The three soldiers led Severus and Cynna through the dry, dimly lit underwater tunnel and into a room shaped like an igloo. The walls were made of glass, but the sea outside was so dark they might as well be solid rock.

"I apologize," the young man said, embarrassed. "We weren't expecting you."

"We sent notice," Cynna said, frowning. "We're looking for passage to Jotunheim."

"If someone received word, it hasn't trickled down to our level yet," the taller of the girls said.

"Perhaps it's ensnared in the diplomatic courts," the smaller girl suggested.

The boy removed his helmet. He had gold hair and eyes. "What is the nature of your mission?"

"We're looking for passage to Jotunheim, as we have said," Severus ground his teeth.

"We aren't a portkey station," the taller of the girls said sharply.

"Other options were blocked because of the recent attacks," Cynna said patiently. "Several people were evacuated to Jotunheim by a well-meaning diplomat—"

"How do you know this was well meaning?" the boy asked. "What if it was an abduction?"

"In the circumstances an evacuation was appropriate," Severus said stiffly.

"And these people in Jotunheim are important?"

"Only if you call Harry Potter important," Cynna snapped.

"Who's Harry Potter?" the tall girl asked curiously.

Normally this would cheer Severus' mood, but now was not the time. "He defeated an evil wizard who still has mad followers set to tearing the world apart. The recent attacks are a diplomatic nightmare. Land devastated. Muggles terrified. Ice titan ravaging the—"

"Titan?" The smaller of the girls gasped. "They're just legend!"

"Not anymore." Severus looked grim.

"You think this Harry Potter can fix everything once they return him to you?" the boy asked.

"When the evacuation happened this one's wife went with Potter," Cynna said, shrugging in Severus' direction. It sounded so short-sighted when she said it.

"Recovering all that were evacuated is a priority," Severus said stubbornly. "Even if Potter can't help our situation he needs to be retrieved."

"It sounds as if you don't like this Potter," the smaller girl said.

"He's irritating," Severus said, and left it at that.

The boy nudged a tile on the floor with his boot and then stamped on it. The lights grew brighter and they revealed a long hallway. "We were doing maneuvers today, that's why we were so close to the manual entrance. Normally we aren't this far out. You're lucky we were around to find you. Otherwise you'd be bumping along in the dark for who knows how long."

"They're wizards, remember," the younger girl prodded him. "They don't need our lights."

"It's good to have them just the same. Thank you," Cynna said politely.


"Do you think it's going to rain?" Ron asked nervously. His eyes darted over the grey sky.

"No," Ginny said firmly. She brushed her hands on her clothes as she got to her feet. "If it does, we'll stop and take shelter in the wagon like we did the last time."

Ron shuddered as he fiddled with a strap on the wagon.

The rain of spiders had stopped and to everyone's amazement, the creatures had melted the next day as if they had been made of ice. Their puddles left dead patches of grass. The magical wagon had been unharmed.

The next few days' journey was hard. The forest finally ended and led bewilderingly into a grey rocky area. They had to stop frequently to maneuver the wagon between crags and outcroppings.

When the land opened into a wide prairie, Nicolai was suspicious, and Nyssa agreed with him.

"We're in a land if illusions and trickery. How can we know if the grass is real? It may be a lava flow in disguise," Nyssa pointed out.

"It's not hot," Harry held out a hand. "I smell nothing burning."

"The land could have killed us earlier if it wanted to," Ron pointed out.

"It isn't a matter of the land wanting to kill us. We could wander onto someone's land without knowing. It could be booby-trapped. I would say nothing, but the treacherous land stopped too abruptly for my taste," Nicolai said.

Ginny hopped down from the wagon where she had been resting and onto the grass. "Looks fine."

As a unit, they all drew their wands and began doing enchantments, counter-curses, counter-jinxes, and charms. Nothing happened.

"I can't even see an end to it," Nyssa said nervously.

"It must be a mirage," Harry said. "The directions said we should reach a road soon."

"The directions never mentioned a forest of acid spiders or a field of boulders either," Ron groused.

"We have no choice," Hermione finally said. "It's this or go back."

"We have provisions and we're more than capable of taking down game if there is any," Mikhail reasoned.

"We don't know if their game is poisonous," Hermione pointed out.

"We should camp here for the night before setting out," Ron suggested.

"I agree," Nicolai said after a moment's silence. "We should see what happens on the unknown land at night. Then, we move tomorrow."