Hogwarts a History – Mazes and Monsters year 2 remix
Chapter 05 – The serpents hall
…
"Harry mate, I got a bad feelin about this."
"Yeah? I've had a bad feeling since I was talked into coming down here, but did anyone care?"
Leaving Slytherin's Storeroom (trademark 2021) the intrepid adventurers found themselves in a strange hall. The floor, if you could even call it that, curved up the walls and the ceiling. It felt less a hall and more a well-constructed tunnel, a tunnel large enough for a very big snake… or three medium sized hamsters.
Ire rising as the darkness crept close, Harry's wand flashed with blue fire, coating the walls in magical illumination, only for the cheery flame to wink out before it even had time to get comfortable.
"Curiouser and curiouser," said Luna.
"Wonderful," Harry grumped. It's not like he'd expected much from the bluebell flame but come on.
"Losing your touch Harry," Lavender teased.
"I don't think that's it," said Padma before they could get a good titter going. "Look at the walls. They're covered in—markings."
If they'd been a year older, some of them might have recognized a few as runes from the Greek system and extrapolated the nature of the rest.
They weren't of course, a year older that is, but strange markings in a school for witchcraft and wizardry didn't require much explanation. They were magic, obviously.
"OO! Lookit that!"
All eyes were drawn to the tip of Parvati's finger. Some managed to get closer than others.
"Is that a—snake?"
It was hard to tell. The little squiggle was tucked away amidst a mess of other strange etchings which meant nothing to those present. It seemed just as likely this was simply one more.
"Say something to it," said Lavender, hanging over Harry's shoulder, shoving his nose practically into the wall.
"Like what?"
"I dunno. Open, activate, something like that."
"Open. Activate."
"…don't be a smartass Harry. You know what I mean."
He did, certainly, but, "I am not super keen to do that again."
"Why not?"
"Because that's what got us down here in the first place. I don't wanna make it any worse."
"I'm having fun."
"Only cuz you're on top," Seamus grumbled from the back where she couldn't reach him.
It didn't stop her tongue from trying.
Seamus was right of course, this in spite of being Irish. He was right, but Lavender was female which to most minds trumped any other right, it was like having two rights just to start with which would be a left meaning she'd need to be wrong just to be right. Right?
In any case, she was stubborn which was more immediately relevant. Not Hermione stubborn but stubborn enough to make Harry hiss.
The tiny snake etching glowed green, because what other color would it glow.
The grinding sound, stone against stone, filled the hall as layers out of sight moved before invisible seams separated and the door swung out.
"That was quite a production just to open a door," Luna remarked.
"What's inside?" said Lavender.
The question may have appeared open to anyone, the prodding in his side told Harry otherwise.
Giving his wand a light, he proceeded forward, finding himself in yet another room, much smaller than the last, and less crowded. Though that isn't to say it was empty.
"What's in there Harry?"
"Bones," whole skeletons in fact, but there was something wrong with them. "Why do their heads look like that."
The human skull was a well-recognized symbol in many cultures because the human skull, once you scraped off all that nasty skin and squishy tissue, looked basically the same across all those cultures.
The ones attached to the sitting, squatting, or hanging skeletons he'd just discovered did not match up. The jaws distended into a clear muzzle lined with pointed canines. It was like someone had taken the head off some sort of dog and stuck it on as a joke.
"What are they?" asked Dean, as he, Seamus, and Ron all squeezed into the room.
"Dead," said Seamus quite bluntly, poking one with his wand. "Long time too by the look of it."
There were no cobwebs, as that would have been cliché, but it would also have required spiders to weave them, and no spider would have been caught dead inside a basilisk's nest, never mind alive.
This was no hinderance to the dust.
"How long you spose they've been down here?" asked Lavender, hovering inside the doorframe while other inquisitive though less courageous heads poked in around her.
"Must have been centuries," said Ron.
"What makes you say that?" said Harry.
"Cuz, I think these are kobolds. And kobolds went extinct like three hundred years ago."
"What're kobolds?" said Harry.
"Dog-headed people. Kinda like a werewolf but all the time and without the crazy."
"So, they were a magical race? Like goblins?"
"I guess. Don't know too much about'em. I just recognize the skeleton. Dad picked up one on a raid couple years ago. He brought us all in to see it."
"You mean, someone 'collected' skeletons!?" Lavender exclaimed; her delicate sensibilities affronted at the very idea.
"No, it was dark artifacts he collected," said Ron. "They just scooped up the skeleton with the rest of it. He had some really bad stuff, dad said."
"Worse than this?" said Seamus as he continued to poke at the skeletons. "Ugly blighters, weren't they."
Harry just shook his head, "Come on, let's go."
"Aw, whasa matter Harry? Don't like the compa—hurk!"
"Wha!"
"Hey!"
"Seamus!"
It should surprise no on when bones move. It is what they were designed for, why else would they have all those joints. However, as part of an intricate and well-balanced system, most bones don't move without the appropriate muscles pulling them to and fro, proving the obstinance seen in so many creatures is not a bug, but a feature.
Glowing red eyes are not usually associated with any of this, making them the second hint that these kobold skeletons were more than just dusty old bones. The first being when one of them grabbed Seamus by the throat and effortlessly lifted him into the air.
"Gurk, hurkle unefs urt!"
"Hang on Seamus!" they cried, like he had a choice.
The Irish Gryffindor swung from the inhuman hand as Harry, Ron, and Dean rushed the skeleton. For being made of bone it was surprisingly solid. Rock solid. It barely budged with the full weight of three boys pushing and pulling at it.
They may have had more luck if their efforts had been better coordinated, but even then, the skeleton was unnaturally solid, and it still wouldn't have been fast enough as Seamus face was already turning blue.
That's when Luna jumped in.
"Harry! Use this!"
Seeker quick reflexes easily caught the thrown object out of the air, but surprise and density fumbled and nearly dropped it.
It was a wrench, a big one.
He swung without second thought, smashing the wrist, and scattering the bones of the hand across the room.
The skeleton staggered back, surprised, and while it collected its thoughts, Ron and Dean grabbed Seamus and dragged him out of the room, Harry hot on their heels hissing the door shut behind them.