Silver Blood
Chapter 2: Down the Secret Stairway
The warm rays of sunlight shone through the curtains to lay on Harry's sleeping form. Hedwig was perched beside his bed, sleeping on a soft cushioned perch, which was floating only inches above the table. Hedwig had decided, after experiencing the luxury of being with Harry while he was living with Sirius, that she hated to be stuck in a cage, even for a minute. So Harry had gotten rid of the cage and instead had bought her a charmed perch to sleep on.
Harry's bed lay against the wall, next to the bureau in which Hedwig's perch floated above. Across the large, white carpeted room, there was a closet, only a meter away from the door. It held all of Harry's clothes, which he had gotten a lot over last Christmas. Some were from Mrs. Weasley and the rest were from Sirius and Lupin, besides many other gifts. He had several different outfits and separate pairs of pants, and shirts along with his Hogwarts Quidditch robe (which luckily still fit him), a couple ordinary robes to wear outside or even with friends during cold weather, and his new formal robe.
Across from the closet, on the same wall in which his bed lay, was a large bathroom at least twice the size of his closet. It contained a large tub, big enough to fit at least three people laying down, a sink and a mirror right above the sink. Also there was a full-length mirror attached to the back of the bathroom door.
The room consisted of a desk, mostly for homework, which at the moment had several books and parchment strewn across it. One book, on Transfiguration, was open and the parchment laying on the book had at least a paragraph written all ready. The quill sat on the paper, the ink still partially wet. Harry had been up late during the night, not able to sleep.
A gold and brown phoenix flew by the window, singing a peaceful morning song, somewhat familiar to the song Fawkes sang. Harry shifted in his bed, mumbling a little. He moved his hand to cover his face as his eyes squinted open, trying to block out the bright morning rays. Harry caught a glimpse of the phoenix that landed on the tree near Harry's window, singing a little more, before taking off to the sky again.
It was somewhat common for Phoenixes to be seen in the neighborhood Sirius chose the house to be in, especially in the summer. He had chosen a neighborhood, quite a distance from Hogwarts, but beautiful and peaceful with many unique animals. It was a quiet neighborhood. Most of the people, and kids, in the neighborhood were rich, like Harry and Sirius. Harry had all ready been rich with his parent's small fortune, and Sirius had been well off in his bank vault too. Together they had a large fortune.
It made Harry feel better to lend money to Ron knowing that Sirius had a job and they were doing better than average anyway, although with Ron's dad's big break in becoming the Minister, he got a big raise and their family was doing well. They were even considering finding a new house to live in. Harry desperately wanted Ron to live near him, but Ron's family couldn't yet afford that, besides, as Ron told him, he didn't want to be around snobby rich kids because it reminded him too much of Malfoy and his family.
Harry didn't know many people in his new neighborhood, besides that he was also new to the Wizard world, but Sirius had made quite a bit of friends. Hermione reminded him that since they both lived in the Wizard world they could visit each other anytime by just flying on broomsticks or using Floo powder.
Harry smiled at the memory. The last he had heard of Hermione, which had been near the beginning of summer right before Ron's family left on vacation, she was trying to convince her family to move to the Wizard world so she could be with all her friends. She even stated that it would be an "educational" move and she would learn more about being a witch. Her family had yet to decide on an answer, but Hermione had told Harry and Ron that they were going on a family trip to visit other relatives but her parents said they'd think about it. Harry had yet to receive an owl from either of them, even though it had been only two weeks since they left.
He sighed and pulled the covers off his body and got up. Hedwig stirred a little, pushing her face deeper into her feathers, but didn't wake. Harry went to his window and opened it. The sky was a beautiful bright blue with barely a cloud in the sky. Harry saw the even larger house nearby his. A woman with black hair tied in a bun walked out wearing very fancy robes. The only time Harry had seen robes on a woman that fancy before was the women aurors in the Ministry. She was holding a little girl's hand as they walked down the street. Harry had asked Sirius how the people in the Wizard world got around, especially without brooms or a flying car and Sirius had told him there were train stations, like the Hogwarts express, and recently "flying car stations". That was what Ron's family took to go on their vacation.
Harry glanced at the branch where the Phoenix had paused to sing. There was still a shimmer of tiny gold feathers. He reached out and took one into his hand. It disappeared shortly in small particles of golden dust. He smiled and turned to walk out of his room. He walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. The smell of food reached his senses as he saw Sirius had made breakfast and left him some. Harry smiled as he saw the food was covered with a special clear blue material. It was some Wizard "foil" that kept food warm. Harry took it off and saw steam rise from the eggs, sausage, toast and other food. Harry then noticed a letter addressed to him on the table next to the food. He picked it up and read it:
Harry,
I left you some breakfast so help yourself. It should still be warm when you wake up. I've gone with Remus to help him a bit with work ( I know I promised you I wouldn't work, it's just this once. I'm still taking the summer off). And Dumbledore also wanted to see us, I think he's having a staff meeting, probably making plans for next year. Did I tell you Remus was going to be teaching the Dark Arts again? You should've seen Snape's face, don't tell Remus I said that. You should be happy though, you wanted him back. Remember to think about what we talked about. I might also have to run some errands for someone's birthday that's coming up. I'll see you soon, remember to feed Hedwig.
Love,
Sirius
Harry smiled and reread the letter. He remembered last night when they had a long discussion after Remus and Dumbledore left. Sirius had contacted the Ministry and they said they didn't Harry that day, so he had an extra day to think about whether or not he wanted to go through with it. Sirius was the one who convinced them to give Harry an extra day. He wanted Harry to think about it hard. Even though Harry's mind was all ready made up, he wanted more time to spend with Sirius and at his home before he left to go take care of Fudge.
It just occurred to him that if the Ministry couldn't handle one person, then how could he? He knew that the best Ministry members were in other towns trying to catch the remaining Dementors. Obviously, the Dementors had no where to hide and were giving towns a hard time. Luckily, no one had gotten hurt, or their souls sucked out. But it took a great deal of magic to contain them, which is why there were barely any Ministry members left at the Ministry. Only about seven, which included the five that visited Harry last night. Most of them were really old and tired, probably not up to putting up with Fudge. That's the only reason that convinced Sirius to let him go.
He pushed the memories away, and decided to focus on something more positive. His birthday was in just a week. He was getting more and more excited. Whenever his birthday came up Sirius always did something special for him, which usually included his friends helping. He wanted a letter from his friends before that, but knowing them they'd make him wait in anticipation before finally surprising him with their presence. He smiled as he remembered his last birthday when he was turning sixteen; it had been recently after Voldemort put the school to sleep…
The room was cold…almost spinning, although Harry could feel his eyes were shut. No, he was cold, not the room. Something warm was covering his body. The nightmare had finally ended. The last thing he remembered was looking into Voldemort's merciless eyes as he set curse upon curse on Harry. He thought for sure he was done for…and then a strong and powerful sensation overcame him just as Voldemort was ushering those words. He didn't want to die. No, he had Sirius and his friends; he wanted to live. The curse had hit Harry's stomach as he tried to pull himself up, and just as the curse hit him Harry disarmed Voldemort and said the binding spell right before everything went black…
He opened his eyes to find himself in the Hospital Wing. He didn't need his glasses on to know where he was, he was in it so many times. He heard faint voices and saw Madam Pomprey peering down at him. At first he could only see her lips moving, not really comprehending what she was saying. Finally, bits and pieces began to fall into place.
"…were worried, and it's good that you are awake," she smiled and helped him sit up. "Here, drink this, it should give you your energy back."
Harry sipped the bitter liquid and felt it burn its way to his stomach before finally spreading throughout his body like a warm blanket. Harry relaxed and felt his strength returning to him. The room became clear and his head no longer pounded. Madam Pomprey smiled at him.
"Well, I'm glad to see you're up. You're just in time for the last dinner of the year, Mr. Potter. You've had quite a year at that."
"Am I late?" Harry muttered, carelessly mumbling the words. He still wasn't used to talking.
"No, no, dear. Dinner's not for a little while, but I believe you're wanted in the Gryffindor common room," she winked. Then she got up and gave Harry his clothes.
Harry blinked and looked down at the silky black paints and matching black tank top.
"These aren't mine…" he said.
She smiled at him, "They are dear." Then she walked away to go tend to other students.
Harry slipped the clothes on. They were comfortable and just his size, but he didn't remember having them before. Remembering what Madam Pomprey said, he made his way out of the room and headed toward the Gryffindor common room. As he approached the Fat Lady he thought he could hear whispering nearby. He looked toward the other paintings but saw that none of them were speaking. He shook his head and looked up at the Fat Lady, who smiled down at him.
"Hello dear, feeling better?"
Harry nodded. "Yes, thank you. Sacharissa Tugwood." (1 )
The door swung open and Harry stepped inside…only to be greeted with a sudden pile of balloons and confetti that burst out of no where. Harry stumbled backward a bit surprised when he saw his fellow Gryffindor team members, his classmate friends and his best friends, Ron and Hermione, along with Ginny, Fred and George. Suddenly piles of presents appeared on the tables and music began playing out of thin air. The next person who popped up was the biggest surprise to Harry…Sirius. It was the best time of his life.
Harry cleared his head of the thoughts. Sirius had just been freed because Wormtail was caught shortly after Harry's encounter with Voldemort. It was a big surprise to have his very first early surprise birthday party. Smiling at the memories, he took Hedwig's food from the cabinet and went upstairs. She was still sleeping so Harry left a pile of food in a container on the bureau for her when she did wake up. He brought his breakfast upstairs and ate while working on his Transfiguration essay.
XXXXX
An hour later…
The door opened and Sirius slipped inside quietly. He saw that the breakfast was gone and smiled. He quickly put the large pile of presents that he was holding on the table. He pulled out his wand and muttered a few words. The presents shrunk down to Thumbelina size and Sirius slipped them in a tea cup to bring up to his room. He'd hide them in a better place later.
Quietly, he crept up the stairs, slipped the tea cup by his bedside, and headed back down the hall toward Harry's room. He put his ear to the door first. He couldn't hear anything, not even movements. Slowly, he tapped twice on it. No answer. Sirius turned the knob and opened the door. The moment he stepped inside a warm gust of wind blew through his tidier short, black hair. The curtains were waving roughly from the pressure of the wind.
It was then that Sirius noticed Harry sprawled out on his bed, quill still in hand. His Transfiguration book was open and about a page in a half of parchment was laying beside him, the wind lifting up the paper slightly. Hedwig's food bowl was filled up with about half the food all ready eaten. Sirius chuckled quietly as he saw bits of Harry's left over toast had found its way into her bowl. Sirius figured Hedwig probably flew outside to stretch her wings so as not to disturb Harry.
Smiling down at his Godson, Sirius walked over to him and picked up his papers and books. He set them down on the desk and poured the rest of Harry's left over breakfast into Hedwig's bowl. Then Sirius sat down next to Harry on the edge of his bed. He slowly reached over to take off Harry's glasses and put them on the bureau beside his bed. Sirius moved Harry's bangs out of his face and stroked his head. Harry stirred a little and rolled over, moving himself closer toward Sirius. Sirius lay down beside him, after kicking off his shoes, and put an arm around Harry to bring him closer.
He was proud and happy to feel Harry's strong muscles beneath his arm. It felt like only a short while ago that Sirius saw Harry for the first time. He had looked anything but happy; Harry's life held so many burdens compared to other normal teenagers. Harry had also appeared a little thin, but he appeared physically fit, although Quidditch had probably helped.
Sirius had found out a year later, after the Triwizard Tournament incident, that Harry's relatives neglected him and his health. Hermione had come to him by herself, when they were supposed to meet for her to give him news about what was going on (and to hand him some Daily Prophets, along with food), but they had gotten into discussing Harry's life and his encounters with Voldemort. Though Hermione didn't know all the details, Sirius got enough to make him angry for the rest of eternity. After their discussion, Sirius realized Harry needed someone to care for him, otherwise he wouldn't mind dying for the world to defeat the Dark Lord. And Sirius didn't want to fail Lily and James twice. He didn't want to fail Harry.
Harry groaned a little and turned over brushing his face against Sirius' chest. Sirius smiled and wrapped his arms around him and rubbed his back. Sirius' smile faltered as he remembered the first time he got a glimpse of what Harry had to face all those years…what Lily and James had to see before they died…Lord Voldemort. That snake-like face, those red eyes, that merciless lipless grin. Sirius inwardly shivered, though it was more out of anger than fear.
His shivering caused Harry to squirm. Harry's eyes slowly fluttered open. It took him a moment to realize his glasses were off. He blinked and looked up at Sirius, who smiled down at him.
"How are you doing, Harry?"
Harry smiled and hugged him. "Good."
Sirius grinned and continued to rub his back, "I see you got some homework done."
Harry groaned into his robe. He pulled back and looked up at Sirius, "A little. I only have a little more to write on Transfiguration, but Snape gave us a lot of work over the summer. We have to write an essay on Good Luck potions, how they're good for use and bad for use. Then you have to take me to Diagon Alley to get a special Potions book called Brewing Specialties, or something and we have to write what we learned from reading the book," Harry explained quickly.
Sirius smirked knowingly, "That's definitely Snape for you, giving extra homework."
"Extra pointless homework," Harry moaned.
Sirius laughed and propped himself up in a sitting position. "Well, I guess we'll make the trip to Diagon Alley after…"
Harry looked up at him. He knew why Sirius had suddenly broken off. He was waiting to see Harry's reply. Harry sighed and leaned back into Sirius' embrace.
"I'm sorry Sirius," he muttered, leaning his head on his shoulder, "but I'm still going."
He heard a heavy sigh above him, but felt strong arms wrap around him. Sirius lay his cheek on the top of Harry's head. "I knew you would Harry, you're too kind sometimes."
Harry closed his eyes. "So…does that mean I leave tomorrow?"
"Yeah. I talked to the Ministry members and told them that I'm sending you out tomorrow morning so they better get a place cleared out for Fudge in only a couple hours. I don't want you to have to spend too much time around that guy, there's no telling what he's like, or how unstable he is."
Harry nodded. "I know."
They stayed in a tight embrace for a few more minutes. Sirius squeezed Harry tighter then kissed the top of his head. He pulled away and got up. "Well, I don't have anything to do if you want to go to Diagon Alley now."
Harry looked a little disappointed, but nodded.
"We could always go to a few…other shops and get the potions book last," Sirius suggested, with a strange gleam in his eye.
Harry's mood brightened immensely. In no time he leaped up and ran to Sirius, giving him a huge hug in thanks and ran to pick out something to wear. Whenever he and Sirius went on "shopping trips" together, they ended up having the time of their lives…and having to pay for a few broken things. Harry dressed in the outfit that he got from Sirius as an early birthday present last year in the Hospital Wing. Then, the two set out for Diagon Alley.
XXXX
The door burst open and Harry and Sirius toppled in laughing hysterically. Their brooms were left on the floor and their bags of supplies floated to the table.
"Did you see their faces?" Harry laughed again.
Sirius nodded, his face still red from laughing, "Yeah, I sure did. Too bad Remus wasn't with us, it would've brought back old memories."
Harry grinned, "Yeah, too bad. Is he going to come for dinner again? I want him to come at a less…uncomfortable time," Harry said, referring to the last dinner when it was a bit stiff because of Sirius' mood.
The answer was by Sirius ruffling his hair. "Of course, Harry. After this…Fudge problem is over with, you, Remus and I will go out to eat."
"You mean a restaurant? In the Wizard world?" Harry asked, his eyes gleaming uncontrollably.
Sirius nodded and was soon stuck in a tight embrace from his Godson. Sirius knew Harry was still getting used to the Wizard world and everything in it. He was familiar with muggle restaurants but had never been to one in the Wizard world, and it was quite different. In fact, Sirius' plan was to go there for Harry's surprise birthday, along with Remus, Ron, Hermione and several other of Harry's friends Ron and Hermione were inviting.
Sirius looked at the watch clock floating silently above the stove.
"Wow, it's all ready five o'clock, I better make us some dinner."
Harry tightened his grasp around Sirius, "Just a minute longer."
Sirius hugged him tightly, and grinning widely, he suddenly lifted his Godson up, getting a small yelp of surprise from Harry. He carried Harry, upside down, over to the stove. Sirius muttered a spell, Harry heard it as something like: Encanto chicken meal. The stove automatically turned on and began to prepare itself to cook. Sirius then carried Harry into the living room and plopped him down on a large sofa, that was, at the moment, floating two feet off the ground. Some of the chairs Sirius had charmed to float up and down for comfort, he also knew Harry would like seeing magic every day. Sirius smirked and toppled himself on Harry, pinning him to the sofa, face down.
"Sirius! Get off!" Harry shouted, although there was a big grin on his face.
Sirius shook his head, looking up at the ceiling, "Sorry Harry, I'm comfortable."
"You're heavy!"
Sirius laughed, "You should tell Remus that. He thinks I am still not up to my average weight I was before I went to Azkaban."
"I'd be happy to tell him if you'd just get off me!" Harry said, trying to struggle underneath his Godfather's weight.
"On one condition," Sirius smiled, resting the back of his head above Harry's on the arm of the sofa.
"What?" Harry asked, not able to face him since he was face down.
"Don't go to the Ministry."
Harry groaned and pushed his face into the soft cushion. "Sirius, you're making this difficult! I want to help the Ministry, but I also don't want to suffocate!"
Sirius grinned again, "Sorry Harry, you'll have to choose."
"I'm still going," Harry said, hoping his stubbornness would make Sirius give up his attempts to make Harry say no.
Sirius shook his head, "It won't work, Harry."
"You can't make me say no, I'll stay like this all night until the morning if I have to," he stated stubbornly.
Harry, however, couldn't see Sirius' playful smirk. Soon, he felt Sirius' hands on his stomach. In one swift move, Sirius began tickling Harry on his sides. Harry burst into laughter, withering underneath him.
"Si…rius, st…stop!" Harry gasped as he continued to laugh. "SIRIUS!"
Sirius grinned and got off Harry to let him breathe. Harry lay there catching his breath, while Sirius just smiled down at him.
"It was worth a try. Dinner's almost ready, then you should get to bed for a good night's sleep," Sirius said.
Harry nodded and got up. He was starting to regret going, since he wanted to stay with Sirius, but it was only going to be for a couple hours. They both went into the kitchen to eat dinner together before bed.
XXXXX
Morning came too quickly for Harry's liking. It was eight o'clock when Sirius shook him awake, telling him to get ready. They had stayed up to look at old pictures of Sirius, Remus and James (and Peter, to both of their disliking) when they were younger. Harry groaned and turned over so Sirius took off his covers. Harry didn't seem to mind and fell back asleep.
"Come on Harry, this was your decision, remember? Get up before I decide to spray you with cold water."
Harry groaned, but the sound of cold water on him this early in the morning was too much of a threat. He got up and Sirius handed him some clothes and his new robe.
"Do I have to?" Harry asked, feeling like a child for asking. He was just too tired to want to deal with anything except catching up on sleep.
Sirius smiled, "You could always say no."
Harry shook his head, "No, I couldn't. I all ready told them yes."
"Exactly, now get up."
Harry paused, realizing just what Sirius did. Smiling, Harry got dressed and slipped on his new robe.
"I'll fly you there," Sirius said.
Harry nodded thankfully and pulled out his new broom. Sirius also got his broom and they flew out together, letting the warm air soothe them. It was the best feeling in the world being high above everything else. They headed toward the Ministry, which was a bit of a distance, but with their fast brooms they were there in no time. The Ministry members were waiting patiently outside as Harry and Sirius landed. There were only two of them there.
"Hello, Harry, we can't thank you enough for coming."
Harry nodded, forcing a smile. There wasn't much he could say. He didn't really want to do this, but he felt like he couldn't say no. Sirius put a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"Fudge's cell is underground, use the secret passage next to the Meeting Hall. You know where that is, right?" One of the wizard's asked.
Harry nodded.
"Good. His cell is down there all the way down the hall in the back. You'll have to disarm a few charms or so to get into the area where the cell is," the other wizard said.
"Did you guys check on him recently?" Sirius asked, keeping a firm hand on Harry's shoulder.
The two wizards exchanged glances and one of them shook his head. "No, no one's been down there for a while. We just locked it all up, forgetting to even feed him directly. We sent food through flying containers that could go through the shields. He didn't seem to eat much anyway. He shouldn't be too much trouble for your Godson."
Sirius nodded finally.
"Just watch him, Harry," the other wizard said. "We only found out about this problem a couple days ago, we don't even know what it is that Fudge said or did to get the rest of the Ministry all riled up. We're going to head back to Hogwarts with Dumbledore, I believe he's helping with the Dementor problem."
Harry looked up at Sirius, who looked down and nodded.
"When will they be able to find a place for Fudge?" Sirius asked.
"It shouldn't be long, they said they should have members back soon. In fact, that's where everyone went early this morning, to go find a secure place for him. I believe they were thinking of another island about a hundred miles east of Azkaban, but they weren't sure yet. Some islands nowadays are inhabited by dark creatures that don't let us wizards into their territory."
"Anyway," the other one said, "it shouldn't be too long. You have our permission to curse him, or bind him if you have to," he smiled at Harry.
Harry smiled back, feeling a little better, but the strange turning in his stomach was still there. He wasn't sure why he was so nervous. He had to face Voldemort numerous times so Fudge was no match for him. And Harry had his wand with him. He figured it was probably the image of Fudge in Voldemort's cell doing who knows what…If he killed Voldemort it just shows how insane he has gone, even if it is helpful to society. Harry shivered slightly, and got a look from Sirius. The two wizards bowed and said their goodbyes before disapparating.
"You sure you'll be all right Harry?" Sirius asked, letting the worry show.
Harry nodded against his stomach's wishes, "Yes, I'll be fine, Sirius. It'll only be for a couple of hours."
Sirius reluctantly nodded. "If anything happens send sparks up, or just get out of there, all right? I have to go to work for a little while to help Dumbledore and Remus with some problems. Hagrid's going to be there," he smiled, getting a small smile from Harry. "But I'll make sure to hurry those Ministry members up, all right?"
Sirius bent down and kissed Harry's forehead. Harry squeezed his hand and reluctantly let go. Sirius got on his broom and with a last smile he flew off toward Hogwarts. Taking a deep breath, Harry entered the large castle. It was smaller than Hogwarts, but somehow looked bigger on the inside, or at least wider. The walls were a strange shimmering cement, which no doubt was the result of numerous charms. He walked down the long hallway, following the wizard's instructions. He was to go to the Meeting Hall and find the secret passage nearby. He knew where it was, but he had never actually gone down it before.
After rounding a few corners, Harry saw tall Oak doors, that looked polished or something, and golden letters that appeared on the wall next to the door that said Meeting Hall before disappearing again. Harry smiled and walked by it, feeling his stomach ease up a bit. It wasn't so bad in there, but now that he had time to think he wondered why the Ministry couldn't handle Fudge. He had thought about it earlier yesterday, but hadn't come to a conclusion. It must've been something else, possibly Fudge began talking of joining forces with Voldemort and killing them all.
Usually when it came down to Voldemort, Harry was the only one, besides Dumbledore, Remus, and Sirius, that wasn't afraid of him, or his name. Of course, even the Ministry had to deal with him the last time, during the time Voldemort killed his parents, when Voldemort came to rise. So why were they afraid now? Besides, it wasn't Voldemort himself, if was Fudge. Harry had his suspicions about Fudge though. He often felt that he wasn't always there. And he even once thought Fudge was working for Voldemort, but Dumbledore had checked and saw no sign or proof that he was, no dark mark or anything. Fudge in fact reminded Harry a lot of Wormtail at times.
Harry sighed as he approached the statue of Merlin, on the far wall down from the Meeting Hall. He turned the ball of the statue's staff three times counterclockwise. The eyes glowed a bright blue and Merlin's mouth opened. Harry looked inside and found a small, shrunken key at the top of his mouth, which was easy for anyone to miss, but Harry knew some of the tricks of the Ministry. He pulled out his wand and turned the key back to its regular size. Then he stuck it in the middle section of Merlin's staff, which then made the statue turn, along with the wall, to reveal a dark cement staircase, leading down.
Harry gulped out of instinct and said lumos before entering the passage. He walked down as quietly as possible, not wanting Fudge to know anyone was coming. He was thankful to not hear the sound of the passage closing. Harry finally got to the bottom and found that none of the lights were on. There were floating candles down the hall, but all of them were out.
Strange. They really haven't been down here in a while.
Harry muttered a charm and all the candles instantly grew flames and lit up the damp underground passage. Harry walked along it, knowing that the cell was all the way at the other end through a door and a bunch of charms and spells. Harry figured all he had to do was make sure Fudge was still in his cell, and not doing anything stupid, send some food and water through the charms and leave him to his misery. As horrible as that sounded, Harry only wanted to get out of there as fast as he could.
I don't even have to break through any of the charms, which is a relief. It would take forever to put them all back up. Maybe I'll just peek in and then—
Harry's thoughts were abruptly interrupted as he suddenly stopped. There in front of him was the door leading through charms and spells to the cell room…only, the door was open…
TO BE CONTINUED…