The Phoenix Prophecy

Chapter Seventeen: The Return

Monday – Early Evening - July 21^st

Ron: 7:35 PM

We reached the entrance to the passageway Professor Dumbledore, Sirius and Walt had entered just in time to see Walt slip silently into the connecting tunnel near the end of the passageway. Gretchen and I sprinted down the passageway and entered the connecting tunnel just a few seconds after Walt disappeared from view. The tunnel was much narrower than I expected, but we soon navigated our way around two corners and emerged into another passageway just in time to catch up with the grown-ups.

“Professor Dumbledore, we would like to come along, if that is all right with you?” I called out breathlessly when he, Walt and Sirius turned to look at us as we stepped out into the short passageway.

“Perhaps that would be for the best under the present circumstances,” he replied casting a glance at Sirius as if to get his approval.

“I agree, Albus,” Sirius answered, looking more relieved than I thought he would be. “I would feel more comfortable if Ron and Gretchen were right where I could see them.”

“Then the matter is settled,” Professor Dumbledore concluded. Looking first at Gretchen and then at me, he added, “For your own safety, please do exactly as we tell you.”

“Yes, sir. We will,” I replied and quickly glanced at Gretchen to make sure she got the message. I was pretty sure that she would not disobey a direct order from Professor Dumbledore. However, I was coming to learn that with Gretchen, nothing could be taken for granted.

Gretchen and I did as the Professor instructed. We followed them to the end of the passageway, which opened into a cavern the likes of which I had never seen before. I would never have expected to find anything so breath taking buried deep inside the island. It was literally mesmerizing. I could barely force myself to stop staring at it and pay attention to what the grown-ups were saying.

“If the four of you will please remain here, I wish to investigate the area around the cascading waterfall off to our right,” Professor Dumbledore said after gazing intently around the cavern for several seconds.

“Albus, this place is very dangerous. Are you sure you don’t want Walt or I to accompany you,” Sirius suggested, looking genuinely concerned.

“No, I will be fine. I will return momentarily,” Professor Dumbledore replied and quickly headed out along the narrow ledge that lead to the waterfall he had indicated.

We watched as he made his way along the ledge and stopped next to a large boulder at the near side of the waterfall. For what seemed like a long time, but was in fact only a few minutes, the professor surveyed the area while I hardly dared to breathe. I was expecting something horrible to happen at any second. Finally, Professor Dumbledore returned, looking extremely troubled, which did little to quell the anxiety that was steadily building within me.

“I am quite certain that the explosion that we heard and felt took place very near the pool at the base of the waterfall,” he began earnestly. “I did not see any sign of any of the other youngsters. However, I did see the back end of a copperback dragon with its head thrust inside an opening between two large boulders. I think we can safely assume that the dragon has one or more of the youngsters trapped inside that opening.”

“Albus, did you see any signs of blood?” Sirius asked hesitantly.

“No, I did not.”

“Well at least that’s a good sign,” Sirius replied, his tension easing noticeably. “Hopefully the kids are still alive and all in one piece.”

“Albus, are you sure it was a copperback dragon?” Walt asked, looking extremely grave.

“Yes, I am quite sure. In addition, from its markings, I am certain that this dragon is a female.”

“Oh, brother. This is not good,” Walt exclaimed softly.

“I am afraid that I must concur,” Professor Dumbledore added heavily. “Luring the dragon away from the pool is not going to be an easy task, and it will be very dangerous.”

“Professor, what is so special about a copperback dragon?” Gretchen asked nervously. I could tell that she had noticed Walt and Dumbledore’s deep concern just as I had.

“Copperback dragons are extremely intelligent and very vicious,” Professor Dumbledore replied slowly and I felt a shiver shoot through me. “For their size, copperbacks are the deadliest of dragons, the female being much more cunning than the male. Their skin is protected by powerful magic that is virtually impossible to penetrate. In addition, copperback dragons can emit a small bolt of lightening from the horns mounted just above their eyes. Even without this short-range lightening bolt, they are still a formidable challenge due to their powerful talons, razor sharp tail, fire-breathing abilities, and lastly their ability to imitate a chameleon and blend in with their surroundings.”

“Gretchen, I’m sorry you had to ask,” I told her after I forced my stomach back down where it belonged. “Maybe this dragon just looks like a copperback, after all, nothing else is as it seems in this place,” I suggested, hoping that it might be true.

“Ron does have a point, Albus,” Sirius added. “It is possible that this dragon was bred by the cult and only looks like a copperback.”

“I can not deny your point, Sirius. However, I think it would be prudent to proceed on the assumption that this is indeed a copperback dragon and therefore extremely dangerous,” Professor Dumbledore answered firmly. “If I am not mistaken, you mentioned that you saw three dragons in the cavern earlier today.”

“Yes, that’s right,” answered Sirius cautiously, apparently unaware what the professor was getting at.

“A short time ago we saw one dragon fall into the lake where it was apparently consumed by unknown creatures in the lake, and another fell into the trees just beyond the edge of the lake, its condition unknown to us. Unless there are more than three copperback dragons in this cavern then the only one that need concern us is the female over by the waterfall.”

“The way our luck has been running, I think we can count on there being more than three dragons,” Walt replied sarcastically. From the look on his face, I was sure that he wasn’t counting on just having to deal with one dragon.

“I don’t believe in luck,” Professor Dumbledore replied firmly. “Fate, possibly. Being in the wrong place at the wrong time, absolutely.”

“Let’s hope this isn’t that time or place,” Sirius added, looking exceedingly grim.

At this point, I was more than willing to let the grown-ups handle the entire affair. I could have done just that if it were not for the fact that my two best friends along with two other innocent people were presumably being held captive by the copperback dragon. The sweat running down my back felt cold and I shivered involuntarily. Gretchen noticed and looked at me with a weak smile.

“I’m just as scared as you are,’ she whispered in my ear so that only I would hear after letting go of my hand a wrapping her arm around my waist.

“Albus, do you have a plan for how we might proceed?” Sirius asked after a short pause in which Professor Dumbledore seemed to be contemplating his options.

“Yes, I do,” he began slowly, as if working out the details as he explained them. “I will transfigure into a hippogriff and try to draw the dragon away from—

“That’s not a plan, it’s suicide,” Walt interrupted, spitting out the words. “A hippogriff is no match for a copperhead dragon.”

“I realize that this is very risky,” Professor Dumbledore replied. I was shocked that he didn’t know some spell that could defeat the dragon or at least put the bloody beast to sleep. “Our only viable tactic is diversion. A hippogriff will be large enough to attract the dragon’s attention and not succumb to the dragon’s lightening bolts or fireballs. My plan is to attract the dragon’s attention, then fly as quickly as possible a third of the way around the island, and take refuge in one of the other passageways. I should be able to keep the dragon occupied for several minutes once I reach the passageway and thereby give you sufficient time to extract the youngsters and return safely to this passageway. Once you have safely rescued the others, return to the inner chamber and I will join you there.”

“Maybe we should wait and see if the dragon leaves of its own accord?” Sirius suggested.

“I do not believe we can afford to wait as we do not know the condition of our youngsters,” Professor Dumbledore answered patiently. “The longer we wait to act, the greater the risk that one or more of our youngsters may be seriously injured.”

Both Sirius and Walt looked like they didn’t think much of the Professor’s plan, as they agreed to go along most begrudgingly. Glancing at Gretchen I could tell that she wasn’t very enthusiastic about the plan either. I could think of several things that could go wrong, deadly wrong.

Professor Dumbledore stood at the very end of the passageway overlooking the cavern and transfigured himself into a hippogriff. Even though I had been close to hippogriffs, one in particular, during my third year, I was startled by the sudden appearance of the formidable looking beast.

With a powerful leap and a great rush of air, the hippogriff took to the air and flew towards the waterfall on our right. None of us said a word as we watched the beast approach the waterfall. The tension I was feeling was almost unbearable. Gretchen took her arm from around my waist and grabbed a hold of my hand as soon as the professor took to the air, squeezing it harder than she probably realized.

As soon as the hippogriff was in front of the waterfall, it gave out a loud cry that we could plainly hear from where we were standing. I expected the hippogriff to immediately continue flying around the island for all its worth as soon as it let out a cry to attract the dragon’s attention. When the hippogriff landed on the ledge at the base of the waterfall and cried out again, we all gasped. Walt asked Sirius what the professor was up to without ever taking his eyes off the hippogriff.

“I have absolutely no idea,” Sirius replied, obviously just as stunned by Professor Dumbledore’s behavior as Walt was.

I kept willing Dumbledore’s hippogriff to take to the air and fly for safety, but he just stood there staring in the direction of the waterfall. Not being able to see the dragon or what the dragon’s reaction was to the sudden appearance of a hippogriff was maddening.

What happened next was so unexpected that my mouth dropped open and all I could manage to say was, “what the—

“What in the bloody blazes of Hell does he think he’s doing?” Sirius exclaimed, finishing my sentence for me. “He never said anything about—

Before Sirius could finish his sentence there was a great bellowing roar, followed instantly by a fireball that shot directly towards the professor. To my horror, Professor Dumbledore deliberately fell over backwards and started falling, the dragon’s fireball just missing him by mere inches.

“No!” the four of us screamed in unison as the professor plunged towards the ground below.

My stomach was knotted so badly that I felt as if I was going to throw-up. Then, suddenly without warning, the professor transfigured back into a hippogriff in mid air and took off flying just as dragon took to the air from directly in front of the waterfall.

The dragon was wicked fast and was diving towards Dumbledore before the professor had flown a hundred feet. Within seconds, the dragon had caught up with the hippogriff and let loose with a bolt of lightening.

The lightening bolt hit the hippogriff in the right rear flank, burning a deep gash into the flesh and momentarily stunning it. Gretchen let out a small muffled scream as I gasped when the hippogriff plunged towards the lake, completely out of control. My heart, which had stopped beating, started beating again when the hippogriff suddenly regained control and banked away from the lake, towards the cliff wall at the base of the island. An instant later, the hippogriff landed abruptly in a small opening in the trees that ringed the base of the island. We just barely caught a brief glimpse of Professor Dumbledore after he transfigured back to his human form and disappeared into the trees.

For several seconds no one said anything, we were all too stunned by what had just taken place. The dragon was flying in tight circles directly over the spot where the professor had disappeared into the trees and was bellowing ferociously over the loss of its prey.

“Well, that sure went according to plan,” grumbled Sirius sarcastically.

“The professor did manage to lure the dragon away from the waterfall,” Gretchen added and shrugged her shoulders when Sirius turned and glared at her.

I was just about to say something to Gretchen when her words hit home. The dragon was gone. It was now or never.

Without a moment’s hesitation, I lit out across the ledge, moving as swiftly and surely as I could. I was extremely conscious of the fact that I was totally exposed on the ledge. All it would take was for the dragon to look up and it would spot me in an instant. Knocking a loose stone off the ledge would have been just as bad, so I was very careful where I placed my feet. I knew that what I was doing was reckless, but Harry was my best mate and I was sure he would have done the same for me.

I reached the boulder beside the waterfall and let out a silent sigh of relief. As I turned back to wave to the others that I was okay, Gretchen collided into me, knocking us both to the ground.

“Gretchen, what do you think you’re doing?” I hissed furiously.

“The same thing you are doing, Ron,” she shot back, her voice barely more than a whisper. “The others are not just your friends, they are mine too. And besides, where you go, I go. So stop sputtering like an over-protective male and let’s get going. We probably don’t have very much time.”

One look at Gretchen’s face told me that I was not about to win this argument. Deep down inside I was glad that she was at my side. We could at least watch each other’s backs. I quickly glanced over to the entrance of the passageway where Sirius and Walt were still standing. I had expected to see them dashing across the ledge. Instead, they were waving at us to go and check out the opening Professor Dumbledore had said the dragon was guarding.

Cautiously I peered around the front side of the boulder, half expecting something to leap out at me. About fifteen to twenty feet beyond where I was standing, I spotted an opening between to large boulders big enough to walk through. Motioning for Gretchen to follow, I started inching my way around the boulder, ready to jump back at the first sign of trouble.

Once we were out of Sirius and Walt’s sight, I decided to make a quick break for the opening. If the copperback returned, we wouldn’t stand a chance. I glanced at Gretchen, nodding my head in the direction of the opening and sprinted for the opening as noiselessly as possible.

There was enough light entering the small cave through the opening we had just passed through so that we could see the major features of the cave. As there was almost nothing to look at except a door set in the far end of the cave we didn’t miss anything.

Suddenly my left leg felt as if it had brushed against a hot fireplace iron. The pain was incredible and I had all I could do to keep from crying out. I knew that to do so was to invite death in the jaws of the dragon. Clenching my teeth, I looked down to see a small animal gnawing away at my leg. Gretchen must have noticed the creature the instant it attacked as she hit it with a ‘Stupefy’ spell, which sent the creature scurrying for the shadows.

“Ron, you’re bleeding…can you walk?” she asked as I stumbled forward towards the door.

“Yes, I can still walk. It hurts like the dickens, but I’ll manage. What do you think it was?”

“I don’t know, Ron. Let’s just hope there aren’t any more of them in here.”

“You got that right,” I agreed and started looking for a means on opening the door. A quick inspection failed to turn up any way of opening the door. I tried the ‘Alohomora’ spell, but the door just creaked without opening.

While I was looking for a way to open the door, Gretchen pressed her ear to the door, trying to hear noises on the other side.

“Ron, I’m not positive, but I think I can hear voices coming from behind the door.”

We both placed an ear to the door and listened intently for any sounds coming from behind the door. For several seconds all I could hear was the sound of scratching against the door. It sounded as if hundreds of tiny claws were trying to dig their way through the door. Then at last, I head the sound of voices. The voices were so muted that I could not understand what they were saying; I just knew that they were human voices.

“Ron, that sounds like Hermione and Harry,” Gretchen whispered excitedly.

“I think you’re right, Gretchen. It does sound like them.”

“What do we do now?”

“Try and get their attention. That’s what,” I answered and started pounding softly on the door.

“I think they may have heard your pounding, Ron. They have stopped talking.”

“Harry, Hermione, it’s Ron and Gretchen. Can you hear us?” I called a loudly as I dared and then waited for a response.

Madelyn: 7:35 PM

It had been almost an hour since Sirius, Walt and Albus left to round up the kids. I had expected them to return within thirty minutes, at the most. It was obvious from the dwindling conversation that Martha and Minerva were becoming just as concerned as I was. We had had more than our share of excitement for one day. I wasn’t sure what I would do if our men turned up missing too.

“Madelyn, perhaps we should start serving dinner,” Martha said, interrupting my worried thoughts. “Our guests look dreadfully hungry. I’m sure my girls are ready to eat.”

“I think you’re right, Martha. If nothing else it will give us something to do while we wait.”

“Good point,” Martha replied as she stood up and headed for the kitchen, taking her girls with her.

“Minerva, we are going to begin serving dinner in a few minutes,” I told her when she glanced up at me after I stood up.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Roxanne asked.

“No, not really. Just gather around that large table,” I added pointing at a long table big enough to sit ten people.

I quickly hurried to the kitchen to help Martha and her girls, leaving Minerva to get everyone situated around the table that we would serve dinner on. I almost collided with Annie and Katie as I entered the kitchen. They where loaded down with baskets of bread and other food, heading for the table.

“You know, Martha. As charming as Marcus’ living quarters are, I will be very happy when we leave this island,” I said, “Anything I could do to help out with dinner?”

“You won’t get any argument from me on that.” Martha replied easily. “For the past hour I have been thinking of how much I miss our farm. Even after all that has happened, I really miss the place.”

“I’m sure you do. Even though I have only spent a few days there myself, I kind of miss it too.”

“I was thinking,” Martha began wistfully, “that maybe the kids, Walt and I would go and wait at the farm while you finish collecting the ingredients you need for the ‘Impervious’ charm. It would give us a chance to collect our belongings that we want to take to Earth with us.”

“That sounds like a great idea, Martha. If fact, if it’s all right with you, we would love to use your farm for a base as we collect the remaining three ingredients.”

“Of course it’s all right, Madelyn. We would be disappointed if you didn’t come to the farm,” Martha replied warmly.

“The people daddy and Sirius brought must be starving, they ate all the bread already,” Annie said as she and Katie entered the kitchen.

“We had best hurry and serve the main course,” Martha replied, directing her girls as what to carry out next. “Madelyn, would you take that platter of vegetables?”

“Sure, Martha. It’s too bad Marcus didn’t have a house elf or two. They really are good at preparing meals.”

“It’s been many a long year since house elves prepared any of my meals,” Martha replied as she picked up a large steaming casserole and followed me to the table.

Sirius: 7:45 PM

I was so intent on watching what had happened to Albus that I didn’t realize Ron and Gretchen had dashed off towards the waterfall until they were almost there. If I hadn’t of been so shocked, I would have been angry at them pulling such a stupid stunt. My first impulse was to follow them, but at that instant, Walt grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back inside the passageway. The dragon had turned to look up in our direction and was staring directly at us.

“Walt, Ron and Gretchen are completely exposed, we have to do something,” I said after we were out of the dragon’s line of sight.

“The only thing we can do for them now is to not draw the dragon’s attention to them,” Walt answered, a definite note of desperation in his voice.

I was just about to ask Walt if we should try to attract the dragon’s attention to keep her from spotting Ron or Gretchen when the entrance to the passageway we were standing in suddenly became darker.

“‘Obstructo’!” Walt exclaimed, pointing his wand at the opening to the passageway and twirling it in a small circular pattern as if spraying something over a large area.

A bluish colored barrier quickly formed across the entrance of the passageway, and not a moment too soon. The dragon belched out a fireball headed straight at Sirius and I. It hit the protective screen Walt had created and sizzled loudly, but did not penetrate into the passageway.

“That shield won’t stand up much longer,” Walt shouted and started running for the connecting tunnel, which was only ten feet away. Having no other choice, I quickly followed him into the tunnel, but not before I took one last look at the dragon. In the brief instant that our eyes locked together, I realized that out of all the non-human creatures I had ever encountered, this one was by far the most frightening and evil beast I had ever laid eyes on.

Harry: 7:45 PM

“Nicole, stop!” I commanded when I thought I heard a pounding noise coming from somewhere below us.

Everyone stood perfectly still and I listened intently for any more sounds. Just as I was about to write the pounding noise off to my imagination, I heard the distinct sound of human voices, coming from somewhere below us.

“That sounds like Ron and Gretchen,” Hermione said excitedly when the voices continued.

“You’re right, it is them,” I replied eagerly. “How did they ever manage to find us?”

“I’m more interested in how they got past that bloody dragon,” Hermione said, a puzzled look on her face.

“Maybe the dragon gave up and left after it could not get to us,” I offered as a possible explanation.

“Well, that’s obvious,” Hermione replied impatiently. “The question is…how do we get them past the dracks?”

“Pardon me, but shouldn’t the question be, ‘how do we get out of this room now that the dragon has gone’,” I asked, suddenly wondering what Hermione had in mind for us.

“Harry, I am just as anxious as you are to get out of here…” Hermione replied and I knew the catch was coming, “but, I am almost positive that the agent for the aging spell is located in the room just ahead of us. If the agent itself is not located in the room, then I am sure we will find some information that will lead us to where the agent is located.”

Before I could respond, Iseult disapparated with a loud pop.

“Where did she go…and why?” I asked Fawkes, not really expecting an answer, but merely asking aloud to voice my thoughts.

Fawkes looked at me with his sharp eyes and ruffled his feathers, but said nothing as I knew would be the case.

Turning to Hermione, I started to ask, “You don’t suppose—

A second loud pop interrupted my question, Nicole squealed in surprise as Ron and Gretchen, hanging onto Iseult’s tail, materialized on the steps just above her.

“Hi every—where are we?” Ron blurted out as he and Gretchen quickly pressed their backs to the wall.

“We are in Mortius’ secret room,” Hermione replied. “At least I think that’s what this place is.”

“Oh joy of joys,” Ron replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “I take it that the door in front of us does not lead back inside,” he added, jerking his thumb in the direction of the door.

“To be completely truthful, I’m not certain what we will find beyond that door,” answered Hermione, a definite note of apprehension in her voice.

“So you were going to send Nicole in first, just in case,” Ron accused, after he looked at Hermione and me standing below Nicole and Alec. “And you agreed to this?” he asked Nicole disbelievingly.

“No!” Hermione protested loudly before Nicole could answer. “I was in the lead until the door swung open and knocked me off the stairs.”

Ron and Gretchen both peered cautiously over the edge of the stairs. “You couldn’t have survived a fall from this height,” Ron said, looking very bewildered.

“I’m quite sure I would have died had it not been for Fawkes who caught me just before I hit the floor,” answered Hermione. “He set me on the step I am now standing on as the one you are standing on is presumably too close to the ceiling.

“I’m sorry, Hermione,” Ron said apologetically. “I should have known that you would be in the lead.”

“That’s okay. Now that you and Gretchen are here, you two can lead the way,” Hermione replied and threw me a quick smile.

“Oh, thanks. We really appreciate the honor,” Ron replied, not meaning a single word of what he just said.

Reluctantly Ron turned to face the open door a few steps ahead of him. After taking a couple of deep breaths, he started slowly towards the door and the dark room that lay beyond.