Chapter 20: Flight from the Castle

Acrid smoke was now hanging heavy in the air as the walls began to crumble and the ceiling started to cave in. Harry ran forward to grab Ron and pulled him backwards with him to the door. But as they neared it, he looked up to see the furious, red eyes of Voldemort.

The murderous look in those merciless eyes was enough to cause him to freeze. Voldemort's eyes narrowed at him before, with a great sweep of his long, black cloak, and disappeared in a large ball of smoke and through the hole in the ceiling above them.

Breathing hard, Harry snapped himself out of it as he helped Ron to stand up and together they ran.

The castle was crumbling around their ears as they burst through the doors, the smoke in their eyes making it difficult, not only to see, but to breathe as well. As he coughed, he couldn't help but feel as if an earthquake had started, destroying everything around them as the shaking made it almost impossible to stand up. The rumbling noise was so loud that Harry could hardly hear anything that Ron was swearing at the top of his lungs—though he didn't need to hear what he was screaming to have some idea to what was being said.

"LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!" he screamed and they bolted to the nearest window and threw themselves out of it.

The drop was higher than they thought it would be…

They were about twenty feet in the air before they landed hard on a deep, slanted roof underneath them. Holding the sword tightly to him, he began to roll down it like how a child would roll down a big hill. Feeling rocks and shards of glass beneath him, he shut his eyes, praying that it would all stop soon.

With a loud 'THUD!' he landed hard in some dirt as they were hit with fall debris. Harry, thinking that he must have broken several ribs from the fall, spit out some more blood. Choking out the dirt he looked up and screamed, "Ron?! RON! ARE YOU OK?! WHERE ARE YOU?"

Suddenly, Ron was there, he was bleeding from the head and holding onto his shoulder, groaning in pain. Harry dragged his aching body up and grabbed Ron by the arm and pulled him up. "THIS WAY!" he cried as he dodge the falling rocks, his hand held over his head, trying to give himself some kind of protection.

They stumbled through the mess as the castle began to fall. They didn't have the slightest clue where they were going, but Harry soon heard a familiar voice shouting out, "HARRY! RON! OVER HERE!"

He looked up, and to his greatest relief, saw Hermione was waving them over. It was then he realized that they were running through a large, courtyard and she was standing near a set of wooden doors.

"Hermione?!" he cried as he ran forward.

"Yes! Come on!" she cried. "We've got to go!"

They stumbled towards her and she reached out to take Ron and helped him to walk to the door.

"What do we do?!" Ron screamed.

"We've got to get you home!" Hermione shouted. "We know how to help you now!"

"But how?!" Ron called. "We'll never make it out in time!"

"Through here!" she commanded and they followed her to the wooden doors. She flung it open and Harry saw at once that it was some stables. At least a dozen horses were there, all of them going crazy from the loud noises and crashes.

"Grab a horse and get out of here!" Harry yelled, going for a dark brown horse and jumped up onto its back. He used the sword to whack down the front locks on the stable doors and soon it was a stampede. With their strength, they bolted through the open door, whining and neighing, all the way to the front doors.

With their panic to get out, and the mostly destroyed front gates, getting through was no problems. They were out!

Worried, Harry looked back and was relieved to see that Ron and Hermione were sharing a tan-colored horse and were keeping close pace behind him.

Finally, they broke free and were running as far as they could away from the crumbling building. The other ten horses were already long gone by the time they were free of any falling rocks, but Harry pulled the reins on his horse as he turned to look they turned and watched as it slowly crumbled and fell. Staring at the crumbling ruins, he watched as the black smoke, slithering like a snake, leaving what was left of the castle and disappearing into the twilight sky.

"Voldemort," Harry whispered, blinking blood from his eyes and trying to catch his breath and trying to get his heart rate under control. He felt blood dripping into his vision. He reached up and touched a spot on his forehead where Voldemort hit was still bleeding. "He got away."

"Typical," Ron muttered, his face a mess and having to lean heavily on Hermione to keep him from falling off.

"But what happened in there?" Harry croaked out. "One minute we were fighting Voldemort, and then the next…?"

Hermione looked down in embarrassment and Harry's jaw dropped open. "It was you? You cause that to happen?" he waved his hand at what was left of the castle.

"We can talk later," she said firmly as Ron began to slip. "Let's just get out of here first. Ron needs help."

Harry looked over at him and saw that she was right. How he was able to stay upright, was anyone's guess. "Alright…" he said. "Ok, let's go."

And so they shook out the reins and bolted away from the ruins of the castle; they rode on for only a short time however, for they stopped by a river to clean up Ron. By the time they reached the water's edge, it was already dark.

As Hermione helped Ron off the horse, and guided him to the river, she explained what happened. "When I left you guys, I was heading down the hall and down some stairs… I was almost to the courtyard when I heard some servants laughing and I knew they were coming up. I panicked until I saw a door and I hid inside it… I wasn't thinking."

"And then?" Harry asked as he dipped his bleeding wrists into the water and rubbed the filth off.

"The room was filled with all kinds of dark arts stuff," she whispered in disgust. "All sorts of horrible things… there was a glass case that had this awful withered hand on a cushion, evil-looking masks on the walls… and it was also filled with human bones and spiked instruments from the ceiling."

She shuddered and Harry felt shivers going up his spine as well.

"That was when I saw this huge horn on the wall," she went on. "And I knew what it was! I once saw a picture of it in a book when I was little! It was an erumpent horn! And they've been known to explode if they're hit hard enough…"

"Don't tell me," Harry said, a grin on his face.

"Well, it was a bit of a spur of the moment thing," she answered. "I took it down from the wall, and dropped it in the courtyard. It was a bigger explosion than I thought it would be… I was worried that I might have hurt you guys too."

"Oh, we were already in trouble," he answered. "Your boom couldn't have come at a better time."

Ron, who had his head in the water, finally came up for air.

"Did you get them?" Hermione asked.

"Ron was able to get the sword but…" Harry said, feeling terrible. It had been his job to get the key, but he couldn't even do that right…

"Not quite," Ron gasped out, and they were surprised to see that he was grinning.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked. "I couldn't get the…"

"Key?" he asked, and to their astonishment, Ron reached down the front of his shirt and pulled out the battered looking key, the little wings now trying to fly away.

Their jaws dropped. "How dyou…?" Harry whispered and Ron gave a tired smile.

"I nicked it when I stabbed Voldemort," he said. "He was so angry with me that I don't think he noticed it."

"Stabbed…?" Hermione began, looking terrified.

"It's a fascinating story," Ron said. "But we can talk about it later." He looked to Harry and said seriously. "Look… after everything we've been through… after all that…" he stared at the key for a moment and then held it out to him.

Harry stared at it and then up at Ron.

"I'm trusting you here," he said firmly. "If you really are the person who can save my sister then I'm giving you permission here. After all of this, I decided that I'm not letting her be with just any random bloke."

Harry blinked before he smiled. "You won't be sorry," he said as he reached out and took the key from him. The little wings flapped wearily, and to his surprise, it became steady and limp in his hands. He then stood up.

"Alright," he said. "First we figure out where we are, and how far we are from your kingdom. That's our next stop."

"Home…" Ron said longingly, rubbing the water onto his face to reveal his red freckles. "I'm going home. Take that Fred and George!"

Ron was still a little dizzy from the beating he took when the castle collapsed, so they had to wait a little while before he was strong enough for travel. Hermione had treated his bloody injuries with a gentle hand and some plants that she found when she went a little ways upstream.

"What is this?" he asked as she dabbed the plant over a gash in his arm.

"Essence of Dittany," she told him as she gently mixed the plant with water. "It's a really common plant in these parts. It works to stop with bleeding."

Harry, who was now clean and soaked to the bone, and was now using some Dittany on his bleeding wrists, looked up. He was a little surprised to hear how hard a time Ron was having speaking.

"You—ah—sure know a lot about the land," he mumbled to her.

Hermione laughed. "I have to. I work in the dirt all day."

She used some water to wash off the rest of the plant and Ron gasped when he saw that the bleeding had stopped completely. "Wow," he whispered as he stared at it.

"I think that you'll be just fine," she smiled.

Harry chuckled at the two of them quietly before he stood up and tucked the sword into his belt. They were ready now. They caught their breath and got on their horses again.

"Ok, after they first grabbed us, they only took us a few miles from where we were," she said. "I'm pretty sure that I know the way after looking over the map so many times."

"You ok, Ron?" Harry called to him.

"I've been worse," he answered. "But I'll live! Let's get back!"

And so they took off. Harry was out in front, while Hermione and Ron rode right behind him together. On they urged the horses the night, all of them now knowing what had to be done. They had everything they needed… the stone, sword, and key. But now came the hardest part of all… storming the castle.

On they went, underneath the sky of stars and the light of the mostly full moon that cast them in silver moonlight. They only knew that the castle had to be somewhere west of them and they continued in, what they hoped, was the right direction. Harry didn't speak at all, as he was trying to wrap his mind around what they had to do, he couldn't stop thinking of Ginny and if she was alright.

He had to see her… he had to seen her one more time…

They rode through the rest of the night… and by the time that the glowing sunrise began to peer over the horizon, they could see it shining in the distance. The very tips of the castle…

"THAT'S IT!" Ron shouted from behind him. They urged their horses to go just a little bit farther, deciding that they would let them go once they were close enough. But when they did get near, Harry and Hermione couldn't help but gasp at what they saw.

They finally came to a stop just as they were able to get a feel for how big the castle was.

"It's so… big," Harry breathed. "I never really believed you when you told me about it!"

Hermione didn't seem like she was able to speak at all, and just nodded dumbly, never taking her eyes off what she was staring at. The cursed kingdom that they had heard so much about, but never actually able to see with their own eyes…

An enormous wall that separated the town and castle from the rest of the world; a castle, as tall as a mountain, loomed over them. Thick, black vines covered the walls, cress-crossing each other until it was like a mass of spider webs covering everything.

"It's just…" she whispered in awe. "It's… so big. It feels… like it could last forever."

"Yeah," Ron said softly. It was hard to believe that after all this time… he was finally home.

They got off the horses and took off the reins and ropes. "Thank you," Hermione whispered to them. "You're now free to go wherever you want to, you're free."

Harry and Ron gave their rides grateful pats on their heads before the let them go running off. They watched them go before they turned and got ready for what they had to do now. Harry checked the pouch which held their artifacts and pulled them out. The blood-red stone and the tiny silver key with the fluttering bent wing… he then checked on the sword at his belt before he glanced up at the giant wall.

"This is it," he said quietly. "All we have to do is get past that wall, fight our way to the castle, and find where Ginny is."

"Why does everything have to be so difficult?" Hermione moaned.

"Hermione," he said, casting a sideways glance at her. "Since when has any part of this journey been easy?"

"Fair enough," she sighed.

"Guys? Wait," Ron said. They glanced back at him as he took a deep breath and said, "Thank you… I never would have made it this far without you."

They smiled and Harry clapped his shoulder.

"We're family now," Harry laughed. "We look out for each other. Just promise us that you'll treat us to a huge feast once we get this over with… your highness."

Ron laughed at the sarcastic tone he used with those last two words. "You have a deal. I'll make sure that you both get enough food to burst your stomachs! You haven't had a real feast until you try one here!"

Hermione smiled and took his hand and Harry put the key back into the pouch, but kept the sword and stone out.

"Let's do this," Ron said firmly and they began walking towards the wall.

The vines were covered with black thorns as long as knives—and they covered every inch of the walls so that you could hardly see the white stone beneath it all. It was as silent as a grave.

"Creepy," Harry whispered.

"Tell me about it," Ron whispered back. "It was like this when I first woke up. Just wait until we get inside."

As soon as they got close though, the thorns reached out, as if to wrap around themselves. But Harry instinctually cut the thorns with the sword. The parts he cut fell to the ground with loud 'thudding' noises and laid still. The rest of the vines seemed to be aware of what the sword could do to them and quickly began to move away… like tentacles afraid that they would be next.

"I can see now why Dumbledore said that we needed this," Harry gasped out.

"Let's fine the entrance," Hermione said, looking around. "Oh! There!" she gasped, pointing to one side of the wall. "Where the road leads to the wall! That must be it!"

They hurried to where she pointed but found nothing. "I don't see anything," Ron said.

"How can you see anything with all this in the way?" she demanded, pointing to the vines. Harry immediately began hacking at the vines at the wall. It took several minutes, but he was able to hack enough away to see that there was a large, stone doorway there.

"So this is it," Harry whispered, his hand going to the stone in his pocket.

"Wait…" Hermione whispered suddenly. "I just remembered something."

"What now?" Ron asked tiredly.

"It's just…?" Hermione whispered, suddenly going pale. "Wasn't there supposed to be some kind of guard here?"

Harry stared at her, also remembering what Dumbledore said about their supposed to be some kind of creature guarding this place. But they hadn't seen anything yet…?

"Ugh!" cried Ron, making them jump. Ron was wiping something thick and slimy off his shoulder. "What is this?"

That was when they felt hot breath and very slowly looked up—somehow knowing that what they were going to see wasn't going to be pretty. And they were right. For when they looked up, they were looking straight into the eyes of a monstrous dog. But not just any dog. A dog with three heads, each head with a pair of rolling, mad eyes; three noses, twitching and quivering in their direction; three drooling mouths, saliva hanging in slippery ropes from yellowish fangs…

And each mouth big enough to swallow them whole. The dog opened its three jaws and struck. Screaming they dodged around it, moving around, trying to avoid its mouths as it snarled at them. The dog may have had size on its side, but it was slow—they knew that it was only going to be a matter of time before it got lucky and hit them.

Harry moved around and through the tangle of legs, trying to avoid being hit as he used the sword to slash at every inch of it he could reach. But he seemed to just be making it worse. Hermione dodged around, always making sure that's she stayed right behind the dog; and then Ron would run from the saliva dripping mouths.

That was when Harry ended up tripping over one of the dog's enormous feet. When he tripped, he dropped the sword… as soon as it went flying out of his hands, he thought for sure that it was over for him, but that was when something miraculous happened. When the sword hit the ground, it made an echoing, vibrating sound. And at that note, the dog stopped dead in its tracks. Harry spun around to look up at it and was amazed to see that its eyes closing a little bit as if sleepy.

Taking a chance, Harry pushed himself back to his feet and grabbed the sword so that he could drop it again. Again, the soft sound came and the dog continued to sway where it was. Three—four—five more time he made the sound until finally, the dog drifted off into sleep.

Harry quickly fished what was left of the stone out of his pocket and threw it to Ron as he dropped the sword again. "Hurry," he gasped to them, and they nodded at once. As Harry continued to keep the dog asleep, he watched as his friends ran to the door and used the stone to melt the door. Because the stone was so much smaller, they ended up using the whole thing quickly… but not before it was able to melt a hole just wide enough for them to slip through.

Ron cautiously stuck his head through the hole and looked around. "Alright!" he called in a loud whisper. "Cost is clear so far!"

He was the first to climb in, still holding tightly onto the mace he got from Voldemort's castle. Harry carefully made his way around the dog, still making the echoing sound to keep it asleep until he was able to watch Hermione scramble through the door after Ron.

He dropped the sword one more time before he snatched it up and sprinted to the door.

The last thing he heard was the dog give a loud snort as it woke up before he jumped headfirst through the wall… and into the sleeping kingdom.

(So they finally made it! What do you all think? Next chapter: they get through all the other traps that are set up. Anyone want to give any suggestions to what they find? I'd love to hear it.)