Chapter 14 : Within The Dungeon
Though Albus had no plan, no plausible way to do what he knew had to be done, and no courage to do it, he had one thing; hope. He bolted out of the Common Room five minutes later with Scorpius and Morrison behind him, both of them whispering things like "What are you going to do?" and "How are we supposed to get the seeds?"
Albus pretended to ignore them as he walked slowly through the labyrinth, doing his best to make no sound. The truth was, he knew that if he told them he had no clue what he was doing, they would abandon their attempt to help him.
"Shouldn't we have brought the Cloak?" he heard Scorpius say from behind him.
Albus froze on the spot and hung his head low. How could he have forgotten?
"Well there's no time to go back and get it now" he told them. They were approaching the stairs that led to the Great Hall, and Albus knew, instinctively, that if they went back to the Common Room, they would end up staying there in fear.
"Okay, now be quiet" he hissed at them as he walked up the stairs leading to the first floor.
An eerie silence followed his words, as though the many noises that plagued Hogwarts had vanished at his command. He could only hope that they didn't run into any teachers, or even the caretaker, Peeves the Poltergeist.
He began creeping through the Main Hall, and Scorpius and Morrison had now stopped talking as they approached the corridor that led out to the grounds. If they could only make it to the greenhouses without being seen-the darkness of the night sky would protect them afterward.
"Boys!" came a loud yell from behind them.
All three of them turned around on the spot, a sinking feeling rising in Albus' chest as he did so. The dark corridor made it hard to spot who was behind them, but after moving into the light, Albus saw that it was Neville.
He was dressed in scarlet and gold pajamas, and was holding what looked like a small cup of tea. To complete the picture, he had an angry look on his face like none that Albus had ever seen him wear before.
"P- Professor Longbottom!" he heard Scorpius stammer from right behind him.
Of all the times Scorpius wanders the castle at night, he gets caught THIS time? Albus thought bitterly. Their chances of helping Mirra were ruined, Neville would never believe them.
"It's ten 'o clock!" he shouted. "First years have to be in their common rooms by half past eight! You know that!"
Albus had no way of getting out of this one. It would have to take a really spectacular lie...
"Professor, please" he heard Morrison start from behind him. "It's the Assyrian Alert Plants" he said.
Neville gave the three students a bemused look. "What about them?" he asked.
Albus could have kicked Morrison. What a stupid thing to say. He glanced sideways and saw Morrison trying to string together his next words carefully.
"We- wanted to go see them" he stammered. "You know the feeling right?"
Neville continued staring at him with an unreadable expression. Slowly, he raised his eyebrows, but did not speak. Morrison took this opportunity to continue.
"I mean, we've spent all year looking after them and raising them. Feeding and watering them, taking care of them. And I think that they're giving off seeds tonight...and we just wanted to be there. I know it sounds weird...but you start feeling attached after a while."
Albus spared another glance sideways and shot Morrison a look of disgust. He had heard many lame stories in his lifetime, but this one took the cake. He turned back to Neville, awaiting his punishment, but saw, to his utter surprise, a broad smile on the Herbology teacher's round face.
"Of, course! Of course!" he exclaimed. "I understand completely Mr. Vincent. You know," he added in an undertone, "very few people truly respect these plants for what they are. Herbologists understand that these things are just as alive as we are. It's like checking on an infant isn't it?"
Morrison made to speak, but this time it was Scorpius, who seemed to be catching on. "We knew you would understand sir. Seriously, how many times will we get to see something as interesting as an Assyrian Alert Plant give off its seeds?"
By now, Neville looked like he was close to tears of joy. "I always knew that there would be more students like me. I didn't think it would be you three, but you've got a real passion!"
Albus blinked stupidly. Never in his life did he think that a story that lame would work.
Neville looked around anxiously, and said, in a whisper, "I suppose you three can go and watch if you'd like. Some of them have already given off their seeds, but there should be a few late bloomers."
"Thanks Professor" the three of them said, before walking past him towards the grounds.
"Wait!" they heard him call after them. "Don't you boys get caught, or the Headmaster will have my head! And don't go into the greenhouse, just watch from the windows!"
"Okay, we will" they chorused back to him as they left through the gigantic doors leading out to the grounds.
"That,"Scorpius said as they descended down the grassy slopes, "was the greatest lie ever told."
Morrison gave a small chuckle and said, "I had a feeling he would let us go if we mentioned those damn plants. So what now?" he added to Albus, who was walking five strides ahead of them.
"Well, we get those seeds and go to the vegetable patch outside of Hagrid's cabin" Albus said firmly.
They walked down the grassy slopes of the grounds and towards the greenhouses, finally finding themselves staring at the very place where the seeds were located. Neville needn't have bothered to tell them not to enter the greenhouses; the doors were bound together with thick heavy locks that twisted themselves around the handles.
Albus kicked at the chains and let out a small groan. "Well now we're stuck" he said.
Scorpius strode towards the greenhouse with a smirk on his face.
"What are you smiling at!" asked Morrison, who was now attempting to pry the lock open with his fingers.
Scorpius gently pushed him out of the way and pulled out his wand. "Trust me, this will work" he said. He tapped the silver lock twice and said "Alohamora!"
For a split second, Albus thought that it had worked, for the chains had moved slightly. The next second however, he was met with much disappointment. The chains had simply coiled themselves tighter, as if they now knew that someone was trying to unlock them. "There must be some sort of anti-lock breaker charm on them" Scorpius said with a frown.
"Oh look at me, I'm Scorpius Malfoy, I read a lot and know useless spells, trust me, this will work" Albus heard Morrison say, in a rather accurate impression of Scorpius' sarcastic drawl.
Scorpius gave him an ugly glare. "Well, there has to be some way in, if Mirra could do it."
But Albus was prepared to answer this. He had just spotted a window, wide open at the top of the right side of the greenhouse. He pointed at it.
"She got in by climbing through a window?" Morrison asked incredulously.
"No" Albus replied. "She didn't get in. She got the seeds to come out. She magicked the window open, and levitated the seeds out to her. We need to do the same."
He knew that with each passing second, their chances were getting slimmer. But he was not going to quit now. He would not be cowardly enough to abandon one of his friends this time...
"So what do we levitate?" Scorpius asked, now standing directly under the window.
Albus peered through the dirty glass and saw a small, clear, glass cup filled with tiny black seeds. They were right next to the plants; it wasn't hard to make the connection.
"That tiny glass cup" he said, pointing at it.
Scorpius raised his wand and pointed it through the glass, then said "Wingardium Leviosa."
To Albus' immense relief, the spell worked. The tiny glass cup raised itself off of the table and began rising up in the air.
"Don't let it topple over" both Morrison and Albus said at the same time.
Scorpius cautiously moved the cup through the window, and lowered it into his hands. He stuffed his wand back in his robes and bent down to smell the seeds. "Bleh" he said, before giving a look like he was going to gag. "You sure you want to do this mate?" he asked.
Albus walked forward and took a miniscule seed from within the cup. He held it up in his fingers and examined it further.
"Yes, I'm sure. Just- just imagine that it's a Bertie Bott Bean. One that tastes like an Assyrian Alert Seed" he said.
He gave a shrug and motioned for Morrison to take a seed as well.
Both Morrison and Scorpius took out a seed and began examining them as well. "So do we chew it?" Morrison asked.
"I think that we just swallow it whole" Scorpius said. The three of them exchanged glances with each other, and then, simultaneously, popped the tiny black seeds into their mouths.
The terrible taste of the seed as it slid down his tongue made Albus want to throw up, but he held it back in fear of having to take another one. He could hear both of his friends spluttering next to him, and knew that they too were not fond of the taste. The second he had swallowed it however, he found that he had all of the energy in the world; felt like he would never be tired again. It was as though he had just slept for years, and was suddenly woken up by an ear splitting noise, making it quite impossible for him to resume his slumber.
"Does anyone else suddenly feel...awake?" Morrison asked a few seconds later.
Both Scorpius and Albus nodded. "Guess that means that they work" Albus muttered. "Now c'mon, we don't have much time."
They walked to Hagrid's cabin and maneuvered their way around it, reaching the vast vegetable patch a few minutes later. They crept through it silently, taking care not to tread on the flowers in it. For a moment, Albus considered waking Hagrid and asking for his help, but he realized that Hagrid would more than likely attempt to stop them instead. He frowned at the thought. He was certainly breaking a lot of rules tonight.
"Where would the entrance be?" Morrison asked. "This vegetable patch is huge!"
"Shh!" Scorpius hissed at him. "Keep your voice down, you idiot. Hagrid's inside sleeping."
Morrison opened his mouth to shoot back a remark, but fell silent at the look on Albus' face. Albus led them to the edge of the patch, right where the tulips had started turning gold all of those months ago.
"Look around here" he muttered through the darkness.
"Lumos!" the three of them muttered. Two of the wands shot out beads of light, but Albus' flickered for an instant before going dim. He still didn't have the hang of it. He could hear Scorpius sniggering behind him, but ignored it.
Instead, he followed Morrison around as the two lights scanned the area for a trapdoor, or anything suspicious for that matter. It seemed as though it was a lost cause though. Everything looked the same. There were clear, hard as rock tulips scattered all across the patch, and the few vegetables that Hagrid had managed to grow covered the remaining areas. Just as he was losing hope however, he heard a low "Aha."
Albus turned around and looked a few yards away. He could see Scorpius standing near the edge of the patch, at an extremely dense clump of darkness close to the forest. He had his lit wand pointing at the ground, and a small smile on his face.
Albus and Morrison hurried towards him and looked down on the ground. There was a small, square trapdoor, covered in moss and various other forms of nature. It looked extremely thin and was very well camouflaged; Albus could hardly blame someone for not having seen it before. The only reason that it was visible to him was because it was slightly open.
"She left it open so that she'd have a way to come back" Scorpius said. "I'm pretty sure she's still down there."
Albus swallowed loudly. "Okay...well...there's no turning back now." He slid the small door over and saw an entranceway that looked like it could only fit one person. There were deep engravings in the side, as though it was a ladder, meant to be climbed down. Albus slid himself down onto the ladder-like wall and began climbing down. "Follow after me, I'm not sure how deep this thing goes" he told them.
He began the climb down the trapdoor, a feeling of foreboding accompanying him as he went. It was very chilly, which was saying a lot considering it was June. What's more, it was even more dark in the vertical passage way than it was outside, meaning he had to feel the deep engravings meant to be ladder rungs rather than see them.
"Shine your wands down here!" he called up after two full minutes of descent.
Morrison and Scorpius obliged and aimed their wands downward, giving Albus a chance to see the dusty floor a few feet below him. "Hey it's not too far down!" he called up.
He jumped down the last few feet and found himself on solid ground. He could hear Scorpius groaning behind him as he too climbed down. After a few minutes, the three of them stood in a patch of darkness, shining the two wands around. About a few feet ahead of them, they could see a large stone door, held slightly ajar. There was a lock in it, with a small shiny silver key protruding from it.
"Okay, you guys ready?" Albus asked them.
They both gave him a glance that he knew meant "no" but still reluctantly followed him as he went towards the door. He gave a huge push and watched as the door flung open. The second he did so, he found himself nearly blinded.
It was a large room, far too wide to walk to the edge of and far too long to walk to the end as well. It was completely filled with a silver Mist that was so thick Albus could feel it engulfing him. For the first time this night, the amount of danger that he was in truly in dawned on him. He was standing in the Dungeon of Merlin's Mist, a place never before found by any living witch or wizard, and was surrounded by the very substance that would be able to cause a global epidemic if it left the very dungeon he was standing in. Albus had the very strange feeling that had it not been for the seed that he had just taken, he would have fainted.
"O- o- okay, this shouldn't be too hard" Albus quickly lied. "Mirra has to be in here somewhere."
Scorpius turned to him, and through the thick fog he could see the horrified look on his face as he said "Are you kidding? This dungeon probably spans the entire Forbidden Forest! I can't do this!"
"Me neither" Morrison squeaked.
No sooner had they both said it than they both fell to the floor with a sickening thud.
"No!" Albus shouted, and he crouched down beside them, shaking them, hoping, praying that everything was alright. If something happened to them, it would be all his fault...
He continued shaking them, but their heads simply lulled to the side. Albus did not understand. Why did the seeds affect him, but not his friends? Why were they keeping him awake and alert, when both Scorpius and Morrison had fallen into a deep sleep?
They were both still breathing, but it was shallow and silent, as though in their sleep they were fighting a losing battle. He drug both of them through the gigantic stone door and left them near the stone ladder. But he could not leave yet...there was still one friend left to find.
He ran back through the door and into the great dungeon. Why the Mist didn't affect him, he did not know, but he had the strange feeling that Mirra was stranded in the giant stone room, unconscious or asleep or whatever it was, and yet so very close to death.
He began running through the dungeon, taking care to look back over his shoulder every few minutes. He did not want to lose sight of the door that he hoped would be his exit. He began slowing down his pace after a few minutes, the eerie Mist now becoming seemingly thicker. It was as though it had recognized his failure, and was now taking his life in return...
He knelt down on his knees and buried his face in his hands...he could not leave his friends here to die. He began inching forward on his knees, crawling forward on his hands, and suddenly, as though he had never taken a seed at all, he found himself very sleepy. It was as though the less hope he had, the more tired he became.
His knee slipped on something thin and he felt his face crash down onto the floor. What on Earth could he have slipped on in a stone dungeon? He looked down and peered through the thick mist and saw a flash of black on the floor beneath him. He picked up the strand of hair, and realized, with a pang, that he was inches away from Mirra's body.
He bent down low enough to feel her breath, and realized that she too was sleeping. It was much more faint than Scorpius and Morrison's had been, she had clearly been down here longer, and the Mist was certainly taking more of a toll on her.
"I'm going to get you out of here" he said to her unconscious body. She was lying face up, with her arms and legs in a position that made it seem as though she had randomly collapsed. He took a look around him and saw that the gigantic door was still in sight. She had not gotten very far when the Mist had affected her, and he doubted very much if she had actually found whatever it was she was looking for. Well, he certainly wasn't going to give her the chance to find it now.
It was as if his body had fought against the looming fatigue and won. He had all of his friends now, he could go. He picked her up by the shoulders and drug her along the stone floor, the chilly silver Mist surrounding him but doing nothing to him.
He drug her through the stone door and placed her next to his other two friends, both of whom were still fast asleep. He walked back to the gigantic door and gave it a tremendous push. The door slammed shut, sealing the Dungeon back up and stopping the seeping of its contents.
He looked up the stone ladder and saw the exit above him. They were so close...now if only he could find a way to get all four of them up there.
He knew that he would have to move their bodies by magic. As if he had planned on it all along, he pulled out his wand and pointed it at the sleeping group next to him. He made to say the incantation, and then realized that he didn't know it.
There was still Mist in the room, and the more he breathed it in the more panic rushed through him. What had Professor Handit told him? About creating spells using Latin etymology?
"Mobilabodies!" he said triumphantly with a wave of his wand. Nothing happened.
"Damn" he muttered. "Mobilafriendus!" he shouted. Once more, nothing happened.
He was now breathing in the Mist at an alarmingly fast rate. He could feel his heart beat accelerate, yet at the same time he felt himself go drowsy. "Mobilacorpus!" he cried in desperation.
All three bodies began levitating off the ground; the spell had miraculously worked. He jerked his wand upwards and all three of the bodies on the ground moved into a standing position. It was weird, having his movements control his friends', but Albus was far too excited to care. Now all that he had to do was concentrate, and climb.
He began climbing up the stone ladder rungs, peering down below him to see that the three levitating bodies were following him. Scorpius was first, followed by Morrison, and finally Mirra. On more than one occasion they began dropping, causing Albus to plunge his hand into his robes and pull out his wand to say the spell again.
They were approaching the surface...he could see the stars above. He crawled out into the open air and used the last bit of strength he could muster to to pull his hovering, sleeping friends to safety.
He let them lay flat on the ground of Hagrid's vegetable patch and stumbled over from fatigue. He closed the trapdoor over with a strong pull, and fell to the ground with a large thud, breathing in the sweet, sweet, fresh air.