Miss Piratess: lol! You'll figure out with this chapter :) but they will be in the next chapter (I hope ;) )
Laughing Fountain: Maybe he needed to learn a new charm.. who knows :) Cinderella and the Ice Queen used to be friends (weird huh? But I needed them to be friends) :)
Timra: Yep. Ron has hidden brains! lol!!
The Lord Of pencil: Thanks for the review :) Sorry for the short chapter, but I thought that if I made it longer it would've been just rambling around. So... I hope that you'll like this one ;)
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Chapter 25 - An Empty Cottage.
Sirius opened his eyes to find himself lying under a tree all alone in the darkness. He slept the whole day without even realizing it. He stood up and looked around. No one of his companions was there. He cursed himself and walked aimlessly.
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"We've been walking all day!" Ron complained. "My feet hurt!"
"Stop complaining Ron. You're not the only one who's tired." Remus said.
The group was walking through the swamp in circles and none of them realized that. Each time they reached a spot, it kept changing its appearance to seem like they were there for the first time.
Snape was getting impatient. He muttered curses during the whole 'journey'. He wasn't familiar with this area and that's what kept him silent.
Ron and Harry were tired, but only Ron was complaining. Harry kept walking without a sound as he was thinking about his cousin and how to save her.
Wolf was sniffing the air furiously. He couldn't catch a specific scent. It seemed to him that the swamp had some kind of a scent blocker. After a few Huff-Puffs and Cripeses he came to a halt.
"What is it Wolf?" Virginia asked.
"I caught a scent."
"Whom does it belong to?" Remus asked.
"I'm not sure." Wolf sniffed the air again. "A female, that's for sure. This way!" he ran and the others followed him.
He kept sniffing and the scent led them to a small ruined cottage. Virginia gasped and then she smiled.
"We're here." She said.
"This is where they keep Lia?" Harry asked, and without waiting for an answer he ran to the cottage.
"Harry wait!" Ron said and followed him.
"Kids!" Wolf muttered.
"Let's follow them." Virginia said. "Looks like there's no one there."
A blue light erupted from the cottage and that made them run to it faster.
"What was that?" Snape asked as he entered.
Harry and Ron stared at the ground. Snape looked at the same direction as they were and saw a huge serpent lying there immobilized.
Wolf, Virginia and Remus entered the cottage and were surprised to see the serpent.
"Nagini." Snape said and turned to Harry. "You immobilized her?"
"Yes. It tried to attack us."
"Good work Harry!" Wolf said with amazement.
"Thanks Wolf." Harry smiled.
"Why don't we search for Lia instead of standing here?" Virginia suggested.
"At least there's one thinking head around." Snape said.
"Thank you professor." Virginia said, obviously not happy with his attitude. "Well, it's obvious that she's not here, so let's see the basement first."
She opened the door to the basement and went down. Everyone followed her and looked around.
"What a stinky place!" Ron said.
"At least the skeleton isn't here." Virginia said. "She was in an awful shape!"
"Let's not talk about her please." Wolf said. "Huff-puff! I get goose bumps each time I remember the witch!"
"I wonder where they are." Harry asked.
"If you ask me mate, I really don't want to know." Ron muttered and Harry glared at him. "I'm only expressing my opinion!" Ron said
"We have to search for something that was valuable for the witch." Remus said.
"What did she like most?" Harry turned to Virginia.
Virginia thought for a moment. "Mirrors!" she exclaimed. "She was obsessed with her mirrors!"
"I saw some outside!" Ron said and they all went upstairs and got out of the cottage. There were several broken mirrors lined behind each other and they were half in the ground.
Virginia, Snape and Remus examined the mirrors closely. They looked normal as they reflected their faces.
"They don't seem enchanted." Virginia said.
"They're not supposed to look enchanted." Wolf said. "Would've you thought that the Travelling Mirror was actually a magical one before turning it on?"
"I guess not." Virginia replied as she looked at the mirrors again.
"How can you activate them?" Remus asked.
"The Travelling Mirror had a small circle shaped handle that activated it." Virginia said. "But these don't seem to have any. The frames aren't the same as the Travelling Mirror."
"The queen had mirrors that were activated by just talking to them." Wolf said. "Some worked just by looking at them and some had secret handles. I don't know about these."
"What are these mirrors used for?" Harry asked.
"If we knew, we would've been able to activate them." Wolf said. "She must have used them for something though."
"What are we supposed to do now?" Ron asked.
"We have to go back to Wendell's palace." Virginia said. "The other mirrors are there."
"We can contact Professor McGonagall and tell her what we saw here." Harry said as he looked at Snape.
He had the mirror that McGonagall gave him. He took it out of his pocket and held it in front of his face. "Show me Minerva McGonagall." He said in a demanding voice.
The mirror cracked and shimmered until it showed a room that had a huge rectangular table in the middle. Different people were sitting around it and Professor McGonagall was also there. There was someone standing behind her with his wand pointing at her throat.
"Pettigrew." Snape muttered.
"Let me see!" Harry said and took the mirror from Snape. He frowned at the sight of the dirty hand holding the wand. Wormtail's face wasn't showing as the mirror was showing McGonagall, but the hand obviously belonged to a male, and it had a missing finger.
Snape took the mirror back from Harry and put it in his pocket. "The Dark Lord is already there." He said.
"Why do you keep calling him Dark Lord?" Ron asked. "It's not like you work for him."
Snape glared at Ron. He would've loved to give him a lifetime detention if they were during a school term, but to Snape's dismay it was only June. They still had a couple of months before the beginning of term.
"That's none of your business Mr. Weasley." Snape said with anger rising in his voice.
Ron shrugged and turned his face away from Snape.
"We should go back." Remus said. "But we can't apparate." He looked at Snape.
"We will go back in the same way we came."
"Anyone knows the way out of here?" Ron asked as he looked at Wolf.
"Well… no." Wolf said simply, like it was something that everyone knew. "We have to follow our scents out of here."
Harry looked at the sky. "I wish I had my Firebolt with me."
"I don't think that the Summoning Charm would work from here, Harry." Ron said. "I wish I had my broom with me too."
Ron really liked his new broom. He received it as a present from his parents for becoming a prefect.
"Why don't we try and bring them here anyway?" Harry asked. "All we need to do is concentrate on the place there are now." He closed his eyes and raised his wand and muttered: "Accio Firebolt!"
Nothing happened.
"Accio Firebolt!"
Nothing again.
"ACCIO FIREBOLT!!!"
"There's no use mate. We have to walk." Ron said and started to walk. After taking a few steps he stopped. "Anyone coming?"
They all walked close to each other on their way out of the swamp. Harry was pale. He couldn't find Lia anywhere in the swamp and he was getting nervous of the thought of her being dead. Ron tried his best not to speak to him, as he didn't want to say something that he would regret.
Wolf was muttering curses as he walked. His nose didn't help him at all at the swamp and he was ashamed of himself.
"Take it easy Wolf." Virginia said calmly. "I'm sure we can find her."
"I couldn't smell anything Virginia. It was like she has just vanished! Huff-Puff! This is scaring me." He said.
"Don't worry about it. Everything will be just fine." She said, but she wasn't sure about it herself. If Wolf couldn't smell Lia's scent, then it would mean one thing, and Virginia didn't want to think about it.
"How long would it take us to get back?" Ron asked.
"As much as it took us to reach the swamp Ron." Harry said. "Try to use your logic sometimes mate."
Ron sighed and continued walking. Remus was looking around and sniffing. He was trying to put his wolf senses into work, but it seemed that he had none while in human form.
"Remus." Wolf said as he approached him, leaving Virginia behind.
"Yes Wolf?"
"You know you don't have wolf instincts when you're in your human form, so I'd suggest that you stop sniffing."
Remus sighed. "I just wanted to help."
"I know. Your instincts start working only during the day of the full moon. A week before you just become nervous and touchy, but on that day your instincts rise and they fade on the next day."
"I've noticed that." Remus said. "I just can't believe that we lost her, that's all. I was so happy to find my best friend's daughter after all these years and I lost her again in less than a week."
"Huff-puff. It happened so fast."
Suddenly, Virginia felt something in her pocket and stopped. She took out what appeared to be a little leather sack.
"Wait!" she called and everyone stopped and turned to look at her.
Wolf ran to her side. "What's wrong?"
"Did you put this in my pocket?" she asked as she showed him the sack.
"No." he replied and turned to the others. "Did anyone put this in Virginia's pocket?"
"I didn't." Remus said.
Ron and Harry shook their head and Snape walked closer. "What does it contain?"
Wolf opened the sack and saw blue dust in it. His eyes opened wide in amazement.
"Travelling dust!" he said and gasped.
"Travelling dust? Do you know how did it end up in my pocket?" Virginia asked.
"I have no idea." Wolf replied.
"Do you know how to use it?" Snape asked.
"It looks like it should be used as floo powder." Ron said. "But do we need a fireplace?"
"What are you talking about Ron? What fireplace? This can take us wherever we want just by thinking about it." Wolf said as he looked at the blue powder. "I've never seen travelling dust before."
"Well, looks like you can use it now." Virginia said. "How about telling us what to do and then we'll just start leaving this place."
"Yeah, alright everyone. You must think of Wendell's palace and picture it in your mind. Then you throw the dust in the air and step under it. As soon as it touches you, you'll find yourself at the palace. Or at least somewhere near it. Virginia, you first."
Virginia took a little of the Travelling dust and closed her eyes. She imagined Wendell's palace and then, she threw the dust to the air and then she stepped under it. As soon as the dust touched her, she was gone.
"Wow! That was amazing!" Ron said and Harry shook his head at his friend's behavior.
"Ron, grow up." Harry said calmly and took a little of the dust. He closed his eyes and threw it into the air and stood under it. He disappeared as soon as it touched his head.
The others followed too. Wolf was the last to go as he checked that everyone has done it correctly.
Soon, all of them were standing in front of the huge Palace of White.
Harry looked around him. "Where's William?"
"Bloody hell!" Remus cursed. "He didn't come with us! That stupid git! I'll hex him as soon as I see him!"
"Remus, he's the prince of this place, he will find his way back." Harry said.
"I don't think so." Remus said, obvious concern in his voice and eyes.
At that moment, Sirius woke up and found himself alone in the darkness of the forest. He sat up and looked around him. There was no sign of a living creature in this place.
"Now what?" he said to himself. "How am I supposed to find the way back?"
He started walking through the forest until he reached a little cottage. It looked deserted and like no one has been living there for a while. He entered slowly and called:
"Anybody home?"
But no one replied and Sirius assumed that he can spend the rest of the night here after all. He walked in and saw a mirror on the wall. He stood in front of it and was shocked to see his original hair back. He touched his hair and kept staring at the mirror.
"Snow White's spell is fading!" He gasped.