Chapter 4
Hermione jumped off her bed near the wall and rushed to the door. She took out her key, the only one into and out of the room, and tried to unlock it. As she turned her key, the tip of it got stuck and wouldn't move at all.
"Even I can open a door," Ron sarcastically said.
A thin layer of water poured down the wall against the beds. Hermione continued to struggle nearby with the key until finally Ron came up behind her and shoved her aside.
"Let a man do it," he said.
Ron gripped the end of the key and turned sideways. He continued to turn it even when his hands beat red. His face started to match his palms and soon blood rushed to all parts of his body. He wasn't even breathing. His cheeks puffed out, and his tongue stuck out of the side of his mouth.
Snap.
"Uh-oh," said Ron softly.
"No, what did you do?" Harry asked rushing forward.
Ron turned around and in his hand was half of a key. The other was jammed into the keyhole and didn't look like it was coming out any time soon.
"You idiot!"
Hermione lunged forward with her arms high and aiming for Ron's neck. She successfully gripped it and threw him down to the floor. All you could see was a wad of bushy hair in Ron's face.
"Stop it you two," Harry said. "We'll just have to improvise." He reached down into his pocket and pulled out his wand. "No big deal. Ahum… Alohomora!"
And with a flick the wrist, a light erupted toward the door. But nothing else happened.
"They didn't do it again, did they?" Hermione said and got up from the floor.
"Do what?"
"Oh! Damn," Hermione cursed. "My parents… Those folk that they were talking to upstairs were Colin Creevy's parents. They're family friends. The mother's a dentist—"
"So? What about them?"
"My parents must have asked them again to use an anti-spell enchantment on my room before dinner."
"Why would your parents do that? And what do you mean again?" Harry asked.
"Remember how I said my family took two trips here before today? Well, one of them was the summer going into my first year… I had just found out I was a witch and had bought a few spell books to study. So, I wanted to test some of my magic out. I ended up blowing up a few doors and trays."
"Wicked! Hermione the trouble maker!" said Ron.
"I was just curious! Anyway, my parents didn't want me to use any more magic in front of Muggles. Even something as simple as a door opening one… You can't use spells in this room."
"Thanks for telling us ahead of time," mumbled Harry.
"I didn't know they'd do it this time! My parents are just overly precautious… Holy cricket, Harry!"
"What?"
Hermione pointed at Harry's trunk sitting next to the bed. It started to float a bit due to the water but something inside was pushing it back up. Loud thumps could be heard and a scratching of nails.
"You didn't happen to bring some chocolate frogs, did you?" Ron asked. "I'm still hungry."
"No, I didn't," said Harry. "I don't know what that is."
Hermione approached the trunk very carefully. She had to lift her feet just so her socks wouldn't get completely soaked. Walking on her toes, Hermione reached for the trunk and unlatched it. Something flew out.
"Dobby couldn't breathe!"
"Dobby!" Hermione screamed and fell backward into the water. Her entire back was wet.
"Dobby!" Harry and Ron echoed and stared at each other.
The funny looking house elf got out of the trunk and stood on the soggy bed. He jumped up and down, letting the water squish between his toes. He rather liked it.
"Just picking up cones, eh?" Harry growled and ran over to the bed.
"Dobby had no place to go! I've been a very, very bad Dobby," the house elf said slowly and plumped his rear onto the bed.
"How did you live this whole time in my trunk?
"Dobby had to cut holes for air," he said and pointed back at the open trunk.
On the bottom of the trunk were small rips and tears. Water had seeped through, and all of Harry's clothes were soaked.
Suddenly, Dobby stopped all movement. He fell to his knees and started to bow down to Hermione who still lay on the swaying floor. His arms swung up and down, and he kept his eyes focused on the watery floor.
"What are you doing now, Dobby?" Harry asked.
"It is the SPEW creator!"
"It's just Hermione," said Ron.
"Just Hermione? Just Hermione?" Dobby squealed.
Then, Dobby shook his head and jumped to the ground. He helped Hermione up and immediately continued to grovel.
"Stop that!" she said.
"But you are famous! You helped free many of Dobby's friends with knitted socks!"
"I did?" Hermione said shocked. "I didn't think they would come back to the Gryffindor Tower."
"They did when Dobby left to start own business!" said Dobby proudly. "They could not stand the mess without Dobby cleaning. They had to pick up mess, and now, many are free now thanks to you!"
A great big grin spread across Hermione's face. "That's absolutely wonderful! Are they starting their own businesses too, like you?"
"No," said Dobby as he looked away. "They came back to Hogwarts."
"But they're getting money now, right?"
"Well, no," said Dobby. "They don't want money. Dobby tried to make them take it but they refused!"
The grin disappeared. "So, the Society for the Protection of Elvish Welfare hasn't protected them at all. They're still slaves."
"No, they are free!" Dobby said.
"Think of them as volunteers," said Ron.
Hermione turned her head and glared, her eyes squinting. "When we get back to Hogwarts, I'm going to do something about this!"
"Fine, do that," said Harry. "Now that that's settled, don't you think we should do something about getting out of here?"
Hermione nodded her head. She looked over at the jammed door and suddenly realized something horrible.
"What is it now?" Ron asked, noticing Hermione's terrified face.
"Was there water coming in from there before?" she asked as she pointed beneath the door.
A flood of water started to pour through the crack between the door and the swaying floor. Very quickly, the water level rose and within a few minutes, it was as high as the beds in the room. Ron and Harry stood on top of Hermione's bed, while Hermione stood with Dobby on the other.
"This is bloody great! I almost died once today, I don't need to do it again!" said Ron.
"Shut up. We'll think of something," Hermione said. "If only I could open that door."
"Dobby can open it for you!"
The three turned their heads at the house elf standing on the bed, his feet still squishing in the water. His big, beady eyes stared over to the door, and he lifted his right arm. Suddenly, he snapped his fingers, and without any spell, the door disappeared.
But there was no time to celebrate and thank Dobby at all. A wall of water crashed into the room, picking up every object. The beds were turned over, and two mattresses, upside down, floated to the top against he ceiling.
Hermione fell to the bottom of the room, hitting her head, and Dobby swam down beside her. Close by under the torrent of sea was Harry and Ron, trying to grab their wands from their pockets. Luckily, their pets, Pig, Hedwig and Crookshanks, weren't in the room and were on the upper deck.
The upper deck… If their room was flooded, surely the upper deck was gone as well.
Unless they were already under water.
Dobby grabbed onto Hermione's arm and pulled her up to the surface of the water. Harry and Ron also swam with them until they reached the small six-inch block of air separating them from the water and ceiling.
Harry coughed out the salty water, spitting ooze down his lip. It wouldn't take long for their air supply to be gone. They had to swim out or die trying.
"Dobby," Ron said as he too spit out water. "Can't you snap your fingers and get us out of here?"
"Dobby can! But Dobby cannot send you all very far!"
"I don't care!" Ron shouted. "Anywhere bu—"
Ron fell underneath the watery room. His mouth could no longer fit in the space that was shrinking at a rapid speed. Dobby quickly lifted his left arm (the right still held Hermione) and he snapped his fingers. Hermione disappeared.
And just as he did with her, Dobby continued snapping his fingers until nobody living was left in the room.
When they surfaced on top of the sea, they found themselves near a hoard of lifeboats, all full of passengers. Even though they seemed close by, they were nearly a mile away. The ship was nowhere in sight and must have been underneath the sea.
"Over here!" Harry shouted to the other passengers, but no one could hear him.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wand from under the water, but it was terribly hard to paddle with one hand. Each time he lifted his arm with his wand in hand, he started to sink into the sea.
"Lumos!" Harry yelled quickly and light came from out his wand.
"There's an island, right over there!" Hermione shouted with Dobby still clutching her side. Obviously, she was now conscious.
"I don't see anything!" yelled Dobby.
"You must have something in your eyes. It's right there!"
"Why aren't the others going to it?" Ron asked while he tried to keep his head above the surface.
"Maybe they didn't see it! It's closer than the lifeboats! Come on!" Hermione yelled.
She began to swim with the current toward the dark, sandy shores. Ron and Harry followed, and Dobby did too. Behind the group was a raging storm, lightning and thunder boomed in the distance. The group of Muggles in the lifeboats and the Creevy's were paddling away from the wreckage of the Galactica.
Hermione was the first to reach the shores of the unknown land. She fell hard onto the sands, her legs and arms utterly exhausted. Soon followed the rest, and one by one, the group was together on the island. Even Dobby found his way and was outright shocked when he touched the shores, and they slowly became visible to him.
Little did they know where they were… Fortunately for the Muggles, they couldn't see the island. It was invisible to anyone except witches and wizards. And the Creevy's were smart enough and old enough to know not to go upon these deadly shores.
The group huddled together, shivering and wet, and out of breath. Eventually, they fell asleep high upon the shores near a glass arch away from the crashing waves. The morning sun beamed across their faces several hours later.
Harry Potter awoke with a horrid, retched scream.