The Cave
Arthur smelled salt and heard rushing waves as he felt a light and chilly breeze ruffle his hair when looking out at the moonlit sea and star strewn sky.
He realised that he was also standing on a high outcrop of dark rock, water foaming and churning below him.
Glancing over his shoulder, he saw a towering cliff that stood behind, a sheer drop that was dark and faceless. There were a few larger chunks of rock, like the one that he and Dumbledore stood on, looking like they broke away from the cliff face at some point in the past. It was such a bleak and harsh sight; the sea and rock unrelieved by a tree or sweep of grass or sand.
"What do you think?" Dumbledore asked.
"They actually brought kids from the orphanage here?" Arthur asked, not understanding how this can be a cosy spot for a daytrip.
"Not here, precisely." Dumbledore said. "There is a village of sorts about halfway along the cliffs behind us. I believe the orphans were taken there for a little sea air and a view of the waves. No, I think it was only ever Tom Riddle and his youthful victims who visited this spot. No Muggle could reach this rock unless they were uncommonly good mountaineers, and boats cannot approach the cliffs; the waters around them are too dangerous. I imagine that Riddle climbed down, magic would have served better than ropes. And he brought two small children with him, probably for the pleasure of terrorising them. I think the journey alone would have done it, don't you?"
Arthur looked up at the cliff and he couldn't help but feel chills.
"But his final destination - and ours - lies a little further on. Come."
Dumbledore beckoned Arthur to the very edge of the rock, where some jagged niches that made footholds led down to some boulders that were half submerged in water and closer to the cliff. It was a pretty treacherous descent and Dumbledore, being hampered by his withered hand, moved slowly. The lower rocks were slippery thanks to sea water and here was when Arthur felt flecks of cold salt spray hitting his face.
"Lumos." Dumbledore said once he reached the boulder closest to the cliff face. A thousand flecks of golden light sparkled upon the dark surface of the water a few feet below where he crouched; the black rock wall beside him also being illuminated.
"You see?" Dumbledore asked quietly, holding his wand a bit higher. Arthur was able to see a fissure in the cliff where dark water was swirling.
"You will not object to getting a little wet?"
"Not really." Arthur shook his head.
"Then take off your Invisibility Cloak - there is no need for it now - and let us take the plunge."
Then, with the agility of a significantly younger person, Dumbledore slid from the boulder, landed in the sea water and then started swimming, with such a perfect breaststroke, to the dark slit in the rock face, his lit wand gripped by his teeth.
Arthur pulled the Cloak off and stuffed it in his pocket before following after Dumbledore.
The water was icy cold and his waterlogged clothes billowed around him and weighed him down. Taking deep breaths that filled his nostrils with the tang that came from salt and seaweed, he struck out for the shimmering light that moved deeper into the cliff.
The fissure opened into a dark tunnel that Arthur could tell would be filled with water at high tide. The slimy walls were only and barely three feet apart and glimmered like wet tar in the light from Dumbledore's wand.
A little way in, the passageway had curved to the left and Arthur saw how it extended far into the cliff. He continued swimming in Dumbledore's wake, the tips of his fingers brushing the rough, wet rock.
He then saw Dumbledore rise out of the water ahead of him, his silver hair and dark robes gleaming.
When Arthur reached the spot, he felt steps that led him into a large cave. He clambered up, water streaming from his soaking clothes, and emerged shivering badly into the still and freezing air.
Dumbledore stood in the middle of the cave, his wand now held high as he turned slowly on the spot, examining the walls and ceiling.
"Yes, this is the place." He said.
"How do you know?" Arthur asked in a whisper.
"It has known magic." Dumbledore replied.
Arthur realised now that Dumbledore could literally see magic, which actually sent chills up his body.
Dumbledore continued revolving on the spot, concentrating on whatever Arthur can't see.
"This is merely the ante-chamber, the entrance hall." Dumbledore said after a moment or two. "We need to penetrate the inner place… now it is Lord Voldemort's obstacles that stand in our way, rather than those nature made…."
Dumbledore approached the wall of the cave, caressing it with his blackened fingertips, murmuring words in a language Arthur didn't understand.
Twice, Dumbledore walked right around the cave, touching as much of the rock as he could, sometimes pausing, running his fingers back and forth over a particular spot until he stopped, his hand pressed flat against the wall.
"Here." He said. "We go on through here. The entrance is concealed."
Arthur didn't ask how he knew. He never saw a wizard work things out like this, just looking and touching; though he has long known that bangs and smoke were really marks of ineptitude instead of expertise.
Dumbledore then stepped back from the cave wall and pointed his wand at the rock. An arched outline did appear for a moment, blazing white like there was a powerful light behind the crack.
"Now what/" Arthur said, speaking through chattering teeth. The outline had then disappeared, leaving the rock as bare and solid as ever. Dumbledore then turned to Arthur.
"Arthur, I'm so sorry." He said, pointing his wand at Arthur, whose clothes were as warm and dry like they hung in front of a blazing fire.
"Thanks." Arthur said gratefully, though Dumbledore's attention was back on the cave wall.
He didn't try more magic, simply standing there and staring at it intently, like something interesting was there. Arthur stayed still, not wanting to break his concentration.
After two solid minutes, Dumbledore quietly said "Oh, surely not. So crude."
"What are you talking about?"
"I rather think…" Dumbledore said, putting his uninjured hand inside his robes and pulled out a short silver knife that looked like one used to chop potion ingredients. "...that we are required to make payment to pass."
Arthur frowned as he knew what he meant.
"You have to give the door blood." He said.
"Yes. Like I said, crude." Dumbledore replied, sounding disdainful, even disappointed, like Voldemort had fallen short of the standards that Dumbledore clearly expected. "The idea, as I am sure you will have gathered, is that your enemy must weaken him or herself to enter. Once again, Lord Voldemort fails to grasp that there are much more terrible things than physical injury."
"It can't be avoided, can it?" Arthur asked, his contempt for Voldemort growing.
"Indeed." Dumbledore said, shaking back the sleeve of his robes, exposing the forearm of his injured hand.
"Professor!" Arthur protested, hurrying towards Dumbledore as he raised the knife. "I should do it, I'm -"
He didn't really know what to say. But Dumbledore simply smiled.
There was a flash of silver and a spurt of scarlet; the rock face was now peppered with dark, glistening drops of Dumbledore's blood.
"You are very kind, Arthur." Dumbledore said, passing the tip of his wand over the deep cut that he made in his arm, making it heal instantly. "But your blood is worth more than mine. Ah, that seems to have done the trick, doesn't it?"
The blazing outline of an arch formed in the wall again, but it didn't fade away this time: the blood splattered rock within vanished, leaving an opening into total darkness.
"After me, I think." Dumbledore said before he walked through the archway with Arthur on his heels, lighting his own wand quickly as he went.
Before them was an eerie sight: they stood on the edge of a great black lake, one so vast that Arthur couldn't make out the distant banks, in a cavern that was so high that the ceiling was also out of sight. There was a misty greenish light that shone far away in what looked like the middle of the lake; it was also reflected in the completely still water below.
The greenish light and the light from the two wands were the only things that broke the velvety darkness, though their rays didn't penetrate as far as Arthur expected. This darkness was somehow more dense than normal darkness.
And Arthur was sure that the greenish light was where the Horcrux was placed.
"Let us walk." Dumbledore said quietly. "Be very careful not to step into the weather. Stay close to me."
He set off around the edge of the lake with Arthur closely following him from behind.
Their footsteps made echoing, slapping sounds on the narrow rim of rock that surrounded the water. They kept walking, but the view didn't change: on one side of them, the rough cavern wall; the other, the boundless expanse of smooth, glassy blackness and in the very middle was the mysterious greenish glow.
Arthur felt that the silence was very oppressive and unnerving.
"Professor, I think the Horcrux is there." Arthur said, pointing at the greenish light.
"I think that would be the best guess. The question is, how do we get it?"
"Why not try the Summoning Charm?" Arthur asked, knowing that it can't be that easy, but it didn't hurt to try.
"Certainly." Dumbledore said, stopping so suddenly that Arthur almost walked into him "Why don't you do it?"
Arthur took a deep breath before saying loudly, wand aloft "Accio Horcrux!"
With a noise that was like an explosion, something large and pale had erupted from the dark water twenty feet away; before Arthur could figure out what it was, it vanished again with a crashing splash that made deep ripples on the mirrored surface.
Arthur stepped back, feeling genuine fear for whatever it was that broke the surface of the water.
"What the hell was that?" He asked, his voice shaking.
"Something, I think, that is ready to respond should we attempt to seize the Horcrux."
Arthur looked back at the water, seeing that it was now back to being like shiny black glass with the ripples having vanished unnaturally fast.
"Did you think that would happen, sir?"
"I thought something would happen if we made an obvious attempt to get our hands on the Horcrux. That was a very good idea, Arthur, much the simplest way of finding out what we are facing."
"But we still don't know what that thing was." Arthur pointed out as he looked out at the smooth water.
"What the things are, you mean." Dumbledore said. "I doubt very much that there is only one of them. Shall we walk on?"
"Professor?"
"Yes, Arthur?"
"How are we gonna cross the lake to that?" Arthur pointed to the green light at the centre of the lake.
Dumbledore didn't reply as he just kept walking until he stopped again.
"Aha." He said, turning back to Arthur. "Stand back against the wall please; I think I have found the place."
Arthur did as he was told, knowing that Dumbledore had detected something. He ran his hand through the thin air, like he expected to find and grip onto something invisible.
"Oho." Dumbledore then said happily seconds later. His hand had closed in midair upon something that Arthur couldn't see. Dumbledore moved closer to the water, making Arthur watch nervously as the tips of Dumbledore's buckled shoes were now on the utmost edge of the rock rim.
Keeping his hand clenched in midair, Dumbledore then raised his wand in his other hand and tapped his fist with the point.
Instantly, a thich coppery green chain appeared out of thin air, extending from the depths of the water right into Dumbledore's clenched hand.
He then tapped the chain, which started sliding through his fist like a snake, coiling itself onto the ground with a clinking sound that echoed loudly off the rocky walls, pulling something out from the depths of the black water.
Arthur frowned when the ghostly prow of a tiny boat broke through the surface, glowing as green as the chain, and floated, with barely a ripple, towards the bank where Arthur and Dumbledore stood.
"How did you know it was there?" Arthur asked.
"Magic always leaves traces." Dumbledore said while the boat hit the bank with a gentle bump. "Sometimes very distinctive traces. I taught Tom Riddle. I know his style."
"Do you think the boat is safe?" Arthur asked with a sceptical eye on said mode of transportation.
"Oh yes, I think so. Voldemort needed to create a means to cross the lake without attracting the wrath of those creatures he had placed within it, in case he ever wanted to visit or remove his Horcrux."
"Then whatever's in the water won't attack us if we get on the boat and crossed it?" Arthur asked.
"I think we must resign ourselves to the fact that they will, at some point, realise we are not Lord Voldemort. Thus far, however, we have done well. They have allowed us to raise the boat."
"But why would they let us?" Arthur asked sceptically.
"Voldemort would have been reasonably confident that none but a very great wizard would have been able to find the boat." Dumbledore said. "I think he would have been prepared to risk what was, to his mind, the most unlikely possibility that somebody else would find it, knowing that he had set other obstacles ahead that only he would be able to penetrate. We shall see whether he is right."
Arthur then looked at the boat, realising just how small it was.
"But would that boat even hold both of us? It looks like it was meant for only one person."
Dumbledore chuckled in response.
"Voldemort will not have cared about the weight, but about the amount of magical power that crossed his lake. I rather think an enchantment will have been placed upon this boat so that only one wizard at a time will be able to sail in it."
"And how do I qualify in context?"
"I do not think you will count, Arthur, you are under age and unqualified. Voldemort would never have expected a sixteen year old to reach this place: I think it unlikely that your powers will register compared to mine."
Arthur couldn't help but wonder just how Voldemort kept coming off as uneducated and egotistical with the fact that he never bothered learning more than what he wanted to.
Dumbledore then stood aside and Arthur climbed very carefully into the boat. Dumbledore then stepped in, coiling the chain onto the floor.
The two were crammed in together, making it uncomfortable, leaving Arthur only able to crouch with his knees jutting over the edge of the boat, which started moving.
There was no other sound than the silken rustle of the boat's prow cutting through the water; it moved without their aid, like an invisible rope pulled it to the light in the centre.
Soon, they couldn't see the walls of the cavern; it was like they were out at sea but there were no waves.
Arthur decided to look down and in the reflected gold of his wand light, sparkling and glittering on the black water as they passed, deep ripples on the glassy surface, he saw it: marble white, floating inches below the surface.
He launched himself away from the edge with a look of horror on his face.
"Arthur?" Dumbledore said with concern.
"I just saw a human hand in the water." Arthur gasped. "I think this whole lake is full of Inferi."
"I believe that you are right."
With the most willpower he could muster, Arthur stared back down into the water with his wand lighting over a fresh patch of water and had to hold back a scream of terror as he saw a dead man lying face up inches beneath the surface, his eyes misted as though with cobwebs, his hair and robes swirling around him like smoke.
"Don't worry, Arthur, we do not need to worry about them at the moment." Dumbledore tried to reassure him as Arthur took his eyes away from the water.
"Why?" Arthur asked.
"They're merely drifting peacefully below us. There is nothing to be feared from a body, Arthur, any more than there is anything to be feared from the darkness. Lord Voldemort, who of course secretly fears both, disagrees. But once again he reveals his own lack of wisdom. It is the unknown we fear when we look upon death and darkness, nothing more."
Arthur was still worried, knowing that Inferi were below the surface of the water.
"One of them, if not several, did jump out of the water." He said, hating the silence. "When I tried Summoning the Horcrux, they blocked it from leaping out of the lake."
"Yes." Dumbledore said. "I am sure that once we take the Horcrux, we shall find them less peaceable. However, like many creatures that dwell in cold and darkness, they fear light and warmth, which we shall therefore call to our aid should the need arise. Fire, Arthur." Dumbledore added with a smile, trying to reassure a scared Arthur.
He turned to look at the greenish glow that the boat was heading towards. He tried to remind himself that fire can be a way to deal with the Inferi, which helped him deal with his scared state.
The black lake, teeming with the dead, also made him feel like meeting Trelawney and giving Mike, David and Chrys was many hours ago. He wished he said a better goodbye.
"Nearly there." Dumbledore said cheerfully.
Sure enough, the greenish light grew larger and within minutes, the boat came to a halt, gently bumping into something that Arthur couldn't see at first, but after raising his illuminated wand, he saw that they reached a small island of smooth rock in the centre of the lake.
"Careful not to touch the water." Dumbledore cautioned Arthur, who climbed out of the boat.
The island seemed to be just as large as Dumbledore's office: an expanse of flat dark stone where the only thing that stood was the source of the greenish light. Arthur squinted to see that the light came from a stone basin, akin to the one that held the Pensieve, set on top of a pedestal.
Dumbledore approached the basin with Arthur on his tail.
Once they reached it, they looked down into it and saw that the basin was filled with an emerald liquid that emitted the phosphorescent glow.
"What is this?" Arthur asked quietly.
"I am not sure." Dumbledore said. "Something more worrisome than blood and bodies, however."
Dumbledore pushed back the sleeve of his robe over his blackened hand before he stretched out the tips of his fingers to the surface of the potion.
"Wait -"
"I cannot touch." Dumbledore smiled faintly. "See? I cannot approach any nearer than this. You try."
Arthur hesitated for a moment before he put his hand into the basin, attempting to touch the potion.
He ended up making contact with an invisible barrier that kept him from coming within an inch of it. And no matter how hard he pushed against it, he can't make it past a solid and inflexible air.
"Out of the way, please, Arthur." Dumbledore said.
He raised his wand and made some complicated movements over the surface of the potion, murmuring soundlessly.
Nothing happened, other than the potion glowing a little brighter. Arthur stayed silent while Dumbledore worked, though after a while, he withdrew his wand and Arthur felt like he could talk.
"The Horcrux has to be in there."
"Oh, yes." Dumbledore said as he peered closely into the basin. Arthur saw his face reflected, upside down, in the smooth surface of the green potion. "But how to reach it? This potion cannot be penetrated by hand, Vanished, parted, scooped up or syphoned away, nor can it be Transfigured, Charmed or otherwise made to change its nature."
Almost absentmindedly, he raised his wand again, twirled it once in midair and then caught a crystal goblet that he conjured out of thin air.
"I can only conclude that this potion is supposed to be drunk."
"No!" Arthur said, shaking his head.
"Yes, I think so: only by drinking it can I empty the basin and see what lies in its depths."
"But it might kill you!"
"Oh, I doubt that it would work like that." Dumbledore replied easily. "Lord Voldemort would not want to kill the person who reached this island."
Arthur just couldn't believe what he was hearing. Why was Dumbledore so concerned with seeing the good in everyone?
"Sir, this is Voldemort we're talking about."
"I'm sorry, Arthur; I should have said, he would not want immediately to kill the person who reached this island." Dumbledore corrected himself. "He would want to keep them alive long enough to find out how they managed to penetrate so far through his defences and, most importantly of all, why they were so intent upon emptying the basin. Do not forget that Lord Voldemort believes that he alone knows about his Horcruxes."
Arthur frowned at this as Dumbledore frowned at the emerald liquid, thinking hard.
"Undoubtedly, this potion must act in a way that will prevent me taking the Horcrux. It might paralyse me, cause me to forget what I am here for, create so much pain I am distracted, or render me incapable in some other way. This being the case, Arthur, it will be your job to make sure I keep drinking, even if you have to tip the potion into my protesting mouth. You understand?"
Their eyes met over the basin, each pale face being lit with the green light.
Arthur hesitated for a moment, taking in the fact that Dumbledore was asking him to force the potion in his mouth, regardless of how it affects him.
"But why can't I drink it, sir?" Arthur asked.
"Because I am much older, much cleverer, and much less valuable."Dumbledore said. "Once and for all, Arthur, do I have your word that you will do all in your power to make me keep drinking?"
"Yes." Arthur nodded reluctantly after a moment.
Dumbledore then shook back his sleeve and lowered the crystal goblet into the potion. It sank into the surface as nothing else had and when it was filled to the brim, Dumbledore lifted it to his mouth.
"Your good health, Arthur."
He then drained the goblet. Arthur watched, worried about what would happen to him, gripping the rim of the basin tightly so that his fingertips become numb.
"Sir?" He said anxiously as Dumbledore lowered the now empty goblet. "Are you alright?"
Dumbledore shook his head, his eyes closed. Arthur was worried that he was feeling severe pain. Dumbledore plunged the goblet back into the basin, refilled it and drank once more.
In silence, he would drink three more gobletfuls of the potion. But with the fourth goblet, he staggered and fell forwards against the basin. His eyes were still closed and his breathing was heavy.
"Professor?" Arthur asked, now growing worried. "Can you hear me?"
He didn't answer. His face started twitching like he was in a deep sleep, having a horrible dream. His grip on the goblet slackened; the potion was about to spill out. Arthur was able to grasp it, holding it steady.
"Professor, can you hear me?" Arthur said loudly, his voice echoing around the cavern.
Dumbledore panted before he spoke in a voice that Arthur didn't recognise from him, as he had never heard Dumbledore frightened before.
"I don't want… don't make me…."
Arthur stared into his whitened face, at the crooked nose and half moon spectacles, knowing that he had to keep him drinking the potion, regardless of what it was doing to him.
"...don't like… want to stop…." Dumbledore moaned.
"But you can't stop." Arthur said. "You need to keep drinking, you said so. You told me to make you keep drinking, no matter what."
Hating himself for putting him in more pain, Arthur forced the goblet to Dumbledore's mouth and tipped it, making him drink the remainder of the potion.
"No…." He groaned when Arthur lowered the goblet to the basin to refill it. "I don't want to… I don't want to… let me go…."
"I'm here, Professor. It'll be alright." Arthur said.
"Make it stop, make it stop." Dumbledore moaned.
"It'll stop when you finish the whole potion." Arthur lied, tipping the contents of the goblet into Dumbledore's open mouth.
Dumbledore then screamed, the noise echoing around the vast chamber.
"No, no, no… no… I can't… I can't, don't make me, I don't want to…."
"You told me to make sure you keep drinking, no matter what." Arthur said loudly, his hands now shaking so bad that he could hardly scoop the sixth gobletful of potion, leaving the basin now half empty. "Whatever you're experiencing, it isn't real. Take this…."
Obediently, Dumbledore drank more, like it was an antidote. But upon draining the goblet, he sank to his knees, now shaking uncontrollably.
"It's all my fault, all my fault." He sobbed. "Please make it stop, I know I did wrong, oh, please make it stop and I'll never, never again…."
Arthur realised that he wasn't talking to him, making him think the potion was forcing him to experience either a vision or memory. Either way, it was horrible. He then tipped the seventh gobletful of potion into Dumbledore's mouth.
He started to cower like invisible torturers had surrounded him; his flailing hand nearly knocked the refilled goblet from Arthur's hand as he moaned "Don't hurt them, don't hurt them, please, please, it's my fault, hurt me instead…."
"Sir, drink this, please, you'll be alright." Arthur said desperately before Dumbledore opened his mouth obediently, keeping his eyes tight shut and shook from head to foot.
He then fell forwards, screaming once more, hammering his fits at the ground while Arthur filled the ninth goblet.
"Please, please, please, no… not that, not that, I'll do anything…."
"Please, Professor, just drunk…."
Dumbledore was now drinking like a child dying of thirst, but after finishing, he yelled again like his insides were on fire.
"No more, please, no more…."
Arthur scooped up a tenth gobletful of the potion and started feeling the goblet scraping the bottom of the basin.
"We're almost done, Professor, just a little longer. Drink this…."
He now supported Dumbledore's shoulders as he drained the goblet; Arthur was then back on his feet and refilled the goblet as Dumbledore now screamed in more anguish than ever.
"I want to die! I want to die! Make it stop, make it stop, I want to die!"
"Professor, drink this…."
Dumbledore drank and right as he finished, he yelled "KILL ME!"
"Just a little longer!" Arthur gasped.
Dumbledore gulped at the goblet, draining every last drop before, with a great, rattling gasp, rolled over onto his face.
"NO!" Arthur shouted, having stood to refill the goblet again. He dropped it into the basin, flinging himself beside Dumbledore and heaved him onto his back.
Dumbledore's glasses were askew, his mouth agape and his eyes were closed.
"No." Arthur said as he shook Dumbledore. "No, don't die on me! Wake up! Rennervate!" He then cried, pointing his wand at Dumbledore's chest. There was a flash of red light but nothing happened. "Rennervate! Sir, wake up!"
Dumbledore's eyelids flickered, which made Arthur's heart leap.
"Are you alright?"
"Water." Dumbleore croaked.
"Right." Arthur panted.
He leapt to his feet and seized the goblet he dropped in the basin, stopping for a moment to see a familiar golden locket lying curled beneath it.
"Aguamenti!" Arthur shouted, jabbing the goblet with his wand.
The goblet was full of clear water. Arthur dropped to his knees beside Dumbledore and raised his head to bring the goblet to his lips, only to find that it was empty. Dumbledore groaned and started panting.
"Dammit!" Arthur snarled. He used the spell again to fill the goblet. When he approached Dumbledore's mouth, the water vanished again.
"DAMMIT!" Arthur roared in frustration, seeing that it wasn't working.
Dumbledore's breathing was now fading, leaving Arthur in a panic.
He then knew why this was happening. It was so that Voldemort ensured that whoever got in would only have one source of water, which would lead to their death.
But he had no other choice, knowing that the Inferi would strike.
Preparing himself for the assault, he flung himself to the edge of the rock and plunged the goblet into the lake, bringing it up full to the brim of icy water that didn't vanish.
"Here!" He then yelled, lunging forwards and tipped the water into Dumbledore's mouth.
He struggled to do that as the icy feeling on his free arm formed. He looked to see a slimy white hand gripping his wrist, the creature that it belonged to was trying to slowly pull him back to the water.
The surface of the lake was no longer mirror smooth; it was now churning and Arthur was horrified to see many white heads and hands emerging from the dark water. They were all men, women and children with sunken, sightless eyes.
"Petrificus Totalus!" Arthur yelled, pointing his wand at the Inferius that grabbed him: it then released him, falling backwards into the water with a splash.
Arthur scrambled to his feet, accidentally grazing his free hand, while many Inferi started climbing onto the rock with their bony hands clawing at the slippery surface with their blank, frosted eyes upon him, trailing waterlogged rags, sunken faces leering.
"Incendio!" Arthur bellowed, shooting a jet of fire that hit one of the Inferi. Not only did it provide light, but it was able to cause some surrounding Inferi to falter and retreat back to the water.
Arthur kept this up, especially on any Inferi that got closer to him as he backed his way to Dumbledore.
Soon, fire truly erupted: crimson and gold, a large ring of fire that now surrounded the rock making every single Inferi there to stumble and falter, not daring to pass through the flames to get to the water.
Arthur turned to see that Dumbledore was back on his feet, pale as any of the surrounding Inferi, though taller than any, the fire dancing in his eyes; his wand being raised like a torch and from the tip, flames emanated like a vast lasso, encircling them all with warmth and light.
The Inferi all bumped into each other, blindly attempting to escape from the fire in which they were enclosed.
Dumbledore then scooped the locket from the bottom of the basin and stowed it into his robes. He then wordlessly gestured to Arthur to be by his side.
The Inferi were too distracted by the flames to notice that Arthur and Dumbledore were heading back to the boat, the ring of fire moving with them, around them, the bewildered Infier accompanying them to the water's edge, where they slipped back into the dark waters.
Arthur was worried that Dumbledore may not be able to climb into the boat, having staggered a little as he attempted it. He was more concerned with maintaining the ring of protective flame around them.
Arthur simply seized him and helped him to his seat.
Once they were safely jammed inside again, the boat moved back across the black water, away from the rock, still encircled by the ring of fire. It also seemed that the Inferi swarming below didn't dare resurface.
"Are you alright, sir?" Arthur panted.
"I am weak." Dumbledore murmured, his voice faint.
They finally reached the bank with a little bump and Arthur leapt out before helping Dumbledore.
The moment he reached the bank, he let his wand hand fall, making the ring of fire vanish, though the Inferi didn't emerge from the water again.
The little boat sank back into the water, clanking and tinkling with its chain slithering back into the water as well.
Dumbledore gave a great sigh and leaned against the cavern wall.
"Hang in there, sir. I'll get us back. Lean on me." Arthur said, hoping Dumbledore didn't over exert himself.
He then pulled Dumbledore's uninjured arm around his shoulders and guided the Headmaster back around the lake, bearing most of his weight.
"The protection was… after all… well designed." Dumbledore said faintly. "One alone could not have done it… you did well, very well, Arthur…."
"Don't talk." Arthur said, fearing at the fact that his voice had become slurred and the fact that his feet were dragging. "Just save your energy, sir… we're almost out of here."
"The archway will have sealed again… my knife…."
"Don't worry, my hand was grazed." Arthur said firmly. "Where was it again?"
"Here…."
Arthur wiped his grazed hand upon the stone: with a tribute of blood, the archway reopened instantly. They crossed into the outer cave and Arthur helped Dumbledore back into the icy sea water that filled the crevice in the cliff.
"It'll be alright, sir." Arthur said, worried about his silence. "We're nearly there… I can Apparate us back… don't worry…."
"I am not worried, Arthur." Dumbledore said, his voice a little stronger despite the cold water. "I am with you."
Honestly, this whole chapter feels like it should be in a horror story, especially with the first hint of the Inferius when they leapt out of the water, goosebumps up my back.