Draco entered first, the coffin floating behind him with the two skilled wizards at each side. Behind the coffin, Greg.
An eeriness filled Draco, and his gaze took in the receiving room. Nothing seemed to be amiss. His wand, still out before him, moved with his gaze until they both settled on the door leading to the quickest path to the ritual room. Both spellcasters were casting, but still the creaks and thuds could be heard further in. What was the manor planning? It made his stomach churn.
They made their way to the door without issue. Draco attempted to force his way through physically - it didn't budge. He blasted the door then, only to quickly cast a shield spell as the splinters flew back at them. He blinked in surprise at the stone wall behind the door, no corridor lay beyond. Of course, it wouldn't be easy.
"This is just like when we were trying to track you down," Severus growled. "That house elf kept moving the corridors."
Draco doubted this had been an elf. He could feel the manor, moving and twisting beneath him. However, elf - that gave him an idea.
"Porridge."
She popped in immediately, her large eyes jolting back and forth at different walls, at the things Draco could feel moving on the other sides. She then glanced at Draco. She quivered, her ears shaking so much that when she bowed, he could feel the wind generated by them. "Porridge is here to serve, master. Please don't be angry at Porridge, this is not Porridge's doing."
They didn't have time for this. "Can you get us to the room with the willow by the pond?"
Porridge looked up, her hands gripping tightly at the pink silk pillowcase she wore. "Porridge… Porridge is stupid-"
No, he wouldn't let her get carried away. He leaned close. "You are to be the next matriarch house elf of this household, you are a Malfoy elf, you can do this. Straighten your back and stop quivering. This is your house."
Her eyes widened, as if it never occurred to her that she would outlive Jiffy, which she would. And then she processed his words. She squared her little shoulders, her ears stopped vibrating as much - though they very much still shook. Her eyes watered. "Master has much faith in Porridge."
"Open the passage for us, help me," Draco begged her.
Her eyes went to the stone wall and her eyes narrowed then. Her hands went into the air and he could feel the thrum of her magic, swirling around her. "The master demands thee open." He felt it, her magic hit the stone and the stone responded. "Come master."
And thus began their flight through corridors. Draco barely recognized anything in their current state. A vase from upstairs, though they were on the ground floor, he broke as it flew at the little elf. Armoires and other inanimate objects made themselves obstacles. It took all his concentration to ensure the elf's safety as time after time she used her magic to throw open the doors only for something to come at her in response. He could feel the manor, the anger, the attempts it made to put a stop to what they intended to do.
Finally, they came to the tapestry, and behind it the room. It hadn't been moved, or the manor had been unable to move it. The second the coffin crossed the threshold, the room seemed to fill with an unnatural wind. The branches swayed. The fish swam to the surface of the water, as if drowning and gasping for breath.
"Quick, to the center," Severus commanded. "As Filius and I keep the cleansing spells up, we need you and Greg to attempt to undo the runes that have been set."
The coffin rested at the base of the willow, a step away from the water's edge.
Draco began moving around it, feeling with magic — his own, younger magic responding. He pulled out his chisel and cut his arm. He transfigured a quill from a blade of grass. The tip of the quill he pressed into his cut, coating it in blood. With that be began drawing the counter runes around the outside.
"I'm going to be rubbish at this," Greg confessed, he had transfigured a quill but he was slow to write upon the outer edge of a rune. The rune itself had yet to remove the preservation charm - thus the blood dripped and did not absorb.
"Severus," Draco said to get the man's attention, "Switch with Greg."
Draco did not even feel it as Severus dipped the quill into the open wound on his arm and began writing quicker than Draco had ever seen. He focused his attention back to his own work. Feeling for his own magic that had been separated from him long ago.
Porridge gave a little cry then, jolting Draco from the work. The elf looked at him with fear. "The manor has woken the beasts from the dungeons." She whimpered, her hands moved left and right with magic. "Porridge will not be able to hold them off for long."
'That which did not wish to wake.' He wouldn't be able to force something like that to sleep without losing his ability. Hadn't that been his grandfather's warning. With a glance at Severus, the black eyes looked directly into his. "What beasts?"
"My ancestors' creations," Draco moved away from the coffin, mind racing. He looked at the entry way to the room, the doorway made of wood. The manor had no control of these rooms, that had been shown. "Keep at it, I'll take care of this."
"Your blood," Severus motioned at Draco's arm.
Draco cursed, "Can you use a siphoning charm?" Would more magic impact this?
"Yes," it was the Flitwick who spoke. "There is a high-level siphoning charm will not impact the ritual." Filius turned from his cleansing duty to Draco, and spoke a long phrase, magic spinning around him. Then he pointed his wanted from Draco to the quill in Severus' hand. The man then turned back to the coffin.
Draco grabbed the chisel from the grass and then rushed to the doorway. With ease and speed from years of carving he cut wards in the door, re-enforcing the chisel with his own magic to do his will.
He heard them before he saw them. The clattering of hooves and the growls. He brushed the tapestry aside. The stone boar was first to show itself and it lowered its head, tusks out front and charged. Draco ducked back inside the doorway. The wards he carved reacted the second the creature attempted to make it through. Roots sprouted from the doorway, snagging the animal, catching it right before the tusk reached Draco. He carved more runes into the upper doorway panel as he heard the clatter of more animals.
A flying monkey, with fangs so large they could easily have been the size of the boar's tusks, got caught up above.
"Almost done," Filius yelled from the middle room to be above the noises of the angry animals, "The last of the preservation spells are coming off."
Draco returned to the coffin - hoping the wards would hold long enough. He exchanged the chisel for quill once again and began working just as quickly as Severus. There were only small amounts of his younger magic remaining. And then. None.
The animals continued to curse at them from the doorway and Draco could hear the groan of wood against the onslaught. It would not hold much longer.
Draco's gaze went to Filius. The half-goblin poked at the coffin with his wand, inspecting the details closely. He then looked at Draco. "It is done."
No, something was wrong. The manor was still angry, undefeated. They were still trapped here. Draco opened the lid.
There was no stench of death - a preservation charm still clung to the bodies. Granger. Granger looked almost alive. Almost. There was ruddiness still clinging to her cheeks. He had taken her body immediately for the ritual. Her lips still red. Her arm with still the fresh wound, her hands enclosing the wrapped body of a child.
Draco gave a shudder at the sight at the memory of putting them both away.
"It's not fading." Filius said at last, after he transfigured steps and could inspect the bodies.
The groaning of the wood of the doorway grew louder. The animals cursing at them in Latin grew more pronounced.
Severus pointed his wand, but Draco's hand stilled his. "These were made to withstand wizard spells. I suspect whatever you throw at it, may even bounce back at us."
A war cry then came from outside of the room and the animals that could move, dispersed. Those caught gave a scream, before turning back into stone. His wards released them then, and they fell into a heap at the entryway. Vega' head peaked over the pile of stone and then he clambered over. Potter, Pomfrey and McGonagall followed.
Draco gave a sigh of relief but then froze. One head unaccounted for. "Where is my mother?"
Potter grimaced. "The cat chased her through a corridor when we opened the door there was a wall. Hermione went too, to try and calm the cat."
Vega pawed at his muzzle and Draco could see there were scales missing from the dragon's face - scars even. "The manor… overcame me."
An unearthly wail echoed through the hallways then. Draco's spine stiffened in response. Silence followed. The clatter of corridors, moving of stone, groaning of wood, thumping of animals - all faded.
"We need to find her." Draco said, his gaze fell to Vega.
"We need to figure out how to undo this preservation charm," Filius said.
"Porridge?" Draco asked, looking at the panting house elf.
The elf made her way over to the coffin, wary. She bounced on her feet to look inside. She raised her hands, moving with the wind of the room. But then nothing. No change. She bit her lip and turned to Draco. "Porridge cannot undo the patriarch magic. Not until she inherits the house."
Draco closed his eyes. Either Jiffy needed to undo the spell, or he'd have to somehow force the elf's hand, or kill him.
Potter's eyes widened seeing the coffin. He took off in a sprint, running to it. His steps froze when Granger's face came into view.
"She's still alive," A light came to his eyes.
She wasn't. Draco remembered the ghost emerging from her, and he closing her eyelids. His hands had massaged her cheeks, to remove the look of terror and pain upon them. The expression on Potter's face, he'd seen it before in his own face, in the Mirror of Erised he'd stumbled across his last year at Hogwarts. He'd seen his daughter crawling to him, smiling. And when he'd remembered the painful truth of reality, the bitterness had made him weep once more.
He should be angry Potter put his living mother below the body of a dead girl, but he cannot. He cannot even form words to tell the man the truth. He stared at the wrapped cloth in Granger's hands, and knew the face beneath it. He was about to make the same call. "If we want to help them, we need to find my house-elf, Jiffy. He modified the ritual. He'll know how to undo whatever is making them stuck. He is not answering his summons. We need to find my mother as well. You can track her, can't you, Potter?" Draco asked. "I'll look for Jiffy, you find my mother."
Potter tore his gaze away from Granger's face. His expression became serious, and he gave a nod. He gripped his wand and turned for the door.
"Vega, go with Potter." Because if Antares needed taming, Vega would be needed.
"I'll help look too, she might need healing," Pomfrey said between her own gasping breaths.
"Minerva, we could use your assistance here," Severus said. "There might be a way for us to undo this without the elf." Severus turned to Draco then. "Be careful, you have spent a lot of blood."
Draco nodded and then turned his attention to the Porridge. The elf, feeling his gaze, looked up at him. Her hands were still, her ears drooped, and her tongue stuck out in a pant. She'd used a lot of magic already. She done much for him. Just like Dobby.
Draco blinked. Dobby had apparated with Potter. "Porridge."
"Yes, master."
"Take me to Jiffy."
Doubt filled her eyes, her lips quivered.
He couldn't feel her fear anymore, nor could he feel the emotions of those around him anymore. But he knew that look. Draco extended his hand to her. "I trust you."
She gave a stiff nod. Her eyes began to water. Her lips quivered even more and then she spoke in a hiccup, "At once, master." She grabbed his hand and in an instant, they were gone.
He felt a tug on every part of his skin. The world swirled. He closed his eyes.
