Chapter 15: ALONE
Later on that day, while Harry was reading some of the books he had on the table about magi, Dumbledore and Erised came into his room together with Ron and Hermione. They seemed to have decided their further actions and plans against Voldemort.
"Hey Harry," said the four who just entered the room.
"Hello."
"We have already decided on what we will do," said Dumbledore, "And this time it won't be easier than last time. I am sorry to say that I cannot help you in any way. The Orb of the Phoenix is located somewhere in the castle of Eurazal, the castle where you found the Necklace of the Dragonteeth."
"I won't go there again," said Harry. "I don't want to meet those screemers."
"This is not a problem," said Dumbledore, "Because we have already thought of this. That's why I've been testing some spells to block any damaging and dangerous sounds you may hear. So do not worry about them."
"I will help you this time, too..." said Erised. "This time we will make sure they won't be able to stop us..."
"When will we start?" asked Harry.
"Tomorrow we will go." said Ron. "I still doubt that we will be able to find that crystal!"
"Orb!" Hermione interrupted him. "For the hundredth time, Ron!"
"Right..." he answered in a dully voice.
"Perhaps you should consider some practice," Dumbledore told Harry. "Erised will tell you some of the magi tricks... because that is the only part where I am of no help. Erised..."
"Yes, Albus."
"Take Harry and do some practice... Because he will need it."
"Of course."
Dumbledore left the room. Erised looked at Harry and told him to follow. They went out of the building. Ron and Hermione went to their own rooms to have some practice of their own.
Outside was quiet and usual. The town seemed deserted, as it was everyday. He was used to it being full from the Hogsmeade visits with the other students from Hogwarts. Erised told him to sit down until he explained some new simple spells. They were really simple, Harry did them even before Erised explained him how they are done. He just concentrated and thought of what Erised once told him - to concentrate on what he wanted to do and he would eventually do it.
At the end of the "lesson", Harry managed to summon some objects, and that was a more complicated spell than the others. He summoned the Sorting Hat from the damaged Hogwarts castle, and that was a complicated thing. Then he started practicing some very complicated spells that conjured objects instead of summoning them from another location.
"These spells may come in handy," said Erised, "We can't imagine what we will meet there. And by the way... I think we should call Chalcrad to teach you some mago-wizard tricks..."
"Tricks? What do you have with this word?" asked Harry surprised. Dumbledore used that word too.
"Hehe... spells."
With that, Erised left telling Harry to wait there. Erised went to the Three Broomsticks and after a couple of minutes he came back with Chalcrad. It was the time to learn some mago-wizard spells...
"Hello, Mr. Potter," Chalcrad said, "I hope you are prepared to learn something... destructive... You saw what can be done with those spells... Think of what Voldemort did."
Harry remained silent. Erised left them alone, heading to the Hotel.
"It is very easy to make a spell like that, but it needs a few basic rules. Once you know them, you won't have any problems in doing the spells... And the first basic rule is... Concentrate. You have to be good at mage spells for that to work, and good at wizard spells, too. And combining them gives you excellent results. Keep that in mind; you always need a wand and the incantations are usually long... but there won't be any problems; the incantations are automatically said by the spell; you don't even need to learn them. It is just created to scare the others... I still wonder what the ancients thought when they created this type of spells..."
Harry took his wand and concentrated to do a wind spell. He pointed his wand to the air and concentrated hard on the wind. He imagined the strong wind blowing around him, while his mind seemed to go blank. He felt a breath of wind hitting his back. Then he opened his eyes. It really drained him; but not that much as the times when he was drained by Voldemort.
But, as he looked around, he saw that Chalcrad was nowhere to be seen. There really was a wind, because everything was dusty and covered with sand. Some doors or windows were opened by wizards or witches who looked around asking what happened. Someone even screamed "You-Know-Who is here?"...
Then someone talked to himself in a fast low voice. He kept saying "On his first try...". A plant started moving and soon someone got out of it. That person was Chalcrad.
"Mr. Potter... I do not think you need any more lessons for tomorrow..."
Harry still didn't do anything, he just stood frozen in the center of the road. People were gazing at him and Chalcrad(who was in a very bad condition and mood).
"Was that your first try?" he asked again.
"Yes..." said Harry after a moment of silence. "It was... my first try..."
Chalcrad walked angry towards the Three Broomsticks. He entered and closed the door with an angry loud bang. Harry could hear him yelling "Look what that Potter did to me!". Someone answered him, and he yelled again "Yes, with only one strike!".
Harry still didn't move. Everyone was looking at him through a hurting silence. He didn't feel too good, he hated when everyone was staring at him, but it wasn't that bothering as the times when he was in his first year. He decided to go to the Three Broomsticks to get an explanation of what just happened.
Inside, Dumbledore was waiting for him. Harry thought by the look of his face that he did not like what Harry just did. Chalcrad was sitting on a chair, still angry and covered with dust.
"Harry..." Dumbledore said in a disappointed voice. He certainly wouldn't like the following words. "You really made us look stupid. It is a shame to attack, even by mistake, a friend like Chalcrad. I must ask you to be more careful in the future."
"Yes, Professor," Harry answered.
"Now, go to rest. I think you feel quite drained after this..."
"Yes, professor."
Harry stepped out of the Three Broomsticks and went to the Hogsmeade Hotel. But he did not want to go to his room; instead he went to Ron's room.
"Hey, Harry, already finished your practice?" Ron asked.
"Yes," Harry answered. "I just ended up with blowing Chalcrad to a wall with one strong wind spell." Herimone suddenly changed the look on her face. She became serious again... She was wearing an you-shouldn't-have-done-this expression. "It was just by accident..."
"By accident or not," Hermione told him in a half-angry voice, "This is a huge mistake!"
"Calm down, Hermione!" Ron stopped her, "It is not very serious..."
"Oh it IS serious!" said Hermione. Even if she was right, Harry wanted to thank Ron for taking his defense. "Attacking a teacher... erm... not a teacher, but a very important person... It is really serious!"
"Calm down, Hermione!" Ron told her. "You can't undo the actions, you know..."
She calmed down a bit, and she stood quiet. Harry sat down on a chair, waiting for someone to find a subject to talk about. But he started thinking of the accident with Chlacrad. He actually created a very strong wind with a mago-wizard spell... He didn't know if he said any incantation or not. He was concentrating too hard on the spell itself so he didn't think about what he did except concentrating.
They started talking about spells. Harry showed them some new spells. He conjured a small piece of food. He gave it to Ron to eat to prove them that it was real and not just an illusion.
"Mmm... it tastes good," Ron told him after eating. Then Harry proceeded to show them the mage variant of a summoning charm. He ddin't want to show them a mago-wizard spell while they were still inside; he was afraid that he would make the house collapse.
The rest of the day Harry read more about Mago-wizards and their history. He read that there still was a Dark mago-wizard that walked free throughout the world. No one knew where he was, but everyone could feel the darkness inside him when they met him. His name was Creamor, but he was often called you-know-who by the magi, just like Voldemort.
He read until midnight. Then he went to sleep, because he knew that a very hard day was coming.
Next day he woke up by himself. It was still early morning, he could see the morning cold sun outside his small window. The clock still wasn't working. He sat up and left the room, heading towards the fridge that was never empty. His stomach was asking for food, he hadn't eaten much last day.
After he finished eating, Ron was coming down the stairs, too. "Mornin'" said Ron. Harry replied "Good morning."
"So what's up?" Ron started talking.
"I was starving so I came here to eat..." Harry answered. "You know, today we need a lot of energy... it won't be easy. Today is the day when we have to find the Orb of the Phoenix... We'll just have to pray that we will find it, or the good wizards won't stand a chance against the Mago-Wizard voldemort."
"Yea..."
Hermione was coming down the stairs, too. She looked sleepy, even if she slept all night(That was what Ron said). They started talking about that day... They were making plans for every possible creature they could meet there. Hermione told them she read a book about the Eurazal castle, and it said the Orb of the Phoenix was somewhere in the dungeons. She read about the Necklace of the Dragonteeth, too. The book also said that the creatures that lived in the dungeons were vampires, Shock Roaches, Mage Vipers, Ghywools and, the worst of all, dementors.
"Dementors?" asked Harry terrified. "How are we going to go past them?"
Hermione took her wand and said "Expecto Patronum!". A silver creature was shot out of her wand towards the exit of the room. Harry couldn't figure out what kind of creature Hermione's patronus was... It looked like a flying fish.
"Oh..." Harry exclaimed after that.
"That's all I can tell you... We still do not know most of the creatures that live there. I just hope we won't meet any Dungeon Tentacles..."
"Dungeon Tentacles?" asked Harry confused.
"They are some tentacles tied to the ground, or usually, in water. They hit you with their claws easily and they can shoot poison. Those are some of the worst creatures someone can meet in a dungeon. They can be killed very hard, and that is because they are thin and dodge anything. A sword would be good against them though..."
"Sword? And where the bloody hell do you want to find a sword?" asked Ron.
"Harry may give one."
Both Ron and Harry looked at each other. Harry thought Hermione was talking about Godric Gryffindor's blade. But how could they take it? They didn't even know where it was.
"Oh, come on, you always forget about your powers!"
Harry instantly understood. He could summon Godric's sword, or simply conjure a new one.
Later on that day, Dumbledore came to them when they were in Harry's room talking about Shock Roaches. They were small insects that were enchanted with lightning. Killing one could be a problem, because of its small size and very handy attacks.
"Well, Harry, Ron, Hermione..." Dumbledore said, "It is time when you should leave. The sooner we have the orb, the better. We can't afford the destruction of another Muggle Town... The muggles are already suspecting something, but what if Voldemort will strike again?"
"Follow me." he continued. The four of them left the hotel and went to Dumbledore's old house. There they met Erised, who just told them a few last tactics and plans before leaving. They weren't walking this time; Erised and Harry provided them with teleportatino abilities. The Eurazal castle was rising once again in front of Harry... bringnig back only bad memories like the Death of Professor McGonagall.
"This time we will try to avoid meeting any creature," Harry said, "At least until we reach the Dungeons. Dumbledore had aloready cast the spell against screemers on us, so we won't have to be afraid of them."
The death of McGonagall came back to his mind. She died because of a screemer... sacrificing herself for the rest of the group. If she hadn't done so, they would all be dead...
They walked silently to the entrance of the dungeons. It was near one of the castle walls, Harry knew that because he saw it the last time he'd been there. Fortunately, they did not meet any creature on their way. Harry was the first one to enter the dungeons. The entrance was made of a small round door, and Harry wondered how they managed to get inside through that very small hole. There were lots of stairs to climb down.
Then, they had another problem. The dungeon was not a simple, linear hall. It was created from lots of halls that intersected each other, including lots of doors that lead to storage rooms. "Where to?" asked Harry.
"I'd say we should go straight ahead... we will eventually reach the middle of the dungeon. It will be much easier to find the orb from there... So let's go."
They followed Erised, who was now leading the group. Each hall was very long, and that confused them even more. The dungeons were not designed as a maze... It was just made of lots of halls, and that was even more confusing than a maze. They had no alternative, just to search all the rooms for the orb.
After they walked through the complete silence(except for their footsteps), they saw that the tunnel darkened. It was lit only near the entrance. "Lumos!" Ron, Harry and Hermione shot in unison. Each had a light on the top of his wand.
The brick walls around than were wet. Everything around them was colored in a dark yellow... it looked really creepy.
"It is too quiet here..." said Erised. "A really unusual quiet. I just wonder where the monsters that live here are..."
He had just completed his sentence and he disappeared. He was taken to the ceiling by something... It looked like a tongue. "Erised!" Harry called.
"Go! Continue without me!" they could hear from a very big distance. "I am caught by a mouth sticked on the ceiling... It caught me with its sticky tongue!"
"Let's save him!" said Harry while he took his wand and pointed it to the ceiling. He concentrated hard on killing the creature that lifted up Erised. He could hear himslef saying "Ucide Pecel Inemik!" more times in a row. A black light(if you can call it light) shot out of his wand. Harry could hear a scream of pain, it had to be the mouth-like creature Erised was talking about. Then, they could hear Erised screaming... He was falling to his death. The ceiling was very high indeed.
"Erezio!" yelled Hermione. She just turned some of the floor into water. It had to make the impact less damaging... so Erised would live after that.
He fell into the water. He couldn't be seen, the water was that deep. After about one minute, he came out of the water.
"You're alive!" said Hermione with joy.
"'Course i am alive" said Erised. "Did you think that a mage can die that easy?"
"Now," said Herry, "We should continue our search. The orb must be here, somewhere..."
Then Harry went to lead the group. Erised was the last one. They walked for some time, meeting only a few Shock Roaches on the walls that died at the contact with Harry's Avada Kedavra. It had to be easier than they thought... The dungeon didn't seem too well guarded. And, on second thought, who could guard it? It was not in the possession of Voldemort, and the world wasn't that evil.
"I think it is really quiet," said Erised. "I don't -"
"Don't say that it is quiet again," Ron interrupted him, "The bad things seem to happen only when you say that..."
"Well, it is."
And, Ron was right. He didn't finish the sentence and a huge snake-like creature attacked Erised from his back. It created a lightning bolt that hit Erised, who fell to the floor.
"MAGE VIPERS!!!" yelled Hermione. "We're doomed!"
"No we're not," Herry interrupted her, "Avada Kedavra Multipla!" he said while green light was spreading everywhere across the room. About five mage vipers that just came to sight fell, dead, to the ground.
It turned quiet again. Erised was on the floor, apparently unconscious. The vipers were dead, and Hery, Ron and Hermione were too scared to say anything. They just looked at each other for a couple of minutes.
Maybe the world was evil after all. They almost met their death, luckily that his mago-wizard powers helped him on instinct. He didn't even know that there was a spell called Avada Kedavra Multipla. Harry wondered how the spell knew who was friend and who wasn't...because Ron and Hermione were still alive. And Erised looked alive, too.
"We s-should continue..." said Harry, breaking the silence. "We have to leave Erised here..."
"Leave him here? We can't let him die!" said Hermione in her teaching voice.
"We have no other alternative... Tell me what is better: Find the Orb of the Phoenix and risk Erised's life or stay here while Voldemort destroys everything he meets?"
"Right..." answered Hermione disappointed of her intelligence. "Let's go."
They continued exploring the dungeons, still terrified. Thye could meet more vipers at anytime...
Harry was still in the lead. Next, came Ron and Hermione, in a line. Harry wondered how could they move in that state - scared to death. There was a piercing silence as usual, that Harry didn't like, but no one asked him to like it... he had to bare it. Things looked worse than they have thouhgt...
They met some more Shock Roaches on their way. After that, they were sitting in the middle of the dungeon... but they still had no idea about what to do to find the orb - it could still be in any room... They had to find it, even if it was in the last room they explored...
They didn't move at all for some time, and that was until Harry's face brightened. It was a good thing - he had a great idea... He could still use his distant-talking spell on Chalcrad...
He closed his eyes, concentrating on Chalcrad and asking him "How can we find the orb once we are in the dungeon?". He just hoped he managed to do the spell, scared as he was.
It took a long time, but he managed to do it properly... He got an answer from Chalcrad. He told Harry that he should use his mage powers... concentrate hard on the orb, and the path to it could be revealed.
He sighed before opening his eyes. He felt that something wasn't as it should have been... And he was right. There was no Ron or Hermione to be found anywhere.
"Ron? Hermione?" he asked looking in every possible direction. "RON! HERMIONE!" It couldn't be worse.
But instead of hearing Ron or Hermione answering to him, a group of Mage Vipers were advancing towards him. Harry took the chance to look at one better... It was like a giant snake that had half of its long body up in the air. It had two thin hands sticking out of the upper part of the body. Its head was small, with angry, red eyes.
They were in a large number. They were at least twenty... That was the end of his mission, Harry thought. He had no chance to kill that many vipers in one shot - he had no time to make more than one spell. He concentrated a bit to make another Avada Kedavra Multipla. But he didn't manage to kill only two of them.
That only gave him more time: the group of vipers stopped to take a look at the fallen ones. Harry took the opportunity to think and concentrate on another thing, any spell that came to his mind could be useful...
The vipers were advancing towards him. He didn't know what to do. He continued concentrating as hard as he could... but he could barely do it. He was much too scared to be able to concentrate.
His lips started moving forming some words...
"Arros Vienus Bringus Viatzus Annel Te bat de nu." He was talking very slow... or it was slow compared to the fast vipers... "Dombu..." A green light was coming to him... It was his spell, not an Avada Kedavra. The vipers came very close to him. The first one jumped to him, pulling him down. "Emmerit... Cavalia..."
He could see gtreen light everywhere. Something pierced through his foot... It had to be a claw or something...
Harry could not hear anything. Was the noise too loud and it was ignored by the spell Dumbledore put on him? No it couldn't. They were just some vipers...
JUST vipers! What could pass through his mind...
He couldn't do anything. He was lying on the ground, some vipers were standing on him, casting different spells that kept hitting him... It was very painful. And the only thing he could do was wait and see what would happen... if he could see what happened. Because there was no chance to escape, death was closing him.
The sound came back. He could hear the vipers hissing something familiar... He thought he understood what they said... But how could he undrestand a hiss?
There was a loud bang. The green light around him was going as far as possible... killing any viper in its way. Harry was shocked about his spell. He did something unusual again... A very strong spell that killed every enemy around him.
His mind seemed to work normal again. He immediately understood why he understood what the vipers were hissing; they were snakes after all and Harry was a parseltongue.
He escaped again... He had to continue his search for the Orb, or the world would be destroyed. He got up, still feeling the strong pain caused by the claw that pierced through his left foot. He remembered that Ron and Hermione were nowhere to be found, and he started searching for the orb. It had to be very hard - because he was...
...Alone.
Later on that day, while Harry was reading some of the books he had on the table about magi, Dumbledore and Erised came into his room together with Ron and Hermione. They seemed to have decided their further actions and plans against Voldemort.
"Hey Harry," said the four who just entered the room.
"Hello."
"We have already decided on what we will do," said Dumbledore, "And this time it won't be easier than last time. I am sorry to say that I cannot help you in any way. The Orb of the Phoenix is located somewhere in the castle of Eurazal, the castle where you found the Necklace of the Dragonteeth."
"I won't go there again," said Harry. "I don't want to meet those screemers."
"This is not a problem," said Dumbledore, "Because we have already thought of this. That's why I've been testing some spells to block any damaging and dangerous sounds you may hear. So do not worry about them."
"I will help you this time, too..." said Erised. "This time we will make sure they won't be able to stop us..."
"When will we start?" asked Harry.
"Tomorrow we will go." said Ron. "I still doubt that we will be able to find that crystal!"
"Orb!" Hermione interrupted him. "For the hundredth time, Ron!"
"Right..." he answered in a dully voice.
"Perhaps you should consider some practice," Dumbledore told Harry. "Erised will tell you some of the magi tricks... because that is the only part where I am of no help. Erised..."
"Yes, Albus."
"Take Harry and do some practice... Because he will need it."
"Of course."
Dumbledore left the room. Erised looked at Harry and told him to follow. They went out of the building. Ron and Hermione went to their own rooms to have some practice of their own.
Outside was quiet and usual. The town seemed deserted, as it was everyday. He was used to it being full from the Hogsmeade visits with the other students from Hogwarts. Erised told him to sit down until he explained some new simple spells. They were really simple, Harry did them even before Erised explained him how they are done. He just concentrated and thought of what Erised once told him - to concentrate on what he wanted to do and he would eventually do it.
At the end of the "lesson", Harry managed to summon some objects, and that was a more complicated spell than the others. He summoned the Sorting Hat from the damaged Hogwarts castle, and that was a complicated thing. Then he started practicing some very complicated spells that conjured objects instead of summoning them from another location.
"These spells may come in handy," said Erised, "We can't imagine what we will meet there. And by the way... I think we should call Chalcrad to teach you some mago-wizard tricks..."
"Tricks? What do you have with this word?" asked Harry surprised. Dumbledore used that word too.
"Hehe... spells."
With that, Erised left telling Harry to wait there. Erised went to the Three Broomsticks and after a couple of minutes he came back with Chalcrad. It was the time to learn some mago-wizard spells...
"Hello, Mr. Potter," Chalcrad said, "I hope you are prepared to learn something... destructive... You saw what can be done with those spells... Think of what Voldemort did."
Harry remained silent. Erised left them alone, heading to the Hotel.
"It is very easy to make a spell like that, but it needs a few basic rules. Once you know them, you won't have any problems in doing the spells... And the first basic rule is... Concentrate. You have to be good at mage spells for that to work, and good at wizard spells, too. And combining them gives you excellent results. Keep that in mind; you always need a wand and the incantations are usually long... but there won't be any problems; the incantations are automatically said by the spell; you don't even need to learn them. It is just created to scare the others... I still wonder what the ancients thought when they created this type of spells..."
Harry took his wand and concentrated to do a wind spell. He pointed his wand to the air and concentrated hard on the wind. He imagined the strong wind blowing around him, while his mind seemed to go blank. He felt a breath of wind hitting his back. Then he opened his eyes. It really drained him; but not that much as the times when he was drained by Voldemort.
But, as he looked around, he saw that Chalcrad was nowhere to be seen. There really was a wind, because everything was dusty and covered with sand. Some doors or windows were opened by wizards or witches who looked around asking what happened. Someone even screamed "You-Know-Who is here?"...
Then someone talked to himself in a fast low voice. He kept saying "On his first try...". A plant started moving and soon someone got out of it. That person was Chalcrad.
"Mr. Potter... I do not think you need any more lessons for tomorrow..."
Harry still didn't do anything, he just stood frozen in the center of the road. People were gazing at him and Chalcrad(who was in a very bad condition and mood).
"Was that your first try?" he asked again.
"Yes..." said Harry after a moment of silence. "It was... my first try..."
Chalcrad walked angry towards the Three Broomsticks. He entered and closed the door with an angry loud bang. Harry could hear him yelling "Look what that Potter did to me!". Someone answered him, and he yelled again "Yes, with only one strike!".
Harry still didn't move. Everyone was looking at him through a hurting silence. He didn't feel too good, he hated when everyone was staring at him, but it wasn't that bothering as the times when he was in his first year. He decided to go to the Three Broomsticks to get an explanation of what just happened.
Inside, Dumbledore was waiting for him. Harry thought by the look of his face that he did not like what Harry just did. Chalcrad was sitting on a chair, still angry and covered with dust.
"Harry..." Dumbledore said in a disappointed voice. He certainly wouldn't like the following words. "You really made us look stupid. It is a shame to attack, even by mistake, a friend like Chalcrad. I must ask you to be more careful in the future."
"Yes, Professor," Harry answered.
"Now, go to rest. I think you feel quite drained after this..."
"Yes, professor."
Harry stepped out of the Three Broomsticks and went to the Hogsmeade Hotel. But he did not want to go to his room; instead he went to Ron's room.
"Hey, Harry, already finished your practice?" Ron asked.
"Yes," Harry answered. "I just ended up with blowing Chalcrad to a wall with one strong wind spell." Herimone suddenly changed the look on her face. She became serious again... She was wearing an you-shouldn't-have-done-this expression. "It was just by accident..."
"By accident or not," Hermione told him in a half-angry voice, "This is a huge mistake!"
"Calm down, Hermione!" Ron stopped her, "It is not very serious..."
"Oh it IS serious!" said Hermione. Even if she was right, Harry wanted to thank Ron for taking his defense. "Attacking a teacher... erm... not a teacher, but a very important person... It is really serious!"
"Calm down, Hermione!" Ron told her. "You can't undo the actions, you know..."
She calmed down a bit, and she stood quiet. Harry sat down on a chair, waiting for someone to find a subject to talk about. But he started thinking of the accident with Chlacrad. He actually created a very strong wind with a mago-wizard spell... He didn't know if he said any incantation or not. He was concentrating too hard on the spell itself so he didn't think about what he did except concentrating.
They started talking about spells. Harry showed them some new spells. He conjured a small piece of food. He gave it to Ron to eat to prove them that it was real and not just an illusion.
"Mmm... it tastes good," Ron told him after eating. Then Harry proceeded to show them the mage variant of a summoning charm. He ddin't want to show them a mago-wizard spell while they were still inside; he was afraid that he would make the house collapse.
The rest of the day Harry read more about Mago-wizards and their history. He read that there still was a Dark mago-wizard that walked free throughout the world. No one knew where he was, but everyone could feel the darkness inside him when they met him. His name was Creamor, but he was often called you-know-who by the magi, just like Voldemort.
He read until midnight. Then he went to sleep, because he knew that a very hard day was coming.
Next day he woke up by himself. It was still early morning, he could see the morning cold sun outside his small window. The clock still wasn't working. He sat up and left the room, heading towards the fridge that was never empty. His stomach was asking for food, he hadn't eaten much last day.
After he finished eating, Ron was coming down the stairs, too. "Mornin'" said Ron. Harry replied "Good morning."
"So what's up?" Ron started talking.
"I was starving so I came here to eat..." Harry answered. "You know, today we need a lot of energy... it won't be easy. Today is the day when we have to find the Orb of the Phoenix... We'll just have to pray that we will find it, or the good wizards won't stand a chance against the Mago-Wizard voldemort."
"Yea..."
Hermione was coming down the stairs, too. She looked sleepy, even if she slept all night(That was what Ron said). They started talking about that day... They were making plans for every possible creature they could meet there. Hermione told them she read a book about the Eurazal castle, and it said the Orb of the Phoenix was somewhere in the dungeons. She read about the Necklace of the Dragonteeth, too. The book also said that the creatures that lived in the dungeons were vampires, Shock Roaches, Mage Vipers, Ghywools and, the worst of all, dementors.
"Dementors?" asked Harry terrified. "How are we going to go past them?"
Hermione took her wand and said "Expecto Patronum!". A silver creature was shot out of her wand towards the exit of the room. Harry couldn't figure out what kind of creature Hermione's patronus was... It looked like a flying fish.
"Oh..." Harry exclaimed after that.
"That's all I can tell you... We still do not know most of the creatures that live there. I just hope we won't meet any Dungeon Tentacles..."
"Dungeon Tentacles?" asked Harry confused.
"They are some tentacles tied to the ground, or usually, in water. They hit you with their claws easily and they can shoot poison. Those are some of the worst creatures someone can meet in a dungeon. They can be killed very hard, and that is because they are thin and dodge anything. A sword would be good against them though..."
"Sword? And where the bloody hell do you want to find a sword?" asked Ron.
"Harry may give one."
Both Ron and Harry looked at each other. Harry thought Hermione was talking about Godric Gryffindor's blade. But how could they take it? They didn't even know where it was.
"Oh, come on, you always forget about your powers!"
Harry instantly understood. He could summon Godric's sword, or simply conjure a new one.
Later on that day, Dumbledore came to them when they were in Harry's room talking about Shock Roaches. They were small insects that were enchanted with lightning. Killing one could be a problem, because of its small size and very handy attacks.
"Well, Harry, Ron, Hermione..." Dumbledore said, "It is time when you should leave. The sooner we have the orb, the better. We can't afford the destruction of another Muggle Town... The muggles are already suspecting something, but what if Voldemort will strike again?"
"Follow me." he continued. The four of them left the hotel and went to Dumbledore's old house. There they met Erised, who just told them a few last tactics and plans before leaving. They weren't walking this time; Erised and Harry provided them with teleportatino abilities. The Eurazal castle was rising once again in front of Harry... bringnig back only bad memories like the Death of Professor McGonagall.
"This time we will try to avoid meeting any creature," Harry said, "At least until we reach the Dungeons. Dumbledore had aloready cast the spell against screemers on us, so we won't have to be afraid of them."
The death of McGonagall came back to his mind. She died because of a screemer... sacrificing herself for the rest of the group. If she hadn't done so, they would all be dead...
They walked silently to the entrance of the dungeons. It was near one of the castle walls, Harry knew that because he saw it the last time he'd been there. Fortunately, they did not meet any creature on their way. Harry was the first one to enter the dungeons. The entrance was made of a small round door, and Harry wondered how they managed to get inside through that very small hole. There were lots of stairs to climb down.
Then, they had another problem. The dungeon was not a simple, linear hall. It was created from lots of halls that intersected each other, including lots of doors that lead to storage rooms. "Where to?" asked Harry.
"I'd say we should go straight ahead... we will eventually reach the middle of the dungeon. It will be much easier to find the orb from there... So let's go."
They followed Erised, who was now leading the group. Each hall was very long, and that confused them even more. The dungeons were not designed as a maze... It was just made of lots of halls, and that was even more confusing than a maze. They had no alternative, just to search all the rooms for the orb.
After they walked through the complete silence(except for their footsteps), they saw that the tunnel darkened. It was lit only near the entrance. "Lumos!" Ron, Harry and Hermione shot in unison. Each had a light on the top of his wand.
The brick walls around than were wet. Everything around them was colored in a dark yellow... it looked really creepy.
"It is too quiet here..." said Erised. "A really unusual quiet. I just wonder where the monsters that live here are..."
He had just completed his sentence and he disappeared. He was taken to the ceiling by something... It looked like a tongue. "Erised!" Harry called.
"Go! Continue without me!" they could hear from a very big distance. "I am caught by a mouth sticked on the ceiling... It caught me with its sticky tongue!"
"Let's save him!" said Harry while he took his wand and pointed it to the ceiling. He concentrated hard on killing the creature that lifted up Erised. He could hear himslef saying "Ucide Pecel Inemik!" more times in a row. A black light(if you can call it light) shot out of his wand. Harry could hear a scream of pain, it had to be the mouth-like creature Erised was talking about. Then, they could hear Erised screaming... He was falling to his death. The ceiling was very high indeed.
"Erezio!" yelled Hermione. She just turned some of the floor into water. It had to make the impact less damaging... so Erised would live after that.
He fell into the water. He couldn't be seen, the water was that deep. After about one minute, he came out of the water.
"You're alive!" said Hermione with joy.
"'Course i am alive" said Erised. "Did you think that a mage can die that easy?"
"Now," said Herry, "We should continue our search. The orb must be here, somewhere..."
Then Harry went to lead the group. Erised was the last one. They walked for some time, meeting only a few Shock Roaches on the walls that died at the contact with Harry's Avada Kedavra. It had to be easier than they thought... The dungeon didn't seem too well guarded. And, on second thought, who could guard it? It was not in the possession of Voldemort, and the world wasn't that evil.
"I think it is really quiet," said Erised. "I don't -"
"Don't say that it is quiet again," Ron interrupted him, "The bad things seem to happen only when you say that..."
"Well, it is."
And, Ron was right. He didn't finish the sentence and a huge snake-like creature attacked Erised from his back. It created a lightning bolt that hit Erised, who fell to the floor.
"MAGE VIPERS!!!" yelled Hermione. "We're doomed!"
"No we're not," Herry interrupted her, "Avada Kedavra Multipla!" he said while green light was spreading everywhere across the room. About five mage vipers that just came to sight fell, dead, to the ground.
It turned quiet again. Erised was on the floor, apparently unconscious. The vipers were dead, and Hery, Ron and Hermione were too scared to say anything. They just looked at each other for a couple of minutes.
Maybe the world was evil after all. They almost met their death, luckily that his mago-wizard powers helped him on instinct. He didn't even know that there was a spell called Avada Kedavra Multipla. Harry wondered how the spell knew who was friend and who wasn't...because Ron and Hermione were still alive. And Erised looked alive, too.
"We s-should continue..." said Harry, breaking the silence. "We have to leave Erised here..."
"Leave him here? We can't let him die!" said Hermione in her teaching voice.
"We have no other alternative... Tell me what is better: Find the Orb of the Phoenix and risk Erised's life or stay here while Voldemort destroys everything he meets?"
"Right..." answered Hermione disappointed of her intelligence. "Let's go."
They continued exploring the dungeons, still terrified. Thye could meet more vipers at anytime...
Harry was still in the lead. Next, came Ron and Hermione, in a line. Harry wondered how could they move in that state - scared to death. There was a piercing silence as usual, that Harry didn't like, but no one asked him to like it... he had to bare it. Things looked worse than they have thouhgt...
They met some more Shock Roaches on their way. After that, they were sitting in the middle of the dungeon... but they still had no idea about what to do to find the orb - it could still be in any room... They had to find it, even if it was in the last room they explored...
They didn't move at all for some time, and that was until Harry's face brightened. It was a good thing - he had a great idea... He could still use his distant-talking spell on Chalcrad...
He closed his eyes, concentrating on Chalcrad and asking him "How can we find the orb once we are in the dungeon?". He just hoped he managed to do the spell, scared as he was.
It took a long time, but he managed to do it properly... He got an answer from Chalcrad. He told Harry that he should use his mage powers... concentrate hard on the orb, and the path to it could be revealed.
He sighed before opening his eyes. He felt that something wasn't as it should have been... And he was right. There was no Ron or Hermione to be found anywhere.
"Ron? Hermione?" he asked looking in every possible direction. "RON! HERMIONE!" It couldn't be worse.
But instead of hearing Ron or Hermione answering to him, a group of Mage Vipers were advancing towards him. Harry took the chance to look at one better... It was like a giant snake that had half of its long body up in the air. It had two thin hands sticking out of the upper part of the body. Its head was small, with angry, red eyes.
They were in a large number. They were at least twenty... That was the end of his mission, Harry thought. He had no chance to kill that many vipers in one shot - he had no time to make more than one spell. He concentrated a bit to make another Avada Kedavra Multipla. But he didn't manage to kill only two of them.
That only gave him more time: the group of vipers stopped to take a look at the fallen ones. Harry took the opportunity to think and concentrate on another thing, any spell that came to his mind could be useful...
The vipers were advancing towards him. He didn't know what to do. He continued concentrating as hard as he could... but he could barely do it. He was much too scared to be able to concentrate.
His lips started moving forming some words...
"Arros Vienus Bringus Viatzus Annel Te bat de nu." He was talking very slow... or it was slow compared to the fast vipers... "Dombu..." A green light was coming to him... It was his spell, not an Avada Kedavra. The vipers came very close to him. The first one jumped to him, pulling him down. "Emmerit... Cavalia..."
He could see gtreen light everywhere. Something pierced through his foot... It had to be a claw or something...
Harry could not hear anything. Was the noise too loud and it was ignored by the spell Dumbledore put on him? No it couldn't. They were just some vipers...
JUST vipers! What could pass through his mind...
He couldn't do anything. He was lying on the ground, some vipers were standing on him, casting different spells that kept hitting him... It was very painful. And the only thing he could do was wait and see what would happen... if he could see what happened. Because there was no chance to escape, death was closing him.
The sound came back. He could hear the vipers hissing something familiar... He thought he understood what they said... But how could he undrestand a hiss?
There was a loud bang. The green light around him was going as far as possible... killing any viper in its way. Harry was shocked about his spell. He did something unusual again... A very strong spell that killed every enemy around him.
His mind seemed to work normal again. He immediately understood why he understood what the vipers were hissing; they were snakes after all and Harry was a parseltongue.
He escaped again... He had to continue his search for the Orb, or the world would be destroyed. He got up, still feeling the strong pain caused by the claw that pierced through his left foot. He remembered that Ron and Hermione were nowhere to be found, and he started searching for the orb. It had to be very hard - because he was...
...Alone.