41. …Uncle Reginald is guarded by Flying Snakes
The three of them inched their way to the dungeons. Ron was being careful to hold down
the back of his dress as he walked downstairs, worried that a sudden draft might come
and whisk it up. Not that Draco hadn't seen it all before, but Hermione was here, and he
was embarrassed. Draco looked somewhat jittery, and Hermione was doing a remarkable
job of keeping silent except for when Draco stopped suddenly and she rammed into him
with a loud and unfeminine "Oof!"
"Shut up!" Draco hissed, leading them down a twisting stairway to the bowels of Malfoy
Manor. Ron couldn't suppress a gag at the trickling water and green slime, and it smelled
distinctly like rotten eggs.
"Umm…" Ron asked quietly, "Are there any spiders here?"
"Only in the South Dungeons," Draco answered, holding up his wand, which had a small
flame at the tip. "I used to keep them as pets until father made me move them down there.
The North Dungeons, where Uncle Reginald is, are guarded by flying snakes. But they
won't bother me."
"Great…" Ron didn't think he liked the dungeons very much. If only he could be back at
Hogwarts, in the Gryffindor Common Room, in his own body…
"This is it," Draco said grimly, waving his wand at an immense stone cell. The bars that
enclosed it dripped with the same slime and water, and a haggard looking man was
hunched up against one wall. Ron and Hermione could hear him take wheezing breaths.
The man finally noticed them, and turned around, a look of alarm on his filthy face.
"Draco!" he said, "Don't try to come in! Lucius—"
"I know," Draco said, kneeling down and regarding the padlock on the bars with a
determination. "We'll think of something."
Hermione stepped out from under the cloak, and Reginald's eyes grew wide. She
regarded the situation at hand.
"If the trap is sprung when we open that door," she said, "I guess we'll have to get him
out without using the door."
"Great!" Ron said. The tension was getting to him. "So we just cut right through the bars,
easy as that?" He sat down angrily, and then noticed that he had placed himself in a
position with his legs splayed out. He flushed red and drew them together. Reginald
looked at him oddly.
"You can't cut through them," Reginald pronounced, "The bars have spelled built into
them. They repel any magic. If you did try to cut them, they'd petrify you."
A light came on in Hermione's eyes. "But if we try to cut them without magic, would that
work?"
Draco pondered this. "I bet they would. But how do we do that?" He and Ron looked
stupefied.
"Oh, honestly, you should both take Muggle Studies," Hermione said, rolling her eyes.
"We just need a saw." No recognition dawned in either boy's face.
"Accio saw!" Hermione muttered, and a saw came flying down the stairs, through the
hall, and into her hand. She tossed it at Draco, who yelped and jumped away.
"Get sawing!" she said, and busied herself with examining the knives hanging magically
in the air above Reginald.
Three hours later, Draco and Ron had sawed through a sufficient number of bars to allow
Reginald to squeeze out. Hermione helped them bend them forwards, sweating and
huffing.
"This…is why…I'm glad I'm a wizard!" Ron said, furiously trying to bend a bar by
himself.
"Yeah," Draco agreed after the last bar had been bent. "I don't know how Muggles get
through life."
Hermione glared at them both. "Most of them do just fine."
Reginald stood up painfully and, hopping up and down a bit to warm his legs up, bent
down again and crawled out the opening.
Suddenly, they heard a voice from the top of the stairs that made them freeze. It was
Lucius, complaining loudly to the butler that he had fallen asleep in his cottage and
missed dinner.
"Shit!" Draco swore. "Under the cloak!" Hermione, Ron, Reginald, and Draco all hurried
to conceal themselves under the Invisibility Cloak. They flattened themselves against a
wall, hearing Lucius's footsteps as he walked quickly down the stairs.
Lucius swore as well when he saw the cage and the absence of Reginald. "Draco!" he
bellowed, turning and running upstairs. "Draco, where are you?"
"Why did he wake up?" Ron whispered hastily.
"I guess the wards were reactivated somehow," Draco said.
"Forget about that, how are we going to get out?" Hermione asked shrilly.
"There's a way…but you won't like it…" Draco said ominously.
Harry and Ginny were both fully clothed and sitting in the Common Room when the
portrait door swung open and several students came in, talking and laughing. Parvati
Patil, Dean Thomas, and Seamus Finnegan waved at Harry and Ginny before going up to
their respective dormitories.
"People are starting to come back," Ginny said, leaning into Harry. "Where are Ron and
Hermione?"
"I don't know," he said coldly, "But they had better be back soon."
The three of them inched their way to the dungeons. Ron was being careful to hold down
the back of his dress as he walked downstairs, worried that a sudden draft might come
and whisk it up. Not that Draco hadn't seen it all before, but Hermione was here, and he
was embarrassed. Draco looked somewhat jittery, and Hermione was doing a remarkable
job of keeping silent except for when Draco stopped suddenly and she rammed into him
with a loud and unfeminine "Oof!"
"Shut up!" Draco hissed, leading them down a twisting stairway to the bowels of Malfoy
Manor. Ron couldn't suppress a gag at the trickling water and green slime, and it smelled
distinctly like rotten eggs.
"Umm…" Ron asked quietly, "Are there any spiders here?"
"Only in the South Dungeons," Draco answered, holding up his wand, which had a small
flame at the tip. "I used to keep them as pets until father made me move them down there.
The North Dungeons, where Uncle Reginald is, are guarded by flying snakes. But they
won't bother me."
"Great…" Ron didn't think he liked the dungeons very much. If only he could be back at
Hogwarts, in the Gryffindor Common Room, in his own body…
"This is it," Draco said grimly, waving his wand at an immense stone cell. The bars that
enclosed it dripped with the same slime and water, and a haggard looking man was
hunched up against one wall. Ron and Hermione could hear him take wheezing breaths.
The man finally noticed them, and turned around, a look of alarm on his filthy face.
"Draco!" he said, "Don't try to come in! Lucius—"
"I know," Draco said, kneeling down and regarding the padlock on the bars with a
determination. "We'll think of something."
Hermione stepped out from under the cloak, and Reginald's eyes grew wide. She
regarded the situation at hand.
"If the trap is sprung when we open that door," she said, "I guess we'll have to get him
out without using the door."
"Great!" Ron said. The tension was getting to him. "So we just cut right through the bars,
easy as that?" He sat down angrily, and then noticed that he had placed himself in a
position with his legs splayed out. He flushed red and drew them together. Reginald
looked at him oddly.
"You can't cut through them," Reginald pronounced, "The bars have spelled built into
them. They repel any magic. If you did try to cut them, they'd petrify you."
A light came on in Hermione's eyes. "But if we try to cut them without magic, would that
work?"
Draco pondered this. "I bet they would. But how do we do that?" He and Ron looked
stupefied.
"Oh, honestly, you should both take Muggle Studies," Hermione said, rolling her eyes.
"We just need a saw." No recognition dawned in either boy's face.
"Accio saw!" Hermione muttered, and a saw came flying down the stairs, through the
hall, and into her hand. She tossed it at Draco, who yelped and jumped away.
"Get sawing!" she said, and busied herself with examining the knives hanging magically
in the air above Reginald.
Three hours later, Draco and Ron had sawed through a sufficient number of bars to allow
Reginald to squeeze out. Hermione helped them bend them forwards, sweating and
huffing.
"This…is why…I'm glad I'm a wizard!" Ron said, furiously trying to bend a bar by
himself.
"Yeah," Draco agreed after the last bar had been bent. "I don't know how Muggles get
through life."
Hermione glared at them both. "Most of them do just fine."
Reginald stood up painfully and, hopping up and down a bit to warm his legs up, bent
down again and crawled out the opening.
Suddenly, they heard a voice from the top of the stairs that made them freeze. It was
Lucius, complaining loudly to the butler that he had fallen asleep in his cottage and
missed dinner.
"Shit!" Draco swore. "Under the cloak!" Hermione, Ron, Reginald, and Draco all hurried
to conceal themselves under the Invisibility Cloak. They flattened themselves against a
wall, hearing Lucius's footsteps as he walked quickly down the stairs.
Lucius swore as well when he saw the cage and the absence of Reginald. "Draco!" he
bellowed, turning and running upstairs. "Draco, where are you?"
"Why did he wake up?" Ron whispered hastily.
"I guess the wards were reactivated somehow," Draco said.
"Forget about that, how are we going to get out?" Hermione asked shrilly.
"There's a way…but you won't like it…" Draco said ominously.
Harry and Ginny were both fully clothed and sitting in the Common Room when the
portrait door swung open and several students came in, talking and laughing. Parvati
Patil, Dean Thomas, and Seamus Finnegan waved at Harry and Ginny before going up to
their respective dormitories.
"People are starting to come back," Ginny said, leaning into Harry. "Where are Ron and
Hermione?"
"I don't know," he said coldly, "But they had better be back soon."