A long, tense silence fell amid the Chamber of Secrets—Zander and Valefor sharing a deep, intense glare with one another.

Mary-Lynn glanced warily between the two, standing far away and gnawing her bottom lip.

Valefor bared his teeth, looking maniacal—shooting off a bright red spell.

"Cruci—"

"Remora!"

Zander ducked away and flourished his wand—a quick whip of power sweeping Valefor's feet from underneath him.

Valefor staggered and nearly fell—his spell whizzing high above and blasting a chunk off the chamber's stony ceiling.

Zander moved several feet back, wand drawn as his heart began to race. He inhaled and fired off another spell—

And Valefor did the same—both of them casting spells left and right, blasting great bursts of power at each other, many of them meeting midair and erupting overhead.

"DON'T JUST STAND THERE!" Valefor bellowed over at Mary-Lynn, deflecting a disarming spell from Zander. "THIS IS YOUR FIGHT TOO—C'MOOOON, LITTLE GIRL!"

Mary-Lynn gaped at them, looking terror-stricken and sliding out her wand. Just when she began to raise it—

"Stupefy!"

Zander shot off a spell to the side before quickly blocking another torture curse from Valefor—the spell hitting Mary-Lynn squarely in the chest and making her fall limply to the damp ground.

"Oh—hoh—HOH!" Valefor chanted with a wild grin, whipping away several of Zander's spells as he did. "Oh—well—done!"

Zander quickly grew fed up and tried a different approach—stepping back and pressing his wand to his own forehead.

"Concelio."

Suddenly—Zander vanished from sight.

Valefor halted instantly, gaping at the space before him, his eyes quickly darting around and searching for the now invisible boy.

"Haaaaaah," Valefor beamed insanely, reeling around and narrowing his eyes at every inch of the environment. "Oh, that is so… so Slytherin… hahahah… heeeere, kitty, kitty, kitty…"

"Expelliarmus!"

Zander snuck to his side and shot off the spell—

"Oooh no ya' don't!" Valefor whirled into a quick circle—narrowly dodging the disarming spell and jutting out his wand. "BOMBARDA!"

Zander was running now—directly toward Valefor, his hand outstretched, reaching for the wrinkled hat hanging out of his leather jacket—just hooking his fingers around it before—

Ban—BOOM.

Valefor's explosive spell hit the ground just at Zander's feet—blasting chunks from the ground and making him fly back through the air, the sorting hat whizzing far across the open clearing, landing far away from both of them.

A big hunk of debris struck him in the head—vision exploding into starry blackness—and Zander hit the ground harshly several yards away, rolling and skidding to a stop, sprawled on his back as his head spun and throbbed, blood oozing from the side of his skull.

He fell still there, face twisted up, wincing terribly as the world shifted around him. His insides felt to be frozen still, unable to take in breath, the chamber around him shifting into twos and threes as his head gently rolled to the side.

There beside him, only mere feet away, was the sorting hat.

Zander barely managed to lay eyes on it before upturning his head again, watching as the blurry figure of Valefor slowly sauntered forward.

Valefor meandered closer, wand clutched tightly by his side as his predatory eyes burned into the boy with apprehension.

"I… gave… you," he growled hoarsely, still catching his breath. "So many chances…"

Zander tried to lift his head, instantly ambushed by a wave of splitting pain, fingers blindly clasping for his wand again.

"And Xyler… Xyler… Xyler, Xyler, Xyler," Valefor rambled madly, shaking his head and combing his wild hairs back. "He doesn't want you harmed… but, y'know… well… he's also not here, now is he?"

Zander took in several quick breaths, vision still destroyed, head still spinning in horrid pain, his hand only just making contact with his wand.

"And what Xyler dunnt know," Valefor exhaled, aiming his wand fixedly at Zander. "Won't ruddy well hurt him."

He took in a deep breath, adjusted his grasp on the wand, and opened his mouth to unleash a wicked incantation.

And just when he did—Valefor suddenly fell still and silent, his eyes flickering upward, landing on something he hadn't noticed until now.

He stared down the chamber, directly past the fallen Zander—watching as another figure slowly strode forward, easing to a stop just a short distance away.

Valefor's brow hardened, his eyes narrowing strangely at the newcomer.

Alice stood there, wearing an uncharacteristically deadpan visage, eyes a cold, steely blue, holding her compass in one hand, her wand in the other.

The two shared a dark, tense stare—and far off to the side, Mary-Lynn was only just reaching her feet again, straightening up and gaping at Alice in surprise.

Alice barely spared her a glance, her eyes homing in on Valefor.

Valefor unraveled a slow, wide grin, eyes sparkling with a mad inspiration.

Then at once—they shot off spells in unison—casting and blasting in rapid succession and deflecting one another's spells like Zander and Valefor had moments ago.

Mary-Lynn suddenly looked determined, making a brisk stride toward the fight and aiming her wand at Alice.

Alice barely spotted her—whipping her wand in a broad stroke sideways and sending a great blast of fire across the open chamber.

The fires shot across the room—meeting Mary-Lynn and catching her robes ablaze.

Mary-Lynn shrieked and scrambled back in absolute fright—Alice bringing her wand into a wide circle, the fires growing as they began to encircle Valefor.

Zander barely managed to blink his vision straight, the world finally returning to his awareness—seeing that the chamber was now filled with the brilliant light of flames.

The fires evolved into great walls of heat—trapping Valefor in the heart of it as Alice maintained it all, wand held outright and feeding the fires more with every second to pass. The flames continued to grow, climbing higher and widening farther, and Valefor took in a sharp breath, suddenly scuttling back and planting himself in the center of his fiery circle.

Mary-Lynn's tortured screams echoed across the chamber as she struggled to aim her wand down at her burning legs, hand trembling as she tried to speak the aquamenti spell—and Alice took a steady stride closer to her opponent, fires still billowing out from her wand and keeping the wall of fire thriving at the threshold of the Salazar statue.

Valefor eyed her from inside the circle of flames, glaring through the flickering fires and studying her intensely.

"Oooooh… so… kind," he breathed, revealing his maniac smile once more. "You are so… so kind… little girl."

Alice slowed to a stop before him, still wearing an expression of unfeeling resolve.

Valefor gently shook his head, releasing a low, cackling laugh.

"And that's your greatest weakness of all," he snickered breathlessly. "The great Achilles heel… of any bleedin' heart Hufflepuff… is always… their… mercy."

Alice said nothing, tightening her grasp on her wand as it continued to expel fire.

"And you know it, too," Valefor exhaled. "You know you shouldn't have given me a safe little circle to stand in… and you know what you oughta do now."

Alice didn't move or speak, still merely glaring at him.

"But you don't have the stomach for it," Valefor rasped through gritted teeth.

Alice stared, silent, sighing, and only just managing a nod.

"Aye," she murmured. "A little fire that warms is better than a big fire that burns."

Valefor let out a string of throaty laughs.

Alice gently tilted her head at him.

"Until," she added, her tone gaining strength. "The little fire's not enough anymore."

Then—she slowly moved her wand inward, and the monstrous circle of fire began to enclose, tightening, entrapping, encroaching upon Valefor from every direction and encasing him in a great, blasting heat.

Valefor inhaled sharply and glanced all around, fidgeting in his stance and looking suddenly urgent—then jutted out his wand and yelled—

"CRUCIO!"

The red spell whizzed out from the fires and struck Alice in the heart.

Alice didn't remember falling—didn't know her wand flew from her grasp, or that the fires had suddenly started to fade—didn't feel herself slam onto the ground, and didn't know that the shrill, agonized voice filling the chamber now was entirely her own.

All she knew was this—this wicked, tortured screaming of every cell in her body, the horrific burning and searing that seemed to consume her from head to toe, writhing on the ground and screaming in pain, every part of her feeling as if it was being viciously stabbed and lit ablaze, and her vision exploded into stars.

As the fires died down, and as Alice lay wailing on the ground—Valefor strode out from the dying flames with an evil smirk, his visage dominated by dark, morbid victory.

And as he did—the heart-wrenching screams seemed to jolt Zander upright with a start.

He gazed at the scene in terror, watching as Valefor sauntered steadily near with his wand outright, Alice's voice cracking and shattering as the torture carried on.

A horrid panic shot up and down him, and Zander's breath seemed to stop, feeling as if he was lost to a nightmare—just when he spotted the faintest hint of a shine from the corner of his eye.

He looked to the side—and there, just beneath the wrinkled brim of the sorting hat, was a sleek, shiny object, glistening in the dim light.

Feeling more shocked and dazed than he ever had—Zander dove for the hat without a thought.

His hands snapped around the shiny golden handles—and he pulled out two glistening swords, short duel swords with the inscription of the serpent on either one.

Zander reached his feet—facing Valefor and holding either Sword of Salazar by his sides, inhaling a bracing breath before he unleashed a hellish blow.

"Bombarda—MAXIMA!"

Zander whipped the sword across the air—and the wildest display of power exploded across the scene with the velocity of a missile, a blinding light and a deafening eruption jackknifing across the chamber, ripping giant chunks from the ground as it blasted out to Valefor—smashing into him and ripping him off the ground.

Alice finally fell still on the ground—Mary-Lynn hunched against a faraway pillar, tending to her wet, burnt legs and gazing at the scene in awe.

Valefor collided with the giant skeleton of the long dead basilisk—many of its bones breaking and snapping as he landed in the heart of them.

Zander strode forward with an anger he'd never known before now—reeling back and—

"CONFRINGO!"

He sliced the air with the other sword—a spiraling light barreling through the chamber and exploding into Valefor—sending him soaring back once again, smashing morbidly into the mouth of the statue of Salazar.

Valefor was unconscious before he hit the ground flat on his stomach—and Zander stormed closer, aiming a sword at him and inhaling several heated breaths through clenched teeth.

All the sudden—everything fell deathly, eerily still.

Alice lay out cold somewhere behind him—Mary-Lynn watched in mortified horror from the sidelines—and Valefor lay face-down and completely still on the ground, his wand lying a few feet away, Zander glaring down at him with the sword clutched viselike in his hand, aimed perfectly down at him, his heart hammering with a raging indignation, chest rising and falling with every furious breath, the Cruciatus Curse hovering on the tip of his tongue, wanting, longing, and pleading to come out.

He paused, hesitating—and then, he shook his head.

No—Valefor wouldn't get away with what he'd done here.

"Cruci—!"

"Zander!"

Zander instantly froze—inhaling a sharp gasp and wheeling around.

Far down the chamber—he spotted a large group of people standing there, all of them ogling him in awe, their faces painted with surprise and perturbation.

In the front of the group was Tobias, his mouth hanging agape. Behind him were James, Lorcan, and Rose, all wearing similar expressions of shock and dismay as they surveyed the aftermath of the battle all around them.

Zander stared at them, feeling a wild flurry of things bombarding him all at once, a string of blood still trickling down the side of his head, gently rolling down his cheek. He glared, still inhaling quick, angry breaths, and then—he turned back to Valefor.

He gazed down at the unconscious madman for seconds that felt like years, his wild anger slowly beginning to diminish, releasing a heavy cloud of breath.

No—logically—he didn't have to carry on any farther.

The battle had been won, and now, it needed to end.

Zander swallowed roughly, sinking to his knee and collecting Valefor's wand from the ground. Then, he turned to face his friends again, swatting one of the swords loosely over toward Mary-Lynn's general direction.

"Deal with her—she's a traitor," Zander barked, his voice scratchy and hoarse. "She's with him. She smuggled him into the castle. Take her to the headmaster."

His friends traded faces, then looked over to Alice, all of them with worried expressions.

"But she—is she okay?!" Rose breathed.

"We followed her for a reason," James added. "We knew she'd get caught up in something when she ran off looking for you—"

"Just—GO!" Zander bellowed impatiently, swinging the sword by his side and making a burst of green light shoot out from the end. "Take Mary-Lynn to Arius and Crowley—and tell them we're down here!"

Tobias frowned at Alice, Rose looking as if she was fighting back tears while James and Lorcan wore grave visages.

Mary-Lynn scooted back in her seated position, growing frightened and staggering to her feet with some difficulty.

Lorcan thought to collect the sorting hat from the ground—and Mary-Lynn broke into a run, limping quickly around the giant pillar and wincing as she did.

James spotted her and instantly jumped into action. He drew his wand—running around the pillar and leaping into her path.

"Incarcerous!"

James shot off the spell—and a flurry of tiny ropes appeared, snapping around Mary-Lynn and coiling tightly around her, restraining her on the spot. Mary-Lynn let out a scream—as her wounded legs were painfully bound now—and she fell limply to the floor, squirming and wriggling in her binds, but to no avail.

"Go—all of you—go!" Zander called, waving at the felled Mary-Lynn. "Keep a close eye on her and don't let her get away!"

Tobias, James, Lorcan, and Rose all surrounded the restrained Mary-Lynn, extending their wands and chanting the incarcerous spell, connecting their magic ropes with the binding ones. Then, they all began to drag her away, escorting her down the chamber and slowly vanishing from sight.

Zander huffed out a massive breath, wandering forward, gazing after them, feeling utterly rattled and drained.

He glanced back at Valefor, feeling unbothered by him there, as the man was now terribly wounded, out cold, and unarmed.

Then, as he slowed to a stop beside Alice, his eyes ventured down, landing on her.

Zander stared, his expression softened, darkened, fracturing in a way it rarely ever did.

Alice lay still, her eyes closed, her head slightly slumped to the side, her mouth just barely agape, and her hairs askew across the damp chamber floor.

He could've marveled at how miraculous it was, that he, Zander McAllister, was the first to summon the Swords of Salazar in over a thousand years—and he could've felt rushed, victorious, high on the grandeur of winning such a hard, perilous battle. He could've felt heroic after tracking down and pinning a dangerous traitor, and he could've felt heroic for bringing down a notorious Azkaban escapee as well.

But as he stood here, gazing down at Alice, he felt no such things in the slightest. He only felt a deep, sickened, festering knot of displeasure at the sight of her lying here now—pained, exhausted, and ridden unconscious by a torture he could scarcely imagine.

Everything beyond that might as well have not existed at all.

Zander slowly sank to his knees, hovering beside her, staring down at her, heart pounding, emotions waging absolute war inside as his visage began to break even more.

The swords gently slid from his grasp, making a faint clink as they met the chamber floor.

Then, his hand wandered over to her, clasping onto hers, clutching it tight.

Zander stared down at her for what felt like an eternity longer, teeth grinding, jaw making a twitch, eyes burning behind a watery glaze.

He released a long, trembling breath, hanging his head as a tear cascaded down his cheek.