Chapter 12
Through the Trap Door
Exams are finally over and now all that is left is to grade them and send out pass and fail notices. Chris sits at her small desk, red pen in hand, and goes through them carefully. She is interrupted by a green flash followed by a note sailing to land on her desk.
Notice to all teachers,
Please take your usual positions patrolling the halls tonight.
There may be more mischief in the halls as the term ends and students
become anxious for the end of term.
Thank you,
Professor M. McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
Chris sighs and glances at the clock. Seven PM, that means she has only 2 hours before taking a shift that lasts till midnight in the 3rd floor corridor. She grades a few more papers, slips into a comfortable pair of jeans and an older t shirt, ties her hair back, and heads out, wand in one hand and a book in the other. When she arrives at her post everything seems quiet, she draws a chair out of thin air and sits down to relax and enjoy some mind numbing reading. She makes it through only a few pages before she feels a tingle down her spine and then a warm, sleepy feeling drifts over her. Recognizing a somnum spell she tries to fight it, but it is no use, her head droops and her book falls to the floor. She barely catches sight of a set of burnt orange robes opening the forbidden door before she is in a deep sleep.
Chris is not aware of how much time has passed when she becomes aware of a cool feeling against her lips. The chill fills her mouth and slides down her throat. She shivers as the cold follows her veins and brings life back to her limbs, as soon as she is able; she looks up, her wand pointed at the heart of the man standing in front of her.
"It is only me, Christine, are you alright?" Severus asks as he steps back, hands raised, a small, empty vial in one hand.
"Yes," she says groggily before clearing her throat, "What is going on?" she asks as she lowers her wand.
"I was hoping you could tell me who hexed you and when."
"I don't know for sure, I was hit with a somnum hex and that was it. I saw the edge of his robes, but that was it" she answers as she stands.
"Could you tell if it was a student?" he asks hurridly, glancing at the door down the hall.
"No, this was a teacher… though why a teacher would hex me, I do not know"
"I do, stay here, I will handle this." He turns and heads towards the door.
"Like Hell you will…" she follows close behind him. He already has the door open before he can stop her.
"Not again," he sighs as he stands well out of reach of the three headed dog that is clearly angry at their presence.
"Fluffy?" Chris says a bit shocked, "What is Fluffy doing in here?"
"You know this monsterous thing?" he asks exasperated.
"Yeah, it's one of Hagrid's…"
"Do you know how to get past him?" he yells over the sound of barking and growling.
"Of course. That's easy." Chris smiles and sings softly, "I see the moon and the moon sees me…" As her voice changes to a song the dog quiets and looks at her. "Way down underneath the old apple tree" Fluffy lays down, his heads on his paws. "Please let the light that shines on me…" His eyes close and he begins breathing deeply and rhythmically. "Shine on the one I love…" She keeps a sing song note in her voice as she looks to Severus. "What do we do now?"
Severus looks at her and shakes his head. "Stay close to me, do not fall behind, and do not slow me down" Chris continues humming and nods. Snape moves to open the trap door in the floor and then takes a deep breath before hopping down onto a soft bed of plants. Chris keeps humming till she gets to the edge of the trapdoor and then hops down, following him.
"What are we doing?" she asks him as she sits on the comfortable vines.
"Right now, we are sitting on a bed of Devil's Snare. You may want to shield your eyes." He answers curtly
Chris does as she is told as a bright flash of seeming sunlight blasts from the end of Severus' wand. They fall through the vines as the plant retreats from the brightness and land on solid ground in a dark tunnel.
"Now will you tell me what we are doing?" Chris asks as she brushes herself off.
"I suppose we are saving the world. Quirrell is trying to steal the sorcerer's stone, and I believe Potter and his friends are trying to stop him." He says, lighting the tip of his wand and starting down the passageway with Chris at his heels.
"The sorcerer's stone is here?" she asks shocked
"Yes, and there are many more deadly things guarding it than "Fluffy" or a suffocating weed"
Chris holds her wand at the ready as she follows him in silence. Severus would never admit it aloud, but he is glad she is here. It is nice to have someone who has your back, even if he is worried for her safety,
"Do you hear that?" Chris whispers. It sounds like a room full of dragon flies. The sound of a thousand wings fluttering. Before he can answer the hall opens up to a large, brightly lit chamber, filled with the buzzing of brightly colored wings.
"The key is up there somewhere." Snape looks around and finds broomsticks , he hands one to Chris. "Kept up on your quidditch skills?" He asks teasingly
"Maybe not as well as I'd like to have, but I am sure I can still beat you." She answers grinning as she mounts the broom side saddle and kicks off. Chris hears his laugh echo off the walls as he too mounts his broom and rises into the air. Chris hovers above the now whirling and speeding keys watching them dart around the room faster now that they are on their brooms. She circles the ceiling and finally spots a silver key with badly damaged blue feathers. She dives for it, grabbing the key, pulling up and landing softly and gracefully on her feet, hand held aloft as the key struggles feebily to escape her grip. She hands the key to Severus with a smile as he lands beside her. She pauses a moment to pull a bright red feather out of his dark hair. Her fingers linger only a moment before she pulls her hand away and he turns to face the door, all traces of the earlier smile vanished from his face.
Severus quickly opens the door. The next chamber is so dark they can't see anything at all. But as they step into it, light suddenly floods the room to re veal an astonishing sight.
They are standing on the edge of a huge chessboard, behind the black chessmen, which are all taller even than Snape and carved from what looks like black stone. Facing them, way across the chamber, are the white pieces
"McGonagall, of course." he thinks to himself "we will have to play our way across… Christine, as you are abysmal at chess from what I hear, I will take over here. Go take the place of the queen's side bishop, I am going to take the Kings side rook."
Chris nods without a word and moves to take the place of the piece that has just moved to make way for her. As she gets to her square, she hears a groan from the side of the board and a young girl's voice shout "Ron!" Chris starts to move towards them but Severus holds up his hand.
"Christine, do not move unless I say, we will get to them as quickly as we can." Severus' voice is sharp and commanding.
"Alright," She answers him before calling to the kids, "Hermione, we will be there in just a moment, is he alright?"
"Miss Smith?" she says questioningly, "He was hit hard. He is breathing, and muttering, but there isn't any blood"
"Thank Heaven for that, just hang tight" she says, and as soon as the words leave her mouth, Snape begins directing the game. He is able to get them through uninjured, he rushes to the next door and opens it, the smell of troll wafts into the room gaggingly strong. He immediately slams the door closed and waits for Chris. Chris rushes over to Ron and Hermione. She looks him over briefly. "He will be fine dear; Madame Pomfry will fix him right up. I know you are excellent at charms, use wingardium leviosa and carry him out. Get him to the hospital wing and then tell Professor McGonagall what is going on and where we are." Hermione nods, looking shaken and scared but does as she is told as Chris hurries over to join Snape by the door.
"Ready?" he asks as he holds the door knob.
"Ready as I can be," She answers.
They rush past the troll that seems to have been knocked out some time ago and through the next door. Severus stops and checks something in his pocket before leading the way inside.
Chris is surprised that there is nothing very frightening in here, just a table with seven differently shaped bottles standing on it in a line.
"Mine," says Snape with a smile, and he leads her across the threshold. Immediately a fire springs up behind them in the doorway. The flames that fill the door completely are a violent purple. That very instant jet black flame shoots up in the door way leading onward.
"This is what you were working on when…" her voice trails off.
"Yes, a logic problem. Magic won't get you anywhere in this one." he holds up a small vial, "Though we are going to cheat and save time," he takes a swallow out of the vial and then hands it to her. "before you drink… this it is, nothing beyond here, if you want to go back… I will understand."
Chris says nothing, just rolls her eyes at him and empties the vial into her mouth. A shiver passes through her and she follows Severus through the black flames and through the door.
The moment they rush through the door there is a scream and a whosh of wind that carries with it ashes, Severus screams in pain as something chilling and malevolent passes them on the wind. Chris turns to him but he waves her on.
"Go to Potter…" He says through gtitted teeth, his left arm clutched to his body as if he has been burnt.
Harry potter is lying on the floor of the chamber, with the charred, ashen remains of professor Quirrell. Chris rushes to him and finds him breathing and seeming to be simply unconscious. She looks over at quirrell and gags a moment before turning away. "Harry seems alright. A little battered, but alive." She waves her wand and floats him a couple feet off the ground. "Are you ok?" she asks Snape as she gets near him.
"Just… an old injury flaring up, I will be fine. Let's get him and his friends to the hospital wing." He says evasively.
"Very well," Chris sighs and they head back through the labyrinth to take care of the children.
A/N: Somnum = Deep Sleep
