A/N: Wow! I would like to thank all the people who took the time to write me a review. It made me feel really good! (Maybe I should whine more often…) To those of you who faithfully review for each chapter, special hugs and kisses! (You know who you are!) This is the continuing adventure in the caves below. Enjoy! Many thanks to Dementor149 for some historical information, and for keeping me on task.
I don't own the characters, but I think that I'm giving them a better adventure!
Chapter 37
Protectors of the Cup
They spent a long and dusty hour exploring the cave to no avail.
"I don't think its here, Harry," Hermione said as she brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face.
Harry had to resist the urge to wipe away the smudge of dirt she left behind on her cheek.
"Maybe he moved it," Ron said, as he quickly moved away from a cobweb hanging from one of the ladder rungs. He absently brushed at his jacket again as he looked around.
"No," Harry said as he brushed his hands on his pants. "We're not in the right place. I think we have to go down one of these tunnels."
"I was afraid you were going to say that," Ron groaned.
"Which one, though?" Hermione asked.
Harry looked at the two tunnels. He had examined them closely a while earlier, but found no markings. He closed his eyes and tried to focus, searching for any difference in the two tunnels that wasn't visible to the human eye.
"That one," he finally said as he opened his eyes and pointed to the left tunnel.
"What makes you so sure?" Ron asked.
Harry shrugged and grinned. "I figure I have a fifty-fifty chance of getting it right."
"Great," muttered Ron. "Just great. Probably the one with the most spiders too."
Harry led the way through the tunnel, his lit wand held out in front of him. They followed the uneven floor down as it curved and moved steadily away from the old house. They didn't have to stoop or bend over; the tunnel was at least eight feet high.
"Have you noticed something?" Hermione said after they had been walking for about fifteen minutes.
"What?" Harry said as he looked around.
"The walls. They're glowing," Hermione said as she stopped to take a closer look. "I think its phosphorous lichen. It reacts to light. That's why its been so easy to see where we're going," She reached out and touched the wall. "I bet Neville would have loved this."
"Fine," Ron said as he nervously watched a spider moving down the wall towards him. "Next time he can come. How much further, Harry?"
"I don't know," Harry said. "We seem to have been going down, but it looks like the tunnel in front of us is starting to slope up again."
"Good," Ron said as he wiped the sweat off his face as the spider scurried away.
Harry started up the tunnel and Hermione and Ron followed. They had been walking for another half an hour when Harry noticed the tunnel becoming wider. As they moved into the opening, Harry knew they were in the right place.
"Where are we?" Hermione asked.
Harry shook his head. "No idea, but wherever we are, we're here."
He pointed his wand towards the far wall. There, reflecting faintly in the wand light about ten feet away was a large door, reminiscent of the Chamber of Secrets.
Ron snorted. "Not very imaginative, is he? You would think that he could come up with his own door design, instead of copying Salazar Slytherin. "
Harry didn't reply. He thought that some of the forms of torture that Voldemort had shown him were very imaginative, and this particular type of door reminded him of how nasty he could be. He moved to the door and closed his eyes.
"Open," he hissed.
There was a groaning and creaking from lack of use as the door unlatched itself, and slowly opened towards them. The three of them moved slowly into the room, which was pitch black, unlike the tunnel. The glow from their wands reflected off of something in the middle of the room, and they headed in that direction. Just before they reached the center, four torches, situated around the room, sprang to life. Harry looked around. They were in a round room, about the size of the Great Hall. In the center of the room was the cup sitting on a pedestal, just like he had seen in Dolohov's mind. Harry looked around, searching for the snakes in his vision, but he couldn't see any.
"Maybe they died," Hermione said.
"It has been a very long while since the Lord sent us fresh meat,"
"They didn't," Harry said as he scanned the chamber. It looked like parts of the wall were moving near the floor. The snakes were the same color as their surroundings, camouflaging them until they made their presence known. Now a large number of them were quickly moving towards the center of the room, surrounding them.
"Stop!" hissed Harry, holding his wand in front of him.
The snakes stopped, and the largest of them moved forward and raised himself up, until he was eye-level with Harry.
"Don't move," he told Hermione and Ron out of the side of his mouth.
"You speak the language of our Lord, but you do not look like him," the snake hissed. "Are you a creation of the Lord?"
"You could say that," Harry replied.
"I am Neider, creation of Slange, creation of Yilan."
"My name is Harry," he hissed.
"Harry, creation of the Lord, are these the sacrifices belonging to the Lord, that he wishes to give to us? We have not had a sacrifice for many years," Neider slowly slithered around the three of them, before coming back in front of Harry. "These two seem a bit young, though."
"No, they…um, belong to me," Harry said, quickly darting a glance at his two petrified friends.
"There is reason, then, for you to come into our midst?" Neider asked.
"We have come for the cup," Harry hissed. "Your services are no longer needed."
The snakes surrounding them seemed to slither in excitement, causing Ron and Hermione to look at Harry nervously. Harry signaled them to wait.
"Our reward then?" hissed Neider. "The Dark Lord promised a reward to our creators, and therefore, to us."
Harry thought furiously for a moment.
"He offers you your freedom from servitude," he hissed.
Neider regarded Harry for a moment.
"Is that all?" he hissed, slithering closer.
"No," Harry said as he backed up a step, trying to give himself time to think.
Suddenly, an idea came to him.
"I can tell you that he has vanquished your enemy," he said.
At this, the snakes all stopped and looked at Harry.
"The one who harmed you and your kind is no more. You are free to go back to the forest you were living in."
The snakes began slithering about, hissing their great joy. To Ron and Hermione, it was a very frightening sight, especially as they wove themselves in between their legs.
"It's okay," Harry said. "Just stay still, and don't move until I say so."
"Easy for you to say," Ron said as one snake attached itself to his leg and looked up at him.
Neider seemed to be quite caught up in the dance, swaying on his thick muscles, but his eyes never left Harry.
"That object is very precious to our Lord. We have been protecting it for three generations. The task is an important one and there are only three of you."
"We'll be fine," Harry hissed.
Neider nodded and turned to face the group of snakes before him.
"Sons and daughters of our creators! Our task is complete and the reward has been given. We may return to the homeland in peace," he turned back to Harry. "Farewell, Harry, creation of the Lord," he hissed as he bowed again. "May you and your creations find reward in serving the Lord in his great chamber."
Harry bowed to him as he wondered what he meant, and then watched as the snakes began to slither out the way the trio had come in. He figured there were hundreds of them, judging by the way the floor seemed to come alive. Harry waited until every last snake was out of view before he relaxed.
"What was that all about?" Ron asked. "I thought we were going to be the main dish."
"You were," Harry said as he started towards the cup. "But I offered them something more tempting."
"What?" Hermione asked as she caught up to him.
Harry looked at her and smiled. "Freedom," he said. "And I gave them back their homes."
"This wasn't their home?" Ron asked.
Harry shook his head. "I played a hunch. When Dumbledore and I visited the Gaunt house in the pensieve, Morphin seemed obsessed with snakes and controlling them. I saw him threaten one snake and a dead one was hanging on the door of their house. I figured that maybe these snakes were in hiding and Voldemort used that fear to get them to protect the cup with the promise of getting rid of their enemy in return."
"That was brilliant, Harry," Hermione said.
Harry smiled at her, and was rewarded with a small smile from Hermione. He felt his heart leap and then drop as she turned away from him. He looked back at the cup, with the pretence of studying it to hide his disappointment.
"Do you think that there is anything else protecting it?" Hermione asked.
Harry shook his head. "I don't know," he said.
"You don't think the snakes were enough?" Ron said as he came and stood beside him.
"Let's just take it and go, Harry. We've been down here long enough." Hermione said.
Harry took a deep breath and reached out to grab the cup. He heard two intakes of breath on either side of him as he lifted it off of the pedestal. After several long seconds, he let out the breath he was holding; nothing happened. He took a closer look at the cup and saw the etched badger in the pale light.
"Let's go," said Ron. "I'm getting the creeps."
As they started back towards the opening, Hermione stopped.
"Do you hear something?" she asked.
Harry stopped to listen, and sure enough, he could hear a distant rumbling sound.
"Run!" he yelled, and they took off towards the entrance, knowing that an ominous sound such as that was not a good thing to hear when you were deep underground. As they reached the door they could see the rocks and debris rolling and bouncing across the floor.
"The tunnel is blocked!" Hermione cried, and sure enough, the passageway they had come through was filled with rocks of all sizes.
"Come on!" yelled Ron over the noise. "Maybe we can dig it out!"
They had just begun to exit the chamber when Harry heard the clang of rock on metal and looked up at the cave ceiling. The ceiling about the door was lined with cracks, and as Harry watched, chunks began to rain down around them.
"Get back!" he yelled as he pushed Hermione back through the doorway and reached out to pull Ron behind him.
They fell back into the chamber in a tangled heap, Harry dropping the cup in his effort to avoid squashing Hermione. A part of the ceiling outside gave way, slamming against the door and pushing it shut, plunging them into darkness as the torches went out.
"Lumos," Harry said as he sat up, scanning his wand around the area. "Is everyone okay?"
"I think so," Ron said as he wiped at a trickle of blood trailing down the side of his face. "Where's the cup?"
"Over there, I think," said Harry, pointing his wand. "I heard it clatter against the floor."
Ron got up and headed for the cup while Harry helped Hermione up.
"Are you okay?" he asked as he scanned her face, gently brushing a piece of hair out of her eyes.
"I'm fine, Harry," she said as she slowly moved away. "Thanks."
Harry sighed. He wondered if he would ever be able to fix the mistake he made.
They moved to where Ron was examining the cup under the light of his wand.
"Just a small dent. So now what?" he said as he handed the cup to Harry.
"We need to get out of here," Hermione said.
Harry went back to the door. "Open," he hissed.
He could hear the grinding of gears, but the door refused to open.
"Maybe we can Apparate out," Hermione said.
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, but nothing happened.
"Must be some kind of ward in place," she said.
"Maybe that's what the snakes meant," Harry muttered as he headed back towards the center of the room, the torches flaring to life as he did so.
"What did they say to you?" Hermione asked as she and Ron came to where Harry was standing.
Harry sighed as he looked at the blood smear Ron had left on the side of the cup.
"Basically, Neider told us to enjoy serving Lord Voldemort. I think we're trapped," he said.
Hermione shook her head. "I don't believe that," she said. "They would have starved to death down here. There must be another way out."
She moved towards the walls, scanning the shadows with her lit wand. Harry and Ron watched her for a moment, before imitating her actions on the opposite side of the room.
"Here," Hermione called out after a few moments, and Harry and Ron hurried over to see what she had found.
At first, Harry couldn't see anything, but as his eyes adjusted to the dim light, he could make out what looked like a ripple in the wall. He put his hand out, expecting to feel hard rock, but surprisingly, he didn't touch anything. There was what looked to be a very small crawlspace; the opening was only about three feet wide and about four feet tall.
"We'll have to crawl," she said as she stuck her head into the tunnel, lighting her way with her wand.
"In there?" Ron said. "What about spiders?"
"I don't know what your problem is Ronald," she said. "You are bigger than them."
"You didn't see the ones in Aragog's nest," he grumbled as he pulled out his can of Spidaway.
Before Harry could say anything to her, she had disappeared. Harry quickly shrunk the cup and put it in his invisipouch before following after her. He heard Ron spraying himself, and then the scuffling sound of him crawling behind him.
They crawled for what seemed like the length of a Quidditch field, and Ron was right behind Harry, pushing him to go faster.
"Hurry, I think something is following us," he said.
Harry came to another larger chamber, and was just starting to stand up when Ron bowled him over in his panic to get out of the tunnel. His face was hot and sweaty, and he was shaking.
"Behind me! I think there's thousands of them!" he said as he moved away from the opening.
Harry swung around and pointed his wand back at the tunnel. After a moment of silence, he slowly crawled back to look inside.
"I don't see anything, Ron. Are you sure you saw something?" he said as he came back out.
"I didn't see it, I felt it, them. Lots of them," he said as he brushed his coat and mopped his face.
Hermione shook her head as she watched Ron look around, hunting for the missing spiders and muttering under his breath.
"How many of these bloody chambers are there under this town?" Ron asked as he scanned the room.
"Well, there could be hundreds of them. They were probably used during the English Civil War," Hermione said. "That would explain their existence."
Harry and Ron looked at each other, before looking back at her.
"Well, it really was three wars," Hermione began. "It started on August 22, 1642. The first war, between King Charles I and Parliament, who were allied with the Scottish Covenanters, lasted until 1646. The second war, in which a Scottish army fought for Charles I against the Parliament, took place in 1648, and the last war, in which the Scottish were led by Charles II as their King, lasted from 1649 until 1651."
"And what does that have to do with these tunnels?" Ron asked, interrupting her as Harry moved off to inspect a side tunnel.
"Isn't it obvious? They may have been used to move soldiers around the countryside safely. Or," she mused, "Perhaps wizards used them to help King Charles II defeat his enemies-"
"Okay! We get it!" Ron said, putting up his hands to stop her.
"I don't think it was just wizards who were helping," Harry said as he came out of the side tunnel. He looked a bit pale.
"What's wrong, Harry?" Hermione asked.
"I think we've moved from the cauldron into the fire," he said as he beckoned for them to follow.
They came to a door at the end of the tunnel, and Harry pushed it open. They moved into a cluttered basement, with boxes everywhere.
"Where are we?" Hermione whispered.
Harry pointed to an old tarnished sign, one that was once used by the elite at the gates of their property.
"The Riddles," Ron read, the terror evident in his voice.
"We need to get out of here," Hermione whispered. "Lets go back and search one of the other tunnels."
"No, no, no!" Ron shook his head. "No more spiders."
"You don't really want to be wandering through those tunnels," Harry said. "We may be wandering around for ages. We'll have to go through the house."
"What?" Ron asked.
"Well, which would you prefer?" Harry asked before turning towards the stairs. "Come on, I don't hear any movement upstairs."
They slowly crept up the creaky stairs and opened the door. Harry looked around before opening the door wide enough for all of them to get through. They stood for a moment, blinking in the fading light, trying to adjust to their surroundings. They were in a large kitchen and as Harry spotted a back door, a man came out of the walk-in pantry, his arms loaded with food. He startled when he saw them, and dropped everything he was holding.
"Hey!" he yelled and drew his wand, firing it at the trio. They ducked, and the spell hit a curtain, bursting it into flames.
"Impedimenta!" Hermione yelled and the Death Eater slammed into the wall.
Harry wrenched the door open and the three of them ran out into the back garden, the Death Eater following them. They ducked behind the bushes as he threw random spells at them, and finally Harry knocked him out with a well-placed `Stupify'.
As they sat there gasping for breath, Hermione suddenly sat straight up.
"Harry! The house!" she said pointing.
Harry and Ron turned to see the flames working their way through the kitchen. Hermione jumped up and started towards the house. Harry reached up and grabbed her, stopping her.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"We need to move that man away from the house," she said as she pulled out of his grasp and taking off at a run.
Harry got up and followed after her, and the two of them moved him to a safe distance.
"Did you recognize him?" Hermione asked as they headed back towards where Ron was waiting, turning their back on the fire.
"No," Harry said.
Hermione brushed the soot from her sleeve, and Harry reached up and pulled a twig from her hair. She smiled shyly at him before looking back down, but before she did, Harry could see some of that warmth in her eyes, and it made him feel glad.
"Thanks for your help," she said as they headed for the road.
Harry smiled at her, and watched as she blushed under his gaze. He felt hope enter his heart; hope that perhaps he did have a chance to make amends.
They stopped as they reached the outskirts of town and watched as the fire trucks sped past. Harry turned back and looked at the house, which was now engulfed in flames.
"He's not going to be happy about this," Ron said.
Harry shrugged. "Considering all of the damage he has done, I'm glad."
"We need to go," Hermione said, holding out the old tin can.
With a pop, they were gone.
-->