Chapter Nine - The Serpent's Barrow
The day of meetings passed in a blur. Hermione suffered through the meeting with Marketing with the assistance of Irving, who stepped in for his boss who went home after becoming acutely ill from something she ate for breakfast, thanks to a Skiving Snackbox that Hermione had brought with her. Elsewhere, Oscar and MT assisted the local wizarding law enforcement agencies in scouring the area for any sign of Terri, the missing artifacts or the local Stuart supporters.
Mid-afternoon turned up an informer who wanted to arrange a meeting with Hermione during the game tonight with an agent of the persons selling the artifacts. Sensing a trap, they pushed the meeting until the break in the seventh inning, something the Americans called the `seventh inning stretch' to give the real Hermione enough time to get into place. Darkness fell just as the sixth inning was beginning, so Hermione, Oscar, and Cooks with Thunder apparated into a wooded area, over two hundred miles from the stadium. Looking around, the park was deserted, as had been arranged with the muggle authorities.
Picking their way carefully across the open ground to the mound, Hermione was amazed by the size and scope of the ancient monument known as Serpent Mound. She could feel the residue of ancient power and magic that surrounded the structure. Half thinking aloud, Hermione muttered, "At least the old prat left enough clues to figure out how to get into this monstrosity." Shaking her head, she walked slowly, feeling the currents of magic, looking for something that led into the mound.
Shaking his head, Oscar looked around, peering into the darkness that surrounds them. "No one's ever been able to find a chamber or interior space in Serpent Mound. What are you looking for?"
"Hopefully he was nasty, rather than clever when he sealed his bolt hole." Shaking her head, she closed her eyes for a second, straining to feel which way the magic was flowing around the mound. "If he was clever, then I'm going to have to call on my skeleton key to get us in."
Opening her eyes, she moved forward to a spot by the edge of the mound where she could see faint patterns in the soil under the sod. Shaking her head at the residual feeling of wrongness left behind by the ancient use of blood magic, she grimaced. "He went for sacrifice, rather than being clever." Looking around she sighed. "Probably a good choice. A formal portal here would have tipped the fact that there was an entrance to something."
Looking bewildered, Oscar glanced around to see if he could spot what she was talking about. Cooks with Thunder was staring at a particular spot on the ground with a look of utter disdain. "Is that the spot?"
"It appears so. At least this spot did something, once upon a time. It's been used in the recent past, but not recently." Shrugging and looking at Cooks with Thunder, she wondered aloud. "What do you think, a couple of ways in and out?"
"The People have catalogued three, over the years." Shrugging, the house-elf crouched on his heels and watched the two humans. "One is seasonal and only appears near the mouth of the serpent at the winter solstice. Of the other two, this one takes the most power and the least sacrifice to activate. The other takes less power, but more blood to open. We surmise that this was the lesser known of the entrances, used by Slytherin himself while the other was the one his followers used." Shaking his head in disgust, he turned his head and spat. "Typical Dark foolishness. He seeks to weaken anyone coming in to make them less of a threat."
Smiling, Hermione nodded. "True, but since we know the way in, and have enough ability to open this side door, we can avoid most of the penalty." Turning to Oscar, she held her hand out, over a particular piece of sod. "Oscar, did you bring the penknife I asked for?"
Nodding cautiously, he handed it to her. "Here it is, but I'm not certain I like the thought of you feeding this doorway."
Smiling she took the small knife from his hand and flicked it open with practiced ease. "Oscar, don't go all chivalrous on me, or I'll have to tell your sister that you're actually quite a gentleman." Smiling as he blushed, she patted his hand, carefully. "It's just a small cut and I'll be able to heal it once we're through the door. If I'm going to open the door, then I'm the one who has to `donate' to power it." Nodding towards Cooks with Thunder, she added. "Once we're inside the first time, we won't have to use the doors if it becomes necessary to exit and reenter. Cooks with Thunder here can bring us in and out, once he's been in or once one of us has entered and can direct him to wherever this door leads."
Holding her hand out outstretched, she took the small knife in her off hand and quickly slashed the palm of her hand. Wincing just a bit as the razor sharp blade flashed through her skin, the blood immediately began to well. Turning her hand over, she watched with an intense fascination as her blood began to drip into the square of sod she had previously identified. As the drops hit the sod, they are quickly absorbed into the ground. A sickly green glow begins to emanate from ground as pale silver tracings outline the edge of the effected area. The ground within the silver tracings began to roil.
"You two step into the area that's active." Nodding to Oscar, she motioned towards the square in front of them. "Once I step in, I'll activate the door and we should be inside wherever this leads to." Watching as Oscar and Cooks with Thunder gingerly stepped into the area, she kept the blood dripping as she stepped into the square. As her foot left the ground outside the area, the green glow intensified and she felt that queasy feeling of her stomach being elsewhere she always associated with magical travel.
As the green glow faded, the trio found themselves in a large open underground space. Looking around, Hermione noticed that the room looked eerily familiar. The high vaulted ceiling was lost in the fey green glow that surrounded the snake entwined stone pillars that disappeared into the gloom. "I think the same decorator did this place that did the Chamber of Secrets back at Hogwarts."
Nodding towards the distant end of the room that was shrouded in darkness, she grimaced. "If this place stays true to form, there's a very ugly statue down there of Salazar Slytherin." Shivering a bit, she remembered the last time she had been in the Chamber. "Hopefully no basilisk, living or dead in this one, but the door behind us should open into a series of stone tunnels and chambers."
Looking around, Oscar tried to peer into the dark recesses of the room. "Basilisk?"
Shrugging, Hermione tried to look unconcerned. "A pet that Slytherin left behind at Hogwarts to watch over the place and await the return of his true heir. It was a close thing but Harry was able to kill it our second year."
Trying not to look too disbelieving, Oscar turned towards Hermione. "A twelve year old student took down a basilisk?"
"And a copy of Voldemort's soul, all while rescuing a classmate from a very nasty death." Smiling at
the look on Oscar's face she shook her head. "Honestly, don't you
Americans read the papers? Harry, Ron and I told our story to the `Quibbler' after the war was over. I thought that
was a very rousing chapter, even though I was stuck in the hospital wing for the finale of it."
Snorting, Cooks with Thunder shook his head and moved towards the door. "Leave it to Silver Otter to make something like that sound like an afternoon's diversion." Extending his arms, he concentrated on the door. "If we're supposed to go through this, I think you'll find the fact that all of the hardware is on the other side a slight drawback." Shaking his head, he looked over his shoulder at Hermione. "You mentioned a plan?"
Sighing, Hermione shook her head as she examined the door. Entwined carvings of various poisonous serpents adorned the otherwise spartan frame to the massive bronze doors. Standing up, Hermione brushed her palms against her jeans. "I don't suppose either of you is a parselmouth?" Looking between her two comrades, she hopefully beseeched each one to admit to being able to converse with snakes.
Cooks with Thunder smiled, but shook his head no while Oscar just stared at her in disbelief. "I had to ask, it was a long shot but it would keep me from having to go to my backup plan if it worked."
Shaking her head, she sighed. "Bother, he's going to be bloody pissed." Looking sheepish, she stepped away from the other two and pointed her wand at an open spot on the ground. Murmuring a quiet "Expecto patronum" silvery strands began to coalesce and her familiar otter was cavorting on the floor, chittering animatedly at the gloom that surrounded them.
Smiling, Hermione allowed the mustelid to play for a couple of seconds before she cleared her throat. "That's just enough of that. Go find Ron and tell him I need him to open a snake-covered door for me. Don't worry, there's no basilisk this time, just a couple of stubborn thieves." Nodding towards her patronus, she watched as the silver otter leapt into the air, buzzed a circle around the house-elf's head and then zoomed off into the darkness.
"Your boyfriend is a parselmouth?" Oscar asked disbelievingly. "Irving said that Ron seemed like a normal guy."
Trying not to frown at Oscar's characterization, Hermione shook her head. "Ron's anything but normal, but he isn't a parselmouth." Hermione smiled grimly as she was imagining Ron's reaction to being awakened by her request. "However, he is an expert mimic, and he listened to an actual parselmouth open one of Slytherin's doors years ago and was able to repeat it several years later when we needed back in the Chamber of Secrets."
Shaking her head, remembering Ron's usual reaction to these missions of hers, she sighed. "He's not going to be happy with this, but I'm certain he'll come through for us."
Refusing to worry about the lecture she was going to get about needing a parselmouth for her innocent `souvenir hunt', Hermione bit her lower lip while she waited for an answer. Cooks with Thunder snorted and shook his head. "You have something to add?"
"You know the Red Knight will aid you, you worry needlessly about his concern for you. Quiet, Silver Otter, I sense the approach of your friend." Nodding towards the far end of the hall, a silvery light began to brighten the gloom.
Streaking through the dark, a small silver terrier landed in front of Hermione. Looking at her with disapproval, or as much disapproval as a Jack Russell terrier can register, the dog shook it's head and glared up at her. "As soon as I'm finished playing skeleton key, I'm going to go have a word with Francis `travel agent' Bethune."
Turning his head the small dog opened his mouth and a serious of sibilant hisses came out of his mouth. Sitting and looking very dissatisfied, the dog continued to glower at Hermione as the serpents around the edge of the doors began to writhe and retract. The two bronze doors slowly opened outwards as the glow of the unhappy patronus faded from sight.
While the great hall they arrived in was sheathed in shadows, the outer passageway was downright gloomy. A dry musky scent permeated the air, and the passage was surprisingly clean for a long abandoned complex, as if something had regularly swept through the corridors. Echoing through the stone passages, the three could hear the sounds of magical combat coming from somewhere ahead.
"A falling out among thieves?" Oscar whispered, trying to hear how far away the combatants were.
Shaking her head, Hermione looked over at Cooks with Thunder. "More likely a mutual double cross between the followers of Slytherin and the hired thieves." Looking over at a large scale lying against a protruding stone, she shrugged. "Or one of Salazar's guardians decided that dinner had been delivered." Watching the house-elf shrug in return, she sighed. "Forward, I suppose. If there's going to be anyone left for you to arrest, I suppose we're going to have to go and rescue the bad guys."
Starting forward, the trio tried to move cautiously as they navigated the unfamiliar passages. The oppressive gloom was relieved by the faint glow from the two wands, but the feeling of wrongness intensified as the sounds of combat increased.
Winding their way through the darkened tunnels, they could see flashes of light and sounds of explosions coming from around one last bend that seemed to open into a larger space. Nodding at each other, Hermione and Oscar doused the lights from their wands and with Cooks with Thunder they slowly stepped around the last bend to see what they would find.
The tunnel opened into a larger chamber, and it appeared that their doorway was high on one of the walls. Looking down they could see two distinct groups in the egg-shaped chamber in the eerie green light that bathed the scene. Four figures in dark robes and cowls were taking cover behind a couple of broken columns and a large stone table concentrating on the other two figures in the room.
The other two wizards, dressed in muggle clothes were holed up behind a particularly ugly stone statue that had fallen on its side. The two were taking turns firing curses at the others while they shouted offers to the dark wizards that were attacking them. Between the two, was a large framed object that could only be the An Bratach Sith.
Grinning, Oscar whispered, "I suppose we could wait until one side or the other wins and then mop up the rest?" Looking hopefully at Hermione, he quickly lost his grin at her scowl. "Suppose not."
Shaking her head, Hermione whispered back. "That's a bad idea on several levels. Not the least of which is that you're a law enforcement official, you're supposed to arrest the lot, not just the survivors." Watching the battle down below, she continued. "Besides, how long before those two decide that unleashing a fairy host, or attempting to, might be preferably to falling in the hands of those blighters."
Patting him on the shoulder, she chuckled. "If we play our cards right, we can take them down before they know we're here." Quickly casting a disillusionment on Oscar and then herself, she watched as Cooks with Thunder faded from view without her assistance. Stepping into the chamber, the moved cautiously down the steps cut into the wall of the chamber to the lower level. Flanking the four dark wizards, Hermione put her hand on Oscar's forearm to halt him.
Nodding towards the wizard that was slightly behind the rest, she timed the curses from the other two and just as a blast from the others covered her spell, she cast a silent stupefy at the wizard's back, and was rewarded as the red beam slammed into the dark wizard and he slumped silently to the ground, unnoticed by his companions. Nodding towards the next one, Hermione pointed to Oscar. Watching with amusement, she saw him move his wand in an unfamiliar pattern as a grayish beam caught the dark wizard on the shoulder. He flopped bonelessly to the ground.
Nodding towards Cooks with Thunder, she indicated the dark wizard on the right. Focusing his eyes on the dark wizard, the house-elf made a slashing move with his right hand while he cupped his left as if catching something. The dark wizard was drawn towards them, transfiguring into a small furry figure as it approached. A small ground squirrel appeared in the palm of the house-elf's hand and he placed it a pouch that hung from his belt.
The final dark wizard, finally noticing that events had turned against him, stood behind the column, began looking around for who or what had taken down his companions. Grabbing a wicked looking dagger from the belt around his robes, he slashed the blade deep into his palm. In a loud voice, he cried out. "Bring forth the champion of The Founder."
Collapsing as a pair of beams from the other two caught him, the room fell into a relative silence for a couple of moments. Then a high pitched whistling sound was heard from behind the two wizards dressed in muggle clothes, and an orange coloured beam lashed out of the darkness towards the statue that they were hiding behind.
Exploding in a flash, the statue's fragments flew through the chamber. Slithering out of the darkness, an enormous serpent came into view. Hermione stared in fascination at the wickedly sharp set of antlers that crowned its head, on either side of a sickly glowing orange crystal that was embedded in the creature's head. Hermione didn't need Cooks with Thunder's muttered "Uktena" or Oscar's "not again" to recognize the monstrous serpent from MT's description.
Looking sharply around the debris littered room, Hermione whispered to her companions. "Let's split up and see if we can take that monster out. Cooks with Thunder, keep an eye on those two, don't let them take advantage of the chaos to escape or make things worse." Moving to her right, she noticed that the uktena started tracking her the moment she moved, swiveling its antler-crowned head in her direction.
Launching herself at an angle to the direction she was heading, she felt the heat from the orange beam as it passed her, slamming into the spot she was standing with a sizzling crack. Stung by the shards of stone that erupted from the impact, she watched as her stunner slid off the body of the serpent. Noticing that the area that she had targeted had glowed with an orange light for a split second when she cast her curse, she moved again trying to get an angle on the serpent's head.
Seeing Oscar's beam strike the snake and bounce off from the corner of her eye, she saw the same telltale orange glow from the impact site. Watching the evil head turn in Oscar's direction, she took aim and muttered "nox sphaera" and a globe of darkness formed around the head of the serpent.
Shouting "Take it down before the darkness fades!" she channeled all of her annoyance with the entire adventure through her wand as she slammed several well-placed stunners into the serpent's body.
A sickly globe of yellow encircled the area behind the head and she could see the flesh start to slough off in ribbons. Hearing a shout of pain, she turned her head slightly to see Cooks with Thunder bouncing one of the two smugglers off a support pillar while the other one concentrated on taking down the uktena. Focusing again on the writhing snake, she made a slashing motion with her wand, and nearly severed the remainder of the body behind the head that Oscar's curse was busy dissolving away.
A high pitched cry of pain, something more appropriate to a small woodland animal rather than fifteen meters of serpent, filled the chamber as the uktena flopped to the ground, oozing various fluids from the multiple wounds that covered its body. Hermione maintained the globe of darkness around its head while the yellow glow finished its mission and severed the head from the rest of the body.
Looking around, she saw that Oscar was as pale as a sheet, but had his wand still trained on the serpent, waiting for it to somehow resume its assaults. Cooks with Thunder was sitting, cross-legged, on the prone body of one of the smugglers, glaring at the other as if to dare him to move. Looking down, noticing that her clothes were covered in rock dust and she was spattered with fluids from the thrashing of the uktena, she cast a silent tergeo to make herself as presentable as possible. "Oscar?"
Still looking pale, Oscar had finally lowered his wand but was breathing deeply and regularly. "Yes, Hermione."
Smiling at him, she nodded. "Went a bit better this time?"
"Think so, at least I'm standing at the end of it this time." Calming down, he looked over at the conscious smuggler. "It's been a very bad day, if you were to try to bolt, someone's likely to take it the wrong way and blow you clean apart." Walking over to him, he raised his wand in a very menacing fashion. "Did any of these four happen to mention where the girl is?"
Looking nervously around, the smuggler swallowed and tried to look anywhere but at the wand that was pointing at his face. "Girl, vat girl?" he replied in lightly accented English. ""Ve came to trade the glass for the galleons, ven these nutters vent all irrsinnig." Shrugging his shoulders, he supplied the translation by tapping his forefinger to his temple. "Irrsinnig, yes?"
Smiling, Hermione supplied. "Insane is the word you want. Herr Merveaux is it not?"
Rising to stand, giving Oscar a wary eye, he clicked his heels and bowed towards Hermione. "You have me at the disadvantage. Gilbert Merveaux at your service."
Laughing, Hermione's hand covered her mouth as she tried to control herself. "Hermione Granger at yours. Stars, you live in Penzance and I'll bet my next checque that your unconscious partner's name is Sullivan." Losing her battle with laughing, she dissolved into a fit for several seconds. "If you tell me you have got a little list, I'm seriously going to hex you."
"Ach Fraulein, but you are not the type to eat peppermints and puff them in people's face, so you needn't vorry about that." Nodding his head at her respectfully, he laughed. "I can see vy she varned us about you."
Becoming serious again, Hermione was beginning to ask about this mysterious `she' when she noticed movement to her left. The dark wizard that Oscar had dropped was dragging himself along, using the arm that Oscar hadn't hit him in, and his hand was just inches from the frame containing the fairy flag.
Without thinking, Hermione shouted "Accio An Bratach Sith" to prevent the dark wizard from grabbing the artifact. As it streaked towards her outstretched hand, she noticed that the glass covering the flag was cracked. As the flag came to her outstretched hand, she felt the glass slice her thumb as it came into contact with the flag. The room erupted in a brilliant bright white light that seemed to overpower everything as she was suddenly elsewhere.
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