Chapter Fifty-Two

Aurelia, Blaise and Tennengong searched the first floor, there was little light to see by so Aurelia and Blaise only had their wands to light the way. When they found no signs of Hermione and Draco they took the difficult decision to split up. Tennengong took the basements and wine cellar. Blaise checked the second floor and Aurelia started to search the third floor.

Aurelia searched the upper west wing without any developments and soon she had found herself in the upper east wing. The atmosphere up there was diabolical, the air was foetid and there was a stench of rotting flesh upon an icy breeze. She checked room after room and as she did so, so the atmosphere grew more and more intimidating. As she made her way down the corridor she became aware of a muffled crying sound, it was quiet at first but the further she progressed down the hallway the more discernible it became. Aurelia stood rooted to the spot, petrified, she knew she had to go on but she was afraid of what she might find. Then she heard a blood-curdling scream and it jolted her to the core. Horrific laughter followed the scream and Aurelia found the determination she needed to act.

She ran down the rest of the corridor at full speed and stopped outside the door where she knew the scream had emanated from and paused momentarily to strengthen her resolve. Then she pushed open the door and gasped as her mind took in the full horror of what her eyes were seeing.

…...

Blaise's search came up empty, so knowing that there were a lot of labyrinthine cellars and basements, he decided to help Tennengong in his search. He descended into the basement via an open door in the kitchen and slowly made his way down the steps. He found himself in a brick room with vaulted brick ceilings and elaborate twisting brick archways and columns. There were boxes and barrels and bric-a-brac piled up against the walls and there were torches upon the walls lighting the room. Blaise noticed another open door in one corner and without fear he pushed on through. This room was much narrower than the last room and it looked as though Luna and Neville used it as a larder as there were rows of shelves containing jars and bottles of all sizes and shapes, so Blaise kept moving to yet another doorway at the far end of that room. This time he came across a narrow stone passage, lanterns hung at intervals along it, creating pools of warmth in the thick blackness. There were simple wooden doors spaced along the passage and Blaise tried each in turn, only to find each one locked or jammed firmly shut. The corridor turned and twisted and every now and again Blaise would come to a crossroad in the subterranean tunnels. He followed only his intuition, still trying every door he came to. And then finally he came across a door he hadn't tried yet, he turned the handle and to his surprise it turned with a click.

…...

Aurelia couldn't believe her eyes. The room was bathed in a sinister and unsettling red light, the abhorrent smell was almost painful to endure, but Aurelia barely even noticed it, her eyes reflected the ghoulish scene in front of her. Tears began to flow from the corners of her eyes as she surveyed the eerie room. Goosebumps had raised up all over her skin, and shivers ran up and down her spine, her hair stood on end, and the shock had rendered her immobile and unable to speak.

…...

Blaise opened the door slowly and peered into the darkness of a large, vaulted room. In the dead centre of the room sat Tennengong, surrounded by a wide ring of candles. Tennengong was chanting and before him sat a wooden bowl that appeared to be full of blood. His eyes were completely white and his head was thrown back. The scene was unsettling and Blaise was disturbed by what he saw. He had no idea about the ritual Luna had arranged, and to him the whole scene appeared evil.

He ran across the room, kicking some candles aside as he reached the shamen. He grabbed him by the throat and dragged him out of the circle.

"So this is your game!" He said, raising his fist to the medicine man's shocked face, "you are the cause of all this madness!"

"No, no, you do not understand," Tennengong whimpered, "Mistress Luna send for me. I help release trapped souls and rid house of evil soul!"

Blaise tried to detect deceit in Tennengong's frightened eye's but finding no hint of a lie in his features, he let go of his dress collar. As he did so a hurricane-like wind rushed into the room, extinguishing the remaining lit candles and roaring into a vortex of raw, biting air. Blaise jumped out of the way of the tornado as he saw the twisted faces of several women swimming in the ferocious, swirling air!