Harry Potter and the Garden of Stone
~o~
Chapter 5 – The Forgotten Chambers
"Bollocks. The ham is out. Pass me the last of the eggs, will you?"
Harry and Ron were in the Great Hall, busily stuffing what food was left at Gryffindor table in their mouths. If it had not been for Longbottom dropping his school bag and the resulting commotion, they would have still been asleep. Instead, they had hastily gotten ready and were now trying to eat at record speed. That was why Harry did not immediately notice the wind-swept owl landing in front of him, until it gently pecked at his fingers.
"Quaffle!" he exclaimed, surprised. "Sorry, I didn't see you there, girl."
James had named the owl years ago due to its red-brown feathers and cloggy shape. Harry was not sure if she appreciated the comparison. He had found owl droppings on their practice quaffle more than once. Now that she had his attention, Quaffle scurried nearer, tilting her head so that Harry would pat her. He indulged his sweet owl for a few moments, before gently loosening the package she had brought. It revealed a note and a dozen pumpkin pastries from his mum. They smelled so much like home that Harry had to swallow hard. It hit him that today was going to be his first Halloween away from his parents.
The bell made him jump and forget his melancholy. Classes were about to start in five minutes. He slid the note from home in his pocket, grabbed two pastries and stuffed the rest in his bag. Thrusting one pastry in Ron's hand, he hurried outside. Autumn had arrived in full. The winds had grown colder and whipped heavy clouds across the sky, while the foliage of the Forbidden Forest had turned orange and dark red. Harry and Ron ran across the grounds to greenhouse number one and reached it just in time to slip in behind the rest of the Gryffindors. Ron grinned, stuffed his pastry in his mouth and made to follow Professor Sprout.
She was a squat little witch, but still tall enough to jut out in the crowd of first years. She led the class through a vast collection of fungi to the West corner of the greenhouse. Instead of boring mushroom, green plants and colourful leafs filled the raised beds there. The class came to a halt in front of a large planter and Professor Sprout cleared her throat: "Today we'll begin our study of smaller plants. Don't let yourselves be fooled by their size or appearance. Many aren't as innocuous as they would like you to think. An excellent example of such a case is this tiny specimen here. Can someone tell me its name?"
Harry glanced at the red flower, but he had never seen anything similar in his mother's garden. However, Longbottom and Granger had raised their hands.
"Yes, Mr. Longbottom?"
"That's the Ferrua Vecta, also called devil's mouth."
"Exactly. Five points to Gryffindor," Professor Sprout said. "The name devil's mouth should already have you up on your guard. Now, let's have a better look at it. Please tell us what you see, Mr. Potter."
Harry approached the plant cautiously. The devil's mouth was rather small and had densely packed pointy petals. It reminded Harry of an aggressive-looking artichoke.
"Erm, the petals aren't soft like normal flowers and they're… Are they made out of glass?" Harry asked. "And the flower itself is weird, too. I can see new roots spreading above the earth, as if they were forming a net."
"Very good, Mr. Potter," Professor Sprout said with an encouraging smile as he stood back. "The devil's mouth is a so-called ground cover. It uses its thick web of roots to extract as much iron from the soil as possible, which is why its petals are this characteristic deep red and why we usually find this plant on battlefields or near slaughterhouses. In short, wherever blood has been spilled. But those aren't its only peculiarities. As opposed to other plants, which we defined as passive nurturers, the devil's mouth can actively seek nutrients. As Mr. Potter has correctly noted, its petals are translucent. Actually, they are less petals than technically resin, shaped into thin razor-sharp blades."
She lowered her hand until it was an inch away from the devil's mouth and moved it along the planter. The flowers seemed to sway, curving left and right to follow her hand, the resin petals clinging dangerously whenever they touched each other.
"See how it mirrors the movements of my hand? If I tried to touch the devil's mouth, it would cut me, drawing the blood it needs to grow. That's two points for your observation, Mr. Potter." Professor Sprout pulled her hand away from the flowers and smiled at the class. "Now, while the devil's mouth isn't considered dangerous, because its cuts aren't deep, they're still nasty enough to warrant treatment. The edges of those resin petals are covered in a secretion that inhibits wound healing in order to keep the victim bleeding. Thus, if you want to avoid a trip to the hospital wing, I recommend you wear your dragon leather gloves." She put on her own gloves and bend over the planter, plucking out one resin petal in a fluid motion and holding it up for the class. "You will harvest these little fellows and bring them to Professor Slughorn. They're ripe and ready now, but be careful not to break them. You will find smaller pots, each with two devil's mouths, over there in the corner. No more than four at one pot. And don't forget your gloves!" Professor Sprout admonished, while the students started to fan out.
Harry and Ron looked at each other. In their matutinal hurry, they had completely forgotten their gloves in Gryffindor tower. Professor Sprout was not amused, and by the time, she had handed them their pairs of substitute gloves along with a stern glare, there were no empty pots left. Lavender, Parvati, Sally-Anne and Sophie shared one. Granger was working with Susan Bones and two other Hufflepuffs and Harry was not even thinking of joining Longbottom and Dean. Fortunately, Ernie saw them and beckoned them to the devil's mouth he was working on with Hannah Abbott.
"Pretty interesting little thing, isn't it?" he said, shuffling sideways to make room for them.
"Oh, yes. Much better than those slimy mushrooms we had last time," Harry said.
"Ew." Hannah wrinkled her nose. "Those were utterly disgusting. Let's hope the devil's mouths are less nasty."
They put on their gloves and worked in groups of two. The devil's mouths certainly did not appreciate being picked apart and Harry had to use considerably more strength than he had anticipated in getting the petals ripped out of their pedicel. Ron broke a few resin petals, thick liquid sticking his fingers together, until he couldn't do more than curb his hands and hold what Harry had successfully gathered.
"… cannot tell them… None of their business…"
Ernie and Hannah were picking the petals off the flowers on the other side of the pot, whispering. Hannah was adamantly gesturing towards them, which Harry found curious. Ron had noticed as well because he had stopped trying to wipe the glue away and was staring at the Hufflepuffs.
"…could be of help."
"You should-"
"What's none of our business?" Ron asked bluntly, interrupting the two.
They turned around. Hannah blushed and Ernie hesitated for a moment, before he lowered his voice to a conspirative whisper.
"Maybe I shouldn't tell you, but I thought that you would be interested and if we could find it together…" He looked at Harry with the same expression Ron had every time Harry said Sirius' name. Hannah shot Ernie a warning stare, but he ignored her and ploughed ahead.
"Have you ever heard of the lost chambers?" he asked.
Harry shook his head and Ernie continued: "They're the rooms Salazar Slytherin personally used when he was at Hogwarts a thousand years ago. His laboratory, his study, his private library. Everybody thought they were lost to time, but one of them was found a few years back."
"If you're telling me that we're being taught potions in Slytherin's old laboratory, that's kind of creepy," Ron said.
"No, that's exactly it. The rooms seem to have closed themselves, when Slytherin left the school and no one knew where they were. Wizarding society had almost forgotten about them, most of the founders' personal chambers had been repurposed at some point in time anyway, but not Slytherin's. They were sealed off and when one of his chambers was re-discovered, it was still filled with his things. I've heard they've found some of his original drawings." Ernie inhaled deeply, adding in a conspirative whisper: "And the rumours say there is more to be found."
"How do you know all of this?" Harry asked.
"I've overheard two Hufflepuff prefects talk about it."
"Which is why we should keep it a secret!" Hannah hissed, but none of the boys considered her.
"And those prefects are sure there are more rooms?"
"Definitely," Ernie said. "I heard them talk about Slytherin's private study. Oh, if we found it…Only imagine what we could unearth there. A handwritten letter of one of the Founders or even a manuscript. That would be invaluable!" Ernie's eyes had grown wide at the thought.
Harry was intrigued. He remembered how his dad, Sirius and Remus had often recounted their adventures at Hogwarts. They had sometimes ended up with them finding secret passageway, which the three had kept jealously hidden from the rest of the student body. Sirius usually called them their little 'treasures'.
"But why would you even tell us? We don't know anything about Slytherin and his rooms," Harry said.
"Well, since you're a Potter…" Ernie's cheeks reddened. "My parents say your father has been quite the prowler during his days and…" He shrugged. "I just thought that we had better chances if there were four of us."
"I already told you I'm not coming!" Hannah said.
"Then, why don't you want us to go?" Ron asked, pointing at Harry and himself.
"Because you're Gryffindors and it's not your discovery to make."
"You're no Slytherins. You have no more right than us."
"But we do! If it wouldn't have been for a Hufflepuff, no one would have rediscovered the rooms in the first place!"
"You're saying a Hufflepuff found Slytherin's chamber?" Ron said in disbelief.
"Oh, don't make that face" Hannah bit out.
"My dad told me that the Slytherins and the Hufflepuffs both have their common rooms in the dungeons," Harry said, before the situation could get out of hand. Hannah was already glaring daggers at Ron. "It's possible that a Hufflepuff student stumbled upon something. Much more likely than a Gryffindor or a Ravenclaw. We're up in the towers most of the time."
Hannah seemed appeased by Harry's small concession, while Ernie had visibly perked up.
"See, your father already told you so much about Hogwarts! I wouldn't even have known where the other houses have their common rooms. I really think we could find Slytherin's study together. We know the dungeons pretty well by now and you know things about the castle we don't."
"I told you to leave me out of it. It's too risky. Especially tonight." Hannah sighed and wiped a piece of earth off her forehead, apparently exhausted by Ernie's enthusiasm.
"But it has to be tonight."
"What's it with tonight?" Harry asked.
"They said that the Hufflepuff student, who found the last room, did so on Halloween," Hannah explained. "And with Halloween being a magical night, most students think Slytherin's rooms are more likely to reveal themselves-"
"Which is why we have to go tonight," Ernie repaeted.
"Which is why you are utterly crazy if you think you're not going to get caught tonight, you pig head. The dungeons will be crawling with students, who'll want to find the chambers. But do you know what? I officially don't care anymore." With that, Hannah turned around and bent over the planter, fiercely pulling petals out of a poor devil's mouth.
"Er, so, what do you think?" Ernie asked in a low voice, glancing back and forth between Harry and Hannah's back.
Harry bit his lip. The idea of finding a relic of such importance, especially one of a Hogwarts founder, made his heart flutter. Neither his dad had never achieved anything similar as far as he knew. It would not be easy though. If Ernie had heard about the chambers, certainly others had as well. Hannah was right, the risk of being caught out of bed was alarmingly high and he had promised his dad to be good.
"I don't know" Harry said finally, unwilling to decide. "Let me think about it until dinner. I'll tell you then, if I'm coming."
For a brief moment, Ernie seemed dejected, then he nodded: "Alright. Meet up in the entrance hall after dinner?"
A series of screams prevented Harry from responding. Lavender, Parvati, Sally-Anne and Sophie had apparently ripped their devil's mouth out of the earth and dropped it on the floor, where the flower now robbed around like a crab gone wrong, cutting into the girls' ankles in a frenzy. Professor Sprout quickly summoned the plant and thrust it back into the ground, but with four of them bleeding, she declared the lesson finished early and accompanied the girls to the hospital wing. The Hufflepuffs went to their flying lessons and the few remaining Gryffindors left for the castle, carrying a sizable amount of devil's mouth petals.
As soon as Ernie was out of earshot, Harry turned to Ron. "So, what do you think?"
"Sounds pretty cool, doesn't it?"
"You believe them then?"
"Erm, dunno. Why wouldn't I?"
"You never know." Under Ron's questioning stare, Harry shrugged. "Growing up with my dad, I had to develop a certain level of mistrust, or I might still be walking around with blue hair."
"Well, Slytherin was a crazy old goat, probably paranoid enough to seal his chambers, but do you really buy that a Hufflepuff found them? I mean…"
"I told you, I know a Hufflepuff and she's in auror training now. They can't all be the duffers you think they are."
"If you say so…"
Harry rolled his eyes, but said nothing. They had reached the entrance hall and were now descending the stairs leading to the dungeons. Harry had disliked this labyrinth of long, reverberant tunnels from the start. Professor Slughorn's warm and well-lit classroom was always a welcome change from the eerie darkness, but now, instead of hurrying ahead, Harry and Ron took the time to peep into the smaller corridors left and right, noticing for the first time how vast and intricate this floor actually was.
"How in Merlin's name do the Slytherins manage to not get lost down here?" Ron murmured.
Harry had wondered the same. There were no windows and very few paintings in the dungeons. Without any distinctive marks, everything looked alike.
"No clue. Thank Merlin our potions classroom isn't far," Harry whispered.
With Dean, Granger and Longbottom trailing behind them, they found it impossible to break away and scout their surroundings. They had no choice but to go straight to their classroom. When they arrived, Professor Slughorn was dismissing a group of sixth years. A few of them noticed Harry and Longbottom and pointed rudely at them, while whispering, until Professor Slughorn shushed them away.
"Oho, you lot are pretty early," he announced jollily. His eyes fell onto the petals in their hands. "Ah, I see. Miss Brown and Miss Patil must have fallen victim to the devil's mouths. And Miss Perks and Miss Roper, too? Hm, you see, despite common beliefs, there is no place for clumsiness in Herbology. And in potions most certainly not. Now, those petals still look fresh. Perfectly suited for an Invigorating Draught."
"We're going to brew an Invigorating Draught? That sounds amazing!"
"Don't be silly, Mr. Thomas. That draught is O.W.L. level material. You're going to brew a special version of the cure for boils today. I recommend you wash your hands very carefully. That resin doesn't mix well with porcupine quills. They're both rather explosive. Come on in now and get ready."
The Gryffindors shuffled inside, lining up in front of the basin. While Harry was scrubbing his hands under the jet of cold water, the Slytherin students arrived. They must have had Charms, because they were animatedly discussing the levitation charm. Harry and Ron grabbed a few porcupine quills from the bowl on Professor Slughorn's desk and went to sit in the back.
"Oh, no, no. We're almost half a class. Everyone move up, please. No gaps. Don't force an old man to unnecessarily strain his voice." Professor Slughorn waved them to the front. "Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley, come sit here. Mir. Longbottom, you can go over there. Yes. Yes, that is perfect." Professor Slughorn dramatically exhaled and clapped his hands. "Today we are going to brew a simple little variation of the potion to cure boils. This potion actually goes back to a recipe our very own Helga Hufflepuff had invented. Of course, during the ages it has been brought to perfection by multiple minds, but still - merit where merit is due. You'll find the instructions on page twenty-seven. Mr. Zabini, may you read them out loud?"
Zabini, a black Slytherin with slanting eyes, did not seem enthused. He gave his classmates a haughty look before starting to read in a modulated voice. While everyone focused on him, Harry whispered in Ron's ear.
"Did you hear that?"
"The Hufflepuff bit?" Ron whispered back. "Yeah. Do you reckon he knows something about Slytherin's chambers, too?"
"Maybe. Or maybe he just knows whether there are any chambers in the first place" Harry said. "He's their head of house after all."
Professor Slughorn stood in front of the class, his hands folded across his ample belly, while Zabini finished reading. He must have been teaching at Hogwarts for at least twenty years, having been his parents' potions master as well, Harry reasoned. And he must have been in Slytherin house, when he had been a student himself. Who knew what he had heard and seen during his decades at the school.
Professor Slughorn proceeded by explaining every step of the brewing process in detail, but Harry couldn't concentrate. His mind wandered to Slytherin's fabled rooms and what treasures they might contain.
"I bet he took his wand with him when he left, but maybe we could find a spare or something," Harry said.
"We would have to find a chamber first. I could ask Fred and George for help. They claim to know the castle's secret passages better than Mr. Filch, but…" Ron made a face. "I don't think they would take us seriously."
Harry leaned over his book, pretending to read the instructions. "We could ask Ernie where the Hufflepuff common room is and then start from there. If it really was a Hufflepuff, who found the last room, it might be our best option."
"Dunno if he'll tell us. Maybe he'll tell you. He didn't really want my help, though. I think, I'm in just because we're friends."
"Okay, I'll ask him then," Harry said lightly. He did not notice Ron's shoulders sagging. "If he doesn't tell me, we just have to look around and with a bit of luck, we'll find Slytherin's rooms."
"Let's just hope we don't find his bedroom. I don't want to discover Slytherin's underpants."
Harry snickered. "His study would be wicked, though."
"Why don't you stop sticking your noses where they don't belong?" A blonde Slytherin boy sitting in the row in front of them had turned around. His face was contorted in anger. "Leave our founder's rooms alone and look for your stinking Gryffindor's chambers."
Harry leaned back, bringing some space between him and the Slytherin, but Ron seemed unimpressed. He crossed his arms and glared at the blonde. "And you are?"
The boy's eyes twitched. "I'm the one warning you to stay away from our rooms."
"We'll do whatever we please, thank you," Ron said.
"Leave them be! They're not yours!"
"So, they really do exist!" Harry interjected. Suddenly, he felt excited and the doubts about the truthfulness of Ernie's tale had dissolved. The Slytherin boy certainly would not make such a fuss about nothing. Harry eyed him carefully as a light tinge of red spread on the boy's cheeks.
"You would do better to stay away or our prefects will make you regret it," he hissed.
Professor Slughorn's droning voice interrupted their argument.
"So why don't you form groups of three and start brewing? I'm sure you'll do just fine without my help today." The class jumped up, bustling about to collect ingredients and find capable teammates, while the professor waddled towards Harry with his usual benevolent smile on his face.
"Harry, my boy, I saw you and Mr. Malfoy here are chatting. Will you be forming a group, then?"
"No, Sir," the Malfoy boy said smoothly. "I simply asked them how many porcupine quills they had. I'll be working with Crabbe and Goyle." He quickly gathered his things and left, giving Harry and Ron one last poisonous look behind Professor Slughorn's back.
"That one's a jerk," Ron said, as the professor moved on to the next group.
"We have some experience with the type." Harry nodded towards Longbottom. "Let's get started. That's the first potion he'll let us brew completely on our own."
The on-their-own part turned out to be a little different from what Harry had expected. After they had gotten the rest of their ingredients from the and settled back down at their position, Hermione Granger came over, holding her book in front of her chest like armour.
"Hi there," she said carefully, "Mind if I join you?"
"Erm, Aren't you in Dean's group?" Ron asked, but Harry noted that they were already three. Sophie had come back from the hospital wing and was now sitting with Dean and Longbottom.
"It's full," Granger mumbled.
"But aren't you the only one smart enough to brew it on your own?"
Harry poked Ron in the ribs.
"What? She's the one always sounding like she swallowed the textbook," Ron said.
"Fine!" By now, Granger's eyes were shining a little too brightly, but she stared Ron down fiercely. "I should have known that someone like you wouldn't accept someone like me. Susan was right!"
"What in Merlin's name are you talking about?" Ron said.
"You!" she spat. "You two. You're just like the others. I saw you talking to Draco Malfoy. Your families are purebloods, aren't they?" Granger's voice was shaking now. Harry could tell if it shook in anger or in vulnerability. "And I, I'm just a muggleborn, right? Oh, but I'll show you… I will, I'll show you all!"
"W-wait. What? You're thinking that…M-my family- we'd never…" Ron had gone sheet-white, his eyes bulging out. Harry felt his guts somewhere near his knees.
"You're not better than the rest!" Granger harrumphed and stomped off. Ron stared after her, mouth agape and an expression of utter shock on his face. Harry knew he could not look much different. He felt as if the Bloody Baron had just hugged him.
Ron groaned. "Wait! Of course, you can work with us, Granger," he said, adding under his breath, "just never say that about my family again."
Hermione Granger said nothing for a full ten seconds. She simply stood in the middle of the class, clutching her potion book and staring at Ron as if he had grown a second head.
"Come on, now. Sit down. People are looking," Ron said, pushing her into a seat next to the empty cauldron.
"I-I don't know what to say. I thought…"
"You were wrong for once," Ron said sourly. He seemed to have recuperated from the blow quicker than Harry, who still had to find his words. "Now, don't whinge, but we haven't been listening to the instructions. So, what do we do first?"
For once, Granger's bossy streak turned out favourably as she steer them through the brewing process and saved them from adding porcupine quills to a still boiling potion, which according to her (and the textbook) would have melted Harry's cauldron. In the end, they had pink smoke rising from their potion and three satisfied grins on their faces, when Professor Slughorn announced that it was perfect. They followed their classmates to the entrance hall, but when Harry wanted to continue to the Great Hall, Ron gripped his arm, pulling him away from the other to a corner.
"You agree that this Malfoy bloke basically confirmed the chambers' existence, right?" he said.
"Yes," Harry said slowly. "So, you want to go out tonight and try to find them?"
"Of course! Just imagine what our parents would say if we found Slytherin's wand or a spell he invented or even just a letter!" Ron grinned. "Bill works for Gringotts and when he finds some ancient treasure, he is entitled to a reward." His word were slippy and agitated, as if the sole thought excited him.
"But didn't Malfoy say that there would be prefects all over the dungeons tonight?" he said, carefully trying not to sound too afraid.
Ron's dreamy grin dripped off his face.
"Yeah, right and I don't think even all of Fred and George's secret passages could get us there without being seen," he said.
Harry looked over his shoulder. The entrance hall was empty. All students and professors sat in the Great Hall for lunch and they were the only stragglers. Turning around to Ron's crestfallen expression, Harry decided to make a leap of faith.
"I must show you something. Come on. It's important."
As Harry had anticipated, Gryffindor tower was deserted. A lone seventh year sat in front of the fire and did not even look up, when they entered. Harry dragged Ron upstairs and to their dormitory, opened his trunk and pulled out his invisibility cloak.
"Trust me, if there are any rooms to find, we'll find them and nobody will ever see us coming," he said, throwing the cloak over his shoulders.
Ron's expression changed from quizzical to baffled to steamrolled within a few milliseconds.
"You're kidding me. Is that… Really? MERLIN'S PANTS!" he exclaimed.
If Harry had not been convinced of showing the cloak to Ron before, his hilarious expression made it all the more worthwhile. He knew that his dad had had his fair share of adventures with Sirius and Remus. Thus, he guessed it was time for him and Ron now. They were best friends after all.
Finding the chambers was easier said than done, though. Their plan relied mainly on the invisibility cloak and Ernie's collaboration. However, Ernie was not inclined to share the position of his common room. He steadfastly refused to answer their questions. The only information they could get out of him was that the common room was located near the kitchens, which led them nowhere, since they had no clue where the kitchens were. It took half Harry an hour to convince Ernie to meet up in front of their potion's classroom and guide them in the general vicinity of the common room. Harry hoped the dungeons would be dark enough at night to hide them, because he had made Ron swear not to tell a living soul about the invisibility cloak. Fortunately, Ron did not seem eager to tell Ernie just about anything.
It was time for dinner, when Harry, Ron and Ernie left their windy corner of the empty courtyard. Over all the fuss about Slytherin's chambers, Harry had almost forgotten the Halloween feast. It was only when entered the hall that it sprang back to his mind. The Great Hall was bewitching. Twelve giant carved pumpkins with grotesque faces threw flickering lights on the walls and a few flocks of bats swirled above the house tables. A sea of glowing candles only intensified the mysterious atmosphere, but Harry could not enjoy it. His thoughts were occupied by their plans to leave their beds tonight. It had only taken him two months to break the promise to his dad. He felt uneasy at the thought, but he knew that James had done his fair share of exploring at school, learning so much about the castle and the grounds. Harry was only going to the dungeons. They were hardly life threatening. At the worst, he would get detention, he told himself, pushing the potatoes on his plate around. Ron seemed to have no appetite, too. He could barely finish the piece of pumpkin pie Percy had shoved on his plate.
Harry was trying hard not to look at his watch every few minutes. When the feast was finally over, the rest of the Gryffindors remained in a festive mood. Fred and George had stolen a few corks from the head table and enchanted them to fly across the room, bumping into anything that moved. Harry and Ron retreated to a lone table near the windows, trying to play exploding snap, but Harry's hands were too jittery and the matches cut short. He knew they might be caught, but whenever his nervousness was about to make him back down, he saw himself standing in the middle of an ancient chamber holding some nebulous artefact, and he resolved to go through with the plan.
The evening dragged on. At half past ten, Percy came over, admonishing them for staying up late on a school night and sending them straight to bed. Harry had not even wasted a thought at tomorrow's lessons. Dean and Longbottom were already sleeping in their dormitory, snoring softly. Harry and Ron sat down on Harry's bed, closed the curtains and waited. The invisibility cloak lay between them looking like a puddle of silver. From time to time, they pinched each other, when they were about to fall asleep. They stayed silent, listened to the dying noises from below and waited.
Harry's clock showed midnight, when they finally decided to get up. The common room was deserted. Harry and Ron threw the invisibility cloak over themselves, then climbed through the portrait hole.
"Who's there?" the Fat Lady shrieked, but Harry and Ron ignored her and silently wandered into the nightly school. They walked slowly, checking every corner and listening for footsteps. Whenever a floorboard creaked, or the winds rattled at the windows, Harry jumped, his heart rate leaping up. The fear of being caught twisted his entrails, but the anticipation of what they could discover made him descend one storey after the other, until they had reached the entrance hall.
The lights were dimmed at night, most of them coming from the carved pumpkins in the Great Hall. Their grimaces made Harry quicken his pace. He felt like someone was watching them, even though they had not encountered anyone. No professor, no prefect, no ghost. Harry wondered if they had been lucky or if Hannah had been right and all patrols were crawling in the dungeons tonight. While he and Ron descended the stairs from the entrance hall, Harry felt a pinch of trepidation. There was no turning back now. Whatever light had illuminated the upper floors dissipated rapidly. The dungeons were creepy at day, but at night they gave Harry goose bumps. Very few torches lit the way and Harry and Ron had to slow down even further, checking twice at every corner they took.
Finally, they reached professor Slughorn's classroom. Harry pulled the invisibility cloak off their heads and stuffed it under his robe. Then, they waited.
"Where in Merlin's name is he?" Ron growled twenty minutes later.
"No idea," Harry whispered. Ernie had not shown up yet and standing in the dark waiting for him was unnerving.
"Do you reckon he got cold feet?"
Harry was about to say that they would be waiting another five minutes and then leave, when he heard faint voices in the distance. They grew louder by the second. He grabbed Ron and pulled him into a niche just as two figures turned the corner.
"... cannot accept such behaviour. This is a school, not your personal playground, Mr. MacMillan. Professor Sprout will hear of this and I can assure you that she will not be pleased. Eight in one night. An utter embarrassment."
They passed the niche and Harry got a glance at Professor McGonagall staring down at Ernie. He looked miserable and seemed on the verge of crying. Harry could empathise. His head of house was stern on the best of days, but now she sounded dangerously furious. Harry pressed himself further into the shadow and held his breath. The invisibility cloak lumped uselessly under his robe. Next to him, Ron had closed his eyes.
"I will personally write to your parents and you better make sure that you'll stay in your common room from now on. If I catch you again after hours…" Professor McGonagall shook her head, leaving poor Ernie to intend the rest of her threat.
Harry waited with baited breath, until their voices had disappeared in the dark.
"What do we do now?" Ron asked, after a few moments.
"Put the cloak back on," Harry said. Feeling the thin veil covering his head soothed his nerves.
The two were standing in the middle of the corridor, both ends shrouded in darkness. Without Ernie, they had almost no chance of finding the Slytherin's chambers. However, Harry was not ready to give up yet. He thought of how often his dad had found himself in situations, which had seemed impossible, but he had always known how to turn them around.
"If you were a teacher, where would you take a student, who had been wandering about?" Harry whispered. His soft voice reverberated in the cavernous corridor.
"Dunno. To detention?"
"In the middle of the night?"
"Hm, maybe not," Ron said. "I'd probably take him back to his common room."
"Yes. She's taking Ernie exactly where we need to go." Harry pointed to one side of the corridor. "They went that way. If we hurry, we may be able to follow them."
Ron hesitated. "But what if she catches us?"
The prospect of running into Professor McGonagall was not comforting at all, but Harry's curiosity pushed his self-perseverance aside.
"We'll keep the cloak on. She won't be able to see us, okay?"
He forced himself to sound confident, trying not to imagine Professor McGonagall's reaction, if she found them. Whenever he broke a rule at home, his mum would yell, but she would forgive him in a heartbeat. However, Professor McGonagall did not have to pardon him; she did not love him.
It was easier not to panic, when moving forward. Harry had to concentrate on the way and less time to imagine his head of house's possible punishments. They strayed around in the dungeons for almost an hour, sometimes following what they thought were voices in the distance, sometimes taking a turn by pure chance. Harry's hands were frozen stiff by the time they entered the hundredth stone corridor. Beside him, Ron was shivering. He would have proposed to abort the mission and go back to their dorm, but they had gotten entirely lost in the mazy dungeons. They dragged themselves on through the endless labyrinth. Another half hour passed, before a scratching sound made them pause. They had already encountered a few rats, when they had crossed an abandoned, very murky part of the dungeons. Now, they were standing in a broad corridor with a delicately ripped vault. The air felt dry. Harry looked around. There was no one to be seen. They were about to move on, when a door to their left opened and three people appeared. Two older boys, one with the shape of a trunk and the other tall and thin. A haughty looking girl followed them. Dull light from the room behind them illuminated the Slytherin crests on their robes. With a jolt, Harry noticed that all of them wore prefect badges.
"The night has been rather fruitful," the tall boy said. He had a long face and an unpleasant expression, even when smiling. "Three Ravenclaws and eight Hufflepuffs. That's plenty of lost house points. I am surprised that we got no Gryffindors though. Last year they couldn't keep their overinflated egos at bay."
The girl scoffed, tossing her long golden hair over her shoulder. "Haven't you seen that Weasley idiot sniffling about like a flea-ridden dog?"
Next to him, Harry felt Ron stiffen. He shot him a warning glare and nodded towards the wall behind them. Slowly and silently, they started to inched towards it. Fortunately, the tall Slytherin's voice covered their steps.
"He's a prefect, Lydia. No stopping his blood traitor arse from patrolling the corridors without being suspicious."
"I just cannot stand him snooping around," Lydia said.
"He didn't find anything, did he?" the trunk of a boy said, speaking for the first time. He grinned and revealed a row of uneven teeth.
"No, of course he didn't, Marcus." Lydia admitted curtly, before addressing the other Slytherin boy again. "But Callan, I don't like how the word started to spread. At this rate, we'll soon have the teachers becoming curious. Slughorn is already making allusions."
"Slughorn knows nothing and it will stay that way. Let's go back to the dormitory now. It's late."
"Stop ordering us around," Marcus growled, but followed suit.
The corridor was not particularly narrow, but the way the Slytherins flounced made Harry and Ron flattened themselves against the wall. In a desperate attempt to make enough space to let them pass, Harry stepped on Ron's toes. Ron's whimper was soft, but still audible in the quiet. For a terrible second, the boy named Callan paused to look back at them. The fleeting moment passed and he turned away to follow his companions. They disappeared into the darkness, their steps and voices dying out quickly. The dungeons returned to complete silence. Harry could only hear his own heartbeat and Ron's wheezing breath.
"Well, that sounded like they had something to hide, didn't it?" he said.
"Yeah, it did."
They looked at each other and then at the door the Slytherin's had come through. It seemed like an ordinary wooden door, like the countless others they had passed in Hogwarts. With anticipation, Harry gripped the handle and pushed it down. He had expected to find it barred, but the door opened without resistance. The room behind it lay in the shadows. A few glass spheres on the walls emanated a faint, fast fading light. It was just enough to make out the silhouettes of a giant desk and an armchair near the door. Harry gripped his wand and slid across the threshold.
"Lumos!"
He lifted the invisibility cloak just enough to stick his wand out. The small cone of light illuminated what Harry thought might have once been a classroom. Like in Introduction to Principles of Magic the desks surrounded the teacher's desk in a half-circle, but next to every desk was a hole in the floor. Harry inspected the nearest of them. The hole itself was larger than it was deep and the stone on the bottom was blackened and scorched. Harry suspected that he was looking at a form of antiquated open hearth. It had not been used in a very long time. A thick spider's web covered the hearth. The whole room looked abandoned. The air was heavy and mouldy. If the desks had been made out of wood instead of stone, they might have already rotten away.
On every other occasion, Harry would have thought nothing more of this apparently unused room. Hogwarts had countless forgotten rooms to offer, but after hearing the Slytherin prefects, he was certain that this particular one merited a second look. He slowly closed the door and they began to search. Harry turned up fruitless. All desks had long been emptied, the hearths lay bare, the walls were plain and covered in webs and dark stains. He felt disappointed and war ready to leave, when Ron's voice cut through the silence.
"Harry, you gotta see this!"
He hurried to his side. Ron was standing behind the lectern, a massive desk gouged out of a single piece of marble. Impressive as it was, it was as empty as the others were.
"There's nothing here," Harry said.
"No, look over there. On the rim. Can't you see the carving?"
Harry lifted his wand to inspect it closer. On the bottom of the thick worktop were two roughly carved lightning bolts. Time had made them almost invisible, dirt and dust filling the fine grooves. Harry ran his index finger over the carving; he could feel the slight unevenness. Then, a jolt made him jump backwards. He crashed into the stone armchair.
"Harry! You okay?"
"N-no," he grunted. "I felt something. I think it was the thief's trap."
"The what?" Ron said bewildered.
"Thief's trap. My dad used to put it on his drawers, when I was- Oh, we don't have time for this. Under the cloak, quickly. We have to leave now."
Before Ron could do anything more than stare blankly at him, they heard footsteps running towards them.
"Reverse your lumos!" Harry hissed, grabbing Ron and pulling him under the desk. The lights went out just as the door sprang open.
The three Slytherin prefects stood in the doorframe, looking livid as they surveyed the room. They had their wands drawn and the way they held them at the ready, reminded Harry terribly of swords.
"Let's fan out," Callan said. "And don't forget to look under the desks."
Lydia and Marcus went to the back of the room, while Callan remained near the door, cutting off their escape route.
Harry gulped. He and Ron exchanged alarmed looks. They were crouched under the lectern, only hidden by the shadows. Slowly, without making any noise, Harry pulled the cloak over their heads. He had to move cautiously to avoid hitting the marble surfaces around him and make a noise which would reveal their position. One creak of his trainers, or a single click of his joints and they would be in a world of trouble. Besides him, Ron held as still as if he was made of stone. He had the marble white face to match.
Callan made his way towards the lectern and crouched down. He seemed to know what he did, because he found the carved symbols in an instant. His fingers retraced them softly. Harry held his breath, hoping his thumping heart would not reveal him.
"No one here," Marcus said in his dull voice and Callan finally diverted his attention.
"Did you check under the desks? I told you I heard something before. They might be disillusioned."
Lydia snorted. "Let's just do it my way."
From his position under the lectern, Harry could not see her, but her next words sounded dangerously like a charm: "Homenum revelio!"
Nothing happened.
"It might have just been a ghost floating through," Lydia said, her voice clearly unsatisfied. "Shall we go back to the dormitory now?"
"Maybe." Callan did not sound convinced, but Harry prayed that he would listen to the girl and leave. Thankfully, he moved a few steps away from the lectern. "Let's just check if the chamber is still fully sealed, before we go."
Slowly, Harry stuck his head out to peek around the lectern. The three Slytherins stood at the back wall. He strained his ears to hear what they were mumbling, but their words were too soft to be overheard. Signalling to Ron to move to the front, they crawled out from under the desk. Their movements felt agonisingly slow, now that the prefects had stopped looking for them and were possibly revealing the entrance to Slytherin's chambers. Warily, he and Ron stood up and made a few steps forward. He craned his neck, but still could not see what the Slytherins were doing. Marcus' broad back was covering them. Whatever they were handling, it must have been smaller than a school book. He dragged Ron forward. Just another step, and another step, and then -
He stepped on a shard that had not been there before. Too late, he realised that glass shards now covered the floor at irregular intervals. The crunching noise rang as loudly as a church bell in the silent classroom and Slytherins sprang up as if on command.
"Over there!" Lydia screamed. Callan was already in motion, firing a spell in their direction. Harry and Ron ducked instinctively. The fiery red light flew over their heads and crashed into the wall behind the lectern.
"I'll get them!" Marcus lunged at them with his long arms flailing around hectically. Harry felt Ron yank him around towards the door, but they were not quick enough. Marcus hit Harry in the head with his heavy fist and they toppled over. Harry crashed onto the unyielding stone floor, his head and knees hurting from the forceful impact. With teary eyes, he saw Marcus fumbling for his wand. Somehow, the invisibility cloak had not fallen off. Only Harry's legs were visible and one of Ron's arms. Panicked, Harry did the only thing he could think of. He kicked Marcus in the stomach as hard as he could. The Slytherin groaned and let his wand fall.
Clutching the invisibility cloak, Harry pulled Ron up, gripped him and the invisibility cloak tightly and started to run. They made it three steps towards the door, before Lydia crashed into them.
"Gottcha! Show your faces!" he screamed and yanked so hard on the cloak that Harry feared it might rip.
"Stop right now!" Callan was standing in the middle of the classroom, his wand pointing straight at them. "Stupor!"
Lydia was still clinging to them, making any effort to run impossible. With all his might, Harry grabbed her robe and pulled her around like a shield. The bright red light hit Lydia in the back, but he was still gripping her outer robe as she fell down unconscious and it ripped. Harry yelped with shock, but it was nothing compared to Callan's angry howl. He stormed forward with his wand arm stretched out like a spear.
Harry and Ron half ran, half sprang to the door, ripping it open in one quick motion. Callan was right behind them, as they slammed it shut. The sickening crunch that followed told Harry that they might have gotten a few more seconds to run. And run they did.
Without halt, they stormed through the dungeons, dashing left and right. Neither of them cared whether their feet were visible. They raced up every step they found, blood pounding in their ears. Somehow, they reached the entrance hall and bounded up the marble staircase, rushing through the castle, intent only on putting as much distance between themselves and the Slytherin prefects. Harry's legs started to wobble, when they barrelled through the sixth floor. Finally, they arrived as spluttering, exhausted messes in front of the Fat Lady.
"Caput Draconis!" Harry blurted out. She opened the portrait hole without even lifting an eyelid. Harry and Ron climbed through and fell onto the carpet. Both not caring that their lungs burned and their faces were wet with sweat. Both immensely relieved as the portrait closed behind them. Both distantly surprised when a Slytherin prefect badge rolled out of Harry's hand.
~o~ ~o~ ~o~