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CLAWS
OF A RAVEN
by Tyde
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Chapter Nineteen
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They stood nervously in front of the mirror that blocked the entrance Ron had been talking about. "Is there a password?"
"I don't know. Maybe we just move the mirror and there is a door behind or something" Harry looked down at the map in front of him. The little dots labelled Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger were standing in front of the mirror and then they took a few steps forward and were suddenly behind the mirror and in the passageway. "I think we're supposed to go through it"
"Like Alice did in Through the Looking Glass" Ron looked at Hermione with a question on his lips.
"It's a-" she began but he cut her off.
"No wait, let me guess. It's a book"
Hermione smiled "Right you are Mister Weasley"
"When you two are done discussing literature do you think we might have a go at this mirror?"
They both flushed in embarrassment. "Sorry Harry"
The black-haired boy put his hand up to the mirrored surface and pushed with his fingers. It was an unusual feeling and he gasped out loud.
"What is it Harry?"
"It feels really peculiar. Put your hand in"
Both Ron and Hermione tentatively put their hands through the mirrored surface. "Wow"
"It's like putting your hand in a vat of warm honey but without the unpleasant stickiness"
They held hands and stepped into the viscous feel of the mirror. Their feet met with a large stone big enough to have at least 10 people standing on it. The stone shifted slightly under their weight. A blank wall of steel and iron was right in front of their faces.
"When they said it was caved in they really meant it. Either that or Dumbledore had them seal it up extra tight" The three turned to leave when suddenly the stone they were standing on moved quite significantly and downwards. Metal cords sprang out of the stone block they stood on and wound themselves around their legs. A whooshing sound was heard and they plummeted what felt like a few floors, thankful for the restraints keeping them upright. As the stone elevator drew to a stop the cords disappeared back into the floor and the stone tilted up so they were forced to walk forward onto the packed dirt floor.
"That was unexpected"
"I'll say" Harry took his wand out of his pocket and whispered Lumos. The thin beam dashed around their darkened surroundings and settled on a large pile of rubble up ahead. Stones, metal, dirt and grass was piled haphazardly in the middle of the tunnel blocking anyone from getting any further.
"There's the cave-in Fred and George were talking about" The three of them approached it with their wand lights illuminating small parts of it. Harry walked forward to try to find a way through it all.
"Someone's tunnelled through here. A fairly skinny someone. You wouldn't know it unless you came up close like this. That boulder in front makes it look blocked up but there are a few feet in-between to move"
"So that is how You Know Who got in to get to the Butterbeer"
"Looks like it"
"Hey what's this?" asked Ron as he picked up a dark lump; one of many that were scattered on the floor of the passageway.
"Don't touch that Ron! It's snake droppings"
He dropped it immediately with a disgusted look on his face. "Snake poo? Gross!" Ron started to wipe his hand on the wall of the passageway as Harry and Hermione continued their search of the surrounding area. The redhead pressed on the wall as he wiped and then he heard a quiet click and felt the wall move underneath his hand. It moved only a little bit and after a few seconds fitted itself back into place with another barely audible click.
The Boy Who Lived and the Prefect Who Bossed were too busy discussing Voldemort's snake Nagini and how she must be keeping an eye on everyone in the castle to notice what was going on with Ron. "No doubt via the pipes" muttered Hermione.
"Oi you two" Ron pointed his wand light at them. "I think I've found something here. The wall moves a bit if you touch it right here" And he did so and it clicked and moved slightly inward. A tiny crack of light could be seen around the edges of the 'door'.
Harry stepped closer to inspect it, "Where do you think it leads?"
"No idea. It's rather heavy though. How about we all try together and give it the old heave ho"
The three of them each placed a shoulder against the rough stone wall and pushed with all their might. They fell to the ground in surprise as the wall became slipperier than an eel and a voice hissed at them.
"The password"
"Bloody hell"
"Ron" Hermione admonished.
"Sorry"
"Do you think Filch has done an enchantment on this as well?" Harry thought to himself how highly unlikely that would be. If he hadn't guarded the entrance to the passageway he most certainly wouldn't have gotten to this wall.
"What is a Filch?" the wall hissed as if through its teeth (which by all appearances it did not have). "If you do not have the password you cannot enter"
"It's hissing like a snake. Try some Parseltongue Harry"
But no Parseltongue worked and Hermione even tried a few words of Dwarf, Plagoala and Sinajese that she'd read about over the summer. ("Do you even go out of the house during summer?" Ron had asked).
"Well it's no use. The wall won't let us through. We'll have to squeeze our way out via the rubble" And they headed off towards the pile of stones and dirt. They did not hear the deep breathing coming from behind the wall.
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The meeting with Sirius was short and sweet. He handed them a sheaf of parchment from Remus that had some highbrow protection spells, hexes and curses. Ron could see Hermione drooling in anticipation as she looked over Harry's shoulder at them. If Voldemort was coming they needed to be prepared.
Padfoot said what they had been suspecting – something was up and it was going to happen soon. He'd been keeping an eye on the comings and goings of magic folk in Hogsmeade and he'd seen too many appearances of Lucius Malfoy to be comfortable with. Dumbledore had said to keep his doggie ear to the ground and scout all that he could. A group of Aurors had swept through town the day before and he'd had to be careful.
The three friends hurried back to the castle as snow started to fall and were just about to go through the portrait hole to the common room when McGonagall's magically enhanced voice wound itself around the corridor walls.
"Would all students please report immediately to the Great Hall" her voice caught a little and she took a second to compose it. "Be alert and have your wands out. Prefects please round up as many of your fellow students as you can and go in groups. Quickly"
The hall was silent as the students filed in to sit on the benches. Worried faces turned to face Professor Dumbledore who was standing in his usual spot. His eyes were filled with anger and what looked like tears that were trying not to be noticed. Professor McGonagall was holding a handkerchief to her nose and mouth. All the other teachers looked stunned. Madam Pomfrey was noticeably absent.
"I have very grave news" the old wizard's voice cracked a little. "Two of the students afflicted by the potion last week have not recovered"
The hall began to buzz. Not recovered? But surely he couldn't mean...
"Susan Bones and Hannah Abbott passed away early this morning"
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Author's note: When I said deaths at Hogwarts in the summary I meant deaths. Poor little Jippy was just the start of it. I'm staying safely in Killing off Minor Characters territory though. No majorish character deaths for this story. Okay, just one – but I don't think you'll mind. Remember Majorish, not Major. If they were nominated for an Oscar it would be for Supporting Role. Oh the mind boggles, doesn't it? :oP
Kaelli Karali – WILL DO! :o)
labrisa – you're psychic aren't you? :o)
samson – thanks for your review of Path to Darkness. Glad you liked it. I'll bring back Sev as soon as possible. But there are other things that have to happen first. The closing of Hogwarts being the first.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
I wrote the above Author's note and other comments a few days ago when I was brushing up this chapter for posting. Yesterday I stayed home from work because my dog Smitty was not well. He died at the vets in the afternoon where they had him hooked up to a drip trying to make him better. He had internal bleeding and they couldn't make it stop. I spent all morning with him and it was very upsetting to see him dying right in front of me. I'm sure you'll understand if I don't update this for a while. Me and writing about death just aren't the best of friends at the moment.
[http : // tyd . diaryland . com / smitty . html]
without the spaces
