When he stepped into the Great Hall with the rest of the Slytherins, he was struck by just how… orange it was. Although the decorations were impressive, it looked very muggle. There were giant pumpkins, live bats, and dancing skeletons, but nothing that seemed to have its roots in magic. He voiced these concerns to Theo, who was standing beside him.
"This didn't used to happen. After the Samhain rituals were made illegal, some wizards decided that they wanted to adopt the muggle traditions instead. Personally, I find it sickening, but Dumbledore does not. It's unfortunate, there are less and less people that are willing to believe in the Old Ways, and eventually I fear that they'll die out completely. What that means for us, I don't know, I imagine Death is glowering at the mockery we've made of his day."
"What, the deity? You think he's real?"
"Perhaps, perhaps not. Either way, it's probably best to assume he is, I'd prefer not to be cast into a void for eternity, but maybe that's just me."
They sat down at the table, and began to gorge themselves on the horde of food that had been laid out before them. There was everything you could possibly think of and more, Harry found himself wishing that the school meals could be like it every night. He had the unfortunate view of the Gryffindor table, more specifically Weasley and Finnegan. They must have thought they were cows, shovelling food into their mouths like there was no tomorrow. It was honestly quite a spectacle, but Harry found it easy to tear his eyes away from it when Professor Quirrel stumbled through the doors of the Great Hall, yelling, "TROLL, TROLL IN THE DUNGEONS," at the top of his voice, before passing out with a quiet, "thought you ought to know."
There was immediate uproar, most of the students didn't know what to do and just started running all over the place. Harry stayed sitting, thinking that the third floor was much further away from the dungeons than the Great Hall. Making a split second decision, he took advantage of the chaos to squeeze out of one of the many side doors and run up the stairs.
"So, Where are you going?" Harry jumped at Theo's words, not realising that he had left with him.
Deciding that it would be better to tell the truth rather than delay them, Harry said, "I found something interesting about the third floor corridor, and I want to check it out."
"The one that's forbidden because of the threat of certain death?" Theo said, slightly confused.
"That's the one."
"Well whatever you've got planned, we'd better hurry. I just heard Dumbledore yell at everyone to go to the common rooms."
"Is he mad? Why not just get them to stay in the Great Hall. Never mind that, the Slytherin common room is in the dungeons!"
"No point questioning the man, he's senile."
"Why are you so annoyed at him? What did he do to you?"
"Apart from the support of the eradication of the Old Ways, he's one of the pushers for a new pro-muggle law. It says that any home that is suspected of containing a dark artefact can be raided by Aurors. That's just fine for him and any of the light families, but it's a right pain for us. I can count at least seven items that could be considered dark in our entrance hall alone! It doesn't matter that they don't do anything bad, no, if they were created in any ritual that involved blood, it just automatically makes them illegal!"
"I can see why that might be annoying," Harry commiserated.
"Yeah, at least the Neutrals are still on the fence. We need to find some way of tipping them over to our side, and I feel like that requires someone to take charge. Anthony Greengrass is the current pseudo leader of the Neutrals, but they don't have a specific goal or anything that actually makes them a faction. Anyway, we're here."
And they were, The door was locked, but Harry had been taught the unlocking charm a few days ago and so with a quick muttered, "Alohomora," they were in.
At first it was too dark to see anything, but after a few seconds their eyes adjusted and they heard a growl. Looking up, they saw a dog. But no, Fluffy couldn't be the name for any ordinary dog, it had to be a three-headed brute with fangs as long as their hands! Harry had just enough time to confirm that there was, in fact, a trapdoor, before Theo yanked him out and slammed the door shut with a bang. A loud bang that seemed to magically summon the old nasally voice of Filch from the ether, threateningly shuffling up the corridor towards them.
They both ran, deciding that going upwards was the best option to escape from detention or the monster. After two floors, they could still hear Filch behind them, so they split off, and ran down one of the corridors. Upon finding a door slightly ajar, they quickly stepped in and closed it quickly behind them.
"Oh shit," came the wavering voice of Theo, and as Harry turned around he could see exactly why.
The first thing he saw was a giant black cauldron suspended by chains above a raging fire. Upon a closer inspection, the fire sometimes consorted into faces of animals and humans alike that screamed before they were whisked away again into the inferno. On the ground there were a few lines drawn in a silver powder, and a suspicious red liquid splattered next to one of the walls was a clear indication that they had not been meant to stumble across the room. Looking at Theo, Harry could see him scared out of his mind. He felt that there was something wrong, but was convinced that he could find out exactly what if he just… kept… walking…
"Why the hell are you going away from the door!"
"I need to…" Harry murmured.
"You don't! Trust me!"
"Yes," he breathed.
Harry made his way closer and closer to the cauldron, noticing that a circle of powder in the centre was slightly blackened and charred. There was a stool next to the far wall, and Harry climbed it clumsily, mesmerised by the cauldron. He looked inside and saw an iridescent white liquid shining like a pearl, with occasional golden bubbles rising languidly to the surface and popping into golden sparks as soon as they touched the air. He reached out to touch it, but as his hand got closer and closer there was suddenly a sharp pain on the side of his head. He snapped out of the daze, and looked over at Theo still standing by the door. He was holding a book and had evidently just thrown one at him.
Harry took stock of his surroundings, he was in a room, with a massive cauldron being heated with a fire from hell, and he had been about to touch the potion inside.
Theo was looking more desperate now, "come back! It must have some sort of compulsion on it, we really need to get out of here."
Harry did so as quickly as possible, stepping over several powdered silver lines in the process.
"What was in the cauldron?" Theo asked, looking relieved.
"Some kind of white liquid with golden bubbles. It shimmered in the light, but I think there was some kind of golden fog coming off it."
"Oh, this is bad. Very bad. It's probably a powerful regeneration potion that uses unicorn blood, I've heard of it, but not even my family has been willing to try it. The fact that someone would be brewing it in a school…" Theo shook his head in despair.
Harry opened the door a crack, checking that there was no one outside, "we should go. They'll be waiting for us in the common room by now, and we need to get the stuff for the ritual."
They left, making sure to firmly shut the door behind them. As they turned the corner leading towards the dungeons, Harry saw Professor Quirrel enter the corridor on the other side, striding down the corridor in a manner so unlike the timid professor that taught defence. He wondered if there was more to the man than met the eye, and made a mental note to keep a closer eye on him in their lessons.
They made their way down, a prefect standing at the entrance of the dungeons looking around with tension clearly written in his face. "Names?" he asked the duo, and upon hearing them his shoulders slumped in quiet relief and he brought the two inside.
They quickly stopped by Theo's room to grab a small bag, much like the one Harry used to carry his school supplies, and followed him out to the common room and to a group of eight other students that all looked to be third-year or older.
The one of them who looked to be the leader stepped forwards to greet him, "ah, Theo. You brought a half-blood?"
"He was the best option. Don't worry, he doesn't support Dumbledore and won't tell anyone."
"Very well, we just need to wait for Alexander and Thomas," she turned to look at Harry once more and gave him an appraising stare, "I don't believe we've been introduced. My name is Natalie, third of House Walker"
"Harry, second of House Potter"
They shook hands, and when the last two joined them a few seconds later, they headed off. After nearly ten rooms, Natalie turned to look at both Theo and Harry, and gave them an old, yellowed piece of parchment. It read, "The Temple of the Old Ones is located in the fourth quadrant of the Dungeon Intent Matrix"
Theo looked back at Natalie, "what's the Dungeon Intent Matrix?"
"Not sure, but you need to read the paper to be able to enter the temple. Otherwise you just won't be able to see it. We think it's a fidelius, but normally it would collapse upon the death of the secret keeper, and this key has been handed down for at least two centuries now. Anyway, let's go."
They trekked for a while, but the further they went, the older the architecture seemed to become. At the beginning, it was mostly bare walls with rusting metal racks and rotting wooden crates, but as they progressed the walls became gradually more ruined and the vegetation became more and more prevalent. At some points, there were even rockfalls that blocked off certain passages, but they never stopped walking in a seemingly random direction.
After nearly thirty minutes, there was suddenly a sharp tingle that ran through Harry's body, almost like a bucket of ice-cold water had been dropped on him. The tingle subsided after a few seconds, but the coldness didn't dissipate. Natalie turned to the group again, "No one's died yet? Good. For those of you that haven't done this before, this is the entrance to the temple. You just stepped through the ward boundaries and they judged you worthy, but do not attempt to graffiti this place. If you even so much as scrape a rock, the temple will eject you very, very quickly. Not only that, but it judges sound as contaminating the environment. The older members will enchant your shoes so they are soundless, but you will not be able to speak while you're in there. I trust everyone has the required materials?"
When everyone nodded, she cast some spells on the group then led them inside an old, stone archway. There was a single room, and it looked much like the inside of a chapel. It was long and rectangular, but the ceiling was slanted to give the illusion of a massive space. Most of the floor was empty, just a massive slab of stone with an altar on the far end, draped with a pristine gold-trimmed white fabric untouched by time, and on the walls there were several carvings lining the pillars that held up the roof. Unlike the rest of the school, there were no symbols to represent the houses – instead there were several resemblances to animals that he had never seen before. At the front of the room, opposite to the entranceway and above the altar, there was a giant statue, twice the height of even the tallest of any of their members. It was a figure completely shrouded in a cloak, with only their hands uncovered, hands that were made entirely of pearly white bones. Above the statue, was a single glowing white orb that illuminated the space with a constant eerie blue glow, replacing the flickering of the torches outside. There was no plant life inside the room, unlike in most of the dungeon rooms they had crossed on their way there, and Harry wondered if it was because of the sense of dread that seemed to permeate the air.
Silently, the group spread out, Harry following Theo to the back corner, as far away from the statue as possible. He laid the bag on the floor, and pulled several items out of it: a large pail of a blood-red liquid, a stick of pure chalk, and a jet black dagger with a shining silver edge. He placed all the items side-by-side, and pointed at Harry's waist then back down at his own dagger. Harry pulled out his ritual blade and carefully put it down next to Theo's. THeo then pulled out a sheet of parchment, and placed it on the floor. It was a diagram of a ritual, and Harry looked at it carefully. It was composed of four main segments, an infinity symbol and then a circle surrounding it, with each end of the symbol just touching the opposite ends of the circle. Outside the circle, there were four runes at each point, either end of the infinity symbol, and two more equidistant from the first two runes on each side. There was another circle that surrounded everything, keeping it all contained.
While Harry had been studying the diagram, Theo had picked up the chalk and was tracing it onto the smooth stone floor. Harry looked around as he let Theo draw, and could see that everyone was doing different things. Some were tracing chalk just like Theo, but some were using more complicated materials like the silver powder he had seen earlier that day or black crystals that looked like crushed obsidian. Some were directly painting the blood onto the ground, and Harry could see that some had even brought silenced animals down with them. He shuddered, as much as he wanted to do a ritual, he thought that sacrificing a live animal was a bit too much.
Theo had finished drawing the circle, and was now carefully pouring the bucket of blood onto the lines he had already drawn. Although sometimes he poured it inconsistently, the blood was magically spreading out to fully cover all of the chalk but none of the stone. As soon as Theo was nearly done, he pointed at Harry then pointed at one of the holes in the infinity symbol. Careful not to step on any of the lines, Harry followed his directives and sat directly in the middle, followed a moment later by Theo in the section opposite. Looking around, Harry could see that while the blood had flown into the chalk circles, it was being pushed back by the runes, leaving them blank. Theo picked up his ritual knife, and looking directly at Harry, he cut his right palm and let the blood flow onto the ground in front of him.
With shaking hands, Harry brought his knife to his hand and pressed downwards, grimacing slightly at the feeling of cool metal in his palm. Surprisingly, it didn't hurt as much as he thought it would have, but whether that was because of adrenaline or magic he wasn't sure. As soon as a single drop hit the stone, Harry began to feel a heavy thrum of magic. Instead of behaving normally, the blood streaked off along the ground into the first circle of blood, and directly into the runes. Unlike the chicken's blood, the runes didn't push back this time and filled up with red.
Suddenly, the thrum ceased and Harry felt his wound heal with a slight tingle. Seconds later, there was a crack, and the magic smashed into Harry like a tsunami. He could vaguely see the lines of blood shine with a bright ethereal light, and rise up off the stone floor. The coldness that had seeped into his bones from the trip through the dungeons was replaced by a fiery warmth, rushing through his body like a river. His vision turned blurry, then everything disappeared and was replaced with blackness.