Thanks so much for your reviews. They are all very much appreciated. Things are a bit manic here at home at the moment, so forgive me for not responding to you individually this week - shall do better next week. lol.
CAVERNA CAELI
"We 'ad to get Malfoy back t'Azkaban before the charm wore off," said Hagrid. "Can you imagine 'im transformin' back into a human while 'e was still in that cat box?"
Ron sniggered and Harry had to admit the vision was quite funny.
They were sitting in Hagrid's hut having tea, hoping to hear more information about what was going on. Professor Dumbledore had been in meetings with the Ministry all day.
"What about Professor McGonagall, though, eh?" said Ron, still awestruck.
"Yep. She's got some spirit, I'll say that for her," said Hagrid. "Imagine someone of 'er age bein' able to stand up to the likes of Lucius Malfoy, let alone do 'im that much damage. Grand lady..."
"But how did Malfoy escape from Azkaban?" asked Hermione.
"Ah well, particularly nasty story, that." said Hagrid taking a sip of tea. "You remember those Muggles that 'ave disappeared from their hospitals?"
Harry nodded. He remembered seeing the billboards across the road from the Leaky Cauldron.
"Turns out you-know-who's behind it all. Been getting these sick Muggles and exchanging them for the Death Eaters in Azkaban."
"But how do they get past the guards?" asked Ron.
"Well, you know the Dementors 'ave gone. Fudge has put security trolls on guard. My guess is that Wormtail or someone turned up at the prison with a sick Muggle and left with a Death Eater. Trolls are none too bright, you know. As long as they've got a prisoner, they're happy."
"Draco said his father would be out in no time," said Harry, remembering the end of last term.
"Yeah, well, 'es back inside now and by the looks of 'im, 'es going to be feeling pretty sick for quite a while."
"What about Snape?" said Harry.
Hagrid shook his head.
"All I know is Madam Pomfrey's been going frantic - said there was a danger they would lose 'im if they didn't get 'im to St. Mungo's, but Professor Dumbledore insisted 'e wasn't to be removed from the school."
"But why on earth not, if he's in danger of dying..?" said Hermione.
"Dunno. Dumbledore must have 'is reasons. But in all the years Professor Snape's been at Hogwarts, I've only ever known 'im to be sick once before, and that was when 'e first arrived. 'E was in a similar state then, I remember."
Harry sat down opposite Hermione by the fire in the Gryfindor Common Room. She looked up from her book,
"Where's Ron?"
Harry shrugged. "He muttered something about going to see someone. I think he's running an errand for Fred and George."
Harry opened his book and began reading up on Animagi Charms. He didn't notice Lavender and Parvati enter through the portrait hole, but looked up when they pulled a couple of chairs up close to him and sat down. Hermione looked up as well.
"Hi," said Harry, surprised. It wasn't usual for Lavender and Parvati to join them.
"We thought we should warn you both," said Parvati in a low voice, looking from Harry to Hermione.
"And Ron," added Lavender.
"We've just overheard Pansy Parkinson talking in the girls' toilets," said Parvati.
"From what we could make out," said Lavender. "She reckons you've done something to her cat and Draco's on the warpath. She says he's really mad. It's got something to do with his dad as well. We didn't hear it all."
"But we thought we'd better warn you. She sounded really mad," said Parvati.
"Thanks Lavender; Parvati," said Harry. "We'll keep a look out."
"What have you done to Pansy's cat?" asked Parvati.
Harry looked at Hermione and wondered how to answer, but before he could, the portrait hole swung open.
With a loud cry, Ron fell through it and lay sprawled on the floor, laughing.
Harry and Hermione jumped out of their chairs and rushed over, joined by quite a few other Gryffindors. Neville appeared at the entrance as they were lifting Ron up and helping him to a seat.
"I'm sorry. I couldn't hold him any longer," he puffed. "He was staggering all over the place."
"What happened?" asked Harry.
Ron looked up at him.
"'lo, Harry." Ron got unsteadily to his feet and put his arm around Neville, leaning on him heavily. "You see Neville here?" He patted Neville on the chest. "He's my bestest mate, he is. You're a good bloke, Neville. A REALLY good bloke. Have I ever told you that before?"
Ron's words were coming out slurred and he had a stupid grin on his face.
"I don't know what happened," said Neville, looking extremely uncomfortable as Ron grinned at him from about three inches away. "I found him hanging onto the leg of a suit of armour and singing."
("He's my bestest mate, that suit of armour..")
"You know what?" said Dean Thomas, coming to the front of the crowd. "I think he's been drinking!"
"Drinking?" said Hermione, shocked. "How could he? Where would he get it...?"
"Hellooooh, Herrrmioneeeee," said Ron, grinning wider.
Hermione leaned in towards Ron and sniffed.
"He doesn't smell of alcohol," she said.
Ron released Neville from the bear-hug and flopped both arms around Hermione's neck.
"Herrrmionneeeeee!" he said, and slipped so that Hermione had to put her arms around his waist to stop him collapsing on the floor. He looked down into her eyes. "D'you know what? I love you! Ever since our first year on the train when you found my (hic) smudged nose. Will you be my girl(hic)friend?"
"Oh for heaven's sake!" huffed Hermione and tried to thrust Ron towards Harry as the room filled with laughter.
"RON!" shouted Harry to get his attention and peeling Ron from Hermione, thrust him down into the chair. "What happened?"
Ron grinned up at Harry. "Well you should know, you were (hic) there! She found my smudge, the little witch...!" he lunged at Hermione again and almost fell off the chair.
"No. Concentrate, Ron. What happened tonight? Who did you see?"
"Professor Magonnn(hic)agallll. Fantastic woman! Just like Herrrmionneeee! Went to see her, to wish her well. Whatawoman!"
Harry shook Ron.
"Then who did you see? I mean, afterwards?"
"PansybloodyParkinson. SHE HEXED ME!" Ron shouted indignantly and tried to get to the portrait hole. "SHE HEXED ME, HARRY!"
"Should we take him back to the Hospital Wing?" said Hermione.
"No," replied Dean. "Believe me, if it's anything like the real thing, he's best sleeping it off."
Harry, Dean, Seamus and Neville got hold of a limb each and carried Ron towards the stairs and up to the dormitory.
"Herrrmionneeeeee, Hermioneeeeee!" sang Ron, using any musical note that entered his head.
Harry couldn't sleep. The pain in his head, a permanent fixture now, had given a sudden flare which woke him and now he just lay in the darkness of his four-poster bed thinking about the events of the last thirty-six hours. Lucius Malfoy had managed to escape from Azkaban. How many other Death Eaters were on the loose?
Realising that sleep was nowhere in sight, Harry got out of bed and wandered to the window. It was a patchy night. The moon was out, but there were plenty of clouds to cover it for minutes at a time.
A movement caught his attention.
Moving along in the shadow of the castle walls was a figure. It remained in the shadows, but didn't seem to be moving furtively, but rather smoothly and purposefully.
Harry watched for a moment. Whoever it was down there wasn't dressed for the chill of the night. And then suddenly Harry realised who it was.
Colin Creevy.
Harry stepped behind the curtains of Ron's bed. Ron was sleeping in exactly the same position as they had dumped him hours earlier. His breathing was very heavy.
"Ron. Ron, wake up." Harry shook him, but quickly realised that Ron was out for the night and probably wouldn't be in any fit state to go with Harry even if he could wake him.
Moving quickly, Harry got dressed and went downstairs.
Hermione was sitting, still dressed, beside the dying embers of the fire, reading. She looked up, startled, as Harry entered the Common Room.
"Hermione!"
"Harry! You scared me!"
"What are you doing?" he asked, looking at the book on her lap.
"Well, I had some Ancient Runes homework to finish and then I thought I'd try and work out the hex Pansy hit Ron with. I think Dean was right; she's used a Firewhisky hex."
"And..."
"Well, that's why he was behaving as if he'd spent all evening drinking in the Hog's Head. He couldn't walk straight, he was talking rubbish. I mean, all that nonsense about Neville...
"...and being in love with me..." she blushed and looked sideways at Harry.
Harry didn't know quite how to respond. He had worked out a long time ago that Ron fancied Hermione but that he was too unsure of himself to do anything about it. But would Ron thank him for putting Hermione straight? He felt that Hermione was fishing for an answer, though.
"Erm. Hermione? I'm sure Ron's going to be really embarrassed about everything in the morning."
"Oh. Well...yes...I mean...I didn't take it seriously," she gave an unconvincing laugh and looked everywhere except at Harry.
"Hermione," said Harry, taking a deep breath and hoping he wasn't doing the wrong thing. "Ron does like you, but he doesn't think you're interested. He thinks he can't compete with Krum."
"Victor? Oh, well, Victor's very nice and everything, but..."
"I think Ron needs some encouragement. Do you think I'd ever have plucked up the courage to kiss Cho? Well, I mean, eventually I might have, I suppose, but Cho made the first move..."
"Oh!" said Hermione. "So you think I should...?"
"Well, maybe not tomorrow!" said Harry, with a grin.
"No," laughed Hermione. "According to this book, he's going to have such a headache."
"Tell me about it," said Harry, rubbing his scar.
"Is it hurting more?" asked Hermione, concerned.
"Yeah. It woke me up. I...oh, no! I forgot! Colin! Colin Creevy's outside in the grounds. I was going out to..."
"The Siren!" cried Hermione. "Come on, we'd better go."
They both ran to the portrait hole.
They both breathed sharply as the chill air hit them as they went out of the main door.
Colin was nowhere in sight.
"You don't think he's already been found and been taken back inside, do you?" said Harry.
Hermione shook her head.
"It's possible, I suppose, but we didn't see or hear anyone on the way out, did we?"
Harry looked around. The grounds were deserted.
"How far could he have gone?" he said. "We've got a good view of the lake, and he's not there."
"He must be round the other side," said Hermione. "Come on." She took off at a sprint.
"But the lake's enormous," cried Harry, running after her. "Which side?" but Hermione was already out of ear-shot.
After a while, their running had turned to steady jogging. They had now lost sight of the lower half of the school behind the rocky island that had appeared in the centre of the lake during the summer holidays.
"Hermione..." gasped Harry. He was out of breath and the cold air had made his teeth hurt. "What...is...that...pile of rocks in the middle of the lake, anyhow?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Hermione said over her shoulder. "It's where Professor Flight goes at night." Hermione stopped to get her breath back. "It's mentioned in 'Hogwarts - A History'. I looked it up that first night, when I saw it out of the carriage window. It's known as 'Caverna Caeli' - The Vault of Heaven. It's usually below the waterline, but can be summond when needed."
Harry shook his head.
"Hermione, how do you remember all this stuff?"
"I just do..." her voice trailed away as she stared at something in the distance. "Harry. Do...do you see what I see?"
Harry followed her gaze and felt a mixture of shock and confusion well up in him.
Colin, still dressed in pyjamas, was moving steadily towards the rocks in the centre of the lake.
He appeared to be walking on top of the water.
They ran to the very edge of the lake.
"How is he doing it?" said Hermione as they watched Colin walking towards the centre of the
lake.
"I was hoping you knew," said Harry.
"He's forgotten to put his Sirenity Drops in. He can hear the Siren. He's following her voice."
They looked at each other. There was only one thing to do.
"Lumos," said Hermione and her wand shone a beam of light which she directed into the water by their feet. There was nothing but water and weed. She began walking along the edge of the
lake, all the time shining the light into the water.
"What are we looking for?" asked Harry.
"This," she said, and pointed to where the beam of light shone.
A brick pathway lay just underneath the surface of the water.
"It's a causeway!" she exclaimed. Then seeing Harry's puzzled look, "a pathway, usually across water, that's only visible at certain times. Come on!"
Hermione set off along the causeway, Harry close behind. Their feet splashed through the
few inches of water that still covered the brick path and which soon soaked through their shoes.
"Er, Hermione. How long do you think the causeway stays uncovered?"
"I don't know," she shouted back over her shoulder.
Harry wasn't comforted by this news. Spending the night on a rock, cut off from the mainland or having to swim back, wasn't his idea of fun.
It was hard work running through the water, even only inches deep, and Colin had already
reached the rocks in the middle of the lake before Harry and Hermione were half way there.
Then Hermione slowed and they both saw Colin turn sideways and disappear through an opening.
They sprinted the rest of the way and reached the rocks a short while later. There was a gap in the rocks, so narrow that at a distance, it might be mistaken for a thick string of weed.
Without hesitation, Hermione slipped through the gap and Harry followed. Even though he breathed in to make himself smaller, he felt the rock scratch across his back as he squeezed
through.
Hermione's wand still shone. Inside the rock they found themselves in a long corridor with
sand on the floor and trickles of water on the walls. The corridor sloped down and away from
the entrance for quite some distance, certainly beyond the reach of the light from Hermione's
wand.
Cautiously but as fast as they dared, they made their way towards the dark end of the corridor,
the light not making contact with anything for several moments, until...
The slight, pyjama-clad form of Colin Creevy stood facing the weeds which formed the dead-
end of the corridor. He didn't seem to hear them approaching and seemed oblivious to the pool of light now surrounding him.
He was humming. It was a nonsense sort of tune with no real structure. Harry glanced at
Hermione, but she just shrugged and gave her head a slight shake to let Harry know that she
didn't understand what was going on either.
They turned back to Colin. At first, Harry thought Colin was moving the weeds for some reason, and then he realised that the weeds were actually parting.
As soon as the opening was big enough, Colin squeezed through and disappeared from sight.
Without saying anything, Harry and Hermione ran forwards. Hermione squeezed her way through the weeds. Harry followed, but felt the weeds closing on him before he was all the way through. It wasn't unlike his experience with Devil's Snare and soon he felt the breath being pressed from his body. Throwing all his weight behind him, he managed to fall forwards and bring most of his body through to the other side, but his right foot remained tangled in the weeds.
Realising he was in difficulty, Hermione began pulling at the weeds surrounding his foot. Together they ripped and tore until, with supreme effort they managed to drag his foot away before the last part of the gap closed completely.
Breathing heavily, Harry stood up.
They were in a cave which was about the same size as Professor McGonagall's classroom. The ceiling was twice as high as Hagrid and covered with stalactites that shone wetly in the light which still came from Hermione's wand. The walls appeared to be covered by a thick, slimy weed and the whole place smelled of low-tide.
Colin, once again, was standing at the far end of the cave but this time, he was staring at them both, bewildered. On each side of his head, long grey furry ears stood up. He looked ridiculous.
"Er, Colin?" said Hermione, softly.
"It's stopped," he said in a surprised voice. "Who turned the singing off?" He looked like someone who'd just woken from a very deep sleep.
"Colin do you know where you are?" asked Hermione.
"No," he said, staring around the cave with an anxious look on his face. "I just heard this beautiful singing and had to find out where it was coming from." He shivered. "Bit cold in here. Are we in the dungeons?"
"No. We're in a cave in the middle of the lake," said Harry. "We followed you here. Someone swopped your ear drops around again."
Colin's hands flew to his ears and he groaned.
"It really burns when Madam Pomfrey turns them back again," he whined. "And everyone's laughing at me because this keeps happening. I feel a right idiot."
"You're not the idiot," said Hermione. "It's the stupid person who keeps swopping your drops. It's a good job we followed you, or you would be here on your own."
"And now we've got to find our way out," Harry reminded them. "And the gap in the wall has closed."
"Colin, do you remember the little tune you were humming when the entrance to the cave opened?" asked Hermione. Colin looked blank. "Right. Thought not. Ok, we'll have to try and open the gap another way - the most obvious first." She raised her wand and pointed it at the wall behind them, but Harry stopped her.
"Let me do it. We don't want to lose the light from your wand."
Harry pointed his wand to where the gap had been, and said,
"Alohomora!"
Immediately, the cave began to shake and a rumble could be heard somewhere overhead. They all ducked as stalagtites, rock and weed came falling from the ceiling. They had to hold on to the wall to steady themselves as the ground wobbled and shook.
The cave remained sealed.
"Somehow I don't think spells are going to work," Hermione shouted to Harry above the noise. "There has to be another way. Colin, help us look. There might be a clue anywhere."
They propped Hermione's wand in the middle of the cave so they could all work by its light.
The noise died down and the trembling disappeared as they searched the cave. Colin walked around the floor with his head bowed, looking for clues. Harry and Hermione pulled back handfuls of the black weed from the wall, working methodically from the place they had come in.
Then Hermione squealed.
"Over here!"
She grabbed her wand and pointed it towards the wall. The light fell on letters carved into the surface. It seemed that at some point someone had tried to erase the letters by scoring heavy lines across the writing, but they were still mostly visible. Hermione brushed some of the mould away.
"Why's the writing all back to front?" said Colin, peering at the letters.
"It isn't," said Hermione slowly. "I think...they're some kind of runes. They could be Warlock or Goblin but...OH!" She stamped her foot in frustration. "What are we going to do? I'm sure this tells us how to get out, but it's not something I've learned in Ancient Runes yet."
Hearing Hermione's words, Harry's head snapped up. He'd just remembered something.
"Er, Hermione?" He knew it was a long shot, but he had to ask. "You haven't...by any chance...got the Scribe's Crystal on you, have you?"
"No, I..." then she looked wide-eyed at Harry and thrust her hand inside the pocket of her robes. When it reappeared, the fingers were curled around one of the silver handles of the Crystal. "I put it in my pocket tonight after homework. I..."
"Come on!" yelled Harry, feeling a very rare surge of gratitude to Aunt Petunia.
Harry and Colin held the weeds away as Hermione peered at the letters through the Crystal and read...
"Whoever you are,
Whoever you be,
You look for...
(hang on, there's a thick bit of mould over the next bit...)
Goblin gold, I see.
Press the sickle, prepare your eyes,
But do not touch if you are wise.
All that glistens is not gold
And you may think you very bold
But exit quickly, do not take,
As that would be your big mistake.
Heed our words and walk on by.
Or by Goblin hand
You'll die."
"Goblin gold? That's not what we want! We want to get out of here! I don't want Goblins to kill me."
Colin had flipped. He had a wild, panicky look in his eyes. Without warning, his hand shot forwards and snatched Harry's wand from his grasp.
"Alohomora!" he screamed, pointing the wand at the wall.
There was more rumbling, louder this time. The whole cave began to shake. It caught Hermione off guard and she lost her balance, tumbling backwards and landing heavily on the ground. Harry was just about to wrestle his wand back from Colin when...
"Oh, Harry, LOOK!" Hermione, still on her back, was pointing her wand towards the ceiling.
Where the light shone, they could see that water had begun seeping in through cracks caused by this latest tremble. The water was now running down the walls and quickly making large puddles on the floor.
"We must be under the water level," yelled Harry. "We have to get out, fast!"
"Look for the sickle," ordered Hermione, struggling to her feet and frantically pulling weed away from the walls.
"I don't want to see the gold! It's cursed. I want to get OUT!" screamed Colin, and raised Harry's wand again.
Harry lunged at Colin before he could do any more damage. They both crashed to the ground. There was a frantic struggle. Harry was surprised how strong Colin was, considering he was a lot smaller than Harry.
Colin knocked Harry's hand away onto a jagged piece of rock, which grazed his knuckles. The wand danced around in front of them as Colin tried to keep it out of Harry's reach. Harry also had to keep his hand over Colin's mouth as, every time he let go, Colin would try and shout "Alohomora!" Again.
"Colin, pull yourself together," shouted Harry. "We're not after the gold, we're just looking for a way out." Colin continued to writhe around keeping the wand away from Harry. "You're a Gryffindor, remember? Gryffindors are supposed to be brave," Harry said, desperately.
"Yeah? Well I'd rather be brave some other time!"
Harry managed to catch hold of the other end of his wand. Half standing, he pulled Colin up after him. Still struggling, Colin clung on to the wand until Harry was worried his wand might snap in half. Harry slackened his grip, but then with a mighty effort, suddenly pulled the wand with all his strength.
Colin's hands lost their grip. Both he and Harry fell backwards with the force of parting. Harry managed to steady himself with a few weird dancing steps, but Colin went tumbling into the wall behind him. As he tried to keep his balance, his arms flayling around, his head disappeared behind a curtain of thick weed.
Harry stood mesmerised for a few shocking moments as a slow replay of Sirius' last battle with Bellatrix played before his eyes. He could see Sirius falling back through the veil, lost forever.
With a cry that hurt his throat, Harry lunged forwards and grabbed Sirius/Colin, heaving his head back through the weed.
Reality was put on hold. In Harry's mind, he'd saved him! He'd saved Sirius from falling through the arch. With another cry, this time of relief, Harry threw his arms around Sirius/Colin and hugged him like he'd never hugged anyone before. He'd got Sirius back!
"H...Harry?" said Colin, quite calmly, but puzzled.
Slowly, Harry released his bear-hug on Colin and looked at him. He shook his head, trying to get his mind back to the present.
He'd got Colin. He'd got Colin.
While Harry's mind was still spinning, Colin said,
"Hermione. That thing you're looking for. I think it's behind here."
Hermione was there in an instant, scrabbling at the weeds.
The water in the cave was now ankle deep and rising fast. Frantically, Hermione raked at the wall with her fingers, removing the slime and mould. Harry could see the gunk collecting underneath her fingernails, and thin lines of green liquid running through her fingers.
She gave a sudden yelp, whipped her hands away from the wall as though she'd been stung and took a quick step back.
"Something burned me!"
Using the tip of his wand, Harry gingerly parted the weed that hung over the place Hermione had been working on.
He and Colin leaned forward to see...
and recoiled.
A flat stone, about the size of a man's hand, seemed to have been stuck onto the cave wall. On it was a carving, standing proud of the stone. It was not a sickle as they had expected from the poem, but a black scull with a snake protruding from its mouth.
A flood of horror filled Harry's veins. Of all the dangers he might have expected while rescuing Colin from the cave, this wasn't one of them.
The implications were enormous.
This was a cave under the lake at Hogwarts. They were supposed to be safe inside the school grounds and yet, here was Voldemort's mark.
Harry was almost certain the Dark Mark hadn't existed before Tom Riddle had become Voldemort, so Riddle hadn't placed it here fifty years ago.
Was this a trap? Was Voldemort using Colin as he had used Ginny? Was it really Professor Flight's singing that had lured Colin here, or something darker?
Harry felt sick.
Hermione had gone very white.
Colin said, "I don't know what that is, but I don't like it."
"It's the Dark Mark. It's Vold..." Hermione glanced at Harry then back at Colin. "...You-know-who's sign."
They stood in shocked silence, just staring at the scull. None of them noticed the water level had now reached their knees.
A loud 'crack' brought them back to their immediate danger. All three heads turned towards the ceiling. The roof of the cave had split in a long thin line. Water began pouring in.
"We have to get out!" cried Colin, unnecessarily.
"THIS," said Harry, gesturing towards the scull. "is the way out, but..."
A sudden shower of rock and water made them duck, shielding their heads with their arms. Lumps of the roof splashed into the water all around them.
"This is madness!" yelled Hermione. "We're going to drown unless we do something..."
Even before Harry had uncovered his head, he knew with a thrill of horror what was about to happen.
Snapping his head up, he was just in time to see Hermione throw herself forward and raise the palm of her hand to the Dark Mark.
"HERMIONE! NOOOOOOOO...!"