The gigantic Smoke Viper appeared out of the closest wall. It circled around Crystal and Luna creating a small whirlwind before once again disappearing. Crystal suddenly snapped to her senses. Had everything just been a dream? Crystal took a look around. She was in the great hall, Luna was lying next to her, and something was written in the air but she was too tired to read it. Crystal was almost sure she knew what it said anyway. Crystal and Luna had just unleashed a creature for Voldemort onto the entire school and there was nothing they could do to stop it. Except. . . . . .
Crystal picked up the frail body of the psychic Luna Lovegood. Crystal wasn't even sure where Professor Dumbledore's office was but she had to find it.
Crystal carried Luna up to the Gryffindor common room.
"Piglash," she said to the portrait on the wall. The portrait swung open to reveal the common room. Crystal laid Luna in one of the red chairs by the fireplace then went up into the boys dormitories. Crystal found the door to the seventh years then knocked on the door forcefully.
"Go away," she heard Harry mumbled from inside. She tried the door. It was open. Crystal pushed the door wide open and started to hunt for Harry's bed.
"Harry get up. This is an emergency," she pleaded as she shook his body.
"What?" He muttered.
"Take me to Professor Dumbledore's office. I'll explain everything on the way," Crystal said as she started running back to the common room. Harry slowly followed her. Crystal picked up Luna again. Luna still wasn't moving. Harry showed Crystal the way to the headmaster's office as she explained what had happened over the last few hours.
"This is the entrance," Harry said, pointing to a stone gargoyle in front of them. "I don't know the password though."
"Chocolate frog card," Crystal said. The gargoyle moved to reveal a hidden staircase.
"How did you know?" Harry asked.
Crystal shrugged. "I just guessed. She quickly climbed the stone steps and opened the door to the professor's office. To her surprise Professor Dumbledore was already awake.
"I've been expecting you," he said.
"But how did you know?" Crystal asked as she laid Luna's body in a nearby chair.
"I always know," Professor Dumbledore replied. "I was there the night your mom made the prediction about when Voldemort would make himself known for the second time." He walked over to his trusted pet phoenix. He attached a note to it's leg. The phoenix quickly took off. He then turned toward a portrait of an old headmaster. "Alert the Order. They must know about this." The figure sighed then left the portrait.
"Professor McGonagall is on her way. I told her to bring Professor Snape and Madam Pomfrey. Miss Lovegood is weak but she will recover. Her own psychic abilities were used against her. That would be hard for even the most experienced telepaths to face."
"Why did Voldemort want us to set a Smoke Viper lose?" Crystal asked. There was a thousand questions she wanted to ask but she narrowed it down to one.
"He wants to us it as a monster to kill all mud bloods," he replied.
The door flew open revealing Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, and Madam Pomfrey. Madam Pomfrey rushed to Luna's side. In a few minutes Luna's eyes flickered open.
"Ow," Luna muttered. "My head hurts."
"Harry," Professor Dumbledore said. "If you would please go wake Ron and Neville. Crystal please wake up Hermione and Ginny. We're going to need all the help that we can get to defeat the snake. Everyone meet me back here in twenty minutes."
Once out of the office Crystal and Harry went their separate ways to try to get back to the Gryffindor common room first. Once in her dormitory Crystal quickly woke up Hermione. She quickly explained everything to Hermione.
"Please wake up Ginny for me. Oh and the password to Professor Dumbledore's office is chocolate frog card." Crystal quickly left the room. She had one more person to get.
Crystal went back down to the dungeons where she was only moments before. She walked up to a blank stretch of stone wall. For some weird reason she was positive this was the entrance to the Slytherin common room.
"Parseltounge," Crystal said. The wall slide open revealing a dimly lit green and silver room. She quickly went to the seventh year boys dormitories. She quickly peered through the green velvet curtains and found the man she was looking for. Only ten minutes left.
"Uh," Draco mumbled as Crystal shook his tired body. After a struggle against consciousness Draco slowly opened his eyes. "What are you doing here?" Draco asked as she began to get up.
"Just get ready and met me in your common room. I'll explain everything then," Crystal said as she began to leave. "And Hurry!"
After only a few minutes Draco Malfoy was ready.
"How did you get in here?" He asked.
"I'm not exactly sure," Crystal replied as she climbed back into the dungeons. "I just knew."
As Crystal and Draco made their way to Dumbledore's office Crystal explained what had happened while Draco was sound asleep. Crystal lead Draco up the stone steps and into Dumbledore's office. To her surprise everyone was already there and waiting for her.
"What's he doing here?" Harry asked pointing at Draco.
"Professor Dumbledore said that we needed as many people as we could get. Draco can help." Harry gave Crystal a questioning look but said no more on the subject.
"It's simple," Professor Dumbledore began. "There is only one way to kill a Smoke Viper. Someone has to go inside it and fight it from the inside out. It takes a lot of strength to master this task. Only one person in this room can accomplish it. That person happens to be Miss Lovegood. Everyone must distract the Smoke Viper while Luna destroys it with her psychic abilities. Let's go."
Everyone dashed back down to the main floor to begin the difficult task that lay before them. Crystal walked through the eerie great hall. A flash of lightning shot across the sky illuminating the hall. In that brief second Crystal saw the Smoke Viper slither past the Ravenclaw table. Crystal's heart pumped with adrenaline. This was what she lived for.
"It's in here," she called across the vast emptiness. "I have an idea," she whispered once everyone was close to her. "Let's let our Patronus fight it for a while."
"Expecto Patroum," echoed across the hall. A stag, a unicorn, and a dragon appeared in front of Harry, Crystal, and Draco. Luna stood ready to begin her battle. They couldn't wait for the others, they had to act now. The smoke figures attacked the Smoke Viper while Luna jumped into it's gaseous form. From the second Luna touched the outer layer of the snake she began fighting for her life. The snake began draining her life force while Luna began her mental challenge. Luna began shooting mental blast at the weak interior of the Smoke Viper.
The Smoke Viper let out a piercing scream as the smoke drifted away into the air. Luna remained suspended in the air for a few seconds before collapsing onto the floor.
"Did we win?" She mumbled as she tried to get up. She was too weak and ended up falling back down.
"Yes we won," Crystal said.
Dumbledore's weary form emerged from the darkness. "Get Miss Lovegood to the hospital wing. Something tells me this is just the beginning."
a/n: thanks to everyone who has been reading this. Sorry it took me so long to post this chapter. I'm posting the rest of the chapters now though to make up for it.