Chapter Twenty-six: Falling Into Darkness

"Dammit! Where is it?" Sammy fumed, flinging random objects about the room.

"It's quite brilliant, really." Harry admitted. "Nobody hangs out with Trelawney, so it's the perfect place to hide something."

"Blimey, those house elves are tiny!" Fred's voice, muffled by his head stuck in the tiny cupboard that had been Blindie's room, complained.

"Perhaps Hermione was on to something with S.P.E.W. then?" George prodded his twin.

"Not that Blindie was a very good worker anyway. In fact, I can hardly tell the difference in this room before and after he died." Fred looked about.

"I guess Trelawney's just used to living in filth."

The two laughed. They also shared a secret, knowing glance. Without any inspiration in the shameful face of their recent string of pranking failures, they had been unable to think of a good prank for Trelawney. Feeling uninspired and slightly bitter, they had opted to pee in her hypobaric chamber. Although she hadn't noticed, they took solace in the fact that they knew. It was pettier than usual, but they were also kind of assholes.

Neville shuddered. Taking a break, he had unconsciously started staring at Trelawney's death-like face within the hypobaric chamber. Without the presence of her misty soul across her features, her resemblance to a Muppet was truly horrifying. Looking away from the grim specter of near-death and ignoring the smell of pee, Neville aimlessly browsed the many shelves containing wild and random piles of things as unrelated as a hippo is to battery acid. That's when he saw it.

It was very inauspicious at first; trapped under a glass case and lying underneath a snakeskin. Made of purple burlap with black yarn for hair, was a vaguely human-shaped lump of a doll. Neville gasped. That was it!

"I say, chaps! Lookee here!" Neville stepped forward towards the case, reaching for the glass.

"Wait! Neville, don't!" Sammy yelled, sliding out of Trelawney's room. "It might be booby trapped."

Neville froze in terror at the thought of boobies.

"Grandma says that they destroy all who behold them." He whimpered.
Ignoring this seeming nonsense, Fred and George bounded up to the display.

"We'll take it from here!" They gave each other a Weasley tag-team high five.

"Go forth, my brother!" George bellowed and Fred leapt to action.

Using his keen weasel eyes, Fred zoomed in on the physical setup of the display case.

"Right then! Here we are." He gestured to what seemed to be thin air.

"Mind explaining?" Sammy sighed.

"Allow me." George took over. "Right here, before your very eyes, is one of the finest trip wires we have ever seen in our careers as ragamuffins. The slightest movement of the glass case will set it off."

"Blimey." Harry breathed in surprise.

They really could think!

"Ah, I see. Well, then, all we have to do is this and then-"

"Wait!" Fred and George yelled at the same time.

"-it'll disarm…it?" Halfway through Sammy's sentence, the contents of the glass display case smoldered into a pile of ash within seconds.

There was a moment of horrified silence as all beheld the smoking ruin.

"Disarming the first trap…" George began.

"…sets off the second trap." Fred finished.

Sammy continued to stare at the remains of the voodoo doll.

"Destroying it before removing pins meant that Reagan was going to be in an angry psychotic state forever, right?" Neville squeaked.

"Well…yes." Professor Summersong reluctantly admitted.

"Isn't there any way we can fix this?" Harry asked numbly.

Professor Summersong turned to face them all, her expression one of deep regret.

"I'm sorry, boys and Sammy. There's nothing we can do."

Sammy still didn't turn around and her fists trembled by her side.

"I'm the worst girlfriend ever." She muttered between clenched teeth.

Hugging each other in terror, Bridgit and Cora continued screaming at the impassive face of Lord Voldemort. He seemed untouched by their display of fright. After a few moments more of screaming, the two quieted down from the need to breathe. There was a moment of frozen silence where they waited for Voldemort to spring to action.

"Why isn't he doing anything?" Cora asked in confusion.

"More importantly, why isn't he wearing any pants?" Bridgit wailed at the sight unfit for human eyes.

"And why isn't he breathing?" Cora let go of Bridgit.

"Maybe Dark Lords don't need to breathe." Bridgit suggested.

Cora crept up to the pale, sickly form and poked it. The body fell to the ground and folded in on itself.

"What the hell?" Cora cried.

Bridgit looked at the hook the skin had been hanging on, whereupon she noticed a sign that read 'to eat for later'.

"I think…he sheds his skin." Bridgit felt like she was going to be sick.

Truly he was more snakelike than anyone had ever suspected.

"But why does he keep it around?" Cora felt a tremor run through her body from head to foot.

"Some reptiles eat their shed skin…for nutrients." Bridgit wanted to cry.

"I wanna go home." Cora sank to the floor in horror. "Screw England. They can all die."

"Well, we've gotta put it back on the hook before we restore sound, otherwise we won't be able to get the door back open." Bridgit pointed out that the skin was obstructing the door's range of motion.

"I don't wanna touch it. I already did. You do it." Cora whined.

"No way! You've already got the germs on you. There's no sense in infecting both of us. You do it!" Bridgit countered.

"Dibs out!"

"One two three not it!"

"Long straw!"

"Tails!"

"Checkmate!"

"Bingo!" Bridgit screamed, praying for the end of her torment.

"Doesn't that mean you win?"

"So does checkmate." Bridgit sulked.

"Fine! Just stop being such a baby!" Cora snapped, kicking the skin out of her way.

It stuck to her foot and snapped to a stop like a freshly-washed sheet.

"Oh God, it's on me!" Cora screamed. "Get it off!"

She hopped about on her free leg, waving the other about causing the skin to trail back and forth like a horrid Voldemort-shaped kite.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean it!" Cora tried to repent for anything she might have done to deserve this.

She managed to shake the thing free and it shot up into the air, sticking with a dull splat to the ceiling. It drooped down and looked like it would eventually fall.

"Let's get outta here." Bridgit wailed.

"Okay, but we gotta be quiet." Cora reminded her.

They took two minutes to breathe again and calm themselves down. Then they opened the door, released the silence spell, and slipped quietly out of the room; relieved to see that Voldemort was still asleep in his chair, dead snake hanging around his neck.

Creeping out into the hallway, the two urgently power-walked away from there as fast as they could without breaking into a dead sprint. The hallways were mercifully empty of anyone who might question why they were there. After five minutes of tense silence, Cora giggled softly.

"We're going to get away with it." She whispered.

"You can say that when we're back at Hogwart's." Bridgit tensely replied.

"Right. So, you have all the notes, right?" Cora asked quietly.

"Yeah, in my pocket." Bridgit patted her pouch.

"Good!" Cora abruptly broke off and ran away in another direction.

"What are you doing?" Bridgit demanded.

"You can take care of the greater good! I've got some unfinished business back at the lab!

Bridgit stared after her friend in horror. How could she run back into the belly of the beast when they were almost in the clear? Cora was going to going to get herself caught. Bridgit's mind raced. Even if Cora did get caught, she could still escape. In fact, knowing the huge distraction Cora would likely cause from her over-the-top methods, Bridgit would have an even easier go of escaping and have enough getaway time to ensure the precious information got back to Hogwart's.

But could she just leave Cora behind like this?

"Damn you, Cora Willowstaff." She spat. "You've always been so selfish! Fine, you do that…and I'll take care of the greater good."

And she continued on.

"Okay, here's the plan:" Sammy began, leading the group back to Reagan's cell, "I'll tell him what happened and let him bludgeon me to death with his bare fists. Any questions?"

"That sounds fair." Professor Summersong nodded.

"Don't you think that's going to bit too far, mate?" Fred asked incredulously.

"It wasn't your fault. Really!" Neville stressed.

"No, I thought about it. I think bludgeoning is the best choice." Sammy stubbornly continued as they all rounded the corner.

They stopped in surprise at the three bodies laying on the ground and the open door.

"Dear me, he seems to have escaped." Professor Summersong murmured.

"Reagan! Are you-" Sammy ran into the room and screeched to a halt when she found him sitting at a table.

He stood up slowly, the chair scarping back from the table as he rose to his full height.

"Hi guys!" He gave a chipper smile. "Where have you been?"

"Umm…rescuing you?" Harry offered.

"Reagan! Ibrokeyourvoodoodollandnowyo u'rescrewed! I'm so sorry!" Sammy confessed.

"What? Oh, don't worry about that! Through personal reflection and meditation, I have managed to restore balance to my mind. It took some re-aligning of my charkas, but everything's alright now." He beamed, certainly making little sense.

"But what about Dumbledore, McGonagall and Madame Pomfrey?" Neville pointed to the three unconscious faculty members.

Reagan blushed.

"Sorry about that…it seems there's still some tweaking left to do. But don't you worry! I'll get the hang of it in no time!" He tittered.

"Have I told you lately how awesome you are?" Sammy smiled in relief.

"No, but now's a good time to start." He winked and put his hand around her hip.

The two walked off, leaving everyone else feeling supremely cheated for their efforts.

"Checkers anyone?" Neville offered weakly.

Everyone else muttered about having something else to do, except for Harry who sighed.

"Sure Neville. Bachelor checkers it is." He wiped a tear from his eye and the two began to play, ignoring the three unconscious and likely bleeding faculty members.

Dr. Doom was sitting idly at a table playing solitaire with floating cards when Cora suddenly smashed into the room, slamming the door behind her.

"Dr. Doom! It's an emergency!" Cora strode into the room.

The Doctor lowered his wand and gave her a confused look.

"Where's the emergency?" He demanded.

"Right here." Cora growled, killing him on the spot with the magic of death.

As his lifeless, fatty corpse crumpled to the ground, the caged people looked at her in apprehension.

"Alo hamora." Cora unlocked all of the cages at once. "Be quiet and you all might just get out of here alive."

She took a commanding tone so that the bewildered people would listen to her.

"Is this a trick?" A thin woman asked tiredly.

"No. Now get up." Cora pulled her to her feet.

Quietly like frightened deer, the people filed out of the cages and gathered in front of Cora.

"What now?" A man asked.

"Well…" Cora looked around. "Ah, yes! I shall let you know my clever, thought of beforehand plan. We will escape out the window!"

"Are you mad!" An older man boomed. "We're on top of Parliament. The fall alone will KILL us!"

"Quiet!" Cora hissed. "Or you'll all die a lot faster."

"I don't want to die." A little boy started wailing.

"Ohhh…shut up." Cora clamped her hands on either side of her head. "Look, I'll lower you down with magic and-"

There was a collective gasp and everyone backed away from her.

"You're one of them!" A woman screeched.

"No no! It's good magic! Like-like angels!" Cora tried to desperately come up with something.

"What would you know of angels, you godless freak!" A man demanded.

"I used to give blankets to homeless people?" She lied.

"I volunteer." A young man boldly stepped forward. "What do you need me to do? I'm as good as dead here, so I'll take any hope you can give me. Then, even if I don't make it back to my wife and children, I can at least say I died trying and not groveling on the floor like a coward."

"How could you talk if you were dead?" A man muttered.

"Great! Okay, so come here and I'll help you down."

Using a levitation spell, Cora quickly and carefully lowered him down to the ground.

"Now run!" She called after him and he ran off as fast as his legs would carry him.

A press of people surged forward in desperation to be next.

"Let me go, please! I haven't seen my son in years!" One woman cried.

"I'll give you five hundred pounds! I'm really a wealthy banker! Really!" Another man tried to push his way to the front of the line, offering a paltry bribe.

"Get in line and shut up or else I'm not helping any of you." Cora snapped and the panicked people, very surprisingly, obeyed. "Once you get down, don't wait. I don't know how long it will be until someone finds us, so run as fast as you can."

She started lowering the next person out the window. The tension in the air was thick as everyone wondered whether or not they would be able to escape this hellish nightmare to see the outside world again. Working efficiently, it didn't take long for Cora to get the majority of the thirty people in line to the ground. She then turned to the remaining ten who had stayed sitting in their cages.

"Thanks for your patience, guys. You're next!" Cora sighed.

There was no response and the people continued staring blankly at the walls.

"Come on! We need to go!" Cora prompted them.

She whirled her head around as she heard pounding from the outside hallway.

"Let me out! Alarm! Alarm!" The voice of the mostly-thawed Dewerta cried from within the supply closet. "There are intruders!"

Knowing she had run out of time, Cora ran up to the nearest person and grabbed their arm, trying to drag them from the cage.

"C'mon! It's your time to go. You can be free!" Cora yelled at him.

Someone grabbed her from behind and Cora screamed, whirling around to give whoever it was a taste of her fisticuffs. She stopped short and gaped at Bridgit. She shook off her surprise at not being abandoned and sprang into the offensive.

"What took you so damn long?" She demanded.

"I was setting up barricades in the hallways to buy your stupid ass some more time. At least one of us thought this through a little." Bridgit grumped.

"I liked it better when all the stuff that came out of your mouth was stupid nonsense." Cora flippantly lashed out with her words.

"Well, you seem to have been making progress out of childhood as of late so I decided to kick it up a notch." Bridgit coolly replied.

"Well, now that you're here help me with these people!" Cora gestured at the uncooperative prisoners.

Bridgit only needed to take one look at those vacant faces.

"They're gone, Cora." She shook her head. "I'm sorry, but they're broken. They're not going anywhere and if we try to help them, we will die."

Shouts were echoing down the hallway and there was a loud smashing noise.

"That was the barricade, Cora. We need to go now." Bridgit tried to drag her friend to the window.

Cora let herself be led to the window, but then took a look back at the remaining people.

"But if we-"

"There's no "but" in this, Cora, and you know it as well as I do. If you need me to be the bad guy who forced you away from this so that you can live with the outcome, then that's fine by me. As long as we make it out alive."

Bridgit then shoved her out the window.

"DAMN YOUUUUU BRIDGITTT!" Cora screamed as she freefell.

Bridgit followed suit, jumping impassively from the window and freefalling to give herself as much of a speed advantage as she could. Just before hitting the bottom, both cast a quick levitation spell to decelerate and then broke off into a wild dash. Stray bolts of magic struck all around them as they ran and both could see people pouring out of the parliament building to give chase. Random by-standers were being struck down by the hastily-aimed spells and the agents coming out of Parliament.

"And this is why I wanted to leave them." Bridgit made a pointed comment as innocent people who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time were killed by poorly-aimed spells.

"I regret nothing!" Cora snapped stubbornly and they continued on, sharply turning into an alleyway.

They could hear voices following close behind and knew it would only be a matter of time before they were found. They caught sight of a dead end and their faces paled.

"Yeah…we're screwed." Bridgit sighed.

"Bridgit…for what it's worth…about screwing up the mission. I'm…"

Any further conversation was interrupted by the ground opening up and swallowing them whole. Their screams as they fell were muffled by the earth closing up again, burying them alive.