Chapter 41 - The Junk Room

"Do you think they've…?" Ron could not bring himself to say they might have killed her.

"She — the image — is moving," Harry said. "It's a projection of the real Hermione. Like that case in Tiverton four or five years ago. Hermione's alive, they're just making her appear to be here."

Ron breathed again. "So we have to find where she really is. But… where?"

Harry smacked his head. "The first bloody tower! She must have been there. All that junk in the top room was a projection too."

"Can I come with you?" Lavender asked, climbing through the hatchway. "I could help."

"Thanks, yes," said Harry. "Follow me."

He slid down the ladder to the landing below, Ron, then Lavender, following. They made their way past the carnage the werewolf Lavender had left behind and down to the entrance to the third tower. A couple of Harry's aurors were cataloguing the few survivors and the dead. From there, Harry led them at a run through the corridors towards the first tower they had explored.

They passed the bodies of the two guards Harry had struck with lightning and went through the door into the bare room with the spiral staircase. Ron grabbed Harry's arm as he made for the stairs.

"We need to be careful, Harry," he hissed. "There may be guards with her."

Harry nodded and whispered. "I'll non-verbally cast a revealing spell. See what we're up against."

"I did that last time we were here," said Ron. "There's nobody there, not even Hermione."

Harry flicked his wand and looked upwards. "No, still nothing. We should go up and have a closer look."

Ron was on the stairs already. Lavender waved Harry ahead of her.

Harry stepped to one side at the top of the ladder to let Lavender enter. Ron had lit his wand and was approaching the piles of junk. He moved an old chair out of the way and made to shift a dusty trunk. His hand passed through its front.

"Another projection!" he said, turning to his friends.

"We should try walking through it," Harry suggested.

Ron stepped through the trunk, his legs invisible to the others as he did so. He moved on and disappeared into the wardrobe behind it. His head reappeared.

"Come on, there's a tunnel here," he told them.

They followed, stepping through the trunk and passing through the wardrobe door.

It was dark, and the floor was hard. The echoing of their footsteps rang into the distance in front of them, giving the impression of a space like a tunnel.

Harry lit his wand without a word. In its dim light, a rectangular stone passageway led away ahead of them. It was broad enough for the three of them to walk beside each other.

"I'll change," said Lavender.

Nothing happened.

"I… I can't transfigure," Lavender said.

"Damn it," Harry grumbled. "It's going to be one of those, is it?"

"Come on," Ron said. "We don't have time to waste."

Harry found it was as he had feared. Apart from his wand light, he could cast no other magic. When they came to a junction a hundred metres further on, he could not use the compass charm to help him navigate. They turned to the left and hurried on, finding a dead end after three more corners. Ron swore with frustration. They ran back to the junction, carrying straight on as if they had gone right instead of left after the first corridor.

After Harry had counted seven more turns, they came to an iron lattice door across their way. It looked as though it slid upwards, but the three of them could not lift it. There was no handle or switch visible. Ron started pressing the blocks of the stone walls to either side of the doorway, in case there was a hidden latch. Harry joined him. Lavender rolled up her sleeve and tried to reach through the holes in the ironwork.

"Ron!" Lavender called, rolling her sleeve down. "There's a stone sticking out of the wall on the far side of the door. See if you can reach it. Here, you'll need my sword."

"Are my arms much longer than yours?" Ron asked as he took the short sword.

"Not so much," said Lavender.

Harry could see she was blushing. He would not have thought it possible.

"It's just… they might be thin enough to pass through the grating," she said. "I workout quite a lot — and eat a lot of meat. Mine can't go through past the elbow. Sorry."

Ron gave a wry grin and took off his jacket. He passed his right hand through the rivetted iron grating. With the fingertips of his other hand, he slipped the sword through the square above and into his grasp. Pressing himself against the grating, he eased his arm through up to his shoulder and pushed the protruding stone with the sword tip. The door groaned and slid upward.

Ron dropped the weapon with a clatter and wrenched his arm back through the grating as it rose.

"Sorry, Lavender," he said. "Hope your sword's all right."

"It will be," she assured him. "Good work."

Now Ron was blushing, Harry saw.

Harry, Ron, and Lavender crept through the stone-lined corridors. The air was cool but dry. The joints between the stone blocks were dusty but free from any moss or vegetation. Apart from the small noises of their own movement, it was silent. They moved on, around corners, down steps, around more corners, and onwards for hundreds of metres. Harry lost any sense of which direction they were going.

They came to a wooden door, heavy with iron bracing and hinges. There was a broad metal circle for a handle, below a keyhole.

"Alohamora," Ron incanted.

Nothing happened.

"Only Lumos seems to work," Harry said.

"We could always try the handle," Lavender suggested. "There's no guarantee it's locked."

"There's no guarantee it's not booby-trapped," said Ron.

"Oh, come on, you big, bad aurors," said Lavender, reaching for the handle.

Ron stepped in the way and grabbed the iron ring. He tried to twist it, but it would not move.

"That was very gallant of you, Ron," Lavender remarked.

"Well," Ron muttered. "It is my wife we're looking for."

Harry pretended not to notice that Ron was blushing again.

"I think we're supposed to find the key," Harry said before Lavender could add to Ron's embarrassment.

"Where?" Ron asked. "We haven't seen a side tunnel anywhere since we got into this… dungeon."

"Then there must be one we can't see," Lavender explained.

"OK," said Harry, "We'll backtrack. Feel along the walls for hidden switches or Rock Veil doors. Be careful, though. I don't trust this place."

"What if it's right back at the first bloody door we came through?" Ron asked. "It could take ages. Hermione might be in danger!"

"I'm open to suggestions, Ron," Harry said. "OK, don't be careful. We can't afford to be careful."

Ron was already heading back down the corridor, lit wand in one hand and the other rubbing on the stones of the wall to his right.

"I'll take the left wall, if you could look for signs on the floor or ceiling," Harry said to Lavender. "Do you have any special senses that could help?"

"I'm told I've got a good sense of humour," Lavender replied as they set off. "But who's going to dare tell me any different?"

"Not quite what I meant," Harry said. "But thanks for sharing."

"Even as a mere human I have improved eyesight and an enhanced sense of smell," she continued. "Nothing magical, but they'll help."

"Thanks," Harry said. "We'd better hurry, Ron's getting away."

"Well, Harry. Ron was always the one who got away. And at times like this, I'm glad he did."

Harry almost laughed.

"Here!" Ron called. "There's a gap that looks like a wall."

"Rock Veil Charm?" Harry asked as they ran to him.

"No, just an illusion," Ron explained. "Look."

He passed his hand in and out of the wall a few times.

"There's nothing to feel. It appears to be there but isn't"

"Do we go in, Harry?" Lavender asked.

Ron disappeared into the wall.

"Is he always this impulsive?" Lavender asked Harry.

"Mostly just where Hermione's involved."

"Lucky girl," she added.

"He can probably still hear you, you know?" Harry pointed out.

"I meant she's lucky to have anyone who'd do that for her," Lavender explained. "Not him in particular. I mean, he's all right, but he's no Stephano."

"Yeah, I can hear you," came Ron's voice from the wall. "Are you two coming in or not?"

They stepped through the wall.

Ron was waiting for them. He led them down a short corridor into a large chamber. It had the same grey stone walls and floor, but the ceiling was higher and supported by square columns every few metres.

"Hunt around and see if you can find a key," Ron called, heading over to the far side of the chamber.

"Do you want to take this side and I'll go over that way?" Harry asked Lavender.

"Harry," she whispered. "There's something else in here — and it's alive."

Harry leaned in closer. "How do you know?"

"Call it 'predator's instinct'."

"Large or small?" Harry asked.

"Small, I think, but that doesn't mean it's not dangerous."

"OK, I'll start searching for the key at this end," Harry said. "I'll watch out for whatever it is. Go. Tell Ron what you just told me."

She gave a thumbs-up and left him. Harry listened for any signs of other life. He realised he could not hear Lavender. She could move quietly when she wanted. A skill refined by years of hunting vampires, no doubt.

Harry soon found that the many columns had niches and cracks which could conceal small objects. The hunt for the key would not be as simple as looking along the rows of supports: each would have to be scrutinised. He set about examining the stone pillars a row at a time.

Harry froze. He had heard a sound of scurrying. It must have been something larger than a rat — at least, larger than a normal rat. He looked all around and peered round the nearest columns. He saw nothing. On edge now, he returned to the search for a key.

There was a pool of light about him from his wand. He could see another glow at the far end of the hall, which would be Ron. Was Lavender still with him or was she searching in the dark using werewolf senses? She had said she had no special abilities, but was that true? She had her 'predator's instinct', whatever that meant. Or perhaps the lurking, scurrying thing he had heard had poisoned her, paralysed her, even killed her. How many of these things were there?

He forced himself to put these thoughts aside and look for the key, walking around each column. The niches were high and low. He reached up to the highest he could, feeling with his fingertips. There were some too high for him. He resigned himself to having to come back to those if they could not find the key.

"Got it!" came the triumphant shout from Ron.

Harry saw Ron's light coming towards him. He stepped across two rows of the stone pillars and saw Ron. He was delighted to see Lavender following. Ron held out a golden key as he arrived.

"Well done. Let's…" Harry began.

Something jumped out of the darkness, grabbed the key, dropped to the floor again, and ran off into the darkness.

"What the…" Ron spluttered.

"Niffler!" Lavender said. "Ron, get to the entrance and stop it escaping. Harry and I will try to corner it."

"I want to…" Ron protested.

"Stopping it getting out into the tunnels is the most important job," Harry said, then ran after Lavender.

From the colourful swearing, Harry could tell Lavender was having trouble with the niffler. He found it hard to follow her as she carried no light. Her voice echoed around the chamber, but he had the general direction. As he closed in, there was a sickening crunch.

"Got it," said Lavender. "Poor little thing."

Harry saw Lavender kneeling by a small furry figure. She held up the key and a wristwatch.

"This yours?" she asked.

"Bloody hell," Harry said, feeling his empty wrist.

He took the watch and let Lavender hold on to the key.

"I didn't mean to kill it, you know," Lavender protested as they ran back to Ron.

"I never thought you did," Harry said.

"Yeah, but with the whole werewolf thing…"

"Lavender, we were classmates for years," Harry said. "I saw you with the kids and Stephano through the portal. I know you're not a monster — even when you are."

"Don't tell Ron."

"No problem," Harry assured her as they reached Ron and the doorway.

"Right," said Ron. "Which way was it?"

"Left!" Harry and Lavender chorused.