25. Midnight Exploits
"Here we are," Reamus whispered back to his friends as the three stopped before a long painting at the very end of the dark corridor. Mora, Peter, and Sirius nearly crashed into him with the abrupt stop, yet they managed to regain their balance before it was too late.
"You sure this is it?" Sirius questioned unsurely as he eyed the portrait. "How can this possibly be the entrance?"
It surely didn't appear to be an portal to some secret dark passageway. The painting didn't look threatening in the least to Mora, the once bright image dimming considerably with the wears of time. The work of art looked as if an eleven year old could produce something considerably better than it. It was a simple silhouette of some figure against a dull red background, the corners of the canvas beginning to peel off the frame. Hardly anyone traveled to this corner of the dungeons; it was reasonably that a less than preferred painting be placed here if at all.
"This is what the story says," Mora hurriedly answered as she approached the painting.
Mora recalled the whispers spread about Hogwarts of a long forgotten tunnel leading from the very edge of the dungeons directly into the Slytherin house. Of course, there were many secret passageways throughout the castle, all of which being outlined and detailed in the Marauders Map. Yet this one was very different from the others. This path remained missing from the map, as it stood to be merely a myth until this night.
Yet another adversity about this tunnel separated the legend from the rest. The story passed through Slytherin, and that slowly began to creep its way to the other houses, that not everyone gained access to the entrance. Only someone who obtained a certain trait could reveal the doorway. The daring student, in true Slytherin fashion, must be a pureblood. Yet exactly what needed to be done to get inside remained a mystery. Some whispered all that was needed was the presence of a pureblood, while others raged for blood and human sacrifice, the rumors raged on.
How original Mora thought to herself as her blue eyes gazed upon the painting. When Mora first revealed her original scheme to the Gryffindors, she let slip a rumor of this mysterious passageway. She successfully convinced them she heard of this entrance from the countless boastings and rambling's of Colton that Mora was forced to stomach. Yet Mora remembered when she truly learned of this legend, when she herself lived within the dungeons with her fellow Slytherins.
The conversation had been risen by a bashful Ellery one day, and then the debate exploded on the credibility of the unknown entrance. Many Slytherins were dead set on the belief that this legend was true, while others argued no such entrance existed. Mora recalled most clearly her own companion who fumed with the belief that the rumor was nothing more than rubbish. Tom went out of his way to squash Ellery's murmurings, his passion over the subject frightening Mora.
Why did he boil over like that? Mora mused to herself sourly. After all, what would Tom against a secret exclusive pure blood doorway? He was running about slaughtering muggle-borns -
Mora quickly shushed her nagging thoughts. The last thing she needed right now was a distraction. After all, what she and the Marauders were attempting to do could turn very ugly if something went wrong. Of course, for this reason as well as their own stubborn pride, the guys originally argued Mora stay out of the scheme. Yet she persistently demanded she be in on it, after all, it was all her idea. Eventually, she managed to sway each Gryffindor to agree with her, expect for James, who thought Mora was making a big mistake.
He's just scared I'll have a memory and go into a coma or something while I'm in there, Mora reasoned silently, I have been known to get those visions at the worst possible time, lucky...
Reluctantly, he agreed to patrol outside the main entrance to Slytherin on his own. If anyone, a meddling Slytherin in particular, were to cross paths with him at any time of the night, James always had his Head Boy status to fall back on. Peter would wait behind with the sour painting, ready to divert anyone who may stumble down the corridor, although that was very unlikely. Sirius, Reamus, and Mora were to enter the Slytherin house and do the dirty work, much to Mora's excitement and anxiety.
The three were adorned in all black, a tacky idea of Sirius' that he made them adopt. Also, because of Sirius' meddling, they wore masks that hid their true identity from view. It was almost like a muggle ski-mask, except where there would be slits for the eyes and mouth, there was just more material, yet Mora was still able to see and breathe perfectly with the mask over her face. Their faces turned into masses of black cloth, no features to signify they were even human. Mora tried to convince Sirius they looked like a gaggle of reject ninjas, yet he persisted she either wear it or bow out. Grudgefully, she wore the uniform and swallowed up her pride.
Well, if you don't wear it, Sirius had persisted, And some Slytherin bugger happens to come across your path and see your face, then you'll wish you looked like a reject ninja too.
"So how do we get in?" Peter asked softly as he eyed the painting with suspicion.
"We open it up somehow," Mora reasoned. Impulsively, Sirius lunged at the portrait, trying to rip the frame off of its hinges and snap it off the wall.
"Padfoot!" Reamus snapped as he and Peter ripped the boy off of the art piece.
"Bloody idiot!" Mora criticized angrily as she glared at the sulking Sirius.
Sirius gleamed back to the girl, fixing his tilted mask on his face. "You've got any better ideas?"
Mora pushed him aside, coming inches before the surface of the painting. "One," she whispered. She let her imagination get the best of her, yet the more she deliberated over the possibility, the more she believed it could actually work. Of course she knew she didn't need some sort of animal sacrifice to open the portal, yet something equally and predictable and at the same time thought eluding that would give them access.
Silently, Mora drew her wand over the tip of her left index finger, and in one simple flick of the wrist, a drop of blood began to prickle over her skin. She raised her hand to eye level and slowly ran her crimson coated finger over the small figure in the painting. As her blood trickled down the canvas, Mora pulled her finger away, and instantly with a quick incantation healed the small wound over her finger.
Mora stumbled back a few steps, rejoining her transfixed companions, their eyes glued upon the painting. The blood soaked into the artwork, the image of the silhouette absorbing every last drop. And before their eyes the painting began to transform, the ugly and unflattering image transfiguration startling to the group of pranksters. The painting of a man now filled the frame, his narrow dark eyes fixed over Mora. His deep violet robes hid his crooked frame, yet his long, boney fingers tapped impolitely against his arms in a dark frustration.
"Who...who is that?" Peter asked timidly as the transformation completed.
"I've seen him before..." Sirius recalled. "Yeah! On a chocolate frog card, that's Herpo the Foul!"
"Pureblood no doubt," Reamus observed as he gazed upon the dark wizard. "Okay, Wormtail, start off at the mouth of the corridor, that way you can get rid of anyone who comes close."
Peter nodded eagerly as he dashed out of the dark corner, scared to death of the eeriness of the abandoned place within the dungeons. Eventually the thuds of his footsteps faded away and Peter hurried far out of sight.
The image of Herpo the Foul still had not drawn his eyes off of Mora, and his upturned mouth slivered open in a snake-like manner. "Child of the house of Cartea," Herpo hissed out darkly, the ice within his words startling Mora to her core. "You may proceed."
Just as his last word echoed within the corridor, the portrait lifted off its hinges, revealing an opening within the decaying stone wall of the dungeon.
"Nice job Mora," Sirius complimented as he stepped through the opening. "Well, you coming?" Sirius called back as he excitedly raced further on, leaving both Mora and Reamus behind.
Mora felt her neck grow hot and her cheeks swell with heat as well. Her breathing grew heavier as she turned to her friend. "Reamus," she whispered. "He knew, he called me, he-"
"I heard it too," Reamus said hurriedly. "For the time being I don't think you should dwell on it," he advised, "Sirius heard it as well, but I don't think he even noticed."
"For once I'm thankful for that thick head of his," Mora reassured herself jokingly.
"C'mon you two!" Sirius called back. Sharing one last look, Mora swept inside the new corridor, squeezing between the tight walls. Reamus followed closely behind her, and in an instant the entrance swallowed up, enveloping the small tunnel into vast darkness.
The tunnel wound deeper and deeper down into the dungeons, the stench of the sewer like corridor starting to make Mora dizzy.
"So..." Mora said nervously, "Who was that man in the painting again?"
"Herpo the Foul," Sirius explained as the group took another sharp turn, "Famous dark wizard, legendary for creating the most horrifying monster that kills you just by looking at it. A giant serpent more deadly than anything you've ever -"
"It's just a dumb story," Reamus urged and Sirius continued to play up the drama of his tale.
"Oh really?" Sirius defended.
Mora shuddered silently as the three came upon a lone ladder reaching up to the ceiling, looking as if someone hadn't touched it in ages. Mora was afraid if they even tried to touch the first rung the entire think would fall to pieces. Yet Sirius persisted and, so kind and chivalrous of him, knocked her out of the way and jumped on first. Reamus and Mora followed cautiously as the ladder lead them further and further up endlessly.
Mora clung closely to the ladder, climbing each rung cautiously. Despite Reamus' attempt of easing her nerves, Mora knew Sirius' story of Herpo the Foul rooted in some truth. Mora remembered all too well other murmurings of a deadly serpent, and these rumors were validated the day Mora gained the quickest glimpse of the basilisk. For a slight instant, Mora laid eyes on the beast that terrorized the castle for months, the creature that Tom and Tom alone could control. The memory brought the same, numb fear stinging back into Mora's heart.
"There we are," Sirius said softly as he reached the top of the ladder. Nervously he reached on hand to the ceiling, while the other remained firmly clutched around the ladder for dear life. Carefully Sirius pushed up against the ceiling, revealing the opening. "Just a bit further," Sirius called back down to the others as he hurried through the opening and out of sight.
"That's what he said five minutes ago," Mora huffed as she followed, Reamus now disappeared through the door. Once she reached the opening, a hand clamped down on her shoulder. Roughly she was pulled through the opening and landed loudly on the cold tiled floor.
Mora winced as she straightened up on the ground, clutching her sore shoulder. "Thanks for that, really," she groaned annoyingly.
"If I'd let it up to you to get through we'd be here all day," Sirius shrugged.
"Will you two shut up?" Reamus scolded mildly. "We're here."
Mora spun around, finally absorbing her surroundings. The three had landed squarely inside the furthest bathroom, the one usually occupied by seventh year girls of Slytherin. Mora remembered the greenish glow of the tiles that gleamed though the darkness.
"Alright, let's get to work," Mora said as she reached into her pocket, pulling out three unmarked vials.
"Just a drop into each showerhead," she warned as she handed one of the potions to Reamus. "Any more, and someone might have a nasty allergic reaction to the dye."
"Allergic?" Sirius echoed as he examined the vial in Mora's hand, a hint of mischief gleaming from his eyes.
"You know, itchy, redness," Mora listed, "Missing limbs, three eyes. The ordinary."
"That wouldn't exactly be the end of the world..." Sirius smirked as he grabbed hold of the third vial.
"Okay, I'll take care of this bathroom, start off at the boy's lavatories and work your way down," Mora instructed.
"Done or not, meet back here in ten minutes," Reamus added as he and Sirius disappeared out the door and slithered into the rest of the Slytherin house.
Mora turned her attention to the row of showers in the bathroom and crept silently over the cool tile floor. She gently pulled the cork from the vial, the green potion inside glowing dimly from its glass confinement. Mora snickered to herself as she contaminated each shower with the brew. Now she could understand why the Marauders took such pleasure in pranking Slytherins as she too felt that rush of success as she slipped out the lavatory, entering the next one with great ease.