The Phoenix Prophecy

Chapter Seventeen: The Return

Monday Afternoon - July 21^st

Hermione

Ever since arriving back on Gawain’s island I felt as if I were on a carousel that just kept going faster and faster. Just when I thought, things were beginning to slow down, Sirius and Walt arrived with six people who had been enslaved by rogue giants. I had never seen anyone so caked in mud and grime as these six people were. I was doubtful that these people would ever come clean, no matter how many baths they took. I was amazed at how well grandmother handled the situation. I could not remember ever seeing anything out of place when it came to grandmother’s appearance. She was the epitome of prim and proper. Our new guests on the other hand, looked like a group of wild savages that had never been near a bath or worn anything but rags. I knew that I was not seeing them as they truly were. Being held as slaves was not their fault. Under the same conditions, I would have probably looked much the same. The thought of being covered with that much dirt made my skin crawl.

Once we got the two women and their daughters out of their filthy rags and into the bath, they started looking human again. During the entire time they were bathing, Roxanne was the only one who talked with us. Lucida and the two children never uttered a single word. All three of them looked and acted like someone who had been terrified to the breaking point and had lost touch with reality. I felt miserable and depressed over their condition. For the life of me I could not understand how there could be this much cruelty and suffering in the world.

While grandmother was supervising our guests’ second bath, I scavenged the two bedrooms for clothes that the women and girls could wear. There was not a lot to choose from, but I did manage to come up with four sets of the clothing that would be an improvement over being wrapped up in blankets. After bringing the assortment of clothes to the bathroom, I told grandmother that I was going to go and check on Ron and Gretchen. In truth, I just could not bare to look at the hopeless despair on their faces for another minute. I felt as if the room was suddenly closing in on me and I just had to get out of there.

When I entered the atrium, I spotted Harry walking towards where everyone was sitting. He was looking at Ron who was running towards the entrance to one of the hallways. I reached Harry’s side just as he asked Martha where Ron was going in such a hurry. After we had all discussed why Ron and Gretchen had been behaving so oddly, I did not know whether to feel better or worse. When Sirius announced that he was going to look for Madelyn, whom I had forgotten all about, I realized that I definitely felt worse, much worse.

Harry took my hand in his, which helped to lift my spirits a little bit, and led me over to where Claude and Alain were standing. Alain managed a weak smile when I smiled at him. When I smiled at Claude, his face remained devoid of any expression. Only his dark, deep-set eyes seemed to notice that I was looking at him. For a brief instant, our eyes locked on each other and I felt an icy chill shoot through me. Involuntarily, I moved closer to Harry, tightening my grip on his hand. I was sure that behind those probing, cold eyes, something monstrous was just waiting to be set loose.

“Where did you live before your families where captured by the giants?” Harry asked, sounding a little hesitant.

“My family lived in a small village located in the foothills just east of the Great Mountains,” Alain replied, after Claude remained mute for several seconds.

“Is that where your family is from too?” Harry asked Claude. Instead of answering Harry, Claude turned and walked away without uttering a single word.

“Real sociable guy, huh?” Harry said, turning to look at me.

“Claude has not talked to anyone since…” Alain began and then quickly averted his eyes, looking across the room to where Claude was standing, staring into the fountain in the center of the pool.

“Since when, Alain?” Harry asked gently.

Alain’s gaze darted back and forth between Claude and us. “Since he betrayed his father to the giants,” Alain whispered his voice barely audible.

“He what,” I choked out, not quite believing what I had just heard, until I remembered the look in Claude’s eyes.

“Alain, are you sure? That is very hard to believe…”

“Harry, what’s the matter?” I asked when he broke off in mid sentence.

“Tom Riddle killed his father and grandparents, and look what that led to. I guess anything is possible,” he replied very quietly.

“Alain, what happened to your father,” I asked hesitantly, partly because I did not want to cause Alain and undue pain, but mostly because I was afraid of what the answer might be.

“The giants threw him in the pit with starving wolves…they made us all watch…dad…he…was killed…the wolves ate…”

The pain and anguish Alain was feeling just from the memories of his father’s savagely brutal murder was so intense, that I was suddenly taken aback by it. Unable to speak, he looked up at me. His blue eyes were so filled with sorrow that before I realized what I was doing, I stepped up to him and wrapped my arms around his shaking body. When Alain laid his head against my chest, I glanced at Harry in hopes of drawing from his strength. Harry did not disappoint me, he placed the palm of his hand tenderly on my cheek and mouthed a silent ‘I love you.’ For the hundredth time, I marveled at just how much I loved him and how fortunate I was to have his love in return. I mouthed a silent ‘I love you’ in return and kissed the palm of his hand.

I held Alain to me for several minutes. When he finally regained his composure, he stepped back from me and smiled so pitifully that I just wanted to throw my arms around Harry’s neck and cry. At that moment, I heard grandmother talking to Roxanne as they entered the atrium. Alain said ‘thank you,’ quickly walked over to his mum, and placed his arm around her waist.

“Harry, how could anyone survive such an ordeal and not lose their sanity?” I asked. Looking at his face, I realized the he was feeling even worse than I was over what had happened to Alain’s father. For the first time, I truly had a glimpse of the agony that Harry carried around inside of him from the atrocity that took his parent’s lives.

“It’s not easy, Hermione, it’s not easy…”

Wrapping my arms around his neck, I looked into his enchanting green eyes and said, “I love you, Harry Potter.” I kissed him warmly, letting the kiss slowly simmer. After we broke from our kiss, which was passionate, but not demanding of anything further, I laid my head on his shoulder and tried to push from my mind all the unpleasant things that had happened today.

“Hun, we should go and see if Ron and Gretchen are okay,” Harry said after he had gently stroked the back of my head for a few minutes.

“Yes we should. Hopefully we will be able to help them.”

Gretchen

I felt as though I had been suddenly yanked out of a dream in which I was serenely content, to wind up in the bottomless pit of depression and despair. The change was as breathtaking as having a bucket of ice-cold water poured on you, when you were sunbathing on a warm beach. In the blink of an eye, everything that was happening to us, because of the spell Ron and I were under, came crashing down on me. The weight of everything that had happened, or would happen in the future, was unbearable. My inability to nurse Lazarus, along with the sudden realization that I would never know the joys of having my own children had triggered an overwhelming rage within me, the likes of which I had never experienced. Unable to deal with my feelings, I did the only thing I could think of…I ran. I just had to get away from everything and everybody. At that moment, I would have welcomed death with open arms.

Everything that happened for the next couple of minutes was a shadowy blur. The first thing I remembered clearly was leaning against the wall, next to a door that led outside, with my face buried in my hands. Tears were running down my cheeks, but they were hot, angry tears born of frustration, not soft tears of sorrow or despair. When I felt a hand touch my shoulder, I nearly jumped out of my skin. I whirled around, ready to take out my rage on whoever had just touched me, only to find that it was Ron. For a second or two, he looked at me with the tenderest, pleading, and loving eyes I had ever seen. He looked as though his heart had been shattered into a million pieces. The look on his face quickly quelled the intense fires of rage burning within me. Realizing that I did not have to face an unbearable future alone, I threw my arms around Ron’s waist and pressed the side of my face against his chest, as his arms encircled me in a protective embrace.

“Oh Ron, what are we going to do?” I cried, agony having replaced the burning rage. “If the spell that binds us to this island cannot be broken, I will not want to go on living. I can’t even begin to imagine what it would be like for the two of us to live alone here for even a single year, let alone imagine what it would be like to live here forever.” The sound of Ron’s heart beating rhythmically in my ear was starting to relax me. That and the feeling that his arms had pulled me inside his body for protection and comfort were starting to repair my shattered nerves.

“Gretchen, we have several days before we have to decide whether to live here alone, or leave with the others and die that same day,” Ron replied, gently stroking the back of my head as I clung tightly to him. “Right now, I would choose to leave, even knowing that we would die. If we stayed here, we would not be truly alive. We would be little more than shadows of ourselves, ghosts that still have bodies made of flesh and blood. As much as I love you, which is more than life itself, I would not want to spend eternity trapped on this island, for I am quite certain that we would both go mad within a very short period of time.”

“These next few days are going to be the longest days of my life. Just sitting here while everyone else tries to figure out how to break the spell is going to drive me crazy. I have got to find something to occupy my mind.”

“I agree, Gretchen. The big question is what can we do to keep from going crazy? We are not going to be of much help in figuring out how to break the spell. If Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall cannot come up with some means of breaking it, there is little we will be able to do.”

“Ron, did you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

“That sound. It almost sounds like bells. Listen carefully,” I replied, now tuned into the rhythmic chiming of a single bell.

“Yes, now I can hear it,” Ron replied, standing very still, barely breathing.

“Where do you suppose it is coming from? It is so faint that I can’t figure out where the sound is coming from.”

“I think we may be ‘hearing’ the sound in our heads, rather than with our ears,” he replied after listening intently for a few more seconds.

“No, it is actually coming from somewhere. I can feel it as well as hear it.” On a hunch, I placed my ear to the wall. The sound was definitely louder and more distinct.

“Listen with your ear pressed to the wall,” I told him.

“You’re right, Gretchen. The sound is much clearer in the wall. Wait…” Ron knelt down and placed his ear to the floor. “Bloody hell…the sound is definitely coming from somewhere beneath the floor. I think there must be some type of chamber directly beneath us.”

I suddenly realized that I was staring at the image of the dragon embedded in the palm of my hand. There had to be some purpose for it being there, but what was it? “Ron, I think this image is some kind of key that opens or unlocks something,” I said, showing him the palm of my hand.

“You might be right. Maybe it will open a hidden door or passageway that leads to some other part of the house,” he replied, starting to examine the wall of the hallway very methodically.

I started examining the other wall, looking for anything unusual. I was running my hands over the smooth surface of the walls, tying to feel for tiny cracks implying a hidden doorway, when I felt an odd shaped indentation in the shadow directly below one of the torch brackets. “Ron, check this…” I stopped in mid sentence as a section of the wall directly in front of me slid silently back to reveal a dimly lit staircase leading downward.

“Wicked,” Ron exclaimed when he came over to see what I had discovered.

I showed him where the indentation I found was located. “I think we should see where these stairs lead to,” I said, peering into the opening.

“I agree, Gretchen. We may be able to find something that will help us break free from the spell. We really don’t have anything to lose. The worst that can happen is that we die sooner rather than later,” he replied, smiling casually.

“That’s very reassuring,” I replied, giving him a gentle elbow in the ribs. I drew my wand and stepped through the opening, with Ron right beside me. Both the walls and floor were caked with a thick gray powder that clung to our feet. The air had a strange, unidentifiable smell to it. Ron took a hold of my free hand and started down the stairs. As soon as I stepped down the first stair, the opening in the wall to the hallway closed silently behind us.

The torch-lit staircase continually curved to the right as we descended the stairs in unnerving silence, the only sound I heard was our breathing. Ninety-nine steps from the top, we emerged into large, circular, torch-lit room that was easily a hundred feet from side to side. Located approximately twenty-five feet from the outer wall was a ring of thick stone columns spaced every thirty feet or so. Each column extended from the floor to the pitch-black ceiling.

An endless succession of doors stood along the outer wall. Opening the first door, I found four, full-length, black robes hanging on hooks. Two dragons, like the ones embedded in the palms of our hands, were embroidered on the front of each robe. The robes felt as if they were made from a silk-like material. Amazingly, they were clean and free of the gray dust that covered the floor and walls.

In the very center of the room, on a raised platform surrounded by a narrow mote of water, stood an immense sculpture of three dragons, whose heads almost touched the ceiling, a good twenty feet above our heads. In the direct center of the platform were six clear tubes, about a foot in diameter, running from the pedestal up to the ceiling. Water was flowing upward in three of the tubes and downward in the other three. Obviously, this was the source and drain for the fountain on the main floor of the house.

The dragons were standing on all four feet, their wings folded tightly against their bodies and their long tails encircling their feet. One of the dragons was facing directly towards us, while the other two faced away, dividing the room in thirds. The sculptures were incredibly detailed. Even from the edge of the room, I could make out most of the details on the dragon’s head. Its blood red eyes were the size of bludgers and they seemed to be looking right at me.

“This room is enormous,” I finally stammered, awed by the sheer immensity of the underground room. “It must be as large as all the rooms on the main floor of the house.” My voice sounded like it had been amplified a hundred times louder than normal as it echoed off the walls of stone.

“It sure looks that way,” Ron replied, looking just as impressed as I felt. “In fact, I would bet that the stone columns are placed so that they support the wall that divides the atrium from the other rooms on the floor directly above us. It must have taken a great many years to build this place.”

“What do you think this room was used for?” I asked, as we walked slowly along the outer wall.

“Some kind of meeting room most likely,” Ron answered. “Maybe this is where the cult members met…possibly to worship the dragons.”

“You don’t think they held ritual sacrifices in this room, do you?” I asked nervously, suddenly remembering the odd smell I had noticed when we were at the top of the stairs.

“Well, if they did sacrifice young virgins to the dragons, you don’t have anything to worry about any more,” Ron replied, grinning at me wolfishly.

“Very funny, just wait and see how long it will be before I let you back into my bed,” I replied, trying to sound angry.

“I imagine that will be sometime later on tonight,” Ron replied and leaned over and kissed me, which I heartily returned.

“Ron, we have only been married one day. How can you know me so well in such a short time?” I asked with my arms still wrapped around his neck.

“Dear, I imagine I would really have to make you angry for you to want to sleep alone. Since the first night we slept side by side, you have always slept as close to me as possible—not that I am complaining, mind you. So you see, I don’t really know everything about you, but I hope to spend many wonderful years learning all about you.”

“Oh, Ron, now you have gone and made me cry,” I sniffed, a couple of tears escaping from my eyes and running down my cheeks. “I wish it was bed time right now.”

“Same here, but we will just have to wait. Right now we need to learn everything we can about this house.”

We continued walking along the outside wall of the room. One third of the way around the room, we came to the entrance of another stairway that led upwards. Presumably, the stairway opened into one of the hallways on the main floor. Continuing on, we encountered a wall that jutted out into the room about half way to the stone columns. Turning a corner, the wall continued another fifty feet and then turned again to join up with the outer wall of the chamber, thereby making the room about fifteen by fifty feet.

“What do you suppose is behind this wall?” I asked, wondering if it had a hidden door just like the one at the top of the staircase.

“My guess is that the passageway Harry, Alec and I used to go down to the dungeons at water level is behind these walls,” Ron replied, shivering noticeably.

“I’ll bet there is an opening controlled by the images embedded in our hands, just like the one in the hallway.”

“You are probably right, Gretchen. I would imagine that there must be some direct means of getting to the dungeons without having to go through the pantry.”

“We should try and find the indentation that controls the opening.”

“No way, I do not ever want to go down that passageway again,” replied Ron adamantly.

“I wasn’t thinking of going down, just up,” I replied. “We might need to get out of here in a hurry and this could be our quickest way out.”

“That’s true, the more escape routes the better. Good thinking, Dear.”

Figuring that the indentation was under one of the torch brackets we started by checking the brackets on the side of the wall we were already facing. Sure enough, Ron’s hand activated the lock and part of the wall slid silently out of the way. Ron cautiously poked his head through the opening, while I held my breath.

“I was right, Gretchen. This passageway leads from the pantry to the dungeons. I can smell the dungeons from here.”

“Okay, at least we now have another way out of here if need be,” I replied, once Ron had pulled his head out of the opening and closed it. “Let’s finish our tour around the outer edge of the chamber and then we can go and get a closer look at the dragon sculptures.

Alec

For several minutes after dad left with Sirius to search for Madelyn, I felt angry for not being allowed to help. I knew that I did not have anywhere near the experience they had, but I did have something neither of them had. The wolf that I could turn into had senses that far surpassed anything the human senses could detect. Dad’s owl form would not be of much help because owls could not see well in the daylight. Sirius’ dog form would have trouble with the narrow trails that crisscrossed the steep walls of the island. I could help, but to dad I was still just a kid. If he had seen me take on Saccarus single handedly, maybe he would not think like that any more. More than likely, he would just scold me for being foolhardy, which in hindsight I really was. I had been very lucky to come out of that encounter alive and all in one piece.

When I saw Harry and Hermione start towards the hallway Ron and Gretchen had ran into fifteen minutes ago, I quickly caught up with them and asked if I could go with them.

“Certainly, Alec, I’m sure Ron and Gretchen could use another friendly face,” Harry replied.

When we reached the hallway, Ron and Gretchen were nowhere in sight. “Did you see them come out of the hallway while Hermione and I were talking to Claude and Alain?” Harry asked me, glancing around the atrium.

“No I didn’t, Harry. No one entered or left this hallway during that time. From where I was standing, I had an unobstructed view of the entrance. I am sure I would have seen Ron and Gretchen if they had come back into the atrium.”

“They must have gone outside,” Hermione suggested. “It’s the only possible explanation for why they are not still in the hallway.”

“I guess we had better go and look for them. Wandering around outside, even inside the shield, might not be such a good idea,” Harry added.

When we reached the door, it was locked and we were unable to open it. “This doesn’t make any sense,” Harry said, after we looked at each other for a couple of seconds. “They must have just vanished into thin air.”

“Harry, I seriously doubt if Ron and Gretchen have learned to apparate,” Hermione replied, looking quite skeptical about Harry’s explanation for Ron and Gretchen’s disappearance. “They may have acquired some special knowledge about this house from the spell they are under. If so, they may know of hidden passageways or chambers that we have yet to discover.”

“If that is true, then how will we ever be able to find them?” Harry asked, looking decidedly frustrated.

“I think we must inform Professor Dumbledore about their disappearance,” Hermione replied. I could tell from the look on her face that she had made up her mind on what to do next. From the look on Harry’s face, he had not come to the same conclusion yet. I watched the two of them, wondering if Harry would give in to Hermione or follow his own instincts. I had witnessed several clashes of wills between mom and dad. Sure enough, just like dad, Harry gave in and we went to find Professor Dumbledore. There had to be some reason men put up with women…for the life of me I could not see what that reason was. In my opinion, Gawain lived the perfect lifestyle. He answered to no one, and came and went as he pleased. I decided at that exact moment to live my life as he had done.

Returning to the atrium, we found Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall talking with the people dad and Sirius had brought with them. While we waited patiently for a chance to inform the professors about Ron and Gretchen’s disappearance, I used the time to look over our new guests.

One of the women, I think her name was Roxanne, seemed almost normal. She talked freely, but there was something quite sad about her. Her daughter was very pretty and I caught her looking at me several times. She had jet-black hair and dark brown eyes under thin eyebrows. Her face was round and her nose turned up just slightly. The older boy, Claude, never once looked at anybody or spoke a single word. The other woman and her two children just sat and listened, nodding their heads occasionally when Roxanne referred to them.

After several minutes had passed, Professor Dumbledore looked up at us and asked if there was a problem.

“Yes Professor,” Hermione jumped in quickly, “Ron and Gretchen are not in the hallway. The outer door is locked and they did not return to the atrium. In short, we have no idea where they are right now.”

“You mean they just vanished into thin air?” Professor Dumbledore asked, seemingly astonished by Hermione’s statement. Harry was doing everything he could to keep a straight face. Hermione looked as if she did not know whether to spit or cry. If it had not been for the warning glance Harry had flashed me, I would have burst out laughing.

“Professor, we have no idea as to their present whereabouts or how they left the hallway without being seen,” Hermione replied firmly.

“I am quite certain that Ron and Gretchen have not gone very far,” Professor Dumbledore replied soothingly. “Perhaps they wish to be alone for a while, or they are simply exploring. They will turn up before the evening meal. I have never known Ron to miss a meal.”

“Well, if you say so Professor,” Hermione replied, sounding anything but convinced. “If they did go somewhere to be alone, I for one would like to know how they got past us without being seen.”

“You should ask them that question when they return, I am sure there is a simple explanation as to their whereabouts,” Professor Dumbledore replied and returned his attention to Roxanne and the others, thus ending the discussion as to Ron and Gretchen’s disappearance.

Hermione just glared at Harry and me, she was madder than a wet hen. A couple of times Harry opened his mouth to say something, but decided against it. I just kept my mouth shut, even though I was aching to say ‘See Harry was right after all.’ Finally, unable to admit she was wrong, she just walked away and went into the wizard’s tent, which Harry had setup earlier on the far side of the pool.

“Harry, has she always been this moody?” I asked quietly, so as not to be overheard.

“Yep, she has been like this as long as I have known her.”

“And you still love her, even when she treats you this way?”

“Yes I do, I love her very much.”

“I don’t understand, Harry. How can you love someone when they treat you as if you don’t know what you are talking about?”

“Maybe the old saying ‘love is blind’ has some truth to it. All I know for sure is that I do love her, even when she feels the way she does now. Alec, I don’t think you will really understand until you fall in love yourself.”

“That is not going to happen any time soon… I will tell you that for nothing. I plan on living a bachelor’s life, just as Gawain did.”

“Time will tell, Alec. By the way, Roxanne’s daughter, Nicole, seems quite taken with you,” Harry replied, grinning knowingly at me.

“Yes, she is very pretty…I’m not interested, so quite trying to distract me,” I replied, irritated that I had acknowledged looking at her.

“Okay, Alec, what ever you say.”

“Harry, I have an idea how we can find out where Ron and Gretchen went,” I whispered.

“And what would that be?” Harry asked skeptically.

“Come with me and I will show you. But first you have to promise not to tell anyone what I am about to show you,” I said, looking around to see if anyone was paying attention to us.

“Okay, I promise,” replied Harry, as if he were talking to a two year old.

“Harry, let’s go and check out the hallway one more time,” I said innocently, so that anyone nearby would know where we were going. Harry followed me part way into the hallway where I stopped as soon as we were out of sight. I took the wand I had found in the chest-of-drawers out of my shirt and showed it to Harry.

“How is your wand going to help you find Ron and Gretchen?” he asked, looking at me as if I did not have a clue as to how to use a wand.

“Harry, this is not my wand,” I replied, glancing towards the entrance of the hallway to make sure no one had followed us. “I am certain that this wand once belonged to a member of the cult, maybe even the cult’s leader.”

“Alec, where did you get this wand?” Harry was no longer looking at me as if I was an idiot. I definitely had his attention. “And just what makes you think it belonged to a member of the cult?”

“Harry, I know you think I’m just a kid, but please believe me when I tell you that having used the ancient Slytherin wand for a single day affected me more than you could possibly imagine. Even though the wand is no longer in existence, everything that I learned from it is still in my head. From the moment I first touched this wand, I could feel its power and visualize glimpses of its history…Harry, please do not look at me like that? I am telling you the truth. I will prove it. Rub your finger along the shaft of the wand. I will bet anything you care to name that you will feel its power too.”

“Alec, I…I don’t know if this is such a good idea, and besides, what makes you think I will be able to feel the power in this wand, just as you claim to do?”

“You can talk to snakes, can’t you?”

“What does that have to do with this wand?”

“Gawain told me that he felt you were a very powerful young wizard, possessing many abilities that were normally associated only with Slytherin’s.—Don’t look at me like that—Gawain thought very highly of all the traits you seemed to possess. He said that you were well balanced, which I assumed was a compliment. Unless I am very much mistaken, you will feel the power in this wand, just as I have. Go ahead, touch it.”

Hesitantly, Harry reached out to touch the wand with his index finger. The instant his finger touched the wand he jerked his hand back as if he had received a shock from it.

“Go on, Harry, touch it. It won’t bite you.”

Harry reached out again and this time he rubbed his finger the entire length of the wand. I could tell that he felt the power in the wand too. The wand seemed to take a liking to Harry. I could sense that it seemed to be enjoying Harry’s touch.

“This is incredible,” Harry said, obviously impressed with the sensations the wand was imparting to him. “I can feel the power, just as you said I would. Alec, could I hold this wand for just a minute?”

“Sure, Harry,” I replied, handing him the wand. From the moment he took a hold of the wand, I could tell from the look on his face that he and the wand were communicating with each other.

“Alec, what I don’t understand is why this wand should work for the both of us. On Earth, we are taught that the wand chooses the wizard, not the other way around. But if this wand has chosen you, why would it also choose to respond to me?”

“When Gawain took me to the wand maker’s shop, I must have tried dozens of wands before anything happened. The last couple of wands that I tried responded to me, nothing like the ancient Slytherin wand did, but still they responded. I suspect that a wand can sense our abilities and personality. When a wand finds someone, that matches its abilities and personality, a bond is formed that allows the two of them to work together. You and I must have more that a little in common or this wand would not work for the both of us.”

“I see why you think this wand used to belong to a member of the cult, now that I am holding it. If I close my eyes and clear my mind, I feel as if I am in the middle of a group of people wearing robes like the ones you found in the chest-of-drawers. I can almost hear them chanting in some language that sounds a little like parseltongue.”

“Yeah, kind of weird isn’t it, but exciting never the less.”

“Alec, I think you may be right about this wand helping us find Ron and Gretchen. I get the feeling that it has the ability to control much of this house.”

When Harry handed the wand back to me, I was suddenly struck with an idea. “Harry, do you know if it is possible for two wands to communicate with each other?”

“What do you mean by, communicate?”

“Can one wand transfer what it knows to another wand?” I asked, checking the entrance of the hallway again.

“I’m not sure if a wand can do that, but I do know that a wand can make another wand show the spells it has cast. Why, what do you have in mind?”

“I was just thinking that maybe this wand could transfer some of its knowledge to our wands, that way we would have the best of both in one.”

“That may not be such a good idea, Alec. What if the wands don’t like each other, then what?”

“I don’t think that will happen, because this wand likes us just as our own wands do. Let me go first. If nothing bad happens then you can decide whether you want to join your wand with this one.”

I took out the wand Gawain had given me and touched the two tips together. There was a sharp snap and Harry and I both jumped. I did not feel anything so I separated the two wands and handed the cult wand to Harry.

“Harry, it worked, it really worked,” I said jubilantly. “I get the same feelings from my wand as I did from the one you are holding. Everything appears to be normal as far as I can tell…Wait; I have an idea how to see if my wand has gained any abilities. Let’s see if I can unlock the door to the outside with my wand.”

I walked down to the door to the outside and touched the tip of my wand to the plate where I had seen Gawain and Sirius press Gawain’s ring. Sure enough, the door popped open. I pushed the door shut and after making sure it was locked, I had Harry try the wand that I had found in Gawain’s room. Same results, the door opened quietly.

“Harry, try it with your wand,” I said, feeling sure of the outcome. Sure enough, the door did not open for his wand. “I guess that proves it. At least some of the abilities from this wand have been transferred to my wand. Do you want to give it a try?”

From behind us came the voice of Hermione asking, “Give what a try?” Harry and I both jumped, startled by her unexpected presence.

“I have just finished transferring some of the knowledge and power contained in this wand—that I am quite sure was once owned by a member of the cult—to my wand. Harry was just about to the same,” I replied after Harry did not answer her question.

“Harry, no way, you cannot do not do this. You have no idea what may happen to you. It is stupid to put yourself at risk when we already have more trouble that we can handle at the moment.”

“I was not considering joining wands just for a lark, Hermione. I think…no, I feel that this ancient wand will help us find Ron and Gretchen. It might also be useful in breaking the spell they are under.”

“How can you think, feel or know anything about what this wand is capable of. For all you know, it could place you under the same spell, or worse. I want to find Ron and Gretchen just as much as you do, but exposing yourself to the unknown powers contained in that wand is not the best way to go about finding them.”

“Okay, what do you have in mind? I am willing to try it your way first,” Harry said firmly. For several seconds we both just stared at her, waiting for her to tell us of a safer, better way to find Ron and Gretchen.

“I am ready to try things your way,” Harry repeated.

“I…need more time to think this through,” Hermione finally answered after several more ‘painfully quiet’ seconds went by.

“Hermione, the time for thinking is over. We need to find out what has happened to Ron and Gretchen as quickly as possible. If joining my wand with this ancient wand will help us find them, then I am willing to risk it. After all, Alec has already joined his wand with it and nothing bad has happened to him.” Harry slowly touched the tip of his wand to the ancient wand. Just as before, there was a small snap when the wands touched.

“What a bunch of…” Hermione snapped, turned around and started back towards the atrium.

Harry’s face, which had lit up when he touched the wands together, suddenly looked grief stricken. “She will get over it, Harry. Just as soon as we find Ron and Gretchen, everything will be fine. Trust me.”

“Since when did you become such an expert on women?” Harry asked, sounding very grumpy and looking just like he sounded.

“You’re right, Harry. I do not know anything about women. Let us go and find Ron and Gretchen. That will give you something besides Hermione to think about.”

“Harry, I am sorry for losing my temper and getting angry with you,” Hermione said meekly, having snuck up on us for a second time.

“Hermione you need to wear a bell,” I replied, after I had swallowed my stomach.

“So bell me,” she replied and transfigured into a cougar. I was so startled that I fell over backwards, landing on my butt. I started backpedaling until my back was against the wall. She brought her face to within inches of mine and snarled just enough so that her fangs glistened in the late afternoon light. Instantly she changed back to her human form, quickly kissed my cheek and started laughing.

“Alec, I would have given almost anything to have a picture of the look on your face,” she said, once she stopped laughing. “What’s wrong…cat got your tongue,” she added and started laughing all over again.

“It wasn’t that funny,” I finally replied, once my heart stopped racing.

“I thought it was. What about you, Harry?” she asked, looking up at him.

“Yeah, I thought it was funny too,” he replied, helping her up from the floor. As soon as Hermione was standing, she wrapped her arms around Harry’s neck and kissed him.

“Harry, I am sorry that I got angry with you,” she said, her arms still around his neck. “I was just scared that something awful would happen and you would be hurt. I should know by now to trust your instincts. It’s just that I am not as brave as you are.”

“I am not mad at you,” Harry replied, smiling warmly. “I know that you like to follow the rules and play it safe. I have gotten us into trouble before, so I guess you have every right to get upset if you think I am about to do something stupid.”

“Am I forgiven?”

“Nothing to forgive,” Harry replied and kissed her.

“Are you two going to finish any time soon?” I asked when the kiss seemed as if it were going to last until morning.

“Okay, now that your wand is charged, how do we go about finding Ron and Gretchen?” Hermione asked Harry, when at last they stopped kissing.

Harry just stared at Hermione with a strange look on his face and then he suddenly answered her. “My guess is that there is a hidden door in one of the walls. We just need to find it.”

“Hermione, it might be worthwhile to see if you are compatible with the wand I found,” I said quickly. “If so, then you could use it to help in the search.”

A look of panic quickly flashed across her face. “Alec, I’m not sure I am ready for that just yet.”

“Hermione, try it,” Harry coaxed. “You will never be any more ready that you are right now. Either the wand will respond to you or it won’t.”

Harry held out the wand for Hermione to take. Her hand was shaking so hard that I did not think she would be able to hold the wand without dropping it. As her fingers encircled the hilt, the wand jumped into her hand and her fingers snapped around it. Instantly her hair started billowing out from her head, the crackling of static electricity clearly audible.

“Bloody ghosts,” Hermione exclaimed as she stared in utter amazement at the wand she was holding. “I have never felt such power. With this wand, I am invincible. You know what; I think this wand belonged to a female member of the cult. I can’t explain it, but I definitely feel in touch with this wand.”

“Wow, you and that wand are really compatible,” Harry said, clearly astonished over the reaction Hermione had received from the wand. “Neither Alec or I got anywhere near that strong a reaction.”

“That wand seems to have taken an instant liking to you,” I added, hoping we had not created a monster. I had never seen Hermione this aggressive before.

“I am going to join this wand with my own wand, just as you two did,” she replied, and before Harry or I could comment, she took out her hand and touched the two tips together. The snapping sound the wands made when touched together was not any louder for Hermione than it had been for Harry or me. I hoped the extra power Hermione was able to derive from the wand would not change her personality. I was not sure how Harry would like it if Hermione suddenly became very aggressive and domineering. He seemed to have all he could do to cope with her the way she was before she was exposed to the ancient cult wand.

“Hermione, is everything okay?” Harry asked, as she turned her wand in her hand, as if she were testing it.

“Everything is fine, Harry. Alec, I won’t need this wand now that its powers have been transferred to my wand,” she said, and handed me back the ancient wand. “Okay, where do we start?”

Walt

Albus called after us and we waited for him at the entrance to the hallway. He instructed us as to how to make and opening in the shield and unlocked the door to the outside. I still had Marcus’ ring, so we could get back inside without anyone’s help. Once outside, we quickly passed through the shield.

“Sirius, how do you want to go about this?” I asked.

“I am going to transfigure into Padfoot,” he replied. “I can cover more ground and my sense of smell will alert me if Madelyn is close by.”

“I will change into my owl form. With the sun about to set, I will be able to see reasonably well on the east side of the island. We should start our search there.”

Having come out the south door of the house, we turned and headed directly east after transfiguring into our animagus forms. As soon as we reached the edge of the plateau, Sirius began racing along the edge, his nose to the ground trying to pick up any trace of Madelyn’s scent. I flew out over the edge of the plateau and immediately realized that I was not adept at flying in air that was this turbulent. At night, which is when I flew most often, the air was relatively calm.

I dropped down about half way between the top of the plateau and the water. Staying about fifty feet from the cliff wall, I started scanning for any sign of Madelyn. For the next fifteen minutes I continued working my way south. I had considered starting my search to the north, but just decided to try south first. Just as I was nearing the southern tip of the island, I spotted what looked like a human figure lying on a rock, their legs just out of the water.

I spilled air from beneath my wings and dove as quickly as I dared in the treacherous wind currents. It did not take long to determine that the human figure was indeed Madelyn. I swooped to a landing beside her and quickly changed back into my human form. She was still breathing, but unconscious. I tried to revive her, but all she did was moan. At least she was aware that someone was moving her. I picked her up, looking around for some place to keep her sheltered while I went for Sirius. About twenty yards off to my right was a small inlet recessed in the cliff wall. Next to the opening was a large, flat, dry rock that looked like the best place to leave her. Getting there turned out to be trickier than expected. The rocks were slippery from the spray kicked up by the waves breaking against the shore.

Five minutes later, I laid Madelyn down on the flat rock with only a sore ankle to show for my journey across the slippery rocks. I made her as comfortable as possible, transfigured back to owl and took to the air.

I quickly located Sirius, in human form, two hundred yards to the north. Swooping into a landing beside him on a very narrow ledge, I changed back into my human form.

“I found Madelyn. She is alive but unconscious,” I said, feeling extremely exposed on a narrow ledge one hundred feet above the water. “This ledge doesn’t seem to lead anywhere,” I added, looking in both directions, wondering how Sirius managed to get here in the first place.

“Yeah, I know,” he replied, looking quite irritated.

“The only way down from here is to levitate, unless of course you would rather jump.” Sirius gave a short laugh and leapt as far out from the cliff as his legs would propel him. In shock, I watched him plummet towards the rocks below. Sirius’ guardian angel must have been perched on his shoulder because he landed in deep water just twenty feet from the shore. I transfigured back into owl form and flew down to land on a rock just as he crawled out of the sea.

“What the hell did you do that for?” I asked, still shaken by his death-defying leap.

“It was my only choice. I have never been any good at levitating myself,” he replied, shaking as much from the cold seawater as the stunt he had just pulled.

“Well, you sure scared the crap out of me. Try and warn me before you go and do something like that again, okay partner?”

“Sure, Walt. Which way to Madelyn?”

“Madelyn is a couple a hundred yards to the south. Traveling will be a lot easier and safer if you transfigure back to Padfoot, these rocks are extremely treacherous.”

After he transfigured into Padfoot and bounded off at break-neck speed, I changed back to owl form and took off. I reached Madelyn before he was half way here. She was staring to stir, for which I was very thankful. I was not sure just how Sirius would react if Madelyn were still unconscious when he got here.

“Madelyn, can you hear me?” I said, placing my hand on her shoulder to keep her from moving too suddenly. “It’s me, Walt. Sirius will be here in a couple of minutes.”

“What?” she replied, her eyelids fluttering as she regained consciousness. “Where am I…Who am I…I feel like shit.”

“Well at least you don’t look like shit,” I replied, chuckling as she wrinkled up her nose.

“Please don’t make me laugh. I feel bad enough already.”

“Madelyn, are you alright?” Sirius exclaimed as he bounded up next to us and changed back into human form.

“I’ll live…maybe,” she replied, trying to sit up. Sirius and I, one on each side, helped her to sit up.

“What happened to you?” Sirius asked, after she had taken several deep breaths.

Madelyn was just about to answer when she snapped her head back and forth between us. “Oh my lord, you’re back,” she cried out, obviously shocked to see us.

“Yes, we are back safe and sound,” replied Sirius gently. “Now tell us, what the devil happened to you?”

“I was just about to return to the house to tell Albus that I had spotted a dragon on this side of the island when it suddenly vanished. The next thing I knew, a fireball was shooting straight for me. Luckily, I was far enough away not to be incinerated. My falcon form was very badly burned and I fell into the sea. That’s the last thing I remember.”

“Where did you see the dragon?” I asked, suddenly feeling as if we were being watched.

“I don’t exactly remember…It was on a ledge about fifty feet above the water, somewhere to the south of us…I think.”

“Madelyn, could you be a little more specific?” Sirius asked, glancing at the steep cliff wall rising far above our heads.

“No I can’t. I was a trifle busy trying to slow my descent into the sea to mark the exact location of where I saw the dragon,” Madelyn replied irritably.

“I’m sorry, Madelyn. I didn’t mean to criticize you,” Sirius replied humbly. “I am just glad you are alive.”

“That makes two of us,” she replied, grinning at him. Madelyn leaned her head against his chest and closed her eyes.

I knew she was hurting a lot more than she let on. Being caught in a fireball in bird form had to have hurt like hell. The bit of news about the dragon vanishing before her eyes really had me worried. Was it some form of camouflage or worse yet, the ability to apparate? Either way, this development could be big trouble for all of us on the island.

“Sirius, I think we should get out of here as quickly as possible,” I said, knowing that Madelyn did not want to move, but we were sitting ducks out here in the open.

“I agree. The question is, how?” he answered softly as he continued to cradle Madelyn in his arms. “Neither Madelyn or I can fly. Levitation is out of the question, and so is scaling the cliff wall by hand, that leaves only apparation. I am not sure Madelyn can focus enough right now to apparate. We need to wait for her to recover from the shock of nearly being burned to death.”

“Wait here, while I check out the entrance to the tunnel,” I said, standing up and carefully made my way across the slippery rocks to a medium sized opening in the cliff wall a few feet above sea level. The opening was about ten feet wide by eight feet tall at the center. The floor of the opening was completely covered with dark, murky water. How deep it was, was anybody’s guess. I lit my wand for illumination, trying to see further into the opening. As far as I could see, which was not all that far into the pitch-black tunnel was just more of the same, dark, rough rock walls and a water covered floor. There was not any sign of a path or ledge that we could use to walk on. Wading through the water did not appeal to me in the least. Even if the water were not deep, walking through it would be treacherous.

On the far side of the opening, I spotted what looked like a narrow crevasse in the cliff wall. “Sirius, sit tight for a few more minutes. There is an opening on the far side of the tunnel that I want to check out.”

“Okay, Walt. Madelyn has fallen asleep anyway. She must have had one hell of a terrifying experience.”

I walked around the natural pool in front of the tunnel to get a better look at the narrow opening I had noticed. As soon as I reached the entrance to the opening, I let out a long, soft whistle. “Sirius, if this opening is not man-made, I will eat my wand.” The opening was two feet wide and seven feet tall. The rock sides and floor were smooth, as if they had been cut with some kind of instrument. I relit my wand and ventured some twenty feet into the opening. The floor and sides were damp, which lead me to believe that water must get in here on a regular basis—the tide, I had completely forgotten about the tides. I quickly retreated to the entrance and checked the surrounding rocks on the face of the cliff. Sure enough, a high water mark was visible just above the opening.

I went back over to where Sirius was sitting with Madelyn. I explained what I had discovered. I also explained the reason I was reluctant to enter the fabricated passageway. If we were trapped in there when the tide rose, it might be our doom.

“The passageway must lead somewhere, otherwise why would anyone have built it,” Sirius replied, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “If nothing else, it sounds as if the passageway will afford us some protection should any dragons show up.”

“That’s true. How long do you think it will be before Madelyn can apparate?” I asked. I thought I saw a movement off to our right, maybe fifty feet down the shore. When I gazed in that direction for several seconds I did not see anything but rock. The hair on the back of my neck was bristling. Something or someone was definitely watching us.

“Sirius, we need to move now!” I said quietly but forcefully. Evidently, he had felt some presence other than our own, as he was looking in the same direction I had been looking. I helped him get to his feet so that he could carry Madelyn, who was dead to the world. I had Sirius lead the way so I could cover our rear as we worked our way slowly around the pool.

Just after Sirius entered the passageway and as I was backing into its opening, I saw the rock wall begin to shimmer next to where we had been sitting. The shimmering coalesced into the unmistakable form of a dragon, which was quickly joined by a second dragon.

“Dragons,” I yelped to warn Sirius.

“Where?” he shouted, his voice coming from further inside the passageway.

“Outside, on the rocks, there are two of them.”

“Do you think they can get into this passageway?”

“No, Sirius, they are much too wide to fit into the opening. But keep going, maybe we will come to a room or chamber we can sit down in.”

The illumination from our wands made it easy to see where we were going and what was behind us. “Sirius, is it me or are we going up hill?”

“No, we are definitely going up hill. Don’t tell Madelyn, but she weighs a lot more than I would have guessed.”

“Don’t worry, I would never mention anything like that to her, or Martha for that matter.”

For then next several minutes, we continued penetrating deeper and deeper into the island. Finally, the passageway ended in a junction that split into three other passageways. The room was about ten feet square and eight feet high. I immediately etched ‘water’ into the rock-wall beside the passageway from which we had just emerged. If we ever lost our bearings, we might never find our way out of these catacombs.

I helped Sirius lower Madelyn to the floor and he sat down beside her, their backs to the wall. “We must be high enough that water never reaches this room,” I said, running my hands over the smooth walls that were covered with a layer of dust. “Sirius, maybe I should go and get some help. Will you and Madelyn be okay?”

“We will be fine,” he replied, adjusting Madelyn’s head so that it was supported on his shoulder. “Albus will be able to fly the both of us out of here.”

“How will he be able to do that?”

“I probably never mentioned it, but one of Albus’s animagus forms is a Hippogriff. I used to ride one particular Hippogriff, named Buckbeak, quite a lot three years ago. They are amazingly strong. I’m sure Albus will not have any difficulty flying Madelyn and me back up to the house.”

“Yep, that should do the trick alright. I have never ridden one, but I have heard of others that have. I will be back just a quickly as I can. The two of you hang in there, okay?”

“Okay, Walt,” he replied, gently kissing the top of Madelyn’s head.

I headed back down the passageway leading to the sea. The trip back was easier and seemed much shorter. I knew that I should be getting close to the entrance, but I could not see any light up ahead. Then it hit me, something was blocking the entrance to the passageway. Sure enough, I saw the scaly hide of a dragon covering all but a small crack in the passageway’s opening. Unless I wanted to be roasted as Madelyn had been, flying out of here was out of the question. I concentrated on the spot outside the house where were had arrived by Portkey earlier and tried to apparate there.

Nothing happened. I tried again with the same results. It was obvious that a spell was in place to prevent apparating. Unable to apparate or get past the dragon blocking the entrance, I turned around and headed back to where Sirius and Madelyn were sitting. Thankfully, Madelyn did not seem to have any serious internal injuries. If she had, I do not know what we would have done. We were trapped for as long as the dragons blocked the entrance to the passageway.

“What is wrong?” Sirius asked when I reached the junction, obviously not expecting to see me return so quickly.

“Two things, actually,” I replied, sitting down opposite him and Madelyn. “There is a spell covering this island that prevents apparating and one of the dragons is sitting with its side blocking the entrance to the passageway. In short, we are trapped here…unless; one of these other passageways leads to another opening in the cliff wall.”

“We could follow these passageways for days and never find an opening,” Sirius replied, sighing heavily. “I don’t know about you, but I think we should stay here for a while and see if the dragons leave the entrance of the passageway that we came through.”

“I agree, we should wait at least until Madelyn can walk.”

For several minutes, neither of us said anything more. I leaned against the hard rock wall and closed my eyes, trying to come up with some other way to get us out of here and back to the house. While I was thinking, Madelyn woke up. She was completely disoriented and tried to jump to her feet, but Sirius held her so she could not get up.

“Madelyn, you’re safe. We are in a chamber somewhere beneath the island. Try and relax,” Sirius said calmly, trying to keep her from panicking. Sirius hugged her to him, gently rubbing her back while resting his cheek on the top of her head.

I could see the tension drain out of her face from the light given off by our wands. “Do either of you happen to have anything to drink?” she asked weakly.

Sirius removed the backpack he was carrying and handed her a bottle of water. After a few sips she started to look a little better. “I don’t suppose you have anything to eat in there,” she asked, pointing to the backpack.

“Sure, what’s your pleasure, dried beef or dried fruitcake?”

“I’ll eat anything just about now. Make it the dried beef.”

After Madelyn woofed down the beef stick, followed by some more water, she leaned back against Sirius. “I don’t believe I have thanked you two gentlemen for coming to my rescue,” she said and kissed Sirius affectionately on his cheek. “I was just wondering, do either of you two noble gentlemen have a plan for getting us out of here?”

“Not at the moment,” Sirius replied, “but we are working on one.”

“I assume that means there is no way out of here,” Madelyn replied, smiling good-naturedly.

“Actually, there are three possible ways out of here; the only one that we can’t use right now, is the one that got us here. A rather large dragon is blocking the exit,” I answered, nodding at blocked passageway.

“Oh damn, I just remembered. I think these bloody dragons can apparate,” she said, quickly sitting up.

“What makes you say that, Madelyn?” I asked, wondering if we had even more troubles.

“Shortly after I spotted a dragon it disappeared. One second it was there, the next it was gone, vanished, as in apparated.” She was considerably more animated in describing the dragon than was normal for her.

“Actually, Madelyn, I think these dragons have chameleon like qualities, where they can change their looks to blend in with their surroundings. Just as we entered the passageway that led us here, I saw a dragon materialize from against the rock wall of the cliff. It did not just appear, as it would have if it had apparated. I actually saw it change from rock to dragon.”

“There is something very strange about these dragons,” Sirius said, looking at the both of us, his eyebrows narrowed. “They look a lot more like overgrown alligators with stubby wings. Maybe they aren’t real dragons at all, but some kind of mutant, left over from the cult’s attempts to create dragons they could control.”

“That is a distinct possibility,” I replied, thinking that the dragon had looked a little strange. “If they are mutants, they may posses many more abilities that we are as of yet unaware.”

“Well, let’s just hope that none of those unknown abilities bites us in the ass,” Madelyn added, sounding more like her normal self.

“You sure got that right,” Sirius replied. “We have had enough trouble for one day, and the day isn’t even over yet.”

“Speaking if trouble, I wonder how Roxanne, Lucida and their kids are getting along?” I said, suddenly remembering our new guests.

“And just who are Roxanne and Lucida?” Madelyn asked immediately, looking back and forth between the two of us.

“Well, I’m waiting,” she added when neither Sirius nor I answered her question quickly enough.

“Madelyn…Honey, we had a spot of trouble after we retrieved Marcus’ ring,” Sirius began in his best ‘not much happened’ voice.

“Don’t you ‘Honey’ me, Sirius Black. Walt, tell me what happened, and don’t try to pretty it up either,” Madelyn said in a tone of voice that strongly suggested she wasn’t going to be placated with a few simple ‘oh, it was nothing’ sentences.

“After we retrieved the ring, we were captured by three rogue giants and taken to where they lived,” I began, deciding that she might as well know everything that happened. Telling her half a story and Martha half a story was a recipe for disaster. “The giants were using any humans they captured as slaves. When they captured us, they had two women and their kids as captives. The giants apparently killed the women’s husbands for sport. It was a very bad situation all the way around, so we brought the women and their kids with us to the island. They were all quite filthy, so just before we came to search for you, we saw to it that they had baths and clean clothes to wear. That about covers it, I think.”

“What are Martha and I going to do with you two?” Madelyn asked, shaking her head disbelievingly. “I’m sure I speak for Martha as well as myself, when I say that, I couldn’t ask for a better man.”

“Thanks, Madelyn. We didn’t do anything that special. After all, we just couldn’t leave them there as slaves. You and Martha would have done the same thing, if you had been in our shoes.”

“Some men would have done just that. You two are special and that’s all there is to it.”

“Martha may not see it the same way you do. She has to cook for six more people, thanks to Sirius and me.”

“I’m sure she is not upset in the least over cooking for a few more people,” Madelyn replied easily. “Besides, once we get back to the house, I will be more than happy to help her in the kitchen.”

“That is going to be a lot easier said than done,” Sirius added gravely. “Speaking of food, we had better go easy on the rations we have. They might have to last us for a while.”

“I don’t know about you two gents, but I am getting tired of just sitting here. Let’s see where one of these other passageways leads to.”

Ron

We continued along the outer wall of the enormous room until we came to the stairway we had descended. Having something to do did help take my mind off the spell. Gretchen seemed visibly cheerier as well. I had been worried that she would have a nervous breakdown from not being able to nurse Lazarus. She could not have loved the twins more, even if they were from her body. She had not said anything about the incident but I knew that she was surely thinking about it. Not having anything that would be truly helpful or comforting to say, I just decided to remain quiet on the subject for now.

“Ron, I am starting to get cold. Do you think it would be okay if we put on one of the robes from the closets?” Gretchen asked.

“Sure, I don’t see why anyone would complain,” I replied. We opened the nearest door and I took out two robes, which we put on. The robes were very lightweight, but I felt warmer almost immediately.

“Ron, do you realize that we have not heard the sound of bells since opening the entrance to the stairway?”

“Oh, that’s true, I had completely forgotten about the bells. Maybe they only ring at certain times of the day.”

“That sounds like a reasonable explanation,” she replied as we started towards the dragons sculpture in the center of the room. When I looked up at the dragon directly in front of us, the color of its eyes changed from dark red to bright red. I instantly stopped dead and clutched Gretchen’s arm so she would stop advancing.

“What is…” she started to say but stopped in mid sentence suddenly noticing what I was looking at. For several seconds we just stood there, starring up at the dragon carved from stone. While we stared at the dragon, it stared right back at us, its eyes moving in their sockets.

“Should we make a run for it?” I asked softly, trying not to arouse the dragon. If its nose worked as well as its eyes, I was sure it would have no trouble smelling the fear that was taking possession of my mind.

“I…don’t…know,” Gretchen replied in barely a whisper, gripping my arm even tighter.

Before I could decide what to do next, the dragon changed from stone into a live, breathing dragon before our eyes. I could not have moved an inch, let alone run from the room. My legs, along with the rest of my body, were paralyzed with fear. The dragon lowered its head to within a few feet of us and just looked us over. I do not know whether I expected to be eaten or roasted and then eaten, but I did not think we had long to live. To my amazement and indescribable relief, the dragon raised its head and looked out over the room.

“It has been many years since anyone from the cult has come for instruction,” the dragon said, in a voice that I only heard inside my head. “We thought all of you were dead.”

“No, we are all that remain of the cult,” I heard Gretchen say in my mind.

“Where have you been all these years?” the dragon asked.

“We have just recently become members of the cult,” I replied, not wanting to be caught in a lie. The consequences could be deadly.

“Are there any other new members?”

“No, we are all there is,” Gretchen replied.

“In that case, we may begin,” said the dragon. It was a good thing that we could communicate telepathically, because my mouth was not working very well.

“Excuse me, my name is Gretchen and this is my husband Ron. Would you please tell us your name and what this is all about,” I heard Gretchen think.

When the dragon did not reply, I thought maybe Gretchen had angered it. After a couple of seconds, the dragon lowered its head to stare us directly in the face. I desperately wanted to throw my arms around Gretchen, presuming that we were going to be killed this time for sure.

“My name is Cetus and beside me are my brother Gemini and my sister Virgo,” the dragon replied, raising its head once more. “Over a thousand years ago we were captured by an evil wizard named Mortius…”

Gretchen suddenly burst out speaking to me with her voice. “The ‘Phoenix Prophecy’ Professor Dumbledore told us about. Ron, you remember. Mortius was the name of the wizard that killed the Seeker’s parents. It must be the same wizard. There could not have been two evil wizards with that unusual name.”

I noticed that Cetus seemed to be staring at Gretchen intently. “Don’t mind her, she just gets a little excited,” I said, directing my thoughts at the dragon, hoping that he was not angered by her sudden outburst.

“Virgo is taken with such spontaneous outbursts of uncontrolled enthusiasm,” Cetus replied dryly. “It is thus with the female of all species. Those that do not accept this universal fact of nature are doomed to a life of misery.”

“I apologize for interrupting,” Gretchen said, with just a small amount of humility in her voice. “When you mentioned Mortius’ name everything just sort of clicked and I couldn’t help from speaking out…Sorry, I will try to contain my outbursts in the future.”

“No need to be sorry,” Cetus replied, a definite trace of amusement in his voice. “You cannot change that which is part of the very core of your being. To try to do so would be utter folly.”

“Now, as to why we are here,” Cetus continued. “Mortius cast a spell on us that binds us to this island for all eternity. If we attempt to leave, we become old and die very quickly. Even though Mortius has left the island, the spell is still active, or at least it was the last time we attempted to leave.”

“The spell is still active,” I said, smiling at Gretchen to try to keep her from becoming depressed. “We fell under the spell after we used a pair of rings from this house as wedding bands. We too started to age very rapidly until we returned to the island a few hours ago. Once we returned we reverted back to our rightful ages.”

“How did you come into possession of these rings?”

“A man named Sirius, who was with us, found the rings in Gawain’s bedroom yesterday. Since we were about to get married and did not have any wedding bands, he thought they would fill in nicely.”

“Nice name ‘Sirius’, but exactly what was he doing in Gawain’s bedroom? Anyway, Gawain would have known better that to let you use those rings. I am surprised at him, he must be getting senile.”

“I am sorry to have to tell you, but Gawain died two days ago. He used up all his life energy protecting us and our friends from an evil wizard named Saccarus,” I replied sadly. “I owe my life to him, or rather his phoenix, Iseult. She saved my life after I was badly injured from a fall. We were all saddened by his death and will miss him.”

“I am very sorry to hear of his death. We talked often; he was very wise and good. We will miss him as well. What has become of Iseult?”

“She is fine. In fact, I think she is here with her brother whose name is Fawkes. Iseult saved Gretchen, a set of twins and me when we were attacked by dragons yesterday after we were…”

“What did these dragons look like?” Cetus asked, cutting me off in mid sentence.

“They did not look anything like you. They looked more like over grown lizards with small wings. I would guess that they were about twenty feet long, from head to tail and weighed a thousand pounds. They had long snouts filled with very sharp teeth,” I replied, having no problem visualizing the dragons that had attacked us.

“What you have described is called a Drack. They are a mixture of several species, most notably, an alligator and the iguana. They are very vicious and totally unpredictable.”

“Where did these Dracks come from?” Gretchen asked.

“The leaders of the cult created them as part of their effort to create a dragon like creature that they could control. Like so many before them, their creations turned out to be their undoing. The Dracks were completely uncontrollable and started killing members of the cult. Those cult members who were not killed were confined to the house, the Dracks having free run of the island and the islands’ many catacombs. Over the next hundred years the remaining members either died by their own hand or were caught and killed by the Dracks as they tried to escape the island.”

“How long has it been since the last member of the cult died?” I asked, visualizing the horror these people brought upon themselves.

“The last member died eight hundred and fifty six years ago…I think. My memory is not what it once was,” Cetus replied.

“You were not kidding when you said it had been many years since a cult member had come for instruction,” I replied, having a hard time imagining what it would be like to be over a thousand years old.

“Cetus, what do you mean by ‘instruction’?” Gretchen asked, just as I was thinking of asking the same question.

“After the Dracks had killed most of the cult’s members, Mortius fled from the island never to return. Those remaining turned to us for guidance and support. Every evening, just before sunset, the surviving members would gather here and we would talk of anything that interested them. In the beginning most of the talk centered on how to break the spell that bound all of us to the island. As the years slipped by and we realized that the spell could not be broken our discussions centered on the hereafter and what death really meant.”

“How come you three are still alive after all these years?” I asked, wondering how the dragons had managed to keep their sanity after all those years.

“Dragons can hibernate for long periods of time, hundreds of years if need be. When we are in hibernation, our skin looks as if we are made of stone. We are aware of our surroundings and can emerge from hibernation in the blink of an eye if need be. While we are hibernating, time runs together, we cannot tell how long we have been hibernating. We do not suffer the day upon day of unending time that you humans do. In short, a hundred year hibernation is no more than a short nap for us.”

“How long do dragons usually live?” Gretchen asked.

“Dragons that die from old age are about ten thousand years old, give or take a few hundred years. We are the longest lived creatures on this or any of the magical worlds.”

“How old are you, if you don’t mind saying,” I asked, curious as to what such a life would be like.

“No I don’t mind telling you my age. I am two thousand three hundred and sixty six years old.”

“Are there many dragons in the Realm?” Gretchen asked, now completely relaxed.

“At the time of our capture there were less than one hundred dragons living on this world. How many of those are still alive I could not say as we have been out of contact with our brethren living on the Mountain of Fire.”

“No kidding, that is where we are headed, that is once we collect the necessary ingredients so that we can petition the dragons living there to perform the ‘Rite of Fusing’ so we can be protected by the ‘Impervious’ charm. Are you familiar with this charm?” I asked, hoping that Cetus could tell us what to expect if we were able to reach the mountain.

“Of course I am familiar with that charm. It is because of that charm that my brother, sister and I are trapped on this island forever,” Cetus replied angrily. His anger startled me; I hoped he was not going to take his anger out on us.

“Cetus, Ron and I do not understand the connection between the ‘Impervious’ charm and why you are imprisoned here,” Gretchen said, her voice soft and caring. “Maybe if we understood what was going on we would be able to help you as well as ourselves. After all, we are trapped here just as you are.”

Cetus stared at us for what seemed like a long time before answering. “Mortius petitioned the dragons to perform the ‘Rite of Fusing’ on him so that he could protect his people from the hordes of giants ravaging the countryside where his people lived. The elder dragons were distrustful of him, but I convinced them that Mortius was worthy. Once he was protected by the charm, he lured my brother, sister and me into a trap and brought us to this island, where we have been ever since. I am certain, beyond any doubt, that the dragons remaining on the Mountain of Fire will never perform that rite again. Besides, you two will never leave this island alive, so the whole discussion is meaningless. I am sorry, but that is the truth. The sooner you accept it the better.”

Harry

To say that I was surprised at the reaction Hermione received when she touched the ancient wand would be a tremendous understatement. From the moment Hermione first touched the wand, her personality began to change. She seemed much bolder and definitely more aggressive than she was before coming in contact with the ancient wand. Her eyes flashed with a fiery determination, everything about her was more energetic and forceful. How long this was going to last or what it would do to her individuality I could only guess. When she looked at me, it was with the same loving face that I had come to know so well over the past couple of weeks. However, there was a subtle change in the way she looked at me, which I could not quite define. The only thing that I knew was that she no longer showed the slightest trace of being timid. She seemed more than ready to try out her newly acquired power to find Ron and Gretchen.

“If we precede from the assumption that Ron and Gretchen did not return to the atrium, as Alec claims, then they either left the house or they are in another room that is accessible only through a concealed passageway,” Hermione said, gazing intently up and down the hallway, presumably looking for some clue as to the entrance’s location.

“Hermione, it is possible that there is no secret passageway, and that Ron and Gretchen merely went outside for some fresh air or just to take a walk,” I replied, not wanting to ignore an obvious possibility.

“True enough, Harry, it is possible that they are outside, but I think it exceedingly unlikely in light of their recent encounter with the dragons. I believe it is much more likely that they have gained additional knowledge about this house from the aging spell, and have used that knowledge to gain access to a part of the house we have yet to locate. However, if you feel we should check outside first, then that is what we will do.”

“That won’t be necessary now that you have reminded me about them being attacked by dragons yesterday. I agree with you that they are not likely to have gone outside,” I replied, thinking that Hermione’s power of deduction was as sharp as ever. Whatever abilities she had gained from the ancient wand had not diminished her ability to think logically.

“Hermione, if you are right about Ron and Gretchen being in some undiscovered part of the house, then the only place that could be is beneath us,” Alec said, pointing towards the floor.

“You are absolutely right, Alec. I am guessing that under this floor we will find many rooms and passageways, which were in constant use when the cult was active. According to the book on the cult, at its peak there were nearly a hundred members. They could not have all lived on this one floor.”

“So all we have to do is find the entrance to a passageway that leads to the level below this one,” I said, wondering just how difficult that was going to prove to be. I started inspecting the stone tiles that made up the floor for signs of a circular stairway, similar to the one in the pantry. Unfortunately, it was not going to be that easy. All of the stones in the floor were square, none of them suggesting a concealed passageway to lower levels of the house.

“One of the artifacts on the walls probably activates the entrance to the passageway,” Hermione said, after the floor failed to reveal the entrance. “Whether it is activated by touch or password, we have no way of knowing.”

“If the entrance to the passageway is not activated by touch then we will never find it. We could spend weeks trying different passwords. Who knows, the actual password could be in some language we don’t even know,” I replied, starting to think this was going to be hopeless.

For the next fifteen minutes, we very carefully inspected everything on both sides of the hallway. After touching, twisting, poking and doing just about everything we could think of, we were no closer to finding the entrance to the hidden passageway than when we started. Hermione had repeatedly tried using the ‘Alohomora’ spell without any success. We were beginning to run out of ideas.

“Maybe only members of the cult can activate the entrance,” I suggested, after no one could think of what to try next. “That might be the purpose of the dragon image embedded in the palm of Ron and Gretchen’s hands. It could be the key that opens the entrance. If so, we are never going to find and open the entrance to the passageway.”

“You are probably right, Harry,” Hermione replied, looking very frustrated. “I can’t help thinking that the ancient wand, and now ours as well, should also activate the entrance. We just haven’t found the right place to touch or the proper command to use, that’s all.”

“I have an idea that might work,” Alec said in the prolonged silence that followed. “When I first touched the ancient wand, I had the distinct feeling of being in a large room with many other people. If that is the room we are searching for then maybe the wand can be tricked into leading us there.”

“How would we go about doing that?” I asked, willing to try anything at this point.

“If you could place me under some type of hypnotic spell, with a suggestion that I should try to find the other members of the cult, then my subconscious might be able to use the wand to lead me to where we want to go. I know it sounds kind of dumb, but what the heck, it might work.”

“You are right about one thing, Alec. It does sound kind of dumb,” I replied, waiting for Hermione to roll her eyes and tell him it was a ridiculous idea.

“Well, we don’t have anything to lose. Let’s give it a try,” Hermione replied, suddenly rebounding from her sulkiness. I do not know what surprised me more, that she did not dismiss the idea as idiotic or that she was willing to try the idea. “Probably a light sleeping spell will suffice. Anything stronger might have undesirable consequences,” she added, gazing thoughtfully at Alec.

Hermione placed Alec under the sleeping spell and once she was sure he was sleeping, she suggested several times that he was late for the cult’s daily meeting and should hurry along, so as not to miss anything.

For a good five minutes, Alec just stood there; sound asleep on his feet with his eyes shut. When I suggested that this was not going to work, Hermione shushed me and suggested once again that he should hurry along to the cult meeting. Alec’s eyes opened but he seemed completely unaware of his surroundings or that Hermione or I were beside him. He slowly started walking down the hallway. He seemed almost to float, his movements being very smooth and controlled. Just past the halfway point, he stopped and turned to face the wall on his right. I watched in utter amazement as he slowly raised his wand and touched the wall just below the bracket holding the torch in front of him.

The instant his wand touched the wall, part of the wall in front of him slide back silently, reveling a staircase that lead downward. Hermione quickly released Alec from the spell once the doorway was opened. I felt the wall where Alec had touched his wand. I could feel a small but distinct indent. The indent was invisible to the eye from any angle, the only way to know it was there was by touch. I touched my wand to the indent and the opening closed as silently as it had opened. Touching it once more, the wall slid back as it had done when Alec touched the spot with his wand.

“Hey, it actually worked,” exclaimed Alec, looking genuinely surprised once he was no longer under the sleeping spell.

“Yes it did, Alec. I am sorry for having thought it a dumb idea,” I apologized, still amazed that it had worked. “Do you remember anything from the time Hermione put you under the sleeping spell?”

“Just some vague feeling, as if I were watching someone walk down this hallway and hearing a voice tell me to go with them, that’s about all,” Alec replied.

“Now that we can open the entrance to the stairway, shall we see where it leads us?” Hermione asked, poking her head cautiously into the opening.

“Are you going to find your friends?” asked a soft, timid voice from behind us.

“Nicole! What are you doing here?” Hermione asked, as we all turned around to see who had spoken to us.

“I got bored listening to the grownups talk and decided to see if you had found your missing friends. I would like to go with you, if that’s okay.”

“That may not be a good idea, Nicole. We do not really know what we will find at the bottom of this stairway. It could be very dangerous,” I said, not wanting to expose her to anything that might frighten her. She had been through enough already at the hands of the giants.

“I don’t scare easily. I really would like to go along with you…please?”

“Harry, I think it will be okay if Nicole comes with us,” Hermione said, looking at me imploringly. “Since she kept her wits about her when she was held captive by the giants, I am confident she will be able to deal with anything we run into.”

“If that’s the way you feel, then it’s alright by me if she tags along,” I replied. I was beginning to become concerned for Hermione’s lack of caution when it came to the unknown. She acted as if nothing we would find in this house could frighten or hurt us. I on the other hand was worried that everything we would find could, and would hurt us. Hermione seemed so optimistic that I saw little point in trying to persuade her otherwise. I was reasonably sure that before too long something would happen to deflate her optimism. I hoped it would not literally deflate all of us in the process.

“Okay, off we go. Harry, why don’t you and I take the lead, Alec and Nicole can follow,” Hermione said and stepped into the entrance of the stairway ahead of the rest of us.

I quickly stepped in beside her, and we started down the steps. Two pairs of footprints were clearly visible in the dust that covered the stairs. I assumed that they most likely belonged to Ron and Gretchen, as they looked extremely fresh. When I turned around to make sure Alec and Nicole were behind us, Alec shot me a look that said volumes. From the way he nodded his head in Hermione’s direction, I knew he was thinking that maybe it had been a bad idea to expose her to the ancient wand. I had seen Hermione become aggressive on a couple of occasions, but usually it took something life threatening to set her off. Now she just seemed to be naturally aggressive and not the least bit afraid to be in the lead.

Just when I thought the staircase was never going to end, we reached the bottom and stepped out into an enormous circular room. The sheer size of the room was not what demanded my attention. Fifty feet in front of us stood Ron and Gretchen, casually talking with an enormous dragon. The whole scene was so surreal that at first I thought my eyes must have been playing tricks on me. One look at Hermione’s face told me that she was seeing the same thing I was. I glanced behind us to see both Alec and Nicole staring, wide-eyed at the dragon. Nicole had a hold of Alec’s left hand. Her eyes were open wide but did not show any sign of panic or fear. Alec was so taken with the dragon that I doubt he even realized that Nicole had a hold of his hand.

I looked back at the dragon just as it raised its head to stare at us. Ron and Gretchen both turned and looked in our direction at the same time. Judging from the expressions on their faces, I did not think they were very happy to see us. As soon as they recognized us, they both started smiling and ran to greet us.

“Hey, it’s great to see all of you,” Ron began, once he and Gretchen reached us. “Can you believe all of this?” he added, indicating the expansive room.

“It’s good to see you two again,” I replied. “We were beginning to worry that something had happened to you. We all saw you go into the hallway, and then suddenly you were gone. We thought that you might be in some kind of trouble, so we came looking for you.”

“No, Harry, we’re fine. But thanks for caring, all of you, really,” Gretchen replied, smiling sweetly and looking better than I thought she would. “By the way, how did you manage to get in here? We had to place the image of the dragon embedded in the palm of our hands over a particular spot on the wall of the hallway to open the entrance to the stairway. How did you get the entrance to open?”

“We had some help from this,” Alec replied, holding up the ancient wand he had found. “This wand use to belong to a member of the cult. I found it in Gawain’s bedroom. It showed us the way in here.”

“I would like to know more about this wand,” Ron said, eyeing the wand suspiciously. “But right now, Gretchen and I would like to introduce you to a real dragon, named Cetus.”

“Before you introduce us to Cetus, should we be wearing robes like the ones you two have on?” I asked, feeling slightly out of place in my flying suit.

“It’s probably not necessary, but you will find robes in the closets behind you,” Gretchen replied, pointing to a row of doors.

Before I could ask Hermione what she thought, she walked over and opened one of the doors. Without a word, she pulled four robes from the closet and handed one to each of us. As soon as we were all dressed in the same attire as Ron and Gretchen, they led us to the center of the room where Cetus was waiting.

Once we reached the dragon, Ron introduced us. “Cetus, I would like to introduce you to Harry and Hermione, and Alec and—‘Nicole,’ Hermione added for him—, they are our very best friends.”

I heard a voice inside my head say, “It is a pleasure to meet friends of Ron and Gretchen.” At first, I was so shocked that I did not know what to say or do.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you,” Ron said aloud, after none of us said anything. “Dragons communicate telepathically. Just direct your thoughts at Cetus and he will ‘hear’ you.”

“It is also a pleasure and a real honor to meet you, Cetus,” I said aloud, still a little stunned by the revelation that dragons, or at least this one dragon, communicated using mental telepathy. “Sorry, I did not mean to speak out loud. It’s just a little strange to converse with thoughts only.”

“That is quite alright,” Cetus replied. “When you speak out loud, I ‘hear’ your thoughts. If it is easier for you to communicate in that manner, then by all means, please do so.”

“Thank you, Cetus, for being so accommodating,” Hermione replied, bowing her head slightly. “It will make it much easier for us.”

“I think this would be a good time for me to wake Gemini and Virgo,” Cetus said. “By now they know that you are here and I can sense their restlessness. A note of caution before I wake them, Gemini likes to sound fierce and threatening. He may say something to the effect of wanting to eat one or more of you, but do not pay him any attention. In all the years that we have been held captive, he has only eaten one cult member that I can remember. I could not really blame him; the person babbled on incessantly and was an insufferable know-it-all. Unless you exhibit those traits, you have nothing to fear from my brother.”

“Thank you for preparing us,” I replied, sensing that Hermione suddenly seemed much quieter and had moved to stand perceptibly closer to me. “Normally we don’t frighten too easily, but having a dragon, such as yourself, suggest that they want to eat one of us would definitely be very unnerving, to say the least.” Glancing over at Ron, I realized he was being unusually quiet as well. In reality, no one was talking at all. Looking back up at Cetus I could not help but get the feeling that he was smiling at us. Just why I felt that way, I could not explain, even if I had to.

Cetus turned to look at the other two dragons. They both transfigured smoothly from stone-like statues into living, breathing dragons. After briefly stretching, they both turned around to look at the six of us standing before them. I suddenly wished I were somewhere else. Having three very large dragons looking down upon you is very unsettling. Fortunately, Cetus began introducing us right away.

“My brother, and sister, I would like you to meet Ron and Gretchen, the newest and only living members of the cult, and four of their friends,” Cetus said, his thoughts clearly understandable inside my head.

“Ron, Gretchen, this is my brother, Gemini and my sister, Virgo.” Clearly, the rest of us, not being actual members of the cult, did not share the same social status as far as the dragons were concerned.

“It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance,” Ron and Gretchen both replied, more firmly than I would have been able to do. Maybe, they were more accustomed to speaking with dragons because of the time they had spent with Cetus.

“Greetings, Ron and Gretchen, of the Supreme Order of the Red Dragon,” Gemini replied formally, with a very slight bow of his head. The rest of us, he just looked over rather slowly.

“It is a pleasure to meet all of you,” Virgo said. The sound of her voice in my head was much less formal and considerably friendlier than her brother’s voice.

“Ron, Gretchen, now that the introductions have been completed, I think it is time that we told you, and your friends, the complete story of how we became prisoners of this island, so that you will better understand the common fate that we now share,” Cetus said, a definite note of compassion in his voice.

“Ron and I would both appreciate that very much,” Gretchen replied. It was obvious from the sound of her voice that she was starting to realize what might be in store for them, if a way to break the spell could not be found.

“Since this will take a considerable amount of time to tell, I suggest that you all make yourselves comfortable,” Cetus said.

“Is there a problem?” he asked when we all just looked at each other.

“Actually, there is, Cetus,” Ron replied. “There is nothing for us to make ourselves comfortable on.”

“Oh, yes, I had forgotten that humans need something soft to sit on in order to be comfortable. In the past, cult members used to enjoy sitting inside these egg shaped cocoons,” Cetus said and three large, soft white eggs slowly floated down from the ceiling. The eggs were mostly open on one side and were easily big enough to hold two people comfortably. Glancing inside I saw that the interior was completely lined with a soft material that looked very comfortable. “I hope you will find these cocoons acceptable.”

“They should do very nicely,” Ron replied. He gave Gretchen a quick kiss and they both climbed into one of the cocoons.

I looked at the others and we all followed Ron and Gretchen’s lead. Hermione kissed me a little longer than I would have guessed, considering the circumstances. She and I climbed into a cocoon, while Alec and Nicole climbed into the other empty cocoon. The cocoons were surprisingly comfortable and Hermione and I quickly settled in to listen to what the dragons were about to tell us.