Round 13: A Fly in a Web
"Expelliarmus!" Harry cried, hoping to strike first and catch Rhombus with his guard down.
"Protego" Rhombus smoothly cast a shield spell and nullified the burst of magic Harry had hurled at him with the ease of a man who had faced countless battles before. Harry felt himself start to sweat as his mind raced to try and think of a strategy. This was Dumbledore's brother, if he was even close to being as powerful as the Headmaster was than Harry knew he was in trouble.
"You'll never be able to defeat me with pathetic spells like that boy." Rhombus sneered.
"Avada Kedavra!" Harry yelled, deciding to go straight for the throat. To his horror Rhombus neatly sidestepped the deadly beam of green light and in the same motion raised his wand at Harry.
"Confringo!" Harry threw himself to the ground and rolled behind a row of desks as a stream of fire roared over his head and exploded against the far wall in a blast of almost unbearable heat.
Quickly pushing himself up into a crouch Harry surveyed the seen only to have his heart sink. The far wall and the door to the classroom were now consumed in flames, effectively blocking his means of escape.
Hedwig paused in devouring the mouse that Professor Snape had procured for her dinner and turned her head around 180 degrees to stare behind her in the direction of the door.
"Ugh, I wish you wouldn't do that. So unsettling." Snape griped from his seat at the Headmaster's desk.
"Something… something's not right!" Hedwig whispered. Snape frowned
"What do you mean?'
"It's.. it's Harry! Harry's in danger, I can feel it!" Hedwig's head whipped back around to face Snape, her eyes full of distress.
"Oh." Snape immediately lost interest. "Well that's nothing new."
"I have to help him!" Hedwig cried and in a frenzy of flapping wings she hurled herself from her perch and through the window of Dumbleodre's office into the afternoon air.
"Hey!" Snape sprang to his feet too late. "I'm supposed to be guarding you!" But Hedwig was already long gone.
"Damn it." Snape muttered. "Yet another unrequited love interest that has flown off into the arms of a damned Potter!"
Ginny sat crouched in a leafy crop of bushes carefully surveying the large country mansion of the Dumbledore family estate. On the surface everything seemed quiet but as she watched and her eyes became adjusted to the gloomy night she detected several black cloaked figures stationed around the perimeter of the unassuming manor. She smiled to herself, only three. Clearly she had been correct when she had predicted that security would be lax on the side of the manor facing the cliff. Once she was certain she had the positions of all of the guards, Ginny slowly and carefully began to crawl though the bushes towards the back porch of the house. One of the guards was stationed there behind a short leafy tree that almost entirely obscured him from anyone approaching the house. Unfortunately for him, this hadn't been enough to fool Ginny's sharp eyes and the cover of the tree also effectively hid him from the line of sight of the other two guards.
Creeping as silently as death itself Ginny managed to sneak through the undergrowth until she lay only a few feet from the unsuspecting Deatheater. From her position on the ground Ginny could make out bored expression on the lean face of the man beneath the hood. He was staring straight ahead, completely unaware of the danger lurking at his feat.
"Petrificus Totalus." Ginny whispered. The death eater barely had time to blink at the small burst of light before Ginny's spell left him completely immobilized. Ginny held her breath for a moment as she waited to see if either of the other guards had seen the light from her spell but everything remained still and quiet.
Slipping in to stand beside the paralyzed guard in the concealment of the tree Ginny glanced around again before crawling in between the slates in the porch railing and onto the wooden deck. Having gotten this close to the house she was certain that she would be able to avoid detection so long as she stayed quiet. Ginny crept across the forward till she was pressed up against the side of the house and listened cautiously for any sound of movement from within. There was nothing, all that was left was for her to get inside unseen.
The Dumbledore family home was an old house and had been built in the traditional manner of wizard houses with a separate entrance for the house elves that led into a small service hallway. The inclusion of these separate passageways and doors allowed the house elves to go about their work without the wards having to look at them. Ginny found just such an entrance leading into the house and tried the handle. The small door slid soundlessly open on perfectly greased hinges as no one wanted to hear the little gremlins at work either. The opening was small but Ginny managed to squeeze through and found herself in a long low corridor with an incredibly low ceiling. Ginny carefully shut the tinny door behind her and feeling a little like Alice in Wonderland she crawled down the hallway on her hands and knees until she reached a branching point. Glancing down both directions Ginny heard the faint sound of clattering pots coming from her right and guessed that that hallway led to the kitchen. From the sounds and smells of it there were House Elves hard at work in there, though she couldn't fathom what they would be cooking at this time of night. Choosing the opposite direction Ginny kept crawling until she reached a small door.
Ginny pressed her ear against the door and listened for any signs of movement on the other side. When she heard nothing she slowly opened the door just a crack and peered inside. The room on the other side of the door was dark and all that Ginny could see were a few chair legs. Deciding the coast was clear. Ginny opened the door the rest of the way and slid through in to the room.
The chamber Ginny found herself in appeared to be a dining room. There was a long oak table with a dozen finely upholstered chairs lined around it. A small chandelier hung from the ceiling and glittered faintly in the moonlight that drifted in through the window. No one was around. Ginny quietly let out a breath that she hadn't even realized she's been holding in. She had successfully infiltrated Voldemort's lair. Now the real challenge began.
Ginny tightly gripped her wand forced herself to take a deep breath in an effort to calm herself down. She felt nauseous at the thought of facing the Dark Lord but she forced down her mounting fear and steeled herself for what was to come. She knew that she had to do everything in her power to ensure that this world never ended up like her own! She also knew there was a good chance she wouldn't be making it back from this mission. With a final deep breath Ginny moved to the doorway and peered around the door frame into the hallway. There was still no sign of any of the house's inhabitants, Ginny hoped this meant that they had all retired to bed. Maybe she would get lucky and be able to catch Voldemort while he was sleeping.
Creeping down the hallway Ginny peeked into each room that she came across but they were all ordinary rooms empty of any human life. After twenty minutes of fruitless searching Ginny was beginning to wonder if this house was just a decoy with no one inside after all. Suddenly Ginny stopped in her tracks and cocked her head to the side as she listened. There were the sound of whispered voices and approaching voices ahead of her. At the end of the hallway the corridor branched to the left and Ginny could see a dim light shinning from around that corner that steadily grew brighter as the person holding the light drew closer and closer.
Knowing she had little time Ginny quickly opened the door nearest her. Seeing that everything was dark, Ginny slipped inside and quietly shut the door behind her. Realizing that she should probably hide herself, Ginny turned around and then suddenly froze. She had assumed that the room was empty but there, silhouetted against the ceiling high window stood a tall figure in a billowing dark robe. With smooth serpentine movements the man turned to stare at her with menacing red eyes.
"What have we here?" Lord Voldemort's softly ask question came out as a hiss. "An intruder!"
She was caught!
Tomato Face: Dang! You get her all caught and stuff.
Blonde One: Yep!
Tomato Face: And you set up all of the climactic action!
Blonde One: Yep!
Tomato Face:...Gee. I guess that means the story will be over in a few chapters, then, huh.
Blonde One: Probably. Assuming you don't draw it out somehow.
Tomato Face: *shrugs* Nah, we've had a good run. I think it's time to end things gracefully...well, as gracefully as we're capable of.
Blonde One: I'm...cautiously optimistic?
Tomato Face: *straight face* Why would I lie to you? *grin*
Blonde One: I'm...now uneasy.
Will Tomato Face keep her word? Will the story end soon? What is in store next for our random heroes? Stay tuned to find out!