-Chapter Eleven-

Networking

There was no face beneath the mask. Instead Harry could see several wires and electronics running through the robe. Several lights were blinking on and off quickly and the Death Eater's hands convulsed wildly. Willow quickly reached in and pulled a few wires loose and the Death Eater was still.

"I don't understand, what does this mean?" asked Harry in confusion.

Willow looked at him, his face grim. "It's not a Death Eater. It's a robot."

"A robot?" asked Harry. He had a vague memory of watching a film involving robots while living with the Dursleys. "Does this mean that all of the others are like that?"

"Very likely," said Willow, reaching in and beginning to pull out more of the Death Eater's innards. "And if Voldemort has found out out how to have robotics work in the Wizarding World then this is very, very bad." He finished pulling out the last of the electronics from the Death Eater's robe and slipped it on, pulling the hood over his head and putting on the mask. "I'm going to go for a quick look around. Stay here." Before Harry could protest he slipped quickly into the Chamber and Harry soon lost sight of him amongst all of the other Death Eaters.

Harry fumed. He was being sidelined again! He had to get in there and do something. Deciding to take a risk, Harry leaned around the corner and saw that the Death Eaters had temporarily moved away from the entrance. Seizing the moment, Harry darted out quickly and was able to get behind one of the computer banks without being spotted. Once there, he had a quick look around. Not too far away was one of the doors in the wall. Harry was just contemplating how to find a way to it without being spotted when it was provided for him. Crabbe and Goyle were carrying an inactive terminal to it's designated spot when Goyle tripped on a loose slab, losing his grip and sending the terminal crashing to the floor.

"Idiots!" shouted Malfoy from up above. "Be more careful!" Harry acted quickly and dashed to the door, slipping inside it in seconds. He pulled the door to and peered out through the opening. No one seemed to have noticed his quick dash. Two Death Eaters were lifting up the terminal and Crabbe and Goyle looked shamefaced. "Go and get some of those, er, 'cables' from the storeroom," snapped Malfoy, his lips forming the unfamiliar word uncertainly. Crabbe and Goyle snapped to attention and made their way towards the store room, which Harry was horrified to see was the room he was hiding in. Behind them Malfoy began shouting several instructions, clearly enjoying himself. "You, Hurry up with those tests! Nott, don't get any of those connections wrong."

Harry looked around the room frantically for a hiding place. It was not a large room but there were several crates against the back wall. Harry hastily ran to the nearest one and crouched behind it quickly. He was just in time. Crabbe and Goyle stepped into the storeroom and crossed to one of the other boxes. They grabbed a jumble of cables from it and left.

Left alone, Harry took the opportunity to have look in the rest of the crates. All of them were full of Muggle objects that looked familiar but still seemed alien to him (1). He wondered how Willow was getting on. Had he discovered anything? Harry tried searching the crates for any spare robes but there was no sign of any. Deciding to see if there was anything else he could learn, Harry opened the door and peeked out.

He was still in luck: Everyone was busy on the far side of the room. Some of the Slytherins were feeding several hoses into the basin in the centre of the Chamber. Could they be digging for something? Harry wished he could get closer but it was too risky. He decided to head back up to the surface and fetch his invisibility cloak and try again.

He slipped through the door and made his way back towards the tunnel as quickly and quietly as he could. His eyes never left the group of Death Eaters and Slytherins, but luckily they didn't notice him. He reached the tunnel and began to make his way back to the pipe he had travelled down.

"POTTER!" cried a voice behind him suddenly.

Harry spun around. Malfoy was staring right at him, horror and anger both visible on his face. At his shout the Death Eaters and Slytherins spun around to see what was happening. Harry hesitated for only a second before turning and running into the tunnel. Behind him he could hear running footsteps accompanied by Malfoy shouting. "Stop him!"

Harry ran and ran as fast as he could, his heart pounding madly in his chest. He couldn't remember the tunnel being this long… surely he must be near the end now! Finally he rounded a corner and found himself back at the pipe that led back up to the bathroom. Hope sprang up in Harry's chest before he realised that there was no phoenix to give him a lift back up this time. How could he climb out? (2) He heard footsteps behind him and realised he was too late. In a last desperate gamble he pulled out his wand and turned to face his pursuers.

The Death Eaters rounded the corner far quicker than he expected, and Harry barely had time to shoot off a spell before they were on top of him. He struggled mightily, trying to shout various spells but before he old form a coherent one a hand was clamped over his mouth and he was soon restrained by several Death Eaters. Harry was bundled back into the Chamber of Secrets, where he found himself facing Malfoy and and the Slytherins.

"Well, look what the cat dragged in," sneered Malfoy, relishing the moment. "So what is this Potter? Another one of your pathetic attempts at stopping the Dark Lord?" The Slytherins all guffawed with laughter. "Did you have a nice run Potter? Not too tired I hope!" Teased Pansy Parkinson, laughing loudly at her own joke. Harry glared back silently, determined not to rise to their insults.

"So what shall we do with the Chosen One?" Malfoy asked the Slytherins, spitting out the words in disgust. "I'm sure I'm not the only one here with a grudge against Potter." Crabbe and Goyle laughed, cracking their knuckles menacingly, and Harry saw a few other Slytherins pull their wands out, a malicious glare on their faces. Harry could guess why. They were the sons of the Death Eaters Harry had managed to get sent to Azkaban last year. "Or shall we let the Death Eaters have piece of him?" The Slytherins laughed and jeered in response to this. Malfoy sneered at Harry. "Look around you, Potter. Look at what the Dark Lord has now. Not even Dumbledore could comprehend half of the things in this room."

"Neither could you!" retorted Harry. "Why are you even taking part in this Malfoy? Do you think you can be a better Death Eater than your father?"

Malfoy went white with rage and Harry thought for a moment that Malfoy was going to strike him. "Put him in the storage, I'll decide what to do with him in a minute." Some of the colour returned to his face and he smiled again. The Death Eaters began to drag Harry over to the room he had hidden before. "There's so many things we could do to you, Potter." Malfoy called after him as he was dragged away. "We're going to have o go over our options!"

Suddenly everything happened at once. One of the Death Eater's feet suddenly slipped out from beneath him and he lost his balance, taking Harry with him and throwing them both to the floor. "Run." whispered Willow's voice in Harry's ear, and he quickly jumped to his feet and ran to one of the doors more or less at random, flinging it open and throwing himself through. He landed in a large puddle of what was hopefully water, but he didn't have time to dwell on it. Other than the light from the Chamber it was pitch black in the tunnel, so Harry quickly moved out of the light that was coming through the door and hid in the darkness. He saw the Death Eaters appear in the doorway.

"Wait!" he heard Malfoy cry. "Don't follow, just leave him in there." Harry could hear the satisfaction in his voice. "The Stygnax will get him." The door suddenly slammed shut, leaving Harry alone in the darkness. What on earth was a Stygnax? As if in answer to his question, there was a deep growl from bend him. Fighting down the fear that was growing in his chest, Harry quickly reached for his wand.

His hand grabbed only air. The Death Eaters had taken it off him.

Harry took a deep breath. There was no need to panic. All he had to do was find a way out… behind him he could hear a funny snuffling sound and the scrape of claws and the scrape of a large body being pulled across the ground towards him. Hoping that the Stygnax, if that's what it was, was as blind as he was, Harry crept forwards, careful to not make a sound. Eventually after what felt like hours his hand found the door handle and pulled, but it wouldn't move. He was locked in.

Suddenly he felt something sharp brush against the back of his legs. Before he could react the snuffling became a roar and his back suddenly exploded with pain as the Stygnax raked its claw across his back. Harry cried out in agony and ran forward blindly, desperate to get away from the creature behind him. His hands suddenly felt a wall in front of him and began to run his hands across it desperately. There must be something, there must! Behind him he could hear the Stygnax hauling its body towards him as quickly as it could, eager to finish him off. Suddenly Harry's hands found another metal ring. Hardly able to believe his luck, Harry grasped with it with both hands and pulled hard. He heard the scrape of metal and saw a shaft light appear just in front of him. As soon as it was wide enough, he flung himself through.

Harry blinked in the sudden light but quickly turned around to shut the door before the Stygnax could follow him through. He got a quick glimpse of some terrible monstrosity pulling itself towards him before he shut the door tightly. Breathing heavily, Harry turned around to survey where he now was.

He appeared to be in one of the many secret passage of the castle. The sun was shining through a solitary window and illuminating the whole corridor. Harry could see several suits of armour and empty picture frames, all of which were caed in dust. Harry crossed to the window and tried to look outside, only to find that it seemed to be an old window frame that had been bewitched to show a lovely summer's day from the seaside. Harry looked around the rest of the corridor and saw a staircase that disappeared up into the depths of the castle. Resolving to get back up to Hogwarts and alert someone, Harry quickly made for the staircase.

Harry climbed upwards for a very long time and had no idea at all how far he was from the top, nor where in Hogwarts he was now. Finally he reached the top, much to his relief. At the top was yet another door, and Harry opened it. On the other side was another corridor much like the one he had left down below, only this time there were several doors spaced evenly on both sides, with a single one against the far wall. Deciding to be a cautious, Harry crept to the nearest one and opened it slightly.

Through the gap he saw various shelves and weapons. It was the Room of Requirement! Had he found a back way into it somehow? Movement caught his eye and he saw a Death Eater appear in one of the aisles, patrolling the area. Harry ducked back quickly, closing the door. Not for the first time, he cursed not bringing his invisibility cloak with him.

Harry picked another of the doors at random and opened it cautiously. A short tunnel greeted him and he headed down it. At the end was another door with a small viewpoint set in. Harry crept up to the door and peeked through.

At first he couldn't understand what he was seeing but he soon recognised the room - it was McGonagall's office! Harry tried the door but it was shut fast and wouldn't open. He spied a funny looking metal panel set into the wall. With vague memories of various science fiction films, Harry pressed his palm against the panel. It glowed brightly for a few seconds, then turned a bright red and emitted a harsh buzz before falling dormant again. No way out that way.

Harry returned to the corridor and checked the next couple of doors. Each one lead to tunnels of varying lengths. Some were simple short walks and in others Harry found himself having to use ladders to reach other floors of Hogwarts. It soon became apparent that each tunnel lead to a different area that Harry recognised. Some lead to the Professor's offices while others led to other areas such as the Great Hall and the Hospital Wing, where he could see Ron and Hermione still unconscious in their beds. He tried banging on the door and shouting, but no one seemed to hear him. Every door he came across had the same panels, preventing him from leaving through them. The Death Eaters had a whole network of tunnels throughout Hogwarts at their disposal. But where had it all come from? Harry had looked at the Marauders Map many times but had never seen anything like this on it.

Finally there was only one doorway left: The single one at the far end of the corridor. Hoping that this would lead to a way out of these tunnels, Harry opened it and set off determinedly down the corridor. This one went a short distance before ascending upwards via a rickety-looking spiral staircase. Harry ascended carefully, trying his best not to make much noise. At the top was yet another doorway. Harry opened it and suddenly found himself in a very small area full of clothes hanging on hangars. He was in a wardrobe! Harry accidentally knocked a splendid looking pair of robes off of their hangars, creating a large clanging sound. Harry hastily stilled them with his hand but it was too late. The wardrobe doors were flung open.

"Harry? How did you get in there?" asked Albus Dumbledore.

"Professor!" cried Harry in surprise. "Where am I?"

"In my office, Harry," replied Dumbledore. "I think you'll be more comfortable if you came out of there." He stepped back and as Harry stepped into his office Dumbledore leaned into the wardrobe and shook his head in surprise. "In all of my years living here I have never noticed that passageway before. Tell me, where does it lead?"

"It leads everywhere!" sad Harry, quickly regaining his wits. "And it's controlled by Death Eaters!"

"Death Eaters?" said Dumbledore urgently, sitting behind his desk. "Quickly, tell me everything."

So Harry told him about everything that had happened, from seeing Malfoy and the mysterious figure in Diagon Alley to the lair that the Death Eaters had established in the Chamber of Secrets. Dumbledore remained silent throughout the whole thing, the only movement from him being his eyes widening in horror and surprise as the enormity of the situation became clear.

"I've been trying to tell you for ages," said Harry finally. "But you've never been here!" He felt his anger rising at Dumbledore, despite everything he had just been through.

Dumbledore remained silent for a few moments after Harry had finished his tale, and when he spoke there was sadness and regret in his eyes.

"Harry, I must apologise for not being available. What I have been doing has been of the utmost performance, and I think it shall be enormously significant in the defeat of Lord Voldemort."

"But the Death Eaters in the Chamber…"

"Yes, you're quite right, this must be dealt with first." said Dumbledore determinedly. "Leave this to me. The first matter will be to assemble the Order, and then they shall-"

"NO!" Shouted Harry, leaping to his feet. "Why am I always being left out of things?"

"For your own good," said Dumbledore, his voice hardening. "You have already done enough."

"YOU SAID THAT IT WAS FOR MY OWN GOOD LAST TIME, REMEMBER?" shouted Harry. "YOU SAID YOU WOULD BE MORE OPEN ABOUT THINGS, THAT I'D BE INCLUDED MORE! AND WHAT DO YOU DO? SHUT YOURSELF AWAY SO MUCH THAT NOT EVEN THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE ORDER HAVE A CLUE WHAT YOU'RE DOING!" Finally out of breath Harry fell silent, panting heavily. Dumbledore did not make eye contact with Harry at first, and when he there was a look in them that Harry couldn't quite decipher.

"You're right." said Dumbledore finally. "Your efforts to discover what young Draco has been up to have been excellent. I shall need your help in solving this problem."

Harry smiled and sat down. It felt like a great weight had been lifted from his mind. "I just don't understand how those tunnels got there. Perhaps it's something to do with the Room of Requirement?"

"Its possible…" said Dumblredore, watching Harry carefully.

"Perhaps… Perhaps you merely wish for a room that requires a network of tunnels to there places?" asked Harry. Dumbledore smiled and nodded encouragingly. "And then you have someone on permanent guard there, and you have those tunnels for as long as you like!" finished Harry triumphantly.

"Wonderful Harry!" cried Dumbledore. "Absolutely spot on!"

"Really?" laughed Harry. "How can you be so sure sir?"

Dumbledore smiled coldly. "Because I organised its creation. They were made so that any escaping prisoner would be lead to here."

Before Harry could react Dumbledore leapt to his feet and waved his wand. Instantly chains sprang up from the ground and wrapped around Harry, securing him to the chair. "What an amazing thing this magic is," said Dumbledore, looking at his wand admirably.

Harry stared at Dumbledore in horror, struggling against his chains. "Professor, what are you doing?"

Dumbledore rolled his eyes. "For someone so special you are rather lacking in intelligence Harry."

And before Harry's eye's Dumbledore's body began to change. His beard grew shorter, his eyes changed from benevolent blue into dark burning ones that stared with such intensity that Harry flinched. His hair darkened and soon it was a different man standing in front of Harry.

"Who…. who are you?" asked Harry, completely dumbfounded by what he had just witnessed.

The man laughed and leaned forward menacingly. "I, Harry, am the Master."

Appendix

(1) Although electronics is one of the rare areas that a Muggle can show off and act superior towards a Wizard over there are in fact some Wizards who try to use electronics regularly. This has actually resulted in the invention of a hybrid known as Wizardtronics. Sadly, this has yet to catch on and as a result it is only used by a small amount of Wizards, and thus Wizardtronics can't be used in either worlds. (Except perhaps in some other fanfic that someone else has written.)

(2) There was once an attempt to combine pipe cleaners and ropes in an attempt to enable plumbers and cleaners to work in larger pipes more easily, but it didn't work due to the result being a little too good and absorbing dirt, making them too impractical to climb