Chapter Seven: In which fire and water both feature
“Hurry!” cried the librarian, sprinting behind her desk and pulling out the books. “Aha!” she flicked open a large leather “ covered copy and pressed down hard on the page. There was a loud groan and a gaping hole grew on the opposite wall. Harry coughed loudly as smoke began to fill the room. The heat scraped his cheek and an orange haze filled his vision.
“Hermione!” yelled Ron urgently. “Where’s Hermione?”
Neville appeared beside them, dragging a large black mass. Harry’s stomach jolted and for one horrible moment he thought she was dead. Hermione was draped in soot and a small patch of blood dripped down her side.
“I tried not to “” Neville’s speech was drowned out by his racking cough.
“Get inside now!” ordered the Librarian. Harry noticed that she had tears welling in her eyes. “GO!”
“But Hermione…”
The librarian muttered a spell and the blood on Hermione’s side slowly disappeared. She scooped her up and passed her limp body to Ron. “There! Now hurry! I’ll deal with the Death Eaters.”
Harry wanted to help her, but Neville began tugging at his arm. Sighing fearfully he followed, sweat dripping down his forehead and soot squeezing his lungs.
*****
“Wow Loki,” said George, helping himself to another slice of bread, “I’m impressed. First you chuck them down a waterfall. Then you send a bunch of walking rocks at them and now you’ve burned down a library! More than we’ve ever done, eh Fred?”
“Baa!” mumbled Fred, his mouth full of hay.
“Whatever will you think of next?” asked George.
Loki smiled and stroked his pointed beard.
“Well, you haven’t seen my pride and joy,” his arms swept across with pride. “Loki’s Fortress. It’s a maze that I designed myself. That’s if they can get past this challenge. It’s tough, I can tell you that.”
Fred groaned inwardly, wishing there was something he could do. It didn’t help that he’d become a goat. There must be a way he could use this to his advantage.
Loki was chuckling heartedly at the makeshift screen in front of them, which currently displayed Neville dragging Hermione across a fiery room. Gently, he pushed his muzzle into Loki’s pocked. Carefully, he tugged out a piece of parchment and placed it into the side of his mouth.
Loki flinched, “What do you want?”
“Baa,” said Fred, innocently.
“I think he wants some more hay,” said George, trying not to smile. He wondered what his brother was doing.
“Fine,” muttered Loki. He nodded at the empty pile, which exploded into golden, luscious hay. “Now don’t bother me again, unless you want to become a mouse next time.”
“Baa,” sighed Fred, and he trudged over to the pile. As he went by, he spat quietly into George’s lap.
“Fred!” complained George, then: “Oh!”
George slipped the damp parchment into his sleeve. When the time was right, he would read it.
*****
“C’mon Harry!” Ron leapt down the stairs, taking at least three at a time. Through the hole was a large, steep spiral staircase that led into darkness. Careful to take hold of the banister, Harry hurried down. He felt the blistering heat slide of his back as he went down, the deep orange shadows dancing on the opposite wall as a reminder. He hoped the librarian was safe.
It didn’t take long until they were in cloaking darkness. Ron was still hurrying ahead, but slower. He still had Hermione in his arms. Neville was a few steps ahead of Harry, the sound of his nervous footsteps echoing across the stairway. As it got darker, it became colder. The shock of being hot, then cold did not bode well with Harry’s skin. He felt it sting horribly. His feet seemed to be stepping on ice and his breath came out like steam. He shivered, hoping to find the final stair soon.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he felt the sturdy stone floor beneath his feet. Relief swept through his battered body as he fumbled for his wand.
“Lumos!” light scurried out of his wand and into the darkness. Harry blinked; he was in a spacious cavern. The ground was damp and soft, with seaweed scattered every few feet. The ceiling, like the library’s, was domed and its rocky surface resembled rhinoceros hide. The steep walls stretched towards an unseen tunnel ahead of Harry. Water dripped from the roof, tapping onto the ground and landing softly on his head. The smell of salt was strong and the air was fresh.
Ahead of him, Ron had placed Hermione down on the ground and was checking her heartbeat.
“Is she alright?” Harry asked, rushing over to them. Ron smiled grimly.
“Yeah, at the moment she is,” he crossed her arms over her chest. “She just needs some fresh air.”
“Plenty here,” remarked Harry. “Where are we, near the sea?”
“This fungus only grows in salt water areas,” said Neville. Harry jumped and turned around. Neville was crouched over a cluster of green toadstools. “Look! There’s a load over here!”
Something groaned beside Harry.
“Hermione!” Ron was ecstatic. “You’re OK!”
“Ow! My ribs!” Hermione rubbed her side tenderly.
“The librarian healed them,” said Harry. “Do they hurt?”
“Not really,” answered Hermione, sitting up, “What happened? I remember Ron falling onto Dolohov and Neville dragging me but that’s all. Where’s the librarian?”
“She’s sorting out the Death Eaters,” explained Ron.
“We should help her!” Hermione stood up but Ron shook his head.
“I don’t fancy walking up that staircase again,” he said, “it took us at least an hour to walk down it! Anyway, we have to keep moving.”
Harry nodded, “We’ve got just over a day to finish two of Loki’s tasks,” he turned to Ron. “That reminds me; what did the note say?”
Ron unrolled it from his pocket:
“Take an apple from my belly
Underwater snakes are heavy.”
“Snakes?” pondered Hermione. “Hmm…”
“I think we should explore this tunnel first,” suggested Harry, nodding towards the empty void in front of them. Harry wasn’t scared of the dark, but this tunnel sent shivers through his bones.
Hermione nodded and pulled out her wand. Ron did the same.
“Neville!” called Harry. “Neville, we’re going to explore the tunnel so grab your things!”
Neville was pushing something green and slimy into his pocket as he ran over to the trio. Harry suspected it was rare seaweed.
“Anything edible?” asked Ron.
Neville shook his head, “Not for humans.”
Wands drawn, they crept into the cold tunnel.
*****
After hours of walking, Harry was starting to become worried. His watch had been missing since he was drugged and the tunnel seemed to stretch on forever. His stomach rumbled with hunger and his mouth was dry with thirst. How long had they been walking? Minutes? Hours? Days?
“How long have we been walking?” rasped Ron, asking Harry’s question before it had even escaped Harry’s mouth.
Neville checked his watch. Harry guessed that he’d retrieved it when he went back for the wands, “It’s about midday. We’ve been walking for about an hour-and-a-half.”
“I’d kill for a drink,” Ron muttered.
“Well, we don’t have any water, Ron,” pointed out Hermione. “Our rucksacks are still on the Death Eater’s carriage.”
“Damn Loki,” cursed Ron.
“Ron, careful!” said Neville, alarmed. “He could hear us!”
It was then that Harry’s toes made contact with something wet and cold. Harry leapt back in surprise!
“Ahh!”
“Harry? What is it?” asked Hermione, shining her wand at him.
Ron cried out then too, only in delight: “It’s water! We’ve found water!”
Harry looked downwards and laughed! Water! It was only water.
“It’s fresh water too!” announced Neville. “We must’ve reached an underground lake or something.”
“Drink up!” yelled Ron, cupping his hands and slurping up the water greedily.
“Hang on, Ron,” said Hermione, “We should boil the water first to get rid of…”
“Stuff that!” said Ron. “C’mon! It’s delicious!”
Harry knelt down on the surprisingly hard ground and scooped up some water, savouring the cooling sensation in his sweaty hand. Quickly, he put it to his lips and tipped it down his throat, before taking some more.
“Hermione, this stuff’s fine!” he said, taking another sip.
Neville began too, and so did Hermione, reluctantly.
“We have nothing to boil it in anyway,” she muttered, splashing water over her face.
After they’d all been refreshed, they took it in turns to wash in the water. Harry went first, placing his glasses by the shore before running and leaping in to the water, feeling the soothing liquid welcome him. His feet stung as they were cleaned and he felt layers of sweat shred off him like badly fitted clothes. He sighed. This was luxury!
“Hey, don’t take too long, Harry!” yelled Ron from the shore. “There might be a cousin of the Giant Squid in there!”
Harry laughed, “You’re welcome to join me and have a look!”
Within a few minutes, Ron and Neville had joined Harry in the lake, splashing water at each other and diving for rocks. Hermione, however, refused.
“I’m keeping my dignity, thank you very much!” she said, lounging in a corner fully clothed. “I can wash without removing my clothes.”
Harry laughed at Ron’s disappointed look, before splashing him with more water.
Eventually, they all climbed out of their makeshift bath. Hermione looked away while the boys were changing, clicking her tongue impatiently.
“Hurry up! We haven’t got all day!”
“Bugger!” muttered Harry, as his wand landed in the pond with a gentle splash. He groaned as he saw it float casually towards the empty, murky depths.
“I think you’d better get it, Harry,” said Neville, his eyes also following the wand.
Harry toyed with the idea of jumping in with all his clothes on. In the corner of his eye, he saw Hermione drying herself with a heating spell. Guessing that she could dry him off afterwards, Harry leapt in.
He felt the water surround him again, and there was silence. He peered through the grunge floating by, trying to spot the slim object that was his wand.
There it was! It had landed on a rock a few metres away. Smiling, Harry kicked his feet and made his way towards it. Already he began to feel the strain of his lungs; he must hurry!
The wand seemed almost at home snuggled against the dancing weed attached to the rock. Careful not to touch the plants, Harry scooped up his wand.
His lungs tugged at his chest, time to go. Harry was about to turn around when something caught his eye.
Underneath his wand’s resting place was a jewel. Not any old jewel though, this one seemed… different. It was a perfect blue circle, with jade spots embedded inside it. It was no bigger than Harry’s fist. Harry’s fingers twitched and, before he knew it, he’d wrapped his hand around the stone. He instantly regretted it. A shuddering cold stabbed his palm and slid its way up his arm. Panic starting to flutter madly inside him and Harry tried to let go, shaking the stone from side-to-side trying to get it off. His lungs were twisting in pain; he needed to breathe. He couldn’t breathe. He was going to drown, he knew it.
The coldness wrapped its fingers around Harry, and everything went black.
*****
“Harry? Harry!” Ron was yelling, splashing at the surface of the water. “Harry!”
“What’s happened?” cried Hermione, wringing out her hair as she ran over.
“I dunno! There was this big flash of light and Harry was gone!” Ron’s voice was tense with panic.
“An underwater portkey?” suggested Hermione.
Ron shook his head, “I don’t think so.”
“D’you think we should look?” asked Neville.
“Yes,” Hermione forgot about her hair and began rolling up her trousers.
“Hold on,” said Ron, “how are we meant to breathe down there!”
“We use the bubble charm of course,” said Hermione calmly.
“We haven’t learnt the bubble charm yet!”
“Ron, use this,” Neville fished into his pocket and pulled out something green and slimy. It looked like a leafy tennis ball.
“What?”
“You eat it!” yelled Neville, frantically stuffing another one into his mouth as he pulled his shirt off. Ron stared at it, shrugged, and shoved it into his mouth.
“It’s gillyweed,” explained Neville, as Ron chewed the rubbery leaves. “So you can breathe under-”
Neville coughed loudly, his eyes bulged and he jumped into the pool, splashing Ron and Hermione with cold water. Suddenly, Ron’s chest tightened, his head pounded and his mouth became dry. Panicking, he tried to pull the gillyweed out of his mouth. Had Neville just poisoned him or something? He couldn’t breathe! Black spots appeared before his eyes; what was happening?
“Get in the lake, Ron!” he felt someone push against his back and Ron fell headfirst into the lake, the water slamming against his face and jarring his hands. Relief poured through his veins: he could breathe!
*****
“Ha ha ha ha!” chuckled Loki, as Ron dived into the lake onscreen. Fred and George rolled their eyes and smiled. Good old Ron!
Something started clanging outside; George could just hear it through the thick cave walls. Loki grunted in annoyance, put down his bread slice and stood up.
“If you’ll excuse me, gentleman,” and with a click of his fingers, he was gone.
“Baa!” Fred started tugging at George’s sleeve.
“Fred! Don’t eat me!” chortled George, slightly alarmed, as the sleeve tore and a roll of parchment tumbled out. Of course! The letter! With trembling fingers, George slid off the seal and unfolded the crinkling paper. Two sheets fell out onto the rug on the floor. Nervously, George pulled it open.
“Fantastic, Fred!” cried George in delight. It was a map of some sort. It showed plans of what looked like a large maze.
“Baa,” said Fred, staring at the paper.
“Loki’s fortress!” laughed George. “He should’ve known better than to tell us about it!”
“Baa!” agreed Fred, mischief twinkling in his eyes.
“And what about this one,” as George unfolded and read the other sheet of paper, he laughed! It couldn’t get any more perfect!
*****
“Have any of you seen Harry?”
Ron was surprised that he could speak underwater, and that the others could hear him. Must be another of Loki’s tricks, he thought.
Hermione shook her head, “No, I can’t find him anywhere.”
“I found this, though.” Neville pulled out a large blue and green stone from his pocket.
“How does that help us?” asked Ron, slightly annoyed. “C’mon, we’d better-”
“Ron! This is exactly what we need!” said Hermione, half scolding and half excited. “It’s an Amplector Stone.”
“A what-now Stone?” asked Ron.
“No, Amplector,” Hermione took the stone from Neville’s hand and peered at it. “I can’t see because of the bubble charm,” she said in annoyance. “Ron, you look at it.”
Not quite sure what to expect, Ron took the stone from Hermione and peered nervously at it. There, waving frantically was a tiny Harry.
“Yeah, he’s in there,” confirmed Ron, handing the stone back to Hermione. “How do we get him out?”
“I’m not quite sure…” muttered Hermione.
“What do you mean, ‘You’re not quite sure?’” yelled Ron.
“Well, you tell me then,” snapped Hermione.
“How am I supposed to know?” Ron retaliated. Neville watched them nervously. Harry was usually the one who could stop those two bickering, not him!
Something caught his eye. Neville twirled around and saw a dark opening in the rock.
“Hermione! Ron!” he yelled. They stopped bickering instantly. Neville felt proud. “Look at this!”