Chapter 23

It opened it's large mouth and I saw fire creeping up it's throat. I just managed to roll out of the way. It did burn my legs a bit but I'm not melted so I'm not complaining. I quickly wiped the pocket knife out of my bag and flicked the blade out. I held it in front of me, towards the dragon. It wasn't much but it was all I had. I was silently calculating the likely hood of surviving if I made a mad dash for the exit. It was pretty low. However, it was still higher than the likely hood of me not getting my face burnt off if I stayed in the room.

The dragon was way too big to get through either of the doorways. It had finally finished maneuvering itself around to face me again. It was big so it had a hard time turning. I could definitely use that to my advantage. I saw that in this position one of it's back legs was blocking the doorway. That was going to be an issue.

It was getting ready to flame me again so I had to make a move. Obviously, I decided to go for the stupidest one. I ran between the dragons legs and stabbed the knife into the back leg blocking the door. It moved its leg out of the way in surprise and I ran through the doorway.

My happiness was short lived however, because I soon found myself at the top of a steep flight of stairs. As I was running and not expecting this, I tripped and tumbled all the way down. I think I hit my head four times on the way down. When I finally reached the bottom I was sore all over. I just lay there for a moment not wanting to get up. After all the things I just did the stairs hurt me the most. It was kind of stupid really.

I tried to push myself up but it proved to be difficult. My head was pounding painfully. I felt warm liquid seeping into my hair. I tried to stay conscious but I soon descended into the blackness.

...

I groaned as I woke. My head was still very sore but I could get up. I had no idea how long I was out. It could have been days for all I knew. There was dry blood matting my hair and I felt bruises all over my body. Stupid stairs. They should have put up a warning sign, it's a safety hazard. I was in too much pain to realize how stupid that idea was. It was dark because my torch had gone out so I relit it with another match.

It was then I realized that I was starving. I must have been out for a while. I reached into my bag and pulled out my dried food and by water bottle. I only ate half of it because I didn't know how much stuff I still had to get through. I took a long drink of water before shakily getting to my feet. I continued walking down the dark passageway.

...

I was being a lot more cautious after the stairs. It was a good thing too, otherwise I might not have noticed the next trap before I walked into it. The cave had suddenly turned into a hallway. There was no more curved ceiling or rocky walls. In front of him, the walls, floor and ceiling were perfectly smooth and perpendicular to each other.

The walls were covered in holes. I assumed that something would probably come out of these holes. I picked up a stone and chucked it into the hallway. Suddenly darts started rapidly shooting out of the holes. I darted forward quickly and picked one up before going back to a safe spot. It was a little knife. It was small but it could easily kill me if it hit any vital organs. I shivered at the thought. This was the part in the movie where the main character executes perfect flips down the hallway and somehow avoids all the dangerous objects. However, there were several things wrong with that plan: I wasn't a gymnast, it would never actually work, and this isn't a movie.

Knives were still shooting out of the holes randomly. No. Not randomly. There must be some sort of pattern. I looked closely at the holes. On each wall the holes were positioned in a easy pattern. One and the top, closest to the ceiling and one at the bottom, closest to the floor. Then half a meter to the right of that, one in the middle. Then it repeated till the end. It reminded me of the fifth side on dice. This was one of those times I was glad I was small and short. If I bent over I could completely avoid the top and middle rows.

I examined the timing of the bottom rows. After a while, I concluded that every second one fired at once every ten seconds. The others fired five seconds after that. I could do this. I just have to crouch and move between the holes, stopping every five seconds.

I moved into the hallway and crouched. After the one in front of me fired, I moved to the spot under the middle hole. I waited for the next one to fire and quickly moved to the spot under the next middle hole. I continued this. I was getting close to the end and beginning to relax. That is when I mad a mistake. I moved at the wrong time and a knife buried itself into my upper arm. I yelled in pain but kept moving. I have to get to the end. I was almost there.

When I finally reached the end, I sighed in relief. I closed my hand over the knife's handle. I had to pull it out. I sucked in deeply before yanking as hard as I could. I bit my lip in pain and it started bleeding but the knife was out. I curse myself for not bringing any medical supplies. I was so stupid. I've been calling myself that a lot lately.

I clamped my hand on my arm to try and stop the bleeding. I ripped out some of the lining in my bag and rapped it around the cut. I tied it in a knot and pulled it tight with the help of my mouth. I stood up and continued moving.

...

To my complete and utter relief, the next thing I encountered wasn't deadly. Well, at least not as deadly as the other stuff. There were three doors and a message. I picked up the message and read it.

Three options lay before you. One will take you home. One will lead to an unpleasant demise. One will take you to your goal. If you are worthy, you will find the right door. If you are unworthy, you will pick the worst door. If you are worthy but not meant to know, you will go home.

I looked at the doors. One of them appeared to be glowing slightly. I suppose I just have to hope I am worthy then. I turned the handle and it swung open. I walked through the doorway and it shut behind me. It was just more cave. I suppose I'm not dead so that is good. I might have spoken too soon though. Lets hope not. I continued walking. But I didn't have to go further than a few meters.

In front of me was another door way. It was leading into a huge room in the shape of a cylinder. The doorway was situated at the top and there was a spiral staircase leading along the wall. It curved round all the way to the bottom. I started walking down it.

When I reached the floor, I realized I had done it. There was a podium in the middle of the floor. On it there was a long roll of parchment and a small bottle. I grabbed it and unrolled it. This better be worth it, I thought before I began to read.

If you are reading this you are a descendant of Godric Gryffindor, Salazar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw, or Helga Hufflepuff. We four made this chamber to protect the power we discovered. On our travels in Egypt, we came across the tomb of a powerful wizard. Rowena deciphered the hieroglyphics on the walls. It told of a potion with powerful properties. It said it would affect anyone who drank it and all their descendants.

Salazar insisted that we make the potion. At first Helga refused but she did not wish to be the only one who did not drink it. Once we drank it our magical cores increased. We also each gained an additional power and deep magical ties to an element. Salazar gained control of air and the power of quick, animal like, reflexes. Rowena gained control of water and a photographic memory. Godric gained control of fire and the additional strength that could be matched by no man. Lastly, Helga gained control of earth and became a seer.

The powers were also different for each of our descendants however they kept our control of the elements and the increased magical core. We enchanted the wall of this cave to name all possible powers. The ones that the current heir has will glow with our house colours. We hid the remains of the potion here with this letter to explain. I hope someone will find this one day.

That explains why Voldemort is so powerful. Same goes for Harry. That would also be why I can do so many powerful spells. I wonder what power Voldemort has. I looked around for the list and found it on a large section of a wall. I cursed when I realized it was all in Latin. I would have to translate it later. I took out my note pad and pencil. I wrote down my name. Under it I wrote down Harry's and under that I wrote Voldemort's. I then, copied down the words glowing blue and yellow by my name. Then the one glowing red by Harry's. Finally, I wrote the one glowing green by Voldemort's.

After I was done I stuffed the notepad and pen back in my bag and took one last look around. I picked up the little bottle and smashed it. I don't want this potion causing any more trouble. Then I stuffed the roll of parchment in my bag as well, before closing it tightly. There was a door in front of me so I opened it. I was standing at the bottom of a huge flight of stairs. It's going to take a long time to get back to sea level. I started climbing.

...

By the time I reached the top of the stairs, I was just about ready to collapse from exhaustion. I pushed a trap door open and climbed through. It shut behind me and I saw there was absolutely no way to know it was there unless you had exited from it. I found myself in the middle of the forest. Suddenly, everything caught up with me and I found myself struggling to stay conscious. With the head injury and the knife wound, I had lost a lot of blood.

I started stumbling forward. I needed to get to a hospital. My vision was starting to blur. I heard someone yell from behind me as I collapsed. My last thought being, who would be out in the middle of the forest. Then everything went black.

...