"Man, it reeks in here!"
"It's an ancient tunnel in a castle that was built 900 years ago, and barely ever used. What did you expect?" James snapped as the four walked down with Peter leading the way, reading off the map.
"Okay, the next right should take us to the Shrieking Shack, but straight would get us to the kitchen."
At that point Sirius looked left to see a tunnel strewn with ice all around it. "What about left?"
"There is no left on the map." At that, all of them stopped and turned to see what Sirius had discovered. The tunnel had icicles coming down from the top, a sheet of ice on the walls, and a coating of frost on the ground.
"This isn't on the map?"
"Nope, see for yourself." Peter handed the map to James, and according to the map, the tunnel didn't exist.
"Gentlemen, we are in uncharted territory. For once, the map is wrong. Let's rectify that."
"I'm all for exploring, but uh… which one of us is going to go down the icy tunnel of doom first?" Remus sarcastically asked, and they all proceeded to try and enter at the same time, which made them squash each other.
"One. At. A. Time." James remarked, and he proceeded first. Remus followed, then Sirius, and finally Peter at the rear. The tunnel didn't seem cold, just eerie, as if its mere presence was creating the cold.
"There's a door up ahead. Come on." They arrived, and easily pulled it open, having to avoid the occasional falling icicle. Inside, the room was filled with lit torches lining the walls, dead plants lining the floor, and in the middle of the room…
"Is that… a statue?" Remus questioned the presence of a statue of what seemed to be Saint Nicholas. A jolly, round man with a gleeful face and a long flowing robe holding a torch.
"… Weird. Why would they put this in here?" James walked towards the statue, his curiosity intrigued. However, Sirius noticed something in the dead plants near James' feet.
"PRONGS! DON'T-" but his warning came too late, as James set off the trap panel, and dove quickly to avoid the pendulum swinging down to chop him in two. As he hit the floor, the blade struck the statue, cracking it in the chest. The pendulum went back up and James slowly got up off the floor.
"What the hell was that?!" James shouted, only to hear a cracking sound. He looked back at the statue, to see it cracking more. But, it wasn't breaking or falling away, simply cracking along the surface.
"I have a feeling that is not good." Peter mumbled as the statue ceased cracking and blood started flowing out of the cracks. The liquid covered the statue, until there was no white marble left showing. And then, it started to change.
The statue's features turned into something like a monster from the Defense against the Dark Arts textbooks. It grew a short fat snout, long fangs, and curved horns. The belly fell away, and the clothing under the robe turned to rough black fur. Its legs became like a goat or a bull. The robe aged from pristine to ragged and torn. The hands became longer and clawed, and the torch it was holding became a long rusty chain with a hook. And it had no eyes, just sockets, filled with blood.
"What. Is. THAT?!" Remus asked, cowering in fear near the door. The creature stared them down and then pointed in their direction.
"You… are… naughty… Krampus will enjoy… feasting on you." It growled out, its voice like a cat's nails being dragged across a flaming chalkboard.
"… Intriguing offer. Let me offer a counter proposal… RUN!" James yelled out as the four scattered to the door, racing down the tunnel.
"Krampus will find you… Him and his workers… always win." At that, they heard a giant buzzing noise, and saw a swarm of something rush towards them. The finally arrived at the end of the tunnel, and the others proceeded to go back to the Common Room.
"NO! THIS WAY! TO THE KITCHEN!" James shouted back, and the others changed course. They proceeded down the other tunnel, and stumbled out into the kitchen, rushing past a few house elves. They burst through the kitchen doors and found themselves face to face with Headmaster Dumbledore.
"Oh, hello boys. Are you alright?"