Chapter 11

As the group slept, Severus roamed the castle grounds. Harry had positively lost himself earlier and had spent most of the day going from place to place to place checking for any sign of life. The dark wizard hmm'd lightly to himself as he ran a hand over the cold wet stone of the deep dungeons and stepped over some of the fungus that grew along the floor.

Come to think of it, Potter had been astoundingly unobservant. It had been clear to Snape that something on a massive scale had happened if Hogwarts, Wizarding London, and Hogsmeade were all low on people and utterly demolished, what with Diagon Alley being in Britain and Hogwarts being in Scotland. Although he hadn't quite expected it to be world-wide, he did expect the UK to be a shell of what it once was.

The man silently stopped in his tracks as he watched a badger scurry across the floor with a half eaten apple in its mouth. Once it was gone, he sighed and continued his journey down the hallway that once led to deepest part of the dungeons, the Slytherin common room, dorms, and private quarters of the staff and prefects.

His frown deepened as Severus came up to a large pile of rocks. With a grunt he started to turn around to head back when something struck him. Once more he looked towards the pile and another hmmm came from his throat. The positioning, the size, the fact that they were the largest at the bottom and the smallest at the top, the fact that there was a small hole just almost at eye level as if someone should be looking through it... There was no doubt in Snape's mind that this was purposefully made by someone.

"Were you keeping someone out?" He asked quietly as he ran his fingers over some of the stones closest to the hole. "Or were you hiding something?" The stones didn't budge despite his prying.

"Both." Ron's voice came from behind.

Snape spun around on his heels and glared towards the ghost. "How much do you know about this?"

The ghost shrugged and started off towards the Main Entrance. "I know too much."

"Stop." Snape called, and when Ron turned back to face him he elaborated. "Stop avoiding Potter. He's distraught, on the verge of a complete nervous breakdown. It would do him well to speak with his friend."

Ron glanced down to the floor as he half floated into the wall. "Can't exactly call yourself a friend to someone when you haven't seen or spoken to them in 300 years."

"For him it's been 3 days." Snape reminded him as the ghost disappeared from sight. He turned back to the stone arrangement and began to run his hands along all of the stones to feel for any that might be loose. It was to no avail and the man stared at the stones as he looked for any physical differences on some from the others. Sure enough five of them were dirtier than the rest and rougher in texture, one in each corner and one in the center.

He first tried with his wand, but nothing happened when he touched any of them. Theoretically, if this were like the bricks of the Leaky Cauldron then one should have glimmered oh so lightly when he touched them. These people didn't have wands, he didn't know how long ago this set up had been made, and it was possible the makers also had no wands, but if so how did they set up the spell to make some of the rocks into a passcode?

He touched all five rocks with his fingers and alas, not a single one glimmered. In frustration he rammed the heel of his palm into the center rock. With a sigh he started back towards the way he'd come but another thing caught his eye. Another stone on the ground, a loose one. Dirtier than most of the other stones, but matching in color and texture to those five. He picked it up and touched it to some of the other stones.

The third he tried, in the top right corner, glimmered. As success came closer, Snape began quickly began the process of figuring out the code. Within half a minute he'd cracked it, and once all five stones had a faint sheen to them, the wall of rocks began to shake. One by one the stones moved and pulled themselves back revealing a path.

Unlit torches lined the hallway and for a change none of the walls were incomplete. Doors stood wide open and it was plain to see that everything had been moved. The common room was full of beds and the prefects rooms were empty, but most importantly there was still usable furniture. "Lika!" He called out.

In the Great Hall, the little old House Elf jumped up from her sleep and tensed. "Master! Master!" She called as she tugged on the sleeping Romi's shirt. "Things happened!"

Romi groaned as she opened her bleary eyes. "What is it?" She asked the house elf curiously.

"Heard Lika's name. Felt pull, body almost sucked in. What do?" Lika looked tremendously worried.

Romi's brows drew together as she rolled over to face her friend. "I really don't know. What do you mean your body was almost sucked in?"

Lika's hands flailed in the air. "Don't know!" She stopped a moment as she felt the pull and heard her name once more. She grabbed onto Romi's hands as her body felt like it were warping into another dimension altogether. "Don't let go..." She whispered.

In a crack of apparation, Lika and Romi both appeared by Snape. The potions master raised an eyebrow towards the two. "So glad you could join me... and apparently you brought a Weasley, just what I need."

"What did you DO to her?!" Romi demanded as she picked Lika up and glared towards the man. "What did- did you put a spell on her?" Lika buried her face into Romi's chest and shook.

That seemingly ever-present frown on Snape's face deepened. "I most certainly have not. I don't cast spells at people unless it's for a reason. All I did was call her."

"Wha... For... Augh!" Romi stomped her foot and rested her face on Lika's head. "You have some explaining to do, Mister. Nobody just calls people and suddenly poof they're there."

Severus sighed deeply as he began to put the pieces together. "Right, the house elves must have lost their history as well. Lika is a house elf, she is bound by elven law. The elven race is bound by their names, whether given names or birth names. When their name is called with the intent of bringing them to you, they are compelled to come. The most willful of house elves can only ignore the call four times before they're forced to come, and as such they are- or were considered some of the most useful beings. Only places warded against house elf apparation could keep them out, hence why many witches and wizards used their house elves for petty thievery, and some even used them to aid in their escape from certain situations. History lesson over, look at what I've found."

Romi and Lika both glared to the man but their attention quickly drew back to the room. "Beds. There must be 11 beds here." Romi said as Lika shimmied down to the floor and ran off to jump on one. "How did... but..." She frowned and looked to the suddenly ecstatic elf. "She searched this castle up and down, how did she miss this?"

"She didn't." Snape informed her as he pulled his wand and pointed it towards one of the empty beds. "It was hidden beyond a wall of rocks which held a passcode to get into. To the untrained eye it would have appeared as a cave-in. Our primary goal is to bring these beds back to the Great Hall, and we can't fit them through the passage. The pathway is far too narrow and the beds too big. That's where you come in Lika, with your, my, and Potter's apparation ability, we should be able to get all of these beds back in a few minutes." The man looked back to Lika who had crawled off of the bed and went to stand by Romi. "Lika, your reaction leads me to believe you've never apparated before." He got a nod from the little elf. "Apparation is a natural easy ability for your species. In fact it was house elves that taught us humans how to do it. Recall that pull that came when I called you? I want you to think of the Great Hall and push your magic and your body towards it."

Lika looked uncertain and glanced up to Romi. After the girl stared at Snape for a few seconds she nodded to the house elf. Lika's eyes closed and she concentrated very hard on the Great Hall, but nothing happened. She tried once more and clenched her hands into fists and held her breath and soon she was off in a crack of apparation.

Romi jumped back and Snape snickered towards her. "Don't worry, we'll be teaching you lot how to do that in due time. Not very soon though, it's much to dangerous with your magic at the level it is. Oh don't give me that look- for house elves there's no danger, but for us we can incur splinching, which is when body parts get left behind and ripped away from the rest of our body." Snape sighed and looked back to the way he came. "You and I, however, should walk back so someone besides myself and Potter will know the way. Follow me." He ordered as he began the small hike back to the Great Hall.