A few days ago in Science class, we learned about Mitosis and Meiosis. I inwardly cursed the scientists for making our lives miserable by naming the cell-life-cycle processes with such names that would surely break the 'Most Confusing Nouns in the Whole World' record.
Those two words made me stupid as well! I'm typing out scientific nouns on my fanfic! Wow!
…I'll just stop.
PS (the cartoon/self-proclaimed anime-whatever-rubbish— "Kappa Mikey", is going to the dogs.)
Chapter 30: Lore
Hermione took a deep breath, telling herself to calm down as the furious fight behind the pole she was hiding from raged onward. Occasionally there would be an explosion loud enough to make Hermione squeak and jump like a frightened mouse.
"Oh Harry…!" she whispered anxiously, peering out the corner every now and then, trying to locate Harry and her friends. Yet the battlefield was so dusty and dangerous, with Death Eaters shouting out spells and sharp glass flying everywhere that it was almost impossible for Hermione to pinpoint their location.
Oh why is this happening? Hermione gulped, and tears started to swim in her eyes, Didn't I tell Harry not to come? Didn't I tell Harry that this might be a trap? Oh, why the hell is he so stubborn?
A curse surged passed her by a few centimeters and hit the wall in front of her, causing the cement to explode. Hermione quickly braced herself from harm.
She and her friends were in desperate need of help, but the pitiless fact about no one knowing anything of the situation they were in right now, just made Hermione feel even worse.
But now, my friends need every help I can offer, and right at this moment I'm hiding here like a coward while the others are risking their lives to fight off the Death Eaters! Leaning against the pole, Hermione slowly straightened up as guilt stabbed through her heart. She held a tight grip of her wand, took a deep breath, spun around and dashed out into the vindictive and merciless battlefield.
"We're almost there!" Lupin called out as the trees beside him rushed backward, "You guys see the glinting roof? That's the building right beside the Telephone Booth."
"Hurry up," Orochimaru addressed the snake, and it slithered forward even faster, "Be sure to stay among the trees, though. We won't want people on the streets to see us."
"You'd think I wanted that as well?" snapped the snake.
Ahead of them the trees thinned, uncovering a mass of neon lights, people, and cars rushing through the crowded traffic. But still the snake soared forward with incredible speed.
Jiraiya started to feel that something was wrong, "Er…Orochimaru? I think he should stop now."
"You can stop now, Kurogumo," called Orochimaru through the wind, "You can drop us off now."
But the snake spread an evil grin across its cunning face, "Oh, I just want to check out something, that's all—"
"Wait, no!" Tsunade panicked, "The people! The people will see—"
They burst through the cover of trees and leaped into the open. Through this split second of pure horror, Lupin took a glance at the Muggles on the streets, seeing if they'd seen the giant snake. A few of then did look up, but to his confusion, they didn't seemed to be frightened. As a matter of fact, they looked down and continued their business as though nothing had happened.
Lupin glanced ahead, and discovered that they were still speeding through the Muggle streets with such speed that the things around him became blur. Were they speeding by so fast that even the Muggles could detect only little of their existence?
"Hold on tight!" Kurogumo hissed as it zigzagged between all the traffic. Orochimaru gave it a dangerous growl, "Who told you to show off your worthless skills, Kurogumo! There's no time for you to play here!"
"There's a lot you haven't seen form me, kid," replied the snake, with a hint of smugness in its tone. Before Orochimaru could guess its next move, the snake gave a violent twist and dived straight down towards solid ground.
Tsunade screamed and shut her eyes, thinking that the very next second she would be slammed right onto the hard cement in front her, but no impact came. Feeling confused, she opened her eyes, and was as shock as the others could be: They were drilling through the earth, yet no damage was done, for the rocks and minerals soared passed them as though they were nothing but gas.
For a second Tsunade thought they had turned into ghosts, but the thought was somehow dismissed by some fact that even she couldn't explain.
"What just happened?" Jiraiya shouted fearfully, snapping his head around to stare at this unbelievable sight as compressed rock shot right through him, "Orochimaru! What did that snake do to us?"
"Let me guess, you turned us all into transparent…stuff…" growled Orochimaru, unable to control his fury for being teased by the snake's unpredictable action.
The snake gave a satisfied hiss, as though enjoying its master's embarrassment, before it said, "Ha-ha, not bad eh? This is one of my skills that I decided to keep it just to myself. I didn't even tell my wife about it!"
"I don't give a damn about your wife…" Orochimaru muttered, "Now I'd better hope you know where you're going!"
The snake snorted, as if mad at Orochimaru for not trusting its instincts, but Lupin, despite the fact that he had gone green in the face due to this bazaar speeding-into-the-rocks-without-getting-knocked-out situation, explained calmly, "Well, the Ministry is huge; we will somehow end up in it anyways. Though I guess we will still have to find a way towards the Department of Mysteries…"
Almost instantly, Lupin's worry was solved. Kurogumo seemed to have detected something, as he turned his around to face the people on his back. "I sensed something slightly to my left," it hissed, "…humans…yes, I smell humans, along with a vibration of unknown…stuff."
"Could the vibrations be magic, then?" Jiraiya questioned Orochimaru, "And the people it sensed might be Harry and the others!"
"Could be true," Tsunade pointed out, "Why not go and check?"
"Fine," replied Orochimaru, as he leaned forward to command the snake, "Go there then, Kurogumo, if you've truly sensed something unusual."
"Stay still then," said the snake mischievously, "I might choose to bash through the wall into the building, depending on my mood right now."
"Come out, come out, where ever you are," a snide voice sang out through the wrecked and dusty room, making the tension within unbearable than ever. Harry really couldn't stand this, he felt like a cowering rabbit inside a hostile forest waiting to be eaten by any stray cat that passed by. He could die any moment now.
Beside him, Ginny was shivering, whether in pain because of her injured ankle or because of pure fear Harry couldn't tell. He mouthed the words "you all right?" to the fourth-year and she nodded firmly, though her tightly shut mouth gave away that she was suffering badly.
The two of them were hidden behind a huge strange stone statue, at least vast enough to conceal all of them, so that the Death Eater who was taunting his prey like a hunter didn't seemed to have seen anything.
"Just come out already! I don't have all day!" he sneered around the room again, who then gave a rasping laugh. Harry narrowed his eyes, trying desperately to find a way out of this mess.
There were other tings he had to worry about as well. Even though he was quite sure Hermione and Ron were together, their exact location was still unknown, and the last time Harry had seen Luna and Neville seemed to be ages ago.
"Let's…let's try…to overpower him," suddenly Harry was snapped out of his thoughts as Ginny whispered, while trying hard to ignore the stabbing pain that throbbed in her twisted ankle, "We have two wands…and he only has one!"
Harry wasn't too sure about this. What if they were spotted and the Death Eater reacted faster than they did? He knew that the Death Eater couldn't kill him because of Voldemort's orders, but Ginny would put her life as risk if discovered.
But what other choices did Harry have? Surely help wouldn't come at a time like this?
Harry closed his eyes, blindly wishing for anything, anything, to arrive by their side when all hope seemed lost. A few painful seconds later, when the Death Eater was still stalking playfully somewhere among the room, calling out his name, Harry realized that he would just have to face the truth. Nobody was going to come.
"Let's go then Ginny," he whispered into her ear, and she stared back at him, her chestnut-colored eyes as determined as ever. She nodded. "On the count of three, then," continued Harry, making his voice as low as possible, afraid that the Death Eater might hear their voices, "You attack on the left side and I on the right. One…two…three!"
On Harry's final signal, both of them swirled their bodies around and pushed with their feet, enabling them to dash out from behind the statue and aim a clear shot at the surprised Death Eater:
"STUPEFY!"
There was a yell mixed with shock and rage, and then the next second, the man had fallen down, limp as a board.
Staring down at the Death Eater's motionless body, Harry backed away and sighed gratefully. Ginny was still panting beside him. "Well, at least we're temporarily save now," she said, smiling while trying to sooth the pain that came stimulating through her twisted ankle.
"Yeah," Harry said, straightening up, and glanced around the clearing. Apart from the Death Eater lying awkwardly faced-down on the floor, nothing inside the room seemed to be out of place. At last he concluded, "I think we really are safe now, Ginny. Let's get back out and find the oth—"
WACK.
The unexpected sharp blow on his head made Harry scream out loud as he stumbled and fall to the ground, covering his blood-streaming head in pain.
"HARRY!" He heard Ginny's frantic scream beside him, then suddenly her scream stopped so abruptly that Harry panicked even more. "Ginny? Ginny!"
Harry's body suddenly tensed, and he felt a wand poking straight at the back of his throat, followed by a clear, cold voice, "This will be your last chance, Potter. Give me the prophecy."
Harry tried to struggle, but pointed tip of Lucius's wand stabbing at his neck didn't increase his progress to freedom at all. At last Harry gave up the attempt to escape and growled instead, "If you dare make a move, I'll smash the sphere in my hand."
"Oh you dare commend me, Potter?" Lucius hissed back, "If you smash the sphere, then your little girlfriends' heart…will be smashed open as well."
Harry gripped the floor with his fingers as anger and worry swept through him. Even though he couldn't see, he could still tell that Lucius had taken control over Ginny. But one thing for sure, at least, was that Ginny wasn't dead yet. Harry closed his eyes again, trying to think of any possible way that could get them out of this. The prophecy, which was held tight in his palm between the weight of his body and the floor, seemed to giving out unusual heat.
"Fine," Harry said, "But you have to let me get up first."
"I don't need you to get up Potter. Just hand it to me now!"
"I want to see if Ginny's okay! If you don't let me up, I'll smash the prophecy."
An amused smirk curled up Lucius' lips, "Didn't I tell you that if you break it, the girl will die as well?"
Harry hesitated. Then he picked out his words carefully, "Of course I've heard about that. If I really don't have a choice, then the sphere will be my first priority. At least I could have prevented you from taking it."
Feeling extremely amused and taken-aback by the boy's words, Lucius' smirk grew even wider, until he let out a shout of laugher and said, "Incredible, Potter! Simply incredible! Ignoring your friend's endangered life to protect something of your own? What would the Wizarding World say about this when they've found out that the savior of human kind has turned into a selfish coward?"
"Who says that I'm protecting things of my own?" panted Harry, still holding on to the sphere tightly, "I'm merely preventing Voldemort from taking what he wants." As he spoke, his hand gripping on his wand rotated slowly so that, though invisible to Lucius, it was pointing straight at him.
"Do not speak the Dark Lord's name!" the Death Eater spat angrily, clearly unaware that Harry had his wand aimed at himself. "I don't give a damn about Voldemort, Malfoy," Harry replied as he silently waited for the right time to come.
If I could just aim properly at him with a Stunning spell, we might be able go get out of here, thought Harry, but if I missed…he would see right through my act.
Oh well, it's worth a try.
"Stupe—" BOOM.
Harry gasped at the deafening crash that seemed to come from behind him and covered his head as quickly as he could as large chunks of cement and rocks showered down upon his body. Somewhere in the distance he could hear Malfoy's shout of astonishment. For a second Harry thought wildly of Ginny, who was probably unconscious and exposed to the huge unknown explosion.
Immediately he called her name out loud again, ignoring the chocking dust that came rushing up into the air and into his mouth, "Ginny! Ginny! Can you hear me? Are you all right? GINNY!"
A voice somewhere in the room responded to him, making Harry sigh in relief, yet his joyfully of knowing Ginny was okay quickly turned into horror when he recognized that the voice did not belong to Ron's sister.
"Ginny?" Harry called out again through the smoke, desperately hoping that the voice he had heard was actually Ginny, "All you all right?"
This time the voice replied again, though it sounded closer to Harry than usual, "Harry? Can you hear us?"
Us? Wondered it hit him, of course, the Order members!
"Sirius? Lupin? —MadEye?"
Fragments of rock were still sprinkling down upon him, yet the dust and smoke had cleared significantly. Harry squinted through the misty scene and spotted shadows roaming around near the exploded entrance. Harry intake a sharp breath and dashed forward to meet them, only to scream in horror when he almost ran into the biggest snake he had ever seen. For a moment of a heartbeat he had thought the basilisk had raised from the dead, yet looking closely at its pearly white scales, Harry wasn't too sure.
Feeling slightly confused he jerked his head to his right and saw no one but Orochimaru standing right there.
"…Oh," Harry said stupidly, after discovering whom the snake belonged to.
"Hello Harry!" Harry turned his to his left and saw Tsunade and Jiraiya sitting on the floor, with the unconscious Ginny lying in front of them, "Thought I heard you calling Ginny's name somewhere in there," Tsunade said, nodding at Harry, "She's okay though. I'm not good with magic spells and stuff, but I can assume that she's just been Stunned."
A faint hiss made Harry turn his head back cautiously toward the white snake, and nearly jumped when the creature spoke, "Hehehe, we landed in a good spot, didn't we? First try and we've already succeeded in discovering a scene with pitiful-looking brats in dust-flying rooms." The golden eyes of Kurogumo stared at Harry with interest, making him feel uneasy.
"It's okay Harry. He's way better than Nagini." A fourth voice spoke from behind the snake and Lupin came walking out, smiling gratefully at Harry, "I'm really happy that you're okay, Harry."
"Thanks," was all Harry could manage to say. Staring at the people in front of him in each turn, Harry couldn't help but wonder why, out of every single Order member that he'd known enough that would come and save him no matter what the cost, the ones that had come to his aid had to be the Sannins. Truthfully he had never really expected this, but was extremely grateful nevertheless.
"Wow…I mean, I really didn't expect—'
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Jiraiya smirked and yawned mockingly, "Oh I'd really want to stay in bed instead of coming to rescue you, Harry. Yet too bad, the bed sheet's still inside the laundry."
Everyone laughed at Jiraiya's joke, but the snake wasn't one of them as it hissed, "While you humans are chitchatting about some ignorant jokes, I would be grateful leave right now."
"Oh sorry," Orochimaru raised his eyebrows at it, looking unconcerned, "Yeah, I think you can go now."
Kurogumo snorted as a cloud of smoke engulfed his massive body, "Be careful of how you treat your elders, kid, or else this'll be the last time I'll help you." With that, he departed with a swish of his tail and disappeared with the fading smoke.
"Say, where's Malfoy?" asked Harry, looking around the now dust-cleared room.
"Malfoy? Why would Draco Malfoy be here?" questioned Jiraiya.
"No, I mean Lucius Malfoy. He pinned me down right before you guys bashed through that wall."
"I think I saw him," said Lupin, looking grave, "When we made the explosion through the wall, I caught a glimpse of Malfoy turning and staring at Kurogumo. He then yelled and dashed out the door over there." –he pointed toward the main entrance of the room— "I just about to aim a spell at him but was almost caught off balance."
Harry stared down at Ginny's unconscious body, and had to admit that, even though they couldn't get a hold on Malfoy, it was still considered great timing when the Sannins had decided to crash through the wall right at the moment.
"Don't worry," Lupin assured them, "He won't escape from the Department."
"I don't care what happens to him," Jiraiya snorted, "I'm just wondering: Ron and Hermione are here too, right? How come I don't see them?"
With a jolt, Harry had realized that he had almost forgotten about his other friends while trying to deal with this mess! What if…they're hurt?
"Come on! We have to find them!" shouted Harry and he bolted through the door and out of sight. The others hurriedly followed, with Tsunade placing Ginny's unconscious form over her back.
As they ran through the complicated hallways of the Department of Mysteries, the Sannins noticed that there were more than meet the eye.
"Um, have you noticed that there are a lot of doors here?" said Jiraiya, eyeing the doors on either side the walls wearily.
"Yeah, I noticed," Harry sighed, but kept on running. Occasionally he would stop and shove a door open, only to find it empty, or filled with things there were best left alone, he would then slam the door shut again and continue to search.
For the next fifteen minutes Harry searched, along with the help of the Sannins and Lupin. In the middle of their process, Orochimaru had eventually lost patience in opening and closing every door that he stopped, scribbled something furiously onto pieces of yellow-looking paper –(in Harry's point of view)—, flung them each onto a door and the next second the whole room seemed to have exploded itself into Hell.
"WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU WARN US FIRST?" Jiraiya bellowed angrily— with his fingers in his ears—, as the endless BANGS continued all the way down the hall.
Harry didn't know whether or not to laugh, as Orochimaru ignored Jiraiya's protest and coolly peered around the doorless rooms.
"It makes the search easier, don't you think?" he said simply, when he had surveyed all of the doorless rooms and started on the other row, "Plus, if we're lucky, we might explode some of those Death Eaters as well, if they happened to be behind a door—"
"Shush," came Lupin's voice. Everyone remained quiet. The werewolf stood there, expression concentrated, as though sensing something unusual. Finally his eyes met with Harry's questioning ones, "Do you hear that?"
Harry closed his eyes in order to concentrate and listened carefully. Despite the soft crackling sounds of the shriveling doorframes, something out of the ordinary seemed to be announcing their arrival. In fact, it was growing louder and louder every passing second.
"It seems to be…coming from upstairs?" suggest Tsunade. Jiraiya groaned, "Oh you can't be serious! There's another floor inside this madhouse?"
"Be quiet Jiraiya!" hissed Orochimaru, as he eyed the ceiling suspiciously. The sound was fallen down his way, louder than ever.
Thinking that these sort of crashing noises falling through planks of levels in a building mostly took their places in cartoons, Harry suspected that for a moment the source of the sound would turn out to be a Grand Piano.
Feeling that his IQ was decreasing for no particular reason at all, Harry shouted to Orochimaru to stay out of the way. Not like Orochimaru would just stand there of course, for he easily stepped aside as the unknown crashing object came exploding through the ceiling and hitting the floor in a heap of bundles.
Knowing that a bundle of light-weighted robes weren't logically born for crashing through floors, Harry quickly yanked off the cloak and revealed an unconscious Ron, who seemed to be lying lifelessly with battle scratches and cuts all over his face and arms.
Horrified, the remaining people yanked their heads up to stare at the never-ending hole above. Judging from the blackness around the vanishing point, Ron must have fallen from a height high enough to compare with the non-existing World Trade Center.
"Oh dear…!" Tsunade sucked in a breath and quickly slide Ginny down on the floor and placed her finger underneath Ron's nose. She then did some hand signs and pressed both of her palms onto his forehead. Her hands glowed blue, and Ron seemed to have relaxed a bit.
"Jiraiya, Orochimaru," Tsunade called, ignoring the Orochimaru's narrowed eyes, "Please check if he has any broken bones. That fall was ridiculously nasty." She looked up again to stare at the Ron-made tunnel and made a face full of disbelief.
While the Sannins were tending to Ron, Harry took his eyes off his friends and glanced up at Lupin, who looked back with all-too understanding eyes. It's impossible for him to survive this fall.
Yet the truth was lying right in front of them. Though skin-injured and unconscious, the boy was fine, judging by the expression on Tsunade's face. Ron was alive, and not too badly hurt; this was confirmed a minute later by Jiraiya and Orochimaru, who told them that Ron had suffered nothing but a few scratches and a twisted arm.
Suddenly Ron gave a jerk and opened his eyelids. "…What…?"
"Ron! You're awake!" Harry rushed to his side and clasped his hands on Ron's shoulder, feeling a surge of pure relief rush through him, "You fell all the way the down here, do you know that?"
Ron's half-opened eyes send him a questioning look, "I…I fell…?"
"Don't tell me you forgot about this!" gasped Jiraiya, astonished, who then pointed at the hole above him, "Blimey, you fell through at least 30 floors!"
Ron followed Jiraiya's gesture and fixed his gaze at the hole himself. After a few moments of silence, Ron's confused expression turned grave, "Oh…yeah, I remembered. I don't know how I could get up there though…but I remembered that a Death Eater had pushed me and I fell backwards, hitting my head on the table edge as well…I think I passed out at that point…" He was still staring at the eternal blackness through the damaged ceiling, as if trying to remember the forgotten details.
"Well, you're lucky that you're not hurt badly," Lupin gave him a comforting smile, "I'm not being rude or anything, but it's really a huge miracle that you can survive this fall Ron." With that, he looked up at the ceiling suspiciously again.
Ron though, was in no mood for suspicion as he supported himself with his healthy arm and got up. Something caught his eyes and he turned to face it, "Oh god— Ginny!"
"Ron, it's okay!" Tsunade held him back firmly when Ron tried to dash toward his sister, "She's okay. She's just unconscious!"
Harry watched as Ron lost his balance and staggered slightly when Tsunade had released her grip on him, but when he turned to face Harry, the sorrow and agony carved on his tired features were noticeably visible, even as he let out a little sigh of relief, "If…if you say so, Tsunade. But we still have to find Hermione, Neville, and Luna. I was with Hermione back then, right before I fell."
"But…how do we get up there?" Orochimaru questioned, looking around them all in turn, "Getting up there myself isn't a problem, of course," –(Jiraiya snorted)— "But unless you guys could think of any spells that makes people fly…"
"Sadly, there's no such spell," answered Lupin. "Maybe we can use Gamma Bunta," Jiraiya suggested, looking hopeful.
"Gamma-what?"
Yet Orochimaru shook his head, "Drop it, Jiraiya. Even I know how high he can jump. Plus where will land after he took the first leap?" he looked at the hole, "Furthermore, the hole is too small anyways."
Retraining every single cell in his body, Jiraiya had managed to control the attempt to punch his teammate.
"Fine! Whatever!" He scoffed, "And you're so smart, you should've thought about something by now!"
As the two Sannins started to argue again, Ron stepped towards Harry and Lupin, "This hallway…I think I came here before." Without letting either one to respond, he started to walk ahead, turning his head from left to right as he studied the hallways closely, and of course, noticing the burnt entrances as well.
Suddenly he stopped dead, then spun to his right and bolted straight into a room. "Ron?" Harry called, alarmed, "Ron! Where are you going?"
Ron poked his head out from the room. "Harry, guess what? I found the room! I was in this room with Hermione just then!"
Bewildered, all of them turned around, Orochimaru and Jiraiya had stopped arguing, and stared at Ron as though he was one of those patience suffering from mental illnesses at the St. Mungo's.
"…What?" said Ron, looking unnerved. Harry shook his head, "Ron, be logical! You fell from way up there!"— He jerked his thumb up at the hole— "And this room is lower than the highest point of that hole, how can your room possibly be this?"
Yet Ron looked quite certain. "Since when is magic logical, anyways?" he asked with a shrugged, "I am sure this is the room, Harry. I remembered all the bookshelves and the fancy tables in here!"
Unconvinced, Orochimaru muttered, "Just follow him and see for ourselves then."
Sure enough, when the party of people entered the room, Ron, despite the uneasy feeling that hung in the air, had enthusiastically shown them the edge of a particular old-fashioned looking table. When Harry peered closer, he could see stains of blood. Ron insisted that the blood was his.
"Tsunade! You can prove it! My head is slightly injured, am I right?"
"Well…true," Tsunade replied, her eyes darting from Jiraiya to Orochimaru, as thought seeking for their help.
"There! That proves it!" Ron laid out his hands matter-of-factedly, "Magic doesn't really make sense all the time. Furthermore, why would this place be called the Department of Mysteries?"
Even though Lupin had left the debate at that and did not argue, something within him seemed to squeeze uncomfortably, and it had nothing to do with his wolf genes. Perhaps the children were still too gullible to believe in something like that, but as far as Lupin could tell, nothing in world, including magic, was illogical.
BE SURE TO READ THIS BEFORE YOU CLOSE THIS WINDOW
Sirius and the other Order members will show up right at the start of the next chapter, and here is something I need you ALL to do. Because as you know, Sirius died in the fifth book, and I was kind of paranoid about this fact; not because I want to become emo because of his death, but because of you guys. Yes, the audiences. I still haven't mastered the art of ignorance yet when it comes down to this particular moment. What I meant is that I need you guys to vote, whether not Sirius will die in the next chapter. If the majority says he dies, than he dies, and he will not reappear in my Naruto version of the Deathly Hollows. If the majority says he does not die, than he will live on to Deathly Hollows (which means I get to recreate a new role for him).
Please, just vote, okay? If you think that I am cheating your reviews by forcing you to vote, then you can just send me a private massage. (Of course, if you chose not to review me, that is. Because if you want to review, why don't you just stuck the vote in as well?)
Thank you very much:)
