Chapter 6: Chaos in the Dungeons
Croc slung Snape's body over his shoulder. Harry, Ron, and Hermione exited the classroom without a word. For a moment they stood looking at each other in the dungeon hall.
"So, err, you guys wanna-" Croc started dumbly, but was cut off by a huge explosion from the classroom.
"Harley!" came the Joker's voice from the other side of the door, along with the coughing of students.
"Sorry, Mistah J!" Harley's voice called as a black-gray smoke began to seep out the edges of the door.
Croc looked open mouthed at the door and shook his head. "Err, yea, hospital wing...?"
The trio looked at the door suspiciously, as if it would blow off its hinges at any moment. After a few moments they turned and walked towards the Hospital Wing. When they arrived Madam Pomphrey came bustling out.
"What is going on here?" she asked seeing Snape's limp form.
"Err, Joker got 'im with 'is laughin' gas…" Croc looked embarrassed. He followed Madam Pomphrey to an empty cot in the long room that made up the wing and dropped Snape unceremoniously onto the bed. In the corner a Death Eater watched him silently, hood covering the person's face.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione followed the man into the room, but stopped at the sight of the Death Eater sitting in the corner.
Madam Pomphrey was busy bustling around, collecting various potions to try to revive Snape.
Croc turned away, scratching his head dumbly, but he stopped when he noticed that Harry, Ron, and Hermione were still standing in the door. "Hey, aren't you three supposed tah be in class?"
"We don't have to be," Ron said, watching a bird fly past the window. "It's not like we want to be there anyway..."
"Of course we do, Ronald! We can't miss a lesson! What if we miss something important?" Hermione said turning to him.
"You were the one complaining about the teacher, and did you see the smoke pouring out of the room before we left? Trust me, we're not missing anything important..." Ron retaliated.
"Madam Pomphrey, do you have any idea where the teachers are?" Harry asked, keeping his voice low so that the Death Eater wouldn't hear him.
"Well, everyone knows their in the dungeons," Croc answered without a clue as to what he had just said. "They're not gonna get away that easy…"
Harry inwardly grinned. "Thanks for everything Madam Pomphrey." Harry said walking out as the lunch bell rang.
"No, Ron, we can't just walk down to the dungeons! They're bound to have guards!" Hermione said, attempting to restrain from rolling her eyes.
"Well if all the guards are like that one guy we took to the hospital wing, breaking in should be no problem," Ron said looking at Hermione with an I-dare-you-to-try-to-prove-me-wrong look.
"Well, why don't we just use the Invisibility Cloak and the map?" Harry said matter-of-factly.
"Oh, how could we be so STUPID?" Hermione said standing and pacing in front of the sofa.
Harry sighed and went up to his dorm to get his Invisibility Cload and the Marauder's Map. When he walked back down the stairs, her heard Hermione and Ron talking still.
"Why are we going to use the map? Do muggles show up on the map?" Ron asked curiously.
"Well they probably won't, but for some reason Harry wants to use it, so just go along." Hermione replied.
"Well, sorry for using logic, but even if Muggles don't show up, our professors will, so it'll be easier to find them in the dungeon, right?" Harry said leaning against the wall of the stairwell.
"Excellent idea, Harry!"
The three of them set off, after several excruciating moments of trying to successfully hide themselves under the cloak. They got down to the dungeons without having any 'roadblocks.' Following the dots of their professors the three of them made their way down to the dungeon. When the got into the corridor of the room they were looking for, they noticed that two Death Eaters were guarding the door. Hermione started to say something, but Harry placed a hand over her mouth and motioned for her to be quiet.
Silently they made their way about five feet from the guards. Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out a dungbomb. After showing it to the other two and smirking, he threw it on the ground and a green, horrible smelling smoke filled the air. Needless to say, the guards fled from the scene.
Harry pulled the Invisibility Cloak off the three of them and, pulling their shirts over their mouths and noses, they pulled the door open and walked inside. The sight that met their eyes shocked them, somewhat. All of their Professors were chained to the wall in the old-fashioned shackles used in medieval times.
"Hello, professors," Harry said looking around at them.
Ron looked at her with a blank expression. "There were rules we were supposed to follow?"
"Yes, Ronald, the ones where we weren't supposed to move around unattended."
"I never heard that..." Ron said thinking of when someone would've said that.
"Obviously not," Hermione said, her eyes going skyward.
"They said 'em, don't worry about it..." Harry said to Ron, and then he turned to the professors. "How do you propose we get you out of here? We don't have our wands..." he said letting his sentence fall.
"I am afraid there is not much we can do, Mr. Potter," McGonagall replied her face was creased with worry. "But I do have an idea of who may be able to get rid of these insane criminals."
"Who him?" Ron asked doubtfully.
"Have you not been paying attention Ron? He's the reason that they're here in the first place." Hermione said, tempted to smack Ron across the head.
"Well, if he brought them here, he'd know how to get rid of them wouldn't he?" Harry asked Hermione smartly, then turned back to McGonagall. "Who is the one we have to ask for assistance?"
"In Amercia, Gotham City, there's a man known only as Batman," McGonagall explained in a hushed voice, outside a loud crash came. "I have heard of him over the muggle news. It's him that takes care of these muggle criminals, the very same that have taken over Hogwarts. You must contact him at once and tell him that the Joker and the other criminals are here."
Harry opened his mouth to speak, but Herimone cut in front of him. "How do you propose we get to America?
"We apparate of course. I didn't work that hard to get my license for nothing!" Ron said, stepping in before Harry and Hermione could make another comment.
From a corner came a groan. Lupin was curled up over his shackles. He looked even shabbier and ancient than usual.
"Professor Lupin?" Harry asked, worried about his friend.
"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed, looking up out the tiny dungeon window. "It's a full moon tonight!"
Everyone simultaneously moved away from Lupin's corner. They all knew that in a few moments there would be a werewolf in place of Professor Lupin.
The professors moved as far away as their shackles would allow, while Harry, Ron, and Hermione ducked under the Invisibility Cloak and made to leave. None of them were sure if the chains would hold a werewolf.
Their escape was cut short by the slamming open of the dungeon door.
"What's going on in here?" the white a black suited man growled stepping into the room.
"Hey Two-Face, wait up!" Joker's voice preceded him as he followed the half-deformed man.
"Just because you're self-proclaimed Headmaster, that does not give you the authority or privilege to order us about like commoners." A stout man with a top hat, monocle, and umbrella entered after Two-Face. He had a long beak-like nose and his suit appeared to look more like a penguin.
"Sheesh, Penguin!" Joker strode into the room. "Lighten up will you? Besides, we're in control now…" Joker caught sight of the Professor Lupin. "Say what's up with him?"
"Y' idiots," Hagrid growled from the wall he was chained to by huge iron links.
"Don't y' know nothing' 'bout werewolves?"
"Werewolves? Penguin looked at him. "Don't be so preposterous. There's no such thing as werewolves…"
"See fer yourself," Hagrid nodded to Lupin's corner across from him.
There was a cracking of bones and the three had turned to see the body of Professor Lupin beginning to grow. Fingers turned to claws and a nose turned into a lupine muzzle. His small form elongated and stretched into a half-man, half-wolf state. A low moan came from the creature as it looked about.
"Well, what do you know, "Joker said off-handedly, "A real life wolf-man."
The werewolf snarled and lunged at the Joker, who let out a shriek and jumped into Two-Faces arms. However, the shackles on the creatures wrists and ankles prevented it from reaching its prey.
"Back you vermin!" Penguin fended off the werewolf with his umbrella. The chains strained against the wall.
"Bella!" Joker hollered, still in Two-Faces arms, as the werewolf Lupin smacked the umbrella out of Penguin's hand.
A dark-eyed woman Death Eater raced in. Harry immediately recognized her as Bellatrix Lestrange.
"Stupefy!" Bellatrix yelled, wand pointed against the creature.
Red sparks flew and Lupin collapsed on the floor, out cold.
"Whew," Joker sighed. "That was close…"
Two-Face looked at the Joker and dropped him to the floor. Walking after the Penguin, his legs shaking.
"Was it something I said?" Joker looked after the retreating figures of Lestrange, Two-Face, and Penguin and then to the chained professors. They were all glaring at him.
Joker gave an awkward smile and hurried out of the cell.
After making sure their feet were completely covered, the invisible bundle that was Harry, Ron, and Hermione slowly make its way out into the corridor. They walked back up to the ground floor and went inside an empty classroom. Once there, Hermione threw the well fashioned cloak ungracefully off herself and locked the door, then proceeded to put a silencing charm on it.
With one quick look to each of the boys, Hermione sat down a top a desk.
"So, what do we do?" she asked somewhat demandingly.
"What'd you mean 'What'd we do'?" Ron asked, bewildered.
"How can you forget the conversation we had with McGonagall already?" Hermione asked, staring at him as if he had grown a second head.
"Oh, that. I thought you were talking about something else," Ron said, his face flushing.
"Well what exactly were you thinking?" Hermione said, arching an eyebrow.
"Well- you locked the door of an empty classroom, then you put a silencing charm on it and said 'what are we going to do?'. I'm seventeen, what do you want me to think?" Ron said throwing his hands up in the air.
Harry smacked himself on the forehead as Hermione's face turned the color of Ron's hair. "Can we please get back to the matter at hand?"
"Yes, of course, Harry," Hermione said after clearing her throat.
"So, do we go to visit this Batman character?" Harry said placing himself in a chair.
"Well, if I understand everything correctly, then yes, we'll have to go to America and see Batman," Hermione said looking over at him.
"America? And how do you think we're getting there?" Ron asked flopping himself down across from Harry.
"You do play Quidditch don't you? It's called flying, Ronald," Hermione said, the corners of her mouth twitching upwards.
"The problem is, we have no idea where Gotham is," Harry said, a frown dirtying his face.
"It's called a map, Harry," Hermione said with a sigh, getting thoroughly concerned with the boys lack of common sense.
"Oh, yeah, my mistake," Harry said, a blush tinting his cheeks. "Well then we're going to have to find at least one more Firebolt, because we all know that Hermione isn't going to fly on her own, no offence. Then, Saturday night when no one will realize that we're gone, we'll sneak off to Hogsmeade under the cloak and then fly from there to Gotham. Sound like a plan to you?"
"I'm up for it," Ron said.
"The plan it is," Hermione said grinning.