A/N: Hey y'all, thanks for the review andhere's the next chapter to this fic. I know it's short, but don't worry b/c the next one will be longer than the first 2 combined. yepee! Ok, yeah well I'll be updating again soon, whether you like it or not. HA! Hopefully you like it though, and although I'll still update if you don't, I would still appreciate review. Thanks. Now Read!

Chapter 2- Back Where They Came From

The pair began filling the goblets with the potion and emptying them into the tub until there was none of the green liquid left in the basin. Harry smiled at the thought that Dumbledore had conjured something so vast, when the potion didn't even fill it a quarter of the way.

"I believe it is time to test your idea." Dumbledore stated.

Harry nodded, then turned to the basin and reached his hand down in it. The barrier was still in tact. Harry turned to Dumbledore, then shook his head. "It didn't work."

"I thought not." was Dumbledore's reply. He then proceeded to dip his goblet into the laundry tub, filling it with the emerald green liquid once more. It was when Dumbledore moved to get a second glass that Harry interfered.

"Sir," Harry started. Dumbledore looked up at him. "maybe you should try now, you might only need to drink a little of it."

Dumbledore seemed impressed by the suggestion. He walked over to the basin, reached his hand into it, and brought it out, Slytherin's locked clutched in his hand. He smiled at Harry. "The teenage mind can be surprisingly simple... and ...wise."

Harry returned the smile, absent-mindedly letting his goblet fall from his grasp. It fell straight into the water. "Dang!" Harry exclaimed, surprised at his carelessness.

Harry's arm suddenly went cold. A slimy white hand had gripped his wrist, and the creature to whom it belonged was pulling him, slowly, backward across the rock. The surface of the lake was no longer mirror-smooth; it was churning, and everywhere Harry looked, white heads and hands were emerging from the dark water, men and women and children with sunken, sightless eyes were moving toward the rock: an army of the dead rising from the black water.

"Petrificus Totalus!" yelled Harry, struggling to cling to the smooth, soaked surface of the island as he pointed his wand at the Inferius that had his arm: It released him, falling backward into the water with a splash; he scrambled to his feet, but many more Inferi were already climbing onto the rock, their bony hands clawing at its slippery surface, their blank, frosted eyes upon him, trailing waterlogged rags, sunken faces leering.

"Remember what I advised you to do, should this have happened?" Dumbledore called out to Harry.

Harry remembered. Fire. He needed to use fire. He collected himself and began shooting crimson and gold flames at the Inferi. At that moment, a ring of fire burst from Dumbledore's wand, surrounding himself and Harry and daring the Inferi to come closer. The dead did not live up to the dare; they realized they were defeated and returned to the water, back where they came from.

Dumbledore and Harry re-entered the boat, and they sailed through the lake towards the entrance. Dumbledore made to get out his knife, before Harry informed him that his leg was bleeding. This time Harry gave the blood to the door, which opened obligingly once more.

"I think it is time we returned to the Hog's Head, Harry." Dumbledore announced once they were out of the cave. At a nod from the boy, Dumbledore motioned for Harry to grab his arm, grasped his wand in his right hand, and said, "1... 2... 3... Turn."

Hehe, what a great place to stop the chapter, eh? Y'all may not like it since it's kinda like a cliffhanger, but I'm already at least half-way through writing the next one, so it'll be up in a few days. Do I sense a review coming on?