A/N: Wow! I am very happy! I was not in a million years expecting so many reviews!
:-D Lol. I wasn't going to update today, but I promised, so I will, and it will hopefully be long! Thank you so much to all of my reviewers!
~*Jinglez*~
Chapter 67: (Almost done!)
After another minute in the dark corridors, Luna led them into a small side room. A single candle was lit, and some members of the DA were huddled around it. Lavender noticed them first. Everyone turned, eyes wide in trepidation.
"Harry!" said Lavender, relieved.
"I'm so glad you made it!" whispered Lenore. Harry nodded.
"What is going on?" asked Ginny bluntly. Everyone looked at each other, at a loss for words.
"I'd actually like to know myself," said Draco, his silvery hair gleaming in the candlelight.
"I was on shift," began Parvati. "And all of the sudden- they were pouring in! From the Great Hall- about twenty of them, and I don't know how- and then I went and got some people together, but we couldn't find you, Harry, or Ron and Hermione! We finally found those two in a corridor, but we were all worried about you, Harry. We were all going to go help fight upstairs when we heard them- there are Death eaters all over the Dungeons, and probably dark creatures as well!" Harry nodded and began pacing the cramped room. There were jars holding slimy substances on the walls, and the floor was covered in a light dust that looked like snow…
"That's it!" he exclaimed quietly.
"What's it?" asked Susan.
"Snow… The Portable Places. Ginny's eyes lit up, but the others all still looked confused.
"What?" asked Colin, frowning.
"The portable Places!" he said, louder. "We can make a blizzard in the Dungeons. It would be a diversion, for at least a few minutes… In that time we can get out of here and get upstairs- we need to make sure they don't get their hands on that dragon! Or anybody else," he added.
"Brilliant!" said Neville fervently. Some others nodded in agreement.
"I hope you know that I'm not going all Gryffindor right now," said Draco from the corner. "I'm not fighting; I fear for my life, thanks. But I will take a mirror and go to the DA room and tell you if anymore come…" Harry nodded.
"We weren't asking you to fight. Does anyone else not want to fight?" Nobody raised their hands. "Okay. Now does anyone know where all of the students are?"
"I do," said Terry. "They're all in the Ravenclaw Common Room, actually. It was the best situated for an escape from the school, it has Floo hooked up right now, and there is less a chance of Death Eaters getting there, as the staircase in front of it is the most active in the school."
"Okay," said Harry. "I can see that…. Now, does anyone by any chance know any spells to transfigure something into a live animal?"
"I do," said Justin. "I don't know if I can do it, though… But I watched Cedric practice that spell countless times, from when he transfigured the rock into a dog- you know, to distract the dragon."
"Yeah!" said Susan suddenly. "I saw, too!"
"Do you remember how to do it?' asked Harry. "I'm kind of getting this wild idea- what if we get through the blizzard on a sled? With sled dogs? We won't be able to see in it, I know, and-" Suddenly Lavender giggled. "What?" asked Harry, aggravated.
"I think it's a great idea! Riding sled dogs through Hogwarts during a siege? Let's do it!" Harry grinned, thinking of how completely ridiculous this idea was. Yet it just might get them out of the Dungeons alive. Suddenly, the door opened. Two Death Eaters stood in the doorway.
"THEY'RE IN-" began the first one.
"Silencio!" yelled Ginny.
"Stupefy!" yelled Neville. The Death eater who had screamed fell down.
The other one began to dodge out of the way. "Avada-" he began, pointing his wand at Colin, the closest student to him, but Ernie tripped him and he fell on his face.
"Stupefy!" said Harry angrily. He then turned. "We haven't got much time. Do you remember the spell? We need a few sleds and some dogs-"
"I remember it," said Justin, nodding. "It was… 'Creocanine!' And the movement was something like-" He did some odd, twisty sort of thing with his lower arm.
"No, no," said Susan. "It was more like a twist of your wrist—"
"No," argued Ernie, "I think it was your upper arm, and then he did a flick of his—"
"Look," said Harry, "We don't have time to argue! Who do you think was right? We'll have to guess." Justin and Ernie exchanged looks.
"Susan," they both said at the same time. Harry nodded.
"Try it, Susan. Here," he said, picking up a jar from a side cabinet. She gave him a dubious look.
"I don't know if I can do it…"
"You can," assured Harry.
"Okay…" she said. She took a deep breath as everyone watched in anticipation.
"Creocanine!" Nothing happened.
"C'mon, Susan," said Parvati. "You can do it!" She nodded.
"Creocanine!" she yelled. And suddenly, there was a large, fluffy black dog sitting in front of them.
"Impressive!" said Lenore appraisingly. Everyone nodded, and Susan beamed.
"Now, could you do it again?" She nodded.
Ten minutes later, the room was full of six large dogs, who weren't making any noise, as they had a silencing charm put on them. Then Ernie managed to conjure a few sleds.
"Ready?" asked Harry, looking around, as they hooked up the dogs to the sleds. Everyone nodded apprehensively. "Okay, four to a sled; they're big enough- and two dogs. That's three sleds. Got it?"
"We've got it, Harry," said Ginny.
"Let's go, then," said Harry. He pulled out from his robes the box of Portable Places. He unwrapped the blizzard.
"Commencio!" he shouted as he threw it into the corridor. Suddenly there was a loud bang and the air was filled with thick snow.
"Mush!" yelled Harry. Ginny, Lenore, and Draco were on his sled. "Sorry, Draco," he called, "but you may have to fight- I don't think we have enough time to make individual stops!"
"Whatever, Potter!" called Draco over the wind.
The normally gloomy dungeons had turned a blinding white. Almost as if on cue, he heard the Death Eater reactions.
"WHAT THE-"
"WHAT'S GOING ON?"
"WHAT IDIOT STARTED THIS?"
"NOT ME—"
"I CAN'T SEE!"
"CRUCIO!"
"COME ON- LET'S GET OUT OF THIS MESS!"
"BUT THE DRAGON! MASTER WILL BE MOST DISPLEASED IF WE FAIL TO-"
"DO YOU THINK THE DRAGON IS DOWN HERE? DRAGONS BREATHE FIRE, NOT SNOW! COME ON!" Harry heard Rudolphus Lestrange among the panicked voices.
"Mush!" he yelled again to the dogs. They sped up.
"Harry!" cried Ginny. "Where are the stairs? I can't see a thing! And I'm f-freezing; we forgot coats!"
"You can say that again!" said Lenore loudly.
"IT'S POTTER!" cried a nearby voice belonging to a Death Eater. Harry groaned. He knew the Death Eaters couldn't see any better than he could.
"Stupefy!" he threw over his back. He didn't look to see if his curse had made contact or not.
Suddenly there was a scraping noise from the bottom of the sled, and he could see above him into the dark castle corridors, lit with torches.
"We're on the stairs," said Draco unnecessarily.
"Thank you for stating the obvious," said Ginny sarcastically.
"Well sorry, your Highness," retorted Draco.
"Shut up, you two!" said Lenore, rolling her eyes. "You're acting like two year olds! Now come on; let's get upstairs before the blizzard goes away or before the Death Eaters get up here!"
"We should wait for the others," said Ginny worriedly.
"No," said Harry, shaking his head. "They might have gone a different way- we need to keep going. I have to tell Dumbledore something…"
"Okay," said Ginny. "If you're sure…"
"I'm sure," said Harry decisively. "Now come on- I really need to tell Dumbledore; it was important!" They trekked upstairs into a lonely corridor. Apparently the fighting had become more dispersed, for he suddenly heard two death eaters. It was Lucius and Bellatrix…
"Quick!" he hissed to Ginny, Lenore, and Draco. "In here!" He pulled them into the closest broom closet and listened at the door.
I don't know where all those blasted students are…" Lucius was saying, sounding worried. "Master will not be pleased if we don't have the boy or the scale by the time he arrives."
"No kidding! And then he's going to send perfect Vega to do it and reward her because Vega does everything right! I spent twelve years in Azkaban- but that's not good enough! I killed that wretched cousin- but, no. Come, Lucius! We need to prove our loyalties! We MUST find Potter and the dragon before Vega!"
When the two were gone, Harry opened the door and they all slid out of the closet.
"Who's Vega?" asked Lenore, frowning.
"Whoever she is, she's still alive," whispered Harry.
"Wait!" said Draco suddenly. "I know who Vega is! I've heard of her…"
"Who was she?" asked Ginny quickly. Harry looked at Draco.
"You-Know-Who took in a very young Death Eater; she was sixteen and very extraordinarily powerful. He was about fifty, but very strong and he still looked young. He took her as a bride, but it was kept a big secret- but he did it to produce an heir. Anyway, he concocted a potion of eternal youth and gave it to her before realizing that there wasn't enough for him and that the Potion was nearly impossible to make- so she'll be eighteen forever. But a year after taking the Potion, she was poisoned and supposedly died. Maybe she wasn't dead, somehow. I don't know."
"Tom took a- a- a bride?" asked Ginny incredulously. Draco looked at her strangely. "Yes, actually. He did. Why?"
"No reason," said Ginny, looking down.
When they reached the Great Hall, it was almost empty. There was only one lone figure inside, at the end of the hall.
Suddenly Lenore grabbed Harry's arm. His scar erupted in pain. "Harry!" whispered Lenore frantically. "Something isn't right!"
A/N: Sorry for the cliffie! Review! The story will be a little over 70, sorry if it's too long!!