"This is Moaning Myrtles bathroom!"
McGonagall exclaimed.
"Why on earth have you led us here?!"
Hadrian ignored her. His mind began to wander as he came closer and closer to the room.
He could see it.
All around him, the shadows, the echoes people left behind within the castle. Hundreds! Thousands of people! Each one flickering by his sight in seconds.
"…Feyrnforth…"
He muttered to himself.
"…Feyrnforth…"
He could feel it overwhelming him. He could feel his mind slipping out of the present to the past, to the future, to the possible futures, to hundreds of thousands of possible futures.
He could vaguely hear a conversation, but was it a vision or was it in real time?
"What is he saying?"
It asked.
What was he saying? He wondered.
He stumbled. Where was he? When was he?
"…Ferynforth…"
He muttered again, willing his hand to move.
Desperately he sought out that feeling. The feeling of fire, the gentle warmth of the homunculus, the anchor to draw him back.
"What's he doing now?! This is ridiculous!"
What was he doing?
He needed…he needed…he needed to hold Feyrnforth! He needed that contact. He needed to focus! He couldn't lose himself now!
He saw…he saw…he saw a boy, a young man, standing by a sink, leaning over it. He heard a hissing sound, a rough and course voice, and then…and then…he felt the wind stir, and felt the ground shake.
"…riddle…"
Then…then he saw a girl. A girl stepping out of a cubicle, she turned towards him – towards the young man – and then there were eyes of death.
His hand clenched around Feyrnforth and instantly he felt the fire move through his body, burning the visions and dissolving them, leaving only their memory.
He could hear his own heart beat again.
He looked up to find himself standing in front a large round hole leading into the dark below.
"…I don't believe it…"
A stunned voice behind him drew his attention. He turned to see Professor McGonagall looking at him, and down the hole, in disbelief.
"All this time…in plain sight!"
She spun towards him in a flurry.
"How could you possibly..?"
Dumbledore carefully observed the younger man.
Hadrian Peverell, it seemed, was not always the master of his own body and mind. Of course, he'd suspected as much even given the short amount of time they had known each other.
The late Professor Trelawney also lost control of herself when a vision took her, and Hadrian had said it was a common thing for true seers, but to see it happen in real time was fascinating - and slightly worrying.
At least it hadn't lasted long, and the method to regain control had worked.
"There will be time for questions later."
Dumbledore stepped before the hole. He conjured an orb of light and sent to down into the dark and then began to transfigure a staircase behind it.
"We have a child to rescue, and that is the most important thing right this moment."
He began to step down into the opening, but paused, then turned to Hadrian.
"Are you able to go on?"
Hadrian, still with his hand clasped tightly around his necklace, gave him a confused look. Dumbledore smile gently, reassuringly, at him
"You lost yourself for a moment there. If this is overwhelming you, you can remain here. No one will think less of you for it."
There was no hesitation when Hadrian shook his head.
"I have to see this through. I have to know."
Dumbledore searched the younger mans face, and seeing his resolve, he nodded his head.
"Then let us enter the long dark and find where it leads. Minerva!"
He glanced towards her.
"Gather the staff and join us when you can – and inform Poppy, we have no idea what state the child will be in when we find her."
The hole fell vertically for a good while before it levelled out and formed a corridor.
If one looked closely it was clear to see that this had not always been connected to the pipe-work and plumbing of the castle, that, at some point, someone had adapted it to connect to a tunnel system that was older than the pipes could have been.
Perhaps a look through the history of the castle might provide a clue as to when this happened but it was hardly relevant now.
Upon the corridors floor was the shed skin of a gigantic serpent and it was only a short walk on from that where Hadrian and Dumbledore discovered Gilderoy Lockhart and Ron Weasley.
The corridor had collapsed before them and Lockhart was unconscious – some things, it seems remained the same.
"Professor Dumbledore!"
Ron cried and rushed to his feet.
"Thank Merlin you're here! Ginny's through there somewhere! Me and Neville were going after her until that idiot caved the whole tunnel in!"
Hold on.
"Neville?"
Ron looked at Hadrian like he was crazy.
"Yeah. Neville Longbottom. You know? The Boy Who Lived"
Hadrian blinked, his mind slow to grasp the concept.
"…Neville Longbottom…is the Boy Who Lived?"
"Of course he is! Don't you know anything?!"
"Mr Weasley, there's no call for rudeness."
Dumbledore laid a hand on Ron shoulder.
"You've been very brave, coming down here as you did. It was very noble of you. Now I need you to do something for me."
"Anything Professor."
"Stay here with Professor Lockhart. Professor McGonagall should be along soon with support, and it would be a great help if you were to meet them and explain what has happened."
"But Professor! What about Neville and my sister!?"
"Never worry, dear boy! Professor Peverell and I will deal with that. I promise you that I will do everything I can to return your sister and you friend safely."
"Alright Professor. I'm counting on you. I don't know what I'd tell Mum if I didn't bring Ginny back."
As Ron settle in next to Lockhart, to await the arrival of McGonagall, grumbling about the uselessness of the DADA teacher, Dumbledore began to transfigure the rocks in front of them to clear a path.
Hadrian's eyes glazed over, his head tilted to the side in confusion.
"…Neville?"