Chapter Six: A Strange Place

Harry eventually went back to his room to sit and watch the sun go down. He fell asleep and when he woke the blanket of night had fallen over Hogwarts. He felt the old castle settle in for the night. He knew it was time to go. Harry put on his robes, grabbed his wand and some candy, put on his cloak and disappeared into the darkness.

Getting outside of Hogwarts was no small task. Teachers patrolled the school at all hours of the night. Peeves and Filch's cat also made rounds. Despite being invisible, he still had to be very quiet.

After what seemed to be hours of backtracking and creeping around, he managed to get down to a low enough floor where he could jump out of a window. He landed in the soft grass. His cloak was still on him when he took off toward the edge of the forest. The moon was barely a sliver and cast very little light onto the ground. The only other light was emanating from Hagrid's small cabin. Harry had enjoyed dropping by Hagrid's house so many times before, but he thought it best to avoid it tonight.

Harry peered towards the forest edge. An area that was covered in the shadow of Hagrid's home and eschewed from the moonlight seemed to be what Dobby was talking about. Harry crept towards the shadow. He couldn't see anything. He couldn't even see his own hands right in front of his face.

Harry waited for several minutes. It was cold outside and he could hear the wind blowing through tops of the trees. Harry heard a pop. Dobby suddenly appeared right in front of his face. Dobby's fingertip was glowing and he looked scared and out of breath.

"Harry Potter! You must leave now! It's not safe for Harry Potter here. He's here! He's coming!"

"Who—" Harry was cut off by Dobby.

"Dobby cannot help Harry Potter get back to Hogwarts. Harry Potter must find his own way back!"

Dobby threw several glances side to side. He was scared.

Dobby quickly drew a circle around Harry with his glowing fingertip. Dobby began levitating. He was saying something that Harry didn't understand. The grass that Dobby had touched began to glow. Dobby started to spin around. The circle on the ground began to glow very brightly and looked as though it was lighting everything around him. Harry could see someone coming. He was getting closer. Harry became enveloped in white light. He couldn't see Dobby anymore or the man whom he had just seen. He had to close his eyes because everything was so bright.

When Harry opened his eyes, he was in a very different place. The forest was gone. Hogwarts was gone. This place was completely foreign to him.

Before him was a very large house. Harry counted several floors. It was black with silver trim. It had many irregular towers and there was tall black gate with sharp points surrounding the house. The gate was open.

"No wonder the Malfoys are so proud of their house." Harry muttered to himself.

He grabbed his wand and headed toward the house. The area around him was dry and dusty. It looked like it had not rained for a long time. The plants were brown and the trees had few leaves, even by winter's standards. It was twilight, yet the sky was strangely gray and the sun cast long, unfriendly shadows on the hard ground.

Just as Harry had set foot inside the gate, as if on cue, the front door of the house opened itself. Still cautious, his wand at the ready, Harry moved toward the front door. As he got closer to the door, he could hear something that sounded like music. He got closer. It was classical music. The door was very large and got larger as he got closer. It had four heavy iron hinges and opened down the center. The wood was very thick and hard, but somehow looked old and tired.

Harry peered into the house. It was beautiful. Harry had never seen such an ornate house. Persian rugs decorated the black floors, huge tapestries hung from the walls. There was an enormous double stairway in the middle of the large entrance room. The floor was marble and was covered with delicate patterns. There were hanging lamps of every shape and floor lamps of every size and in every corner. All the mirrors on the walls made the house disorienting. Everything was shiny, from the railing on the stairs, to the hundreds of pictures on the walls. It was very dark colored. Harry could still hear the music, but it didn't sound like it was getting any closer no matter which way Harry went.

"This is definitely the home of a dark wizard," Harry muttered.

Harry felt a bit uneasy and wished Dobby had come with him.

His reflections in the mirrors seemed to be watching his every move. He thought he even saw them whispering to each other.

Harry pressed onward, into what seemed to be the main entry hall. He went into the door on the right. It was a heavy door and had a large silver colored door handle. The door opened into a small room. It was very clean and the shiny black floors and hanging chandelier were a stark contrast to the dull light that came in from the outside. There was a rocking chair in the middle of the room and the walls were lined with many books. Harry moved towards the books.

There were many books, but Harry sensed a theme. Dark Arts and their Place in Wizarding Society, Developing Dark Arts, Training in the Dark Arts and there were more. Harry took one off the shelf. It was called A Guide to the Stars: A Dark Wizard's Perspective. Harry opened the book and instantly all the walls in the room disappeared, replaced by the night sky. As he turned the pages in the book, different stars would light up corresponding with their description in the book.

"Sirius: the brightest star in the sky. Sirius resides in the…"

Harry's mind shifted to thoughts of his godfather, Sirius Black. Harry had barely a chance to get to know him. What was he doing now? Where was he? Harry had many questions about him.

Harry heaved a sigh and closed the book. All the walls returned to their original state. He put the book back in its place and walked back into the other room. There many other doors that he wanted to explore, but something was calling him to the second floor.

He began to go up the steep stairs. The railing was cold and smooth. When he got to the top, he saw more doors, but in between the doors, he saw a large dark hallway that continued in the same direction as the stairs. All of the photographs were watching him with interest and whispering among themselves hurriedly.

Harry began down the hallway. He pulled out his wand to light his way, but his wand didn't cast any light. But as he went past the hanging oil lamps, they lit themselves. The hallway began to take shape. Large stone snakes ran down the corners of the hallway. There were some pictures on the walls of a little boy and girl playing Exploding Snap. In another one there was a little boy crying because the little girl had pushed him down.

The hallway was very long and it didn't seem like Harry was getting anywhere. But he could feel something pulling him towards the end of the hallway. Just as the light from the main hall completely faded, Harry could see another light far ahead. As he walked toward it, the light appeared to split into two separate lights. As he drew nearer, he could see there were definitely two lights. As he got closer to the lights, the hallway ceiling got higher and floor got wider. The hallway finally opened up into a large room. As he stepped into the room, torches around the perimeter of the wall ignited in a circular formation. In the center of the room was a large stone statue of a cobra, coiled and poised to strike, with its large mouth open and its hood extended. The statue was baring its large fangs that looked to be made of long shafts of ruby. The lights he saw were from two large emerald eyes. They appeared to be reflecting light from somewhere, but Harry couldn't tell from where.

"Welcome, he who seeks the Heir of Gryffindor."

Harry spun around. "Who's there?" Harry yelled.

The room was silent.

"Open your eyes, boy."

Harry spun back around. There was still no one in the room.

"Show yourself!" Harry shouted.

"I already am."

Harry looked at the only other object in the room.

"Yes. That's right. Here I am."

Harry was face to face with the stone snake.