The celebrations in the Gryffindor common room that evening
were like nothing Sirius had ever seen before. James was hailed as a hero,
and Julia Cleansweep drew an excellent picture of him beating Lucius Malfoy
to a pulp, which she brought to life with a quick wave of her wand, and
hung on the wall.
Adam produced two crates of Butterbeer from nowhere, and Jake Merriman, the commentator at the match, brought down two large boxes of sweets from Hogsmeade. Sirius, James and Remus were sitting in the middle of a large knot of chatting Gryffindors by the fire. Remus looked exhausted, and kept rubbing his injured arm. Sirius was desperately trying not to go asleep, in case he began to dream about the voice, and embarrassed himself in front of everyone. He stood up abruptly.
'I'm going to bed', he muttered, 'well done again, Jay. I'll see you tomorrow.' And with that, he slipped past the others and headed swiftly towards the dormitory. James lunged after him, his eyes shining with excitement.
'Let's go exploring again tonight, Sirius!' He hissed, 'a perfect end to a perfect day! C'mon, we can ask Remus and Pete too if you want! The rest of them'll be going to bed soon enough anyway. Pleeeeeeeease!'
Sirius looked at his best friend, then glanced longingly at the dormitory door. He shivered. 'Get the invisibilty cloak, and try and encourage everyone to go to bed', he murmured in reply, 'we'll do some bloody exploring.'
James grinned delightedly and clapped Sirius on the back. 'I've got a dungbomb in my suitcase', he whispered, 'just lemme tell Ray and Pete to get out of here, then I'll let it off. Meet down here in twenty minutes.'
Half an hour later, the four boys crept down to the Entrance Hall, concealed beneath the invisibility cloak. James decided that they would start at the front door, and work around the ground floor, until they found a secret passageway. They didn't have to search for long.
It was Sirius who found it. He was busy kicking at the stone wall, when suddenly, a hollow sound greeted his ears instead of that of his foot hitting solid rock. Remus heard it too. Their eyes widened, and Remus whispered to James and Peter to come and help. They pushed, pulled, stroked and banged on all the stones in that area. At last, James pulled out his wand and traced it around the edges of the hollow stone. The places his wand touched glowed white for a split second, then the stone-and five more above it-slid backwards, revealing a dark passage.
'Lumos', they muttered in unison. Sirius licked his lips nervously. He hoped that the voice wouldn't come back-not now, when they were about to have some fun!
The passageway was long and narrow, with no bends or twists at all. It did, however start to move uphill after half a mile or so. Beside him, Sirius could hear Remus' breaths coming harsh and fast. He nudged him and asked 'you okay?'
'Fine', Remus gulped, trying desperately to calm his breathing down.
After a long time, Sirius saw that the passage was getting wider and lighter now. The four boys sped up. Peter was whimpering, terrified that they would emerge into Professor Grappenhall's chamber or something. Sirius got very tetchy and hissed violently at Peter to shut up. They were busy arguing under their breath when suddenly-
'Wow.' James breathed, stopping dead to survey what lay before them.
'It's...' Remus trailed off, as words failed him.
'Amazing', Peter whispered, in awe.
Sirius said nothing. He just gazed, a horrible sense of realisation filling him with every second.
The passageway ended in a huge, gold archway, through which could be seen a room, filled with beautiful, golden light. In the centre of the room was a glass shaft, which twinkled and shone in the light (the source of which Sirius could not see), making it almost dazzling. There was something awe- inspiring about the sight of the room, which held them all spellbound. And of the four, Sirius alone had any idea what it was.
The owner of the voice was somewhere close by.
And somehow, Sirius knew that there was something missing from that shaft.
Something he had to find. Before it was too late.
Adam produced two crates of Butterbeer from nowhere, and Jake Merriman, the commentator at the match, brought down two large boxes of sweets from Hogsmeade. Sirius, James and Remus were sitting in the middle of a large knot of chatting Gryffindors by the fire. Remus looked exhausted, and kept rubbing his injured arm. Sirius was desperately trying not to go asleep, in case he began to dream about the voice, and embarrassed himself in front of everyone. He stood up abruptly.
'I'm going to bed', he muttered, 'well done again, Jay. I'll see you tomorrow.' And with that, he slipped past the others and headed swiftly towards the dormitory. James lunged after him, his eyes shining with excitement.
'Let's go exploring again tonight, Sirius!' He hissed, 'a perfect end to a perfect day! C'mon, we can ask Remus and Pete too if you want! The rest of them'll be going to bed soon enough anyway. Pleeeeeeeease!'
Sirius looked at his best friend, then glanced longingly at the dormitory door. He shivered. 'Get the invisibilty cloak, and try and encourage everyone to go to bed', he murmured in reply, 'we'll do some bloody exploring.'
James grinned delightedly and clapped Sirius on the back. 'I've got a dungbomb in my suitcase', he whispered, 'just lemme tell Ray and Pete to get out of here, then I'll let it off. Meet down here in twenty minutes.'
Half an hour later, the four boys crept down to the Entrance Hall, concealed beneath the invisibility cloak. James decided that they would start at the front door, and work around the ground floor, until they found a secret passageway. They didn't have to search for long.
It was Sirius who found it. He was busy kicking at the stone wall, when suddenly, a hollow sound greeted his ears instead of that of his foot hitting solid rock. Remus heard it too. Their eyes widened, and Remus whispered to James and Peter to come and help. They pushed, pulled, stroked and banged on all the stones in that area. At last, James pulled out his wand and traced it around the edges of the hollow stone. The places his wand touched glowed white for a split second, then the stone-and five more above it-slid backwards, revealing a dark passage.
'Lumos', they muttered in unison. Sirius licked his lips nervously. He hoped that the voice wouldn't come back-not now, when they were about to have some fun!
The passageway was long and narrow, with no bends or twists at all. It did, however start to move uphill after half a mile or so. Beside him, Sirius could hear Remus' breaths coming harsh and fast. He nudged him and asked 'you okay?'
'Fine', Remus gulped, trying desperately to calm his breathing down.
After a long time, Sirius saw that the passage was getting wider and lighter now. The four boys sped up. Peter was whimpering, terrified that they would emerge into Professor Grappenhall's chamber or something. Sirius got very tetchy and hissed violently at Peter to shut up. They were busy arguing under their breath when suddenly-
'Wow.' James breathed, stopping dead to survey what lay before them.
'It's...' Remus trailed off, as words failed him.
'Amazing', Peter whispered, in awe.
Sirius said nothing. He just gazed, a horrible sense of realisation filling him with every second.
The passageway ended in a huge, gold archway, through which could be seen a room, filled with beautiful, golden light. In the centre of the room was a glass shaft, which twinkled and shone in the light (the source of which Sirius could not see), making it almost dazzling. There was something awe- inspiring about the sight of the room, which held them all spellbound. And of the four, Sirius alone had any idea what it was.
The owner of the voice was somewhere close by.
And somehow, Sirius knew that there was something missing from that shaft.
Something he had to find. Before it was too late.