeed conquer all!"
There were cheers, shouts and applause at Sian's words: Professor Darbus, who was standing close by, had nothing but pride in her eyes as she looked at Sian, as was Kara, whom Sian shared a smile with.
But then, a bright white light shone at the end of the Hall, which made the noise fall at once as every head in the Great Hall turned towards the light: some were looking at it nervously, others took out their wands, holding them cautiously with trembling hands. I did not know what this was, but something told me that this had nothing to do with Zira …
And then out of the light stepped forth a girl with a heart-shaped face, almond-shaped eyes the colour of sapphires, long light blonde hair that was split into two plaits that were held in place by large silver hoops that lay in front of her sky blue robes. A messy fringe covered her forehead, stopping before her eyes, and on top of her head lay a silver tiara with an amethyst in the centre. The girl's eyes surveyed the Hall in wonder, as many lowered their wands and looked relaxed - until an army of large, boulder-like men stepped through the bright portal, who were all blue skinned, with sharp pointed teeth, and sharp grey horns and bumps covering their faces. They were clothed in some kind of heavy armour and were carrying spears that, instead of having arrow heads, would occasionally spark a sort of purple magical charge.
Once the last blue soldier had come through, the white light faded, and the soldiers were lined up behind the girl, all of them taking in the Hall with wide eyes, like they had never seen such a place before. Unfortunately, this was broken by many of the students, who had raised their wands in terror: the blue soldiers, sensing hostility, made to move in front of the girl protectively, but before either group could strike first, Sian cried, "Stop!"
All eyes were on Sian again as she rushed down from the teachers' platform and stood in front of the blue army, facing the rest of us. Seeing the confused looks on many of our faces, she explained, "They're not here to hurt us, they're here to help us. Isn't that right … Elyon?"
Sian turned to face the girl as the soldiers parted for her to step through, and she smiled warmly at Sian and said, "That's right, Sian, we are." Then, addressing the others in the Hall, she added, "Hey, everyone. Many of you will not remember me, but I am so glad to be back here, for you see, I - "
"Miss Brown?" whispered Professor Darbus suddenly, and despite her voice being hushed it carried around the silent Hall. But at the mention of Elyon's surname, many people looked round at Larry, who looked confused.
"What're you all looking at me for?" he said indignantly. "She's not my sister!"
Meanwhile, Elyon was smiling at Professor Darbus. "Yes, ma'am, it's me," she said, as Sian hugged her.
Letting go of her friend shortly, Sian said, "The Oracle sent you here, didn't he?"
Elyon nodded. "He knew you needed help tonight, so - here we are."
Sian smiled at Elyon before turning back to the teachers' podium, where her eyes locked with Kara, who nodded and stepped forwards on to the raised platform to address us all.
"We've only got half an hour until midnight, so we need to act fast! A battle plan has been agreed by the teachers of Dragon Mort and the Order of the Centaur. Professors Winds, Spud, and Darbus are going to take groups of fighter up to the highest Towers - Raven-Wings, Astronomy and Lion-Heart - where they'll have a good overview, excellent positions from which to work spells. Meanwhile, Timon," she indicated Meers, "Matthew," she pointed towards Mr Dawson, sitting at the Lion-Heart table, "and I will take groups into the grounds. We'll need somebody to organise defence of the entrances of the passageways into the school - "
" - sounds like a job for us," called Tanya, indicating herself and Geri, and Kara nodded her approval.
"All right, leaders up here and we'll divide the troops!"
"Sian!" said Kopa, rushing over to Sian and I; many people stopped to look our way again as he ran.
"What is it, Kopa?" she asked, placing her hands delicately in his.
Kopa looked at her for a while, his eyes taking in every inch of her. Sian watched him closely, but still he did not speak.
"Kopa, please, talk to me," she said at last. "You're scaring - "
"I can't lose you again!" Kopa blurted suddenly, taking Sian by surprise.
"Lose me?" What are you - ?"
"I almost saw you die, Sian," Kopa said brokenly, lowering his gaze, "It almost killed me, seeing you like that. It was horrible, and not something I want to go through again any time soon."
Sian looked startled by his confession, but then a sweet smile graced her lips.
"Kopa, look at me," she said gently, and when he didn't, Sian cupped his clothed face in between her hands and forced his eyes to meet hers again.
"Kopa, I know you're scare of losing me, just as I am of losing you. But Kiara needs my help. I can't put that aside by putting my own selfish needs for you first. Surely you must understand that?"
"But I - "
"I know, Kopa," Sian said, still smiling gently at him. "But we will always have each other, no matter what happens." And when Kopa still looked unconvinced, she added, "You've been strong all these months we've been apart, Kopa, now you need to be strong to let me go again."
Kopa's eyes seemed to water at Sian's words, for he said, his voice cracking slightly, "I love you, Sian."
"I love you, too," she said, falling into his arms.
Many people were watching the young lovers now, including Mr Dawson, who was watching them strangely, like they were a puzzle he could not figure out.
"Hey, Sian!" Elyon cried, once she and Kopa had let go of each other.
"Yes, Elyon?"
"I have something for you from the Oracle," she said, and out of her pocket she pulled out three long ribbons, one brown, one black and one purple.
Sian looked confused, yet intrigued, as she started to walk towards Elyon, but before she could go far I said, "Sian, are you sure about this? It could be dangerous!"
Sian turned to me and said, "It's from the Oracle, Kiara. He could never hurt me."
And with that, Sian turned back to Elyon and walked towards her, stopping right in front of her. Elyon took a few steps back before throwing all three ribbons at Sian's feet.
At once, the three ribbons began to wrap themselves around Sian's body, rising swiftly upwards, covering her entirely from head to foot. Many people screamed in shock, as some pointed their wands at the blue army again, but were stopped by the threatening looks on their faces.
But just as quickly as the ribbons had surrounded her, they unwrapped quickly, starting from her feet and rising, and as the ribbons unwound they created a battle armour of some kind. We all gasped, looking at the outfit the Oracle had made especially for her: black-laced black boots covered her feet; the skirt was a normal, floating black one, covered by a black pleated piece of armour that wasn't altogether held tightly, so that when Sian moved, the four pieces lifted and moved with her, and on top of this was a brown belt with what looked like many Celtic patterns on it, and the belt had a kind of long tie on it that fell down her front, right down to the bottom of the skirt. The top of her gear was purple and shiny with a square neckline and had long sleeves, which was covered by black strips of leather that covered part of her hands, starting just below the wrist and ending round about the middle of her forearm. To top it all off, the ensemble was completed by the brown, black and purple ribbons tying Sian's hair in back in a high ponytail, and the ribbons reached just short of the floor. The phoenix pendant still gleamed like a silver beacon on her chest as Sian drew her wand.
Many people gasped in awe as Sian looked down and studied herself, turning her hands over and looking at her feet, feeling the materials before twirling around, laughing to herself. Beautiful yet intimidating, that's how Sian looked to me, as it should be, I suppose.
When she had stopped studying herself, Sian gave Elyon a grateful smile and said, "Thank you, Elyon."
Elyon waved a hand and said, "Don't thank me. Thank the Oracle."
Sian and Elyon shared a smile before she and her army moved to the platform, where many students were already flooding to, jostling for position, receiving instructions.
"Pride-Lander," said Professor Darbus, hurrying up to me, "aren't you supposed to be looking for something?"
"What? Oh," I said, "oh yeah!"
I had almost forgotten about the Horcrux, almost forgotten that the battle was being fought so that I could search for it: everything that had happened since Sian had made that incredible speech had momentarily driven every other thought from my mind.
"Then go, Pride-Lander, go!"
"Right - yeah - "
I sensed eyes following me as I ran out of the Great Hall again, with Sian right behind me, into the Entrance Hall that was now beginning to thin with the last few evacuating students. I allowed myself to be swept up the marble staircase with them, but at the top I hurried off along a deserted corridor. Fear and panic were clouding my thought process. I tried to calm myself, to concentrate on finding the Horcrux, but my thoughts buzzed as frantically and fruitlessly as wasps trapped beneath a glass. I had no idea where Chris and Chrissie were, so I slowed down, coming to a halt halfway along an empty passage where I sat down upon the plinth of a departed statue, with Sian leaning against the wall, and pulled the Scallywag's Map out of the pouch around my neck. I could not see Chris or Chrissie's names anywhere on it, though the density of the crowd of dots now making its way to the Room of Needs might, I thought, be concealing them. But then again, I thought, not seeing them anywhere on the Map could mean that they managed to get inside the Chamber after all, although I could not see how that could happen. I put the Map away, pressed my hands over my face and closed my eyes, trying to concentrate ...
"What is it, Kiara?" said Sian suddenly.
I looked up at her. She was watching me closely with her arms crossed, studying me closely.
"I know that something's troubling you, so what is it? Does it have something to do with the diadem?"
"Yes," I sighed. Sian said nothing. She was still watching me, so I went on, "Zira had stationed one of the Csintalans in Raven-Wings Tower, because she was afraid I would go there, because I had made the connection between Raven-Wings and the Horcrux. But I don't understand … the diadem is the only object that I can relate to Raven-Wings, so how do I know what to look for?"
I thought that Sian would have no answer either, but to my surprise she clucked her tongue, rolled her eyes and shook her head. I looked at her, confused.
"What? Why do you act that way? Am I missing something?"
"Well of course you're missing something, Kiara," said Sian. "I could have told you that. But the diadem is the object we're looking for?"
"But how can that be?" I asked. "No one alive has seen it for centuries!"
"Well then, let's ask someone who's dead," said Sian, looking at me pointedly.
I thought about her words carefully. They did not seem to make sense to me. After all, how could I talk to someone dead? It was impossible. The only way I would be able to do that was if I talked to a -
That was it! I realised as I gasped and jumped to my feet. I looked at Sian, who was smiling at me now. I smiled back at her, grateful for her help.
"I know who we have to see!" I said at once.
Sian nodded and followed me back the way we had come, now in pursuit of our one last hope. The sound of hundreds of people moving towards the Room of Needs grew louder and louder as we returned to the marble stairs. Prefects were shouting instructions, trying to keep track of the students in their own houses; there was much pushing and shoving; I saw Zhi Smith bowling over first-years to get to the front of the queue; here and there younger students were in tears, while older ones called desperately for friends or siblings …
I caught sight of a pearly-white figure drifting across the Entrance Hall below and I yelled as loudly as I could over the clamour.
"Nicola! NICOLA! We need to talk to you!"
Sian and I forced our way back through the tide of students, finally reaching the bottom of the stairs where Madam Nicola, ghost of Lion-Heart Tower, stood waiting for us.
"Kiara! Sian! So good to see you again, my dear girls!"
Nicola made to grasp mine and Sian's hands with her own. I felt Sian shudder beside me, not that I could blame her: my own hand felt as though it had been thrust into icy water.
"Nicola, you've got to help us. Who's the ghost of Raven-Wings Tower?"
Madam Nicola looked surprised, and a little offended.
"The Grey Lord, of course; but if it is ghostly services you require - "
"It's got to be him - d'you know where he is?"
"Let's see …"
Nicola's head wobbled a little on her ruff as she turned hither and thither, peering over the heads of the swarming students.
"That's him over there, girls, the young man in the long cloak."
Sian and I both looked in the direction of Nicola's transparent, pointing finger and saw a tall ghost who caught sight of us looking at him, raised his eyebrows and drifted away through a solid wall.
Sian and I ran after him. Once through the door of the corridor into which he had disappeared, we saw him at the very end of the passage, still gliding smoothly away from us.
"Hey - wait - come back!" I called after him.
He consented to pause, floating a few inches from the ground. I supposed that he was handsome, with his shoulder-length wavy hair and floor-length cloak, but he also looked haughty and proud. Close to, I recognised him as a ghost I had passed several times in the corridor, but to whom I had never spoken.
"You're the Grey Lord?"
He nodded but did not speak.
"The ghost of Raven-Wings Tower?"
"That is correct."
His tone was not encouraging.
"Please: we need some help. My friend and I here" I said, nodding to Sian, "need to know anything you can tell us about the lost diadem."
A cold smile curved his lips.
"I am afraid," he said, turning to leave, "that I cannot help you."
"WAIT!"
I had not meant to shout, but anger and panic were threatening to overwhelm me. I glanced at my watch as he hovered in front of Sian and I: it was a quarter to midnight.
"This is urgent," I said fiercely. "If that diadem's at Dragon Mort, we've got to find it, fast."
"You two are hardly the first students to covet the diadem," he said disdainfully. "Generations of students have badgered me - "
"This isn't about trying to get better marks!" I shouted at him. "It's about Zira - defeating Zira - or aren't you interested in that?"
He could not blush, but his transparent cheeks became more opaque, and his voice was heated as he replied, "Of course I - how dare you suggest - ?"
"Well, help us, then!"
"Please, sir," said Sian desperately, "you're our only hope!"
His composure was slipping.
"It - it is not a question of - " he stammered. "My father's diadem - "
"Your father's?" I said, surprised.
He looked angry with himself, as Sian gasped and said, "Of course! You're Howard Raven-Wings, aren't you? The son of Rowan Raven-Wings?"
"Yes, I was," he sighed, "when I lived."
"But if you're his son, then you must know what happened to it!"
"While the diadem bestows wisdom," he said, with an obvious effort to pull himself together, "I doubt that it would greatly increase your chances of defeating the witch her calls herself Lady - "
"Haven't I just told you, I'm not interested in wearing it! Neither of us are!" I said fiercely. "There's no time to explain - but if you care about Dragon Mort, if you want to see Zira finished, then you've got to tell us everything you know about the diadem!"
He remained quite still, floating in mid-air, staring down at me, and a sense of hopelessness engulfed me. Of course, if he had known anything, he would have told Winds of Crighton, who had surely asked him the same question. Sian and I shared a disappointed look, and we made to turn away, when he spoke in a low voice.
"I stole the diadem from my father."
Sian and I spun around at once.
"You - you did what?" I said, stunned.
"I stole the diadem," repeated Howard Raven-Wings in a whisper. "I sought to make myself cleverer, more important than my father. I ran away with it."
I did not know how I managed to gain his confidence, and did not ask: I simply listened, as did Sian, hard, as he went on, "My father, they say, never admitted that the diadem was gone, but pretended that he had it still. He concealed his loss, my dreadful betrayal, even from the other founders of Dragon Mort.
"Then my father fell ill - fatally ill. In spite of my perfidy, he was desperate to see me one more time. He sent a woman who had long loved me, though I spurned her advances, to find me. He knew that she would not rest until she had done so."
I waited. He drew a deep breath and threw back his head.
"She tracked me to the forest where I was hiding. When I refused to return with her, she became so violent. The Baroness was always a hot-tempered woman. Furious at my refusal, jealous of my freedom, she stabbed me."
"When you say the Baroness," said Sian slowly, "you don't mean - "
"The Bloody Baroness, yes," said the Grey Lord, and he lifted aside the cloak he wore in one hand and pulled down his robes in the other, just enough to reveal a single dark wound in his chest. "When she saw what she had done, she was overcome with remorse. She took the weapon that had claimed my life, and used it to kill herself. All these centuries later, she wears her chains as an act of penitence … as she should," he added bitterly.
"And … and the diadem?" I asked.
"It remained where I had hidden it. When I heard the Baroness blundering through the forest towards me. Concealed inside a hollow tree."
"A hollow tree?" I repeated. "What tree? Where was this?"
"A forest in Albania. A lonely place I thought was far beyond my father's reach."
"Albania," I repeated. Sense was emerging miraculously from confusion now, and I understood why he was telling Sian and I what he had denied Crighton and Winds. "You've already told someone this story, haven't you? Another student?"
He closed his eyes and nodded.
"I had … no idea … she was … flattering. She seemed to … to understand … to sympathise … "
Yes, I thought, Dizra Maliay would certainly have understood Howard Raven-Wings' desire to possess fabulous objects to which he had little right.
"Well, you weren't the first person Maliay wormed things out of," I muttered. "She could be charming when she wanted …"
So Zira had managed to wheedle the location of the lost diadem out of the Grey Lord. She had travelled to that far-flung forest and retrieved the diadem from its hiding place, perhaps as soon as she left Dragon Mort, before she even started work at Borgin and Burkes.
And wouldn't those secluded Albanian woods have seemed an excellent refuge when, so much later, Zira had needed a place to lie low, undisturbed, for ten long years?
But the diadem, once it became her precious Horcrux, had not been left in that lowly tree … no, the diadem had been returned secretly to its true home, and Zira must have put it there -
" - the night she asked for a job!" I said, finishing my thought.
"I beg your pardon?"
"What did she do, kid?" Sian asked, looking at me.
"She hid the diadem in the castle, the night she asked Crighton to let her teach!" I said. Saying it out loud enabled me to make sense of it all. "She must've hidden the diadem on the way up to, or down from, Crighton's office! But it was still worth trying to get the job - then she might've got the chance to nick Lion-Heart's sword as well - thank you, thanks!"
Sian and I left the Grey Lord floating there, looking utterly bewildered. As we rounded the corner back into the Entrance Hall, we stopped, and I saw Sian looking at me, stunned but happy.
"Kiara, how on earth did you figure out that the diadem's here?"
"Well, I know that Zira liked hiding things that she had stolen," I explained. "Your mother told us as much last year, which made me think that she would have brought it here after she made it a Horcrux, so that no one else could take it accidentally."
Sian looked impressed by my discoveries. "Well figured out, Kiara! But where has she hidden it?"
"I don't know," I said, checking my watch. It was five minutes to midnight. "That's the only thing I can't work out."
Sian looked slightly disappointed, but quickly shrugged it off. "Well, it's a start," she said. "Why don't we walk, see if that will make sense of things?"
I could not think of anything better to do, so I agreed. As Sian and I walked side by side, my brains started whirring. Generations of students had failed to find the diadem; that suggested that it was not in Raven-Wings Tower - but if not there, where? What place had Dizra Maliay discovered inside Dragon Mort Castle, that she believed would remain secret forever?
Lost in desperate speculation, I turned a corner, Sian still by my side, but we had taken only a few steps down the corridor when the window to our left broke open with a deafening, shattering crash. As we leapt aside, a gigantic body flew in through the window and hit the opposite wall. something large and furry detached itself, whimpering, from the new arrival and flung itself at me.
"Mina!" I bellowed, fighting off Gnasher the boarhound's attentions as the enormous smooth-headed figure clambered to her feet. "What the - ?"
"Kiara, Sian, yer here, yer here!"
Mina stooped down, bestowed upon the both of us a cursory and rib-cracking hug, then ran back to the shattered window.
"Good girl, Harly!" she bellowed through the hole in the window. "I'll see yer in a moment, there's a good girl!"
Beyond Mina, out in the dark night, I saw bursts of light in the distance and heard a weird, keening scream. I looked at Sian, who looked as worried as I felt, and I did not need to look at my watch to know that midnight had come. The battle had begun.
"Blimey, girls," panted Mina, "this is it, eh? Time ter fight?"
"Mina, where have you come from?" I asked.
"Heard She-You-Know from up in our cave," said Mina grimly. "Voice carried, didn' it? 'Yeh got 'til midnight ter gimmer Pride-Lander'. Knew yeh mus' be here, knew what mus' be happenin'. Get down, Gnasher. So we came ter join in, me an' Harly an' Gnasher. Smashed our way through the boundary by the forest, Harly was carryin' us, Gnasher an' me. Told her ter let me down at the castle so she shoved me through the window, bless her. Not exac'ly what I meant, bu' - where's Chris an' Chrissie?"
I did not know how to answer that, for it would be rather unwise to tell Mina the truth. Fortunately, Sian came to my rescue.
"We don't know, but they must be here somewhere. Kiara and I are going to look for them right now, aren't we?" she said, looking pointedly at me.
I caught on quickly: I flashed Sian a grateful smile, looked at Mina and said, "That's right. We've got to find them. Come on."
We hurried together along the corridor, Gnasher lolloping beside us. I could hear movement through the corridors all around: running footsteps, shouts; through the windows, I could see more flashes of light in the dark grounds.
Where're we goin'?" puffed Mina, pounding along at my heels, making the floorboards quake.
"I dunno exactly," I said, making another random turn, determinedly avoiding Old Moany's bathroom, "but Chris and Chrissie must be around here somewhere."
The first casualties of the battle were already strewn across the passage ahead: the two stone gargoyles that usually guarded the entrance to the staff room had been smashed apart by a jinx that had sailed through another broken window. Their remains stirred feebly on the floor, and as I leapt over one of their disembodied heads it moaned faintly, "Oh, don't mind me … I'll just lie here and crumble …"
Its marble stone face made me think suddenly of the marble bust of Rowan Raven-Wings at Xion's house, wearing that made headdress - and then of the statue in Raven-Wings Tower, with the stone diadem upon his white curls …
And as I reached the end of the passage, the memory of a third stone effigy came back to me: that of an ugly old witch, on to whose head I had placed a wig and a battered, old tiara. The shock shot through me with the heat of Firewhisky, and I nearly stumbled.
I knew, at last, where the Horcrux sat waiting for me …
Dizra Maliay, who confided in no one and operated alone, might have been arrogant enough to assume that she, and only she, had penetrated the deepest mysteries of Dragon Mort Castle. Of course, Crighton and Winds, those model pupils, had never set foot in that particular place, but I had strayed off the beaten track in my time at school - here at last was a secret that Zira and I knew, that Crighton had never discovered -
I was roused by Spud, who was thundering past followed by Nikita and half a dozen others, all of them wearing earmuffs and carrying what appeared to be large potted plants.
"Mandrakes!" Nikita bellowed at me over her shoulder as she ran. "Going to lob them over the walls - they won't like this!"
I knew, now, where to go: I sped off, with Sian, Mina and Gnasher galloping along behind me. We passed portrait after portrait, and the painted figures raced alongside us, wizards and witches in ruffs and breeches, in armour and cloaks, cramming themselves into each other's canvases, screaming news from other parts of the castle. As we reached the end of this corridor, the whole castle shook and I knew, as a gigantic vase blew off its plinth with explosive force, that it was in the grip of enchantments more sinister than those of the teachers and the Order.
"It's all righ', Gnasher - it's all righ'!" yelled Mina, but the great boarhound had taken flight as slivers of china flew like shrapnel through the air, and Mina pounded off after the terrified dog, leaving Sian and I alone.
As I turned to move on, Sian grabbed my arm, stopping me. Before I could say anything, she said, "You know where it is, don't you? The diadem?"
I nodded and said, "It's in the Room of Needs."
Sian blinked in surprised, then beamed widely and said, "Brilliant, Kiara! Let's get moving!"
Sian and I forged on through the trembling passages together, our wands at the ready, and for the length of one corridor the little painted knight, Knightress, rushed from painting to painting beside us, clanking along in her armour, screaming encouragement, her fat little pony cantering behind her.
"Braggarts and rogues, dogs and scoundrels, drive them out, Kiara Pride-Lander, see them off!"
Sian and I hurried round a corner and found Kopa and Tanya and a small knot of students, including Leah Jones and Hendry Abbott, standing beside another empty plinth, whose statue had concealed a secret passageway. Their wands were drawn and they were listening at the concealed hole.
"Nice night for it!" Tanya shouted, as the castle quaked again, and Sian and I sprinted by, and I was elated and terrified in equal measure.
I heard someone running behind us: glancing over my shoulder, I saw that it was Kopa. I shot Sian a questioning look, but all she said was, "We need him." I did not know what for, but something told me that it had nothing to do with the Horcruxes …
Along yet another corridor we dashed, and then there were owls everywhere, and Mrs Robbs was hissing and trying to bat them with her paws, no doubt to return them to their proper place …
"Pride-Lander!"
Sara Crighton stood blocking the corridor ahead, her wand held ready.
"I've had hundreds of kids thundering through my pub, Pride-Lander!"
"I know, we're evacuating," I said. "Zira's - "
" - attacking because they haven't handed you over, yeah," said Sara. "I'm not deaf, the whole of Dragsmeade heard her. And it never occurred to any of you to keep a few Snake-Eyes hostage? There are kids of Love Destroyers you've just sent to safety. Wouldn't it have been a bit smarter to keep 'em here?"
"It wouldn't stop Zira," I said, "and your sister would never have done it."
Sara grunted and tore away in the opposite direction.
Your sister would never have done it … well, it was the truth, I thought, as Sian, Kopa and I ran on again; Crighton, who had defended Triphorm for so long, would never had held students ransom …
Abd then I skidded round a final corner and with a yell of mingled relief and fury I saw them: Chris and Chrissie, both with their arms full of large, curved, dirty yellow objects, both with a broomstick under their arms.
I ran at Chris then, who looked at me, shocked and pleased, and before he could say anything I flung myself at him, wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him, hard. Chris froze for a moment, then responded eagerly, dropping the fangs so he could hold me properly. I poured all of my relief, worry and anger into that kiss, and it was anger I focused on as I pulled back and slapped him. I saw the hurt in Chris' eyes as he touched his cheek gingerly.
"Ow! Kiara, what the - ?"
"Don't ever do that to me again!" I screamed, before leaning in and kissing him again, only stopping when the need for oxygen could no longer be ignored. Breathing heavily, and ignoring Chrissie's sly grin, I said, "So … you two got into the Chamber, then?"
"What?" said Chris dazedly. Then looking down at the fangs he had dropped, said, "Oh, yeah. Yeah, we did."
As Chris bent to pick up the great, curved fangs, I suddenly realised that they had been torn from the skull of a dead Liznsabadra.
"But how did you get in there?" asked Sian suddenly, looking at Chrissie. "You need to speak Parshydamouth!"
"She did!" whispered Chris. "Show them, Chrissie!"
Chrissie made a horrible, strangled hissing noise.
"It's what you did to open the locket," she told me apologetically. "I had to have a few goes to get it right, but," she shrugged modestly, "we got there in the end."
"She was brilliant!" said Chris. "Brilliant!"
"So …" I was struggling to keep up. "So …"
"So we're another Horcrux down," said Chrissie, and from under her jacket she pulled the mangled remains of Badger-Stripes cup. "Chris stabbed it. Thought he should. He hasn't had the pleasure yet."
"Genius!" I yelled.
"Well, Chrissie," said Sian, looking impressed, "turns out your head's not filled with air after all!"
Chrissie, who had looked pleased with herself, looked suddenly disheartened. "Really, Sian? After all these years, you're still giving me beef about that?"
Sian looked shocked at her sister's tone and said, "Hey, I was only teasing! I am proud of you, you know."
Chrissie looked relieved and surprised at the same time. "Really?"
Sian nodded, and the two sisters smiled at each other, as Kopa said, "Sian, what are you talking about? What are Horcruxes? What - ?"
"Kopa," said Sian, taking his hand, "I will tell you everything someday, I promise, but not now. All you can do is trust me on this. Do I have that?"
Kopa studied Sian for a moment, then said, "Of course."
Sian smiled at him gratefully, as Chrissie said, drawing my attention back to her, "So, what's new with you, Kiara?"
As she said it, there was an explosion from overhead: the five of us looked up as dust fell from the ceiling and we heard a distant scream.
"I know what the diadem looks like, and I know where it is," I said, talking fast. "She hid it exactly where I hid my old Potion's book, where everyone's been hiding stuff for centuries. She thought she was the only one to find it. Come on."
As the walls trembled again, I led the other four back through the concealed entrance and down the staircase into the Room of Needs. It was empty except for fourteen people: the other eight Dawson siblings: Beth, Kestrel, Merida, Joe, Jack, Max, Ben and Dave, Todd and an elderly wizard wearing a blue suit, whom I recognised immediately as Nikita's grandfather, along with Harry and Ginny Potter and Ron and Hermione Weasley.
Seeing their sister's new look, the eight Dawson siblings looked in shock and awe at her appearance.
"Whoa … nice outfit, S.D.!" said Merida, clearly impressed.
"Yeah, who made it for you?" asked Max.
"The Oracle," Sian answered simply. "He sent Elyon to give it to me, and she brought her army along, too. They're helping us fight."
Beth, Kestrel and Merida looked happy at this news. Joe, Jack, Max, Ben and Dave, however, looked confused.
"Hang on - Elyon has an army?" said Dave.
"Well … yeah," said Merida, confused by his tone.
"Well, why didn't you tell any of us about this?" said Max angrily.
"Because the Oracle didn't want anyone to know about it," said Sian.
As this was going on, I looked at Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione, but it was Hermione that I focused on the most. She looked thinner than the last time I saw her, with heavy bags under her eyes and there was clear terror in her eyes. Ron kept an arm tight around her as he, Harry and Ginny talked quietly, the three of them looked scared too, yet determined. It was Harry who saw me first and alerted the other three to my presence.
"Kiara, good to see you again," said Harry, and we shook hands.
"Good to see you, too," I said.
"Sorry we're a bit late, but we've been in hiding," said Harry. "We all had to - with our kids, of course … especially after what happened to Hermione," he added, gazing at his friend sadly.
"Why, what happened?" I said, turning to her.
Hermione gulped loudly and said, her voice trembling, "Well, when the order came to take all the Muggle-borns and Bright-brains into the Ministry, I, of course, was one of the first. The Love Destroyers came to my house, blew the door down and tried to take me away by force, threatening me with torture and beating me into coming with them. Ron was amazing, though," she said, turning to him with nothing but love in her eyes. "He was my saviour. He fought them all off and soon after, he and my children went into hiding. Harry and Ginny joined us not long after Christmas with their kids."
"I'm so sorry you had to go through that," I said. "Are you sure you want to fight, though? I'll understand if you don't - "
"No, it's fine," Hermione said determinedly. "I've fought people like them once before, and I will do so again."
I smiled and nodded at her, grateful for her help. Then I turned to Mr Goldberg, Nikita's grandfather, who approached me briskly.
"Ah, Pride-Lander," he said crisply, as if he had been waiting for me. "You can tell us what's going on."
"Is everyone OK?" said Merida and Todd together.
"'S far as we know," I said. "Are there still people in the passage to the Dragon's Eye?"
I knew that the Room would not be able to transform while there were still users inside it.
"I was the last to come through," said Mr Goldberg. "I sealed it, I think it unwise to leave it open now Sara has left her pub. Have you seen my granddaughter?"
"She's fighting," I said.
"Naturally," said the old man proudly. "Excuse me, I must go and assist her."
With surprising speed, he hurried off towards the stone steps.
I looked at Todd.
"I thought you were supposed to be with Timmy at your mother's?"
"I couldn't stand not knowing - " Todd looked anguished. "She'll look after him - have you seen Timon?"
"He was planning to lead a group of fighters into the grounds - "
Without another word, Todd sped off.
"And you lot," said Sian, addressing her siblings, "you're all going to have to leave too - not without protection, though!" Sian finished loudly, cutting quickly across her brothers and sisters' yells of joy at having to leave their sanctuary to join the fighting. Before they could start protesting, Sian looked into Kopa's eyes, the only part of his face she could see as the rest was covered with cloths and she asked him, desperately, "Protect them for me as best you can, won't you?"
Kopa's eyes sparkled. "Of course I will." He then closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to hers. Sian sighed and closed her eyes.
"Thank you," she breathed, as the pulled back and looked at each other.
Kopa took her hand and said, "For you, anything." He then gave her hand a gentle squeeze and led the rest of the Dawsons from the Room.
"Hang on a moment!" said Chrissie sharply. "We've forgotten someone!"
"Who?" asked Sian.
"The house-elves, they'll all be down in the kitchen, won't they?"
"You mean we ought to get them fighting?" I asked.
"No," said Chrissie seriously, "I mean we should tell them to get out. We don't want any more Dokeys, do we? We can't order them to die for us - "
Chrissie was then thrown off balance as Sian ran at her, wrapping Chrissie in a tight embrace. Chrissie quickly regained her balance and stood there, looking stunned, her arms lying limply at her sides. Not noticing this, Sian drew back a little and, with a wide grin plastered on her face, said, "You really are my sister!" before hugging her again. Chrissie quickly got over the shock of what her sister did, for she smiled, closed her eyes and hugged Sian back.
I did not want to break up this moment, but I knew I had to, for there were things that needed to be done, so I raised my voice and said, "There's a war going on here, you know!"
Sian and Chrissie broke apart and looked at me.
"We know, Kiara," said Sian, beaming with pride, "I just - "
"Never mind that, what about the Horcrux?" I shouted.
That got Sian and Chrissie's attention.
"Yeah - right - sorry," said Chrissie, and she set about gathering up the fangs, hers and Sian's faces pink.
It was clear, as the four of us stepped back into the corridor upstairs, that in the minutes that we had spent in the Room of Needs the situation within the castle had deteriorated severely: the walls and ceiling were shaking worse than ever; dust filled the air and through the nearest window I saw bursts of red and green light, along with the magical purple sparks from the spears that Elyon's army had, so close to the castle that I knew the Love Destroyers must be very near to entering the place. Looking down, I saw Harlow the giantess meandering past, swinging what looked like a stone gargoyle torn from the roof and roaring her displeasure.
"Let's hope she steps on some of them!" said Chrissie, as more screams echoed from close by.
"As long as it's not any of our lot!" said a voice: I turned and saw the other Dawsons, Todd and Kopa, all with their wands drawn at the next few windows, which were missing several panes. Even as I watched, Merida sent a well-aimed jinx into a crowd of fighters below.
"Good girl!" roared a figure running through the dust towards us, and I saw Sara again, her grey hair flying as she led a small group of students past. "They look like they might be breaching the North Battlements, they've brought giants of their own!"
"Have you seen Timon?" Todd called after her.
"He was duelling Dali," shouted Sara, "haven't seen him since!"
"Todd," said Merida, "Todd, I'm sure he's OK - "
But Todd had run off into the dust after Sara.
Kestrel and Merida both turned, helpless, to Chris, Sian, Chrissie and I.
"They'll be all right," I said, though I knew they were empty words. Then I addressed the others, "All right, you lot, we'll be back in a bit, just keep out of the way, keep safe, and stay close to Kopa - come on!" I said to Chris, Sian and Chrissie, and we ran back to the stretch of wall beyond which the Room of Needs was waiting to do the bidding of the next entrant.
I need the place where everything is hidden, I begged of it, inside my head, and the door materialised on our third run past.
The force of the battle died the moment we crossed the threshold and closed the door behind us: all was silent. We were in a place the size of a cathedral with the appearance of a city, its towering walls built of objects hidden by thousands of long-gone students.
"And she never realised anyone could get in?" said Chrissie, her voice echoing in the silence.
"She thought she was the only one," I said. "Too bad for her I've had to hide stuff in my time … this way," I added, "I think it's down here …"
I passed the stuffed troll and the Vanishing Cabinet Dani Malty had mended last year with such disastrous consequences, then hesitated, looking up and down the aisles of junk; I could not remember where to go next …
"Accio diadem," cried Sian in desperation, but nothing flew through the air towards us. It seemed that, like the vault at Fauntrotts, the room would not yield its objects that easily.
"Let's split up," I told the other three. "Look for the stone bust of an old woman wearing a wig and a tiara! It's standing on a cupboard and it's definitely somewhere near here …"
We sped off up adjacent aisles; I could hear the others' footsteps echoing through the towering piles of junk, of bottles, hats, crates, chairs, books, weapons, broomsticks, bats …
"Somewhere near here," I muttered to myself. "Somewhere … somewhere …"
Deeper and deeper in the labyrinth I went, looking for object I recognised from my previous trip into the room. My breath was loud in my ears, and then my very soul seemed to shiver: there it was, right ahead, the blistered old cupboard in which I had hidden my old Potions book, and on top of it, the pock-marked stone witch wearing a dusty, old wig and what looked like an ancient, discoloured tiara.
I had already stretched out my hand, though I remained only ten feet away, when a voice behind me said, "Hold it, Pride-Lander!"
I skidded to a halt and turned round. Crate and Gabber were standing behind me, shoulder to shoulder, wands pointing right at me. Through the small space between their jeering faces, I saw Dani Malty.
"That's my wand you're holding, Pride-Lander," said Malty, pointing her own through the gap between Crate and Gabber.
"Not any more," I panted, tightening my grip on the hawthorn wand. "Winners, keepers, Malty. Who's lent you theirs?"
"My father," said Dani.
I laughed, though there was nothing very humorous about the situation. I could not hear Chris, Sian or Chrissie any more. They seemed to have run out of earshot, searching for the diadem.
"So how come you three aren't with Zira?" I asked.
"We're gonna be rewarded," said Crate: her voice was surprisingly soft for such an enormous person; I had hardly ever heard her speak before. Crate was smiling like a child promised a large bag of sweets. "We 'ung back, Pride-Lander. We decided not to go. Decided to bring you to 'er."
"Good plan," I said in mock admiration. I could not believe that I was this close, and yet I was going to be thwarted by Malty, Crate and Gabber. I began edging slowly backwards towards the place where the Horcrux sat lopsided upon the bust. If I could just get my hands on it before the fight broke out …
"So how did you get in here?" I asked, trying to distract them.
"I virtually lived in the Room of Hidden Things all last years," said Malty, her voice brittle. "I know how to get in."
"We was hiding in the corridor outside," grunted Gabber. "We can do Disslusion Charms now! And then," her face split into a gormless grin, "you turned up right in front of us and said you was looking for a die-dum! What's a die-dum?"
"Kiara?" Chris' voice echoed suddenly from the other side of the wall to my right. "Are you talking to someone?"
With a whip-like movement, Crate pointed her wand at the fifty-foot mountain of old furniture, of broken trunks, of old books and robes and unidentifiable junk and shouted, "Descendo!"
The wall began to totter, then crumbled into the aisle next door where Chris stood.
"Chris!" I screamed, as somewhere out of sight Chrissie screamed and Sian yelled, "What's going on?", and I heard innumerable objects crashing to the floor on the other side of the destabilised wall: I pointed my wand at the rampart, cried, "Finite!" and it steadied. I then turned my wand on Crate, wanting to attack her as rage flooded through me at her nerve for trying to kill him. Crate smiled stupidly at me as she raised her wand, but Malty stopped her.
"No! If you wreck the room, you might bury this diadem thing, not to mention kill Pride-Lander in the process!"
"What's the matter?" said Crate, tugging herself free from Malty's grip. "It's Pride-Lander the Scarlet Lady wants, who cares about a die-dum?"
"Pride-Lander came in here to get it," said Malty with ill-disguised impatience at the slow-wittedness of her colleagues, "so that must mean - "
"'Must mean'?" Crated turned on Malty with undisguised ferocity. "Who cares what you think? I don't take your orders no more, Dani. You an' your mum are finished."
"Kiara?" shouted Chris again, from the other side of the junk wall. "What's going on?"
"Kiara?" mimicked Crate. "What's going - no, Pride-Lander! Crucio!"
I had lunged for the tiara; Crate's curse missed me but hit the stone bust, which flew into the air; the diadem soared upwards and then dropped out of sight in the mass of objects on which the bust had rested.
"STOP!" Malty shouted at Crate, her voice echoing through the enormous room. "The Scarlet Lady wants her alive - "
"So? I'm not killing her, am I?" yelled Crate, throwing off Malty's restraining arm. "But if I can, I will, the Scarlet Lady wants her dead, anyway, what's the diff- ?"
Two jets of scarlet light shot past me by inches: Chris had finally managed to come out from behind the wall, as Sian run round the corner behind me and they both sent a Stunning Spell straight at Crate's head. Both spells only missed her because Malty pulled her out of the way.
"It's that Sackbrain! Avada Kedavra!"
I saw Sian dive aside and my fury that Crate had aimed to kill, not just Sian, but Chris also, wiped all else from my mind. I shot a Stunning Spell at Crate, who lurched out of the way, knocking Malty's wand out of her hand; it rolled out of sight beneath a mountain of broken furniture and boxes.
"Don't kill her! DON'T KILL HER!" Malty yelled at Crate and Gabber, who were both aiming at me: their split second's hesitation was all I needed.
"Expelliarmus!"
Gabber's wand flew out of her hand and disappeared into the bulwark of objects beside her; Gabber leapt foolishly on the spot, trying to retrieve it; Malty jumped out of range of Sian's second Stunning Spell and Chrissie, appearing suddenly at the end of the aisle, shot a full Body-Bind Curse at Crate, which narrowly missed.
Crate wheeled round and screamed, "Avada Kedavra!" again. Chrissie leapt out of sight to avoid the flash of green light. The wandless Malty cowered behind a three-legged wardrobe as Sian charged towards them, hitting Gabber with a Stunning Spell as she came.
"It's somewhere here!" I yelled at her, pointing at the pile of junk into which the old tiara had fallen. "Look for it while Chris and I go and help C- "
"KIARA!" she screamed,
A roaring, billowing noise behind me gave me a moment's warning. I turned and saw both Chrissie and Crate running as hard as they could up the aisle towards us.
"Like it hot, scum?" roared Crate as she ran.
But she seemed to have no control over what she had done. Flames of abnormal size were pursuing us, licking up the sides of the junk bulwarks, which were crumbling to soot at their touch.
"Aquamenti!" I bawled, but the jet of water that soared from the tip of my wand evaporated in the air.
"RUN!"
Malty grabbed the Stunned Gabber and dragged her along: Crate outstripped all of us, now looking terrified; Chris, Sian, Chrissie and I pelted along in her wake, and the fire pursued us. It was not normal fire; Crate had used a curse of which I had no knowledge: as we turned a corner the flames chased us as though they were alive, sentient, intent upon killing us. Now the fire was mutating, forming a gigantic pack of fiery beasts: flaming serpents, chimaeras and dragons rose and fell and rose again, and the detritus of centuries on which they were feeding was thrown up in the air into their fanged mouths, tossed high on clawed feet, before being consumed by the inferno.
Malty, Crate and Gabber had vanished from view: Chris, Sian, Chrissie and I stopped dead; the fiery monsters were circling us, drawing closer and closer, claws and horns and tails lashed, and the heat was solid as a wall around us.
"What can we do?" Sian shouted over the deafening roars of the fire. "What can we do?"
"Here!"
I seized three heavy-looking broomsticks from the nearest pule of junk and threw two to Chris and Chrissie, and Chris pulled Sian on to it behind him, I swung my leg over the third broom and, with hard kicks to the ground, we soared up into the air, missing by feet the horned beak of a flaming raptor that snapped its jaws at us. The smoke and heat were becoming overwhelming: below us the cursed fire was consuming the contraband of generations of hunted students, the guilty outcomes of a refuge in the room. I could not see a trace of Malty, Crate or Gabber anywhere: I swooped as low as I dared over the marauding monsters of flame to try to find them, but there was nothing but fire: what a terrible way to die … I had never wanted this …
"Kiara, let's get out, let's get out!" screamed Chrissie, though it was impossible to see where the door was through the black smoke.
And then I heard a thin, piteous human scream from amidst the terrible commotion, the thunder of devouring flame.
"It's - too - dangerous - !" Chris yelled, but I wheeled in the air, raking the firestorm below, seeking a sign of life, a limb or a face that was not yet charred wood …
And I saw them: Malty with her arms around the unconscious Gabber, the pair of them perched on a fragile pile of charred desks, and I dived. Malty saw me coming, and raised one arm, but even as I grasped it I knew at once that it was no good: Gabber was too heavy and Malty's hand, covered in sweat, slid instantly out of mine -
"IF WE DIE FOR THEM, I'LL KILL YOU, KIARA!" roared Chrissie's voice, and as a great, flying chimaera bore down upon us she, with help from Chris and Sian, dragged Gabber on to her broom and rose, rolling and pitching into the air once more as Malty clambered up behind me.
"The door, get to the door, get to the door!" screamed Malty in my ear, and I sped up, following Chris, Sian, Chrissie and Gabber through the billowing black smoke, hardly able to breathe: and all around us the last few objects unburned by the devouring flames were flung into the air, as the creatures of the cursed fire cast them high in celebration: cups and shields, a sparkling necklace and an old, discoloured tiara -
"What are you doing, what are you doing? The door's that way!" screamed Malty, but I made a hairpin swerve and dived. The diadem seemed to fall in slow motion, turning and glittering as it dropped towards the maw of a yawning serpent, and then I had it, caught it around my wrist -
I swerved again as the serpent lunged at me and soared upwards straight towards the place where, I prayed, the door stood open: Chris, Sian, Chrissie and Gabber had vanished, and Malty was screaming and holding me so tightly it hurt. Then, through the smoke, I saw a rectangular patch on the wall and steered the broom at it, and moments later clean air filled my lungs and we collided with the wall in the corridor beyond.
Malty fell off the broom and lay face down, gasping, coughing and retching. I rolled over and sat up: the door to the Room of Needs had vanished and Chris, Sian and Chrissie sat panting on the floor beside Gabber, who was still unconscious.
"C-Crate?" croaked Malty, as soon as she could speak. "C-Crate …"
"She's dead," said Chrissie harshly.
There was silence, apart from panting and coughing. Then a number of huge bangs shook the castle, and a great cavalcade of transparent figures galloped past on horses, their heads screaming with bloodlust under their arms. I staggered to my feet when the Headless Hunt had passed and looked around: the battle was still going on all around me. I could hear more screams than those of the retreating ghosts. Panic flared within me.
"Where're Kopa, Kestrel and the others?" I said sharply. "They were here. I told them to stay here and close to Kopa.
At this, Sian's head popped up and she looked around. Trying to remain calm, she said reasonably, "Maybe something happened outside, just near here, that made them move somewhere else."
Chris looked at Sian then. "D'you think we should split up and look for them, or - "
"No," said Sian, getting to her feet. Malty and Gabber remained hopelessly on the corridor floor; neither of them had wands. "Let's stick together. I'm sure Kopa's with them still, they should be fine. I say we go - Kiara, what's that on your arm?"
"What? Oh, yeah - "
I pulled the diadem from my wrist and held it up. It was still hot, blackened with soot, but as I looked at it closely I was just able to make out the tiny words etched upon it:
Knowledge is to power as wit is to love.
A blood-like substance, dark and tarry, seemed to be leaking from the diadem. Suddenly I felt the thing vibrate violently, then break apart in my hands, and as it did so, I thought I heard the faintest, most distant scream of pain, echoing not from the grounds or the castle, but from the thing that had just fragmented in my fingers.
"It must have been Fiendfyre!" whimpered Sian, her eyes on the broken pieces.
"Sorry?"
"Fiendfyre - cursed fire - it's one of the substances that destroy Horcruxes, but I would never, ever have dared to use it, it's so dangerous. How did Crate know how to - ?"
"Must've learned it from the Csintalans," I said grimly.
"Shame she wasn't concentrating when they mentioned how to stop it, really," said Chrissie, whose hair, just like Chris and Sian's, was singed, and whose face was blackened. "If she hadn't tried to kill us all, I'd be quite sorry she was dead."
"But don't you realise?" whispered Sian. "This means, if we can just get to the snake - "
But she broke off as yells and shouts and the unmistakable noises of duelling filled the corridor. I looked around and my heart seemed to fail: Love Destroyers had penetrated Dragon Mort. Tanya and Perdy had just backed into view, both of them duelling masked and hooded women.
Chris, Sian, Chrissie and I ran forwards to help: jets of light flew in every direction and the woman duelling Perdy backed off, fast: then her hood slipped and we saw a high forehead and streaked hair -
"Hello, Minister!" bellowed Perdy, sending a neat jinx straight at Thicko, who dropped her wand and clawed at the front of her robes, apparently in awful discomfort. "Did I mention I'm resigning?"
"You're joking, Perd?" shouted Tanya, as the Love Destroyer she was battling collapsed under the weight of four separate Stunning Spells. Thicko had fallen to the ground with tiny spikes erupting all over her; she seemed to be turning into some form of sea urchin. Tanya looked at Perdy with glee.
"You actually are joking, Perd … I don't think I've heard you joke since you were - "
The air exploded. We had been grouped together, Chris, Sian, Chrissie, Tanya, Perdy and I, the two Love Destroyers at our feet, one Stunned, the other Transfigured: and in that fragment of a moment, when danger seemed, temporarily, at bay, the world was rent apart. I felt myself flying through the air, and all I could do was hold as tightly as possible to that thin stick of wood that was my one and only weapon, and shield my head in my arms: I heard the screams and yells of my companions without a hope of knowing what had happened to them -
And then the world resolved itself into pain and semi-darkness: I was half buried in the wreckage of a corridor that had been subjected to a terrible attack: cold air told me that the side of the castle had been blown away and hot stickiness on my cheek told me that I was bleeding copiously. Then I heard a terrible cry that pulled at my insides, that exposed agony of a kind neither flame nor curse could cause, and I stood up, swaying, more frightened that I had been that day, more frightened, perhaps, than I had been in my life …
And Chris was struggling to his feet in the wreckage, and four dark brown-haired women were grouped on the ground where the wall had blasted apart. I grabbed desperately at Chris' hand, needing to rely on his strength as much as he did mine, and together we staggered and stumbled over stone and wood.
"No - no - no!" someone was shouting. "No! Tanya! No!"
And Perdy was shaking her sister, and Sian and Chrissie were kneeling beside them, their arms around each other, and Tanya's eyes stared without seeing, the ghost of her last laugh still etched upon her face.