Elora raised her head, "Something (huff) stopped (gasp) me (cough) before. Harry, I'm (gasp) too weak to (huff) take us all the way (cough) to the dragon. We'll (huff) have to find our own way."
"What?!" Harry shouted, "How do we do that?"
Elora then raised her hands, touching the Fire Guard with her left hand, and shouted "Comnous Reveli!" Suddenly the flame design on the Fire Guard swirled and turned into a compass, a flame flickering as the arrow. "This will (huff) help us."
"How'd you know to do that?" Harry said astonished.
"Professor McGonnagal (gasp) and the book she gave me." Elora looked around at all the doors, and down the long corridor. "Harry look!" she shouted, pointing down the corridor.
Harry turns his head to look down the corridor, the light ahead turning dark quickly, as if a cloud were going the corridor. Before they could do anything, the cloud covered them, and they now stood in darkened corridor. The only light coming from Elora's Fire Guard compass (which really doesn't cast a lot of light).
Harry pulled out his wand shouting "Luminous!". The end of his wand starts to glow brightly, casting its light a few feet in front of them. He helps Elora to stand.
"Harry, " Elora says, in weak tone, she's still gathering strength. "I know only little about this Corridor from McGonnagal. She told me we'd pass by this area. It's the Maze, Harry."
"The Maze?" Harry repeated, "Doesn't sound all that bad. And since we have the compass, it should be a piece of cake. Shouldn't it?"
Elora shook her head lightly, "The fire compass will show us the way to the fire dragon. The maze is full of mysteries, and even traps. We didn't stop here because I was getting weak. We stopped here Harry... because something stopped me. Whatever it was, was dark and cold."
Harry nodded, "Then let's get a move on."
Elora nodded back. Holding the compass up to the dark corridor, they watched the flickering fire arrow carefully. It didn't move. "I guess we start by going straight, Harry."
Harry held onto Elora's hand and held his wand in the other to lead her down the corridor, "Alright. Straight it is."
They headed straight down the corridor, passing dozen's of doors. Some of the doors crackled, banged, whizzed, and even murmured. Even though they were curious what was behind them they dared not open them.
Elora gained her strength fast, and soon she didn't need Harry to keep her from fainting, but she did stay close to him since he held the only light. She could use her own power to light the corridor, but that would only weaken her. Looking at the compass again, Elora stopped Harry and shouted "Look Harry! It moved..."
The flame arrow did indeed move, it was now pointing to the right. Elora and Harry stopped in front of a door. This door, unlike the others, was made of a giant mirror. They stood in front looking at their own reflections. The light from Harry's wand illuminated their faces. "Whoa, spooky!" Harry exclaimed.
Elora laughed and reached for the handle of the door with her left hand, as did Elora's reflection, but before Elora could touch the handle, her reflections hand shot through the mirror and grasped onto Elora's wrist. Elora screamed. Her reflection pulled her into the mirror, covered her mouth to muffle the scream, and held Elora tight.
Harry tried to enter the mirror, he banged on it shouting "Elora!" Harry's reflection didn't move, but instead watched the Elora-reflection hold the real Elora with a grim smile and dark eyes. Then Harry's reflection stepped forward out of the mirror door.
Harry stepped back and gasped as the figure that was once his reflection stepped closer to him. Harry now stood face to face with his own reflection.
Continued: Chapter 9 - Lightning Struck