Birthday Surprises Chapter 69
Usual disclaimer: Not mine, don't sue. Please. Wish it were mine though. Ah, if only… Lolly, xxx.
"Sorry. Harry blocked the passage." Hermione said quietly.
"He blocked the passage? To stop us leaving?" Neville squeaked in surprise.
"No, he blocked it to stop the Deatheaters getting in, more likely. We know that at least one Deatheater knows about that tunnel, so Voldemort will know."
"Not necessarily." Hannah argued.
"Believe me, this Deatheater would have told Voldemort. Rat through and through." Ron snarled.
"You know him then?"
"Yeah." Ron said shortly. "Anyway, the tunnel is blocked, so unless we can break through, we're not leaving through it."
"How likely is that? Breaking through whatever seal Harry's put on it?" Michael Corner asked, looking interested.
"Next to no chance at all." Ginny murmured. "Harry doesn't take chances with things like this."
"Yeah, but there's bound to be a flaw somewhere. I know he's Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived and everything, but he's not perfect."
"No, he's not. But he wouldn't risk the lives of the students. He'll have sealed that passage with so many charms and enchantments that it would probably take Dumbledore days to dismantle." Ginny replied heatedly.
"You don't know that. There'll be flaws. I reckon a few of us should go and check it out."
"Oh for goodness sake! Fine, waste your time. Ginny, you go with him. Ron and I can look after the triplets – just be careful. Hannah, you and Sally go too. And any others who don't trust us and Harry." Hermione said snappishly. Very few people left, and Ginny looked very unhappy about it.
***
Ginny, being the only one of the group who knew where the tunnel was, led the others to it quickly. She stood back and watched as Michael drew his wand, muttering a revealing spell. Everyone gasped as a blue-white light spread over the entire statue. "Wow." Ginny mumbled. She recognised that it was Harry's magical signature, though how, she couldn't really explain.
"Ah, see, I was right." Michael said with a smirk. "There are hundreds of flaws in this. It isn't even a real spell."
"Why don't you break it already, then?" Ginny asked, getting very agitated with her ex.
"I will, don't worry." He replied cockily. He lapsed into silence once again, setting to work. Ginny studied the structure of the spell. She too could see the flaws, but unlike Michael, she was sure that they were purposeful. She just wasn't sure what that purpose was. She took in every detail of the one-eyed witch, no matter how small, and began to notice that something was distinctly odd. As Michael had said, the spell wasn't really a spell. More like a concentrating of energy, woven together. Almost like…
"Of course!" She said aloud, running a hand over the stone statue. Harry had sealed it with crystal – the flaws were natural, and just made it stronger. The crystal blocked the entrance and held it shut. Michael had very little chance of breaking through it.
"What?" Michael asked, now looking slightly aggravated.
"You'll never break through it." Ginny said, knowing that it would be impossible to break for anyone but Harry.
"Why not?" Michael huffed.
"Because it isn't a spell. Really quite smart of him. No one can break this but Harry – Voldemort himself could try and not succeed."
"What are you talking about?"
"Well, as you said, it isn't a spell."
"What is it then?"
"Power and energy." Ginny said simply. No one seemed to understand what she meant.
"That's impossible. The only way for power to be held here is if it's in a container of some sort." Michael argued.
"What do you mean, power and energy? Is Harry less powerful now?" Hannah asked.
"No, I didn't mean that. And power does not need a container. It contains itself, if the circumstances are right."
"There is no way…"
"Look, see this crystal? If you smashed this stone to pieces, you'd be left with a solid chunk of crystal about three feet thick and six foot tall. The flaws are there to give it strength, not to make it weaker."
"That makes no sense." Sally frowned.
"It makes perfect sense – if you're Harry." Ginny grinned. She put a hand to the piece of rose quartz that hung from her neck and shook her head. "Only if you think like Harry." She murmured.
"Do you mean to say that Harry can make crystal?"
"That's impossible." Michael snorted. "Only really powerful gem makers can make pure crystal, and something this big would require masses of energy. It's not possible."
"This is Harry, since when do the rules of the magical world relate to him – according to wizarding rules, Avada Kedavra is unstoppable." Ginny said. "Besides, he can make crystal – I've watched him."
"He never said anything to me about it." Sally said, looking slightly miffed.
"And you expect him to tell you everything about his life?" Ginny asked, raising an eyebrow sceptically.
"No, but surely he'd mention something this…big."
"Maybe that's why he didn't tell you. Anyway, lets get back to the Room. Unless you want to waste more time trying to do the impossible."
"Fine. Ok, you're right. Golden boy has done it again." Michael said resentfully.
"Oh get over it already. It's not like he asked for all this." Sally snapped. Ginny smiled at her, for the first time in what seemed like ages. Sally had just gone up in her book.
***
"Well?" Ron asked as they came back.
"Harry doesn't do things by halves – he blocked the tunnel with more crystal than you'd find in the Earth's crust."
"Great. Now we'll never get through."
"No, but on the positive side, they'll never get through either." Ginny said.
"You know, Harry never said that he blocked the passages – just that they were locked." Hermione said. "There must be something that would mean that we could use the tunnel but they couldn't."
"Maybe, but then again, maybe he just thought it better if we all just stayed here." Ron said.
"No. Harry knows that he can't do everything on his own." Ginny said, wondering if Hermione might be right.
"So what are you thinking?" Ron asked Hermione.
"Remember first year? In the room with all the bird-things?"
"Keys. Disguised keys. Great, that is all we need. A quest to find keys."
"Just like Harry though – nothing can ever be easy." Ginny snorted.
"No. But…where would he hide them?"
"Where's the last place most people would look?"
"Out in the open." Neville piped up. Hermione grinned at him.
"Of course. Under our noses."
"Try the dorms?" Ginny suggested.
"Yeah. Ron, come on, you check your dorm and Harry's dorm – Neville, you go with him. I'll go and check my room."
"Check mine while you're at it, please?" Ginny asked, knowing that she would be staying with the triplets.
"Sure."
