This is a work of fan fiction using characters from the Harry Potter universe, which are trademarked by J.K. Rowling. I do not claim ownership of these characters nor the locations such as Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, etc. that are Rowling's creations. This work also includes Pokémon, which belong to the Pokémon Company, and I again claim no ownership of these characters.

I thank both Rowling and the Pokémon Company for the universes they have created that allows me to do something like this for my own entertainment and, hopefully, the entertainment of the readers.

Wham!

Harry was given only a heartbeat to notice Neville crash head first into seemingly thin air before he collided with the unseen barrier himself, falling back to the ground in shock.

"What on earth?" He cried, clutching his nose painfully while looking up at whatever it was that had stopped him. There appeared to be nothing there.

But Hermione knew better.

"Barrier," she said, moving forward tentatively with outstretched arms. Her hands came to rest against something solid. "Or Reflect. Probably put up by a Mr Mime."

"So how do we get past it?" Harry asked.

"Do we have to break through?" Neville asked anxiously. Hermione frowned.

"Mr Mime are known to use barriers to trap opponents, often without their knowledge since they can't see the barriers being created." Hermione snapped her fingers. "I've got it. Noctowl, come out and use Foresight."

Hermione's starter Pokémon fluttered into appearance and, upon hearing the command, perched himself on the top of Hermione's head. A weird energy seemed to emit from his eyes, scanning across the whole room from left to right. And as he did so Neville gasped.

A maze stood before them, a complex puzzle of previously invisible walls standing between them and the door, at least doubling if not tripling their journey.

A loud bang was heard outside.

"Lets go," Harry said quickly, reminded that there was no time to waste as Mismagius continued to hold back their chasers. He hurried into the entrance of the maze.

It was far from easy going. Though the maze was now visible to them the walls were still close to transparent and as Harry, Hermione and Neville got deeper into the maze it became harder to distinguish between the right path and the dead ends.

"Mismagius." The reappearance of Hermione's ghost type Pokémon was worrying, each of them knowing that if Mismagius was here that meant the Death Eaters weren't far behind. As Mismagius floated towards them, paying no mind to the barriers that had so easily stopped her trainer, voices could be heard from behind the door.

"You lot, follow Rookwood and cut them off." It was Lucius Malfoy's voice issuing instructions from the other side of the door. "Crabbe, Goyle, Nott, you're with me." And the door opened.

As Lucius Malfoy stepped through the doorway his eyes swept the room, taking notice of Harry, Hermione, Neville, Noctowl, Mismagius, and the shimmering maze that ensconced them all. His companions did not.

"Crabbe, you imbecile!" Malfoy bellowed as Crabbe Sr clambered back to his feet having charged head first into the barrier, eyes focused only on Harry.

"Can't you see the Reflect barriers?" Malfoy berated him. "Did you not wonder why they were still here?"

"Oy, shu'up!" Crabbe retorted, his pride bruised as well as his head. "It ain't tha' easy, ya know, not with my cataracts."

"I don't want to hear it," Malfoy snapped. "Now stop being useless and get Potter."

"Alrigh'," Crabbe muttered and he pulled out a Pokéball. "Lets go, Granbull. Let's use tha' Brick Break."

Hermione gasped. "Go," she hissed, hurriedly pushing Harry and Neville forward as the grumpy looking Granbull raised a beefy paw high into the air, then brought it crashing down on the barrier.

The barrier cracked beneath its swing, and shattered.

"That's Brick Break," Hermione said worriedly as she continued to urge Harry and Neville onwards. "As an added effect it has the ability to break through all sorts of barriers. Quick, Mismagius, use Shadow Ball."

It was a bizarre race to be in. The room was not large, Harry was close enough to see the eyes of each of the still masked Death Eaters from wherever he stood, yet the three Gryffindors remained out of reach. They rushed left and right, forwards and sometimes even back as they sought to reach the exit. Meanwhile Granbull was making slow but steady progress, breaking through the maze and seeming to be able to shrug off Mismagius's special attacks as though they were nothing, continuing unimpeded. All the while Malfoy watched with narrowed, calculating eyes.

Eventually Harry and the others would either make it out the maze or Granbull would catch up with them first. Fortunately the former happened.

Flushed with relief Harry waved Hermione and Neville through the door first, hanging back with Mismagius as the ghost type continued to fire off attacks. Meeting Malfoy's gaze Harry slid through the door and closed it behind him.

He turned and hurried forward.

"Aragog, String Shot!" The sticky web like substance wrapped around Harry's midriff and halted him in his tracks, balanced precariously on one leg, as he looked forward into a floating swarm mere inches from his face. His breath stopped.

"Aragog, pull him back," Hermione instructed and Harry gratefully surrendered to the Ariados's strength as he hauled him away from the swirling, mysterious grey mass and safely back to the stone wall, where Hermione and Neville stood, white faced.

"What the…?"

"Unown," Hermione answered the question before he could ask it. "Individually useless. Poor stats and their only known move is Hidden Power. But there have been stories about what happens when a group of them gather in one place. Horrible stories. It's said that if enough gather they have the ability to reshape reality itself."

Harry swallowed. It had been a very close miss.

"Where to next?" He asked, choosing to focus on his own still desperate situation. "Do either of you see the way out?" As in the previous room there was little of notice but for the swirling swarm in the middle, only a meter or so of space for anyone to get round them.

"I see a door," Neville said, pointing across the room. Harry nodded.

"That appears to be the only way," he noted. Otherwise the walls were nothing but blank grey stone. "Lets go, but be careful. Stick to the walls."

Nervously Harry, Hermione and Neville edged their way around the perimeter of the room, trying to keep as much physical distance between themselves and the Unown as possible as they inched towards the door.

"Mismagius."

Again Mismagius's appearance was a warning for the arrival of the Death Eaters. A mere moment after Mismagius had rejoined them the door they'd just come through burst open.

"Got 'em!" Crabbe shouted, flying through the doorway.

But he'd gone way too far. As he tried to turn himself towards Harry, Hermione and Neville, his balance thrown by the sudden change in direction, his right leg flailed out into the Unown swarm. And unlike Harry there was no Ariados willing to pull him back.

Crabbe fell still as everything seemed to stop, his leg not falling to the ground like he'd expected yet seemingly stuck, though there didn't appear to be any contact between it and the Unown. And then he started to be pulled in.

It was a pleasant process, slow and delicate and at first Crabbe didn't fight it, too confused by what was happening as his leg was dragged inwards and his other foot started to lift away from the ground. His eyes widened as he started to panic, stretching out with the tips of his toes to try and keep in contact with the ground but it was no use, his second leg rising gracefully into the air to join his first. He scrabbled about, trying to grab hold of anything with his still working arms, but no matter how hard he fought it had no effect as, eyes and mouth wide open with shock, he was gently pulled into the swarm and disappeared from view.

Nobody moved.

"Crabbe?" Goyle Sr stuttered from the doorway. There was no response.

Granbull howled.

What happened next happened so fast Harry couldn't have stopped it if he'd tried. Granbull, incensed, threw itself forward, charging the Unown swarm with teeth bared. Granbull flung itself off its feet, diving towards the Unown swarm and biting down viciously, but hit nothing.

Granbull, too, disappeared without a trace.

"Go," Harry said hurriedly, Granbull's last act prompting him into action. Neither Hermione nor Neville looked like they wanted to listen, each staring aghast with white faces and wide, horrified eyes at the Unown, who continued to glide lazily through the air, untroubled.

Harry pushed, there was no time to argue. The sudden motion was enough to get his friends going, though they still looked pale, and the three of them stumbled towards the door.

"Eelektross, Thunderbolt!" The electric attack struck the wall just above Harry's head, forcing him to duck, looking behind him in shock.

Malfoy, Goyle and Nott were following them, even after witnessing what had happened to their friend, and Malfoy's Eelektross was leading the way, body sparking. Only worry about the Unown had kept it from hitting Harry.

"Move!" Harry shouted, this time with more urgency, and Hermione and Neville quickly started to kick into gear.

Another bolt of electricity soared Harry's way, Mismagius emerging in front of him to counter with a Shadow Ball as Neville reached the door and hurried through. Hermione went next, Noctowl and Aragog following after her, and then Harry did, slamming the door behind him.

"Harry!"

Harry threw himself to the side instinctively, crashing painfully against a nearby wall, and not a moment too soon. Mere seconds after he'd dived the space he had been standing in became occupied instead by a massive fist. The ground shook violently on impact and, swallowing, Harry looked up.

Towering over him, hunched against the ceiling above, was the most terrifying Pokémon Harry had ever seen.

It was a Nidoking, yet wilder looking than anything Harry had seen in his textbooks. It was huge, too large for the room it was in, just the one arm bigger and more muscular than Harry's entire body. Its claws scraped horribly on the ground, making the hair on Harry's arms stand on end, and its fangs jutted terribly from its jaw. Cowering beneath its shadow, Harry looked up to see two dark eyes glaring down at him.

"Dewott, Hydro Pump!"

Harry could not see Dewott, or indeed Neville, behind Nidoking's bulk, but he did spot the torrent of water flying through the air moments before reaching Nidoking and he scrambled out of the way.

Nidoking roared in pain as Dewott's attack struck, catching him unexpectedly on the side of his head, the massive Pokémon hunching even further and turning his back to protect against the cascade of water. From his position nearby, though fortunately now out of range of Nidoking's fists, Harry saw the monster Pokémon's eyes narrow.

"Neville, move!"

Neville threw himself to the side at Harry's warning, tumbling to a stop at the feet of an old desk as the fallen bookcase he'd been using for cover disintegrated into wood chip as Nidoking turned and blasted across a destructive Hyper Beam.

"They're here," Lucius Malfoy's voice sounded from the other side of the door. A moment later the door exploded, shrapnel flying outwards as electricity sparked in the remains of the doorway.

Nidoking didn't even flinch.

A masked Death Eater ran through the door and Nidoking lashed out with a swing of his mighty tail. The Death Eater, Nott, went crashing into the wall, mere feet from where Harry crouched. He did not move.

"Lucius!" Goyle, last of the masked Death Eaters, stopped dead in the doorway, trembling as he gazed up into the face of Nidoking. Nidoking gazed back.

A single flick of the wrist was all it took to send Goyle flying back through the doorway, unconscious. There was no sound of him landing. It seemed he had joined Crabbe in falling to the Unown.

Nidoking roared.

"Eelektross, quick, come back!" Malfoy's voice sounded panicked and Harry could easily imagine the blonde haired trainer calling back his Pokémon as he hastily retreated back through the room.

Nidoking, to his credit, was proving why this was a smart move. Turning in the cramped space he had found himself in, his tail nearly pinning Harry to the wall, Nidoking thrust his claws through the doorway savagely. He was much too large, his arms too wide on their own to reach in after Malfoy, and Nidoking quickly realised this and pulled his arms back, dropping his head, instead, down to the opening. A Hyper Beam formed in his mouth, dark eyes seeking out his target, and he fired his attack…

… straight into the Unown.

The world exploded. Harry could not see anything but light as his eyes were forced shut and he was blown backwards, sliding along the wall before he collided with something solid. For so long the blast continued, the pressure unbearable, until, finally, it started to fade.

Harry cracked his eyes open with difficulty. Dust hung in the air, his vision obscured, and as he tried to take a breath he coughed violently. He tried to push himself up, unfolding his leg from the uncomfortable position it'd found itself in, and as he pulled himself up onto all fours he looked down at his hands to find them littered with cuts. He looked around.

Hermione was not far away, disorientated and pulling herself up in much the same way Harry was, while across the room Neville poked his head up from behind the desk he had so fortunately been able to shield himself with.

There was no sign of Malfoy.

As Harry started to rise back up to his feet movement startled him. In the centre of the room Nidoking's massive form shifted. Loose debris fell from his back to the ground as he started to come to.

Watching the enormous Pokémon rouse himself Harry reached worriedly for his belt. None of his Pokémon had a good matchup against a Nidoking and so he clutched Charizard's Pokéball tightly in his fist, the only one of his Pokémon he knew would stand a chance.

Nidoking looked around the room, eyes picking out each of them and the Pokémon they had out, and pulled himself to his feet. He stood at full height, or as full as he could under the low ceiling, and growled.

"Wait!"

Nidoking turned in surprise. So did Harry.

Hermione had pulled herself to her feet, standing tall and exposed before Nidoking. She looked out at her three Pokémon, Noctowl, Mismagius and Aragog, all looking battered and bruised, and returned them to their Pokéballs.

Then she stepped forward.

"It's alright," she said softly, but she wasn't talking to Harry. Instead her eyes were fixed steadily on Nidoking as she took another careful step forward.

Nidoking shifted.

"It's okay," Hermione said again, her voice soft. "It's alright. I'm not here to hurt you." She extended out her hand.

Everything was still. Hermione and Nidoking still stood apart a fair distance, though Harry knew that would mean nothing if Nidoking decided to attack. Across the room he could see Neville looking worried, peering out from behind the desk with Dewott at his side, ready to attack. Harry's grip on Charizard's Pokéball tightened.

But Nidoking wasn't attacking. Indeed he seemed calm and, as Hermione took another step forward, he let out a low rumble, dipping his head.

Then a red light burst from Hermione's belt.

"Bui! Bui!" It was as though Buizel had sensed the deadly presence of Nidoking nearby. But his appearance could not have come at a worse moment.

Nidoking roared. He slammed his fists angrily into the ground, his tail sending rubble flying, and he glared down on the girl before him. In one swift, precise movement Nidoking reached out and lifted Hermione into the air.

"Bui!" Buizel shouted in alarm.

"Hermione!" Neville cried. Water built up in Dewott's mouth. Harry cocked back his arm, ready to throw.

"Stop!" Hermione shouted and everyone froze. "All of you, stop moving. Leave this to me."

Harry froze, Charizard's Pokéball mere moments from leaving his grasp, while across the way Dewott's attack died in his mouth.

Only Buizel did not listen.

"Bui, bui!" He shouted angrily, waving his fists up at the much larger Nidoking. Harry imagined a translation would be for Nidoking to put his trainer down.

"Buizel, stop!" Hermione said firmly. "Stand down!"

Buizel looked violently opposed to the idea, still glaring up at Nidoking, but he did heed her words and fell silent. Hermione turned back to Nidoking, addressing him face to face.

"We don't want to fight you," she said, her voice very calm considering the circumstances. "We're not with those masked guys. You live here, don't you?"

Nidoking stared at her for a long moment before nodding. He let out a sorrowful note.

"You see, Harry, this is Nidoking's home," Hermione told him, still held high in the air. "He wasn't trying to attack us, he thought we were the ones attacking him. I imagine the other Death Eaters Malfoy sent to cut us off must have found him and Nidoking had to fight them off." Nidoking nodded again, though he couldn't possible have understood everything Hermione had said.

Yet he had certainly changed. No longer was he thrashing around, destroying everything in sight. He was more demure now and even his grip on Hermione was light.

Hermione reached out a hand and gently rubbed it against Nidoking's chin. The huge Pokémon let out a contented sigh, closing his eyes peacefully, before eventually they reopened and he lowered Hermione gently to the ground.

Their journey from that point on was incredibly quiet. Harry did not know about Malfoy, or what exactly had happened to Crabbe and Goyle Sr, but Nott, or rather his body, remained unresponsive. It seemed at least one of his classmates had lost their father tonight.

With no Death Eaters to bother them but also no guarantee that Malfoy had been taken care of Harry, Hermione and Neville had no choice but to continue onwards. At first Hermione had the idea that perhaps they could work their way back to the Hall of Prophecies, and from there retrace their steps back out of the Ministry, but they quickly came to the realisation that this level of the Ministry, whatever it was used for, was a maze. Though the Death Eaters had somehow made it to Nidoking's den there was no obvious signal as to which route they'd travelled to get there, and which route would ultimately lead back to the Hall of Prophecies, and though Harry, Hermione and Neville tried their best they were soon left wandering aimlessly, alone with Nidoking left behind.

As they walked they did not see any Death Eaters, Legion members or Ron, Ginny and Luna. They did, however, pass through room after room of some of the most bizarre things imaginable. In one room they found a whole herd of dancing Spinda. In another a weird energy field that caused them to move slower the faster they tried. They walked through portals in place of doors, passed a Sudowoodo pretending to be a tree and fooling no one, and required Pikachu's static to attract a swarm of Magnemite so they could make their way across a room.

Eventually they came to a room much larger than any since they'd left the Hall of Prophecies and immediately it felt significant.

"I don't think we are close to the Hall of Prophecies," Hermione said as she stepped down the rows of stone benches. "Though it's hard to tell in here. But if there is any structure in this place I imagine a big room like this must be close to that circular room at the beginning. And as you can see, we have a lot of options."

She was right. As the three of them reached the bottom of the stone benches and were able to look around the whole room they could see numerous doors spaced out along the edge. One of them was bound to lead back to the circular room.

"But which one?" Harry asked what all three of them were thinking. There were just too many options and if they took the wrong one they'd most likely get lost again, or worse, bump into the Death Eaters.

"Maybe it's a trick," Neville suggested. Their experience with this place so far made that almost a certainty. "Maybe we're not supposed to take the doors." He turned to look at the only thing left in the room, a huge stone archway from which dangled a ragged cloth.

"What are you thinking?" Harry asked curiously.

"Maybe this archway is something," Neville hypothesised. "I mean, it's not doing anything. Maybe it's really a portal."

"Hermione?" Harry asked. Hermione bit her lip.

"I don't know," Hermione said warily. "It is possible but I'm not sure I want to take the risk. We have no idea what it could do and if it really is a portal we have no idea where it might take us. This isn't like the Hoopa Rings, in that case we could see what was on the other side."

It was a valid point and it was probably a good idea to show caution. Yet the temptation to take the risk was so strong. They'd been walking around for so long, Harry just wanted to get out, get Neville and Hermione out of this mess and make sure Ron, Ginny and Luna were okay.

Tentatively, Harry reached forward to touch the cloth.

A/N: Thanks very much for reading. I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

To Aoi Usa: Thanks for letting me know of the story. I'll be sure to check it out sometime as it sounds interesting, although of course it is disappointing it isn't finished.

To DelugeLeader 666: Thanks for the QOTD suggestion. I'm not going to use it yet but I am keeping a track of all these suggestions to use in later chapters. I like how you asked what normal type I'd be but didn't allow me to make myself a god and choose Arceus. I don't yet know the answer to that question myself so I'll have to have a real think on it before making that the QOTD.

For the QOTD in the last chapter there weren't very many responses, which I suppose was predictable considering people generally don't see much of themselves in bad people. For this chapter's QOTD I've decided to ask something that will require a little more creativity.

QOTD: If you were to arrange a challenge (like those shown in the chapter) what would it be like?

I really want to see some creative responses here. It can be anything from a type of maze you have to get through or even a simple Pokemon battle. I particularly like the idea of a Mr Mime maze and I think running through a Trick Room room would be very disorientating.

So let me know your ideas and also what you think of the chapter and the story so far. I'll see you all in the next chapter.