Down in the dungeons

Claudia slumped onto a chair at lunch, letting out a long sigh and dropping her head on the

How was practice?" Asked Alice, with a hint of amusement in her voice.

"Awful, just awful." Claudia growled. "I don't know what's happened to me. Every time I look at him, I drop the quaffle. If I don't sort this out, Parkinson is going to throw me off the team." She whispered.

Alice put her arm around Claudia.

"He wouldn't do that. The season's just started." She tried reassuring her friend.

"Yes, he would. He said so after practice…" Claudia sighed. "What am I going to do? I cannot give Marcus the satisfaction." She added, on the verge of tears.

"I have an idea." Alice smiled. "Valentine's Day is coming up. You could tell him how you feel. That might help." She said.

"Good one." Claudia laughed.

"I'm not joking. That's what people do when they like someone!" Alice replied, looking rather bemused.

"I'm not people." Claudia grimaced. "Besides, it's just a crush. I barely know him. It's going to go away, right?" She asked, almost hopefully.

Alice shook her head in disbelief. "Just tell him. Write him a card. He might like you back!" She smiled encouragingly.

But Claudia was not convinced. "Why would he like me back?" Alice looked like she was about to respond but Claudia cut her off. "No, I've trained for this all my life. Hide my feelings. Focus on Quidditch. Write some essays. It will work." She said, resolutely.

Alice did not say anything and returned to her shepherd's pie. She learned to pick her battles. But Claudia knew full well this was not the end of her friend's well-meant interference.

After lunch, Claudia headed to the library. She had spent the last few weeks reading every book about Salazar Slytherin she could find, looking for clues on the whereabouts of his apartments. So far, she had no luck. She took out a stack of books from the section on history of Hogwarts, sat down at her usual desk and began going through them.

She was about to give up for the day when she stumbled on a portrait of Slytherin in an old volume. He was standing in what looked like a study. There was an ornate desk just under a large stained-glass window. The ceiling was domed with very distinct pale pink masonry. This could be it.

Book in hand, Claudia run down to the dungeons. She walked around for what felt like hours, looking at architecture and comparing it to the picture of Salazar's portrait.

Finally, she found it. An old door that was framed in same pale pink masonry. She was about to try opening it, when she heard footsteps coming towards her. She shoved the book in her bag. What if it was Marcus? But it was far worse.

It was Anthony… It was too late to run away, as he had seen her and waved at her cheerfully.

"Are you also looking for Clarissa's cat? Apparently, it's been missing for days." Anthony asked.

Claudia could not care less about Clarissa, or her cat. But she could hardly tell him what she was really doing in the dungeons. She swallowed hard, but her voice has abandoned her. So, she decided to just nod instead.

"Want to look together?" Asked Anthony.

"Sure." Claudia managed to whisper back. Her voice may had returned, but it sure did not sound like her.

They walked in silence for a minute or two. Claudia was glad that she did not have to speak. She had enough trouble remembering how to walk. She hated how stupid Anthony made her feel.

"It will get better. I'm sure of it." Anthony said suddenly.

Claudia looked at him, not entirely sure what he was talking about.

"Quidditch." Anthony added.

"I don't know what happened. I'm better than that." Claudia whispered.

"You're trying too hard. Just relax and you'll be fine." Anthony said, giving her a reassuring smile.

Claudia forced herself to smile back at him. Just relax. It was easier said than done.

"And if you want some extra practice, let me know. I'm happy to help." Anthony added.

"Thanks." Claudia replied, even though the thought filled her with dread. She could barely get a sentence out in front of him. How would she get through a whole practice session if it was just the two of them?

They rounded the corner and stopped at the bottom of the staircase leading up towards the Slytherin common room. Claudia could not wait to get away.

"I'm going to head back. I don't think the cat is here." Claudia muttered. She barely waited for Anthony to respond and run up the stairs.

She skipped dinner and went straight to bed. There was no chance she was risking running into Anthony again. It was just too embarrassing. She slumped into her bed but could not sleep. Her brain was too busy trying to picture Anthony's face, his smile, his hair... She could not make it stop. She sighed and turned over. It was not her, being lost for words, hiding in the dormitory, acting all pathetic. Why could she just not go back to only caring about Quidditch and finding the artefact. She sighed with relief. The artefact. That was a happier thought. She must remember to tell Sirius about the door tomorrow.

Claudia was not sure whether she slept that night. She got up well before dawn and grabbed a piece of parchment. She figured out that sending Sirius a note with the morning post was less conspicuous than trying to talk to him during classes. The Slytherins only had potions with the Gryffindors today and the classroom was always crammed. It was too risky. She had no intention of giving Severus an excuse to snoop on them. "Tonight? Same place. Same time. C." Claudia scribbled down quickly and made her way to the owlery.

She was the first person to arrive at breakfast. The Great Hall was strangely eerie. She ate quickly and alone and was out before anyone could see her. She was still in no mood to talk to anyone.

They had double potions first thing in the morning. Claudia was sitting at a table with Julius, Emmanuel and Severus as usual. She and Severus had been potion partners since their first year. It was not because they liked each other. Neither of them simply had any other friends in Slytherin when they first arrived in Hogwarts. And now they just sat together out of habit. Moreover, both were very good at potions and neither had enough patience to be paired up with someone who could not keep up. Now that Claudia knew that Severus was helping her brother, she was also keen to keep an eye on him. She was sure he was doing the same for her brother.

"Morning all." Professor Slughorn called the class to attention. He sounded unseasonably cheerful. "Today, we will be working with leeches to make leech juice. Which we will be using next month for our Shrinking Solutions." He added.

The class gave a collective growl. No one was looking forward to working with leeches. Claudia was no exception. She was in a terrible mood already and this was the last thing she needed. Even Severus looked disgusted.

They went to collect a jar of leeches each. The leeches needed to be carefully crushed and then liquefied in a cauldron on low heat. Sounded easy. But the leeches were slippery and crushing them took forever. Normally, Claudia would not be a fan of mind-numbing work but today she found it soothing. Surprisingly, smashing up some leeches was exactly what she needed.

Through the pounding of mortars and squelching of leeches, Claudia could hear James Potter's voice. He and his friends were sitting at a table directly behind her.

"But why wouldn't you tell me who she is?" He asked, sounding half amused and half irritated.

Claudia figured James must have been referring to the note she sent Sirius. Sirius mumbled something in response that Claudia could not hear. James was not deterred and continued.

"We were supposed to work on the..." James paused. "You-know-what. And you're going to abandon us for some girl, again..."

Sirius laughed. "Do you want me to promise I'll never do it again? That I'll be by your side forever?" He asked.

That only made James scoff. "Like I'd believe you."

They stopped bickering briefly when Slughorn walked past their table.

"Fine, go and meet this mystery girl. Remus and I will cope." James hissed when Slughorn moved away.

"I'll be there too." Squeaked someone. Must have been Peter Pettigrew, who was always hanging around with them. Although, nobody quite knew why.

At six that evening, Claudia made her way to the fourth floor. Sirius was already there.

"Good. I thought for a minute you were James. Following me. He doesn't like when I keep secrets from him." He said when Claudia emerged through the doorway. "I even had to take his cloak as a precaution!" Sirius added, frowning.

Claudia knew that he did not like it either, keeping things from his best friend.

"I heard you in potions. Sorry if I messed up. I thought it was safer than trying to speak to you at breakfast." She whispered.

"He'll cope." Sirius shrugged. "But we need to find a better way of talking to each other." He said, still annoyed.

"We'll figure something out." Replied Claudia.

Then she remembered why she wanted to see Sirius if the first place and a huge smile appeared on her face.

"I've found it..." She said, opening the book and showing it into Sirius' hands. "I searched the dungeons for the same masonry. And I've found it! It's got to be it." She said, pointing, somewhat frantically, at the archway in the portrait.

Sirius brought the book closer to his face.

"Are you sure? This could be anywhere." He asked, squinting at the picture.

Claudia was in a better mood. She must have burned all the negative energy smashing up those leeches.

"I'm never wrong." She said, cheerfully.

"Never wrong?" Sirius smirked. "I thought I was supposed to be the arrogant one around here." He quipped, his own mood improving too.

Claudia shrugged. "It's not arrogance. It's backed up by lifetime of experience."

Sirius laughed. "Should we go check it out?" He asked. But he didn't even wait for Claudia to answer and pulled out the invisibility cloak from his bag.

"Glad I took this now. Don't want to be seen skulking around the dungeons. It's full of Slytherins." He added, tongue in cheek.

Claudia rolled her eyes. The rivalry between their houses was bound to come up at some point. Sirius threw the cloak over his shoulders and they sat off.

"Here it is." Said Claudia triumphantly as they stood outside the dungeon door.

"Doesn't seem to be locked." Said Sirius, as he leaned on the door and opened it. It was heavy and gave a loud creak.

They walked through the door and stepped into complete darkness.

"Lumos." They whispered in unison.

The end of their wands lit up and revealed a low room, full of sturdy pillars and garbage. Old barrels were lying everywhere, animal cages scattered across the place, and old rags piled up in odd corners. Claudia hoped with all her heart that none of these piles were going to move. They looked like they could be full of rats.

"I thought Slytherin would live somewhere more glamorous." Smirked Sirius.

Claudia did not want to admit it, but she was expecting something else also.

"There could be a secret entrance somewhere." She whispered and begin to walk around the perimeter of the dungeon.

And then she saw it. One of the arches was sealed.

"Here." She hissed at Sirius and raised her wand so that he could see it too. "There could be something behind it." She added, then paused. "Could you? Just.. You know." She gestured towards the sealed arch.

"Do you just assume I know how to blast a hole in a wall?" Sirius scoffed.

Claudia did not say anything but her look left Sirius in no doubt whatsoever. It was exactly what she was assuming. Sirius smirked and raised his wand.

"Bombarda!" He said resolutely. A jet light erupted from the end of his wand and blasted a huge hole in the middle the sealed arch.

Once the dust settled, they stuck their heads in. It was just a dark corner. Same as any other. Rags and cages everywhere.

"Maybe, it's concealing..." Claudia began to say but was interrupted by a loud creaking noise. They both looked up and saw a large crack appearing in the archway above them.

"I don't think the wall was there to conceal a secret entrance, you know." Sirius said in a dry tone. He began to back out from below the arch.

"But..." Claudia said, trying to have one last peak. She was so sure that the secret entrance was there. Sirius grabbed her hand and pulled her from underneath the arch.

They just about managed to get away when it collapsed.

But it didn't stop there. Chaos ensued. The neighbouring arch began to collapse too. And then the next one. A large rock just missed Sirius' head and struck him on the arm.

They began to run through the dark dungeon. Claudia tumbled over something and landed on the floor. Sirius, who was running behind her, tripped over her foot.

"Ouch." He screamed, as he crashed into against something. Claudia struggled to her feet. She sprained her ankle and could hardly support her weight. She raised her wand and the light shone on Sirius, who was kneeling on the ground next to some barrels. He looked much worse off. His face was bleeding, as was his arm. He was rubbing his head.

"Let's get out of here… Before you get us killed." He hissed.

Mercifully, the remaining arches were holding up and they manged to get out of the room without any further injury.

"I thought you were never wrong." Said Sirius through gritted teeth. They were both leaning against the door, trying to close it.

"Not the time… Ego… Hurts…" Said Claudia, panting.

The latch fell into place and they sat down by the foot of the door. Claudia was rubbing her ankle. Sirius was examining a long bloody gash on his arm. His eye was getting bluer by the minute. He looked like he's been in a fight.

"Now, I'll have to make up a jealous boyfriend too." He hissed, clearly thinking the same think.

"I'm sorry..." Said Claudia but could not continue. They both burst into laughter.

"What's above here?" Asked Sirius.

"Don't really know... Hopefully, the ceiling is still intact…" Claudia shrugged, but got interrupted by a sharp meow. Sirius froze.

"I know that meow." He said. He stood up, grabbed Claudia's hand and pulled her up. She flinched. Her ankle was very sore.

"McGonagall?" She asked, supressing the pain.

"Worse." Said Sirius, shaking his head. "Filch is not far behind." He paused, frowning. "Go!" He added sharply.

Claudia shook her head. "It's my mess. I'm staying." She said, defiantly.

"You can't get caught here! Your brother would know." Whispered Sirius urgently. When he saw that she was not budging, he added. "Fine. Stay here, but not like this." He grabbed the cloak from the floor and threw it over her.

Merely seconds later, the caretaker appeared out of nowhere. His eyes lit up when he saw Sirius.

"Where is Potter?" He asked gleefully. Sirius shrugged and looked at his watch.

"Great Hall, I suppose. I'll come and fetch him for you. Or is there something you want me to pass on?" He said casually. Despite the severity of the situation, Claudia had to try very hard not to laugh. Filch was not amused.

"You insolent, little shit… Tell me now! Why are you down here?" He said angrily, still looking around frantically. Claudia took few steps back, as quietly as she could, and pinned herself against the wall. Sirius kept his cool.

"I was just coming back from potions, when I must have taken a wrong…" But Claudia did not hear the rest of the sentence.

More of the ceiling came crushing down.

Filch gave Sirius a twisted smile.

"We're going to find Professor McGonagall. And then we're going to look behind that door." He looked very pleased with himself. "Oh, I do miss my shackles." Filch added with a hint of nostalgia.

Sirius said nothing, just picked up his bag and threw it over his shoulder.

"Lead the way, Filchy." He said. All Claudia could hear was more of Filch's cursing, as they disappeared behind a corner. She felt guilty about letting Sirius take the blame. But he was right. Marcus would know and that would be that. She will just need to find a way to pay him back, somehow.

Claudia run back to the Slytherin common room as fast as her ankle allowed her. Luckily, it was not far. She muttered the password and slipped inside.

She stopped in her tracks when she saw Marcus and Severus sitting in the common room. Marcus was looking straight at her. For a second, she was surprised that they did not even acknowledge that she walked in. Then she realised that she still had the invisibility cloak on. She stood in complete silence just a few yards from them. Severus was reading something, and Marcus was looking at him impatiently.

But before she could see what Severus was reading, a large group of first years came though into the common room and were walking straight at Claudia. She had to get out of there. All she could glimpse before heading for the dormitory was a picture of the Astronomy Tower in Severus' book. They must have found the book.