Chapter Twenty-Eight: The crystal cave

Light as spare in the tunnels.

Sure, there were the handful of troches that always illuminated the part of their path they were currently walking along with their eerie green light but other than that they relied on their wands and glow sticks.

Still, it wasn't much.

So when the path ahead of them suddenly started to brighten up with each step they took, all of the gathered wizards and witches grew suspicious.

Although Harry had eaten and slept and relaxed after the incident with the stalagmites he still felt drained magically speaking.

He knew that if this glow heralded another challenge, he wouldn't be up to it.

He edged closer to Bill as they hesitantly approached the light.

It wasn't sunlight or the light of fire.

It was strange.

It was of a silvery-whitish color but somehow soft and pearly.

The way it grew towards them and shimmered and moved it reminded Harry of sunlight falling into a pool of water and breaking at the bottom.

They walked for another minutes before they heard it.

The sound was so familiar and yet so alien because Harry hadn't heard it in a long time.

"Is that…bird-singing?" Alice asked astonished.

"I think so." Atticus said back.

"Please don't let it be some kind of monstrous flesh-eating birds!" Daphne whispered.

"Now you just jinxed it." Harry said teasingly.

"Not funny Potter, I…"

Daphne stopped.

They had rounded a corner and now saw the source of the light.

It was a cave (surprise, surprise) but it was unlike all the others they had encountered.

There were no deep crevices, no bottomless pits, no wide gaps, and no mysterious bodies of water, no pointy things that could kill them or any other nasty things.

In fact there was nothing bad at all.

They stepped from solid rock onto soft green grass.

Harry wondered how it grew down here.

The answer was probably magic.

And from the patches of grass grew giant white crystals in all forms and shapes.

They were giving of the light in pulsing waves.

There was a sweet smell in the air but Harry couldn't detect where it came from.

And then there were the birds.

Hundreds, no…thousands of tiny globated golden colored birds with tiny red eyes and long thin beaks that reminded Harry of hummingbirds.

Their wings where, in proportion to their round bodies rather on the small side but rotated in 360 degrees and made them fly swiftly and agile through the air.

And they where chirping and singing and chattering and generally making a wonderful canopy of noise.

With awe written all over their faces they stepped into this fantastic sanctuary of peace and happiness.

"Are they what I think they are?" Thomas asked silently.

"Golden Snidgets. Bless my heart. I've never seen one, let alone thousands all gathered in one place!" breathed Mr. Lovegood overwhelmed.

Harry watched the creatures with big round eyes. For they were indeed Golden Snidgets.

"But I thought they were nearly extinct?" he asked.

"They supposedly are!" Eric said, equally baffled.

"There have been only two sightings in England last year." Alice said.

"And here are…so many…" Bill breathed.

"They are beautiful." Luna said wistfully.

Nobody disagreed.

"What are they doing here?" Harry wondered.

"That seems to be the question."Rashid said.

"Let's have a look around." Eric suggested.

"Yes, split up everyone and look what you find." Atticus said.

Luna, Daphne and Harry sat off, wandering through clouds of the little golden birds.

The birds didn't seem to mind them.

They flew around them, touched down on their heads and shoulders before immediately taking off again.

And all the while their singing followed them around.

Daphne yawned. "Merlin, it's so peaceful here…I could just roll up in a ball and sleep. I've never felt this relaxed before!"

Harry nodded.

They walked around a big cluster of pulsating and glowing rocks and stopped in their tracks.

There was a well in front of them.

About knee-high with a winch and a crank and a rope with a bucket attached to it.

Cautiously they approached it.

"What is a well doing here?" Harry wondered.

"Let's find out." Luan suggested and began to rotate the crank.

Quickly the rope and the bucket lowered themselves down.

They peered down the chute but it was too dark to make anything out down there.

The rope was slowly coming to an end.

There was a dull sound as the bucket apparently hit ground.

"Strange." Daphne said and yawned again.

"Do you smell this?" Luna asked.

"You mean this sweet smell?" Harry asked. "Yeah I noticed it the second we walked in here."

"It's…strange. I think this is where it is coming from." Luna said.

Daphne frowned and sniffed.

"Yeah, I think you're right." She said. "But what does that mean?"

She suppressed another yawn.

"Goodness woman, didn't you sleep last night?" Harry asked.

"I did. It's just…it's so nice here." Daphne said.

Watching her made Harry tired.

He too had to yawn.

"Look at this, now you infected me too." He said accusingly.

"Oh no!" Luna suddenly exclaimed and with surprising force she pulled them away from the well.

"I knew I recognized that smell! We need to find the others!" she exclaimed.

"What? Why?" Daphne asked.

"Because we're all in danger!" Luna called out, dragging each of them along with one hand.

"In danger? Why?" Harry asked now alarmed.

"What you smell? Those are poppy tears!" Luna explained as they weaved through the glowing rocks.

Was there now end to them?

Harrys head was spinning.

Suddenly the light coming off the crystals seemed to be more rainbow-colored and the pulsating movements it made hurt his eyes.

He squeezed his eyes together to concentrate.

Next to him Daphne gasped.

"What are poppy tears?" Harry asked.

"You may know it as Opium." Daphne suggested.

"What…you mean like the drug?" Harry asked.

"Yes!" Lunas said. "Exactly like the drug. That's why you're so tired Daphne! It's why we feel so save and peaceful! The drug, combined with the singing of the birds, the pulsating of the rocks…we've been drugged and hypnotized! We need to find the others! Before we breathe in too much of this stuff and overdose."

"If we do overdose, we can die, right?" Harry asked nervously.

The befuddlement in his brain now made more sense to him.

"Yes!" Luna said. "We need to get out of here!"

"Where are they?" Daphne wondered.

It didn't take them long to find the first members of their team.

Atticus and Fleur where lying next to each other, their eyes unevenly blown and breathing hard.

"Oh my gods!" exclaimed Harry and knelt down next to the quarter veela. "Fleur!"

She wasn't exactly responding.

"What's wrong with her?" he asked horrified as the French witch just rolled her head from one side to the other and made some weak clawing gestures with one hand.

"I'd say they are pretty far down the lane." Daphne muttered while checking their pulses.

"The good news is their pulse is strong as is their blood pressure. But we need to get them out of this toxic environment for them to get better."

"For that we need to find the others and stay awake ourselves." Harry muttered.

"I don't like the thought of leaving them here alone." Daphne said.

"They'll be fine. I can put up an air-cleansing charm around their mouth so that they don't keep breathing in this stuff. We find the others, do the same with them and then find the exit and get them out." Luna suggested.

"You know how to do that?" Daphne asked impressed.

"My mum used to do it all the time when she experimented with spells and potions. On more than one occasion it resulted in toxic gases and smoke. Mum used the spell to keep herself save" Luna explained and then looked down "Not that it helped din the end." He added silently.

Harry looked at Daphne questioningly.

She mouthed 'Later' to him.

"Then do that Luna. Please." He said instead.

Luna nodded and waved her wand over Fleur's face and muttered some words Harry didn't catch.

A silver sheen of misty air appeared and spread around her head.

Luna repeated the same thing with Atticus.

"There, that should do it."

"Then let's go and find the others." Daphne said.

The cave was bigger than expected and it took them some time to gather all of their teammates in one place.

They were all in different states.

Thomas and Bill seemed to be asleep whereas Eric was downright hallucinating. Rashid was the most lucid of them all but that didn't mean much considering that he couldn't walk straight or coordinate his arms and judge distances correctly. So they put a body-bind on him to keep him from hurting himself.

The rest of the team was much like Fleur and Atticus. Completely gone.

"What I don't get is why we're not affected. I mean, we stood right above the well and breathed this shit in." swore Harry.

"I wouldn't say it has no effect." Daphne said.

She was right.

They were all tired and the world was spinning slightly and Harry saw more colors then there should be but all things considering he had a clear mind and could think straight as well as walk and talk with no problems.

"Maybe it's because we're young?" Luna asked.

"I'm not familiar with drugs and how they work."

"So what next?" Harry asked and swept the sweat from his forehead. Was it getting warmer in here or was he just imagining that? Or was it the opium?

"Exit." Luna said.

"Alright." Daphne.

"Wait. I think, just in case, I should put the air-cleansing spell on us as well. To be safe." Luna suggested.

"Good idea. Why didn't we think of that sooner?" Harry said and smiled at her.

As soon as the spell took effect, Harry could feel the difference. Now it was like breathing in fresh mountain air.

"Alright, I'd say split up. If you find something, shout or use a fire-works spell." Harry outlined the plan.

The girls nodded and they split up.

As Harry wandered through the cave his mind was running at a hundred miles an hour.

This place just didn't make any sense to him.

He understood it was a trap but how did you get out of here, where was the challenge?

What was up with all these supposedly extinct birds? And then these crystals!

He stopped to examine one of these crystal rocks closer.

It was about as tall as he was and about a meter in diameter.

Although it grew ragged and uneven at the top and to the sides, it was rather smooth.

And…there seemed to be something inside of it!

Harry frowned. He hadn't noticed it before because the light the crystals emanated was rather distracting but their cores were rather dark.

He stepped close up to the rock, pressed his face against the surface of the rock and tried to look past the light.

It took his eyes a few seconds to adjust and another few seconds for his brain to realize what his eyes were seeing.

When he understood he yelped and jumped backwards.

Encased in the crystal was a human!

Only when his wild beating heart had calmed down again he approached the stone again.

This time he forced himself to look at the person in the rock.

It was a man in his early thirties or late twenties Harry guessed.

His skin was dark and his hair wild.

His cloths were torn and dirty but Harry could still see that they were rather old-fashioned. But what caught Harry's eye was the wand in his left hand.

A wizard, encased in a crystal.

Harry tried to see if he was breathing or moving but he couldn't see anything that looked like movement.

He stepped back again and looked around.

There was another crystal, this one a lot bigger and wider.

He sprinted towards it and pressed his face against this one.

This time he could only vaguely make out the person deep inside the center of this stone.

It was a woman. She was young and pretty from what Harry could see.

She was dressed in lengths of material wrapped around her body in a unique way.

Harry stepped back and shook his head.

If every crystal in here was housing a person…then they weren't the first to enter this place and go through the challenges.

A sudden burst of colors above him to his right drew his attention and he hastily ran towards it.

Daphne had found the exit.

But it was blocked.

"I think we need a key!" Daphne explained and pointed at a perfectly round shaped tiny hole in the middle of the blockade.

"And we need it now!" Harry said grimly.

He showed the girls what he had found.

Luna looked heartbroken at the sight of the trapped people.

"I think that is what happens to you here." Harry said. "You fall asleep and while you sleep these crystals grow around you and encase you. Eventually you die."

"But why?" Daphne asked.

"I don't know. Why does this place do anything it does?"

"They are not dead." Luna exclaimed, swirling around. "If they were, their souls would be trapped in here and I would be able to see and hear them. No, they are not dead. They are in a really deep sleep or coma."

Daphne and Harry exchanged glances. They knew this was just Luna talking nonsense but the way she spoke…

"Okay, but that still doesn't help us in finding the answer to getting out of here." Daphne said slowly.

"Can't you ask the birds instead? You have such a…unique connection to beasts after all… Maybe they can help us." she added.

"I can't talk to birds, don't be ridiculous." Luna said airily.

Harry and Daphne exchanged a brief glance.

"Look!" Luna said instead and pointed at the blockade in the tunnel.

Fine lines of writing had appeared around the tiny hole in the stone.

"Can you read it?" Daphne asked Luna anxiously.

"Not as good as father but I'll try."

The next few minutes were tense.

Luna was muttering to herself, her brow creased and her finger trailed the carving on the stone.

She shook her head.

"Either I've translated it wrong, what I doubt, or it simply isn't supposed to make sense." She concluded a bit confused.

"Why, what does it say?" Daphne asked.

"It says here: 'Look down'."

Harry blinked.

"That's all?" he asked. "Look down?"

They all looked down.

There was nothing but grass.

"Why do I feel we just fell for some stupid old joke? Like when someone tells you 'Your shoelaces are open' and are actually not?" Daphne asked.

"Because we just did." Harry agreed.

"Is that really all it says Luna?" Daphne asked.

Luna nodded. "It says right here 'Look down to find your problems solution.'"

"But there is nothing there!" Harry cried.

Clueless the three teens looked at each other.

"Can't you just make some medicine, something that will counter the effects of the opium so that they can help us?" Harry asked with a side-glance at their team-mates.

Bill was drooling on Fleur's hair.

Not very gentlemen-like.

Daphne shook her head. "I'm sorry but Opium is rarely used by wizards. Such mundane drugs generally aren't very common. Muggles use them as painkillers but we have different, less dangerous potions for that." She explained.

"Damn it."

"What if it doesn't say 'look' down but 'climb' down?" Luna suddenly suggested.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"Well there is one thing here that goes down…" Luna said.

"You mean the well?" Harry yelped.

"Yes!" Luna agreed.

"But that's where the Opium-gas comes from! Going down there…that's madness!" Daphne said.

"Which is exactly why the key would be down there" Concluded Harry "Damn it."

"It's the only option we have right now unless they want us to start digging." Luna reasoned.

"Down the well it is." Harry said gloomily.

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They used the rope attached to the bucket and the crank to slowly slide it down.

The chute was too narrow for brooms.

Harry went first, then Luna, then Daphne.

As the round speck light grew smaller above them, Harry wondered if this was wise.

Probably not.

They passed into total darkness and Harry used his wand to give them some light.

The walls of the well were smooth and of some dark stone that so shiny that it reflected Harrys pale face.

Deeper they went.

Harry wondered how they would get back up.

Hm, should have thought of that before.

When his feet hit the ground it was unexpected.

There was a cloud of darkness around him that gave no indication how far it was.

"I've got ground." He called out and let go of the rope.

He waved with his hands to part this darkness around him and looked around.

The girls landed next to him.

"Look, there is a tunnel." Harry said.

They had to go down on their knees to fit in.

Luckily it was short and they found themselves in a small cave.

There was nothing but a small chimney that rose from the ground and was about three feet tall. A heavy shoulder sat on top but instead of blocking the white fumes from rising from the inside of said little chimney, a small and thin square metal pole sat in the middle, carrying the whole boulder and making a small gap left and right for the fumes to exit.

Harry coughed.

His head was spinning and there was an explosion of colors before his eyes.

"Guys, I think the air-cleansing spells aren't strong enough for so much gas!" he gagged.

Luna waved her wand but it brought only little relieve.

"Let's hurry then." Daphne said. She swayed slightly and yawned.

Harry made one step and nearly tripped over his own feet.

"I don't see a key." he said frowning while looking around. Though that might be because of his rapidly worsening view.

"But I do." Luna said silently.

"What do you mean?" Daphne asked. She was supporting herself on the wall with one hand.

Luna pointed at the metal rod that held the boulder up.

"You gotta be kidding me." Harry said.

"It has the right size."

"It's worth a shot." Daphne said with a cough. "We need to hurry. I don't know how much longer I can stay awake."

"It's too easy." Harry muttered, eyeing the contraption critically.

"Stop complaining." Daphne advised.

She pointed her wand at the boulder and said clearly: "Levi-Corpus!"

Nothing happened.

"Wow…don't overdo it!" Harry said dryly.

"Maybe it needs more than one casting the spell." She retorted.

"Everyone on three." Harry said.

They pointed their wands at the boulder.

"One…two…three…Levi Corpus."

Nothing.

"Do you think we can't use magic?" Luna asked.

"Like the reverse magic thing?" Daphne asked.

She was by now leaning against the boulder for support.

Harry stepped up to her and put and arm around her shoulders.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Let's see if we can try something different." She waved his worries aside.

"Like what?" Luna asked.

"Try to blow it up?" Harry suggested.

"And bring everything down around us because you can't aim? No thanks." Daphne said but her voice was so meek it didn't have the desired effect.

"Then let's do it the muggle way. Let's try lifting it. You and me Daphne and Luna, you pull it out, okay?" Harry offered.

"Alright." Luna said. Daphne just nodded

They gathered around the boulder, jamming their fingers into the small space underneath it.

"Okay, on three again and lift with your knees." Harry said.

They had to wait though because a coughing fit shook Harrys inside.

"One…two…th…three…" he wheezed and he and Daphne heaved.

The stone budged a bit but not enough for Luna to complete pull the metal rod out.

They let go, breathing heavily, what really wasn't so good, considering what they were breathing in, despite the protective spell.

"Luna, you need to help us lift. At least with one hand and try to full it out with the other!" Harry wheezed.

"You guys can barely stand!" Luna protested.

"No other choice."

"Why are you not affected?" Daphne asked breathlessly, her eyes dropping all the time.

"It affects me. Just not so much." Lunas said.

"Why? It's not fair." Daphne slurred.

"I'll tell you later." Luna promised.

"Let's get back to lifting." Harry muttered. "Come on girls, the others are counting on us. Our friends, our family members!" he said intently, grabbing the boulder securely.

The girls nodded determination on their faces.

"One…two…three!"

They managed to lift it again, enough for Luna to pull it nearly completely out.

And then things went wrong.

Daphne collapse and they all lost their grip.

Harry could narrowly avoid getting his fingers squashed.

"Daphne!" he shouted and fell down beside her.

Her skin was hot and clammy and she moaned.

"Harry! I don't feel good." She whispered.

"Don't worry, we'll be out in a second!" he promised and looked up at Luna.

"Did you get it?" he asked hopefully.

His head was hurting. His lungs were hurting.

Luna shook her head.

She pointed back at the small chimney and the boulder and the metal rod.

She had only managed to pull it out partly so that one side of the boulder was blocked by it and the rest sealed off the chimney and the fumes. It stuck out at a high angle and Harry knew that if they lifted the boulder again the rod could slip into the chimney!

But he needed Luna to help him lift the stone!

"Luna, grab that rod and don't let it go. I will try to lift the boulder far enough for you to pull it out, yes?"

She nodded, slightly pale to her face.

"Alright, here we go." Harry muttered and tore at the boulder, trying it to lift.

Luna pushed with one hand.

"Come one, come on, come on!" Harry whispered as he used all the strength he could muster.

The skin on his fingertips tore open and the blood made his fingers slippery.

The rod moved a bit.

"Come on, come ON!" he kept whispering.

He felt sick to the stomach and his head pounded.

Most of his vision was taken over by colorful circles.

Faintly he could her Luna mutter: "Come…come…come! Please!"

He saw her start push again the boulder with both hands and together they managed to raise it a bit higher but then happened what Harry had dreaded.

The metal rod started to slip inwards.

"No!" he croaked.

Suddenly there was a streak of gold and Luna let out a shout.

She let go and Harry had no choice but to follow.

He too collapsed to the ground.

He thought it was over.

He thought the key had plumaged into the chimney.

But then Luna was there, kneeling next to him.

"I got it Harry! I got it! They came! I'll get you out of here!"

Her voice was so far away!

His head rolled onto the hard ground floor.

Luna squeezed his hand and the last thing Harry saw was golden light.

Then he was dragged under into an abstract world of hallucinations and colors.

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When he woke he was disorientated and weak.

The first thing he did was being violently sick on himself.

"Whoa! Careful there!" said someone and listed his head and rolled him onto his side so he could spit the rest of the sick out and didn't choke on it.

The movement didn't go with his stomach and it heaved up another load of vomit.

The someone that held him was rubbing soothing circles over his back and talking soft nonsense to help him calm down.

Harry groaned and could just barely keep another wave of his digested food inside when he smelled his own vomit on him and the floor.

"It's okay Harry, let it out. It's better that way."

"Rashid?" he asked feebly, recognizing the voice.

"Yes Harry. You're fine. Can you sit up?"

With the Healers help Harry managed to sit up.

Rashid banished the sick from his cloths and gave Harry a cup of water for cleansing his mouth.

Harry felt a lot better after that.

"Alright, let me check your vitals." Rashid said softly.

He shone a light in Harry's eyes, took his pulse and blood pressure and made him answer some simple questions.

Harry still felt sick and there was still the vertigo, combined with the wrong coloration of some things.

Also he was shaking though he didn't feel cold.

"It's alright Harry, what you're experiencing is withdrawal from the opium. A horrible feeling, I know but it'll be alright."

"I feel…so…strange." Harry groaned through chattering teeth.

"A bit of food and movement will do you good." Rashid assured him.

"Are the others alright then?" Harry asked.

"Everyone is fine." Assure Daphne's mentor him.

"So what happened? The last thing I remember is Luna saying she got the key and then there was…some kind of golden light…" he whispered.

"No golden light, Golden Snidgets."

Harry turned to see Luan approach him with a bowl of food.

She knelt down next to him and smiled at him.

"Turns out I can speak to birds. Daphne was right. I asked the Snidgets to come and they did. They carried me out of the chute. I opened the blockade by pushing the metal rod in the opening and twisting it. It opened almost instantly. Then I returned to the others. The spell I had put on them had helped. Most of them where awake by then and Rashid was strong enough to take care of them and recover you and Daphne from the well." She explained and handed him the bowl.

"Thanks." He muttered.

"So… the Snidgets helped? That's amazing." He said, sipping at the soup.

"It is. Alice says she's jealous."

"Jealous of what?" Harry asked.

Luna smiled and reached behind her back.

"Say hello to Pumpkin!" she said excitedly.

In her cupped palms sat one of the golden birds, blinking up at Harry with curious red eyes.

Harry stared at it.

"He pulled the key from underneath the stone when we were lifting it!" Luna explained excitedly.

"He hasn't been leaving her side ever since then." Said the chuckling voice of her father behind her.

Mr. Lovegood looked tired and a bit unsteady on his feet but he smiled at his daughter proudly.

"Mr. Lovegood. Good to see you."

"Good to see you too Harry." The historian said. "I thank you for saving us."

"It wasn't just me." Harry said quickly.

"I know but I still need to thank you." The tall man said calmly before walking off again.

Rashid propped Harry up against a wall and began mixing some draughts together for Harry to take.

"Where's the rest?" Harry asked. "How is Daphne?"

"Daphne, like you, has a bit of a hard time with the withdrawal because of the high dosage you both inhaled. By all means you should be dead but we're glad you're not. Thomas is looking after her" Rashid pointed over to Hiccups other side where, a bit hidden from view Harry could see Thomas's blond head, bend over someone on the ground "Everyone else is more or less up and walking" Rashid continued "I told them to give you some space and Luna told us everything already. If you want I can fetch Bill for you."

"Yes please."

Rashid got up and vanished.

"Daphne will be fine. She's a bit sick like you and has a fever but nothing bad." Luna answered his unasked question.

Harry nodded his thanks.

"Where are we anyway?" he asked Luna.

She was scratching Pumpkins head and smiled up at him.

"Rashid and I moved you all deeper into the tunnel and away from that cave. We found this alcove in the path and decided to rest here. The others are a bit farther down the tunnel around the corner."

True to her word Bill came around the corner.

He sagged with relieve when he saw Harry sitting upright.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"I'm fine." Harry assured him. "How do you feel?" he asked back.

"Horrible but better already."

"That's good." Harry closed his eyes and leaned his head against the wall.

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AN: I'm on a strange roll. Expect more soon! Hope you like it. The Snidgets, as you probably realize are also from J.K. Rowling. They are the birds they used to hunt for Quidditch before they invented the golden snitch!

Thanks for the reviews, I hope for more

Love Kate