In come a few of our favorite Labyrinth creatures!

- Chapter 6 -

Fwiends in the Labyrinth

"Oh, Merlin! How are we supposed to even get inside the blasted labyrinth if there isn't a door?" Harry exclaimed with annoyance. At least they had given the entrance to Harry during the third task of the Triwizard Tournament. "That book you've been telling me, Toby? Did it say where the entrance was?" Harry had tried a few explosive spells with his wand but felt apprehensive as he could sense the magic radiating from the Labyrinth and didn't want to disturb it.

Toby shook his head.

"Cheer up, mate." Harry said as he patted the younger boy's shoulder. "It's only been less than a half hour at most! What we need to do is ask for some help… What about those little flying things?"

Harry and Toby approached the flittering little creatures who were gathered around the flowers growing along the outer wall. Toby halted in his steps when he realized what they were. "Fairies, Harry…I don't think we should ask them."

"But they're just fairies. Not harm—Ouch! Hey, that hurt!" Harry said as he flicked the fairy away. "Much like dealing with pixies…small, not really dark creatures but pretty annoying." Harry muttered darkly. "Why were you afraid of them?"

"My sister…she told me stories with fairies…not like the kind other kids hear about. She said they could be vicious." Toby answered as he caught up with Harry who was still inspecting the outer wall. "Do you have siblings?"

Harry's mind popped with an image of his overweight cousin, Dudley Dursley, round and becoming as beefy as Harry's Uncle Vernon. "Well, no…"

"Sarah's really my half-sibling but I've never thought of her like that." Toby continued. "She went to a magical school in the States called Salem Academy, similar to Hogwarts, I think. She's really smart and makes up the best stories even more imaginative than the magic she sees at her school!"

Harry smiled at Toby's chatter, light hearted and full of admiration for his sister. "You said she'd be teaching at my school before…when we were at Gringotts. Is that true?"

Toby nodded but his expression fell when Harry mentioned the teaching job. "Even if we save her…she'll end up going away anyway…"

Harry wrapped an arm around the boy's shoulder in a half hug as they walked along, still studying the wall.

"I wish Sarah wouldn't have to leave me…"

"Sawah?"

Both boys halted when they heard this third voice.

"Sawah?"

"Hello? We're looking for Sarah!" Harry called hoping whoever was on the other side of the wall would be able to hear him.

"Have you seen my sister? Sarah?" Toby yelled as they heard the heavy thud, thud of padded feat on the ground over the tall wall. "Can you tell us where the entrance to this labyrinth is?"

Suddenly, what had looked like an ordinary piece of the wall sprung back on what seemed like hinges to reveal a mass of hair that reminded Harry very much of the Weasley family. The creature was as large as Hagrid with a leathery face in a goofy smile and horns on its head. He titled his head in confusion at the sight of the two humans who were not Sarah, he deduced.

"No Sawah…" the beast said sorrowfully.

The hairy thing looked so sad at this assumption that Harry couldn't help but apologize to the creature. "Sorry, we're looking for Sarah too. Are you her friend?" Harry asked. He saw Toby was inching closer to the strange thing but Harry was still hesitant to move forward…but it had showed them the way inside… Was the thing safe?

"Can you help me find my sister please?" Toby asked. Harry ran up to stop the boy from getting any closer to the creature. "Please, I just want to find my sister! The king said she would be in the Goblin City's castle. Do you know the way?"

The thing shook its head slowly and continued to stare at them. "Me Ludo." he said pointing to himself.

Harry smiled and was certain this Ludo creature meant the two of them no harm. They approached the monster and he seemed to break into a bigger smile seeing he wasn't alone anymore.

"I'm Toby!"

"And I'm Harry."

Ludo shook his head, pointed to each and repeated their names although Harry's name came out as "Hawee". He pointed a giant hand towards one of the passages, the one going to their right. "Fwiends gone. Fwiend say Ludo stay." He bowed his head and made a sound that the boys thought was a sniffle. "Ludo alone. Ludo scared."

"It's okay, Ludo!" Toby piped standing next to the furry giant and patting one of his giant fingers on his lap. "I'm scared too!"

"Do you want to come look for Sarah with us?" Harry offered. The ground began to shake as suddenly Toby fell against Harry when Ludo started jumping up and down with excitement.

"New fwiends!" he was joyfully shouting. "We get Didymus?"

"Who?" both boys chorused.

"Didymus fwiend. Knows way."

Harry nodded thinking it was the only thing they could go on from there at the moment. "So we'll just walk along here then? This is where your friend went, right, Ludo?" He smiled at the slow nods he made as he walked behind Toby and Harry slowly. It was like being with his friendly, Care of Magical Creatures teacher, Hagrid, a half-giant.

"Was that the door to the labyrinth, Ludo?" Toby asked.

Ludo tilted his head in confusion again. "Entrance far. Down there." Ludo said pointing to a distant wall that was part of the perimeter. "Rocks fwiends. Rocks move for fwiends."

Harry grinned. He had met a magical creature that could be of use to them getting to the castle. His powers could come in handy. If they hadn't stumbled upon Ludo…well, they probably would have been looking for the entrance still.

"Fwiend Didymus fine Ludo's fwiend. Hoggle lost." Ludo explained as best he could as they continued their walk. Harry recognized the name as the gardener that the Goblin King had mixed its name for Hogwarts.

"Maybe we'll find both of them." Toby mentioned brightly as he saw Ludo frown when he mentioned his lost friends.

"Halt you intrusive knaves! If ye be armed you would be foolish to go in battle with one such as I! Ruff!" a voice growled.

'Ruff?' Harry mouthed to Toby who shrugged.

Suddenly, something popped out from the wall, first a layer of canvas that had been disguised to camouflage with the rock wall and then a tiny dog creature in a knights suit riding on…another dog?

"Sir Ludo, have these knaves harmed you? Release my comrade or face my wrath!" the little creature on the dog's back barked at them.

"No, Didymus! Fwiends!" Ludo said, suddenly taking both Harry and Toby into his arms in one sweep and hugging them against his fur. "New fwiends! Where Hoggle?"

The creature pulled up the visor of his helmet and sniffed at Toby first and then at Harry. "New comrades? Brilliant, Sir Ludo! Allies serve well in times of glorious battle and challenges! I am Sir Didymus at your service." Sir Didymus bowed as low as he could, flourishing his paw extravagantly. "We are of utmost vigilance, good Sirs, as we are on a quest to seek out our humble friend, Sir Hoggle! We believe him to be in the King's castle."

Toby smiled excitedly and looked expectantly at Harry. "Would you know the way to the castle? We are in need of getting there ourselves."

"You, Sirs, would help us? Then by the King, we'll aide ye as well! Ruff! But be wary, comrades, trickery and danger may come upon us at any minute!" Sir Didymus exclaimed with caffeinated energy.

"Constant vigilance!" Harry exclaimed along with the canine creature good humouredly. Sir Didymus continued to talk rapidly as they progressed in their distance through many turns of the maze.

"Careful there, Sir Tobias," Toby scowled at his name. "That step right there would have triggered the door to the oubliette. Ruff! So young Sir here is the brother to our maiden Sarah?" He turned to Harry. "What parts would thee be from, Sir Harold?"

"Um…the Aboveground as you call it here. The wizard world although I live in the muggle world." Harry answered as he leapt past the trap stone that Sir Didymus had pointed out. "Do they have wizards here?"

"Wizards are of the Aboveground. Many creatures wield magic in our realm but the highest of magic is from the noble Fae folk like our Highness, royal King Jareth who presides over this domain."

"Where Hoggle? Miss Hoggle." Ludo cried as Harry patted his arm. "Hoggle find Sawah."

"You think they've both found each other in the castle?" Toby asked. "Why is Hoggle there?"

"Sir Hoggle was summoned by our king for reasons unknown. We hope both Lady Sarah and Sir Hoggle are well."

"Me too." Toby sighed.

They continued to walk occasionally asking a few question about each other's worlds until they reached a dead end to their disappointment. Sir Didymus apologized as his scent he used to track the castle was conflicting with the nearby Bog of Eternal Stench. Toby and Harry couldn't smell it but they guessed it was because Didymus had a dog's sense of smell.

They started to retrace their steps going four corners back. Suddenly a frightened roar caused them to turn to Ludo, now suspended in the air by one leg. 'Where had that noose appeared from?' Harry thought, whipping out his wand.

"There are some things coming over!" Toby cried as he saw small creatures dressed in armor with helmets that looked too large for their heads. They carried sharp spears and Harry was afraid of what they planned on doing with their catch, the gentle Ludo. "We've got to get Ludo down quick!" Toby cried again.

Harry whipped out his wand and stood between Didymus and Toby who were struggling to get the rope untied by having Toby throw Sir Didymus onto the rope and teeth it apart. Taking aim, Harry cried "Expelliarmus!" and one of the creatures was blast off its feet, spear sent flying out of its grimy hand.

Checking behind him to see the two still struggling to free the giant, Harry turned back to disarming the small creatures running towards them. But each creature just stood back up and retrieved their spear and continued to run full force towards the group. He heard a loud clash on the stone ground and saw Ludo lifting himself up and brushing Sir Didymus off.

Harry backed into the hedge as one decided to throw its spear at Harry. He backed away just in time and found that he was falling.

"Wha—" Harry gasped, trying to grasp at the hedge branches which were too small to hold him anyway.

"Harry?" Toby called as he saw the warrior creatures bringing their spears closer.

"Hey! Through here!" The teen's hand poked out from the hedge. "There's a passageway here. I'm clearing out these stupid branches so Ludo can fit." Toby helped him tear at the twiggy branches.

It was as if the hedge sensed what the two were trying to do. The branches retreated, creating a larger hole in the edge for Ludo to barely squeeze himself through. The other three dashed through it and were surprised to see the hedge close just as the attacking midgets with helmets got close to them.

They all collapsed onto the mossy ground under the heavy treetops that guarded above them. It was a little foggy around ankle height and moisture began to cling to their kin and outer clothing or fur.

"That…was too close." Harry panted as he fought to catch his breath. "But where are we now?"

Sir Didymus sniffed out the air and informed them they were getting closer to the Bog of Eternal Stench. Harry and Toby weren't so sure if that was a good thing or bad thing.

"Ludo, you're welcome! You can put us down now, big fellow! We need to breathe!" Harry laughed as Ludo once again swept the two boys into his shaggy arms and hugged tight.

"Fwiends save Ludo!" the giant beast cried.

"It's pretty dark in this area, isn't it? It was like broad daylight in between the hedges." Toby said as they started picking up their walk again. "I hope we never get into those tumbler chambers."

Toby described them from stories with segments of these infamous tumblers, told to him by Sarah, of course. Harry agreed that he wouldn't like to end up there either.

"What is our maiden Sarah's affair in your world, Sir Tobias? Has she a knight in her favor?" Sir Didymus asked.

Harry could see by the light of his wand after whispering 'Lumos'…Toby was staring at the mossy ground as they walked. "Sarah's going to teach overseas in Harry's school…" he mumbled lowly. "The deputy headmistress who visited was impressed with her history marks and research. And I don't think she's got a boyfriend…"

"History? History of Magic? Bloody hell…I thought I'd never see the day Binns retired!" He startled his other friends by whooping into the air. "We definitely need to find your sister, Toby. I don't want the headmaster and McGonagall begging for Binns to come back!"

"What's it like in Hogwarts, Harry?" Toby asked.

They continued walking steadily for another fifteen minutes as Harry talked about Hogwarts, some of his adventures of the year and the return of Voldemort. They continued like this until they met with a couple of creatures in their path. Very strange creatures. They were dancing around a fire.