Crejy stalked down the corridors. Her braids waftly followed her every
movement, causing the crystal ornaments to chime happily. Somehow she knew
exactly where she was going, and what her goal was. But the surroundings!
They were so strange, and yet at the same time, so very familiar.
Peeves, the Poltergeist, was up to his usual mischief again, and he started to sing one of his obnoxious little songs until he realised that something was definately out of the ordinary.
"Crazy Heartilly? That you? What did you do? Fall into a huge inkpot? Hey, you look so... cool!" Peeves cackled loudly at his own joke.
Crejy turned around. Somehow she seemed to remember this vermin, and gradually she remembered fragments of past insults to Lierin, her summoner. He was an enemy. A cool gaze was fixed on Peeves, and even though he was a Poltergeist, even though he wasn't even a real ghost, he could still sense that things were about to go horribly wrong for him.
"What are you doing, Heartilly? Surely you can take a joke?"asked Peeves nervously.
Crejy whirled around and kissed the fingertips of her right hand and she blew the kiss to Peeves. He tried to yell for help, but it was too late. Thousands and thousands of tiny crystal particles wafted towards him and stuck to his ghostly body, changing him too into a crystal statue. Gravity did its work and the crystallised Peeves plunged to the ground, exploding into a cloud of crystal particles and crystal dust.
"Hmpf."
Crejy walked away, unaware of the three teenagers who had watched the entire scene with horror.
"Did you see that?" whispered Ron quite loud, "She killed Peeves!"
"Will you hush up, loudmouth? Do you want to end up like Peeves? Shattered into a million itty bitty pieces? Besides, she couldn't have killed Peeves because he was already dead," whispered Hermione, also quite loud.
"Then what do you call that!" Ron raised his voice even further.
"A slight mishap!"
"Guys, will you cut it out!" intervened Harry, "Ron, we need to get to the dungeons fast, Hermione, hurry up and go and see Dumbledore!"
Hermione nodded and took off at a run. Harry and Ron watched her go and then looked at each other. Ron gulped nervously.
"Our turn?"
"Yes Ron, our turn. Now, let's go. I found a shortcut on the Marauder's map that your brothers gave to me a while back. Let us hope that Professor Heartilly doesn't know about that one. We have to reach the dungeons before she does," said Harry while he watched the transformed professor disappear out of sight.
The two boys hurried down the same hall and turned around the same corner. Professor Heartilly came in sight again. Luckily she took the straight hallway to the dungeons. Harry sighed with relief, and hurried to a small statue of a friendly but ugly looking witch. He pulled her wand down and the statue moved back, revealing a dark staircase leading deep down underground. Ron gulped again.
"Do we really have to go down there?" he asked with a squeaky voice.
"Yes, come on, Ron, don't panic on me now."
"Ooh," moaned Ron. But he hurried down the steps and followed Harry through the darkest and creepiest tunnel he had ever been in. Both the kids set off at a run, careful not to trip during their pursuit. It was a long hallway, but straight, while the normal way to the dungeons was full of curves, turns and staircases. Finally they reached a dead end. A little out of breath Ron tried to look at Harry, in silent wonder what to do next. A little unsure of that himself, Harry looked around to see what possibilities they had. Unable to see further than just a few feet, Harry took out his wand and cast the Lumos spell. A faint light spread around him and cast it's rays on his surroundings.
"Harry, look at this!" came the excited yet scared voice of Ron. Harry hurried over to him and he too noticed the wobbly stone set in the wall. He pushed the stone backwards and a loud rumbling noise filled the tunnel soon to be followed by bright rays of light. There was a secret door! Harry looked at Ron, and Ron looked back at him. They both nodded at the same time and hurried to the door. They hustled through and Harry closed the door behind them and looked around. He noticed that they were right next to the staircase that led to Snape's dungeons.
"Where do you think she is, Harry?" asked Ron nervously.
"I don't know. I'm not even sure if we beat her to it. She was walking pretty fast."
Harry glanced around but he froze as he heard that tingling sound again. The crystal ornaments! She was right behind them.
"Move, Ron move! She's right behind us!" Harry practically pushed Ron down the moulded stone steps. Ron cried out in panic as he stormed down the steps all the way down to the massive oak door. He flung it open and burst through.
Snape got up from behind his desk as fast as lightning, tossing back a lock of raven black hair in the motion. His eyes were sparkling with barely suppressed anger. The seventh year Ravenclaws and Gryffindors turned back in their seats to watch a pale and out of breath Ron Weasley, desperately trying to catch his breath. If they weren't surprised at that, they were when Harry Potter entered the dungeon, closed the massive door behind him and leaned against it. Harry ignored the surprised looks that were cast at him; he stared directly into Snape's raging eyes.
"She's coming, Professor Snape, and she's really ticked off!"
"Who's coming Potter? And be quick about it because the only thing standing between you and me cursing you straight back to Little Whining, is my curiosity as to why you are interrupting my class acting as if you are being chased down by a mountain troll."
"Not by a mountain troll sir, by Professor Heartilly. Only, it's not really her..."
Snape interupted him.
"Potter, don't try my patience, you'll find yourself sorely disappointed. What do you mean with Professor Heartilly, only not really her?"
"Well, there was this accident in Ancient Magical Artifacts..."
"Now there's a surprise," said Snape unpleasantly.
"Please sir, there isn't time... Malfoy disobeyed her in class, he refused to pay attention and...."
"Yes, well that was my advice now wasn't it? To spend your time on more useful matters. If that will be all..."
"Professor Snape, will you please let me finish one bloody sentence!"
Silence fell in the dungeon. Every student knew Harry had committed a capital crime. Sentence: death. Harry too realised what he had said and found himself at a loss for words to apologise. But before Snape could say or do anything, Ron turned white as a sheet.
"Too late. She's here," whispered Ron and he backed away from the door. Harry followed his example. They had tried to warn the professor, he didn't want to listen. It was out of their hands now and the only sensible thing to do was to get out of harms way. If that were possible.
Snape tried to figure out why the two boys were so terrified. Surely it couldn't be just because Heartilly was angry with them. No, she would be angry with Malfoy if he had really ignored her and refused to pay attention. Then why could she be on her way to him and why did that terrify the boys? Unless Malfoy had bragged about him forbidding them to waste their time on her class, she had no reason to go after him. Well then, that must be it. She heard that from Malfoy and now she wanted revenge. Again he wondered why that scared Potter and Weasley. What was it they had said about Heartilly not being her usual self? He didn't get much time to ponder on that thought as his mind registered the soft sound of chiming bells. What in Merlin's sake...? Suddenly the massive door turned into crystal and crumpled down to the floor into small pieces of crystal. Standing in the doorway with blazing eyes was...
"Crejy?"
The name escaped his lips before he even knew he was going to say it. With a stunned look on his face, Snape watched Heartilly enter his class. He didn't know what surprised him more, that Heartilly had destroyed the door of his class, that she was standing here in his class dressed in nothing else but blue underwear with a skin coloured in icy blue and purple colours, or that he had known exactly what to call her the second he first he laid his eyes on her in this state.
Crejy cocked her head and stared at him.
"Cajanic Chyba, vaam so znydr!"
Snape could only stare at her. The language sounded vaguely familiar, he knew he had heard it somewhere before. Maybe the same place where he picked up that foreign name? Not very likely, he couldn't remember anything related to that name or language, he only knew -or thought- that it sounded awfully familiar to him. Whatever she had just said, from the tone he did understand that she was angry with him, possibly even threatening him.
"Heartilly, please speak civilised English in this class. Surely that can't be too hard for you to do," said Snape in his trademark silky voice.
Crejy kept staring at him with that haughty look in her eyes while she carefully advanced on him. Snape's eyes lost their fixed mark on her eyes and ventured down her body. A funny jolt in his stomach made him realise that not only his mind, but also his body had noticed perfectly curved body. She approached him at a tantalising leisurely pace, her hips rocking in an ever so sensual way. With each step she took, small delicate crystal ornaments at the ends of ribbons around her arms and in her hair chimed together in a cheerful matter. With her every movement, Snape's lower region reacted to the mesmerising quality of her gently rocking hips and her lightly dangling bosom. Each step wove a powerful magical spell around them, making Snape completely oblivious of his surroundings, and they drove him further to the edge of madness. By the time she was finally standing in front of him, within an arms reach, his body was screaming for relief. A look of playful and knowing mischief was playing with the light caught in her crystalline eyes as she moulded her body against his. Her hands snaked up to his torso playing with the taught muscles of his chest. Snape realised she was seducing him for some reason, but he didn't care. He lowered his head to gaze deeper into those enchanting eyes and he sighed in relief as his lips finally caught hers in a passionate kiss.
Crejy's right hand snaked through Snape's hair and pulled his head closer to deepen their kiss. Snape found himself delighted by this, and emboldened by her less then shy actions, he allowed his hands to follow every curve of her body. Crejy smiled at her success through the union of their lips.
The students witnessed this shockingly erotic scene, and Ron and Harry could feel the heat rising in their cheeks. Most female students found themselves repulsed by this shameless exchange of saliva, probably because they couldn't understand Heartilly's choice of mate. The male population of the class however, found themselves highly aroused, because the limited clothing of Heartilly didn't leave much for the imagination, and now that Heartilly's graceless limp was gone, she was a knock-out!
Crejy had to admit, she thoroughly enjoyed Snape's kisses and caresses. Then again, Snape or Tyng Saccahkan -the entity of the shadows- as she used to know him, had always been an excellent lover. She didn't quite understand why her host was now feeling so hostile towards him, because she could distinctively remember their shared intimacy in the early years of this place, when their hosts summoned their powers to defeat the enemies who opposed this place of education. But Crejy was summoned ; she had to do her job. Hmm, his kisses were nice though. Too bad that her's were lethal. Snape, completely oblivious to the blue vapour that he inhaled from Crejy's every breath, pressed her against his desk and pushed her down. His mouth traveled from her luscious lips to the nape of her neck and all the way down, as Crejy slid further down his desk. A mischievous and ominous smile curved her lips as Crejy reached down below her trying to place her hands on the floor beneath. She allowed herself to enjoy one more kiss on her tight belly, and then she swooped up her legs, knocking Snape backwards as she flipped herself over the desk and landed on her feet right in front of it. She faced Snape and she noticed the first traces of her poisonous kisses already. His lips were turning blue and he started to shiver. The veins in his body and face started to swell and also turned blue. A cry escaped from his poisoned lips and Snape's body slumped against the desk where he writhed in pain and anguish. His eyes rolled backwards and he gasped for air. With the last ounce of his will and strength, Snape cast his eyes on Crejy.
"W-hat ... h-have...y-you... d-done... t-to... m-me?" asked Snape with a quivering voice that he couldn't keep the pain from.
Crejy turned around without indulging him and meant to leave the dungeons. She was going to the room where her heart was kept. To the room where her host kept Achille's Spear. She looked up when she heard the sound of running feet and soon Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall came rushing in. Professor Dumbledore needed only a single glance to comprehend the situation, well most of it anyway. McGonagall however, was appalled by the entire ordeal; one look at Professor Snape suggested that he was just an inch from dying!
"By Merlin's beard!" cried McGonagall. "What on earth is the meaning of this?"
Dumbledore said nothing, and a dark look appeared in his otherwise twinkling eyes. He had indulged Lierin enough. He would not stand and let her thoughtlessly put the children's lives in jeopardy.
"You have gone far enough, Lierin. I'm afraid I can't let you go any further!"
Dumbledore took out his ancient wand, he wasn't sure what to do about the situation on hand, but he had to refrain Lierin from further injuring one of the teachers, or -heaven forbid- one of the students. McGonagall also drew her wand, but she was less careful than Dumbledore. Determined to put an end to Lierin's thoughtless behaviour, McGonagall wanted to cast the petrifying spell on her. With Lierin petrified, they could use their valuable time to think of a solution. Unfortunately, she didn't think about what might happen if she cast the spell and Lierin would prove to be immune for all "common" magic.
"No, Minerva, don't..." started Dumbledore as he noticed what McGonagall was about to do, but he was too late.
"Petrificus Totalis!" said McGonagall, and she pointed her wand at Lierin.
Crejy just smiled, stretched her arm out and blocked the spell with her right hand. The air around her sizzled and soft shimmering remains of the blocked spell drifted to the ground. McGonagall turned white as a sheet as she realised that she didn't have Lierin in front of her, but some kind of goddess or other entity, and she had just tried to curse her.
"Please, don't harm us. We only wanted to protect the children. Think about what would happen to them if you dispose of us," McGonagall pleaded.
Crejy only smiled cruelly. She kissed the fingertips of her right hand and swirled around on her heels, creating some kind of force field around her by touching the air with her fingertips. It was beautiful and scary at the same time. It was as if they were looking at...eternity. The rest seemed to happen in a blur of motions and colours, at least from Dumbledores and McGonagalls point of view. The remaining students in the dungeons, and Professor Snape, had a great view on what was happening.
Crejy placed the palm of her hands together right in front of her ; she then spread her arms and moved them upwards until she placed the palm of her hands together again above her head. She had redirected the streams of the force field into the form of a large sphere. She thrust her hands forward and released the power of the force field by directing it towards Dumbledore and McGonagall through her own body. Crejy didn't have the pleasure to hear them begging for mercy, it happened too fast for them to even try. The burst of energy hit the two professors with the strength and speed of an avalanche, and slowly every particle of their bodies turned into crystal.
In shock, the students saw their professor plus the headmaster turn into crystal statues. Harry and Ron finally got a grasp of how powerful Achille's Spear really was. And Snape, as he could feel his lifeforce drain away, finally realised how much pain and humiliation he had caused Lierin that she would be so desperate to release such a powerful creature just to prove herself to him.
But it wasn't over yet. Not by a long shot.
Satisfied, Crejy admired her work, much like an artist would his admire his masterpiece, but in the end, she didn't seem to like it. Again, she stretched her arm but this time she snapped her fingers to get rid of the rubbish. That one snap of her fingers, however normal that gesture might be for mortals, proved to be very lethal for Dumbledore and McGonagall. The statues exploded in a burst of crystal pieces and the students had to take cover to avoid getting cut by the flying pieces of crystal.
Panic broke out among the students when seeing the shattered remains of their teachers. Snape let out a grunt of pain and despair and let his head rest on the desk. It was all his fault. If he hadn't provoked Heartilly, if he hadn't pushed her to her limit...
Crejy eyed the terrified students, and as they seemed to be of no threat to her, she started to leave the dungeons. Turning around, Crejy allowed Harry and Ron full view of her back and a peculiar flesh-coloured spot was seen on her heel. Harry grabbed Ron by his upper arm.
"Ron, look!" whispered Harry excitedly. Ron did as he was asked, but he couldn't find anything out of the ordinary.
"Remember what Professor Heartilly told us? About Scharear's fate or Achilles' Spear?"
"So? What about it?"
"Honestly Ron, surely you know something about Greek Mythology? Didn't you ever wonder why the spear was called Achilles' Spear?"
"Harry, this isn't the time to give history lessons. Just cut to the chase and tell me what you are trying to say."
"Achilles was born a very weak child. To protect him, his mother bathed him in the sacred river Styx to make him invincible, but the only place that hadn't been blessed by the water, was his right heel because his mother had been holding him there. Thus Achilles only had one weakness, his right heel. Look at the professor, look at her right heel!"
Ron looked again and then he too discovered Crejy's only known weak spot. He nodded in understanding.
"Okay, so now we know she has a weakness. What do we do to use that against her?"
"You distract the Professor, or whoever she is now, I'll try and see if Professor Snape is able to tell me if he has a potion in his personal cabinet that can inflict maximum damage. We are in no way advanced enough in Defense against the Dark Arts or Charms to hit her with a powerful enough spell."
"Got it."
Ron took off after Crejy to stop her from reaching her resting place while Harry hustled to the desk were Snape was still lying, his head still resting on his arms. Snape was awfully still and quiet, so Harry feared the worst. When Harry reached the desk, he carefully touched Professor Snape's shoulder and gently shook him. No reaction.
"Professor Snape, can you hear me?" said Harry loudly. The other students watched him and seemed very uncertain. A few girls were crying, they wanted to get away but they were too afraid to run into Professor Heartilly in one of the hallways.
Snape stirred and slowly he opened his eyes. His ragged breathing suggested that this was a hard and painful process for him. He tried to focus on Harry and seemed angry with him for disturbing him even in his hour of death.
"Professor Snape, sir. I need your help. I think I know a way to stop Professor Heartilly, but like I said, I need your help. Can you help me?"
Snape raised his eyebrow and a condescending look appeared in his breaking eyes. He was obviously trying to tell Harry that in this position he couldn't possibly be of much help. Even when dying Snape was still the same mean old bastard.
"You only need to tell me if you have a potion that inflicts serious damage when you throw it. Like a liquid bomb or something like that."
Snape closed his eyes for a moment and seemed to think about it, but it took him so long to open his eyes again that Harry was afraid that he would die before he could tell him what he needed to know. But Snape was a tough one, he opened his eyes once more and his blue ragged lips tried to form four words. Harry didn't understand at first, but Snape repeated it again. Harry focused hard and followed every movement of Snape's lips until they finally stopped moving. Harry swallowed hard and looked into Snape's blank eyes. As a token of respect for the dead, Harry closed Snape's eyes and then hurried to the cabinet. He ignored the horrified cries of a few students, because in Snape's last attempt, Harry had finally understood.
Top shelf, ninth bottle. That's what Snape had been trying to tell him. He grabbed a small wooden stool and climbed on it. Top shelf, ninth bottle. His fingers gingerly touched every bottle while counting until they hovered in front of the ninth. It was just a small bottle, covered in dust and cobwebs, and filled with a suspicious looking yellow greenish substance. The bottle wasn't labelled, but maybe that was for a good reason. Harry didn't think twice, and grabbed the bottle and hurried back to the dungeons where they used to have potions. A sudden feeling of nausea hit him when he saw the dead professor lying on his desk. It didn't help either that in his pursuit he almost stepped on the crystallised face of Professor McGonagall. He only hesitated for a moment but then Harry did leave the dungeons. The other students watched him go away and frantic to leave that horrible place, they followed him, seeing him as some kind of spiritual leader now that the Headmaster, the Deputy Mistress and their Potions professor were gone. Harry paid no attention to them and tried to find the secret door that would lead straight back to the statue of the friendly witch near Professor Heartilly's class. But Fortuna didn't look kindly upon him, as he couldn't find any trace of the trapdoor. He sighed deeply and took off at a run. There was no time to loose. The seventh year students who had followed him out of the dungeons found themselves at an imaginary crossroads. They could find the relative safety of their Common rooms, or they could follow Harry. Most girls sought comfort with each other and obviously decided to go to their Common room. They were near graduation but the school had always been a safe harbour for them, never could they have guessed that they would get acquainted with the real world so fast. The braver students decided to follow Harry. The Headmaster and the Deputy Mistress were both dead. It wasn't very likely that, if they would go to the Common room, a new Headmaster would give them a notice that everything was safe again. So, they would just follow Harry and contemplate the events from there.
Harry ran down the hallways like crazy, but halfway down he was met by a high shriek of anger and the screaming of a terrified young man. Ron! If possible, Harry started to run faster while ignoring the stabbing jolts of pain in his side. The screaming got louder and vaguely Harry could hear his best friend's footsteps echoing against the walls. One hallway, a curve, another hallway and yet another curve, three steps up and Harry could almost hear Ron screaming right in front of him. Suddenly a shock of red appeared in his vision, it was Ron.
"Harry! Harry!" screamed Ron upon seeing his friend, partly relieved and partly terrified. Harry soon heard why, the chiming crystal ornaments came from behind Ron, and it sounded as if she was not far behind.
"Harry, please tell me that Professor Snape gave you a potion for a big blast. She's right behind me and I think I'm on her "most wanted" list." Ron tried to catch his breath and bend over. Suddenly Harry noticed the familiar looking blue rod that Ron was clutching in his hands. It was Achilles' Spear!
"Ron!" cried Harry, partially wondering why Ron hadn't changed in a crystal statue yet and partially wondering if that might still happen.
"She's after this Harry. I don't know why, but this is what she was after. I beat her to it by a hair and I figured that, after Professor Heartilly summoned the power from the Spear, it wouldn't be dangerous anymore to try and retrieve the rod. So, I grabbed the Spear and started running. I think I had the element of surprise because she didn't go after me right away." Ron smirked a little, but his pale countenance indicated that he was very nervous.
"She probably couldn't believe that someone would deliberately try and get in her way." Ron paused for a moment and took another deep breath.
"Look, Harry, if you have a plan, you better tell me now. She could be here any moment."
"I do have a plan, trust me. It's actually quite convenient that she's after you, so she won't pay any attention to me. Here's what you have to do; just keep running and let her chase you. Once she passes me, I'll go after her. That way I'll have a clean shot at her heel. I just hope that catching a ball is as easy as throwing one."
"All right. Good luck Harry. And... if I don't make it as well. You were my best friend and it was an honour knowing you."
"Don't be silly, Ron. Of course you'll make it, you have to. Now go," said Harry with a slightly trembling voice.
Ron nodded and again he took off at a run. Harry watched him go and after just a short moment of waiting a furious ferocious creature came rushing after his best friend. Harry waited just a short moment before he followed her.
Curve, hallway, steps, hallway, curve, hallway, stairs. Harry felt like he had been running forever but suddenly he saw that Ron had reached a dead end. Terrified, the latter turned around and made a mistake.
"Harry!" cried Ron desperately, and made Crejy aware that someone had been following him. She hissed angrily and started to turn around. Harry acted on impulse and threw the bottle to Ron, well aware that if Ron wouldn't be able to catch it, he'd probably die. Unaware of the object that came zooming towards her through the air, Crejy directed all of her fury at the young black haired boy standing in front of her. Harry held his breath and waited.
Ron saw the small bottle zooming towards him. He focused on it, performed a running jump and snatched the bottle out of the air. In the momentum of the jump, Ron turned around mid-air and threw the bottle against Crejy's right heel with a well-aimed shot. A blast of energy was released from the bottle and the force threw Ron against the dead-end wall. Harry flung himself to the floor with the sound of Crejy's cries of pain and defeat in his ears. Harry looked up at the blue creature, shielding his eyes with his right arm. Crejy, heavily damaged by the sudden release of energy, staggered forwards while small flames leapt onto her legs. A bright light emerged from deep within her and Crejy threw her arms up with the outlet of one last desperate cry. The intensity of the light grew stronger and stronger and Harry couldn't stand to watch it. He winced against the light but suddenly he saw the limp body of Professor Heartilly falling forward. He could barely grab her by her right elbow to prevent her from crashing to the floor. Carefully, Harry laid her down on the floor and noticed that the light slowly faded away. Ron staggered to his feet and rushed over to Harry and the Professor.
"Aaaah. Curse Lazy Heartilly, curse her!" screamed a confused Peeves while zooming through the hallways. Obviously, Crejy's defeat had lifted Peeves curse. Ron and Harry smiled at each other until someone suddenly pulled them into a tight bearhug.
"You crazy idiots! You two could have gotten yourself killed! Next time no more heroics!" shrieked Hermione while she sobbed between the two boys.
"We're glad to see you too, Mione," said Harry while he grinned at Ron.
"Timing, Harry. Timing," said a soft but serious voice.
Peeves, the Poltergeist, was up to his usual mischief again, and he started to sing one of his obnoxious little songs until he realised that something was definately out of the ordinary.
"Crazy Heartilly? That you? What did you do? Fall into a huge inkpot? Hey, you look so... cool!" Peeves cackled loudly at his own joke.
Crejy turned around. Somehow she seemed to remember this vermin, and gradually she remembered fragments of past insults to Lierin, her summoner. He was an enemy. A cool gaze was fixed on Peeves, and even though he was a Poltergeist, even though he wasn't even a real ghost, he could still sense that things were about to go horribly wrong for him.
"What are you doing, Heartilly? Surely you can take a joke?"asked Peeves nervously.
Crejy whirled around and kissed the fingertips of her right hand and she blew the kiss to Peeves. He tried to yell for help, but it was too late. Thousands and thousands of tiny crystal particles wafted towards him and stuck to his ghostly body, changing him too into a crystal statue. Gravity did its work and the crystallised Peeves plunged to the ground, exploding into a cloud of crystal particles and crystal dust.
"Hmpf."
Crejy walked away, unaware of the three teenagers who had watched the entire scene with horror.
"Did you see that?" whispered Ron quite loud, "She killed Peeves!"
"Will you hush up, loudmouth? Do you want to end up like Peeves? Shattered into a million itty bitty pieces? Besides, she couldn't have killed Peeves because he was already dead," whispered Hermione, also quite loud.
"Then what do you call that!" Ron raised his voice even further.
"A slight mishap!"
"Guys, will you cut it out!" intervened Harry, "Ron, we need to get to the dungeons fast, Hermione, hurry up and go and see Dumbledore!"
Hermione nodded and took off at a run. Harry and Ron watched her go and then looked at each other. Ron gulped nervously.
"Our turn?"
"Yes Ron, our turn. Now, let's go. I found a shortcut on the Marauder's map that your brothers gave to me a while back. Let us hope that Professor Heartilly doesn't know about that one. We have to reach the dungeons before she does," said Harry while he watched the transformed professor disappear out of sight.
The two boys hurried down the same hall and turned around the same corner. Professor Heartilly came in sight again. Luckily she took the straight hallway to the dungeons. Harry sighed with relief, and hurried to a small statue of a friendly but ugly looking witch. He pulled her wand down and the statue moved back, revealing a dark staircase leading deep down underground. Ron gulped again.
"Do we really have to go down there?" he asked with a squeaky voice.
"Yes, come on, Ron, don't panic on me now."
"Ooh," moaned Ron. But he hurried down the steps and followed Harry through the darkest and creepiest tunnel he had ever been in. Both the kids set off at a run, careful not to trip during their pursuit. It was a long hallway, but straight, while the normal way to the dungeons was full of curves, turns and staircases. Finally they reached a dead end. A little out of breath Ron tried to look at Harry, in silent wonder what to do next. A little unsure of that himself, Harry looked around to see what possibilities they had. Unable to see further than just a few feet, Harry took out his wand and cast the Lumos spell. A faint light spread around him and cast it's rays on his surroundings.
"Harry, look at this!" came the excited yet scared voice of Ron. Harry hurried over to him and he too noticed the wobbly stone set in the wall. He pushed the stone backwards and a loud rumbling noise filled the tunnel soon to be followed by bright rays of light. There was a secret door! Harry looked at Ron, and Ron looked back at him. They both nodded at the same time and hurried to the door. They hustled through and Harry closed the door behind them and looked around. He noticed that they were right next to the staircase that led to Snape's dungeons.
"Where do you think she is, Harry?" asked Ron nervously.
"I don't know. I'm not even sure if we beat her to it. She was walking pretty fast."
Harry glanced around but he froze as he heard that tingling sound again. The crystal ornaments! She was right behind them.
"Move, Ron move! She's right behind us!" Harry practically pushed Ron down the moulded stone steps. Ron cried out in panic as he stormed down the steps all the way down to the massive oak door. He flung it open and burst through.
Snape got up from behind his desk as fast as lightning, tossing back a lock of raven black hair in the motion. His eyes were sparkling with barely suppressed anger. The seventh year Ravenclaws and Gryffindors turned back in their seats to watch a pale and out of breath Ron Weasley, desperately trying to catch his breath. If they weren't surprised at that, they were when Harry Potter entered the dungeon, closed the massive door behind him and leaned against it. Harry ignored the surprised looks that were cast at him; he stared directly into Snape's raging eyes.
"She's coming, Professor Snape, and she's really ticked off!"
"Who's coming Potter? And be quick about it because the only thing standing between you and me cursing you straight back to Little Whining, is my curiosity as to why you are interrupting my class acting as if you are being chased down by a mountain troll."
"Not by a mountain troll sir, by Professor Heartilly. Only, it's not really her..."
Snape interupted him.
"Potter, don't try my patience, you'll find yourself sorely disappointed. What do you mean with Professor Heartilly, only not really her?"
"Well, there was this accident in Ancient Magical Artifacts..."
"Now there's a surprise," said Snape unpleasantly.
"Please sir, there isn't time... Malfoy disobeyed her in class, he refused to pay attention and...."
"Yes, well that was my advice now wasn't it? To spend your time on more useful matters. If that will be all..."
"Professor Snape, will you please let me finish one bloody sentence!"
Silence fell in the dungeon. Every student knew Harry had committed a capital crime. Sentence: death. Harry too realised what he had said and found himself at a loss for words to apologise. But before Snape could say or do anything, Ron turned white as a sheet.
"Too late. She's here," whispered Ron and he backed away from the door. Harry followed his example. They had tried to warn the professor, he didn't want to listen. It was out of their hands now and the only sensible thing to do was to get out of harms way. If that were possible.
Snape tried to figure out why the two boys were so terrified. Surely it couldn't be just because Heartilly was angry with them. No, she would be angry with Malfoy if he had really ignored her and refused to pay attention. Then why could she be on her way to him and why did that terrify the boys? Unless Malfoy had bragged about him forbidding them to waste their time on her class, she had no reason to go after him. Well then, that must be it. She heard that from Malfoy and now she wanted revenge. Again he wondered why that scared Potter and Weasley. What was it they had said about Heartilly not being her usual self? He didn't get much time to ponder on that thought as his mind registered the soft sound of chiming bells. What in Merlin's sake...? Suddenly the massive door turned into crystal and crumpled down to the floor into small pieces of crystal. Standing in the doorway with blazing eyes was...
"Crejy?"
The name escaped his lips before he even knew he was going to say it. With a stunned look on his face, Snape watched Heartilly enter his class. He didn't know what surprised him more, that Heartilly had destroyed the door of his class, that she was standing here in his class dressed in nothing else but blue underwear with a skin coloured in icy blue and purple colours, or that he had known exactly what to call her the second he first he laid his eyes on her in this state.
Crejy cocked her head and stared at him.
"Cajanic Chyba, vaam so znydr!"
Snape could only stare at her. The language sounded vaguely familiar, he knew he had heard it somewhere before. Maybe the same place where he picked up that foreign name? Not very likely, he couldn't remember anything related to that name or language, he only knew -or thought- that it sounded awfully familiar to him. Whatever she had just said, from the tone he did understand that she was angry with him, possibly even threatening him.
"Heartilly, please speak civilised English in this class. Surely that can't be too hard for you to do," said Snape in his trademark silky voice.
Crejy kept staring at him with that haughty look in her eyes while she carefully advanced on him. Snape's eyes lost their fixed mark on her eyes and ventured down her body. A funny jolt in his stomach made him realise that not only his mind, but also his body had noticed perfectly curved body. She approached him at a tantalising leisurely pace, her hips rocking in an ever so sensual way. With each step she took, small delicate crystal ornaments at the ends of ribbons around her arms and in her hair chimed together in a cheerful matter. With her every movement, Snape's lower region reacted to the mesmerising quality of her gently rocking hips and her lightly dangling bosom. Each step wove a powerful magical spell around them, making Snape completely oblivious of his surroundings, and they drove him further to the edge of madness. By the time she was finally standing in front of him, within an arms reach, his body was screaming for relief. A look of playful and knowing mischief was playing with the light caught in her crystalline eyes as she moulded her body against his. Her hands snaked up to his torso playing with the taught muscles of his chest. Snape realised she was seducing him for some reason, but he didn't care. He lowered his head to gaze deeper into those enchanting eyes and he sighed in relief as his lips finally caught hers in a passionate kiss.
Crejy's right hand snaked through Snape's hair and pulled his head closer to deepen their kiss. Snape found himself delighted by this, and emboldened by her less then shy actions, he allowed his hands to follow every curve of her body. Crejy smiled at her success through the union of their lips.
The students witnessed this shockingly erotic scene, and Ron and Harry could feel the heat rising in their cheeks. Most female students found themselves repulsed by this shameless exchange of saliva, probably because they couldn't understand Heartilly's choice of mate. The male population of the class however, found themselves highly aroused, because the limited clothing of Heartilly didn't leave much for the imagination, and now that Heartilly's graceless limp was gone, she was a knock-out!
Crejy had to admit, she thoroughly enjoyed Snape's kisses and caresses. Then again, Snape or Tyng Saccahkan -the entity of the shadows- as she used to know him, had always been an excellent lover. She didn't quite understand why her host was now feeling so hostile towards him, because she could distinctively remember their shared intimacy in the early years of this place, when their hosts summoned their powers to defeat the enemies who opposed this place of education. But Crejy was summoned ; she had to do her job. Hmm, his kisses were nice though. Too bad that her's were lethal. Snape, completely oblivious to the blue vapour that he inhaled from Crejy's every breath, pressed her against his desk and pushed her down. His mouth traveled from her luscious lips to the nape of her neck and all the way down, as Crejy slid further down his desk. A mischievous and ominous smile curved her lips as Crejy reached down below her trying to place her hands on the floor beneath. She allowed herself to enjoy one more kiss on her tight belly, and then she swooped up her legs, knocking Snape backwards as she flipped herself over the desk and landed on her feet right in front of it. She faced Snape and she noticed the first traces of her poisonous kisses already. His lips were turning blue and he started to shiver. The veins in his body and face started to swell and also turned blue. A cry escaped from his poisoned lips and Snape's body slumped against the desk where he writhed in pain and anguish. His eyes rolled backwards and he gasped for air. With the last ounce of his will and strength, Snape cast his eyes on Crejy.
"W-hat ... h-have...y-you... d-done... t-to... m-me?" asked Snape with a quivering voice that he couldn't keep the pain from.
Crejy turned around without indulging him and meant to leave the dungeons. She was going to the room where her heart was kept. To the room where her host kept Achille's Spear. She looked up when she heard the sound of running feet and soon Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall came rushing in. Professor Dumbledore needed only a single glance to comprehend the situation, well most of it anyway. McGonagall however, was appalled by the entire ordeal; one look at Professor Snape suggested that he was just an inch from dying!
"By Merlin's beard!" cried McGonagall. "What on earth is the meaning of this?"
Dumbledore said nothing, and a dark look appeared in his otherwise twinkling eyes. He had indulged Lierin enough. He would not stand and let her thoughtlessly put the children's lives in jeopardy.
"You have gone far enough, Lierin. I'm afraid I can't let you go any further!"
Dumbledore took out his ancient wand, he wasn't sure what to do about the situation on hand, but he had to refrain Lierin from further injuring one of the teachers, or -heaven forbid- one of the students. McGonagall also drew her wand, but she was less careful than Dumbledore. Determined to put an end to Lierin's thoughtless behaviour, McGonagall wanted to cast the petrifying spell on her. With Lierin petrified, they could use their valuable time to think of a solution. Unfortunately, she didn't think about what might happen if she cast the spell and Lierin would prove to be immune for all "common" magic.
"No, Minerva, don't..." started Dumbledore as he noticed what McGonagall was about to do, but he was too late.
"Petrificus Totalis!" said McGonagall, and she pointed her wand at Lierin.
Crejy just smiled, stretched her arm out and blocked the spell with her right hand. The air around her sizzled and soft shimmering remains of the blocked spell drifted to the ground. McGonagall turned white as a sheet as she realised that she didn't have Lierin in front of her, but some kind of goddess or other entity, and she had just tried to curse her.
"Please, don't harm us. We only wanted to protect the children. Think about what would happen to them if you dispose of us," McGonagall pleaded.
Crejy only smiled cruelly. She kissed the fingertips of her right hand and swirled around on her heels, creating some kind of force field around her by touching the air with her fingertips. It was beautiful and scary at the same time. It was as if they were looking at...eternity. The rest seemed to happen in a blur of motions and colours, at least from Dumbledores and McGonagalls point of view. The remaining students in the dungeons, and Professor Snape, had a great view on what was happening.
Crejy placed the palm of her hands together right in front of her ; she then spread her arms and moved them upwards until she placed the palm of her hands together again above her head. She had redirected the streams of the force field into the form of a large sphere. She thrust her hands forward and released the power of the force field by directing it towards Dumbledore and McGonagall through her own body. Crejy didn't have the pleasure to hear them begging for mercy, it happened too fast for them to even try. The burst of energy hit the two professors with the strength and speed of an avalanche, and slowly every particle of their bodies turned into crystal.
In shock, the students saw their professor plus the headmaster turn into crystal statues. Harry and Ron finally got a grasp of how powerful Achille's Spear really was. And Snape, as he could feel his lifeforce drain away, finally realised how much pain and humiliation he had caused Lierin that she would be so desperate to release such a powerful creature just to prove herself to him.
But it wasn't over yet. Not by a long shot.
Satisfied, Crejy admired her work, much like an artist would his admire his masterpiece, but in the end, she didn't seem to like it. Again, she stretched her arm but this time she snapped her fingers to get rid of the rubbish. That one snap of her fingers, however normal that gesture might be for mortals, proved to be very lethal for Dumbledore and McGonagall. The statues exploded in a burst of crystal pieces and the students had to take cover to avoid getting cut by the flying pieces of crystal.
Panic broke out among the students when seeing the shattered remains of their teachers. Snape let out a grunt of pain and despair and let his head rest on the desk. It was all his fault. If he hadn't provoked Heartilly, if he hadn't pushed her to her limit...
Crejy eyed the terrified students, and as they seemed to be of no threat to her, she started to leave the dungeons. Turning around, Crejy allowed Harry and Ron full view of her back and a peculiar flesh-coloured spot was seen on her heel. Harry grabbed Ron by his upper arm.
"Ron, look!" whispered Harry excitedly. Ron did as he was asked, but he couldn't find anything out of the ordinary.
"Remember what Professor Heartilly told us? About Scharear's fate or Achilles' Spear?"
"So? What about it?"
"Honestly Ron, surely you know something about Greek Mythology? Didn't you ever wonder why the spear was called Achilles' Spear?"
"Harry, this isn't the time to give history lessons. Just cut to the chase and tell me what you are trying to say."
"Achilles was born a very weak child. To protect him, his mother bathed him in the sacred river Styx to make him invincible, but the only place that hadn't been blessed by the water, was his right heel because his mother had been holding him there. Thus Achilles only had one weakness, his right heel. Look at the professor, look at her right heel!"
Ron looked again and then he too discovered Crejy's only known weak spot. He nodded in understanding.
"Okay, so now we know she has a weakness. What do we do to use that against her?"
"You distract the Professor, or whoever she is now, I'll try and see if Professor Snape is able to tell me if he has a potion in his personal cabinet that can inflict maximum damage. We are in no way advanced enough in Defense against the Dark Arts or Charms to hit her with a powerful enough spell."
"Got it."
Ron took off after Crejy to stop her from reaching her resting place while Harry hustled to the desk were Snape was still lying, his head still resting on his arms. Snape was awfully still and quiet, so Harry feared the worst. When Harry reached the desk, he carefully touched Professor Snape's shoulder and gently shook him. No reaction.
"Professor Snape, can you hear me?" said Harry loudly. The other students watched him and seemed very uncertain. A few girls were crying, they wanted to get away but they were too afraid to run into Professor Heartilly in one of the hallways.
Snape stirred and slowly he opened his eyes. His ragged breathing suggested that this was a hard and painful process for him. He tried to focus on Harry and seemed angry with him for disturbing him even in his hour of death.
"Professor Snape, sir. I need your help. I think I know a way to stop Professor Heartilly, but like I said, I need your help. Can you help me?"
Snape raised his eyebrow and a condescending look appeared in his breaking eyes. He was obviously trying to tell Harry that in this position he couldn't possibly be of much help. Even when dying Snape was still the same mean old bastard.
"You only need to tell me if you have a potion that inflicts serious damage when you throw it. Like a liquid bomb or something like that."
Snape closed his eyes for a moment and seemed to think about it, but it took him so long to open his eyes again that Harry was afraid that he would die before he could tell him what he needed to know. But Snape was a tough one, he opened his eyes once more and his blue ragged lips tried to form four words. Harry didn't understand at first, but Snape repeated it again. Harry focused hard and followed every movement of Snape's lips until they finally stopped moving. Harry swallowed hard and looked into Snape's blank eyes. As a token of respect for the dead, Harry closed Snape's eyes and then hurried to the cabinet. He ignored the horrified cries of a few students, because in Snape's last attempt, Harry had finally understood.
Top shelf, ninth bottle. That's what Snape had been trying to tell him. He grabbed a small wooden stool and climbed on it. Top shelf, ninth bottle. His fingers gingerly touched every bottle while counting until they hovered in front of the ninth. It was just a small bottle, covered in dust and cobwebs, and filled with a suspicious looking yellow greenish substance. The bottle wasn't labelled, but maybe that was for a good reason. Harry didn't think twice, and grabbed the bottle and hurried back to the dungeons where they used to have potions. A sudden feeling of nausea hit him when he saw the dead professor lying on his desk. It didn't help either that in his pursuit he almost stepped on the crystallised face of Professor McGonagall. He only hesitated for a moment but then Harry did leave the dungeons. The other students watched him go away and frantic to leave that horrible place, they followed him, seeing him as some kind of spiritual leader now that the Headmaster, the Deputy Mistress and their Potions professor were gone. Harry paid no attention to them and tried to find the secret door that would lead straight back to the statue of the friendly witch near Professor Heartilly's class. But Fortuna didn't look kindly upon him, as he couldn't find any trace of the trapdoor. He sighed deeply and took off at a run. There was no time to loose. The seventh year students who had followed him out of the dungeons found themselves at an imaginary crossroads. They could find the relative safety of their Common rooms, or they could follow Harry. Most girls sought comfort with each other and obviously decided to go to their Common room. They were near graduation but the school had always been a safe harbour for them, never could they have guessed that they would get acquainted with the real world so fast. The braver students decided to follow Harry. The Headmaster and the Deputy Mistress were both dead. It wasn't very likely that, if they would go to the Common room, a new Headmaster would give them a notice that everything was safe again. So, they would just follow Harry and contemplate the events from there.
Harry ran down the hallways like crazy, but halfway down he was met by a high shriek of anger and the screaming of a terrified young man. Ron! If possible, Harry started to run faster while ignoring the stabbing jolts of pain in his side. The screaming got louder and vaguely Harry could hear his best friend's footsteps echoing against the walls. One hallway, a curve, another hallway and yet another curve, three steps up and Harry could almost hear Ron screaming right in front of him. Suddenly a shock of red appeared in his vision, it was Ron.
"Harry! Harry!" screamed Ron upon seeing his friend, partly relieved and partly terrified. Harry soon heard why, the chiming crystal ornaments came from behind Ron, and it sounded as if she was not far behind.
"Harry, please tell me that Professor Snape gave you a potion for a big blast. She's right behind me and I think I'm on her "most wanted" list." Ron tried to catch his breath and bend over. Suddenly Harry noticed the familiar looking blue rod that Ron was clutching in his hands. It was Achilles' Spear!
"Ron!" cried Harry, partially wondering why Ron hadn't changed in a crystal statue yet and partially wondering if that might still happen.
"She's after this Harry. I don't know why, but this is what she was after. I beat her to it by a hair and I figured that, after Professor Heartilly summoned the power from the Spear, it wouldn't be dangerous anymore to try and retrieve the rod. So, I grabbed the Spear and started running. I think I had the element of surprise because she didn't go after me right away." Ron smirked a little, but his pale countenance indicated that he was very nervous.
"She probably couldn't believe that someone would deliberately try and get in her way." Ron paused for a moment and took another deep breath.
"Look, Harry, if you have a plan, you better tell me now. She could be here any moment."
"I do have a plan, trust me. It's actually quite convenient that she's after you, so she won't pay any attention to me. Here's what you have to do; just keep running and let her chase you. Once she passes me, I'll go after her. That way I'll have a clean shot at her heel. I just hope that catching a ball is as easy as throwing one."
"All right. Good luck Harry. And... if I don't make it as well. You were my best friend and it was an honour knowing you."
"Don't be silly, Ron. Of course you'll make it, you have to. Now go," said Harry with a slightly trembling voice.
Ron nodded and again he took off at a run. Harry watched him go and after just a short moment of waiting a furious ferocious creature came rushing after his best friend. Harry waited just a short moment before he followed her.
Curve, hallway, steps, hallway, curve, hallway, stairs. Harry felt like he had been running forever but suddenly he saw that Ron had reached a dead end. Terrified, the latter turned around and made a mistake.
"Harry!" cried Ron desperately, and made Crejy aware that someone had been following him. She hissed angrily and started to turn around. Harry acted on impulse and threw the bottle to Ron, well aware that if Ron wouldn't be able to catch it, he'd probably die. Unaware of the object that came zooming towards her through the air, Crejy directed all of her fury at the young black haired boy standing in front of her. Harry held his breath and waited.
Ron saw the small bottle zooming towards him. He focused on it, performed a running jump and snatched the bottle out of the air. In the momentum of the jump, Ron turned around mid-air and threw the bottle against Crejy's right heel with a well-aimed shot. A blast of energy was released from the bottle and the force threw Ron against the dead-end wall. Harry flung himself to the floor with the sound of Crejy's cries of pain and defeat in his ears. Harry looked up at the blue creature, shielding his eyes with his right arm. Crejy, heavily damaged by the sudden release of energy, staggered forwards while small flames leapt onto her legs. A bright light emerged from deep within her and Crejy threw her arms up with the outlet of one last desperate cry. The intensity of the light grew stronger and stronger and Harry couldn't stand to watch it. He winced against the light but suddenly he saw the limp body of Professor Heartilly falling forward. He could barely grab her by her right elbow to prevent her from crashing to the floor. Carefully, Harry laid her down on the floor and noticed that the light slowly faded away. Ron staggered to his feet and rushed over to Harry and the Professor.
"Aaaah. Curse Lazy Heartilly, curse her!" screamed a confused Peeves while zooming through the hallways. Obviously, Crejy's defeat had lifted Peeves curse. Ron and Harry smiled at each other until someone suddenly pulled them into a tight bearhug.
"You crazy idiots! You two could have gotten yourself killed! Next time no more heroics!" shrieked Hermione while she sobbed between the two boys.
"We're glad to see you too, Mione," said Harry while he grinned at Ron.
"Timing, Harry. Timing," said a soft but serious voice.