The Phoenix Prophecy

Chapter Seventeen: The Return

Monday – Early Evening - July 21^st

Hermione: 7:05 PM

The warm water felt heavenly on my feet. Nicole must have felt the same way as she sat next to me, gently swishing her feet back and forth in the pool, a completely relaxed look on her face. I could really have relaxed were it not for the predicament we now found ourselves in. Entering Paradise just to satisfy my own curiosity may not have been the wisest course of action. To be totally honest with myself, I had to admit that we were trapped here because of my ego, as well as my curiosity. I was not scared yet, but I was starting to feel apprehensive. I was much more worried for Nicole’s safety than I was for my own. She had no way to defend herself if trouble found its way to our doorstep, which I was pretty sure would happen soon or later.

“Hermione, may I ask you a personal question?”

“Sure, Nicole, what is it?”

“Are you and Harry engaged to be married?” she asked timidly.

“Not yet. Harry has not asked me to marry him,” I answered, suddenly feeling wistful as a collage of different emotions that flooded over me.

“How old are you, if you don’t mind telling me?”

“No, I don’t mind, Nicole. I will be seventeen in September.”

Nicole was thoughtfully silent for about a minute before she asked hesitantly, “are you in love with Harry?”

“Yes, very much so. To answer your next question, Harry is also very much in love with me.”

“Then why hasn’t he asked you to marry him, or better still why aren’t you two married yet? Time isn’t standing still you know.”

“Nicole, we have lots of time. After all, Harry and I haven’t even finished school yet,” I replied, wondering why Nicole was so interested in marriage. “Where did you live before you were captured by the giants?” I asked, deciding to change the subject as it was making my longing for Harry more intense, which was something that I was trying hard not to think about just now.

“We lived in a small village named ‘New Pinewood’ that is located at the base of the Great Snowy Mountains.”

“Was there an ‘Old Pinewood?’”

“Yes there was, but it was totally destroyed by giants several years before I was born. Mom says that the new village is nice, but the old one was nicer. I have heard many of the other grownups say the same thing.”

“It is not unusual for people, especially older people, to remember the past fondly. I’m sure you have heard the expression, ‘the good old days,’” I replied, thinking of how often I had heard mum and dad say that or something just like it.

“Yes, I have heard that saying,” Nicole replied, flashing a warm smile.

“What kind of a village is New Pinewood, or rather how do the people of your village provide for themselves?”

“We live off the land by trapping animals for their fur pelts and we grow plants that are used to make several different kinds of elixirs. We trade these for foods and other goods that we cannot grow or make ourselves. My dad…he was very good at growing things, especially the spices which formed the base for our elixirs.”

“I’m sorry, Nicole. I did not mean to upset you,” I replied quickly. Nicole looked as if she were about to break down and start crying at any moment.

“What does your dad do?” she asked after she perked up a bit.

“My dad and mum are both dentists.”

“What’s a dentist?” she asked, looking at me with a totally blank expression on her face.

“A dentist is a doctor that fixes your teeth.”

“Oh, we just go to the village healer whenever we have something wrong with us. He is very old and he gives us something to eat or swallow that cures whatever is wrong with us. Most of the time it tastes pretty nasty.”

“I know just what you mean. Dad jokingly says that medicine has to taste bad to do good.”

“I really miss my dad a lot,” Nicole said softly as a single tear escaped her eye and ran down her cheek.

“I’m sure you do, Nicole. Tell me, why did you think Harry and I should be married already?” I asked, realizing that getting her to talk about her home just made the pain of losing her father worse. It was safer to go back to love and marriage, at least for Nicole.

“Most girls in our village are married by the time they are sixteen or seventeen, with two or three kids by the time they are twenty. The survival of our village depends on having many strong hands to do the work of planting and harvesting. If you reach twenty and are not married, then something is definitely wrong with you. Exactly what that is I’m not sure, but life is not pleasant for such girls, I can tell you that.”

“On Earth where Harry and I come from, most girls get married between eighteen and twenty-five. However, it’s not unusual for people to get married in their thirties or even older.”

“Ron and Gretchen are married, aren’t they?”

“Yes, they are married. They were married just yesterday in fact.”

“They don’t look that much older than you and Harry.”

“They’re not, only a few months. Their’s is a special case having to do with who they are and in a large part, the events that have happened to us since we entered the Realm in search of the ‘Impervious’ charm.”

“Are you really going to let a bunch of dragons breathe fire on you?” Nicole asked, her facial features suddenly twisting into shocked disbelief.

“That is the plan. Whether I will actually be able to go through with it when the time comes remains to be seen,” I answered with a noticeable lack of enthusiasm in my voice.

“Well, you are braver than I am, that’s all I can say.”

“Not really, it just looks that way. Nicole, why don’t we talk about something else, okay?’

“Sure. How old do you think this place is and who really built it?”

“When you change the subject, you really change the subject,” I said, momentarily startled by her question. “All we know for certain is that this, what ever you wish to call it, is at least fifteen hundred years old. As to who built it, I have not the slightest idea. I can tell you this; a bunch of astrologers did not build this cavern. In the first place, they would not have had any use for it, and in the second place, they don’t deal in the physical, just the metaphysical aspects of life.”

“It looks to me as if we will never know who built this place or why.”

“That’s about the way I see it too, Nicole. Some mysteries in life are not meant to be solved.”

“I guess all we can do is make the best of what we have in front of us,” Nicole replied gazing at the rocks and trees surrounding the pool in which we were soaking our feet. “Take this pool of water; would you have expected to find anything like it on this island?”

“Not a chance. Every time I turn around, this island springs another surprise on me.”

“The water is so clear that you can see all the way to the bottom,” Nicole said as she leaned forward and stared into the smooth surface of the pool.

“It is about the clearest water I have ever seen, I’ll grant you that.”

“Hey, Hermione, look,” Nicole exclaimed and pointed at something in the water directly beneath her feet. “What do you think those are?”

“Hold your feet still. I can’t see through the ripples,” I replied after I tried unsuccessfully to follow her gaze.

After a few seconds, the ripples died down and I was able to see what she was pointing at. On the bottom, which was about three feet deep at the edge of the pool, were several stones that faintly glowed varying shades of colored light. From the surface, the stones looked to be about the size of a snitch.

“I don’t know what they are, Nicole. Whatever they are, they are pretty. I sure would like to get a hold of one of them.”

Before I had a chance to say anything more, Nicole pulled her feet out of the water, twisted around, lay down on her stomach and stuck her head and arms under the water’s surface. Ten seconds later, Nicole stuck one of her arms out of the water for me to grab. When she pulled herself up out of the water using me for support, she had four of the stones in her other hand—only they weren’t stones, they were in fact ‘Vitriol Spheres.’ The glassy surface along with the shimmering metallic light emanating from beneath the surface was a dead giveaway as to the true nature of the stones. Mind you, I had never actually seen one, only colored drawings of them in advanced potions books.

“These stones are a lot lighter than I would have expected,” Nicole said as she examined each of the Vitriol Spheres she had retrieved from the bottom of the pool.

“Nicole, those are not stones, they are known as Vitriol Spheres and are more valuable than gold or diamonds,” I squeaked, once I got over the shock of what she was holding. “The four spheres you are holding would fetch you enough gold to live in luxury for the rest of your life.”

“Really? In that case, we can all live in luxury because there are at least a hundred more of these little gems on the bottom of the pool. Anyway, what makes them so valuable?”

“Vitriol Spheres, when ground into a fine powder are used as the base ingredient for life prolonging elixirs and a potion that is reported to be a universal cure for all illnesses. According to everything I have read, which is quite a lot, not one of these spheres has been seen on Earth in the past six hundred years. I really was not kidding when I said these spheres are worth more than their weight in gold, possibly more than your weight in gold”

“Is it possible that these spheres have anything to do with the Aging curse Ron and Gretchen are suffering from?” Nicole asked at the exact same moment that the same thought came to my mind.

“I am certain of it, Nicole. It is not just a coincidence that there is a pool full of Vitriol Crystals on the very same island that has a spell that keeps all of its inhabitants young for as long as they remain on the island. I will bet you anything you care to name that Mortius either grew these spheres or knew of their existence and used them to setup the Methuselah Charm.”

“The what charm?” Nicole asked, tearing her eyes away from the spheres and glancing at me.

“The Methuselah Charm. It makes people live forever. Up until I learned more about this island I though it was just a myth.”

“Looks like it is real. At least these spheres are real. Hey, they are starting to stink just like rotten eggs,” Nicole said, as she held them away from her face.

“That’s right. Now I remember. Vitriol Spheres must be kept immersed in water or they start to decompose almost immediately,” I replied, suddenly remembering the details of what I had read about the spheres. “They decompose into sulfates, a metal and silicon. The sulfates are what give off the rotten egg smell.”

“Should I throw them back in before they stink up the entire cavern?”

Before I had a chance to answer Nicole, a dark shadow passed overhead. When I looked up to see what had caused the shadow, a dragon about twice our size glided to a landing on one of the boulders on the opposite side of the pool and just stared hungrily at us.

I had to give Nicole a lot of credit for not screaming. She sat perfectly still while staring directly at the dragon. From where we were sitting and where the dragon was perched, it would be impossible to reach the boulders behind us before it could incinerate us with a fireball or snatch us up in its talons in a single leap. I had to come up with some way of distracting the dragon so we could make a dash for the boulders. I hoped that there was a deep cave behind the opening between the two large boulders I had spotted earlier.

As I stared at the dragon, never taking my eyes of it for even a second, I noticed that the dragon seemed to be eyeing the Vitriol Spheres Nicole was still holding in her hand.

“Nicole, move your hand back and forth very slowly and stop immediately if I tell you.”

Nicole did as I instructed. Just as I suspected the dragon followed the movement of Nicole’s hand intently. On a wild hunch, I spoke quietly to Nicole and told her to toss one of the spheres to the dragon. Slowly and with extreme precision, Nicole took one of the spheres from her left hand and threw it underhand in a gentle arc so that the dragon would have no difficulty catching the sphere if it wanted to.

The dragon snatched the sphere from the air and swallowed it in a single gulp. The dragon immediately returned its gaze to Nicole’s hand. If we were very, very lucky we might just be able to make it to the boulders behind us after throwing the dragon a second sphere.

“Nicole, I want you to place one of the spheres in my hand and then we are both going to stand up very slowly. If you can do this, then place one of the spheres in my hand now.

Once again, I as amazed at Nicole’s courage as she slowly placed one of the three remaining spheres in my out stretched hand. As soon as she finished placing the sphere in my hand, she started to rise to her feet. I rose with her, the dragon watching us intently as we stood up.

“Nicole, I am going to count to three. On three, we will both toss another sphere to the dragon. As soon as we have thrown the sphere, run like a bloody demon through the opening between the two large rocks directly behind us. When you are ready, take another sphere out of your left hand.”

As soon as she picked up a sphere with her right hand, I started to count. “One…Two—

On the count of two, a second dragon glided to a landing beside the first. The two dragons immediately started quarrelling with each other. It was obvious that they were fighting over the spheres. Their disagreement didn’t last long as they evidently decided to share the spheres. Now instead of one deadly dragon staring at us from twenty feet away, we had two.

“Nicole, same plan as before, except that I will throw my sphere to the dragon on the left while you throw your sphere to the one on the right,” said quietly, without ever taking my eyes of the dragons.

“One…(my heart was beating so hard it felt as if it were going to explode any second) Two…(I had to force my arm to start to move in a backward arc) Three! In perfect unison we pitched our spheres towards the dragons in a high arc and then turned and started running for the opening as fast as we could make our legs go.

Expecting to be engulfed in a fireball at any second, I made a beeline for the opening. Nicole was a half step in front on me the whole way. In what must have been record time, we sprinted the short distance between the edge of the pool and the opening. Once inside the opening, we came to an abrupt stop as we slammed into a wall hidden in the shadows.

“Nicole, are you all right?” I asked after we both bounced off the wall and landed on our butts.

“Yes, I’m okay, I think.” She replied, breathing hard. I wasn’t sure if she had had the wind knocked out of her or was breathing hard from panic.

We were sitting on the ground, less than ten feet from the opening. I could see the two dragons still sitting on the far side of the pool. Even though we were in the shadows at the back of a small cave, we were totally exposed. All either dragon had to do was give off a single fireball from the mouth of the cave and we would be cooked quicker than a goose at Christmas.

“Nicole, I may have just led us from the frying pan to the fire. Unless the dragons forget about us and leave, I’m afraid we are trapped in here.”

“Hermione, the back wall, it’s not rock, it’s made out of wood,” Nicole exclaimed after she placed her hand on it to steady herself.

It took me a few seconds to realize the significance of what she had just said. A wall made out of wood at the back of this small cave had to mean only one thing, someone built it here to protect or hide something. A wall also meant a door, and that door just might lead us to safety.

“Nicole, start searching for a door. I’m pretty sure there has to be one somewhere in this wall.”

“Okay. My eyes are starting to adjust to the darkness, which should make it easier to find the door,” she replied as she got slowly to her feet and started feeling the wall.

I could tell that my eyes were quickly adjusting to the darkness too, as I could make out more and more details of the wall with each passing second. As soon as I stood up, I felt a little woozy. I must have crashed into the wall harder than I thought. I kept my hands firmly pressed to the wall until the dizziness passed, which passed very quickly.

“I’ve found something,” Nicole whispered.

I moved closer to her so that I could see what she had found. Sure enough, I could feel a definite crack in the wall that ran from the floor to just over our heads. It had to be the edge of a door. We both started searching in opposite directions for the other side of the door. A few seconds later, my fingers felt another vertical crack in the wall.

“Nicole, it’s over here,” I whispered in a low voice so as not to attract the attention of the dragons that were still perched on the far side of the pool.

“Now all we have to do is figure out how to open the door,” I said when Nicole was beside me. “Look for anything that might be a latch. Since we haven’t come across any hinges on this side of the wall, I assume that the door is going to open inwards.”

For the next minute or two, we both searched for anything that might actuate the door, but found nothing. I didn’t make sense that the door could only be opened from the inside. For some reason that I could not explain, I felt that this door was the only means of getting at what lay behind it.

“Hermione, I can’t find anything but the crack in the wall.”

“I can’t either. The door must be controlled by voice command or the touch of a wand. Stand back and I will try to open it with my wand.”

As soon as Nicole was out of the way, I tried opening the door with the ‘Alohomora’ spell. I thought I heard the door creak, but it didn’t open so I tried it again. This time I definitely heard the door creak, but still it remained closed.

“Nicole, we are on the right track. This door is activated by command. Unfortunately, we could be here all week and still not come up with the command that opens the door.”

“Maybe if you just touch the door with your wand it will open up.”

“In order to open the door by touch I have to know exactly where to touch my wand, which could be almost anywhere on the wall of off of it.”

“It’s hopeless, Hermione. We are never going to get this door open.”

“It’s not hopeless, it just seems that way. If we proceed on the assumption that Mortius constructed this wall, which may not be true, then the spell that opens the door may have something to do with him.”

“Mortius seems to have been obsessed with dragons,” Nicole replied. “Maybe the spell has something to do with them.”

“That’s possible, Nicole, but I have the feeling that it’s something else that I can’t quite remember.”

“Well, whatever it is, you had better remember it quickly. One of the dragons has just jumped across the pool and is headed this way.”

I turned around just in time to see one of the dragons stick its head into the opening of the cave, just ten short feet from where we were standing. The dragon was close enough that I could feel and smell its breath. One small fireball would be all that was needed to roast us alive. ‘Roasted Alive’, that was it. I turned around, pointed my wand at the wall and said “Athene.” The door creaked as before, but still didn’t open.

“Hermione, the dragon is licking its chops,” Nicole squeaked, her voice higher than normal but still under control. “I really think it wants to eat us.”

“Do you still have one sphere left?”

“Yes.”

“Well, throw it to him—her—whatever the damn thing is. Maybe it can smell the sphere and that is what it wants,” I replied, thinking frantically. I was so sure that ‘Athene’ was going to work that I was momentarily stunned when the door did not open.

“The dragon ate the last sphere and is looking for more. Now what do I do?”

“Try singing it a lullaby. Hagrid says that is the way to calm any beast,” I replied, wishing Hagrid were here right now. No, on second thought, that would not be such a good thing. I was sure he would want to keep them for pets.

“What, are you out of your mind, and who’s this Hagrid, anyway?” From the sound of her voice, Nicole was somewhere between confused and doubting my sanity.

“Hagrid is the Game and Grounds Keeper at Hogwarts,” I answered, still trying to figure out why the Athene command had not worked. What was it Nicole said a few minutes ago? Oh, ‘touch the door.’

I reached out with my wand, touched the center of the door, and said ‘Athene.’ The door creaked slowly open. Before it was open more than a few inches, I was grabbing Nicole by the shoulders, trying to shove her through an opening barely big enough for a mouse.

By the time I could have counted to three, the door was open enough so that we could squeeze through without breaking all our bones. We found ourselves in a pitch-black room, unable to see more than an inch in front of our faces.

I literally screamed “Athene” as I touched my wand on the door, which immediately stopped opening and started to close. I felt the door seal shut a few seconds later and lit my wand with the ‘Lumos’ spell.

We were standing next to the wall of a very high, cylindrical shaped room that was about ten feet in diameter and thirty feet high.

“Nicole, are you all right?”

“Yes, I’ll be fine, although I think I’m two sizes skinner than I used to be. The little bit of skin that I left on the door and frame will grow back quickly enough.”

“I am truly sorry for hurting you, but I wanted to get in and shut the door as quickly as possible.”

“Hermione, don’t sweat it. You saved our lives. I’m not about to complain about the loss of a little skin.”

“Don’t thank me just yet, Nicole. We are still trapped and the only way out is being guarded by a dragon who doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to leave.”

Just then, Luther and Eliza entered the chamber through the wall and floated down beside us.

“Boy, are we glad to see you two,” I said. “On the other side of this door there is a dragon blocking the entrance of the adjoining cave.”

“Lucifer will let you out when I tell him to,” Luther replied, an evil grin spreading across his face as he and Eliza pressed closer and closer to us.

“What are you talking about, Luther?” I shouted. My fear was starting to turn to anger. “Get out of our faces before I—

“Before you what…kill us?” Luther replied, laughing manically. “Stupid little girl, who do you think you are? Eliza and I are in control of this island. Now shut up and do as you are told.”

I was so angry that I could have spit nails. Unfortunately, Luther was right. There was nothing I could do to him or Eliza, as they were in fact already quite dead. If he was not just boasting about being in control of the dragon, then we had each other stalemated, we could not do anything to them and they could not do anything to us, or so I thought.

“Open the door and walk back out to the pool where you were sitting before,” Luther ordered.

“No, we won’t!” I replied, glaring at him.

“You won’t, won’t you?” he replied his voice cold and threatening. “I have some small friends I would like you to meet. We hatched them especially for this occasion,” he added and gestured towards the floor on the far side of the room.

Through several small openings at the base of the wall, dozens of rat-sized lizards came pouring into the room. The lizards seemed to be all teeth. They were constantly snapping at each other and hissing furiously.

“I strongly suggest that you open the door and leave this chamber before these freshly hatched Dracks decide to attack. Being eaten alive is a most horrible and painful way to die, believe me,” Eliza said as more and more miniature Dracks entered the room.

“Hermione?” Nicole squeaked as she moved closer to me.

I could kill most of the small Dracks with fire, but I knew deep down in my gut that I couldn’t kill them all. If these things attacked, we would be striped to the bone in a matter of minutes. Angrier than I had ever felt in my life I re-opened the door, but not before I suggested something very un-lady like and extremely vulgar to Luther.

Gretchen: 7:10 PM

Listening to Luther and Eliza rant and rave, I realized that they were completely insane. I was suddenly very worried about Hermione and Nicole’s whereabouts and safety. I did not know how much trouble the ghosts could cause for us, but I was afraid that it might be more than we could handle. These two had been on this island for the past nine hundred years. By now, they probably knew everything there was to know about the place. Normally I took a ghost’s boasting with a grain of salt, but listening to Luther and Eliza caused an intense feeling of foreboding to grab a hold of me.

When I heard a high-pitched shriek reverberate through the chamber shortly after Luther and Eliza left it, I almost jumped out of my skin. At first I though it was some trick that the ghosts were playing on us. When the second shriek quickly followed the first I realized that it was coming from above us in one of the upper chambers.

“Ron, have you ever heard anything like that before?” I asked as we both stood perfectly still, listening for more sounds.

“Yes I have, Gretchen. If I’m not mistaken, those sounds were made by a phoenix. Fawkes or Iseult must have followed us. They may be calling out to us, but I don’t know how they knew we were down here.”

“It is possible that they are with one or more of the grownups. I think one or both of us should go and see who is following us.”

“I know we are supposed to wait here in case Hermione and Nicole return, but I don’t think we should split up,” Ron replied, looking very distressed. “Since it shouldn’t take us more than a few minutes to check out the two levels above us, I think we should chance not being here if Hermione and Nicole return. If the girls do return, it’s very likely that they will wait here for at least a few minutes.”

“I agree, Ron. If someone has come looking for us, then they can help in the search for Hermione and Nicole.”

We quickly mounted the stairs to the next level. Although going up was decidedly more work than coming down. A quick check showed this chamber to be empty, not even a sign of the ghosts. As we climbed the stairs to the top level, I felt my heart begin to beat faster. Not all of the increase was due to the work of climbing the stairs. Rounding the final turn of the staircase, we stepped out on the floor of the chamber.

Perched on the floor in front of the door to the room we had come through on our way down were both Fawkes and Iseult. As soon as we took a step in their direction, they both turned their heads to look at us. The phoenixes let us walk right up to the door without moving or making any kind of fuss. Through the open door, that seemed covered with some transparent material we could see Professor Dumbledore, Sirius and Walt. They were looking directly at us, but didn’t seem aware of our presence.

“Ron, why can’t they see us?” I asked as we both watched the three adults for a few seconds.

“I’m not sure, Gretchen. If they can’t get through that transparent material covering the door, then how did Fawkes and Iseult get out here?”

“Good question. It’s too bad that Phoenixes can’t talk. If they could, then maybe they could tell us what is going on.”

“I am going to try calling out to them. Maybe they will be able to hear me, even though they can’t see me.”

“It’s worth a try, Ron.”

“Professor Dumbledore, this is Ron. Can you hear me?” Ron called out rather loudly. The phoenixes seemed a little agitated when Ron called out but they didn’t move.

“Yes, Ron, we can hear you,” Professor Dumbledore replied, while both Sirius and Walt looked a little astonished.

“We are on the other side of the doorway. Fawkes and Iseult are here with us. We can see you, but it looks like the doorway is covered with some kind of transparent material.”

“From this side all we see is a mirror that reflects the room’s fixtures but not our own images,” Sirius replied. “We were just discussing the advisability of attempting to walk through the mirror when you called out to us.”

“If Fawkes and Iseult flew through safely, why didn’t you follow them?” I asked.

“Phoenixes have considerably more magical power than we have,” Professor Dumbledore answered gravely. “We felt that until we knew more about the obstruction in front of us, caution was the wisest course of action.”

“Men,” I said and stepped through the transparent material as though it was not even there. “It’s a good thing women aren’t afflicted with such indecision or the race would have died out millions of years ago,” I said when I was face to face with the three of them.

“Gretchen, why did you do such a fool-hardy stunt like that?” Ron asked after he stepped through the doorway a second or so after I did.

“There was nothing fool-hardy or dangerous about what I did. We will live forever as long as we stay on the island, remember?”

“Gretchen, the spell just prevents us from dying of old age. It does not prevent us from being killed if we do something stupid,” Ron replied, looking like he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

“Oh, I hadn’t thought of it that way,” I replied quickly. “Well, all’s well that ends well.”

“Yes, that is quite true,” Sirius replied quickly.

Ron looked at me and started to say something, but closed his mouth before saying a word. Instead, he turned towards Walt, his back to me, and said something that I could not hear. Walt smiled at Ron’s remark and placed his hand on Ron’s shoulder. Even though Walt spoke very quietly, I was quite sure he said, ‘welcome to the club’ or something to that effect.

“Professor, Hermione and Nicole have disappeared, two levels down from this one,” I said, suddenly remembering why we had come looking for them. “Harry and Alec are looking for the girls right now. A pair of ghosts named Luther and Eliza, whom we thought were friendly, are involved in some way with Hermione and Nicole’s disappearance.”

“How long has it been since you last saw Hermione and Nicole?” Professor Dumbledore asked. Sirius and Walt were instantly quiet as the moved closer to me.

“Maybe thirty minutes, I’m not exactly sure,” I replied.

“Where were they when you last saw them?”

“Shortly after we reached the chamber two levels below this one, I saw them heading down one of the three corridors along the outer wall,” Ron replied.

“Do you have any idea where the corridors lead to?” Professor Dumbledore asked.

“No we don’t?” I answered. “At the end of the corridor there is a narrow opening in the side that dead-ended. Harry and Alec figured out how to get through the opening, but I don’t know what is at the other end of the narrow opening.”

“Albus, this could be very bad,” Sirius said, looking extremely worried. “The narrow opening leads to the cavern we were telling you about earlier. If the kids are in there, then their lives are in grave danger. We need to get to them as quickly as possible.”

“I agree,” Walt added. “There are creatures in that cavern that are very dangerous. If we don’t get to the kids soon, they won’t live long.”

“Since Ron and Gretchen have suffered no ill effects from passing through the mirror I think it will be safe for us to do the same,” Professor Dumbledore said and headed for the mirror without waiting for Sirius or Walt to express their opinions.

Professor Dumbledore passed through the mirror and vanished from sight. Sirius and Walt exchanged glances and with a shrug of their shoulders, they stepped through the mirror a second or two after the professor.

“What are we waiting for?” I asked Ron when the others had left the room.

“Gretchen, the next time you decide to take a chance like that, please warn me first.”

“I’m sorry, Ron. I really didn’t think anything would happen to me, but I will try not to scare you again like that.” I gave Ron a quick kiss on the cheek, grabbed his hand and led him through the mirror.

Harry: 7:10 PM

It was one thing to say that I was going to stay calm and focused so that I could help Hermione and Nicole, it quite something else to actually do it. By the time Alec and I had figured out how to open and close the narrow tunnel at the end of the passageway, I was almost beside myself with panic. I knew that Hermione was just as capable of taking care of herself as I was, but that didn’t diminish my anxiety for her and Nicole. When Hermione was at my side I felt that together we could handle just about anything we might encounter. That feeling probably had more to do with knowing that Hermione was all right for the moment than it did with feeling better able to protect ourselves from harm. The simple truth of the matter was that not knowing what had become of her was quickly wearing me down.

After a few short steps through the tunnel, Alec and I emerged into a passageway about the same size as the one we just left, except that it was much shorter. At the far end of the passageway, which was not all that far from where we were standing, I could see and hear falling water. As we moved closer to the other end of the passageway, I could see that the water falling in front of the opening was concealing what lie beyond the end of the passageway with a curtain of water.

“Harry, this is really awesome. I would never have expected to find anything like this underground.”

“You’re right, Alec. This waterfall is about the last thing I would have expected to find.

When we reached the end of the passageway, I realized that there was a narrow ledge leading off in either direction. Looking in both directions, I could see that the waterfall was just wide enough to cover the entrance to the passageway. Looking upward, I could see an overhang a few feet above our heads where the water was spilling out and falling past the ledge.

“Which way, Harry?”

“Let’s try to the right first. If we don’t find any sign of the girls in a few minutes, then we can come back and go to the left.”

“Sounds, like a plan to me,” Alec replied and reached out and touched the water.

“Well, it’s not much of a plan, as I don’t think we have any other real choice in the matter. Alec, watch your step. The ledge is wet and might be slippery.”

We carefully made our way along the narrow ledge until we were out from behind the falling water. At that point, I stopped and stared out at the most incredible sight imaginable.

“Talk about the unexpected,” I said in a hush, as I was breath-taken by the view before me.

“This cavern is enormous,” Alec added, obviously awed by the spectacular view we were witnessing. “Look, it is big enough to have its own lake. How far across do you think the outer wall is?”

“It must be at least a thousand feet. This place is big enough to hold a Quidditch match in.”

“I wish we had a couple of brooms so that we could really check this place out.”

“So do I, but right now we have more important things to do than going for a joy ride around this cavern,” I replied, suddenly remembering what we were doing here in the first place.

“You’re right, Harry. I don’t know what I was thinking,” Alec replied, clearly upset for having momentarily forgotten about the girls.

“I’m sure anyone would forget about whatever they were doing, the first time they saw this cavern,” I answered, returning my attention to the ledge in front of me. “The ledge continues for another twenty feet and then disappears around an outcropping of rock. We need to go at least that far to make sure the girls are not trapped or hurt where we can’t see them.”

“Okay, lead on.”

We crossed the twenty feet of ledge as quickly as we could without taking any chances that might have lead to falling off the ledge. It was difficult to keep from gazing out over the cavern…the view was that captivating. When we reached the outcropping, the ledge abruptly ended.

“It’s a dead end, Alec,” I said over my shoulder, as he could not see past me very easily. “The girls couldn’t have gotten past this point. Let’s go back and try the other direction,” I added, disappointed that we did not find them quickly.

With Alec in the lead, we quickly retraced our steps back to the waterfall. Alec stepped back into the opening so that I could be in the lead as we started following the ledge to the left. In this direction, the ledge sloped gently downhill, curving out of sight some thirty feet away.

“Harry, stop!” Alec exclaimed in an urgent whisper and placed his hand on my shoulder after we had barely traveled ten feet.

I was just about to ask him what was wrong, when I spotted a creature flying over the lake, moving in the same direction we were moving. For several seconds I looked at the creature trying to figure out what it was. Just before it disappeared from view, it dawned on me that the creature was a dragon. As soon as it was out of sight, I began doubting what I had just seen.

“Harry, was that what I think it was?” Alec asked cautiously.

“If you thought it was a dragon, then you thought right. Alec, we are totally exposed on this ledge, but I really do want to make sure the girls aren’t out of sight just up ahead.”

“Then let’s do it now before the dragon returns,” Alec replied resolutely.

“Follow me…but if I turn around, then turn around and head back for the safety of the waterfall just as fast as you can.”

“In other words, run like hell and don’t look back,” Alec replied, a wide grin on his face.

“And don’t fall off the ledge…it’s a long way down.”

“I won’t. Harry, we are wasting precious time. I will know what to do, if and when the time comes.”

Alec’s tone of voice was serious, with some anxiety thrown in when he suggested that we keep moving. I knew that he was right, but I couldn’t help feeling responsible for his safety. I quickly scanned the sky around us and continued along the ledge, which curved gently to the left. The ledge had leveled off and was getting narrower with each step. To make matters worse, the ledge was strewn with many small rocks that made for treacherous footing. After traveling nearly twenty feet, the ledge was too narrow to walk on safely.

“Harry, do you see any sign of the girls?” Alec asked, as soon as I stopped.

“No…nothing. On top of that, the ledge is too narrow to continue.”

“I was beginning to wonder if you were going to change yourself into a mountain goat any time soon,” Alec replied good-naturedly.

“That’s not a bad idea. Unfortunately, our animagus forms would not fare much better on this narrow ledge. I don’t think the girls came this way either. Let’s head back and try one of the other passageways.”

We both turned around very carefully, hugging our backs to the wall. I felt very disappointed after not finding any trace of the girls in either direction. Alec started off slowly, but picked up the pace as the ledge widened out. Half way back, Alec stopped so abruptly that I walked into his back, almost knocking the two of us off the ledge.

“What the—

“Harry, shush!” Alec commanded over his shoulder, cutting me off before I could ask why he stopped so abruptly.

The ledge was wide enough so that I could peer around him without loosing my balance, if I was careful. Standing in the middle of the ledge, ten feet in front of Alec, was the weirdest looking animal that I had ever seen. At first, I thought it was a large spider, but when I looked closer, I realized that the animal’s body was shaped like an overgrown rat. The creature was staring at us, its tail swishing back and forth.

“What kind of creature is this, Harry?”

“I have no idea. It must be a hybrid created by the cult. I doubt if this animal is the result of natural evolution, it’s just too weird to have evolved on its own.”

“You won’t get any argument from me on that. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like it is going to retreat,” Alec said, talking as quietly as possible.

“No, it sure doesn’t.”

While I trying to decide what spell would be the most effective, the creature took a couple of hesitant steps towards us, making soft, high-pitched squeaks. What ever I tried, I wanted to attract as little attention as possible. We really were exposed if something bigger and more dangerous came along.

“Alec, I am going to tray and immobilize the creature,” I whispered in his ear. “Lean towards the wall and I will cast the spell around your left side.”

Alec did as I instructed. Very slowly, he leaned in towards the wall. Thankfully, the creature watched his movements. When Alec was as close to the wall as he could get, I quickly pointed my wand at the creature and said ‘Immobulus.’

What happened next happened so fast that I barely had time to regain my balance as I was holding onto Alec while I leaned out to cast the spell.

The second my spell hit the creature it leaped straight for us, its long legs propelling it through the air with incredible speed. At the same instant, Alec transfigured into his wolf form and leapt for the creature. The two of them collided in mid air and crashed onto the ledge. Alec was barely able to keep his balance as he fought to not fall off the ledge and sink his powerful jaws into the creatures flesh.

The rat, or spider, showed unbelievable agility for a creature with such long, skinny legs and a thick, heavy body. It managed to draw blood several times before Alec finally managed to get his jaws firmly clamped on the creature’s body. Three quick snaps of the wolf’s neck and the creature collapsed. Alec flicked the creature over the edge of the ledge, where it fell into the vegetation some fifty feet below us.

“Alec, are you okay?” I asked after he transfigured back to human form.

“I am now,” he replied, breathing heavily. “I didn’t realize just how much pain something that small could inflict on a wolf. I’m sure glad there was only one of them.”

“If you can move, let’s get out of here before any of his pals show up,” I replied, scanning the area for any other creatures. I was quite sure that this wasn’t the only one of its kind.

Alec took a few deep breaths and stood up. I had to help steady him for a few seconds, but his dizziness quickly passed and we made it back to the passageway without any further mishap.

“Harry, that creature couldn’t have been hundreds of years old, could it?”

“I wouldn’t think so. More than likely, the creatures have been living and reproducing in this cavern since the cult created them.”

“Which means that there is no telling how many more of the little devils are lurking around here?”

“Precisely, so keep a sharp eye out for them. Right about now I wish I had an eye just like ‘Mad-Eye-Moony’,” I replied, thinking how useful it would be to see in every direction.

“Who is ‘Madie Moonie’?”

“Mad Eye or Mad-Eye Moony was an Auror back on Earth,” I replied. “He had a magical eye that could see in any direction.”

“That would be useful…I have felt like someone or something has been standing right behind me since we left the dragon’s chamber.”

“Yes, I know the feeling. Alec, you go first,” I said when we reached the narrow tunnel that connected the passageways.

As soon as I emerged from the tunnel, we hurried to the staircase. I was surprised and instantly worried when Ron and Gretchen were nowhere to be seen. I would not have expected them to go off on their own. I couldn’t handle any more worries at the moment. Both of them were capable of defending themselves, they would just have to make do.

“Any idea as to which passageway we should check out next?” Alec asked.

“No, not really. One is as likely as the other is.”

“Shall we flip a coin?” Alec asked, but he was just being a ‘smart-alec’, if you will pardon the pun.

“I don’t have one on me. Let’s just take the passageway on the right, as either is just as likely to be the one the girls took.”

“Works for me,” Alec quipped, gesturing with his arm for me to lead the way. “After you o’fearless leader.”

“Keep it up, Alec, and I just might feed you to those rat-spiders, or whatever they are called.” I tried to look fierce, but Alec wasn’t fooled.

“I am a boy of poor taste; I doubt that the creatures would find me to their liking,” Alec replied, grinning broadly.

I just looked at him and shook my head. Sometimes he reminded me so much of Ron that it was scary. Most often, he reminded me of myself. I hoped that someday the two of us could sit down for a long quiet talk. I really did want to know more about him as he was not your typical Slytherin.