"Impedimenta!" Heather yelled.
"Patrificus Totallus!" Elyse shouted at the manticore.
Both spells reached the crooning manticore before any of them, and both rebounded upon the owners. Neither moved in time. Heather suddenly stopped moving and Elyse fell flat on her face.
"Elyse! Heather!" Hermione yelled fearfully.
"Hermione, you get them! I'll help Ron!" Harry ordered.
Hermione hesitantly nodded and raced back to quickly perform the counter curses.
Harry stupidly jumped on the manticore's back and hit it upside the head, understanding that spells rebounded. The manticore screeched again and leaped off of Ron, desperately trying to fling Harry off of it, screaming all the while, even when Harry didn't do anything. Harry sat on the back of the manticore, not hitting it at all, and it still screeched in pain.
"Harry, get off it and we can get out of here!" Elyse said, cracking her knuckles. "Ron'll be all right if we get him someplace else!"
Harry nodded and slipped off the manticore. He raced toward Elyse, Heather, Hermione, and Ron, who had a purple glow around him as Heather magically carried him out. They rushed toward the exit, the manticore hot on their heels. Elyse shoved out her left hand and a green glow surrounded Katie again. She forced Katie to race out in front of them and through the tunnel. The four of them quickly followed her just as the manticore jumped again. It seemed to hit an invisible wall not allowing it to pass through and was thrown the length of the room backwards, out of their sight.
They raced away and didn't stop until they had reached the room ahead. The light nearly blinded them as they entered, making Harry see spots for a moment.
Elyse lowered Katie, and Heather put Ron down.
"Lyse, he's in trouble. It seriously got to him…." Heather said distractedly, looking over Ron's injuries.
"Can you do it? You're the medical git of the group," Elyse said, hurrying over.
"Medical, yes; git, no," Heather corrected. "I think… yes, I can do it. It's going to hurt a lot, however--I won't lie."
"Ron can handle it," Harry answered for his friend, who was in no condition to talk. Aside from a bitten arm worse than Harry's, the manticore's weight seemed to have had a great effect. Ron seemed to have a few broken ribs, from what Harry could tell. His breathing was ragged and scattered and he kept taking in deep, gasping breaths.
"Oh, here," Elyse said, noting Harry's arm. "I at least know some simple medical stuff. Frienta!"
The blood on Harry's arm remained, but the skin on his arm healed itself.
"Lyse, you're going to have to hold Ron for this," Heather commanded. "See this bite on his foot?" Heather pointed to a bite Harry had failed to notice near Ron's ankle. Elyse nodded. "I'll have to pop the bone back into place. The bite shifted it. I can't do it by magic, because the way to otherwise put it back is a potion, and I definitely don't have the ingredients needed here."
Ron moved his head about an inch up, then an inch down. The expression on his face showed that he clearly didn't want to do it without magic.
"All right. Ron, just… try not to scream…." Heather warned.
Ron gulped a bit as she put her hand around his ankle, where the bone was sticking out to the left. Heather looked at Ron; Ron laid his head back, bracing for the worst.
"Ron, it's okay," Heather said, smiling encouragingly. Ron slowly nodded. "Relax."
Ron sighed and obeyed, but no sooner had he than he let out a piercing scream as Heather squeezed his ankle hard and the bone popped back into place.
"I said not to scream," Heather said, grinning.
"Little hard not to…" Ron murmured, leaning his head back with his eyes shut.
"It's okay, Ron," Hermione said, kneeling next to him. Ron grinned a little at her voice and hearing her drop next to him. "You'll get through this."
"Lyse, I'll need you on this next one," Heather said. "We'll have to power him."
"But that takes our energy, too!" Elyse complained.
Heather gave her a death glare. Harry had the distinct impression Elyse and Heather were both refraining from looking at him. It was a moment before Harry realized why. Elyse and Heather were going to "power" Ron. Katie had powered Harry before she died. She gave her energy to him. In a sense, she died for him….
She would've anyway, Harry thought desperately, trying not to blame himself as he walked away, not really paying attention to where he was going. It's not my fault! Diane threw the dagger at her, she wouldn't have made it anyway… would she?
No, don't think about that, Harry ordered himself. It's not my fault.
Harry entered a dark room, not really paying attention, still arguing with himself. He paid no attention to the fact that he couldn't see anymore, being too immersed in his thoughts.
A door clanged shut behind him. Lights flickered on above him. Harry quickly turned around, but there was no way he could get through the steel door that now blocked his way out.
Harry turned back around to see what horrible creature Voldemort had trapped him with this time, but the room was empty. Would Harry have to wait here until Voldemort arrived, and then they would duel again? Or would he be rescued by Ron and the others? How stupid was he, walking into a dark room with no idea of what it held! The others couldn't get through that door anyway! What had his stupidity lead him into this time…?
Something scuttled away on the floor. It wasn't very big, whatever it was, but Harry had learned long before now that size was no guarantee of power. He took out his wand, not sure what to do. If he was supposed to fight this creature, why was it fleeing from him as thought its life depended on it?
There was a small ting above Harry. He looked up reflexively, prepared to see some giant monstrosity about to bear down on him, but was surprised at what he saw instead. A light piece of yellowing parchment was floating down to him, similar as a feather would. Harry reached up and grabbed it when it came within his grasp. Harry looked at the parchment and saw, written in shining green ink:
Catch the moke
And the door will open
You're free, you're out!
What more could you hope for?
It's not all that difficult
Just a ten-inch long lizard,
So it shouldn't be hard for you,
A wizard
Harry thought hard about the poem, vaguely registering that Voldemort couldn't rhyme. A moke… he vaguely remembered such a creature in one of Grubbly-Plank's lessons. A ten-inch long lizard… it could do something special, making wizards and witches want one, but what was it she had said?
The moke raced past him again, now hurrying faster than it had been before, as though it knew that Harry now realized what he was supposed to do.
Harry ran after it, yet was amazed to find that it was becoming smaller and smaller. It was ten inches long, how could it be beating him?
Harry ran, but he was quickly advancing upon the moke, yet it was still getting smaller. Harry suddenly halted as he passed the creature, which had suddenly changed direction. He turned around and flew after it again, still amazed that it kept shrinking, even as he neared it.
But that was what Grubbly-Plank had said, Harry remembered as he neared the moke once more. The moke could make itself shrink at will.
Harry jumped out for the moke but fell flat on his face as the moke made a sharp right turn. He stood up, annoyed--this was getting really old, really fast. Harry looked at the piece of parchment, which he'd tossed to the ground earlier. It's not all that difficult…. It shouldn't be hard for you, a wizard…. Liars.
"We've tried all of them except this one and the second. He has to be in one of them," said a familiar voice from the tunnel beyond.
"At least, we hope," Ron said. "And if he's not here, Elyse and Hermione will find him."
"Right," Heather agreed. Their muffled footsteps stopped. "I think we found him."
"We can't get through this door," Ron said helplessly. "Harry! Harry! Maybe we should summon him."
"Don't be stupid, Ron, he'll hit the steel door and kill himself trying to get through…." Heather pointed out.
As an idea sprang into his mind, Harry cried out, "Accio moke!"
An incredibly small object zoomed at Harry, stopping just in front of him. Harry instinctively grabbed the moke from the air in front of him and turned toward the door. With a great creaking noise at every movement, the door slowly opened, revealing Heather and a completely healed Ron.
"Harry!" they exclaimed simultaneously.
"I'm okay," Harry said, quickly joining them. "Just wandered off."
"What did you have to do in there?" Heather asked as they walked down the tunnel leading back to the main room.
"Catch a moke," Harry said. "Ron gave me the idea to summon it."
"You're kidding!" Ron exclaimed. He looked at Heather.
"What?" Harry asked.
"We went searching for you," Heather explained. "We split up one-on-one. I took the eighth tunnel and had to catch a demiguise. They can make themselves invisible."
They entered the main room, Elyse and Hermione nowhere in sight.
"Give them some time," Heather said. "They're bound to have taken longer--we found you almost immediately."
"So what else did you guys see?" Harry asked.
"I went in the tenth tunnel," Ron said. "I had to fight three of the ugliest trolls I have ever seen."
Harry laughed. "What about Hermione and Elyse?"
"Hermione went in the third tunnel and says she went against a kappa," Ron said.
"Elyse went in the first one and battled a chimaera," Heather said.
Harry nodded. "So I was in the…?"
"Fifth," Ron said promptly. "And Hermione and Elyse went into the second."
There were two long, earth-shattering screams from down the second tunnel.
"Oh, God," Heather whispered. "C'mon!"