Crazy for Mystery
Chapter Seven: The Earth Spirit
Kitty Malfoy
A/N: Same as before! Duh!
**********
"Peter! Just drink it!" Remus groaned. "It's not that bad, really."
"You drew the short straw, Wormtail." James repeated for like that ninth time.
Peter grimaced and downed the green liquid in a single, shaky, gulp. Again, a large orb of light appeared in front of Peter's chest, this time a yellow-green color and a beam of light shot out of the room. The group was long gone before Peter realized they had gone and waddled after them.
"I think this is Earth.." Crystal said as she sprinted down the corridors.
"How.can.you...tell?" Remus panted.
Crystal looked at him and she seemed a bit distant before she answered. "I can feel it." She added more fuel to her legs and pulled ahead of the boys and disappeared out the main door.
Remus and Sirius exchanged confused looks and followed.
Dirt churned behind them as they raced after the light, creating a giant, volumous cloud that settled on the trail behind them. The Marauders stared in wonder at Crystal as she whizzed way ahead of them.
Into Hogsmeade they ran. They didn't even have to follow the light; a path of chaos pointed the way. Overturned carts littered the streets, and people scrambled to collect strewn packages. Crystal's apologizes could barely be heard over the din of the raucous.
The Marauder's slipped around the people and ran on. The villagers of Hogsmeade stared after them in wonder, and where then even more confused as Peter waddled by ~ greenish light emanating from his chest like a beacon.
Then back out of Hogsmeade and up a winding goat trail high into the hills beyond the tiny magic village. Sirius pulled into the lead as they turned a sharp bend in the trail and ran smack dab into Crystal.
The two tumbled into the dirt and dust and with flailing limbs and surprised voices. Sirius looked down at her flushed face nestled in the leaves and leaned down to kiss her. He was roughly thrown aside and he rolled in the dirt. Crystal stumbled to the rock wall, the end of a no- where-trail. She pawed around the edges searching for something.
Peter's thread of light passed through Crystal and hit the center of the wall. It shimmered slightly as Crystal moved around, but it did not change its target. Meanwhile, Sirius had gotten back to his feet - receiving winces from his friends - and was looking angrily at Crystal's turned back.
"Hey-" he started taking a frustrated step forward.
"Ssh!" She hissed and raised a warning hand to him, though she didn't face him. Everyone grew deathly silent. A unknown wind swirled in and rustled the leaves sending them upwards in spiral dances and stirring the dirt into wild movement. Mountain bushes swayed in time to an unheard music, and their clothes billowed and flapped around their prone bodies.
"There's an opening here.....I can hear it." Crystal exclaimed.
James drew his wand. "Let's just blast it open!"
The clouds rolled over his head as James looked up from where he now lay sprawled on the ground. His wand lay several feet away from him. He pulled himself sorely up into a sitting position, and rubbed his aching back. His thin lips curled into a scowl as the other Marauders snickered at him.
Crystal looked as if she hadn't even moved, though his aching head would testify to the contrary. She drew her wand and the unnatural wind intensified. Bits and pieces of dirt flew upwards and pelted their bodies and smashed against rocks. Dried leaves whipped violently around them, and pebbles rained down on them-echoing like drums.
"What is she doing?" Sirius yelled to Remus over the wind "She's going to blow us all off the mountain!"
As if a knife had slashed it through, the wind stopped in an instant, and silence dropped like a suffocating cloak around them.
"Where's Crystal?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Crystal stood up in the hidden cavern, unknowing that it would come to be the cave in which Sirius hid from the Ministry after his escape from Azkaban. She called forth a small flame to the tip of her wand and looked around as the flame cast a flickering, dim golden light around the cave.
Her shocking blue eyes, the color of the sea in twilight, struggled to adjust to the fluctuating light as she searched the gloom of the cave for any sign of the Earth Spirit. Then she saw it. A small pink flower crowned the top of a pile of rocks and debris. It was hidden in shadow, in the darkest corner of the cave.
Crystal ran to it and fell to her knees. Being ever so careful as to not damage the plant she shifted the rocks away from it. It was almost uncovered when the walls began to shake. The Marauders had begun to pound on the walls. Dirt rained down at her from above, and she slid back to the opening of the cave. Falling to her belly she pushed aside the mountain brush that concealed the entrance and poked her head out. "Stop it you fools! You'll collapse the whole cave!" She shouted.
They stopped pounding and Crystal disappeared back inside. Vibrations still shook the small burrow in the after shock. Rocks were shook loose from their homes and threatened to bury the small flower.
All the boys heard was a muffled shout as Crystal dove to the plant and sheltered it with her body. The rocks hit her back violently and with no remorse bouncing off and clatter to the ground. Crystal bit down on her lower lip until it blew to keep from crying out. It had almost hurt this much when she had gotten her scar.
The rumbling finally stopped and when crystal finally shifted her weight dirt and rubble slid off and pattered to the floor. She opened her eyes and looked down at the small flower that she had suffered to protect. She reached out and for the second time that day absorbed the spirit and felt it meld with the previous four spirits AND her own.
Her knees buckled and she collapsed in the dirt. She shuddered as the spirit spread throughout her body mixing with her blood and bones. There was a stirring outside and Crystal forced herself to crawl to the exit.
She emerged slowly from the cave and faced the boys. Her pale face was stained with dirt and grime and bits and clumps of dirt coated her golden locks. She picked up her black duster from where she had dropped it in front of the cave and shook it out before putting it on.
"Crystal?" James asked meekly.
"I have it." She said gruffly, "Give me your hands."
Instantly they were at the outskirts of Hogsmeade - as close as they could apparate to Hogwarts as possible. Crystal nodded to Sirius and he downed his own vial of the potion.
*******
Kitty Malfoy
A/N: Same as before! Duh!
**********
"Peter! Just drink it!" Remus groaned. "It's not that bad, really."
"You drew the short straw, Wormtail." James repeated for like that ninth time.
Peter grimaced and downed the green liquid in a single, shaky, gulp. Again, a large orb of light appeared in front of Peter's chest, this time a yellow-green color and a beam of light shot out of the room. The group was long gone before Peter realized they had gone and waddled after them.
"I think this is Earth.." Crystal said as she sprinted down the corridors.
"How.can.you...tell?" Remus panted.
Crystal looked at him and she seemed a bit distant before she answered. "I can feel it." She added more fuel to her legs and pulled ahead of the boys and disappeared out the main door.
Remus and Sirius exchanged confused looks and followed.
Dirt churned behind them as they raced after the light, creating a giant, volumous cloud that settled on the trail behind them. The Marauders stared in wonder at Crystal as she whizzed way ahead of them.
Into Hogsmeade they ran. They didn't even have to follow the light; a path of chaos pointed the way. Overturned carts littered the streets, and people scrambled to collect strewn packages. Crystal's apologizes could barely be heard over the din of the raucous.
The Marauder's slipped around the people and ran on. The villagers of Hogsmeade stared after them in wonder, and where then even more confused as Peter waddled by ~ greenish light emanating from his chest like a beacon.
Then back out of Hogsmeade and up a winding goat trail high into the hills beyond the tiny magic village. Sirius pulled into the lead as they turned a sharp bend in the trail and ran smack dab into Crystal.
The two tumbled into the dirt and dust and with flailing limbs and surprised voices. Sirius looked down at her flushed face nestled in the leaves and leaned down to kiss her. He was roughly thrown aside and he rolled in the dirt. Crystal stumbled to the rock wall, the end of a no- where-trail. She pawed around the edges searching for something.
Peter's thread of light passed through Crystal and hit the center of the wall. It shimmered slightly as Crystal moved around, but it did not change its target. Meanwhile, Sirius had gotten back to his feet - receiving winces from his friends - and was looking angrily at Crystal's turned back.
"Hey-" he started taking a frustrated step forward.
"Ssh!" She hissed and raised a warning hand to him, though she didn't face him. Everyone grew deathly silent. A unknown wind swirled in and rustled the leaves sending them upwards in spiral dances and stirring the dirt into wild movement. Mountain bushes swayed in time to an unheard music, and their clothes billowed and flapped around their prone bodies.
"There's an opening here.....I can hear it." Crystal exclaimed.
James drew his wand. "Let's just blast it open!"
The clouds rolled over his head as James looked up from where he now lay sprawled on the ground. His wand lay several feet away from him. He pulled himself sorely up into a sitting position, and rubbed his aching back. His thin lips curled into a scowl as the other Marauders snickered at him.
Crystal looked as if she hadn't even moved, though his aching head would testify to the contrary. She drew her wand and the unnatural wind intensified. Bits and pieces of dirt flew upwards and pelted their bodies and smashed against rocks. Dried leaves whipped violently around them, and pebbles rained down on them-echoing like drums.
"What is she doing?" Sirius yelled to Remus over the wind "She's going to blow us all off the mountain!"
As if a knife had slashed it through, the wind stopped in an instant, and silence dropped like a suffocating cloak around them.
"Where's Crystal?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Crystal stood up in the hidden cavern, unknowing that it would come to be the cave in which Sirius hid from the Ministry after his escape from Azkaban. She called forth a small flame to the tip of her wand and looked around as the flame cast a flickering, dim golden light around the cave.
Her shocking blue eyes, the color of the sea in twilight, struggled to adjust to the fluctuating light as she searched the gloom of the cave for any sign of the Earth Spirit. Then she saw it. A small pink flower crowned the top of a pile of rocks and debris. It was hidden in shadow, in the darkest corner of the cave.
Crystal ran to it and fell to her knees. Being ever so careful as to not damage the plant she shifted the rocks away from it. It was almost uncovered when the walls began to shake. The Marauders had begun to pound on the walls. Dirt rained down at her from above, and she slid back to the opening of the cave. Falling to her belly she pushed aside the mountain brush that concealed the entrance and poked her head out. "Stop it you fools! You'll collapse the whole cave!" She shouted.
They stopped pounding and Crystal disappeared back inside. Vibrations still shook the small burrow in the after shock. Rocks were shook loose from their homes and threatened to bury the small flower.
All the boys heard was a muffled shout as Crystal dove to the plant and sheltered it with her body. The rocks hit her back violently and with no remorse bouncing off and clatter to the ground. Crystal bit down on her lower lip until it blew to keep from crying out. It had almost hurt this much when she had gotten her scar.
The rumbling finally stopped and when crystal finally shifted her weight dirt and rubble slid off and pattered to the floor. She opened her eyes and looked down at the small flower that she had suffered to protect. She reached out and for the second time that day absorbed the spirit and felt it meld with the previous four spirits AND her own.
Her knees buckled and she collapsed in the dirt. She shuddered as the spirit spread throughout her body mixing with her blood and bones. There was a stirring outside and Crystal forced herself to crawl to the exit.
She emerged slowly from the cave and faced the boys. Her pale face was stained with dirt and grime and bits and clumps of dirt coated her golden locks. She picked up her black duster from where she had dropped it in front of the cave and shook it out before putting it on.
"Crystal?" James asked meekly.
"I have it." She said gruffly, "Give me your hands."
Instantly they were at the outskirts of Hogsmeade - as close as they could apparate to Hogwarts as possible. Crystal nodded to Sirius and he downed his own vial of the potion.
*******
Kitty Malfoy