Darkness

"I saw my baby,
crying hard as babe could cry.
What could I do?
My baby's love had gone,
and left my baby blue.
Nobody knew…"

This part of the Labyrinth was very different from before. Whereas the last bit only went one way, this part went every way. There were constant turns and twists, openings that only met walls, walls that had openings, it was maddening. Harry was sure he was going in circles. The walls were still too tall for him to climb, he wished he could get a better view. He could see the castle in the distance, upon its hill. Every time Harry thought it seemed closer, he would turn around and it would be further away than before. None of it made sense! Was Hogwarts moving? Harry didn't know. He needed some sort of strategy for getting through the Labyrinth so far he had been taking right turns, but that was getting him nowhere. Just dead ends. Maybe I could leave signs? Harry thought, he began searching his pockets for something to write with. He had nothing. Looking around Harry found a sharp piece of discarded rock, maybe he could make marks with this? He bent down and ran it against the stone covered ground. Sure enough, it left a white streak in its wake.

Harry decided to draw arrows pointing each direction he went. That way if he ran into a dead end he could retrace his steps. He made an arrow pointing straight ahead, moving that way as he got back up. What he didn't notice as he left, was a small goblin coming out from under the stone and removing his mark. At every intersection, Harry stopped and scratched on the walkway. Every time he left a mark, that same small goblin would change it. Harry didn't notice. A few times however, he would hear something that sounded like Dudley crying. When he heard this Harry would take off into the direction of the screaming and get lost again. Harry quickly realized that each time he followed these cries, they would take him further from the castle. He stopped following Dudley's screams. They only got louder as he ignored them, though. The cries became more terrible, as if Dudley was in great pain. Harry clapped his hands over his ears. He walked with his ears covered for a bit, but it only got more intense, the cries were horrid.

What could possibly make Dudley cry like that?

The cries were inside Harry's head now. His eyes watery, he sank to the floor, still clutching his ears. It felt real, it sounded real. Harry had not heard Dudley cry like this before, he'd not heard anything cry like this shrieks and screams became distorted, echoed, a high cold laugh could be heard alongside them. He began crying with the screams. Harry had never known something this horrible. He was going to be driven to insanity by his cousin's cries of pain. There was nothing he could do, how could he stop something in his mind? Trickery. The word appeared in Harry's thoughts, pulling on something. The Labyrinth… is full of trickery. This was a test, meant to disrupt him from his path. This isn't real! As soon as Harry came to that realization, the crying stopped. Slowly Harry uncoiled from himself, having curled into a ball on the floor. He sat up against a stone wall. He was shaking, his eyes bloodshot and wet, his throat stung a bit. Harry smiled, though. It wasn't real. He was laughing now. It wasn't real! He removed his glasses and scrubbed his shirt sleeve over his face, standing up, still chuckling a bit. Harry had read once, that Labyrinths drove people mad. He never understood that. How could a maze drive someone insane? Harry now knew. There was some sort of magic within the Labyrinth that toyed with minds. Clever, Harry thought, but I'm smarter than that. He picked up his rock and began walking again, leaving arrows at crossroads.

Harry found himself at another dead end, sighing he went to turn around, searching for his marks. Only to find they were gone. Exasperated he bent down to touch the stone which he had just left an arrow on. How could it have vanished? Harry was irritated.

"It's not fair!" He threw the rock as far as he could.

"Of course it isn't fair," two voices spoke together.

Harry turned back to the dead end, only it wasn't a dead end anymore. Standing where there once was only a stone wall, were twin ginger-headed sphinx. Each one placed before a door, guarding them. They both watched Harry, smiling, tails twitching.

"I- I thought this was a dead end," Harry voiced.

"Actually, that's the dead end, behind you," said the sphinx on the right.

Harry spun around, only to find the words to be true. Where there used to be a crossroads was now only wall. Harry blinked at if for a few seconds. The Labyrinth is changing. The twin sphinx were staring at Harry, impish grins on their faces. Weren't sphinx supposed to be female? These were obviously male, nothing was ever right in this place.

"Well, what am I to do now?" Harry frowned. If these really were sphinx he would have to solve a riddle. Would he have to solve two riddles? That didn't seem fair.

"The only way out," began the one on the left, "is to try one of these doors."

"One of them leads to Hogwarts," the one on the right was speaking now, "and the other leads to certain death." They both smiled widely at this, something glinting in their eyes.

"Am I to solve which door is which, is that the riddle?" They nodded once at Harry. "How?"

"There are two rules," they spoke together, it unnerved Harry when they did this. "You can only ask one of us about where the doors lead."

"The second rule," the right one was speaking alone now, "is that one of us always tells the truth, and the other always lies."

"I should warn you," the left one began, "he always lies."

The right sphinx looked scandalized. "I do not! I tell the truth!"

"Oh, what a lie!" They both laughed heartily.

Harry watched them for a moment. Each sphinx was guarding a door, each door looked identical, just like the sphinx. One door leads to death, the other to his destination. He could ask one of them which door to take, but he might not get a straight answer. So, the real question was, which one lied? Knights and Knaves, Harry's mind supplied. Yes, this was reminiscent to one of his books. Only it was obvious who lied and told the truth based on appearance and- oh. Their personalities! The Knights were more gallant, noble. The Knaves were the opposite. But these twins seemed to be the same. The left one did try to warn him about the right, but the right seemed offended. Either one could be lying. Sighing Harry decided to take a chance with the left sphinx.

"Alright," Harry began. The twins stopped laughing, they now looked very serious. Harry walked up to the left.

"Would he tell me that this door leads to the castle?"

"Yes."

If the right one was the liar, then the left door would lead to certain death and the right one would lead to Hogwarts. But if the right one wasn't the liar then the left sphinx would have lied to him. So if the left sphinx had lied to him then the answer was no, and the right door would still lead to Hogwarts. Harry smiled, he had figured it out. It was simple.

"The right door leads to certain death, and the left leads to the castle," he stated.

"Are you sure?" The twins spoke together.

"Yes."

Grinning, the twins shared a look and moved away from the doors. Harry slowly turned the knob of the left door, once it swung open he could see a stone corridor, at the end of which he could see Hogwarts! Harry was ecstatic, he had never solved a riddle like this before. He had done it! This wasn't so hard, he'd have Dudley back long before the 13 hours were up.

"This is a piece of cake!" Harry said as he walked down the corridor.

The floor beneath Harry opened up, and he fell.

Harry screamed as he plummeted down, it was dark, he couldn't see, there was nothing to grab onto. He flailed his arms out anyway, calling for help. Suddenly he stopped his descent. Something was holding him.

"Hello?" He called, voice rough.

There was no answer, Harry was suspended in some sort of dark narrow hole. There was an awful smell around him, Harry wished he could cover his nose. His eyes began to adjust. He could make out things on the walls. Several of the things held him. Harry started to panic. What were they? Why were they holding him? Where was he? He had chosen the right door! Why was he here? How was he going to get out? Harry's eyes had fully adjusted to the lack of light by the time he was able to tame his panic. Thankfully, his glasses were still on his nose. The things on the walls were clear now, and Harry was horrified. They were hands. Hundreds of them, sprouting from the walls. Human hands. Some of them were rotten, others were fresh and bloody. Harry shrieked, he violently jostled from their grip.

Harry fell once again.

He screamed the rest of the way down, high cold laughter mixed with his yells. Harry landed on dirt, miraculously he hadn't broken anything. Harry stayed down. He heard something shut above him. He didn't move, he kept his eyes screwed shut. He could only see hands. Rotting, dead, bodiless hands. Hundreds of them. He was shaking, his stomach clenching. Maybe they weren't real. The Labyrinth had played with his mind earlier, maybe this was the same. But the smell. Harry's stomach heaved, emptying itself onto the floor before him. There was no doubt in Harry's mind that it was real. Shivering he opened his eyes, but there was nothing to see.

Everything was black, he was alone.

In the castle beyond Hogsmeade, the Dark Lord and his goblins stood around a large crystal, watching. Harry was shown in the clear orb, crying. The goblins laughed. The Dark Lord's face was blank. He had laughed when Harry screamed, but now he was silent.

"He shouldn't have gotten this far," as the Dark Lord spoke, the goblins laughter ceased. "He should have given up by now."

"He'll never give up, my Lord," a goblin with long blond hair said.

The Dark Lord kept his eyes on the crystal, watching Harry.

"He will."

"My Lord?"

Voldemort gazed at the blond goblin, who bowed, awaiting orders.

"Send your child to fetch Harry," he began, "have him take Harry to the start of the Labyrinth."

"Yes, my Lord," the blond goblin rushed out of the room.

Voldemort's eyes were drawn back to the crystal. Surely Harry would give up once he realizes he'll have to start all over again. The Dark lord laughed. The goblins exchanged wary glances. Harry would beg for his mercy. He grabbed the crystal and crushed it, smirking. Another crystal replaced the last, Harry's face appeared immediately within. Voldemort checked the clock, nine hours left. Dudley would be needing another potion. He moved towards a table which contained nothing but potions, he grabbed one and handed it to a goblin. The goblin would know what to do with it. It bowed and left. The Dark Lord sat down and watched the crystal again. Draco's face appeared on the orb. Voldemort's terrible smile grew. Soon.

"...What kind of magic spell to use?"

AN: I just wanted to say thank you to ObsidianPen, Anathema's Twist, Fae0306, and DarkLordTomarry. You guys are amazing and, just thank you so much for your support and help. YOU GUYS ARE CUTE AND I LOVE YOU! ...Ahem.
Also, I wanted to explain something real quick. The riddle doors. In the movie Sarah does choose correctly (Harry does as well), so why do they fall into the oubliette? The law of the Labyrinth. The law of the labyrinth doesn't just apply to the movies labyrinth, but every labyrinth. It originates back to the Minotaur's Labyrinth. (Y'know, that nice beasty guy who lived in the Daedalus's labyrinth and ate people?) Basically, it just means that labyrinths have to make no sense. That they must be abstract. So, for example, when the labyrinth becomes predictable, or, when you start to find your way… everything changes. Nifty, huh? It's also a metaphor for life. When life gets easy, that's when it gets difficult.
Why yes, I do have loads of useless knowledge, thanks for asking. c:
Lastly, I wanted to apologize for how short this chapter is, the next one will be longer, I promise. Thank you for reading.