Chapter Seventeen: A Rescue Mission

SS was already standing up when Hope crashed onto the moist ground of the chamber's entrance hall. He held his wand up, the tip already alight, and assessed the dreary hallway as Hope stood up and winced when the water soaked her socks.

"I'm pretty sure this place in underneath the lake," SS observed and spun towards the only way forward. "We go that way?"

"Yep," Hope responded and lighted her wand. The two narrow beams were barely enough to see by. A muffled shout came from that direction.

"We better hurry," SS grumbled and started to run forward. Hope dashed after him.

"But we have to be careful," Hope added. SS didn't acknowledge her, but trudged on. The climbed over old crumbling basilisk skins and chunks of rock. SS had a aura about him, a brash and angry air. Hope was concerned for him as well as herself. Eventually she would have to tell SS who her father was and why she could enter this place. Would he resent her when he learned that her father had tortured his.

"We're close," SS muttered when they began to see grayish light ahead. They reached the entrance to the chamber. Hope hissed at the snakes adorning the door and it swung open. SS started to march bravely in but Hope yanked him behind one of the stone snake pillars so that they were hidden.

"Hurry up, Kim!" Luff yelled and SS flinched, struggling against Hope's grip on his arm.

"Choose your battles," she whispered to him, repeating the advice he had failed to heed on Halloween. "We have to wait until we know their plan."

"But...Ferna," SS moaned as he craned his neck. Hope looked out, saw nothing, and dragged SS to the next pillar. From there they could see the rest of the chamber.

"She's right there. She's fine," Hope assured him, pointing. Ferna was laying on the chamber's floor, at the feet of Salazar Slytherin, guarded by Luff who was leaning against the statue. Her copper hair was splayed out, tinged with blood. Her eyes were closed and the blood running off her arms mingled with the water on the floor. But her chest was rising and falling. She was still alive.

Hope's attention was snagged Kim who was fiddling with the boring box that Hope had ignored last time she was here. Kim had opened the box and was blocking SS and Hope's view of what was inside.

"Come her for a second," Kim called to Luff and the boy walked over. Kim gave his friend the lid of the box and then turned back to it. Hope decided to seize to opportunity.

"Go get Ferna, then head out of here. I'm going to try and figure out what those two idiots are doing," Hope told SS. He nodded and started creeping towards the unconscious Ferna. His mind was so focused on not being noticed that his skin briefly glowed gold, then he disappeared, invisible. SS felt Ferna's wrist for a pulse, found one, than hoisted her over his shoulder, firefighter style. His magic seeped into her and she too turned invisible.

Meanwhile, Hope was creeping as close as she could towards Luff and Kim while staying hidden in the shadows. Finally, they stepped back and Hope caught her breath. Inside the box was a nest containing a toad who was sitting on a white egg. A chicken egg. Luff and Kim were trying to hatch a Basilisk.

"It's almost time," Kim said excitedly as cracks began to from on the egg's shell. The toad croaked and hopped off it. Kim and Luff leaned in while Hope leaned back. More cracks appeared and a piece of shell fell. A tiny green head with a scarlet plume poked out. Its eyes were closed and wouldn't open for another year, which explained why Luff and Kim were staring at it without fear. The serpent slithered out of the egg. He was about as thick as a rope, at least four feet long. His scales where bright green and shiny white fangs scraped the moist floor as he sniffed around blindly.

"Yes!" Luff cried out and pumped his fist in victory. "And now he shall feast on magical flesh and develop a taste for it. Then we'll unleash him on the students!"

"Sh!" Kim hissed. "Don't reveal all our plans."

"Relax," Luff insisted. "No one's here. Now, to the prisoner!" He turned where Ferna had been but all he saw was some tile stained with blood. Luff's face turned red and he whirled around the front of the chamber. "Someone is here."

"Who? No one can get into the chamber except for…," Kim's voice tampered off as he realized something. "That Slytherin girl. Hope."

"And where she goes, her friends follow," Luff growled. A sound suddenly bounced down the chamber, the sound of someone stumbling. Both boys whirled around to the front of the chamber, their wands raised. SS was about to be caught. Hope swallowed, knowing what she had to do, but hoping that she could do it.

"Hello," Hope shouted and stepped out of the shadows. Luff and Kim turned to her, eyes wide.

"What do you want, snake?" Luff demanded, puffing out his chest. But Hope saw the trembling of his hand. He was afraid.

"I want to know why you created a monster that I can control," Hope replied with a smirk, head held high. She pranced towards the boys, her own wand held in her hand by her side. Kim's wand unleashed red sparks that fell to the ground harmlessly. She chuckled and began to walk around them.

"PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!" Luff yelled as she got closer to the baby Basilisk. Hope flicked her wand lazily and deflected the spell.

"Honestly, can't you two do any better," she laughed. "Didn't Albany choose you two idiots to do this job for a reason?"

"We don't know anything about Albany," Kim quickly protested. Hope just chuckled and kneeled down, still a ways away from the Basilisk.

"STUPEFY!" Luff screamed. Hope jabbed her wand at him and he flew back into one of the snake pillars, groaning as he fell to the ground. One down, one to go.

"Hey!" Kim cried out in shock, staring at his bruised and beaten friend.

"Did you really think you could stop me?" Hope asked, hand on hip. Kim turned back to her, eyes narrowed.

"No," he answered, tone angry. "But she can." He waved to the entrance to the chamber and Hope gulped. It was Madame Heydt, the librarian. Her heels clipped along the tile and her new purple robes swished around her ankles. She straightened her spectacles as she approached and coughed into her hand that held her long wand. Hope stood up.

"Madame Heydt?" she gaped, not understanding.

"Hello, dear," the librarian responded, her thin lips curled into a smile. "I can see you are quite stunned. Pity that you never tasked one of your spies to follow me around."

"What?"

"You may have had spies but so did Albany. It was very stupid of you children to plot your schemes in a public place. Did you really think you four could stop Albany?" the librarian chuckled. Her thin blond hair was pulled back into a bun that jiggled whenever she spoke.

"You're working for Albany. You knew about Ferna," Hope realized. "You told Albany about Twyla."

"Twyla?" Kim wondered. "Was she a spy?"

"And here we thought she was just messaging family back home," Madame Heydt simpered. "Kim, go message Albany at once."

"Right," he replied, but paused. "What about Luff?"

"I will heal him later," Madame Heydt snipped. Kim nodded and ran out of the chamber. Hope's eyes followed him and she knew she only had moments to stop him. She yelled out in protest and waved her wand at the door to the chamber. The stones came crashing down, sealing all of them inside the dank room. Hope was praying that SS and Ferna had already gotten out.

"You foolish girl," Madame Heydt growled at her. "Now you will know true pain."

"Do your worst," Hope hissed back, her dark eyes narrowed into slits.

SS slammed jumped when he heard the crashes behind him. He had reached the pipe and was waiting for Hope when he heard it. He ran off down the hall and saw that the entrance to the chamber had been filled with stones. He couldn't get back in and Hope couldn't get back out. Angrily, SS slammed his fists against the stone. Hope needed him. If this much damage had happened already, then he couldn't imagine what was happening to his friend, all because he had insisted on saving Ferna.

"SS?" a voice gasped and the blonde spun around. Standing behind him, wands held up for light, was Professor Higglebottom and Professor Venus. Never in his whole life had SS been happy to see teachers. He rushed towards them, fear thumping his heart, and told them everything that had happened.

"We saw the girl," Professor Venus told him when SS finished. "I put a protection spell on her so she can't be harmed further. She's safe."

"Thank you," SS sighed.

"It was foolish of you children to do this without us," Professor Higglebottom groaned and the scarf around her waist turned red. "But I understand that you had little time."

"We've got to do something," SS insisted.

"Agreed," Professor Venus replied. "I will go find Rose and Al-"

"No, Madeline, I will go find them. You will help SS raise this stone and go help Hope. She's in danger, I can sense it," Professor Higglebottom interrupted. The curly haired witch looked like she wanted to say something but nodded instead.

"But I can't lift any of this rock," SS protested, feeling useless. His face fell into his cool palms. "This all my fault. I was the one who insisted we save Ferna."

"SS, wanting to save someone from a fate they do not deserve is a noble trait. You should not ever be ashamed of it," Professor Venus assured him as she placed her hand on his shoulder.

"And as for not being able to raise this rock, you are mistaken. You have a great magical ability and will certainly be able to lift it," Professor Higglebottom told him. SS's brows crinkled in confusion. "Certainly by now you know who you are." SS shook his head and the frizzy haired witch rolled her eyes. "Rose is descended from Rowena Ravenclaw. Albus is a child of Helga Hufflepuff. You, SS, are descended from Godric Gryffindor, thanks to your mother's blood."

"What?" SS gaped.

"You heard me. You are a son of the lion. You are more than capable of lifting this rock," Professor Higglebottom responded and turned around to go back. "I must go find the others. Good luck." Then she ran off. SS was still reeling when Professor Venus tapped his arm.

"SS, I know that was a lot to take in, but we need to hurry," she told him. SS nodded numbly and turned to face the pile of rocks. Together, the teacher and the student raised their wands. Three minutes later, a hole the size of a person had been formed in the rocks. Professor Venus turned to SS and smiled. "After you."