It didn't take long for them to reach the end, the trolley having brought them most of the way. However, it was Narcissa who noticed something off first.
"Children, wands out. Lumos."
Harry was about to question her choice, as there were muggle tunnelers down there, before he noticed the orange high visibility vest of a tunneller on the ground. Then another, and another became visible, making a knot form in the base of Harry's stomach. However, he was calmed when Narcissa held up a hand and moved up to one of them.
Taking a breath, Narcissa shone the light from the tip of her wand on the man, showing his chest rise and fall before releasing the breath she held. "He's not dead, merely stunned. But that means we aren't alone."
The group immediately drew their wands as they walked together. They kept their eyes on the tunnel around them, Harry feeling as if something could jump out and attack them at any moment. The work-lights of the tunnel had dimmed, giving the tunnel itself an eerie glow as they flickered here and there.
As they continued on, they suddenly heard a voice ahead of them, causing Narcissa to raise her hand to the children, extinguishing her spell with a "Nox". They slowly crept forward, as the voice became more audible.
"What a sticky wicket I have gotten myself into this time. Let's take a nice walk in Kent, I said. What's that? Oh, some sort of muggle event, in a tunnel. Why don't I investigate, I said! Me and my damnable curiosity."
"Caw!"
"Yes yes, I know you ruddy bird. You are the one who guided me down here after all. But for what? A huge slab of stone that feels warm? You swooped in right in front of the muggles and I had to stun them all, do you know how much work I'm going to have to—"
At that moment, Draco's shoe caught on a stone, sending it clattering down the tunnel.
"Stupefy!" The voice shouted, a crimson spell launching from where the voice could be heard.
"Protego!" Narcissa's wand flicked up, creating a shield of magic that made the spell glance off instead of catching Draco in the chest. Whoever this was, they had good reflexes.
"By jove, another wizard! I beg your pardon, I thought you were another muggle." The voice said quickly. "I mean you no harm, please. Lumos Maxima!"
The tunnel suddenly lit up fully, a small sun appearing above a man wearing a periwinkle blue suit. Luscious golden locks could be seen flowing from his head, as his teeth shined like diamonds as he smiled. By his side was a familiar-looking spectral raven that glistened with a powerful magic, almost twice the size of Hermione's. Its coloration and poise were the exact same as Hermione's own.
Behind the man was an enormous slab of a glimmering blue stone that seemed to sparkle with sheer magic. Harry's eyes flicked over it, as the stone seemed to have a rigidity and power to it that burned with an unearthly might. Whatever this stone was, it was strong. It seemed to be fused together in several places, yet at the same time it almost resembled a mass of snow and gravel. It was strange to Harry's eyes; like fluid, but solid at the same time.
Narcissa blinked, recognition in her eyes as she opened her mouth to speak, but Harry beat her to the punch. "You're that man from Flourish and Blotts!"
"Ah. I—" The man seemed stunned, looking at Harry with a surprised look. "The young man with the interest in my books? What are you doing here?"
"Your books? But that means you're—"
"Gilderoy Lockhart! What are you doing down here, in a muggle tunnel? And not only that, but in a place where family magic is required to pass?"
The raven at Lockhart's side gave a loud "CAW" that was echoed by Hermione's as Gilderoy Lockhart shook his head. "Funny story, that. Would you believe I happened across the crowd outside during an evening walk, and my curiosity got the better of me?"
Narcissa kept her wand trained at Lockhart, who seemed to be quite calm, holding his wand at his side in a gesture of good will. Harry's head spun; the man he had met in the bookstore was Gilderoy Lockhart? But why was he delivering his own books to the store, and anonymously at that?
Narcissa spoke after a second, "I am loathe to believe you, Lockhart, but having family magic does mean something."
The spectral raven gave a happy caw at that.
"I suppose I do. But, if you might be so inclined, why are you down here, with children no less?" Lockhart asked curiously, gesturing behind him. "I do believe that this stone is magic, but you can't say that it called to you, did it? Like something out of a fairy tale?"
"Of course not. Mister Potter's uncle is trapped behind that stone, and he requested my House's help in rescue."
"Mister… Potter!" Lockhart shouted, his eyebrows rising and looking at Harry. "You mean to tell me you are the famous Harry Potter? What in heaven's name were you interested in my books for, when you are The Boy Who Lived!"
Harry blushed bright red. "I-I like books, sir…"
"Well I'm quite honored you took an interest in my series, Mister Potter. I hope you wouldn't mind taking a picture with me at one of my book signings one day. But, it seems like you have other things on your mind currently. As Lady Malfoy just mentioned, your uncle is trapped behind here?"
Harry nodded, as Narcissa moved up to the stone, tapping her wand on it. The stone seemed to shudder for a second, but didn't budge.
"I'm afraid that was my first idea, Lady Malfoy. The rock seems somehow unable to be banished, broken, or harmed in any way by magic that I can tell. Even Bookbeak here, this wonderfully helpful raven of mine, was unable to do anything to the stone. And I assure you, his talons are quite strong."
As Lockhart spoke, the raven gave a caw. Harry noticed that the raven was far, far more active and expressive than Hermione's smaller version. It was as if the family magic was fully there, instead of just partially.
"What about—" Narcissa began, but Lockhart shook his head. "Wingardium Leviosa and Leviosa both do not work on it, I am afraid. I have tried those as well."
Ron walked up to the stone, giving it a kick. "So we came all this way to help Harry with rescuing his uncle, and the ruddy stone won't even budge to magic? Bloody hell!"
Draco walked over as well, crossing his arms. "Then what are we supposed to do?"
Harry considered for a moment, placing his hand on the stone. "Uncle Vernon mentioned that no matter what muggle techniques they used, the stone was impenetrable. He had designed some drills to try to break it, but they didn't work." Harry left out the part of him having used magic on one of his uncle's drills, not wanting to reveal that tidbit to the adults.
Lockhart considered for a second. "Muggle contraptions are quite unique, and if magic was used as well—"
There was a sudden scratching sound from behind the stone near Harry's hand, prompting Harry to lean forward. It was very faint, barely audible but slowly got louder.
"Guys! Do you hear that?" Harry asked, forgetting for a second his sense of hearing was much better than a normal person's. Ron and Neville hurried up, with Neville putting his ear to the stone. "I hear something, Harry."
"I do too. Do you think it's your uncle?" Ron asked as he rapped his knuckles against the stone. The boy seemed to have done it harder than he intended, as he hissed and grabbed his hand. "Ow! Bloody hell, it's as hard as iron!" Ron shouted, sucking on his knuckles where the stone had scraped them.
Harry placed his hand on the stone again, trying to hear the scratches. However, that proved to be a mistake as there was a crack from under his hand, and something sharp pricked his palm. "OUCH!" Harry wrenched his hand back, his palm bleeding from a cut as he saw a familiar-looking drill head push from the stone. A weak voice could be heard, as the drill was removed. "Harry? Is that you?" The voice was coming from a small, golfball-sized hole in the stone.
"Dudley! Dudley, we're here to get you out!" The pain of his palm forgotten, Harry pressed his hands on each side of the hole, the blood seeping into the stone.
As it did, the stone shuddered, and almost like it had changed to goo, Harry's hand sank into it.
"Ack!" Harry shouted, wrenching his hand from the stone. The stone had suddenly felt very soft and squishy, as if he had sunk his hand into mud.
"What in Merlin's name…?" Lockhart said as he walked over, joined by Narcissa. Hermione looked curious, as Narcissa took Harry's hand, brandishing her wand.
"I wouldn't do that, Lady Malfoy. It appears the stone reacted to Mister Potter's blood. If you seal the wound, we might have to cut it again."
"Harry, is everything alright?"
Harry shouted, taking his hand from Narcissa's own. "Yes, everything's okay! The stone… something happened with it! But before I say, are the other children with you?"
"Y-Yes, Harry… b-but D-dad… he…" Dudley's voice was stammering, as Harry could hear the fear in Dudley's voice. "D-dad 's trapped… a-and the teacher and workers w-who came with us g-got crushed! W-we s-survived b-because Dad used his b-body to protect u-us! P-please, H-harry! You have to h-help him! But a-all the other kids are hurt, a-and I'm the only one able to do anything!"
Harry's heart sank. Uncle Vernon was stuck, and the other adults had been crushed. Who had thought this was a good idea? "I'm here lad." Harry heard Uncle Vernon's voice, but it was weak. "I'll hold it as long as I can. If you can use your magic to help, then do so. Otherwise, go get some help, lad." Harry's breath hitched as he got closer to the hole.
"Dudley, you have my drill? What's that doing here?" Harry asked, the others in the group silent and letting Harry talk to his cousin.
"D-dad brought it to test it on the stone, b-but once we g-got close to the stone, it glowed a-and shifted!" At the same time, Harry heard Vernon's voice. "As soon as your drill touched the stone, the stone seemed to come alive, lad. It's thanks to that Dudley was able to carve out enough before the other children were harmed. The part I'm holding seemed to stop when I used my body to block it."
Harry's mind was racing as he thought up a plan. After a few seconds, he nodded. "Alright, Dudley, I want you to do something with the drill, okay?"
"A-alright, Harry."
"I want you to keep drilling, right under the hole that you just made. I think I found a way to help with it, and we should be able to get you and everyone out of there."
There was a rumble from the ceiling, as some pebbles dropped. Narcissa and Lockhart's wands immediately moved to the ceiling, just as another rumble echoed.
"Something's wrong, the stone is shifting again!" Lockhart shouted, his wand out and flicked to the ceiling. "Lady Malfoy, we must cast together, or the place may collapse. Unbreakable Charms on three. Children, quickly, wands out and together, stab your wands forward with the incantation Aeternus!"
The rumbling echoed again, as Dudley's voice could be heard from the hole. "H-harry!"
"I know, Dudley! We've got this. Don't worry!" Harry shouted to his cousin, his wand trained on the ceiling. Lockhart repeated the chant and the wand movement a few times, making sure the children could follow his lead. "This is a Fourth Year charm, but I know you can do it. All of you. Together now!"
Lockhart stabbed his wand forward, shouting alongside Narcissa, "Aeternus!"
At the same time, Harry, Hermione, Draco, Ron and Neville all spoke out at once, the magic flowing from their wands and pushing to the ceiling. Several cracks had started to form, but the cracks shifted and re-sealed as the spells hit home. Harry could see that with his new wand, Neville's magic was much stronger as the boy's face held a look of grim determination.
Next to him, Ron's wand, old as it was, seemed to be holding firm but Harry could see fissures forming in the wand's wood. As the spells finished, the rumbling stopped as Harry looked at Hermione and Draco, both looking proud.
"Excellent work, all of you! We wouldn't have been able to do it without you." Lockhart clapped his hands with that glittering smile.
Beside him, Narcissa looked like she was about to say otherwise, but Harry noticed her quickly close her mouth before she spoke. "Harry, are you ready to try to get your cousin out? Lockhart and I will keep our wands trained on the ceiling in case the stone moves again."
Hermione, Draco, Neville, and Ron moved up. "We'll help you as well, Harry. You think the blood made it so you could move the stone?"
Draco considered, "I believe it might be why. Pure blood and all. And Granger here has shown she's got pure blood, so— Diffindo!"
Harry jumped lightly as Draco cut his own palm without hesitation, causing Narcissa to shout. "Draco! What in Merlin's name are you doing?"
Draco sniffed, pressing his hand to the stone. "Helping my friend." Draco's statement lit a fire in Ron's eyes, who repeated the spell on his own hand, the spell obviously weak but enough to cut his palm. Neville was the third to cast, with Hermione after. As all of them rubbed their hands together to distribute the blood, they placed their hands on the stone, causing the stone to shudder and shift.
Almost as if its material changed, Harry felt the stone go from rock to what felt like gel. His fingers dug in, starting to press the stone away as it began to disappear. Beside him, his friends were doing the same, marveling at the strange stone.
On the other side, the sound of the drill could be heard, as Dudley was expanding the hole he had made larger and larger. The stone started to shift, the pushed aside parts seeming to turn into sparkling magic in Harry's eyes. It looked like it was building up and swirling around the tunnel as a wind started to pick up.
"What is the stone doing?" Draco asked, as he grabbed a handful of it, seeing it seeming to turn to sparkling dust in his hands.
Beside him, Hermione giggled and squished her hand into the stone. "It feels like Jello!" Neville and Ron looked at each other in confusion at that before the group continued.
Behind them, Lockhart and Narcissa were focused on the ceiling and walls, making sure that the stone didn't shift again. Lockhart looked at the group every so often, his eyes fixed on Harry for a second before returning to the roof.
It didn't take long before the stone was carved away enough for Dudley's form to squeeze through, with Dudley dropping the drill and rushing forward, hugging Harry tightly. "Harry! Thank you. Thank you so much… please, help Dad!"
Dudley gestured behind him, revealing the space that Uncle Vernon had made using his own body. The stone had pressed down on him from above, the bodies of the unconscious children all around him as he resembled the famous statue of Atlas. "Uncle Vernon!" Harry shouted, rushing over. He could see Vernon was straining, his body locked up as he had used his body as a shield for the children.
Narcissa moved over quickly, taking her wand and pushing her arm into the hole that had been made. Flicking it over Vernon with a "Tenere Umbra!", Harry saw the stone's shadow quake as magic rippled through it, Narcissa's magic holding it and freezing it in place. Harry saw a bead of sweat on Narcissa's face from exertion of her magic; her magic was pouring out of her like a fountain but the moment of stillness from the stone allowed Vernon to be freed with a gasp from the overexerted man.
He was carefully helped up by Dudley and Harry, brought over to a safe spot to take a breath. Harry and his friends moved to carve more and more of the stone from the hole, making sure that the magical stone was carved away. Beside them, Lockhart was laughing. "By Merlin himself, I've never seen a spell like that before. That simply must have been a Family Magic spell. Am I correct, Lady Malfoy?" He looked at her as she nodded tiredly, Lockhart's eyes sparkling.
"Of course, the power of Family Magic would have done much better than the simple magic I used. I never considered using Family Magic for it. I applaud your quick thinking, Lady Malfoy." Narcissa seemed pleased at the compliment, giving a second nod in return.
The group went back to work as Vernon and the other children were pulled out. The strange stone was slowly being cleared away, and a set of four bricks were next to where the drill fell.
"Dudley? What are those bricks?" They shimmered with a magical energy, so much so that Harry was surprised by the density. They were the size of the stone bricks he designed the drill to make, making Harry curious as Dudley walked over. "Your drill made them when I drilled the strange rock. The rock seemed to be condensed by the drill."
Harry was surprised, looking at the stone as he grabbed a handful in his bloodied hands. It once more turned to magic and seemed to blow away. "But, it's disappearing as we remove it. How did it stay like that?" Dudley didn't have a response, merely shrugging his shoulders.
After a grueling hour of work, the tunnel was cleared enough to pull out the children and Uncle Vernon, with Dudley grabbing the drill and helping. The bodies of the teacher and the tunnelers who had been caught by the stone were brought carefully over to the side and placed safely near the edge of the tunnel. Narcissa looked exhausted, the family magic spell having been held for the entire hour.
While the group worked, Harry looked up at the stone. "Why do you think that this is here?" Harry looked at the group, who were watching Dudley and the drill make more of the bricks. The others worked as well, slowly carving the stone out.
"I bet that it was made to stop people from invading England by digging a tunnel." Ron said, throwing a handful of the stone behind him as it turned to sparkling magic.
Draco snorted, "Hah, as if, Weasley. I bet it's a long-forgotten part of Atlantis, that fell from the sky into the Channel."
Hermione had a quizzical look on her face, shaking her head. "I bet it has something to do with Merlin. He's the only one who would be able to do something of this scale."
Neville laughed. "Maybe Merlin took a part of Atlantis and buried it under the channel to prevent people from tunnelling into England."
The fusion of their ideas made all of them laugh, joking as Dudley joined in. Suddenly, Ron grabbed a handful of the stone, throwing it at Harry as it burst into sparkles. It wasn't long before they were working harder to get "ammo" for an erstwhile snowball fight.
After a few more minutes passed, the stone had been cleared away. When the last of the stone had been removed, their family magics faded back and disappeared into their bodies.
Harry could see some small parts of the stone on the wall of the tunnel, and it looked like it was growing again, trying to repair the hole that had been made by the group. Harry felt the Stone at his neck heat up, as he moved forward, shoving his magic against the magical stone. There was a flash of red, as the stone seemed to slide back into the wall, leaving only a few streaks of the odd stone. After a few moments of watching and making sure it did not move again, Harry turned back to his friends.
The rest of the group had finished removing the rest of the stone just as the children started to wake up. As the children started to stir, Harry motioned for everyone to quickly put away their wands and took the drill from Dudley.
"By Jove." Vernon breathed out, looking at the cleared tunnel. "You saved us all and cleared out the tunnel? You're a hero, lad." Vernon's gaze moved to the tunnelers, causing him to shake his head. "Are they…?" Vernon saw the children waking up, looking at Narcissa who was checking them over carefully.
Narcissa shook her head. "Just unconscious, except for the adults who lost their lives from the stone shifting. There was nothing I could do to help them." She spoke softly, brushing back some hair from one of the children's dirt-smeared face.
Vernon frowned, but Dudley quickly gave Vernon in another hug. Harry and his friends walking over, causing Vernon to smile. "Are these all your friends, lad? I don't believe I have met any of them besides the fine young Malfoy lad." He nodded to Draco, who grinned as the man hugged Dudley tight. "I'm glad you came, lad. I thought that we'd all die down here."
Harry returned the smile, gesturing. "These are Neville Longbottom, Hermione Granger, and Ronald Weasley. My friends Gregory Goyle and Vincent Crabbe are up with Lord Malfoy and Mister Flamel. They should be able to come down soon, I hope. We did remove the stone and all."
There was a sudden clattering, as the group stopped and looked at the tracks. The trolley, which had been sitting and waiting at the end of the track, had shot back up to the surface. "Oh dear. I believe the other muggles are on their way. We'd best be prepared." Lockhart said as he gestured with his hand, "We'll need to stun them as soon as they get off the trolley."
It took a little while for the trolley to return, but return it did. The trolley was filled with the foreman and dozens of other adults; Narcissa and Lockhart held their wands loosely at their sides.
"What happened here? I expected you to be down here for a few minutes, and—" The man froze, looking at Vernon and the children, the unconscious tunnellers and bodies of the teachers at the side of the tunnel. He opened his mouth to shout, but suddenly a pair of spells lanced from behind the men and washed over them. They reacted immediately, their bodies going limp and collapsing to the ground.
Moments later, Lucius and Flamel stepped from the darkness from behind the now-unconscious group.
"We felt the magic dissipate enough that we were able to safely pass the remnants of the magical ward. Thankfully, their cart went by us too quickly for us to be seen or to get on." Flamel explained as he shook his head. "We will have to confound all of them. But the issue is that we'll need to tell them something."
Vernon stepped forward. "I believe the easiest method of explaining would be to say that my nephew came with an experimental drill, giving it to the tunnellers and they were able to get everyone out of the cave in. I had been mentioning to the other Grunnings Directors that I had a few models that I was going to attempt, since I had finished testing them on different stones in the lab."
Lockhart stepped forward. "I am a licensed Obliviator, a title bestowed upon me to assist my efforts in the muggle world when I was required to take down magical creatures. I will obliviate each of them and we can use Mister…"
"Dursley. Vernon Dursley. A pleasure." Vernon's mustache wiggled as he stood up straight.
"Of course, Mister Dursley. I remember reading an article about you in the Daily Prophet. Gilderoy Lockhart, a small-time writer and adventurer, at your service. I believe your explanation would work. It would allow all of us to leave with the cover story that we came to watch the removal of the stone."
Lucius tapped his cane on the rough stone floor. "We should hurry. If we tarry too long, we will risk more coming down to investigate."
There was agreement, as Lockhart began to cast the spell. Harry watched as the spell built at the end of Lockhart's wand, making him shiver. The spell itself looked like nothingness; a void that seemed to swallow the light around it. The Obliviate spell hit each of the muggles in turn, with Harry looking away halfway through.
"It's alright. He will only remove the memories of the past hour." Narcissa spoke quietly, her hand placed on Harry's shoulder. The boy nodded in response, but didn't turn his head.
As the adults woke up, there was a lot of cheering and happiness. The unnerving feeling remained for a while as Harry saw the muggles acting exactly as they were told by the spell. It didn't take long for the group to be brought back up to the surface; reporters were waiting outside the gate of the tunnel, with first responders and medical personnel rushing in and quickly looking over the group. Lucius had to yank his hand back from a medic as they tried to look him over, but thankfully didn't say anything.
The foreman stepped forward, holding up his hands and preventing the group from being mobbed. "We will have a full press release on what occurred later today. The children are exhausted, and the emergency crews will be bringing them to the hospital. Director Dursley and the others have had a long day; they would prefer to go to the hospital on their own accord." With the foreman's words, the reporters parted, allowing them to pass. As they did, one of them began to clap. It was mere moments before another joined, then another, as the crowd began to cheer.
Lucius whispered under the cheering, "I'll bring all of you to a much better institution than a muggle hospital. We shall be going to Saint Mungo's to get you checked over." Draco and Harry both were surprised at the comment, but Narcissa looked proud of her husband.
Lockhart quickly whispered as well. "Master Flamel and I will remain to make sure the Obliviation sets. No sense taking risks. It was a pleasure working with all of you; I hope we meet again." Lockhart nodded to Flamel, as the two slipped into the crowd.
As the group moved to a safe place to apparate, none of them noticed the small water beetle that was sitting atop Narcissa's hair bun.
-Author's Notes-
One of the bigger events of book 2. I rewrote this a few times, but I always felt that Grunnings wasn't used enough. A Drill Company, when the English Chunnel was being drilled? Of course they'd have been helping with it. The timing isn't perfect here, so I delayed it by a year for plot's sake. Hopefully, this plot was worthy of such a change!
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