Dungeon Six

The four of them crept down the tunnel, passage way, in silence. None of them knew where this passage way went and none of them were stupid enough to ask where it went. Caly felt worry gnawing away at her, what would happen if something went wrong down here, would Al and Rose's family ever find them. Sure they'd left the doors open so someone was bound to wander through eventually but she didn't like to think what it might put the families through. No, Caly mentally rebuked herself, they were going to be fine. They were, they had to be.

The passage way seemed to lead on forever. The walls were made from the same stone as the dungeons but there were no torches hung in brackets at regular intervals meaning the darkness cloaked them. They good only see themselves and a step ahead, the rest was darkness. This being when Caly reached the end of the tunnel she walked straight into the wall.

"Ouch!" she cried as her nose and forehead connected with stone.

"What is it?" asked Scorpius

"I think it's another door, pass me your wand." Scor handed Caly his wand and she shone it on the smooth stone surface in front of her. At first she could see nothing. Nothing that marked it as a door or an entrance. But then she examined the individual stones more carefully and found another engraving of her wand. She pointed her wand at the stone and said

"Alohomora." Nothing happened. Caly frowned and tried to stop feeling worried and to feel the happiness and sense of accomplishment she had felt in Ollivanders.

"Alohomora." Still nothing. She turned to her friends. Their faces were lit up eerily by their wands, like the way children would to tell scary stories. "It's not working."

"There has to be a way in." said Al nervously.

"Maybe it's like Diagon Alley." suggested Rose. Caly frowned at her.

"What?"

"Maybe you don't have to say a spell you just have to tap the stones." Caly thought about and realised that, however time consuming it may be, it was the best shot they had. Caly started at the top and began to tap every brick on the wall in front. Scor shifted from foot to foot and kept his eyes glued to his watch. Caly was well aware of the fact it was at least quarter past 10 but how was she to know that Scor's mother wouldn't actually be in dungeon 6. The wall remained completely inanimate until Caly tapped the brick in the middle of the etching of her wand. The wall cracked in two and then slid backwards revealing a vast dungeon. There was a pause.

"Well." said Caly "In hindsight I probably should have guessed it was that brick." The four of them laughed despite where they were.

They walked slowly into the dungeon. It had a high ceiling, as a high as church and had stone pillars on either side. One side was draped in white and the other in black. Between all the pillars were dark tunnels. The floor was made of polished tiles that reflected the ceiling. The dungeon ran for maybe 100 metres, probably more. At the end was a cauldron at least ten times the size of a standard one. It looked like two people could fit comfortably in it. On the floor in front of it, leaning against it, bound and gagged, was Scor's mother.

"Mother!" Scor cried. She raised her head ever so slightly from where it lolled against her chest. Scor ran down the dungeon and Rose, Al and Caly followed him. When they reached him he was crouched over his mother with tears running down his face. Caly swallowed the lump that was forming in her throat and tried to blink away the tears that clouded her vision.

Mrs Malfoy was so different from the women she had seen on the platform. On the platform she had been a plump, non descript women who had been showering her son with hugs and kisses. Now she was pale and thin. Her hair was wispy and matted. Her eyes had a sunken, vacant look about them. She seemed to have little to no energy but she had registered Scor she had tilted her head ever so slightly towards him. Scor dropped his wand and scrabbled at the knots binding her. Rose snatched it off the ground and stood guard with Al. Caly looked into the cauldron.

She recoiled in shock. Collapsing next to Mrs Malfoy she took deep shuddering breaths. Scor looked over at her, the tears still falling down his face.

"What?" Rose turned and knelt down next to her when she heard Scor question Caly. Caly couldn't think. Her head was spinning, her nostrils were still filled with the stench from the cauldron and the image of the dismembered limbs was still burned into her eyes.

"I know what that potion is." she said. "This is dungeon six and that's a-"

"Wait how can this be dungeon six?" asked Rose "There can't be two dungeon sixes."

"There aren't two the place we came in via is like an anti chamber or something, but seeing as no one knew this place existed they incorrectly labelled that place as dungeon six and the potion is a Gemini Draft." She paused for breath and was about to continue when they heard footsteps coming towards them. Rose and Al got back to their feet and tried to train their wands on where they thought the sound was coming from but the echo made it impossible to trace a location.

"Well done Caly." said the voice of a man. "You know you really are smarter than everyone gives you credit for." All four of them were frozen to the spot trying to work out just why that voice was so familiar. Then the man stepped out from between two pillars on the right.

Caly's mouth dropped open. She thought she might be sick. This wasn't happening. It couldn't be him but at the same time it made sense. That day suddenly made sense. She didn't understand though. She had trusted him, liked him. He had helped her beyond the others.

"Professor Hardingly what are you doing here?" asked Rose completely non-plussed. He was smiling, the banners were white, that meant something or was she just getting distracted. He laughed but it wasn't a good natured chuckle. It was cold, it was completely devoid of mirth.

"You mean Caly hasn't told you?" they all looked back at her. Caly's brain was barely keeping up, she'd only just figured it out but she got what he was trying to do. He was trying to turn them against her.

"You knew?" asked Scor, his voice was shaking with confusion, anger and hurt.

"No not till just now, not till you did, except it made sense."

"Made sense?"

"Gemini, the twins." she said. "Black and white, good and evil."

"What are you talking about?" spat Al.

"There are two of them. Two Professor Hardingly's."

"So they're twins."

"No they're Siamese twins, but they've been separated."

"How do you know this?"

"It doesn't matter. The point is one of them is 'good' and the other is 'evil'. That one is the 'good' one. Of course he's not really good, more happy. This potion will allow them to join bodies, again."

"So why are there limbs floating in it."

"To ensure the two people don't die in the heat and flames a sacrifice for each is made. One of the people in there is the man who attacked me in the grounds, the other is the arithmancy professor who Professor Hardingly has been forcing to help them. I would also hazard a guess that the man from the grounds is in someway connected to the Madon's."

"Madon's?" asked Rose "What have they got to do with this?"

"I don't think what happened to them on the Quidditch pitch was an accident. The fire was the same we all saw it and whoever knocked Nikki off her broom wouldn't do something like that in real life, not in Hufflepuff, no one knows who did it and no one got detention it's like we all….oh." Caly trailed off her eyes growing wide as she reached a conclusion that clearly startled her.

"What?"

"Someone has been messing with our memories ever so slightly this year, they've been trying to be discreet but instead there are things that don't add up. That's how I forgot what they wanted when I figured it out, he panicked, they panicked, and that's why I never asked James who was the attacker, he knew the name, he saw it on the map and then anonymously tipped off his dad. I kept forgetting. That was you." Caly said to Professor Hardingly. "You've been stopping us getting too close to the answer, or as best you could without alerting me. Your brother had told you about the thing that happened in our first lesson and of what the teachers were saying." Professor Hardingly nodded, the smile was still there. "Because this isn't the man that taught us for most of the year. He only did our exams."

"When did you notice this then?"

"When I went to thank him for helping me with my practical magic. The Professor Hardingly who opened the door was the 'evil', 'sad' one, he didn't know what I was talking about, he closed the door and then that one opened the door and he was all smiling and understanding but I noticed he had changed his tie. I thought because the one who'd been teaching us had just had a row with the arithmancy professor so I thought that might be why he was distracted. I thought he might be bi polar or something like that."

"Why didn't you tell us?" asked Rose. Caly shrugged, unsure.

"I guess 'cause it's personal, like I didn't say that I found the arithmancy professor crying in a classroom or the professor Hardingly that taught us kissing Professor Overy. It's just none of our business. I just walked in on personal stuff. Those are the things I don't get." she said to Professor Hardingly. "What part they played in it. I mean I have a guess for the arithmancy one but not Professor Overy."

"Well let me hear your theories, you have been correct so far and I'm not really in a hurry."

"Well I was sitting with James when he was trying to choose the subjects he wants to do next year. He told me the least popular one is arithmancy. That means the professor has lots of spare time on his hands. He can walk around the school and no one will think he's out of place. He's like the perfect spy, if he were willing." Professor Hardingly applauded her, stepping forward with each clap of his hands.

"Excellent, Caly, excellent. I knew you were clever the moment I saw into your mind."

"You've never seen into my mind."

"But my brother has, and as you so astutely said we are Siamese twins, we are deeply linked in ways you can't imagine."

"I don't want to know." said Caly. Professor Hardingly's smile faltered.

"You better watch your tongue."

"What are you going to do cut it off and throw it into the cauldron, please, we both know that would destroy the potion. So what about Professor Overy?"

"Oh my brother was bored so he decided to have an affair with a lonely clingy women. She was not privy to this."

"Bored or broken?" asked Caly. Professor Hardingly smiled and frowned at the same time.

"I had forgotten you'd seen. I think you know the answer." Scor was twitching from where he was standing next to Rose. In one moment he grabbed his wand and went charging at Professor Hardingly.

"NO!" shouted Al, Rose and Caly. Their cry was ignored, even as it echoed around the dungeon. Rose and Al ran after him but Caly found herself being held back by Mrs Malfoy. She looked round to see Scor be thrown down the passage way. Rose and Al's spells were blocked by Professor Hardingly and the four of the disappeared into the darkness that was occasionally streaked with red light.

Caly watched them go with a feeling of hopelessness. She was alone in main part of dungeon six, she had a wand with which she could barely perform the simplest spells, she had a women who had clearly been tortured hanging to her sleeve and she knew the other Professor Hardingly was around somewhere. She knew she had to get help. Al, Rose and Scor were the best in the year but they were no match for Hardingly. She had to get Mrs Malfoy out of here and raise the alarm. She bent down and lifted Mrs Malfoy to her feet. Mrs Malfoy slumped against her and Caly felt her knees buckle. It took tremendous effort to take that first step. She was practically dragging Mrs Malfoy. She had made it ten paces she heard another voice.

"I don't think so." Caly didn't need to bother to turn around to know who it was. She felt like collapsing. She was tired and she was beaten. The other Hardingly raised his wand and pointed it at the ceiling. "Bombarde."

James ran along the passage. For some reason there were a lot of teachers around tonight. He had nearly walked into a whole load of them and had had to double back and take another route. It had taken him twice as long, therefore, to reach dungeon six. He found the door wide open and he entered cautiously and immediately noticed the square hole in the wall. He ran across to it barely registering the fact the door was closing behind him. He examined it. It led to a tunnel. He stood, maybe he should get a teacher, they could be in serious trouble. He crossed to the door and found it locked. He saw a funny engraving of wand above the lock and cursed. Great he was stuck in here but if Al, Rosie, Caly and Malfoy had got in here than one of them must have the wand, right?

James had to admit he was freaking out for his little brother, his cousin and Caly, this whole place was giving him the creeps, it wasn't on the map. Everything was on the map, that's what Teddy had said, except the Room of Requirement because it was required to be unplotable. He had to admit he was even a little worried about the Malfoy boy. It couldn't be all bad, in fact everyone liked him after the events of the Quidditch final. He had been quite the hero then, he was pretty quiet and, whilst he never took the bullying lying down, he never gave anyone extra cause to hate him by being violent. He suspect Caly's involvement in that. It was the sort of thing she did.

"Bombarde." James heard the words distantly, they were coming from the end of the passage. He broke into a sprint. He tore down the passage towards the rectangle of light at the end. It grew and grew until he came out into a massive dungeon. He didn't really notice that though because he was more focused on the fact that the ceiling was falling in. He backed up and watched as it blocked his view of most of the dungeon. He was sure he'd seen Caly on the other side. He pounded the rock wall with his fist. He needed to get through. Then he heard a crash and a yell. He looked left. There were passages between the pillars and there was someone who needed help. He didn't give it another thought he took off between two pillars draped in white.

Professor Hardingly continued to throw Scor around like a rag doll whilst deflecting the disarming spells that were being sent by Al and Rose. He had to admit he found this highly amusing. He knew he had pushed the boy to the edge and whilst his plan to get him to turn on Caly hadn't worked at all, they'd just stood there and listened, he had got a very good reaction out of him. Now Everret could take care of Mrs Malfoy and Caly and he could take care of his little friends, then they could join themselves back together. Then what was next? He didn't know but he didn't care he had spent his whole life searching for the voice inside his head that belonged to Everret Hardingly, he had seen countless Healers at St Mungos, all of them labouring under the delusion he was mentally unstable. No he had been torn in half. Taken by his father, his mother had raised Everret, and the secret was kept until quite per chance the two of them met in the waiting room of St Mungos. No one could deny the fact that they were physically identical. The Healers had had a little talk and realised that it made perfect sense. From that day on they had searched for a way to be whole again and finally they had stumbled across the solution in a book in the restricted section of the library.

Al growled in frustration. His best friend was being beaten up. It was time to use something that Caly had told him about, it was called a 'rugby tackle'. He ran forward, shoulders lowered and was about to connect with Professor Hardingly's legs when the man whipped around and shot a stunner at him. Al went cart wheeling off and landed on top of Scor completely unconscious. Professor Hardingly turned on Rose who was trembling she raised her wand but before she had even taken a breath she was stunned. Gerald Hardingly levitated her body on top of her brothers and best friends and then calmly walked off.

Socr groaned his whole head hurt and he was being crushed. He hadn't been knocked unconscious, despite what Professor Hardingly thought. He sat up and let out a startled cry as Rose and Al rolled off him. He took a couple of breaths. They were still breathing. Then the ceiling shook. He yelled and jumped in shock as a rock fell from the ceiling.

The ceiling was falling in on him and his friends but not all of it, this part was obviously weaker, they had been put here for a reason. There was a safe zone. He pointed his wand at Al and muttered

"Wingardium Leviosa." he lifted Al's body off the ground and moved it quickly to avoid a falling rock. He manoeuvred it as swiftly as he could to make sure that he didn't get hit by anything and that Rose wasn't hurt. He nearly he had just placed Al down when James came skidding to halt in front of him. The ceiling was coming down much faster and Scor knew he wouldn't get Rose out.

"Stay where you are!" he yelled at James. Then he threw himself over Rose's body, face down. He felt the heavy weight of the world crash down on him and then he saw blackness.