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Very quickly, Harry recognised what the smoke that he saw was. It was Elaine, or rather, the form she took when she used that very expeditious form of travel. She'd yet to name the spell, but it was her, and sure enough, after a few seconds, she turned back into herself. When she did so, she looked rather put-out.
"Nothing," came her voice a second later, the dejection making sense as she pouted. "I searched two halls and twelve doors between them, and there wasn't so much as one hint of magic. I'm very tempted to level the place to the ground upon our exit — the evidence of its usage is apparent, why should it be left to stand?"
Harry raised a finger, catching her attention. "We shouldn't level it, but on the off chance it does fall in on itself whilst we're here, we should make sure to clear the two rooms on the opposite wall, nearest the stairs," he gestured to the first two rooms he'd previously cleared. "There's much and more inside that we could make use of."
Elaine's interest seemed, finally, piqued. Her exaggerated pout was gone in a moment's notice, her eyes lighting up at the mention of something that might finally make their trip worth it; he did reckon the little artefact they'd taken from earlier probably did much the same, this was just a deal sweetener.
"Go on," he encouraged her with a nod in the direction of the aforementioned rooms. "Corene and I can clear this place right quick while you see what I mean, yeah?"
It took all of a second for Elaine to turn on her heels in much the same way that Corene did. She spoke over her shoulder to the pair as she moved away from them, her steps fast and eager. "I'll be but a moment," she assured them. "Leave something dangerous for me — I'd like the thrill."
Before he could so much as say a word in response to her, Elaine had turned into that smokeish form again, the speed at which she vanished from his sight almost frightening. That left him back with Corene, and the Muggle items before them. Harry had yet to figure out what many of them were, but they weren't like the bombs or such that he was used to. Surely that meant they couldn't be too dangerous, especially if they were right small, yeah?
With that thought in mind, Harry very slowly, very cautiously, pushed open the door. Nothing immediately went off or happened, so he took that as a good sign and further pushed open the door. Step after step he took, until he reached a foot or so before the sandbags. Unlike the previous signs of Muggle activity, it wasn't just remnants left behind — the Muggles themselves were here, but they were dead.
Long dead.
Harry couldn't tell what had happened to them either, their bodies were too badly degraded. Magic, perhaps, or other Muggles. Whatever had occurred had been violent, based on the torn apart quality of their clothes and the few bits of skeleton around the gaff. The sandbags too, upon closer inspection with far more light, were also torn apart, only not as horribly.
He made sure there wasn't anything he might step on that might be trapped after finishing the glance around now that he was closer. As he'd initially thought, there was nothing, not even any of those smaller, miniature bombs the Muggles threw at one another — he'd forgotten the name whilst focusing on the wall before him. The wall in which his wand led him to, the wisps of magic, even now, still connected to it.
There was something magical about the wall, despite what his eyes might tell him the more he examined it. No seams, no cracks, no little crevice. All in all, the wall blended into the surrounding area without so much as a hint of difference save for the blasts on the stone. Thus, he moved closer still, until he could reach out a hand and run it along the stone of the wall before him.
It felt as it should, like cold stone. When he took a few steps left and right each, his hand falling on the stone in short order, he confirmed it felt much like stone should feel, and so he returned to standing directly before the chain of magic that seeped into the ground.
With no obvious place where they should enter, Harry was left to make a decision. One he'd come to rely on, in places like this. He would begin to transfigure the stone so as to move it out of the way, and whatever magic lay under it, would make itself visible quite quickly, he figured. Before he'd do just that, however, he'd transfigure bits of the sandbags into something more durable and put it before his person; the last thing he needed was a magical trap, despite the magic not feeling like it.
He didn't like what he couldn't see. Not in tombs, forts or the like, where deception was a way of making safe the place.
Were there a crack or the like, he'd have been sorely tempted to have Elaine go through in that misty form of hers. It'd be the safest route they could take, but instead, Harry, with his wand now in-hand and aimed at the ground, began his work. Methodically, he transfigured the ground at his feet, the light from Corene's wand keeping the place lit as she stood nearby silently, watching him work.
Slowly, and with resistance — something he'd not been expecting — the ground began to give way and as it did, the chain from the tip of his wand to the ground grew in size and strength of light. He thought he remembered that being indicative of the magic's strength, and the further he continued down, the few centimetres he'd started with soon growing into half a metre, the more it changed. He reckoned it had to be something quite strong for the chain to be so visually apparent, and then, as he did the next burst of a few centimetres, there was light.
The light didn't come from behind him either, no, it wasn't from Corene's wand. There was a torch or a brazier, something that gave off the flickering of flames the likes of which a Lumos spell couldn't imitate. Harry turned to regard his companion over his shoulder and noticed that she'd seen it too, a fluid, confident step forward signifying her intent to continue with him.
Harry nodded, moreso to himself than her, and returned his attention to the hole which now made itself visible. His first order of business was to increase the width of it, and make it far easier to use; having to climb out using the strength of one's upper-body as it currently was wouldn't make for an easy escape, should one be needed. That took him nearly ten seconds before he was finished, his caution no longer required as the chain of magic connected to the brazier or torch — whatsoever it was that was giving off the light. It made sense in his mind as well, that, for who else could have lit the thing?
With that complete, he had a better look down, and took note of a hallway that wasn't but stone. Not refined, carefully carved stone like that of the castle they were in, but of a cave. It seemed a tunnel had been dug at some point, and one that was quite old, he'd reckon. Seeing that, and seeing as they now had a path down, he glanced over at Corene… and blinked when he thought he saw doubles. It wasn't a clone of hers, of course, nor any illusion. The light had given him those spots in your vision when he'd looked directly at it, and with Elaine over shoulder, sudden as it was, he'd thought he'd gone mad for a scant few seconds.
Those two are way too quiet, he thought with an inward huff.
It was true, too. Corene and Elaine were each masters of sneaking up on somebody. Each moved with a degree of fluidity that most would never achieve, and he reckoned that helped them out in their sneaking. Ah well, at least he was the most dexterous and reactive — Quidditch had to help somewhere, yeah?
"We've found a path," Harry said with a wave of his free hand at the ground, the flickering of flames abundantly clear now. "You saw the other stuff, I take it?"
"I did," Elaine confirmed with a nod, her left hand falling on the satchel she wore on that very side; the matching smirk confirmed her actions before the words that followed so much as came free of her lips. "Much of it has been rescued from this devilish place and put somewhere it might make a difference."
'Wicked," he gestured to the hole in the ground again now that the treasure was accounted for. "I'll g—"
Elaine shook her head. "You needn't risk yourself. In fact, I forbid you and Corene from doing so," she swept along the floor until she was standing directly before Harry, her eyes bearing into his… before she smiled wide and toothy, Elaine soon after peppering his face with kisses. When she spoke again a second or so later, her tone was sweet as sugar. "Let me take care of this, lover. Save your strength and keep my darling cousin company. I'll be safe, you know that to be true."
He opened his mouth, but Elaine tutted at him and pressed her lips to his once more. Feeling their softness, her hands and the warmth of her person against his sent off any disagreement he might have had. When next she pulled apart, she smiled at him as she'd done before.
"I'll be able to work very fast in the form of mist. If I need assistance, the stone is in your possession," Elaine took a few steps towards the hole, and then reached over, pulled him to her, and kissed him once more; this time, it was near covetous, and he could feel her hand — intertwined with one of his as it was — rubbing the ring she always wore. The shiver that followed her action down to the little whimper she made when she pulled apart was typical when she did as much.
Typical, but it still made him wish they could return home that very moment… until he remembered Corene's presence. When he did, he pulled at his shirt and turned so that she wasn't in his vision any longer. It was a tad awkward, snogging your witch before a friend.
Elaine didn't seem to mind it though, not based on the winning smile she sported as she looked him up and down. "I'll be back before you know it."
And like that, she was off, down the little hole he'd made with nary another word in that misty form of hers. Harry was, of course, apprehensive. They were stronger together, that'd been proven time and time again, but she desired his safety more than anything else, and, well, this was Elaine. Even if he wanted her to go alongside him and Corene, she'd find some reason to have them stay back if her mind was firmly set — it was too, his safety and that of their closest friends was something Elaine never gambled with.
If it were her life, her safety at risk, she'd not so much as think twice before doing something reckless or dangerous. She was absolutely confident in herself and her abilities to survive anything thrown at her; her greatest weakness was when she needed to look out for others. Were there too many, her own tasks wouldn't be completed. Twas the reason for leaving their many Aurors behind, regardless of how helpful some extra wands could prove.
"Suppose we'll take a bit of a break then, won't we?"
Corene's response was a nod… and then she exited the room, going to the hall and transfiguring a chair there. He could still see her from the door, but it seemed her aversion to all things Muggle was a bit stronger than he'd initially believed.
Well, that or the dozen or so bodies of Muggles that were still in the room with him. He couldn't be sure which.
Harry must have dozed off, for the next thing he knew, he was being shaken to alertness by Corene, her hands on his shoulders as she pushed and pulled him, all the while she repeated his name. He thought it a dream until one particularly hard push nearly sent him sprawling from the chair he'd transfigured himself some few minutes after Corene having done so earlier.
Once that happened and he hadn't risen, he'd had to jolt and make sure he didn't tip over. When he was stabilised, he looked at Corene and rubbed at his eyes. "What?" he got out, groggy and maybe the tiniest bit snippish.
He didn't fancy falling — or nearly falling — into the tattered remains of Muggles and their toys.
Corene took a step away and offered out one hand, slight as it was to him. He took it after a few seconds, and then he stood up. When he did so, he began to look around, wondering what's happened; so far as he could tell, everything was as it'd been when he'd fallen asleep. There wasn't a lick of difference.
"What is it?" he asked again, and this time, with more clarity.
She held the stone aloft, the warmth and light that it was giving off decidedly less than it'd been initially. It took a few seconds for recognition in that groggy mind of his, but once those few seconds were up, he recalled what it meant. Elaine had turned it off so as not to be alerted, which meant there was something else down there with her.
Why otherwise would she have done it?
"Did she send anything?" he asked Corene. "Anything at all? We were working on the Patronus too, maybe she sent that? How long's it been?"
Corene shook her head at every question he'd asked save for the last. "Nothing," she firmly said. "Slightly over a minute."
He began to pat himself down to make sure he had everything where it belonged. Once he ensured his wand was in its holder, his satchel was on his person and his shoes were firmly fixed back to his feet, he started towards the hole in the ground.
"Wait."
He turned to regard Corene, who'd followed after him to the edge of the hole. "Elaine would have stated if she desires assistance."
Harry huffed. "She can desire it or not desire it all she wants. If there's something down there, and that something might be Grindelwald, it's better to face him together, all of us, than apart. He's weaker, sure, but he's still him, isn't he?"
"Grindelwald's chances for re-emergence are minimal, as are the chances he's here," Corene said, her voice monotonous as it oft was, but with a hint of something else. There almost seemed a tinge of spite or hatred when she'd mentioned the man, like her mother had. "More likely, it is a creature meant to guard the place, or Muggles."
He snorted. "I doubt there's any Muggles that far down. They'd be long dead at the bottom of the earth, the same as us."
"We'd not be stuck in the centre of the earth," Corene said, blinking at him. The two stared at one another in silence thereafter, until she cocked her head to the side, her hand still holding aloft the stone. "You won't wait even if I declare it."
Harry shook his head. No, no he wouldn't. Elaine wasn't the only incredibly stubborn person in the relationship. He could be much the same, worse, sometimes.
"Together," Corene said, that being the one word before she beat him to the transfigured stairs, and began to descend them.
Harry was left blinking as he looked after her, and after realising what she'd just gone and done, he followed after her. That wasn't what he'd expected of Corene, but who was he to complain? Especially if it'd prove helpful and he'd have somebody to speak with rather than walking alone in the dark.
Nothing was ever quite so tedious as travel.
As Harry ventured further into the cave with Corene, the two passing a few braziers, alight with fire that seemed unending, his eyes seeking out traps of any kind, he had a thought. Last time, there had been hordes of Inferi that had infested the caves, but there hadn't been so much as a hint of their presence here.
No mist that oft followed them around, and certainly no bodies that'd been left behind to indicate as much. Only those of the Muggles who'd put up a fight.
Harry wondered, then, if not Inferi, what was in the tunnel that'd given Elaine pause. He supposed they'd see soon enough, whatever it was, but that thought kept tickling the back of his mind.
At least until something finally happened in the dreadfully boring tunnels; a glowing set of runes atop an archway. Harry took a glance at Corene, and immediately, she moved closer to investigate — this sort of thing was far likelier to be her field of expertise than his.
All Harry saw were drawings that glowed a reddish hue in the otherwise dark area after turning the bend. What Corene and Elaine could make out was the magic inscribed onto the stone. Harry imagined, of course, whatever magic it was, the intent wasn't friendly.
Corene confirmed that after a moment when she took a prim step back. "Dangerous," she said. "But disabled. Top right, Elaine."
Harry followed her directions and saw a faint dimming that disconnected a pair of runes from one another. There was a little mark made beside it too, a rune in and of itself. Now, Harry would be the first to admit he didn't know all that much about runes or the like, but if Corene said it was disabled, and by Elaine no less, he'd trust her.
And so he walked forward, through the archway with his wand ready to shield himself at a moment's notice… but the reason to do so never came. He simply continued his walk through where one might've been a door, and once he made it past, his eyes had done as they'd done since first they arrived, that being to search for traps. The archway had been the first, and already, that meant the depths had nearly the same amount of attention, more so, he reckoned, since it was runes rather than Muggle work.
"Still real quiet, isn't it?" Harry whispered to Corene when she returned to his side. "I'd have thought if there were a problem, it'd be noisy."
Corene blinked at him, the action only just visible on account of the lack of overly bright light — each had switched from a Lumos to something more useful, with the braziers, magic as they were, settling their need for light. It wasn't quite as good, but it allowed Corene to search for magic whilst Harry did the same, and Muggle traps to boot.
Nearly ten feet in, and with the brazier ahead giving just enough light to watch one's step, Harry noticed the first tripwire thus far. It was untouched, left as it was when it'd been set, he reckoned. Elaine would have gone over it in that misty form of hers, if she'd seen it in the first place. In fact, her stopping at the runes hadn't been meant to happen the more he thought of it. She was meant to be in and out in a jiffy. He imagined her thirst for knowledge had made the sight of runes too tantalising to ignore.
Nothing new there.
"Muggles?"
Harry nodded at Corene's question. "There's a tripwire ahead. We can get over it."
Corene simply cocked her head and folded her hands demurely before herself. It was clear she meant to watch, and as Harry took another step forward, getting closer to the trap he'd found, she answered his earlier question.
"The place is deep. I wasn't able to find out how deep, only estimates that ranged from ten to fifty kilometres regarding the entirety of the tunnel system. The lack of noise, if such a range is to be believed, is unsurprising so long as the source wasn't too potent."
Ah, well, that's that then, he figured.
"Wicked," he said in response to Corene, before he promptly turned his wand back to the stone before him.
So far as he figured, there were a good few options here, especially since the stone wouldn't be nearly as taxing as that place in Belarus had been. They could go around it, but that risked some other tunnel or trap being grappled with thereafter. The same could be said if they went above or below the path, he supposed, and so that ruled out the lot of those options. Next, he thought of something simple, very simple, and it was for that reason he doubted himself.
Surely he couldn't just transfigure the stone to go up and cover the wire in its entirety, right? Somehow, that had to backfire. He wasn't quite sure the more that he thought about it, and so he shelved the idea as the next one came; he could make a path they could crawl across in the very middle of the hall, going over the entirety of the hallway until they reached the end, whereupon doing so, he'd check for traps, cross the path and start again.
It'd certainly be safe so long as no creature suddenly appeared, or Magical, for that matter. If they were truly alone and cautious, it'd be safe. But they couldn't be that alone if the stone was anything to go off of.
Harry huffed, and then, his wand began to move just as the stone before them did. He'd gone ahead with his middle plan, lest more continue to come, and so the tripwire in its entirety was encased in stone of a thickness Harry very much doubted would buckle or break were it stepped or tripped on.
"Should be fine, just don't touch it, yeah?" he asked Corene, and when nothing was said in response, he nodded moreso to himself than anything and continued along, his eyes sweeping the floor — and head height — with every step.
It was only another ten steps beyond the first tripwire at foot level that the second was present, and after that, only five steps.
By the time the pair reached the end of the hall, there were nine new bumps in the path, including one that had been just about at chest level for Harry. He'd had to transfigure not only that, but the mirroring tripwire below it, and only then did he risk squeezing through the space left betwixt the two. As for Corene, she hardly seemed bothered by all the manoeuvring the pair had to do.
Harry never quite understood how Witches, especially the Pureblood ones, could move like they did. It was like they were light as a house-elf and fluid in their movements as a mermaid, and here he was like a troll as he squeezed through the space; he'd certainly grown far larger than he'd been throughout all of Hogwarts.
It was all the food Momsey all but forced him to eat. Elaine had it worse though, the little nurse house-elf wanted children to take care of something fierce, and always she'd speak to Elaine about the need to ensure she was eating enough. Even in the midst of night, on the stand beside her, there'd be snacks and drinks aplenty with charms to ward off insects and rot.
"There's a fork here," Harry finally said, his recollections finished as he blinked and looked from one path to the next, to the next after that. "I don't see any mark left behind by Elaine to signify where we should go."
Corene's eyes fell to the wall beyond his person, seeking out something the same as he'd been doing, and soon after they returned to Harry. Based on the slight sag the corner of her lips took, she'd not noticed anything, the same as him.
"Nothing."
He cast a spell that might search out hidden missives sprawled across the stone, but much like what his eyes could regularly see, there was nothing. Not a single message left behind for the pair. That was worrying. If Elaine truly were in trouble, they didn't know which way it was to get to her.
It is Elaine, though, he told himself. What's ever given her trouble aside from me?
"Wait," Harry said. "Let me try something — keep watch for me. I won't be able to pay attention while I do this. Transfigure us a wall, if you need to."
Corene looked as if she wanted to ask him something, but he zoned out before he could so much as hear the first word that came from her. With his eyes closed and attention focused on the little connection in the back of his mind, he focused on Elaine, their bond, whatsoever the cause, strong as it ever was.
And sure enough, as the seconds ticked by and he focused more on their connection, he felt her. Focused as it was, her emotions were amplified and after another fifteen seconds or so, he was able to see why. It threw him back in time, it did, to the time he'd woken up in Hogwarts and looked up at an unfamiliar canopy; that was years ago, but it felt just like what he was currently doing.
Had he accidentally utilised their link back those few years ago? If so, how hadn't they made use of that more often? Perhaps it'd grown stronger the more they'd been together, but then again, maybe that was something he was making up. He wasn't anymore an expert on their bond than Elaine seemed to be.
All the same, he saw what he saw using her eyes; darkness, but not total darkness. There were hints of light scattered about some very large, grand hall. He wasn't remotely sure where Elaine had ended up, but suffice to say, wheresoever it was, seemed the size of the Ministry's atrium, with no small amount of pillars scattered about. Unlike the Ministry, it was neither finished nor furnished, and there seemed a few too many cracks about the place for Harry's liking — bones too.
As Elaine looked around whilst sticking to the furthest edge of the space, he took note of the bones she saw. There were humanoid ones to be certain, but he could hardly tell who they'd been or where they'd been from on account of how badly burnt the skeletons were. As for the other remains of creatures left behind, there were too many to count; cows seemed the most prevalent though.
Elaine looked down for a split-second, narrowly avoiding stepping on a bone with a show of that earlier, aforementioned fluidity he was oft left envious of. When she did just that, he took notice of something for the first time. She was invisible. He couldn't see so much as a hint of her, disillusioned as she was. That right there confirmed whatever was there with her, seemed to have a poor sense of vision.
But that alone wasn't enough information quite yet. He still needed to figure out just where she'd gone, and so that meant he had to continue watching her actions in the hopes she'd glance around enough for him to recognise a path. If it were lit like all the others, he'd be able to tell if there was a bend or something else that might prove helpful.
He didn't need to wait more than a minute before Elaine took a long, sweeping glance of the entirety of the place. There was something she was seeking out, he could tell with how her eyes flickered so rapidly, and then, he saw it. It appeared as sudden as a nightmare might in the dark of the night.
The creature was massive, and worm-like. It had the head and neck of a dragon, but no wings or the like. Instead, it had the arms of a centipede, the little things keeping the giant creature scurrying about with frightening speed and flexibility. It didn't seem to spot Elaine, however, for the creature's head swung to and from, seeking her out with its nose raised high in the air.
Harry waited with what he imagined was more nervousness than Elaine felt, but just as suddenly as it'd arrived, it left, the little legs carrying the creature back whence it came into the darkness until nary a bit of it was visible. When she turned to look almost behind herself, he saw the path she'd taken, finally. It was sloped and had a bend from the left.
He continued to watch, but she only delved deeper into the place, and so he closed off their connection. It'd served its purpose, but now, he had to go and find her, and with the hint that he had — the only hint they'd really be able to get as well — he went down the left path with his eyes on the ground and Corene trailing after him.
There wasn't a word said from her, but she seemed to recognise he'd done something, even if she didn't know what that something was. He was thankful for the silence too, his head was hammering after doing what he'd just done; he'd need to practise that more often.
It was the path she'd taken.
Harry had that confirmed for him by Corene when they happened upon another archway with runes sprawled across the entirety of the frame. They glowed just as brightly as those of the previous door had, and that glow, like the aforementioned one, dimmed at one specific point. As before, there was a mark beside it, and so Harry nodded.
This was where they had to go if they were to help her against that draconic… centipede type creature. Harry hadn't a clue as to what it was, and Corene hadn't seemed to know either despite his best attempt at giving a description. Perhaps it was something Grindelwald himself had invented, perhaps not.
The more they walked along the dimly lit path, the more thought Harry put towards what the creature could be or how it'd come to be. All of that time spent in thought bore no fruit, and when next they reached an archway, one that lacked any sign of rune work, he glanced back over at Corene. She'd pointed out the meaning of the markings previously, so if any were hidden or if there was more to this than his eyes saw, she'd know.
Whilst she'd go about doing that, Harry would send a ball of light down the hall ahead. It'd serve to show anything that shouldn't be present. Muggle traps or creatures that attempted to hide alike; he wanted to see as much as he could considering the horror he knew to be present.
Merlin did he hope beyond all else there weren't a plethora of them. One was bad enough.
"Clear."
"Certain?"
"Clear."
Harry blinked at Corene for a second or so, and when she peered back at him, those dark eyes of hers only just visible thanks to the fire of the braziers, he shrugged. If she was so certain, he supposed he'd go and take a chance. The worst that could happen was that Corene would need to pull him back should a trap activate; there were spells that'd pull one's blood back into their body… so long as their body remained.
Fortunately for him, he needn't think about such things for very long. He walked through the archway, and nothing happened. Not so much as a hint of magic or Muggle weaponry was triggered. The only change that he could decipher, was one that made itself readily apparent, and it wasn't as a result of him.
The stone in Corene's presence activated, and shortly thereafter, the voice of Elaine came through it.
"There's a beast of a type I've not seen before down here. It acts on sound and seems blind — venture down, follow the path I've cleared, and do so carefully. We'll need to return home soon."
And then, like before, it went out.
Harry looked at Corene, and she, at him.
Elaine had stressed that time was of importance now, and Harry wasn't sure what to make of that. His first thought, and most certainly the one that paranoid him, was that something had happened to her that was far more grave than she was making it out to be. That'd be very much something Elaine would underplay, as concern for herself wasn't often a feeling she'd express.
"I don't suppose she knows what it is either, then, if she's not said the name," Harry eventually said, breaking the silence as he continued alongside Corene down yet another hall. "I take it you've still not got any idea either?"
"None."
Harry snorted. This must have been what it was like the first time somebody saw a Basilisk. No certainty, no understanding, just that primitive worry in the back of your mind… a worry that seemed strangely absent from the two Witches he spent most of his time with. Aster, however, didn't seem to lack those thoughts in the back of his mind; if only the other bloke were here.
With Corene as dumbfounded as Harry was when it came to the animal they'd soon be near, the two continued in relative silence. The only noises that joined them, their footfalls and breaths, with the occasional one-word comment should something stand out to either person. That something would oft be a set of runes not unlike those which they'd seen multiple times thus far, and each time, they were disabled.
It made for a good indicator that the path they were on stayed true, and it did, until the point Harry saw that familiar bend up ahead.
The moment he saw it, he held aloft his opposite arm so as to stop Corene from continuing on ahead. When she cast a look his way, he shook his head and held a finger to his lips, signalling to her that she needed to be silent. After doing so, he pointed to the area ahead of them, and then began to mouth words to her, slow and easy for her to understand.
The creature is ahead.
It was simple to be certain, and when she gave him a nod in return, he let drop his arm. She understood the stakes now, and where exactly it was they'd finally arrived. Elaine was near, very near, and possibly hurt. They'd have to move quickly, but silently, as she'd said to — they didn't need this creature that used sound to track you to hear them, after all.
Corene seemed to understand that just as well as he did when she continued forward, taking the first step. As he'd long thought, she could truly move with such a degree of dexterity that one could hardly tell she was present in the first place. It was rather impressive, he would admit. Her and Elaine each were, somehow, masters of stealth.
As for him, well, he'd cheat, he supposed. With his wand aimed at his footwear, he cast a sound-dampening charm, and a second later, one that would cause some amount of pressure on the soles of the shoes themselves; they'd constantly be pushing up just enough that it felt like there was resistance whensoever he took a step. Maybe he was barmy, but he swore it helped him stay quieter when he felt that extra force pushing up to meet his feet.
Certain his spells were complete, Harry took his first step after Corene, the girl a good few ahead of him now. It wasn't until he drew closer to her, and as a result thereof, closer to the entrance of the giant place ahead, that he noticed something peculiar. There were no braziers, of that he knew, but the place seemed… unnaturally dark despite the flames that were littered about the cavernous space ahead. As for magic, it was present, or some sort of effect from the Muggles, it had to be. Harry didn't know which was true since the place was practically glowing when he went to detect magic, but he did know that his Lumos seemed to dim the closer he and Corene grew to entering the large cavern.
Still, Harry continued ahead, and when he took his first step in, the light of his Lumos was only just illuminating five or ten feet around him, and Merlin, was it a struggle. Constantly, Harry had to focus on keeping the light up lest it falter and fall to the darkness, meanwhile, Corene had stopped hers altogether, settling for sticking along the wall as Harry was and by his side.
She wasn't totally idle, however, for her wand was still firmly in-hand with the tip aglow. He imagined she'd prepared a spell and kept it right on the tip of her tongue to send out should the creature manifest. He wasn't sure what spell exactly she'd have prepared, but he hoped it was something that might keep fire at bay, if not the creature itself.
Would that I could banish it somewhere else, he wished inwardly.
Harry had nearly been about to follow that up with a second wish, one involving Elaine dominating or destroying the creature altogether, but he stopped short of doing so when a noise reached his ears. One that didn't come from Corene.
In the distance, and only just able to be heard, was a great scurrying. It nearly sounded as if hundreds upon hundreds of bugs were moving all about, but Harry knew better — he'd seen the creature first-hand… or thereabout. It was the many sets of legs it had, moving the creature in the darkness with speed the likes of which Harry didn't wish to imagine.
Still, they trusted that it was noise and not light that attracted the creature, and slower than they'd previously been going, Harry and Corene continued on with their journey to reach Elaine. He was sorely tempted to use the broom he'd brought along after one of their previous trips, but the noise of him whipping all about on it would have likely brought the creatures ire. That wasn't to mention the lack of visibility either.
The last thing he needed to do was fly a broom into some stalagmite and get incinerated by a centipede-dragon monster. It almost sounded worthy of being a Lockhart book, were Harry to win the fight in some majestic way afterwards.
Fortunately for him and any current authors, the scurrying eventually died down, the noise growing soft before disappearing altogether. The creature seemed aware of a presence, perhaps still on account of Elaine, and due to that, it was patrolling the land it'd claimed. So long as they remained silent, or mostly so, Harry imagined there'd not be much trouble they could get into.
He also recognised that'd mostly fall on him as well, considering Corene was silent as death. Elaine had probably just been a bit too… confident, shall he think, that or reckless, and for whatever reason, she'd allowed the creature to continue with its existence. It made him wonder if there was something more to it than he recognised.
Harry took another step, perhaps halfway to the junction he saw only just visible from behind a shield of darkness; a pillar or something to block vision, maybe. He wasn't sure what had previously concealed the path, but he saw it now, and with a gentle grasp of Corene's arm, he showed her the way just as well.
The two changed their path slowly, correcting it with a mild turn, but Harry felt something as they drew closer. It was dark, and the darkness seemed to grow, his light weaning more than it'd done when first they entered. He stopped when it grew almost overwhelming, his hand around Corene's arm forcing her to do much the same.
Luckily for her and him both.
As it turned out, the creature had drawn closer to the pair. Somehow, the noise of its legs had ceased, and from the darkness, it slithered, those legs up and high on its body as its head, aloft in the air as it was, searched for any sign of noise. Perhaps it'd heard them earlier, or maybe it was still so alert after Elaine, but whatever the cause, it'd gotten dangerously close.
The energy about it as well… it wasn't at all like a creature of any ilk should have. It felt strangely like the Horcruxes had, but with a tinge of something different the likes of which Harry couldn't identify.
Harry pulled Corene — gently — back a step, and a few seconds later, the creature still slithering about, the head reared back and let out a great big burst of fire. It illuminated much of the area, and as a result, Harry saw many more of those skeletons he'd first witnessed via Elaine's vision.
There were more than he'd thought.
When it moved along, letting out a screech-like roar, Harry pulled Corene along again. They made haste this time, hurrying along as best they could until they reached the opposite end of the cavern, and upon doing so, they immediately passed through.
Harry cast a look over his shoulder, but it was useless. The creature was still in the darkness, waiting. He hoped he'd not have to deal with it again.
He didn't imagine that'd be the case.