Anonymous80 – Draco Malfoy's a seeker, Devin Malfoy's a chaser… ANywayze, thanks for reviewing!

graphicrockstar – I accidentally added another chapter before, and I need an extra chapter to get it back to the top of the list, so expect constant extra chapters XDXD.

Sapphrine – I actually wrote the rest of the chapter (the beginning of this one), but decided that was a better place to stop. Thanks so much for reading, hope you like this chapter, too.

Chapter 21: The Cult of the Spider

            "Not this time, buster!"

Hannah plowed triumphantly into Wormtail. The spell erupted from his wand as he flew sideways and shot off into the forest. Wormtail's body rolled down the muddy hill, falling away into the darkness.

            "Hannah!" cried Ernie.

            "Watch out, this might hurt a bit… REDUCTO!"

            It did hurt, more than a bit, but the web was gone. The feeling of wind on his arms was the best feeling Harry had ever felt. The cool night air washed across him, taking away the fear, the anger, the everything…

            "We can talk later," said Ginny, "let's get out of here before he gets back up."

            "Good idea," said Ron.

            The whole world looked ten times more beautiful to Harry. The colors of death below were now brilliant flashes of beauty; the swaying trees were now a symbol of tranquility; the sound of the crickets was now a beautiful song… I'm so glad to be alive!

            They ran the rest of the way without a cloud and into the same stone room as before. The room was in a state of distress – the red carpet was torn and wasted, lying in a heap on the side of the room, the grand table was charred and destroyed and the genie's lamp lay in a pool of oil, tipped on the ground. Ginny grabbed the lamp and began to rub it.

            "No…" she moaned frantically. "NO!"

            No genie was coming out.

            "What's happening?"

            "The genie… he's not…"

            "What aren't I doing?" boomed a great voice. A glowing blue tornado rose from the broken lamp in Ginny's hands. Ginny dropped the lamp in surprise… except that it didn't drop. It remained stationary in the air. A great, glowing blue genie arose from the misty tornado.

            "Oh… oh sorry…" Ginny said, backing away as the form of the Genie became more defined.

            "Well, now, it looks the whole of the Quidditch team from before, plus a floating body… how'd you guys do?"

            "Well, the last game ended early," Harry said, "but we would've beaten them."

            "I think the official record goes to them," said Devin, moving his brother slightly to the left slightly to get a better view of the genie. "I mean, they were winning when the attack happened."

            "Yeah, but I could've gotten that snitch any day."

            "You could've gotten that snitch at the beginning," said Ron, grinning. "But oh no, you were too afraid to hurt your girlfriend."

            "Well," the genie said in a bored voice, "If you're finished arguing over Quidditch, I'd like to get back to my eternal sleep. And, you two in the back, no kissing allowed when a genie is around!"

            "I have a question," said Adrianne. "If your sleep is eternal, then how come you wake up at all?"

            "Listen, I didn't make up the rules or the terms. Now, let's see… seven conscious and one unconscious for Hogwarts, then?"

            "Wait, there's ten of us," said Ernie, "unless you're going to kick Hannah and me out for kissing…"

            "No… two of you guys have somewhere else to go."

            "What?" asked Harry in surprise.

            "Yeah, you and the red-haired boy need to make a quick trip somewhere… don't worry," he added, seeing their faces, "it's painless."

            That wasn't what was worrying them.

            "Anyway, if you two would kindly step outside for a moment, and stun the Death Eater who will approach on your right, then we can get going."

            Harry and Ron stared at each other.

            "Where are you sending us?" demanded Ron as everyone looked at them quizzically.

            "I can't tell you."

            "Why not?"

            "Because I don't know… it's not another one of my lamps."

            "So, why are you sending us there?"

            "Some guy asked me."

            "What kind of guy?"

            "I don't know… listen, are we going to play twenty questions or would you too get outside already, you're getting on my nerves."

            "We're not going anywhere until you tell us where we're going!" Harry shouted. He then went back over his words and realized exactly what he had just said.

            "Your friend Hermione is already there, if that's any help," said the genie in a bored voice. "And she's not getting out without you."

            "You're holding her hostage?"

            "Excuse me, I'm not doing anything. Now, go out. And just so you know, all three of you will arrive safe and sound at school on Tuesday, so you'll miss Potions on Monday."

            Harry and Ron looked at each other.

            "How do you know all this?"

            "That's what the man told me to say to you… he gave me a whole script… we genies are good at memorizing things, you see."

            "And how did you know about the Death Eater?"

            "Because I saw him. Now he's moved. He's standing right next to the couple who I specifically asked not to kiss while in my presence!"

            Nine people turned around and yelled "STUPEFY!" Nine stunners hit the Death Eater, who collapsed to the ground.

            "Okay, great job," said the friendly genie. "Now leave the room and get the dead Death Eater outside, too… Actually, on second thought, Hogwarts would be a great place for him."

            "Okay, fine," sighed Harry. Ron looked less-than-eager to leave Ginny but, finally, he followed Harry out.

            Watching the genie from outside was very different from being in the whirlwind. The genie dropped back into the whirlwind, but the whirlwind didn't grow. Instead, Harry watched in amazement as all the figures in the room became smaller and smaller until they were sucked into the tip of the lamp, and the genie popped up again with a sardonic smile.

            "Alright," said the genie, "now come back here."

            They did so in silence.

            "Okay, sorry I have to do this, but it's orders, you see… STUPEFY!"

            A red bolt shot out of the lamp itself and hit Ron. Harry had just enough time to turn and try to run when the genie's second stunner hit him.

            "Harry! Ron! Wake up, wands out!"

            Harry felt a strange combination of numbness, cold and pain. It felt as if he was laying face-down on a bed of leaves and grass, which, opening his eyes and watching the world whirl into focus, he was. He pushed himself up, and had a momentary head rush. When it was over, he took a good look around. He was in the same clearing that he had awoken in the previous night – there were even marks from where he and Ginny had lay, and their footprints dried in the mud. Forcing himself to look around, he saw the same markings on the trees. They were far less ominous now than at night. Hermione was standing above Ron, who had curled up snugly in a carpet of leaves and dirt. Harry saw the inevitable a moment before it happened: a spider was crawling straight across his face.

            "Ron!" Hermione shouted.

            His mouth dropped open, a steady stream of drool splashing out onto some scurrying ants nearby. The spider crawled across his freckled nose and right into his mouth.

            "Ron!" Hermione shouted again, giving him a small push.

            "Wha…?" said Ron. Then there was a small pause. Spitting and screaming, Ron twirled up in a whirlwind that would have impressed the genie, spraying leaves, moss and everything else flying in all directions. Harry took cover, throwing himself behind a tree just as Ron's meal went flying by encased in saliva.

            "Ron! Calm down!"

            Ron opened and closed his mouth, but no voice came out. Then, looking ill, he disappeared into the trees.

            "What happened to you?" Harry asked her.

            "Professor McGonagall rounded up all the Hogwarts students except for Malfoy, Amber and the Quidditch team. I was so worried about you guys… did everyone get home safely?"

            Harry told his side of the story.

            "But you say Amber disappeared? I didn't see her anywhere…"

            "Well… she probably left with Annette… Why was she playing for that African school anyway?"

            "She said she'd explain everything later…"

            "Hmm… Things just don't add up here."

            "So why'd you end up coming to this place?"

            "Well, everyone was teleported to Hogwarts by the genie except for me. I went to this kind of… sanctuary. There were lots of fountains, and these angel-things… Then a voice… it was really ethereal, but it sort of sounded like Annette… told me that I wasn't supposed to be there and that the genie had bent time… Said I should go back… And then she sent me back to the world cup genie. Everyone else was gone. He shot a stunner at me, and the next thing I know I'm here."

            "Well, whatever the cause of all this, I would… I WOULD WATCH OUT BECAUSE THERE'S A COCKATRICE RIGHT NEXT TO YOUR HEAD!"

            Hermione screamed. Above her was a gigantic, multi-colored bird with menacing claws and a sharp beak that had strange purple gas rising from the edges. Its wings beat slowly to keep it in place in midair. Overall, Harry thought, you really couldn't get a more menacing bird, not counting Pigwidgeon.

            "STUPEFY!" she yelled. It opened its mouth. Then, as Harry and Hermione stood hypnotized, the stunner began to slow down. The more gas that surrounded it, the slower the stunner went, until, finally, the stunner stopped in midair. The cockatrice batted it away lazily and stayed relatively motionless.

            "I wonder why it's not retaliating," whispered Hermione.

            "I dunno… it seems to just be sitting there. And that gas… it's sort of dispersing, but what do you think it is?"

            "Haven't you ever read The Beastly Book of Beasts?"

            "No, when I went to get a copy in Diagon alley, it shot all its pages at me trying to escape."

            "Didn't Hagrid tell you? You have to sing to it!"

            "Well, it wasn't a required book this time, thankfully… anyway, what did it say about cockatrices?"

            "The gas is anti-time gas… it slows down anything except for the cockatrice."

            The cockatrice hovered in the purple gas, apparently waiting for them to make the next move.

            "Well, if it's not going to do anything," said Harry, "Let's just leave."

            They started to back slowly away. The cockatrice shook its wings in what was definitely a shrug and then turned around, flapping away, trailing some violet smoke. Harry and Hermione turned and stared at each other… it hadn't wanted to attack them after all… but why had it stopped above them?

            "We should look for Ron" said Hermione.

            Harry nodded and crashed off into the forest calling "RON!"

            "I'm here!" shouted a panicked voice above them. Looking up through a break in the dense canopy, Harry saw Ron's body dangling from the claws of a smug-looking cockatrice.

            "HERMIONE! AFTER IT!" Harry yelled, ducking under branches and hauling himself over slippery rocks. The forest floor was muddy and mossy, and running was nearly impossible, especially trying to follow a low-flying bird of prey, but the cockatrice was moving rather slowly. Despite the fact that it apparently had a stomach full of anti-time gas, Harry was under the impression that those rainbow wings could go a lot faster… it almost seemed as if it wanted Harry and Hermione to follow it.

            They scrambled through the forest, screaming and calling, until they reached a cliff about twenty feet above some rushing rapids. Harry caught himself just in time, and held out a hand to steady Hermione. The cockatrice turned around and watched them.

            "Damnit!" Harry gasped. "STUPEFY!"

            The cockatrice breathed out a cloud of anti-time gas, and, that was probably a good thing, as Hermione pointed out that if he had hit, Ron would have dropped into the gorge.

            "Right… well, what spells can we use…"

            "ACCIO RON!" cried Hermione, whipping out her wand in a great arc of blue sparks. The spell stopped once again in an all-new cloud of gas.

            "I wish there was a way to get rid of that cloud!" Harry said.

            "Wait… do you think…" Hermione trailed off.

            "Sometimes," Harry said, grinning.

            But he never was able to find out what she was thinking, as just then Ron screamed, "As soon as you let me go, I'll kick your little wannabe-phoenix ass!"

            The cockatrice gave what was most definitely a smug shrug and then released Ron. Ron seemed to hover in midair for a few seconds and then fell, screaming, down into the rushing waters below. Harry gave a first scream as he watched Ron fall, and a second scream as Hermione arced her body and made a perfect dive after him. Both went sailing down for the rushing water below them.

            "CONJURIUS RAFT!"

            A rubber raft spun around in the air several feet in front of Harry, hanging over the water. Harry jumped out as the raft became more solid, silently thanking Professor McGonagall as he fell about two feet about the falling raft. Looking down, his stomach tightened in fear… the cliff was more like 100 feet deep, and Ron and Hermione still falling down towards t6he rushing, white water below him.

            Harry shut his eyes, feeling the cold spray of the rapids seconds before he hit the rubber raft. There were no oars, but he doubted he'd be able to control the boat much at this point. He tried his best to steer by leaning towards Ron, who had caught a rock jutting out of the water. But, just as he neared Ron, the boat hit a rock and flew into the air. Harry blindly thrashed, as the boat was sent foreword spinning in all directions. Ron pushed himself off a rock and grabbed a side of the raft, tilting it dangerously. Harry threw his weight to the other side, and Ron rolled in. Ron coughed up some water.

            "HERMIONE CAN'T SWIM!" he yelled as soon as he had his voice back.

            "WELL SHE CAN DIVE!" Harry yelled back as the boat was sent rushing unsteadily past a low outcropping of rocks.

            Bouncing in the boat, Harry and Ron spun around a corner and saw Hermione screaming, slowly slipping from a mossy rock, about fifty feet ahead.

            "WHEN WE COME BY, JUMP!" yelled Harry, frantically trying to keep the boat steady.

            They neared her, bumping off the cliff walls and watching Hermione fiercely try to keep a grip on her rock. Looking ahead, Harry saw something ahead of them that was spraying water in all directions. They were nearing Hermione, but, seconds before they arrived, she slipped, dropping off into the water ahead of them. Harry watched in Horror as her head hit a rock with a sickening crack.

            She's not dead! She can't be dead! Harry thought fiercely, watching her limp body shoot by along the rapids

            "RON, STAY DOWN!"

            Harry grabbed Ron seconds before he would have thrown himself into the water. Shooting foreword through the pearly foam, they screamed for the unconscious Hermione. And, then, suddenly, Hermione's body disappeared. Ron and Harry saw it a second before they, too, went over it:

            "WATERFALL!"

            Harry took a great gulp of air, pressed his eyes shut and prayed for the best. He could feel the water below him, surging, every tiny droplet rushing for, lusting after the edge of the cliff. Harry could feel as he got closer and closer… and then, in seconds, he felt a familiar jerk in his stomach and was shooting over the cliff…

            Harry sat up uneasily and looked around. He didn't remember what had happened after shooting over the waterfall, he remembered only the cold fury of the water, Ron's screaming…

Harry's vision swam into focus. He was in a cold stone room lit by a few eerily glowing torches. He lay on a straw mattress, and his robes had been changed to a dark red. Across the room was a pitcher of water and an old cauldron he assumed was meant to be used as a chamber pot. The room was small. He looked over each wall in turn. When he came to the last wall, he gave an unpleasant jolt. Bars.

"I'm in prison," he said aloud. The sound echoed.

There were no dementors around, but they had fled Azkaban. However, from everything he'd been told about Azkaban, this place seemed somewhat different.

            Well, the Swiss would have their own wizard's prison, wouldn't they? Hermione's voice said in his head.

            Hermione! What had happened? Was she dead? How about Ron? His last thought was answered almost immediately.

            "HARRY!"

            "RON!"

            Harry ran to the bars of his cell. Ron was across from him in another cell.

            "Where's Hermione?" Ron asked in a strangled voice.

            "I don't know… do you have any idea where we are?"

            "Well, that might give you some idea."

            He shook his hand pointing down the hall, where Harry had noticed a strange, orange glow. Looking down, he saw blazing orange fire arranged in a seven-pointed star.

            "Do you reckon we're under the school?" asked Ron.

            It was certainly possible, however, Harry had a feeling they were still in Europe.

            "Maybe…I don't know."

            They sat in silence for a few more minutes. Then, deep footsteps echoed down the hall. Two hooded figures approached. One bore the body of Hermione, also dressed in red. Her face was covered in bandages, but she looked healed.

            "Hermione!" gasped Ron.

            The hooded figures didn't seem to hear, or, if they had, care. One removed a chain from his neck which bore a key. He opened Ron's cell and threw Hermione's unconscious body unceremoniously in.

            "You," a figure said, pointing a hand at Ron. "You have been chosen."

            Ron stared, gaping at the figure.

            "Follow us. Your friends will remain safe."

            Ron looked around and then stumbled into the hall. The other one walked to Harry's cell.

            "Food," he said darkly.

            He removed a wand from within his sleeve and pointed it at the table in Harry's room. Some chicken and bread appeared there.

            "Eat."

            Nodding, Harry began, watching them lock Hermione up and walk out with Ron in tow.

            Harry waited for hours. He wasn't certain if he had slept or not, and down in the dungeon, he had no idea whether it was night or day. Eventually, Hermione awoke, slowly.

            "Harry…Ron…My wand! MY WAND IS MISSING!"

            "Yeah," said Harry grimly. "We're in prison."

            "Oh…"

            After Harry had told the story (badly), they lapsed into silence, not meeting one another's gaze.

            "I just want to get back to Hogwarts," Hermione said after a while.

            "Yeah," agreed Harry. It was so hard, sitting there, knowing, expecting to die… The genie said they'd be back by Tuesday… Had that time passed already?

            Seconds, minutes, hours later (Harry could no longer tell), the two robed cultists returned.

            "You two… You may arise. We apologize for our lack of hospitality… we needed to make sure you didn't leave until the anointed time. Come, the ceremony will start any minute now."

            "What?" screamed Harry and Hermione simultaneously, but it was no use. The cultist unlocked both doors, and bade them follow.

            "Where are we? What ceremony?" Hermione demanded, running to catch up with the cultist's long strides.

            "We are in the Great Temple of the Cult of the Spider… You are children from Hogwarts, yes?"

            "Yes…" began Harry uncertainly.

            "We sent our man to make sure you arrived. He… suggested that we bring all three along. But, the genie sent you back into the forest, so we asked our cockatrice to bring you. But once again, we failed, but we were able to save you before any drowned."

            "Your cockatrice… but why us?"

            "You will see. Come."

            They emerged into a large, grand chamber with a high, vaulted ceiling. No windows brought in lights, but a grandiose chandelier hung, sending dazzling rays of brilliance ricocheting through the room. The room looked like a church – benches were arranged all facing a high altar. Most of the benches were taken up by the same, red-hooded wizards as before. Burning behind the high altar was the now-familiar seven-pointed star.

            "Come," ushered the cultist. They were led down a set of steps down onto the floor and found seats near the front. From behind the altar rose a great, imposing figure in blue robes, hooded… but there was something familiar about him…

            "PROFESSOR ARTEMIS!" yelled Harry. No one seemed to take any notice except for Hermione who vehemently shushed him. The cultists seemed to only hear what they wanted to.

            "Today," announced Professor Artemis in a cold, booming voice. "Today is the day. Today is the night. Today, the speaker will arise again. Today, the dead will walk!"

            There was a cheer. Harry and Hermione sat, trembling, glancing for a possible exit.

            "Today, at last, the sacrifice has been chosen!"

            "Sacrifice?" said Hermione in an almost dead voice.

            As if on cue, Ron's limp body was raised to the cheering crowd.