Disclaimer: I don't own HP. I do, however, own stranded cotton.
Thanks so much for all my reviewers!
Balthamos – Hehe…at least that can't happen anymore. Except I wrote this instead of my HW report instead. Wow….hugs. Hope you enjoy this!
alphie42 – Oops? Sorry this wasn't so soon! Hope you like anyway.
gillian88 – What can I say? I like cliffhangers…and I seem to be rather good at writing them. There's another in this chapter! Thanks sooo much for beta-ing this for me!
will-jenkins – Thanks so much! Hehe yep I remember you. Cheers, hope this is soon enough!
A/N: This chapter is dedicated to my excellent beta, gillian88! Thanks soo much for pointing out all my mistakes and henceforth. Luv you hun!
A/N 2: The next chapter is already in progress. So please review with ideas and so forth. Reviews help me write faster….not that I'd stoop to begging or anything ;-)
Stealing up to the door, Harry made sure he kept in the shadows. Even though he was under the Disillusionment Charm, he didn't know if Voldemort could see through it or not. He had to be on his guard. Seeing that the door was indeed open, he reached out with his senses again. Seeing no obvious traps, he eased open the door slowly. He almost had a gap big enough to squeeze through when the hinges creaked loudly. Harry immediately drew back into the shadows, waiting with baited breath. But after several minutes, when he had heard no shouts, it became apparent that no one was coming to investigate. Harry heaved a sigh of relief, and turned his attention back to the door. Managing to successfully open it another few inches without a hitch, he slipped in through the gap, and quickly surveyed his surroundings.
He was in what was an obviously unused corridor. Dust lay in festoons everywhere, and spiders were clearly the only thing that had moved across the floor for several years. Harry half smiled, thinking of what Ron's reaction would be if he saw dozens the spiders scuttling across the floor in front of him. He quickly shook the thought off anyway. He needed to be focused if he was to have any chance of succeeding. He thought back to what he had heard. Avery had said they had put Snape in the cells. They would undoubtedly be in the most heavily guarded area of the house. Getting in there would be tricky. At least, Harry reasoned, with the Portkey, they only had to get into the cells. The Portkey would get them out. At least, he hoped it would.
"Harry, you've got to think positive. Worrying won't do you or Snape any good you know…" A voice that sounded suspiciously like Hermione chided him. Harry sighed. Since when did his conscience start sounding like Hermione? Wait…what had Hermione told him in their first year? That a lot of the greatest wizards didn't have an ounce of logic…they grew used to thinking with magic. When faced with a simple puzzle they would be defeated. Maybe that was the key to getting into the cells. Harry wasn't naïve enough to think that he could trick Voldemort's safety system. It would be flawless in the terms of magic…but in logic…maybe a hole could be found.
A smile twitched on Harry's lips. Sending a silent message of thanks to Hermione, he whispered "Lumos", and, by the faint light that his wand gave out, began to edge his way down the corridor. To find out the loop in the defence system, he would have to discover what the actual defence system was, he reminded himself ruefully. And the only way to do that would be more spying.
Coming to the end of the corridor, Harry carefully peered around the corner. He was met with another dusty, unused hallway. He glanced behind him. These corridors seemed unused…but he didn't want to take any chances, and his footsteps could clearly be seen through the mounds of dust. He screwed up his eyes, trying to remember the charm he needed. Hermione had used it when they had sneaked out to see Hagrid in the snow, in third year. But what was it?
Inspiration struck. He took out his wand, pointed it clearly at the trail of footprints, and murmured "Repleo". The dust surrounding the footprints immediately filled in the gaps, leaving no trail, and no evidence to suggest that anyone had disturbed the dust. Harry finally genuinely smiled, and continued on his way, stopping every so often to eradicate the trail he left. He did notice, however, as he went through endless twisting corridors, that the dust was becoming less and less abundant.
Harry was beginning to grow tired of these endless twisting corridors…the house hadn't looked that big from the outside. Surely he hadn't been going round in circles? He was getting really frustrated. However, as he checked around the next corner, his spirits rose. Light was filtering down the passage from a flickering torch that had been placed in the wall. Harry sighed with relief. He must be getting close to the heart of the house…and that meant closer to Snape.
He listened carefully, but, hearing no noises, slipped cautiously out into the light. He glanced around and continued on his way down the passageway. Coming to the next corner, he peeked around, and drew in his breath. Round the corner was an old iron door, held shut by a heavy chain and padlock. This was it. Beyond that door no doubt lay the cells.
Harry cautiously reached out with his senses. As he felt the door and the chain, he felt the spine tingling chills of dark magick again. No "alohomora" then, Harry reasoned. This must be where the logic came in.
The padlock was old and heavy. Ditto the chain. No way could Harry hope to break those. But what about the chain's connection to the wall? Surely there had to be a pin or something to hold it in place? Maybe that would be easier to work with. Harry squinted, but despite all his best efforts, he could not see clearly. He would have to get closer. Well, it had all seemed quiet so far…
"Here goes nothing," Harry muttered to himself, as he broke his cover and went to scrutinize the chain. It was as he had thought. Although the chain and padlock looked sturdy enough, if you looked carefully enough at the join to the wall, the pin had, over the years, become loosened. Harry thought that, if he was careful, the pin could be wiggled out, bringing the chain with it and therefore rendering it useless. He looked around for something to wedge in the gap. Remembering that his earlier search of his pockets had proved useless, his eyes alighted on a small length of wood. The wood itself was of no use, but the nail held in it could be. Extracting the nail, Harry carefully placed it in the gap in the wall. After 10 minutes of careful prodding and poking, Harry had a sharp shock when the pin suddenly gave way, and threatened to crash to the floor, taking the chain with it. Luckily, Harry automatically reacted, and he caught the pin, gently lowering the chain out of the way.
"Thank goodness for Seeker reflexes," he mused. So that was phase two done, he thought grimly. Phase one had been getting into the house. But how much longer before his luck ran out? It was only a matter of time. He just had to hope that he reached Snape first.
"Repleo" – Latin for fill
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