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All feet trudged heavily on the damp granite floor as both the Slytherins and the Hufflepuffs made their way through the meandering flight of stairs, deeper and deeper into the foggy darkness...

Japanese lanterns were hung by their hooks far up in the black ceiling, and bats kept on flying out of the corners even at the slightest noise.

Strange colorful chalk signs adorned on the walls and pieces of animal and human skeletons littered on the ground, which made the more frightened girls knit close together in the group.

Potions lesson was the most dreaded class for everyone, not only because of its bizarre surroundings but also due to the Professor who taught it.

The air was filled with tension as we gazed around as we always did...And as usual the rows of infamous iron maidens stood in straight lines, made of hardwood; sheathed in malleable iron.

Many students huddled even closer at the sight of them, basically trying not to brush against the hideous tight cells, which probably weighed over a thousand pounds.

I was, nonetheless very much awe-inspired and unaffected by these medieval torture devices and my vision focused piercingly on the collection of pokers and pincers which were encased in a long glass box on the wall.

I could almost imagine them being used on slave dwarfs; red hot to burn their flesh, until it scalded the bone...Surely such treatment must have been obviously excruciating...

"I hate this place," whispered Zarken from the corner of his mouth, and I could see his face undeniably green even in the shadows.

However my mind was more preoccupied thinking how much I would love to put Felix on the wheel to beat him up till all the bones in his body were broken, without ever granting him death...

I wanted him to beg to die! I wanted him to bleed, cry, loose his mind...

'Yeah... I should leave him to be a twisted corpse until he bleeds to death,' I mused and somehow my own malicious thoughts made me smile menacingly...

"Stop beaming like that Tom! It makes you look like a horrible pirate wizard and also sort of insane!" cut in Rodolphus sharply interrupting my train of thoughts.

"I was merely enjoying the scenario," I stated, my voice suddenly deep and eerily raspy.

Rodolphus gave me a surprised horrified look which made me laugh harshly causing many people to jump out of their skins while giving scared, angry glances.

"SHUT UP!" cried a blond Hufflepuff girl and her voice seemed to echo around the corners along with my laugh to form into the worst blood- chilling sound we had ever heard!

Everyone looked around nervously and I could see that even the bravest were partly shivering...

I cracked into a smile again... I was so used to this emotional distress every time we headed for Potions, that it inevitably amused me.

Meanwhile Rod and Zarken gave me a disgusted look and moved on forward.

The punishment chair as always held my sight once more...Its seat was covered with enormous spikes and seemed impossible for anyone to even think of sitting on it. But there were leather straps everywhere to secure the wrists, ankles and the heads of reluctant prisoners.

Even more interesting were the gorgeous wooden racks where criminals would be stretched until dead. I noted with satisfaction that the spiked wheel was in the table's center. Undoubtedly the poor occupant probably was to be stretched onto these spikes, which would puncture the flesh creating deadly wounds as the wheel turned.

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"I still can't figure out why in Merlin's name, Professor Rakevizzer would keep these hideous contraptions in his chamber although it doesn't have anything to do with Potions!" exclaimed Zarken fiercely when we reached the classroom at last.

"You know that collecting ancient torture devices is a hobby of Rakevizzer even though he teaches us Potions," I remarked breezily. "If you studied ancient wizard history, you'd already know that some wizards actually loved torturing their victims and see them die, than the easy death they could bestow with a flick of their wands."

Much to my satisfaction, I saw Zarken and Rod wince at that speculation so I continued:

"It actually taught the wrongdoers a good lesson too. Besides... all these happened before the Cruciatus curse was invented. And if I remember correctly; these excellent pieces of workmanship was also introduced to the imperial muggles... The wizards thought that it might be fun for muggle criminals to experience some torment too..."

"I'm glad for the invention of the Cruciatus curse (whatever it is) then..." retorted Rod sarcastically as we sat down in front of our cauldrons.

"Oh...I don't think you would have liked the Cruciatus curse very much..." I replied slyly, sensing their ignorance where it concerned complicated curses. (Of course, Seth had often spoken about them to me.) So I simply released a loud guffaw when my friends didn't bother to question my reply.

The dungeon which we were in was flooded in the phosphorescence light, apart from the radiance given out by the fire on which the cauldrons were placed on. (Professor Rakevizzer hated too much illumination and often empathized on how much he loved the darkness; so there was only a pale gleam, which barely enabled us to see...)

"Good morning class..." hissed a voice and everyone jumped in their seats.

Our Potions master always startled us because he seemed to appear from simply nowhere...

If the torture stuff was horrifying, then our teacher matched the reputation of his hobby...

Huge magnetic, pale blue eyes flashed cold fire under his white mob of hair and his nose had three huge rings pierced in, along with earrings in ears; made out of small finger bones.

Professor Rakevizzer walked with a limp and had a huge hump on his back. Besides that, his mouth was lipless yet he had teeth which sparkled like ivory fangs whenever he smiled.

His hands were in fact gnarled like the rest of his body, but his nails were more like knife sharp claws, which had brown stuff on them; suspiciously looking like dried blood. (There were also often unjustified rumors that he impaled House elves on iron stakes.)

He was without doubt, the best fellow needed in a real scary horror movie, especially with his grotesque expressions. Yet, he was one of my favorite teachers and unmistakably I was his favorite student.

"Today... I want to teach all of you the enlargement potion, which I'm sure you'd find extremely helpful," began the Professor.

"Definitely... I hate the tight sweater Mum gave me..." mumbled Lawrence, a fellow Slytherin student...

But I on the other hand simply felt deflated at the thought of learning something so boring in such an outrageous place.

In a short while our lessons began and my mind wandered off to imagine various methods of executing the people I didn't like. The Slytherin Quidditch Captain, Keller definitely was on the list...And I certainly didn't care a sickle about him!

"Don't make the potion too runny, Tom..." rang in Professor Rakevizzer's voice and I found my bubbling cauldron pouring out the silvery fluid at its sides.

"Sorry, lost my concentration..." I confessed and tilted the potion; adding furthermore a newt's leg to make it thicker.

The two double periods dragged on, with the only excitement being a Hufflepuff girl spilling her enlargement potion on her robe to make it billow about as if she was wearing a huge crinoline underneath.

"She ought to be glad that it wasn't a shrinking potion," said Rod sniggering when the girl shrieked out in alarm.

We completed our work with little fuss and in blissful silence as the time seemed to simply fly away like a snitch...

"Homework is to bring in five items which you have successful enlarged," commented the Professor when everyone rose to go. "And it shouldn't be food items, which I'm sure you'd rather be tempted to eat than show me."

Hurriedly all went up the steps, rushing ahead without a backward glance.

There were sighs of relief as we came out of the dungeons, where the air was definitely much better.

"Hate that hell hole," replied Zarken as we rushed to the Great Hall for luncheon. "That place makes my skin crawl! I'm glad that our rooms aren't anything like that!"

"It seemed quite appealing to me..." I added with a wink and avoided a punch which Rod aimed at my shoulder. "I would love to move in if I was allowed," I teased on further...

"Maybe you should become the next Imohath then!" cried Zarken acknowledging the past existence of the great Wizard Imohath, who was known to be the worst wizard in history. In fact, if he hadn't fallen into a volcano, muggles and other magical creatures would probably still have experienced his torture.

"You have no idea of how much I want to be him..." I murmured when my friends were out of reach.

If truth be told, Salazar was rumored to be related to Imohath... which meant that I would be related to great terror himself too...

That revelation made my lip curl at the ends and my face formed into a nasty grin.

"Oh well...If there's a will then there's a way..." I remarked softly as I entered the Great Hall in high spirits...

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"Silence please!"

Immediately the whole of the Great Hall lapsed into pin drop stillness and the Headmaster rose from his stool.

For a few moments he surveyed the whole place until every face was turned towards him.

"I have an important announcement to make concerning an up coming event. As you all know, the weather has worsened and frequent rainstorms are occurring all over England, with lightening flashes that make it practically impossible to fly. Not only that, this winter is expected to be a bitter one full of blizzards and the spring is predicted to be devoured by an intolerable heat wave..."

A loud murmuring arose from the tables...

"Yes...All your suspicions are confirmed. Quidditch is cancelled!"

This time there was a huge furious uproar and the anxious faces converted into pure outrage.

Professor Dippet held up his hands.

"You all have forgotten that I mentioned another event replacing Quidditch!"

The Hall filled in silence, once again.

"This year, after the Halloween ball, a student from each of the four houses is chosen to compete in the Grand Finale which will determine the House Cup," announced the Headmaster. "The teachers in charge of your respected Houses are given with the tests, from which they would choose the House Champion."

An excited wave of murmurs awakened the whole place.

"The Grand finale would have the tasks arranged by me personally, but more information concerning that will be revealed later," remarked Professor Dippet.

I looked up to see the teachers smiling and nodding to one another.

"So anyone interested to take part is required to go to the prefects as to enter the name..."said the Headmaster and then paused for a moment and broke into a smile. "To make up for the Quidditch disappointment, additionally to the House Cup, Kenneth Potter, our Minister of Magic has also promised a full paid summer vacation package to Romania, as a prize for the winner. Age is immaterial, because these tasks involve intelligence, determination and courage..."

My ears fell deaf at the motivated conversations beside me. All about me I could hear people boasting about their talents and wit, but inwardly I couldn't help feeling all fired up.

Somewhere in my head, a cunning voice told me that victory would be mine...

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"Lumos!"

A small light emerged at the end of my wand, as I entered the edge of the Forbidden forest.

My clairvoyant mind sensed that the person who wanted to meet me would be there...

Slowly I hiked through the trees due to terrible cloudburst which made the path slippery.

Tree roots ran on the floor like twisted ropes, waiting for someone to fall over them, and branches obscured the sight like monsters with arms wide open.

I shivered in fright as well as with the chill... This was my first venture into the forest which had such a disreputable status and on top of that, I didn't even know who on earth I was supposed to meet.

Finally when I was wondering if my action was a mistake, I saw someone in front of me...or rather a group of people...

Before I could even move or greet them, I found a heavy depression clouding my mind...

All the worst memories and sufferings which I had endured rushed at me and made my head ache in a way, which I found unable to bear...

Bit by bit, the whole place began to whirl around and I felt myself going weak...

In a few moments I collapsed on the wet floor and then everything went black!

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A/N: Will continue as soon as possible! An enthusiastic THANK YOU for all the reviewers, who have supported me to continue my story as well as helping me to explore new horizons! A special thanks goes to Grace (VinnyVampire), my loyal friend Chandi (Shandee-goddess) and all the others for taking their precious time to review my story! All of you are simply the best and a complete inspiration for a writer!