2

`Dead? What do you mean, dead?' Mike asked, voice laced with panic. That seemed a little odd to Harry- Mike had been refusing to look in Lucas's direction since they'd appeared in that cupboard.

`Things have been happening here,' Harry started explaining stiltedly.

`There's something hurting students here. Muggle borns, and our caretaker's a Squib. His cat got petrified. No one knows what it is, but it wants to clean the school of anyone who isn't magic enough. And if Lucas is a muggle…'

Ron's sentence trailed off but it was perfectly clear what he meant.

`Are none of you wizards?' Hermione asked, chewing nervously on a fingernail. `Or witches,' she added, looking at Eleven.

A strange look came over Eleven. Her eyes suddenly filled with frightening intensity; Hermione took a step back.

And a wizard chess piece flew from across the room into Eleven's palm. The bishop threw a violent tantrum, furiously waving about his ittle stick; no one any paid attention.

`I've never heard of non-verbal spells cast by someone our age,' Hermione said wonderingly. `You must be extremely powerful.' Eleven bit her lip, smiled slightly and then, as if showing off, let the bishop float in the air. She returned him to the box.

`It's not magic,' Mike said. `It's sort of like this telepathy thing.'

`Telekinesis,' corrected Dustin and Hermione at the same time.

Harry looked back and forth. Were they seriously not bothering to ask the obvious question?

`How did you lot get here?' Asked Harry into the silence.

`Oh. Right.' Dustin and Mike's eyes moved to Eleven.

`Didn't mean to,' she muttered quietly. So she could speak.

`We were looking for our friend, Will. He got pulled into this place called the Upside Down, and Dustin figured out how to get to the portal,' explained Mike. `But Eleven changed the compasses so we went in the wrong direction-'

Eleven looked up, for the first time seeming a little angry. `Dangerous,' she said firmly, if not furiously. Mike pressed on.

`And Lucas started yelling at Eleven. We got into a fight and Eleven started screaming and then we got jolted here.'

`Did we go back in time?' Asked Dustin. `This place looks like it's medieval times.'

`It's 1993,' Ron said helpfully.

`Nine years forward!' Dustin zoomed to Ron and grabbed his shoulders. `Tell me, please- Do they do a sequel of Poltergeist? This is important, Ron!'

`Yeah, they do, and it's bloody awful!' Ron replied, peeling Dustin off. He stepped back, looking distraught.

`Is this the most important thing right now?' Snapped Mike, gesturing at the door. `What about-'

But before he could finish, there was a shriek. It bounced off the walls, echoing away into nothing.

`Lucas,' Mike whispered quietly.

`No one's shouted before,' Hermione said, equally quietly. `Something's different.'

`And I didn't hear the voice,' added Harry. Then he turned round and properly focused on Dustin, Eleven and Mike- all three were white as sheets, and Eleven looked like she was going to vomit.

`What?' Harry, Ron and Hermione asked in unison. Dustin replied, his voice shaking.

`Demogorgon.'