Introduction: Hi, everyone! How are you all doing? I decided to post today because this week is going to be really busy. I have a project to finish and a field trip at the end of the week, so I don't think I'll have much time to post during the week. This is the second from the last chapter and we're almost over with Year Three. Did you like Athena's third year? Tell me how you felt about it, 'cause I'd love to read your opinion. I also wanna send a big hug to Sonny Daniels, who left a great comment on my last chapter. In addition, I wanna thank you guys for the almost 20.000 views, the 38 of you who clicked Favorite and the 55 of you who are following. Thank you so, so much! Don't forget to follow me on Instagram, because I'll be participating on Yantarnii's Inktober about Hogwarts Mystery. It's at jillklein dot ff and I'm also posting my The Sims 4 HM characters. It's super fun to play with them. Anyway, I hope you enjoy today's chapter. As usual, any comments, critiques or concerns, feel free to contact me.

Chapter Twenty Three – The Vault of Fear

Barnaby proves to be a very nice guy to be around and quite a gentleman as well. He offers to carry the books I pick on the library till the table we're using; he willingly opens the flasks I can't open during Potions class; and sometimes offers his scarf when it seems like I'm too cold. I'm still not sure how to behave around such chivalry and tend to blush every time he makes something like this.

Merula, on the other hand, doesn't seem happy at all to lose another friend. Her violet eyes burn with assassin intensity and she makes an extra effort to hit me with her bag every single time she walks by me. It makes me feel a little sad for her, having only Ismelda to talk to, but if she had been a good friend from the start, Barnaby wouldn't trade sides so easily.

Before I realize, the beginning of spring falls upon Hogwarts, bringing blooming flowers and a delicious fresh aroma to the castle. With no snow or cold around, everyone seems to be extra cheerful and even Rowan seems to be more relaxed having Charlie around.

I've been carrying my brother's book everywhere, just in case. We have been studying, researching and practicing for whatever we may find inside the vault and also coming up with the entire alphabet in plans, in case they all go wrong.

"Okay," Tulip says while we're at the library, her voice barely a whisper. "Plan Q: we use the Body-Bind Curse in everyone that comes in our way and then-"

"That's an awful plan," Rowan says, straightening her back when Charlie hops into the library. "We can talk about this later."

On March 21st, the entire castle is sparkling in red and gold, and in yellow and black. The Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff match brings everyone to a cheerful spirit and even Rowan is wearing Charlie's Gryffindor hat.

"This is so embarrassing," she says, trying to fix her hair that's falling under the huge top hat.

"You're his girlfriend, Rowan," Tulip says, pinning a big Gryffindor brooch in one side of her chest and another one of Hufflepuff on the other. "Live with it."

"First of all, I'm not his girlfriend," she hisses. "I'm a girl and I'm his friend, but I'm not his girlfriend."

"Denial," Tulip sighs. "That's so sad."

"Why are you wearing two brooches after all?" she asks. "You can't root for two teams at the same time."

"Of course I can!" Tulip says. "And then I'll be happy whatever the final score is. After all, Bill and Ben are Gryffindors and they are our friends. And Penny and Tonks too, and they are Hufflepuffs. It's only fair that I treat them equally."

Ben is wearing the t-shirt I gave him for Christmas, looking very happy while we head to the pitch. When we're halfway there, Ben's smile vanishes when Bill stops us, looking quite apprehensive.

"Did you see who's going to watch the game?" he says. "Madam Pince!"

"Really?" I exclaim, feeling my stomach twisting. "That means the library is unguarded?"

"Correct," he says. "All our teachers are watching the match too. With the exception of Snape, obviously."

"Are you suggesting that we-"

"Enter the next vault," he says, firmly. "Right now."

Ben shrieks, his face twisting in an expression of pure terror. Tulip and Tonks exchange accomplice smirks.

"I'll be around," Tonks says. "I've brought my arsenal... just in case."

"But Charlie," Rowan cries. "He's the seeker and he-"

"Will be very disappointed if you miss his game," I sigh. "Go watch it, Row. I'll feel better if you're not in danger."

"Are you kidding me?" she says. "Like I'd trade going on adventure with you to go to a Quidditch match... Frankly. I'll tell Charlie I had cramps or something."

"He definetely won't ask any questions about that, I'm sure," Bill smiles.

I feel nervous and unprepared while we rush through the completely empty and silent corridors, straight to the library. Once again, we're breaking the rules while everyone is watching a Quidditch game.

To our complete surprise, Madam Pince left the library completely unlocked and when we approach the Restricted Section, I begin to feel very nauseated.

"Here," Penny says, handing me a small potion flask. "It's a Draught of Peace. It will keep you calm."

The citrusy liquid instantly brings me extreme relaxation and all my fears seem to vanish. I draw my wand, wondering if a simple Alohomora will open the padlock and, for my astonishment, it does.

"I've always thought this lock was enchanted," I say. "Like yours, Tulip."

"Apparently Madam Pince doesn't think the students are stupid enough to venture into the Restricted Section," she says with a smirk.

"I'll be outside," Tonks says. "Just in case."

She disappears on the outside of the library and the rest of us draw our wands before opening the heavy metal doors.

"Well, well, well," Merula's voice makes us turn around with uneasy hearts. "What do we have here?"

She comes out from the shadows, followed by a very creepy looking Ismelda. Apparently they're been waiting for us all this time.

"What do you want, Merula?" Barnaby says, standing ahead of us.

"I want what's inside the Cursed Vault, you numpty," she spits. "Same as you, Lockhart. Just for a much less pitiful reason."

"And I just wanna watch you all bleed," Ismelda says in a hissy voice.

We all aim our wands at them and Merula's violet eyes don't move away from mine.

"Everte Statum!" Ismelda casts, hitting Barnaby straight on his chest. He's pushed back, falling heavily over the floor.

However, he quickly stands up and points his wand at them.

"Get out of the way, you glorified troll!" Merula shouts.

"No," he says firmly. "I don't take orders from you anymore," he then looks at us. "Go. I'll hold them back."

"But Barnaby," I say, worried.

"Go!" he exclaims, and Rowan pulls me into the Restricted Section.

Once inside, though I'm feeling very calm, I know I must hurry.

"The book opens the way," I recite. "Look for missing books on the shelves!"

I ignore the places where the books I removed should be and we all desperately look for any spaces we could stick my brother's book. It all seems to lead to the same particular shelf where I felt the cold draught coming from.

"Here," Rowan says, pointing to an empty space between two big Dark Arts books.

I promptly stick Jake's book in there and the bookcase instantly moves upwards, revealing a heavy double wood door.

"I got rid of Merula and Ismelda!" Barnaby says, rushing in our direction. "But if I know them, they'll run straight to Snape."

I shiver, wondering if my Potions teacher will be too angry or too disappointed at me; or both. It hurts me that he'll know I'm doing all sorts of reckless stuff once again.

"Wow," Barnaby gasps, staring at the big doors.

Rowan points her wand at the door.

"Alohomora," and the door makes a clicking unlocking sound. "Let's go."

We open the doors, entering a room that – for my surprise – looks just like the previous vault. The heavy doors close behind us and the fire on the torches don't seem to bring any heat to our hearts and bodies.

The room has the same hexagonal shape, the same pattern on the floor, the same suits of armors all around and the same structure right in the middle, with the same ethereal yellow light shining on the inside. The only thing that is, in fact, different, are the many ghost-like shapes moving around the room, shaped like bats, spiders, snakes, dragons and demons.

Ben immediately comes closer to me, panting, looking completely terrified.

"Did the other vault look like this?" Tulip asks with trembling voice.

"Yes, but no," I answer. "Not nearly this terrifying."

"I don't like this at all," Ben cries.

"I think the curse remains unbroken," Bill says, wand in hand.

The atmosphere in here seems to be gloomier and scarier than on the previous vault. On the other hand, this room isn't nearly as cold.

"Nox," a sibilant voice says, seeming to come from every suit of armor around us.

"Oh, no," Barnaby shrieks.

The room goes completely dark, except for something that looks like water, covering every inch of the room. There's no floor, no watching suits of armor, no dome in the middle; there's only dark cold water, covering the floor and the walls, the ceiling looking like an endless black hole.

Right in front of us, smoke starts to rise from the water, twisting like a typhoon, glowing in a supernatural shade of red, until six tall and sinister looking men appear; their cold and evil eyes seem to steal the effect of Penny's potion from my body.

"Avada Kedavra!" the man in the center says, aiming directly at me.

My entire view goes blank, like I'm lost in a white immensity, and I begin to feel completely cold and scared. My heart seems to be beating out of time and my voice seems to be lost somewhere inside me.

My vision slowly starts to come back and an automatic scream comes out from my throat when I absorb the scene unrolling in front of me.

The six You-Know-Who are holding my friends captive, but the entire thing seems to be frozen. I notice one of them looking at Rowan with murderous eyes, aiming his wand at her, and her face twisted in complete horror.

My eyes wander from her to Penny and then to Bill and Ben, and then to Tulip and Barnaby. They all have pure dread in their eyes and Ben even has tears running down his cheeks.

I tighten the grip around my wand, taking deep breaths while my heart beats desperately inside my chest.

They're boggarts.

That's all they are.

There aren't six You-Know-Who.

They're just boggarts.

It takes all of me to point my wand to the man standing closer to me, the one who's threatening Rowan.

"Riddikulus!" I shout and the evil man instantly turns into the same dancing clown from the Greenhouse.

"Athie!" Rowan cries, apparently coming out from her trance. Her dark brown eyes are a waterfall of tears and she wraps her arms around me in a desperate hug.

"Let's free our friends!" I say, but she's shaking too much to have a good grip on her wand. I rush to the next man, aiming his wand at Penny. "Riddikulus!"

I do it four more times, releasing Tulip, Ben, Bill and Barnaby from their dreadful nightmares, and the one who needs more consolation – as I expected – seems to be Ben. He falls to his knees, panting, shrieking in complete agony, and Penny has to shove some Draught of Peace in his mouth for him to calm down.

"What now?" Rowan asks, shivering.

"I'm not sure," I say, looking around.

"Your brother's research mentioned facing our greatest fear," Tulip says. "You beat the boggarts, but... maybe we should say our fears out loud!"

"Worth the shot," I say, raising my voice. "LOSING MY BROTHER! YOU-KNOW-WHO!"

"BETRAYING MY FRIENDS!" Tulip shouts. "HURTING TONKS!"

"FAILING MY EXAMS!" Rowan goes right after.

"PINE CONES!" Ben yells.

"LOSING MY FAMILY!" Bill says.

"WEREWOLVES!" Penny cries.

"CLOWNS!" Barnaby shouts and we all look at him with curiosity. "I can't be the only one who thought those Boggarts were more frightening after Athena cast the spell."

"It's not working," I say. "Something is wrong..."

Then something happens. I feel light and slightly dizzy and all I seem to see is a thick white fog. I don't see my friends anymore nor hear their voices.

I'm all alone.

"It's too late, Athena," Jake's voice is crisp and clear, seeming to come right from somewhere in front of me. I reach out my arms, but all I grab is mist.

"JAKE!" I shout. "Where are you?"

"He's already inside you," he continues in his usual melodic voice. "You have to fight, Athena! Fight!"

The mist dissipates, as well as my brother's voice, and I find myself back in the Cursed Vault, the water still covering everything, but my friends are nowhere to be seen.

"ROWAN!" I yell. "PENNY! BILL!"

No one answers.

Instead, that dreadful smoke rises again and the pale evil You-Know-Who/Boggart appears in front of me. Only this time there's only one.

"There is nothing worse than death," he hisses, aiming his wand at me.

"Riddikulus!" I shout even before I have time to think.

Nothing seems to happen and he simply flashes me the most demoniac looking smile I have ever seen.

I raise my wand again.

"Flipendo!" and my spell hits him right in the chest, pushing him back.

That's it.

I have to literally fight my fears.

"Incendio!" I shout and the red light comes from my wand and sets his black robes on fire. He releases a loud scream and points his wand at me.

"Avada Kedavra!" he shouts, but deep inside I know the Killing Curse won't affect me. He's just a boggart...

"Protego!" I say and the shield protects me from the green light coming straight to me. "Expelliarmus!"

His wand flies from his hand, falling somewhere inside the water and disappears into a small cloud of smoke. He grins at me – devilishly – and takes a step closer.

"Riddikulus!" I shout and this time it works.

The boggart twists and turns into the same dancing clown I've seen countless times and his mouth opens in an amused smile.

"Game over," I say, releasing a snicker of relief.

He makes a bow before dissipating into a purple and blue smoke. Gently, all the water seems to vanish as well and little by little I start to see my friends again; see-through at first, but then they become completely solid, until we find ourselves inside the Cursed Vault again.

"Athena!" Rowan says, wrapping her arms around me in a hug.

"What happened?" I ask when I see their concerned stares.

"I don't know," Bill says. "You were frozen. Suspended in the air like a puppet!"

"Oh my God," Rowan cries. "I'm so happy you're okay!"

"You guys," Barnaby calls and we look to where he's looking at.

The light inside the domed structure seems to be getting stronger, flooding the room with its yellow shimmer.

I walk to it determined and reach my hand to touch its cool wall.

Nothing happens.

"I don't understand," I say. "All I did was to touch the last one... and it opened."

"Wait," Tulip says, kneeling by the marble base of the structure. "There's something written in here. To open, a wizard must make the ultimate sacrifice."

"Like... a blood sacrifice?" Ben screeches.

"No," I say, opening my bag. "This is too obvious. The ultimate sacrifice we could do is to give up our magic."

"Your brother figured it out," Rowan says, watching me draw Jake's broken wand from my bag.

"All this time, I thought they had broken it when he was expelled," I say, sadly. "When it was him all along. He gave up his magic to try to save everyone."

I touch the dome with my brother's broken wand and just like the previous one, the walls open like a flower, revealing its shining interior.

"Look!" Barnaby gasps.

Inside, floating carelessly in between the flickering light, it's a broken arrow and a scroll of yellowed parchment. I reach out and grab them, instantly feeling my heart lightening up. The yellow light inside the dome fades away and we're left with the two curious objects and a feeling of accomplishment in our hearts.

Rowan grabs the broken arrow from my hand and starts to study it. Gently, I unroll the parchment, my eyes finding a very intricate and well-drawn map.

"A map," Bill says, his eyes moving over it. "Of the Forbidden Forest."

"How do you know?" I ask.

"I've been there before," he says. "Charlie loves dragons. He once convinced me to go look for some in the forest."

"The arrow's head is missing," Rowan says. "What do you think this means?"

"It's pretty clear to me," Tulip says. "The next vault must be inside the forest."

"There's something scribbled in the corner of the map," Bill says, running his finger over the paper to straighten it. "Just a letter R."

My heart seems to freeze.

R again.

"What do we do now?" Ben cries.

I look at my amazing friends, thinking of how I could possibly thank them enough.

"Let's get out of here."