Reality Check
- Here's the next chapter. -
Chapter 20 - Not Snape?
The four of them walked in silence down the dark tunnel lined with stones. The passageway sloped gently downwards, and Harry was reminded of Gringotts.
'Can you hear something?' Ron whispered as the passage grew to an end. There was a large, wooden door up ahead, and a soft rustling and clinking sound came from the other side.
'Do you think it's a ghost?' Caprice asked timidly.
'Now she's scared.' Hermione muttered sarcastically, earning herself a glare from Harry.
'It sounds like wings to me,' Ron murmured. Harry stepped forward and threw the door open. They entered a brightly lit chamber, its ceiling arching high above them. The room was filled with small, jewel bright birds, fluttering and tumbling all around the room. On the opposite side of the chamber was a heavy, wooden door.
'Do you guys think those birds will attack us if we try to cross the room?' Caprice asked.
'Probably,' Harry answered. 'They don't look very vicious, but I suppose if they all swooped down at once… well, there's nothing for it… I'll run.'
He took a deep breath, covered his face with his arms and sprinted across the room. He expected to feel sharp beaks and claws tearing at him any second, but nothing happened. He reached the door untouched. Harry pulled on the handle, but it was locked.
'Come on,' Harry called out to his friends on the other side of the chamber. The three of them ran across the room to Harry. They all tugged at the door, but it wouldn't budge, not even when Hermione tried her Alohomora charm.
'Now what?' Ron said exasperated.
'Those birds… they can't just be here for decoration, maybe they have something to do with opening the door -' Caprice said, eyes on the flapping birds up above. The Gryffindors turned their gaze to the birds, soaring overhead, glittering - glittering?
'Those aren't birds… they're keys!' Harry cried suddenly. He looked around the chamber, and sure enough, against the wall were two broomsticks. 'We've got to catch the key to that door!' Harry said, grabbing a broomstick for himself, and tossing one to Caprice.
'Right, let's catch us a key, Harry.' Caprice said as she mounted her broom. Ron examined the lock on the door.
'Look for a big, old fashioned one, probably silver, like the handle.' He called over to Harry and Caprice, who kicked off the ground into the midst of the cloud of keys. They grabbed and snatched at the keys, but they were harder to catch than they had thought. The enchanted keys darted and swerved away from Harry and Caprice's reach.
'Look!' Harry pointed. 'There's a key, and it has a broken wing, it must be the one! Snape must have already used it.' There was a large, silver key with bright blue wings, one wing was broken.
'I'm all over it.' Caprice called back, cornering the large key. Harry came up to face the key with Caprice, and the two of them carefully backed it into the corner of the room.
'One, two, three!' Harry yelled, and the both of them charged at the key, leaving no where for it to go other than one of their hands. Harry snatched it out of the air, earning a cheer from Ron and Hermione, watching from below. The two friends glided back down to Ron and Hermione, presenting Hermione with the squirming key. She proudly unlocked the door and they advanced into the next room.
The room was large and pitch black. They could feel the eeriness of the place. As they walked forward, the room sprung to life, small barrels of fire lighting up the room.
'Are we in a graveyard?' Caprice asked nervously.
'No,' Ron said walking around the large stone statues. 'It's a chessboard!'
They were standing on the edge of a huge chessboard, behind the black chessmen, which were all taller than they were and carved from what looked like black stone. Facing them, way across the chamber were the white pieces. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Caprice shivered slightly, the towering white chessmen had no faces.
'Now what?' Harry asked.
'It's obvious, isn't it?' Ron said, pacing slightly, stroking his chin. 'We've got to play our way across.'
Behind the white pieces they could see another door.
'How?' Caprice asked.
'I reckon we'll have to play as chess pieces.' Ron replied. 'Now don't be offended or anything, but Harry and Hermione, you aren't very good at chess -'
'I'm good, I could beat you anyday.' Caprice cut in.
'- so Harry, you take the place of that bishop, Hermione you take the place of the castle, Caprice -'
'I'll be the queen,' Caprice said, taking charge of her own destiny.
'- and I'm going to be a knight.' Ron finally finished his sentence. The chessmen seemed to have been listening, because a knight, castle, bishop and the black queen turned their backs on the chessboard and left their empty squares to be filled.
'White always plays first in chess, yes look.' Ron pointed across the board at a white pawn who had taken the first move.
Ron began to direct the black pieces, they moved to wherever he told them to. Harry's knee's started to tremble, what if they lost?
'Harry, move four squares diagonally to the right.'
Surprisingly, Caprice squashed her Slytherin pride and took orders from Ron. After the four first years witnessed a rather brutal sacrifice from the black team ('Had to let that happen…' said Ron), they were rather terrified. Every time one of their men was lost, the white players showed no mercy. Soon there was a pile of limp black pieces slumped along the wall. Ron darted around taking just as many white pieces as there were black, with some help from Caprice.
'We're nearly there, let me think… let me think…' Ron muttered. The white queen turned her blank face towards him. 'Yes,' Ron said softly, 'it's the only way, I've got to be taken.'
'NO!' Harry and Hermione both shouted in unison. Caprice looked awkwardly at Ron, willing him not to sacrifice himself.
'That's chess, you've got to make some sacrifices!' Ron snapped. 'I take one move and she'll take me - that leaves you free to checkmate the king Harry.'
'But -'
'Do you want to stop Snape or not?'
'Ron -'
'Look, if you don't hurry up he'll already have the stone!' Ron shouted. There was nothing else for it.
'Ready?' Ron called, his face pale but determined. 'Here I go - now don't hang around once you've won.'
He stepped forward and the white queen pounced. She struck Ron hard on the head with her stone arm and he crashed to the ground. Hermione and Caprice screamed, but remained on their squares as Ron was dragged off the board. He looked as if he'd been knocked out. Shaking, Harry moved three squares to the left.
'Checkmate.'
The black king threw down his sword. As soon as it hit the ground, Hermione, Harry and Caprice rushed to Ron's side.
Caprice bravely looked up at Harry.
'Go, I'll stay here with Ron.' She said.
'What? If anyone should stay with Ron it should be me!' Hermione argued.
'No time for arguments Granger!' Caprice snapped. 'You're the smartest witch in our grade, Harry could still need you before the end!' Hermione was baffled. 'Go!' Caprice shouted. Harry and Hermione ran through the open doors just in time before they closed.
'What do you reckon's coming next?' Harry asked her as they walked through yet another passageway.
'Well, we've had Sprout's, that was the Devil's Snare - Flitwick must've put charms on the keys - McGonagall transfigured the chessmen to make them alive - that leaves Quirrell's spell, and Snape's…' Hermione ticked off the teachers on her fingers. They reached another door. Harry pushed it open. Immediately their nostrils filled with a putrid stench.
'Oh merlin thank heavens we didn't have to face that thing!' Hermione said, holding her robe over her nose as she stared at a huge troll lying flat on the ground.
'Let's get out of here, I can't breathe.' Harry nodded in agreement and they crossed the room to the door. He pulled open the next door, both of them hardly daring to look at what came next - but there was nothing very frightening in that room, just a table with seven differently shaped bottles standing on it in a line.
'Snape's, what do we have to do?' Harry said. They stepped further into the room and immediately a fire sprang up behind them in the doorway. It wasn't an ordinary fire either, it was bright purple. Black flames shot up in the doorway leading forwards. They were trapped.
'Look!' Hermione seized a roll of paper lying next to the bottles. Harry looked over her shoulder to read it.
Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,
Two of us will help you, whichever you would find,
One amongst us seven will let you move ahead,
Another will transport the drinker back instead,
Two amongst us hold only nettle wine,
Three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line.
Choose, unless you wish to stay here forevermore,
To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:
First, however slyly the poison tries to hide
You will always find some on nettle wine's left side;
Second, different are those who stand at either end,
But if you would move onwards , neither are your friend;
Third, as you see clearly, all are different size,
Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides;
Fourth, the second left and the second on the right
Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight.
'It's logic! Just give me a few minutes,' Hermione read and re-read the parchment several times, occasionally muttering outloud to herself. At last she clapped her hands.
'What?' Harry asked.
'Got it, the smallest bottle will take us forward, and this bottle will take us back.' Hermione said picking the two bottles from their position.
'There's barely enough for one person in that bottle let alone the both of us!' Harry said, eyeing the small bottle. 'You'd better take this one, go back, find Ron and Caprice and get Dumbledore as soon as you can!'
'But,'
'I can take it from here, thank you for your help.' Harry took the small bottle and gulped its contents. With one last look at Hermione, he stepped through the black flames. He saw the black flames licking his body, but he could not feel them. For a moment he could see nothing but black fire, then he was out on the other side - in the last chamber.
There was already someone there - but it wasn't Snape. It wasn't even Voldemort.
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- Who would've guessed it wasn't Snape? Lol… no surprises here… sorry! This story's almost over! Sad to say… hope you all liked this very very AU chapter… I appologise for this story being so AU and repetitive to the book. -
- Gryffindor Gal -