HPNS- Chapter 3

Read Chapter 2: Trio Once More here or start at the beginning

FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM

“What? What’s the matter?” Harry asked in a hoarse whisper, watching Hermione turn around for the tenth time.

“It’s nothing… I just feel like we’re being followed”, Hermione replied looking back again, as they hurried on.

“Keep up the both of you, this ain’t a school trip! Blimey we’ll never get there before the other guy!” Ron said bossily, leading the way with his wand light carving tunnels in the velvet dark.

“Ron seems pretty confident that we are being followed. I haven’t seen him this excited about something since, he won Gryffindor the Quidditch Cup” Harry muttered, smirking.

“It’s all gone into his head!” Hermione retorted annoyed, “Ooh look at me… I’m a Trainee Auror! Qualified to combat the Dark Arts and everything… all bigger and better than any of my brothers!”

Harry didn’t reply; he knew Ron and Hermione too well. They always seemed to be at each other’s throats but Harry had long realized that there was something much deeper between them that even they hadn’t figured out for themselves… he just had to wait for something…

They quickened their pace as the passage soon led to another large furnished room. It had a Serpentine feel to it, with the statues and figurines. There was a particularly large sculpture of a python made of porcelain. In spite of himself, Harry had to appreciate the ornate and fine scales of the python, curving as sinuously as the body itself. Its mouth was wide open enough to swallow him whole, and the sculpted fangs were dripping with porcelain venom.

Suddenly a sharp pain shot through Harry’s scar and he shivered. The eyes of the python glinted with evil.

“Typical.” Harry thought to himself.

There were figures of other exotic creatures he had never seen before; the one immediately to his left was surely that of a Manticore. Harry remembered having read of them while he had searched for cases to acquit Buckbeak during the Hippogriff trial in their third year. A frightening description that he recalled clearly, was sketched by a Roman wizard in the second century, who had drawn his account from works written seven hundred years earlier-

There is in India a wild beast, powerful, daring and as big as the largest lion, of a red colour like cinnabar, shaggy like a dog, and in the language of India it is called Martichoras. Its face however is not that of a wild beast but of a man, and it has three rows of teeth set in its upper jaw and three in the lower; these are exceedingly sharp and larger than the fangs of a hound. Its ears and hands also resemble a man’s except that they are larger and shaggy; its eyes are ice blue and they too are like a man’s, but its feet and claws, you must know are that of a lion. To the end of its tail is attached the sting of a scorpion, and this might be over a cubit in length, and the tail has stings at intervals on either side. But the tip of the tail gives a fatal sting to anyone who encounters it, and death is immediate…

The

A few feet from the Manticore was a gargantuan statue of a creature that Hermione identified as a Chimera. Its glass eyes glinted as though following their movements and it was so huge that it nearly covered most of the room, with dragon- like scaly wings, large enough to carry the whole Weasley family upon them.

Hermione stepped up to the Glass Chimera and looked straight into its face, while Ron and Harry followed. She examined the image up and down and let out a small exclamation.

“Its thumb is missing… look! And look there, I’ll bet that door will open for us to move forward if I insert the thimble on it” she said, fishing out the silver object from her pocket.

Harry glanced at the silver thimble in her hand, and something stirred yet again in his memory… he just couldn’t place it at that moment.

Hermione placed the thimble in the space where a thumb should have been in the Chimera. It jumped to life. Harry, Ron and Hermione backed away rapidly when they saw it unfurl its wings and emit a gut wrenching shriek.

“RON! HARRY! Take the passage and go ahead! This was my task, I’ll stall it!” shrieked Hermione.

Ron moved towards her instead but even before he could grab her arm, the creature spread it skeletal wings and grabbed hold of Hermione’s collar, lifting her up in the air.

“EXPELLIARMUS!” thought Harry, trying to disarm the horrific creature and failing to attempt non-verbally. Instead he caught Hermione’s wand in his hands, while she yelled at him in frustration.

Ron gave up all pretence and hurled a rare collection of complicated hexes at the creature that bounced off its glass frame. One of the hexes was badly aimed and cut right through Hermione’s arm while she screamed, suspended in mid air, rendered helpless without a wand.

“WILL THE BOTH OF YOU GIVE UP YOUR HEROICS, I’M IN MORE DANGER OF BEING SAVED BY YOU THAN BEING EATEN ALIVE!” she bellowed, before apparating straight out of the Chimera’s fumbling talons.

The creature circled them, making terrible predatory noises while they gathered around Hermione who mended her bleeding arm with her restored wand. Ron held her around the shoulder and apologized profusely. Harry heard loud swishing noises behind him and saw that he was to be the Chimera’s next target. It dived with its jaws set and wide open, ready to digest Harry into mince.

Before he could raise his wand, Ron was ready and bellowed clearly “AVADA KEDAVRA!”

Surprisingly, the spell did not bounce off the lunging creature, but caused it to burst into smithereens.

Harry and Hermione slowly turned their gaze away from the million sharp splinters of glass in the air, to Ron who still had his wand arm raised.

He was heaving after having performed the worst Unforgivable Curse, in their presence for the first time.

“Boy! You really mean business! Since when has the “Avada Kedavra” been at your wand-tips? Let me guess, was it the second semester of Auror training?” Hermione asked Ron sarcastically, panting for breath.

But before he could retort, the figure of the Manticore, behind Harry let out a growl.

“Quick the both of you run through the door! I’ll take care of all of them! GO!” Hermione screamed turning her raised wand to face the savage creature. They didn’t disobey her, both were aware of how good she was at incantation and how their lack of coordination the last time, had only caused more trouble.

And, it had occurred to Harry that they might need to conserve their energies and lives for the next two objects…

“We shouldn’t have left her… they’ll make a right dish of her and eat her up. She was still bleeding wasn’t she?” Ron asked taking a last look at Hermione who was dueling the Manticore.

Neither spoke as they made headway through yet another passage. The walls were decorated with portraits of the previous inhabitants of the castle… all of whom seemed to be part of an extended Slytherin dynasty. Harry reckoned this had been the property and treasures of the Gaunts before they had begun wars with each other, and groups of the family had been disinherited.

Harry couldn’t make out Ron’s expression in the dim light of the torches. He felt the same way as he had at the Third Task at the Triwizard Tournament.

‘One down…’ he thought.

Soon he and Ron found themselves facing a beautifully carved door, which they opened silently. Ron looked back once, as though to check if they were still followed. No one could be seen…

This room was a lot less ostentatious than the last one… there were no creatures here. It looked more like an alcove instead of an actual room. Furnished simply, there was only a large empty space of wall facing them. An authentic rug right before it and a fireplace in the corner was all that the room had.

“Blimey a lot quieter here ain’t it? What do you reckon now Harry?” Ron questioned looking around.

Without a word Harry walked up to the rug lining the wall, and casually stepped on it.

Just then, he felt as if his whole body was on fire. He would surely explode on the spot like the sting of a Blast Ended Skrewt, the pain was beyond endurance. Harry heard his own terrible screaming when suddenly an arm forcefully pushed him back. Falling on his back, he came to himself. The pain ceased and he caught his breath in sharp breaks. The little stars in front of eyes cleared.

He faintly heard Ron yell “Al…right? ...arry? F…eelin… o…kay?”

“Yeah I’m fine” he muttered back “What happened? ... RON! You’re still standing on that thing! GET OUT OF IT!”

“No Harry I figured this is it, only the pure-blood can stand on this rug. Sorry ‘bout that mate. But how are we going to move forward if you can’t stand on it? If you could fly right over it…” Ron finished, peering at Harry to check if he was feeling fine.

“Take that vial of blood and splatter it on the wall. Look! It’s got hinges in that crack. It’ll swing open with its deposit of blood. Don’t worry about me, just- do- it” Harry said, wiping the spit on his mouth with his sleeve and keeping his wand poised for any nasty surprises.

Ron opened the tiny bottle of blood, and with a quick motion, flicked its contents across the blank wall. The blood melted into the other side of the wall. As soon as the last drop of it vanished, the rug beneath Ron gave way into a deep gap.

The last Harry saw of Ron, was his mop of red hair vanishing into the darkness. His scream made the castle walls reverberate…

‘Two down…’ thought Harry ominously.

Harry could hear his own heavy breath echoing as he progressed rapidly into the next dark passage. This time it was moving higher, towards a greater altitude. His mind was numb with the thought of the both of them … they couldn’t both be dead.

He could only pray that Hermione was still alive; but judging by what the Chimera had single-handedly managed to do, he wasn’t quite sure. As for Ron he hadn’t the remotest idea as to where he was, or how deep the drop had been. Whether he was injured or unconscious… or in some fresh peril… Harry’s heart banged against his chest. He had lost two of the closest things to his heart for the horcrux. They had been enjoying tea together just a few hours back, but now…

Without further thought, Harry opened the door before him, this time quite alone… or so he thought.

He was up the tallest tower of the castle. The coffined air was suffocating, and Harry coughed loudly, clearing the dust with his wand. And then he saw it… right before him. A long dark wooden table upon which was placed, the handsome case he had seen in Dumbledore’s memory… the case that had belonged to Hepzibah Smith. It glowed in the dark, a gloomy green shade. Harry took out from his pocket, the key he had taken from the shelf and examined it in the faint light, lost in deep dilemma.

“ACCIO KEY!” yelled a husky voice right behind Harry.

The object flew clean out of Harry’s fingers into the hands of another hand… the owner of which had been tailing Harry, Ron and Hermione ever since they solved the puzzle.

Harry wheeled around in the spot where he stood. He found himself before a face he had seen many years ago. Except that the man was hidden behind a skull-like mask… a Death-Eater.

Walden Macnair.

The name rolled across Harry’s mind… battling the Manticore wouldn’t have been a problem for this man, he used to kill them for a profession- Walden Macnair of the Committee for Disposal of Dangerous Creatures. Harry, Ron and Hermione had seen him when he had come to Hogwarts to execute Buckbeak. He had been a Death Eater then, and was certainly a Death Eater now. As if to tease Harry into confirming his thoughts, Macnair lifted the sleeve of his arm, revealing the Dark Mark… and licked the skin across it slowly and lovingly.

Macnair spoke in a harsh voice, “Master was right to be suspicious… right to keep me here in case someone came for the treasure. Master is never wrong. Do you think you and you’re ‘talented’ friends will be able to do what no one has ever been able to do? That witch Althea Smith was guarded under my Imperius Curse and when she gave you the real key, I followed you. ‘Norman Ridgeback’ indeed… I knew it was you Harry Potter. But now I have the key… and what are you going to do?” he finished with a manic gleam in his eyes.

“For a man who kills creatures for a living, you sure talk a lot” Harry replied coldly

Macnair bared a yellow grin and raised his wand, the curse right at his lips.

Harry continued to tease him back “You obviously don’t know what the ‘treasure’ is do you? Or else you would have taken it just like Regulus Black took the locket. My dear friend… that key you hold is the one I picked up from the shelf … in your own words, the fake. This key, Althea’s key, however leads you to one of Lord Voldemort’s horcruxes… a piece of his soul. The piece that I have come to destroy”

He continued to speak viciously “Or are you here to strike a bargain? Would you perhaps give me my friends back for the horcrux? The supreme control over a piece of Voldemort’s soul… you’d have him at your mercy for a change”

Harry had gone too far.

“Why you insolent little…ACCIO KEY- ACCIO- ACCIO!” Macnair yelled wildly, his face contorted with fury.

Harry deflected the spell with his wand and tried to surprise him with the Disarming charm once more, without any success.

“Madame Lestrange told me you were a tricky customer. CRUCIO!” spat Macnair with pure venom on his face.

“Well give her my regards” Harry retorted dodging the unforgivable curse.

“SECTUMSEMPRA” thought Harry, concentrating with all his might.

It worked just as it had with Draco Malfoy in his sixth year at Hogwarts, except Harry hadn’t done it intentionally then. As though cut by an invisible sword, blood spurted from Macnair’s face and torso and he crumpled to the floor. Nevertheless, he sprung to his feet almost immediately, and raised his wand in spite of his mangled remains. A long struggle between him and Harry, ensued…

“STUPEFY!” a familiar voice chanted from the doorway.

The stunning spell struck Macnair in the back and he was blasted off the spot, crashing into a bookshelf that collapsed on him.

“RON! You’re OKAY!” Harry screamed rushing towards the tall red-haired figure kneeling at the entrance to the room.

But Ron was breathing fast, his chest heaving up and down like that of a werewolf during transformation. His face and bright red hair was matted with dark blood. Ron had dragged himself up the room, leaving a gory trail of wiped scarlet in the way and his right leg looked broken at the knee. There were several cuts across his face. Before he could say anything to Harry who knelt by his side, running his fingers frantically through his own dark hair in utter helplessness, a ribbon of blood rolled down his cheek from his lips…

“No… Ron NO! Don’t die… please don’t die!” Harry yelled hysterically, watching Ron close his eyes unable to catch his breath any longer…

Read Chapter 4: Burrow'ing here