The Phoenix Prophecy

Chapter Seventeen: The Return

Monday – Early Evening - July 21^st

Ron: 7:20 PM

Professor Dumbledore, Sirius and Walt were waiting for Gretchen and I as we stepped through the mirror into the chamber at the top of the spiral staircase. Professor Dumbledore told us to lead the way, which we did by promptly heading for the top of the spiral staircase.

We descended to the next level without anyone saying a word. The fact that the stairs were quite wide made it easy for Gretchen and I to walk side by side and hold onto each other’s hand as we descended.

“Gretchen, I am a little surprised that Luther and Eliza have stayed away this long,” I said, while we waited for the others to catch up with us.

“Maybe they are intimated by someone as old and wise as Professor Dumbledore,” Gretchen replied, gazing around the chamber. “On the other hand, they could be waiting to jump out in front of us when we least expect it.”

“That sounds just like something they, or many of the ghosts back at Hogwarts, would do. I really think most ghosts would love to actually scare someone to death.”

“Well, they are not going to scare me to death, so just let them try,” Gretchen replied emphatically.

“Hermione and Nicole disappeared on the level below this one,” I said when the grownups caught up with us.

“Professor, are we going to fast for you?” Gretchen asked, a note of concern in her voice.

“No, no. These old knees just don’t travel down stairs as fast as they used to,” Professor Dumbledore replied, smiling warmly. I was a little nervous when Gretchen implied that the professor was too old to keep up, as older people seemed to be touchy about what they could no longer do as well.

At Professor Dumbledore’s urging, we started down the spiral staircase, heading for the level below. The ghosts still had not made an appearance by the time we reached the chamber where we had last seen Hermione and Nicole. Whether they were apprehensive about meeting the professor, or they were busy doing something else, I had no way of knowing. Either way, it just added to my suspicions that Luther and Eliza were up to no good.

“Do you know which of the three passageways Hermione and Nicole were last seen in?” Professor Dumbledore asked once he reached the chamber.

“No, I’m sorry, Professor,” Gretchen replied. “Harry and Alec went looking for them through the tunnel at the end of that passageway,” Gretchen added, pointing to the passageway where we last saw Harry and Alec.

“Then we shall begin our search there,” replied the professor as he quickly strode towards the passageway Gretchen had indicated.

“Do you want us to go with you?” I asked as Sirius and Walt immediately fell in behind the professor.

“I think it would be better for you and Gretchen to remain here in the chamber,” Professor Dumbledore replied. “If anyone returns before we do, please have them wait with you until we return. Also, if we are gone for a long time, do not come looking for us. We will find our way back here and I would like to find you still here when we return.”

“Certainly, Professor,” I replied quickly. Even though the professor phrased his words as a request, his tone of voice left no doubt what so ever that he would be most displeased to not find us here upon their return, however long that might take.

“Professor, there is a small hole in the wall near the entrance to the tunnel. Stick the tip of your wand in the hole and turn it to open the tunnel,” Gretchen called out as the three of them entered the passageway.

We watched from the entrance to the passageway as Professor Dumbledore located the hole in the wall Gretchen had mentioned and then proceeded into the tunnel with Sirius and Walt close behind him.

“I guess all we can do now is wait,” I said, turning to face Gretchen after the three grownups had entered the tunnel.

“I suppose you’re right,” Gretchen replied, sounding less than convinced.

“Gretchen, Professor Dumbledore will be extremely unhappy and vexed with us if we are not right here when he returns. I have never seen him yell at a girl, and if I were you, I would not tempt fate. Just having the professor stare at you with displeasure is unbelievably painful. Believe me I know as I have been there more than once.”

“Then, as you said, all we can do is wait,” Gretchen replied easily, smiling cagily and snuggling close to me with her head on my shoulder.

I was starting to understand that hidden beneath that sweet, simple smile and sparkling blue eyes was the most devious mind one could possible imagine. I was quite sure that Gretchen was capable of telling me whatever she thought I wanted to hear and doing just what she felt was best for our welfare. I was beginning to think that she felt rules were for other people, not her. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not implying that Gretchen took our welfare frivolously. On the contrary, she took it dead serious, but she had her own ideas as to how to look out for it. I was sure that living with Gretchen was never going to be dull.

Alec: 7:20 PM

When Luther told Hermione and Nicole that he and Eliza were going to swap our spirits for theirs, I thought he was just trying to scare the girls into doing something they refused to do. I almost laughed aloud because the idea seemed so ridiculous. When I realized that he was completely serious about swapping spirits, I felt a sudden chill penetrate my entire body. The numbing cold that quickly spread through my body was replaced almost immediately with the white-hot fires of hatred and anger. I felt the same towards Luther as I had towards Saccarus when I thought he had killed my parents. I wanted to jump out and rip his evil, twisted heart from his body, but I was completely hemmed in behind Harry. Sadly, he no longer had a heart, and maybe he never did. To take another’s body for your own had to be the most despicable action that a person could do. Luther and Eliza were utterly without humanity. Taking possession of Nicole’s body and mine would not give them humanity under any circumstances. They would still be the walking dead, except that they would have flesh and blood bodies instead of ethereal bodies.

When Hermione told Luther that he could go to ‘Bloody Hell’, I noticed a thin smile creep across Harry’s face. I knew that he was immensely proud of Hermione for telling Luther off. I was just as proud of her as he was. Evil beings like Luther and Eliza needed to be sent packing whenever they were found.

As far as I could tell—which was damn little as Harry was not being very cooperative in filling me in on what he could see, he made a great door, but a very poor window—only one of the dragons had returned. Not being able to see past Harry all I had to go by was the sound the animal made when it returned with Nicole. I was pretty sure that it would be hard to miss something of this size if it flew overhead. But, even one dragon was one dragon too many for us to handle. On top of that, I figured that the second dragon would show up when we least wanted it to.

I was just about to tell Harry that we should wait and see if the second dragon was going to return when I felt something brush against my back. Shocked, I snapped my head around to see what had touched me. In the process of doing so, I scrapped my chin on the rock I was crouched beside. The pain from the missing layer of skin was unnoticeable next to the shock of what my eyes beheld.

Standing directly behind me, staring me in the eyes was the biggest rat I had ever seen in my life. If that wasn’t bad enough, the damn thing had six legs that were three feet long. I could tell by the way its lips were pulled back to reveal a dozen razor sharp teeth that this rat meant trouble.

“Harry, we have most unwelcome company,” I hissed in his ear. I was not too keen of turning my back on the rat, but tapping Harry on the shoulder had proved useless in gaining his attention. I was not about to be put off with a wave of his hand this time.

When Harry turned to look at me and saw the rat standing behind me he looked puzzled for a second or two. The moment he realized that this was not an ordinary rat; he had his wand in his hand, pointed at the rat with the wand’s tip just inches from my nose. The rat backed away, but started shrieking and making a terrible racket. Before Harry or I could move, Luther’s head appeared out of the boulder opposite from the one we were hiding behind.

“Well, well. Look what we have here hiding behind this rock,” Luther said mockingly. “If you two boys would be kind enough to join the girls, we can get started.”

I knew Harry was thinking the same thing I was, ‘do we have any other options?’ Sadly, the answer was no and we both realized it. We would have to do as Luther said and hope that an opportunity would arise for us to create a diversion and escape. It was obvious that he would not hesitate to harm the girls if we did not do as he said.

Reluctantly, I backed out from between the opening between a boulder and the cliff wall we were sandwiched into, and Harry did likewise. As soon as we were both standing—which took several seconds as our hiding place was very narrow—Luther led the way to where the girls were sitting on the ground. The girls were obviously glad to see us as their faces lit up when they saw us, but Hermione looked sad at the same time and I wasn’t sure why. Luther ordered us to ‘sit down’ and we did so quietly.

“Before we get started, perhaps it would be a good idea to remove their baby teeth,” Eliza said to Luther.

“Yes, I believe you are right,” Luther replied. Turning his attention to us he said, “You will all throw your wands in the pool. Brutus, if they try anything, roast them!”

Brutus stretched is neck as far as it would go in our direction. I had no doubt that we would burn to death in a matter of seconds if the dragon belched up a fireball. Harry and Hermione exchanged glances with each other and reluctantly took out their wands and flung them into the pool. I immediately threw my wand into the pool as well. When Nicole did not produce a wand to throw, Luther became angry and started yelling at her.

“Nicole doesn’t own a wand,” I shot back defensively. “She just found out an hour or two ago that she has magical abilities.”

“Eliza, see if Alec is lying,” Luther ordered and Eliza quickly hovered around Nicole, passing through her several times.

“Alec speaks the truth, the child does not have a wand,” Eliza said as she floated back up to where Luther was glaring down at us.

When Eliza was passing through Nicole she came very close to passing threw me more than once. Thankfully, she never noticed the ancient cult wand that was still hidden inside my shirt. I was not sure what good it was going to do, but at least I still had it.

A shadow passed quickly overhead and a second dragon landed beside Brutus. Our chances of escaping were definitely getting worse by the minute. I had expected Nicole to flinch when the second dragon landed, but she just stared at them not showing the slightest bit of fear. She had the courage of a cougar, or a wolf. With that thought, I suddenly remembered that I could change into a wolf. I quickly concluded that it would be of little use to do so as either dragon would be more than a match for a wolf. ‘Keep thinking; something will come to mind,’ I told myself.

“Lucifer, the other ring, if you please,” Luther said to the second dragon. Lucifer bent his head forward and spit out a ring that landed at Harry’s feet.

“Put the ring on now, Harry,” Luther commanded. “I am in no mood for more futile resistance, so don’t try my patience.”

Harry picked up the ring, glanced at Hermione, and slipped the ring on his finger. Hermione seemed to deflate as Harry slid the ring on his finger. A single tear was streaming down her cheek as she leaned heavily against him.

“See, Hermione. It is as I told you it would be,” Luther said in mock empathy. “You and Harry will now be spending the rest of eternity on this island with your two friends, Ron and Gretchen, and of course let’s not forget ‘His Majesty, Cetus, King of the Dragons.’ I am sure you will all have a great time telling stories to each other.”

“However, you two will be staying here in spirit only,” Luther said, turning his attention to Nicole and me. “Your bodies will be leaving the island just as soon as we take them over and reach the surface of the island.”

Nicole’s trembling hand found its way into mine, which was trembling on its own. I was not surprised that her hand was shaking like a leaf. However, I was startled to realize that she had a small round ball hidden in the palm of her hand. After a few seconds, she withdrew her hand from mine and I closed my fingers around the ball, lowering my left hand so it was out of sight.

“All of you just sit tight while Eliza and I fetch the potion we will need to make the transfer,” Luther said to us. To the dragons he added, “make sure they stay exactly where they are right now.”

As soon as Luther and Eliza left, Nicole started saying a stream of words slowly and quietly. At first, I didn’t realize that she was talking to me, but then the words she was saying started to make sense. The ball in my hand was something the dragons craved. If I threw it at them, they would forget everything else in an effort to eat the ball.

But then what? I didn’t see how that was going to help us very much. Wait! What was it she had called the ball? A Vtoll sphere?…No, it was a Vitriol Sphere, that’s what she called it. I had the feeling that I had heard or seen that name before, but where? My mind was racing in every direction at once. I knew that the name should mean something to me, but for the life of me, I could not think of what.

Frustrated, I started reviewing all of the images I had received from both the ancient Slytherin wand and the ancient cult wand. Somewhere among them was the information I was looking for, I just had to find it.

As I searched through the images, I could feel each individual beat of my heart. I suddenly felt that I was inside my mind, completely sealed off from the outside world. The images flew by in a blinding blur, but I saw each one distinctly for a brief instant in time. There seemed to be some pattern to the way that the images were popping up, but exactly what it was escaped me. I had to be content with letting them just flow past in whatever order they came.

After what seemed like a thousand, countless images, the image of a sphere with long strings of what looked to be formulas flashed by. I was on to the next image before I realized what I had seen. Concentrating on the image I had just seen brought it back into focus. When I studied the image more closely, I realized that this image was from the ancient cult wand. It appeared to be instructions for making a Vitriol Sphere. After a quick glance, I realized that a large amount of energy went into making the seed for the sphere. The instructions carried several warnings as to the delicate nature of the seed and its need to be handled carefully. In addition, most of the processes used to make the seed were carried out in relative darkness. Exposed to light, the seed would absorb energy and the bonds that held the seed together would become unstable and release its energy.

Realizing that what I was holding in my hand could be made to explode if exposed to a bright light, I stopped reviewing images and returned my consciousness to the outside world. I had no idea of how much time had passed while I was cocooned in my mind. From all outward appearances, not too much as everyone, including the dragons was in the exact same position.

I was caught on the horns of a dilemma. Should I trigger the sphere now and risk unleashing ‘Lord-knows-what,’ or wait and see if some better option came along. I did not have a clue how big the explosion would be from the sphere I was holding. Even though I would rather die now than live on as a ghost, I was not sure the others felt the same way, and didn’t feel that I had the right to make that decision for them.

I tapped Nicole lightly on her leg to get her attention. Once I had it, I indicated by small head movements and facial expressions that I wanted Harry’s attention. She quickly understood my desire and obtained Hermione’s attention, although it took a couple of minutes to raise Hermione from her depression. Hermione looked at me with sad eyes, but quickly noticed the fact that I wanted her and Harry’s attention.

Both of the girls leaned back slightly so that I could see everyone’s faces and they could see mine. Once I had their attention, I had to come up with a way of telling them what I was holding and what I could do with it. This was not going to be easy, as the dragons were keeping a very close eye on us. While I was madly trying to think of a way to make my intentions known, I felt a tickle in my throat and coughed. In a flash of cockeyed inspiration, I realized that I had a way of conveying the idea of an explosion. I deliberately coughed a second time, exaggerating so that it sounded like a small explosion.

At first, they all looked at me as if I had lost my mind. I was sure the dragons would become suspicious if I did this too many times. On the third try, I covered my mouth with my right hand and snapped my fingers open when I coughed to portray an explosion. Thankfully, Harry and Hermione both caught on to what I was trying to tell them. After they exchanged a long searching glance at each other, they both gave their consent by nodding their heads very slightly.

I moved my right hand in a deliberate way to indicate that they should hit the ground when I set off the explosion. Once again, they nodded their understanding. Nicole seemed to be lost as to what I was going to do, so I took a chance and used her tactic of speaking a series of words that only she could hear. From the wild look in her eyes, I knew that she had understood what I wanted her to do.

Luckily, the dragons didn’t seem to be terribly concerned with the movements of my arms. As long as we sat still and didn’t try to get up they were content to sit and watch us, or at least that was the theory I was going by. If they would just sit still a few moments longer, we might pull this off.

I was so tense that moving my hand to pretend to scratch my stomach was painful. Very cautiously, I slipped my fingers inside my shirt and positioned the hilt of the ancient wand so that I could pull it out quickly in one swift movement.

I nodded almost imperceptibly to tell the others that I was ready. I noticed Harry and Hermione were holding each other’s hand as they signaled that they were ready. Nicole managed a very weak smile and took a deep breath in preparation for what I was about to do.

I tried relaxing my arms so that I would be able to throw the sphere into the air and pull out my wand, all in one smooth swift movement. The moment of truth had arrived. I was scared to death and I could feel the fear starting to take hold of me. Suddenly Gawain’s face appeared in my mind and I heard him repeat something he had told me on the day we visited the wand makers shop. ‘The decisions we make in moments of crisis are the ones that truly identify the nature of our being. This is especially true where the lives of others are in you hands.’

Almost before I realized that my arms had moved, I threw the Vitriol Sphere towards the dragons and drew my wand from my shirt.

I literally screamed, ‘Lumos Solarum’, gathered Nicole in my arms, and threw us over backwards just as a blinding flash of light lit up the entire area.

The instant we hit the ground we were flattened by an invisible force that squashed us into the dirt. All I could see were stars and I was unable to draw any air into my lungs. Fighting for air, I finally managed to get a small amount of air into my lungs and then more with each painful breath.

My vision started to return and I tried to see what had become of the dragons. Glancing back at the pool, I saw no sign of either one of them. Nicole was starting to moan beside me and I turned to look at Harry and Hermione. They were just starting to sit up, their faces covered with dirt and grime. First I sat up slowly and then I helped Nicole to a sitting position. I asked her how she was feeling and suddenly realized that all I could hear was a ringing in my ears. I knew she didn’t hear what I had said, as she did not respond.

Panicked, I grabbed her arm and shook it to get her attention. When I tried speaking to her, she got a puzzled look on her face and suddenly put a hand to her ear. She said something that I still could not hear. Looking past Nicole at Harry and Hermione I noticed that they seemed to be having difficulty hearing as well.

Harry got to his feet and helped Hermione to stand up. Nicole and I got slowly to our feet, helping each other up. Harry and Hermione headed for the pool, presumably to retrieve our wands. Fortunately, the wands were floating on the surface and I was able to summon them to me with the wand that I was still holding in my hand. I gave Harry and Hermione their wands back and then I slid the ancient wand inside my shirt for safekeeping.

I felt like my hearing was starting to return as I thought I heard Harry say ‘thanks’ when I handed him his wand. I knew for a fact that my hearing was coming back when I heard Hermione yell ‘Run!’ as a dark shadow passed overhead.

Before I could ask, ‘why or where to?’ Hermione grabbed Harry by the hand and headed for the opening between two large boulders directly opposite the pool. Nicole lit out after them and I did likewise.

Sirius: 7:25 PM

Slipping through the narrow connecting tunnel to the outer passageway, I felt a sense of ‘déjà vu.’ I glanced at Walt, who seemed to be experiencing the same feeling. One look towards the entrance of the passageway told me that we had not been in this particular passageway. The passageway we had used to enter the central core with its spiral staircase was not concealed behind a waterfall. Albus quickly headed for the entrance with Walt and I right behind him. To watch him move, one would never guess that he was over one hundred-fifty years old.

When we reached the entrance, Albus directed me to search to the left, while Walt searched to the right. As I followed the downward sloping ledge, I was on the lookout for any of the creatures we had seen on our last visit to the cavern. All of them were extremely dangerous and I didn’t want to be caught out here alone by any one of them. Moving quickly, I followed the ledge until it became too narrow to walk on. I scanned the landscape above and below me, looking for any sign of the kids, but saw nothing that did not belong. I retraced my steps back to the entrance of the passageway where Walt was already waiting with Albus.

“I assume that you did not find anything to indicate that our young people passed this way,” Albus said when I stepped behind the waterfall.

“That’s right, Albus. I did not see any sign of the boys or the girls.”

Just as I was about to ask Albus what he wanted to do next, a brilliant flash of light filled the cavern, followed almost immediately by the sound of a large explosion. Both the light and sound came from off to our right, but were a good distance away. A second later, we all felt the shockwave from the explosion and felt the ground shake beneath our feet.

“What the bloody hell was that?” I shouted as we all looked in the direction of the sound.

Albus quickly moved out onto the ledge to the right. Following him, we were just in time to see two dragons flying out across the lake. From the erratic way they were flying it was obvious that they had been stunned by the blast. Half way across the lake one of the dragons started losing altitude. The dragon was clearly struggling to stay in the air, but a hundred feet from shore, the dragon’s wings collapsed and it fell into the lake. The surface of the lake erupted into a mass of turmoil and the surface of the water turned blood red as the creatures of the lake devoured the dragon in just under a minute. The second dragon managed to reach the far side of the lake before it collapsed.

“Albus, that flash of light came from a wand,” Walt said urgently.

“Yes, Walt, I agree,” Albus answered gravely. “I’m afraid our youngsters are in mortal peril. We must hurry if we are to save them,” he added and quickly headed back inside the passageway, almost running for the connecting tunnel.

Gretchen: 7:30 PM

“Ron, I hope it does not take to long for Professor Dumbledore to find the others. I’m very worried, and when I get that way I have a hard time sitting around and just waiting for someone else to do something.”

“I know how you feel, Gretchen. Just waiting here is hard on me too. It makes me feel totally useless.”

“So what are we going to do?” I asked coyly.

“Just what the Professor said,” Ron replied looking at me hopefully. “If we go off and get ourselves lost then there will be six of us that need to be rescued. And besides, it is possible that Harry and Alec or Hermione and Nicole may come back inside on their own.”

“Ron, you know I am not going to be able to stand here and just do nothing.”

“You could hug me so I feel safe,” Ron replied, grinning wolfishly at me.

“Oh, that is going to make me feel so much better.”

“It was just a suggestion,” Ron replied meekly and I knew that I had hurt his feelings. After it was too late, I realized that Ron had made the suggestion just to keep my mind off my problems. When I was under stress, I didn’t always think before I spoke.

“Ron, I know it was,” I replied and hugged him, resting my head on his shoulder.

As soon as he wrapped his arms around me, I did feel calmer. I was about to tell him so when the floor suddenly shook just enough to notice.

“Gretchen, did you feel that?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Whatever caused it can’t be good.”

“That’s true, Ron. Now you can hug me even tighter, if you please.”

Less than a minute after the floor shook, Professor Dumbledore, Sirius and Walt came rushing back into the chamber. They paused only long enough for Professor Dumbledore to ask if anyone had returned. As soon as we said ‘No’ they hurried down the passageway to the right of the one they just emerged from. They disappeared so quickly that we didn’t even have time to ask what had caused the floor to shake or why they were in such a hurry.

“Ron, something is dreadfully wrong or the grownups would not have been in such a hurry.”

“I’m afraid you are right. I have never seen Professor Dumbledore move that quickly in all the years that I have known him.”

“I can’t sit here any longer. Ron, we have to follow them and find out what has happened.”

“Well, they didn’t tell us to stay here when they passed through, did they?”

“No, they didn’t, Ron. Quick, let’s hurry or we will lose them.”