Chapter 14

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She made it halfway down the corridors, stopping before the door. Her hand reached for the door, but a sharp scratch to her ankle stopped her. Hissing, she looked down and saw Emperor glaring at her.

"That hurt, Emperor! Really hurt," She knelt down and rubbed the area, lifting her trouser leg to show the red area. She rubbed it lightly with the tips of her fingers.

"MISS POTTER!" A voice bellied out in the corridor, making Rebekah freeze. Her eyes were wide but her lips curved into a sheepish smile as Madam Pomfrey came into view.

"I swear to Merlin, if I find that you are trying to get into that room, I will tell Professor Snape to lock you in the dungeons until tonight," She gave her a sharp look, hands on her hips. "Come, Miss Potter."

Rebekah didn't move, wondering if it was worth it to run away and hide, or face her wrath and possible punishment.

"Come on now, Miss Potter, you aren't in trouble," Madam Pomfrey said, waving her hand to start moving. "Curiosity gets the better of us all, come along. I'll bring you to your room and have a House-Elf bring food. No more exploring nonsense."

She sulked and hunched her shoulders a little, conveying guilt. "Alright, Madam. I'm sorry, it seems like my curiosity did get the best of me. I'll make sure it doesn't happen again."

"Good," Madam Pomfrey simply said.

They began to walk down to the ground floor of the castle, passing several loitering students that finished dinner early. Madam Pomfrey quickly dismissed them to their common rooms, library, or any other place that wasn't the corridors.

Peeves appeared with a bucket in his hands, dosing the portraits in water. One of them began screaming at him but Peeves just smiled and cackled. He did the same to the rest of the portraits on the wall, somehow he turned the water into paint and splashed them. The portraits were covered in rancid and ugly shades of every colour imaginable.

"I swear," Madam Pomfrey muttered under her breath, quickly running after the chaotic Poltergeist.

Rebekah saw this as an opportunity to leave, saying that she would go to her dorm straight away but she slipped up the stairs without being caught. She pulled the Invisibility Cloak over her head as she picked a small Emperor up and put him on her shoulder.

She rubbed her shoulder, cracking the bones in her neck and shoulder blades as every step closer to the door made her uncomfortable. She took each step slowly. She was a step away when something shoved her back a few metres.

"What are you doing, Miz Potta?" Peeves whispered into her face as he shot forward. He had a cheeky and knowing look on his face. "I thought I heard you say you were gonna go to your dorm until your detention tonight."

"Yeah, I did," Rebekah smiled innocently after taking the cloak off of her head. "I thought a small walk would help ease my worries before the detention."

"Now why would you need to ease your worries, Miz Potta?" He began to mock walk as he floated around her, hands behind his back. "Is it someone, or something?"

Rebekah gave him a once over, trying to determine his angle. What did he know? What did he want? Would it help her to tell him, or would it take her back several steps? She would have to take the chance.

"I don't actually know," She frowned, letting her eyes glisten with tears for but a moment. It made Peeves soften his features and posture at her fake sadness. "I-I'm just scared. I just want to know what's happening to me, and-and nothing has been explained to me. And I don't know what to do anymore."

"Ohohoh, Miz Potta," Peeves said, frowning. "I-I—" He grumbled as he took a moment to think, "—think you need to rest! Yeah! Especially with your scar hurting recently!"

"That's why I decided to come here," Rebekah pouted. "I remembered that the dog was here, and‐and I've got a knack for animals. They make me feel calm and everything, and I can't think straight."

"Oh," Peeves said. "You've gotta see this then, come on. Miss Potta, this way!"

He waved her over frantically and quickly flew to the door, opening it to show the three-headed dog.

Three pairs of rolling eyes looked at her as she walked in. Three noses twitched as she smiled. A single head lifted and stared into her, Rebekah froze mid-step. He gritted his teeth, causing the yellowish fangs to drip in ropes of saliva. Taking a big breath in, he huffed and placed his head back down, continuing to watch her as she continued to move closer.

He would have to watch her closely.

She was cautious with her movement, remembering when Aunt Marge's bitch almost bit Rebekah. The young bitch just had her puppies and Rebekah came too close too quickly, but the bitch quickly calmed when she realised that Rebekah meant no harm.

Rebekah held a loose hand in front of the middle head, allowing him to sniff her. This would enable him to actually trust her as she planned to stay with the hound for the next few hours until the detention. Was the hound violent, or just misunderstood much like all the other creatures?

Peeves had left moments ago, deciding after the look between the dog and her to leave them, else have to deal with the creature which would tear him apart, be it by hound or human means.

The middle head sneezed, the snot barely missed Rebekah as she jumped out of the way and landed on one of its paws. She froze as its right head took her by the scruff of her robes and shoved her between the other two heads. She was settled in the crooks of their necks, nestled comfortably as the left and middle heads snuggled her.

Fear pulsed through her with every movement but it dulled, she knew they didn't mean her any harm. Rebekah used a firm tone to tell Emperor to not attack the hound, it wouldn't end well for anyone.

She named them. The middle was Zastiti, protect, the right was Haos, chaos, and the left head was Harmoni, harmoni. She didn't know why she chose these names but it felt right. Haos played with a lion-sized Emperor as he tried to lash at the paws playfully, eventually, the hound had enough and squished Emperor with a paw gently.

Rebekah was able to convince Draco and Daphne to distract the rest of the year later that night. She had a bad feeling as she found the door to the special room slightly ajar, shocking Rebekah as she found the heads asleep unnaturally. The harp in the corner stopped and she sighed, they awoke with a threatening growl but sneezed on her again.

"Who'd do this to you? Why?" She said as she gave each head a good scratch behind the ears. Harmoni snarled at the trapdoor, he used to like it but now he seemed to despise it with a passion. Something told her something or someone was down there. "I'll be careful, okay?"

She sent a quick Lumos down the trapdoor, it was several hundred metres deep but as she dropped a book from her endless pouch, she found it was a soft land from the thump sound it made. She took a deep breath and jumped. Midair, she slowly descended and landed carefully on her knees.

Something pulled her ankle, making her scream a little in surprise. Staying quiet and still, it unwrapped from around her but she stomped on it in anger. It wrapped tightly again.

"For goodness sake!" Rebekah grumbled as she took out her wand. "I hope you're what I think you are. INCENDIO!"

The plant was repulsed by the fire and let her go. It didn't take very long for Rebekah to get the old key with wings, her broom was always in her pouch. She gained several bruises but she couldn't complain when she got through the door.

She hated chess.

Rebekah found herself on the edge of a giant chessboard. Black chess pieces stood before her, much taller than her and carved from beautiful stone that reflected the light wonderfully. The white pieces were faceless, almost brooding-like and Rebekah just knew she wouldn't be able to get to the door behind them. She needed to play.

After taking her place as the missing castle, she lost several pieces to the white pieces. They lost just as many as she did. Rebekah took her sweet time with every piece she moved, she didn't want to lose any piece needlessly. The white queen had planned to take a black piece but Rebekah had moved herself to take the queen. Rebekah didn't destroy her, there wasn't a need as the queen bowed her head and moved off the board.

She had made her way to the other end. The white king abruptly turned and took his crown off, placing it on Rebekah's head when she landed next to him. The king's head was bowed as his queen came to stand by him, she also bowed. Rebekah did the same with a certain amount of respect for them.

"Wonderful game. Thank you for playing," Rebekah said, smiling. She took the crown off of her head and inspected it. "Can I keep the crown?"

The king bowed at the waist as the crown in her hands turned from white stone to pure gold. The whole crown flashed suddenly and Rebekah closed her eyes for a moment, it began lighter in her hands as she opened her eyes. It looked purely medieval with the sharp curves as the once pure white stones turned to bright rubies.

"One day, I hope to play again," Rebekah said, placing the crown safely into her endless pouch.

The white pieces moved away from the back door and soon Rebekah found herself in front of a troll that was out cold. It was much bigger than the one that attacked the Great Hall, almost doubled in height. The smell made her gag and her eyes water, she pulled her sleeve to her face as she walked forward and past that disgusting mess.

Rebekah opened the next door and finally got away from the troll. The room was suddenly lit with large amounts of fire as she looked around. A table sat in the middle with seven bottles strangely shaped. There didn't seem to be an order but she looked at the parchment that sat there.

A riddle?

She looked back and saw that black flames prevented her from leaving. She sighed and took the paper, beginning to read it.

Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,

Two of us will help you, whichever you would find,

One among us seven will let you move ahead,

Another will transport the drinker back instead,

Two among our number hold only nettle wine,

Three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line.

Choose, unless you wish to stay here forevermore,

To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:

First, however, slyly the poison tries to hide

You will always find some on nettle wine's left side;

Second, different are those who stand at either end,

But if you would move onward, neither is your friend;

Third, as you see clearly, all are different size,

Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides;

Fourth, the second left and the second on the right

Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight.

Rebekah wanted to scream in frustration. Why did this have to be so difficult? All she wanted to know was what the hound was protecting. Whatever he was [rotecting, it would have to be of great importance to have so much protection.

She calmed after a moment and began to think. Out of the seven bottles, three were poison, two wine, one would protect her against the black fire and the last would get her through. Now she needed to figure out which one was which. It took her several long minutes, a lot of pointing at each one as she crossed them off as one bottle or the other in her mind.

She took the smallest bottle and looked into it, then cautiously gulped the liquid. Ice filled her bloodstream as she stepped through the purple fire. She couldn't see anything as the purple fire surrounded her in a warm hold, never burning her as she continued to walk until she came into a chamber.

Rebekah knew her suspicions were right.

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