ตอน 52: The Department of Mysteries
- Here we go! - Alastor Moody, straining his will to the limit, sent a wave of energy into the storage tanks of the underground Bleak Hall. The members of the Aurorat Special Squad gathered behind him were ready to replace their commander when his powers were depleted.
Sirius Bleck and Ciaran, standing in the centre of the hall, were silent, waiting for their opponent's move.
- Try not to kill each other, lunatics. - Moody muttered in a hoarse voice, not taking his eyes off his refreshment.
The air in the hall rang, making my ears strain. I didn't realise which of the duelists had struck first, but a cloud of whitish dust rose and immediately fell around the two mages, as if something had condensed right out of the surrounding air. Ciaran moved his finger, and Black found himself in a ring of brightly burning fire that soared to the heavens.
"- Kabut kegelapan!" - Runes of a spell spun in the nobleman's mind, instantly Sirius' dark aura thickened into a swollen cloud of darkness and tore in all directions, extinguishing the fire and braiding Ciaran's white-hot glow with a dense net.
"- Cloud frazil!" - Thin ice needles added to the thick bundles of bubbling darkness, penetrating the space near the swaddled auror, but shattering impotently against the same ice shield.
- FIENDFIRE! - The Auror leapt out of the dark ropes disintegrating in the Hellfire, throwing off his smoking burnt robe. - Bernapas kegilaan suram!
I saw the auror weave his fingers into a strange figure while still in flight.
- The devil! Jake, Frank, Archie, hold the channel! - Moody yelled.
Three more of his subordinates immediately rushed to him, helping to maintain the defences of the hall.
Black spun round quickly, catching the white blob of glow flying in his direction with his dark wings and sending it back to Ciaran, blushing with exertion.
It blazed so hot I was afraid to see if the building was going to collapse on our heads.
- Cretins with dragon dung in their heads! Are you mad?! - Alastor shouted, not mincing his words. - You almost got us all killed! Ciaran, what Dementor did you use Chaos Breath in a confined space?!
- Alastor, we were both overreacting. - A smirking Black wiped the soot from his face, walked over to his smoking and charred opponent and tapped him firmly on the shoulder.
- If you'd kept the spell back, you probably would have won. - He added, looking already at Ciaran. - That was the last attack spell I had time to learn. I had to remake my blades of darkness into defensive wings on the fly.
- Ugh," the Frenchman spat out the blood that had accumulated in his mouth. - If it hadn't been for the augmentation drives, we'd all have been ground to a bloody pulp and the house would have collapsed into the hollow in the ground.
- Sirius, I'm curious as hell to see your great-grandfather's techniques in action, the ones I've only read about in the history books, but I want to survive," Alastor grumbled.
I scrutinised what was going on, feeling somewhat inferior. Compared to what my mentors had just given me, all my fire spells seemed so childish and simple that it was embarrassing.
- I wondered, how was I supposed to kill Voldemort if he fights even better than you? - I stepped closer to Sirius and Ciaran who were examining the walls of the hall.
- Perhaps the Headmaster was going to watch you weaken him and then finish him off. - Ciaran shrugged. - Honestly, I can't imagine what he was trying to achieve by depriving you of a decent education since you were a child. You're potentially as strong as those two or Lord Black and me, so it's a matter of practice and judgement. The first mistake in a fight, as you've just seen, is the last.
- And who made what mistake? - I looked at the auror in bewilderment.
- I. I used a spell that was too powerful for me, and the second my strength was recovering, Lord Black managed to return my Breath of Chaos, turning an already prepared attack into a defence spell.
- The right thing to do would have been to use something less powerful and sophisticated, then maybe the outcome of the fight would have been different. - Black laughed, finishing his inspection of the walls.
With a snap of his fingers, the wizard summoned several houseboys and ordered them to begin repairing the cracked stonework.
- Has everyone seen everything, gentlemen and ladies? - Moody turned to his men. - If you see an aura like that, you must move out of range and strike from afar with Unforgivable, Hellfire, but do not approach. At close range, an aura like Lord Black's will turn you to ashes if you don't react in time. Now, let's see who can pull off the Breath of Chaos, since our French colleague just demonstrated it.
- Alastor, Harry, Ciaran and I will hold the channel, I care about my mansion somehow," Sirius chuckled, signalling me to come over to the storage stone.
* * *
After an excruciatingly long hour and a half, during which the four of us fed the crackling rocks that kept the deadly bursts of Chaos Breath away from the walls, I finally made it to the surface and used the portkey to head back to Paris, in need of some exotic antique volumes that could have been sold legally in the shops there, since French law was much less strict on dark arts literature, while in England such books could have been paired for them And given Fudge's policy, which was supported by Dumbledore, the situation in England would only worsen for all families practising the dark arts.
After visiting a few bookshops, whose owners were only bewildered by my questions, I decided to take a rest and have some refreshment, as I suspected that today I would have to go through all the bookshops in the magical quarter, and it would be a long time before dinner at the Delacour House.
This time I chose the nearest café, La vieille maison, with its heavy, half-faded sign swaying gently in the wind, its cracked solid oak door creaking behind me, its sooty rafters, and the unmistakable aroma of antiquity that enveloped anyone who entered it. It was easy to imagine, sitting under the thick wooden beams that supported the roof, that it was the fourteenth century, and some crusader in a white cottage with a red cross was about to walk through the rattling door, holding a long sword at his hip.
The owner of the cafe, which I wanted to call an inn, and his name was innkeeper, a plump, red-faced man whose bulky body was tightly covered by a snow-white apron, took my order for light snacks and juice, and silently disappeared into the darkness of the interior. I closed my eyes, imagining for a second that the door was about to creak open, and in the light of the crackling torches would appear...
- May I? - A gentle female voice interrupted my sudden fantasy.
When I opened my eyes, I was surprised to find a girl with black curly hair, dressed in a green, not too modest dress, standing near my table.
- You're the only other visitor to the Old House besides me," she said, smiling embarrassedly, "and I don't like to dine alone. I hope I'm not disturbing you?
In spite of the ambiguity of the phrase, the lessons of etiquette had taken their toll, and I assured her that such a pretty girl could not interfere with a noble man's modest dinner. Pulling back a chair for her, I motioned for her to join me at the table, signalling to the innkeeper to bring a menu for my unexpected companion.
- My name is Amanda," the girl's melodious contralto was in perfect harmony with her soft facial features that surrounded her curly long hair. - Amanda de Tral.
- Harold Britton," I replied, setting down my food and wondering how coincidental this meeting could be. So far it appeared that I had not yet interfered with anyone in France to the extent that I had been restricted to personal dirt.
- How long have you been in France, Mr Britton? - Amanda took a graceful bite of meat on her fork.
- What makes you think I'm a visitor? - I grinned.
- You still have a slight accent, - the girl squinted at me.
- Everything can be, - a somewhat evasive answer from my side, but why tell the details to a chance encounter. - Are you a native Frenchwoman?
- Oh, yes," Amanda rolled her eyes. - I was born, raised, and will die in Paris.
I preferred to concentrate on the salad I'd brought. There was no point in developing an acquaintance, although Ciaran's lessons and constant meetings with a lot of new people had long ago helped me to get rid of my shyness. But I had three more bookshops to visit, and then Fleur, my one and only beloved, was waiting for me. But the girl, who must have been bored, tried again to keep the conversation going by asking what I was doing in Paris, and when I learnt that I was studying at Charmbutton, she went on to tell me how she had been there two years before.
Listening to her unhurried narrative was surprisingly not annoying, but quite appropriate in such a setting as this old wooden building, where rude torches shone from the walls, and gloomy portraits of men and women in sumptuous costumes gazed at us with frowns.
I called the innkeeper, demanded the bill, and then turned back to my unexpected companion, intending to finish my juice and bid her a polite farewell so that she would have no desire to continue our acquaintance. However, as soon as I took my hand to the stem of the crystal glass that my host had brought me with my order, having estimated the value of my robe and dagger belt, my hand felt like a fine needle pricking. The poison-detector amulet I wore as a thin leather bracelet with a small pebble embedded in it, riddled with Runes, signalled that something new was in the glass.
With a sharp glance at the girl who smiled serenely at me, I pulled out my wand and ostentatiously recited a spell that showed the extraneous impurities and potions. The glass glowed with a pale greenish glow, showing that it was filled with a spell potion that had no antidote.
- How unkind, lady," I rose abruptly from my seat. - Only the fact that you are a woman protects you from being challenged to a duel.
- Wait," the girl's intonation changed abruptly, and now she looked at me pleadingly. - I did not mean to offend you!
- And that's why you gave me the potion?
- I need to find a man," she began, "and you look just like him.
The unpleasant sensation of a steel hoop slowly squeezing my chest, preventing me from breathing, came over me, and for a split second I almost lost control of myself, but I managed to keep a cool expression on my face.
- Even if I look like this man, lady, that's hardly a reason to slip me a spell potion that has no antidote. - I added a chill to my voice.
- If I don't find this man, I'm not likely to be left alive," she clasped her hands together in a pleading gesture.
If I had been a naive Gryffindor, I would have assured her that she was safe with me, that I would find a way to help her, to introduce her to someone who could protect her. Or even offer to go with her to deal with the threat. If I had been a naive Gryffindor, I would have given myself away by now. But now, thanks to the teachers Delacourt had given me and Ciaran's tough, largely cynical philosophy, I calmly said goodbye to the upset girl and headed for the exit, putting her name and appearance aside just in case. It was worth telling Ciaran, I didn't like what was happening.
- So, you're saying she was looking for you," the mirrored surface was staring back at me with the scowling face of the teacher I'd seemingly plucked from the marital bed. - That's not good, Harry. I believe you didn't give the appearance that you were the one for her, but look around three times more carefully. She's hardly the only one. By the way, the de Tralee family dried up during the Necromancer's Rebellion in England. The last members of the family were killed by assassins for the fact that the elder de Tral, who was the leader of the Assembly of Wizards at that time, did not help the English in the war against the then Dark Lord Joshua. The English did not forgive his inaction, and soon the de Thrall family was cut off. So she gave you a fake surname. Look twice as if you were the second Alastor.
Auror grinned, then yawned a long yawn.
- It's good of you to tell me," he said, finally getting over his yawn. - Tomorrow we'll try to track down that stranger of yours, and I'm curious as hell how they found you. The only thing I'm suspicious of so far is that devilish old necromancer, because the shipment he tried to wrestle away was meant to be sent to England.
The flicker of the mirror faded as Ciaran broke the connection and I went to bed, keeping my wand scabbard in my hand out of habit. This time, though, I didn't remove the scabbard with the small dagger I'd been carrying for the past few months, even in Beauxbaton.
* * *
" - Albus! - Sirius Black stood on the threshold of the great hall, pale as death with his left sleeve soaked with blood. The always neat aristocrat's robes were torn in several places. - 'I have urgent news.
- What is it, Lord Black. - Dumbledore rose from his chair at the centre table.
- 'I am forced to admit that you were right, Albus. - Sirius, shrouded in a haze of power, took a few steps forward. I froze in utter shock, looking at the maddened godfather.
- What happened? - The Headmaster stepped out from behind the desk, approaching Sirius.
- The Dark Lord. - Sirius almost wheezed out the words. Staggering, he took a few more steps towards Dumbledore.
- What - the Dark Lord? - Dumbledore's eyes lit up with alarm.
- We just fought him. - Sirius staggered back, wiping the blood from his face with his right hand. The black spiked rings that adorned his fingers glittered.
- What's next, Sirius? - Dumbledore staggered forward, trying to figure out what Black wanted to say.
- I was wrong, Albus," Sirius snickered, shuffling even closer to the Headmaster and having to grasp the old man's shoulder with his left hand, immediately staining the snow-white robe with blood. - 'I could not defeat him, and all hope is in you.
- I know, my boy. - The headmaster glared.
- 'I want to rejoin the Order of the Phoenix, Albus, and my money will be used for your projects. - Black wiped the blood from his face again, staining his clothes. He was wobbling harder with each passing second.
- Sirius, what are you doing? - A scream caught in my throat.
- I want to swear an oath of allegiance to you, Albus. - Dumbledore froze with surprise and Black suddenly began to settle down, clinging to the Headmaster's shoulders. Dumbledore grabbed hold of Sirius' robes with both hands, trying to keep him on his feet. McGonagall jumped out from behind her desk and ran towards the people frozen in the centre of the hall.
A short crunch made all the students gathered in the great hall wince. Dumbledore staggered back, and his hands, which had just tried to hold the falling Bleck, fumbled helplessly around the aristocrat's shoulders. Bleck straightened up, taking half a step to the side, blood dripping from his right arm.
I saw the Headmaster open his mouth to cast a spell, but instead he coughed, staining his robes with the blood that ran from his mouth.
- I'm sorry, Albus. I lied. - Black threw the bloody lump of flesh back onto the table of recoiling Slytherins. - You lost.
A new hand strike came to the centre of the chest of a frozen Dumbledore, who still couldn't get his wand out. The wizard's cloak on his back bulged as if Bleak's fist had punched the Headmaster through and through.
- It's the heart!!! - Parkinson squealed as the lump of flesh landed in front of her and immediately bent over in a fit of vomiting.
- Traitor! - Snape flew up from his seat, pulling out his wand, but Flitwick, who was sitting next to him, swung the silver fork he had been twirling in his hands. Looking into the utterly demented eyes of Dumbledore's henchman, the charms teacher said calmly:
- Snape, you lousy bastard. AvadaKedavra. - The Potions Master fell chest down on the table with a frozen face and then rolled down, pulling the tablecloth behind him.
Minerva McGonagall, not having reached the scene, saw the pool of blood spreading beneath Dumbledore and fainted. The sight of the defeated idol she had always trusted more than anything else in the world was too shocking for the elderly Scottish woman.
- Sirius, you've taken away my right to take revenge on the Headmaster. - The half-goblin grinned and walked over to Blaque, who was wiping his hand on the Headmaster's once-white robe. The Headmaster's body, freed from Sirius's right hand that had pierced through him, fell to the floor. - Snape, however, also insulted the very title of wizard by his very existence, so I'm satisfied.
- Sonorus. Students! - Black, without removing his wand, looked round at the children frozen at the tables. Flitwick stood back to back with the aristocrat. I skipped across the table, running up to them. - Dumbledore had been declared a war criminal by Ministry order and sentenced to death.
I walked over to the Headmaster lying on his back, a purple stain already blurred beside him, the sour smell of blood hitting my nostrils.
- Goodbye, Director. - I was about to move away, but the dead body suddenly grabbed my leg.
- We'll meet again, Potter," the dead lips hissed.
- Damn it!!! - I flew up on the bed, rolling to the floor and hitting my knees painfully. The wand in my hand looked for a target, but there was none. - Just a nightmare...
- So you're saying I killed him with my bare hand? - Sirius's image in the Through Mirror scratched the back of his head.
- Not quite, you had several black coloured rings with sharp spikes on your fingers. - The memory of such a vivid nightmare was still fresh, so I remembered some of the details well.
- Hmm... Wait, I'll go down to the vault," Godfather said suddenly, grinning in anticipation. - I think it's safe to assume that your dream was prophetic. - There was no sign of Black in the mirror this time, only a glimpse of walls and passageways, but the voice was audible.
- Why do you think that, Sirius?
- Because I have a rough guess as to what kind of rings you saw in your dream. - Sirius' voice was filled with undisguised curiosity. - But there's no way you could have seen them in reality.
There was a creak of long-unlubricated hinges, and torches were lit in the semi-dark room visible in the mirror.
- Black was still out of sight, but from the sounds of it, he was moving some heavy chests. - Here we go. - The click of a chest opening.
- These? - Sirius showed me some black, angular black rings with long spikes on the prongs.
- I think so. What are these artefacts? - I realised that Sirius was unlikely to leave unenchanted objects in the house.
- They're my great-grandfather's rings, the ones he wore when he went on any big scramble. - Sirius thought for a moment. - Really, I don't know the keys to the spells that activate them. I'll have to think, think.
- Can you put them on? - I was frankly curious.
- It's best not to," Sirius shook his head. - My relatives had a rather odd sense of humour, my great-grandfather too. So without the knowledge of activation spells, a ring like that could chew my finger off. I'll read Cygnus's journals, I'm sure there's some hint in there. Andromeda will help me too, along with Tonks, if the girl gets away from her new girlfriend.
I sensed some displeasure in my godfather's words.
- What's a girlfriend if she annoys you so much?
- Interested in girls, godson? - Black grinned snidely. - That's right.
Tilting his head back, the godfather chuckled, pleased with the joke.
- Her girlfriend, that's Alika Greengrass," Sirius continued with a laugh. - She's the daughter of our ally Mark Greengrass and a member of the second battle group of our, um, alliance.
- And what's so wrong with her?
- 'Yes,' his godfather waved his hand nonchalantly. - She spends too much time in the mansion, training, chatting with women, and I'm annoyed by their giggling behind my back.
- You can always use the advice in that book you gave me," I gave my godson an equally mocking smile as I watched him almost drop the mirror in a fit of laughter.
- Okay, godson," Black looked at me with a grin, "I'll remember that for you!
- All right, let's get down to business," Sirius looked serious again after our fun had subsided. - A mutual acquaintance of ours, a former employee of the Department of Mysteries, has found a way for us to get into the Prophecy Hall without disturbing the signalling charms.
- And what did he find? - A chill ran down my spine.
- There's a gap in the transgression charms, protected by a key spell and a word password. And Mr Jones shared both with me, and I understand he has a lot of friends in the department, so he even knew the patrol schedule.
- When do we go? - the opportunity to finally get my hands on the prophecy has taken me over the edge.
- There's an Aurorat unit on duty next night, Alastor's men... They won't notice us if we don't make too much noise. I'll visit the Headmaster today and tell him about Regulus's diary and the location of the Horcrux... So you won't need me tomorrow, though I'd love to go with you and Ciaran.
- And if there is an alarm? Who but the aurors on duty will go down to the Privy Chamber?
- There's another rapid response squad on duty at the Aurorate barracks near the Ministry, but they'll arrive within ten minutes - very few members of staff can apparate inside the Ministry, much less into the Department of Mysteries, which includes Alastor Moody and the squad leaders. So you'll have time to do the deed, get the orb, and leave quickly through the same passageway. You can pick up a map of the squad and the locations of the signal charm keys from my house, I'll leave the papers with Remus.
- What if Dumbledore objects and suggests we visit the Horcrux vault at another time?
- I'll just signal to you through the mirror that it's cancelled. If Kreacher's not lying, we'll be in the cave for at least an hour, plenty of time for you.
- All right, then. I'm going to go get ready... I have more Beauxbaton lessons tomorrow.
- Learn, little boy," Sirius laughed. - The more you learn here, the less time you'll have to study at Hogwarts.
* * *
- Albus? - Sirius Black's ghostly face appeared in the fireplace.
- Yes, Sirius? - Dumbledore turned around warily, pulling away from the papers that littered his desk.
- I have some interesting news," Black's ghost grinned contentedly. - 'What do you say we visit the storage site of another Dark Lord Horcrux, Albus?
- Another one? But how did you know about it? - Dumbledore became agitated. - 'I have yet to find a single vague trace of where Tom hid his Horcruxes!
- It turned out to be quite simple, Albus. - Sirius wrinkled his nose. - My brother, Regulus Black, as it turns out, was not a Death Eaters. He found out where the Horcrux was, went there, but his powers weren't enough. My brother died because of the Dark Lord's Horcrux.
Dumbledore nodded sympathetically, though in his heart he would have been glad if Sirius had joined his brother on the other side of the world.
- And where is this Horcrux?
- In a half-flooded cave in the north. The diary gave the coordinates for the apparatus.
- Hmm..." Dumbledore thought for a moment. - Any idea what might meet us inside the cave?
- 'A difficult question...' Sirius' head in the fireplace grimaced. - I would invite Mr Slughorn, despite his advanced years, the potionist is easy going and we could use his elixirs.
- If Horace can join us, then..." Dumbledore looked at Bleak expectantly.
- Then the snakehead will have one less life today, Dumbledore. - Sirius was inwardly triumphant. - Will you contact Slughorn? I'm not that familiar with him.
- Of course you are. - Dumbledore stood up abruptly, glancing around the office. With a flick of his wand, the glowing Patronus with the message flew through the wall.
- If you don't mind, Sirius, I'll meet you here at eight o'clock.
* * *
Neville, opening the door of the Room of Requirement cautiously, slipped inside. Neville's wand flicked frantically as he cast the complex protective spells he had learnt during a week of evening classes with Sirius Bleak, who had literally taken up residence at Hogwarts for the occasion. The room was no longer a safe place because Umbridge, and therefore the Minister, could have known of its existence from Zhou and Marietta, so uninvited guests could arrive at any moment.
Only after making sure the door was securely locked did the young man allow himself to look around. This time, apparently obeying the wishes of the moon already inside, the room turned into a long, cobwebbed and dusty corridor, at the far end of which light was visible, as if flames were playing there.
Softly treading on the stone floor, Neville made his way down the corridor, careful not to get caught in the spider webs of truly intimidating proportions hanging from the top. From the looks of the corridor, Luna was in something as close to depression as possible for her.
The fireplace burned brightly in the small room, tiny candle flames fluttering almost silently along the walls. Luna sat barefoot on the fluffy rug beside the fire, open albums and pencils lying nearby, her bare feet blue from the cold, though the fire burned hotly in the fireplace. Neville dropped his shoes in front of the carpet to avoid dirtying the shaggy pile and sat down beside her, putting his arm around her shoulders. Luna silently snuggled closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder. In the glow of the fire, the girl's face seemed mysterious and unfamiliar.
- Why are they doing this to us?" she asked quietly at last. - What have I done that Umbridge and the Minister were willing to send us all to the Aurorate or give us truth serum?
- Who knows?" Neville stroked the girl's blonde hair gently, running his palm over her cheek. - The Minister and his protegee are clinging to power; they need to stir up any scandal they can around the alliance of families to which the Black's and Longbottoms belong. We have a strong party in the Wizengamot, and the Minister and his supporting families will do anything to smear one of their opponents.
- I understand," Luna murmured, making herself comfortable on his shoulder. - But it's so disgusting.
- I don't like what's going on in England," Neville gently kneaded the girl's tense shoulders, occasionally letting his fingertips stroke the small bones of her collarbones that peeked out from beneath the strict neckline of her school robes. - But I will do my best to protect you now... and when I become Lord Longbottom and take my seat on the Wizengamot.
Luna shifted on the carpet so that her head rested on Neville's lap. The girl's eyes were closed, but Longbottom realised that she was feeling a great deal of fear right now, a fear that had only managed to overcome her after the story with the committee had come to a happy conclusion.
- I hope," he continued, frantically choosing his words, "that when I become head of the Longbottom family, you will be my lady.
Luna's fluffy eyelashes fluttered as she realised the meaning of the words, and then her eyes opened wide in surprise.
- I'm asking you to be my wife, Luna. - Neville brought the girl's slender fingers to his lips, still staring at him in disbelief. - I'm not asking for your answer now, just know that I love you.
The surprise on Luna's face gradually changed to joy, and finally she rose from the carpet and hugged him tightly around the neck.
- I agree," she whispered, snuggling as close to Neville as she could.
* * *
- Harry, are you ready? - Ciaran looked me carefully in the eye.
- Yes, I have the floor plan memorised, and I've learned the floor access spell. - No matter what I said, I was still a little shaken. To sneak into the most secret and deepest underground floor of the Ministry of Magic, to steal a prophecy orb from there is a serious challenge for a person of my age.
I took one last look at the things I'd packed with me: my wand in a securely fastened sheath, my dagger, my potions belt, which was much more comfortable than my bag, and the twins' inventions in the few compartments that were still empty: even though the lousy traitors would get what they deserved, their alchemical creations deserved respect.
Ciaran looked at my costume appraisingly, then nodded.
- Shields. - We waved our wands at the same time, giving ourselves a brief but necessary defence in case of surprise.
- Let's go! - Auror grabbed my shoulder and shouted the apparatus formula, followed by the password spell.
The haze of displacement enveloped us for almost a minute. I could feel our skin as we passed through the many defences of the Mystery Department, which was as secure as the oldest aristocratic castles.
As soon as we were in the empty, bright room, we immediately darted to the sides, dodging any possible attack.
- The hall was empty, just as Alastor had promised. - Ciaran's wand danced in his hands, weaving a spell to search for living things. - There's almost no one on the floor, only four in the direction we need to go.
- A patrol, maybe? - I shook my head doubtfully.
- Most likely. - Auror stepped cautiously out into the corridor and stole towards the Hall of Prophecies.
The empty, bright corridors of the Department of Mysteries did not remind me at all how mysterious and contradictory the rumours about this place were. On the contrary, everything was defiantly ordinary, simple wood panelling, magical lamps, stone floors, with a slight breeze blowing in the corridors. The only thing that made the department's corridors different from a normal house was the unnatural silence. Not a single sound came to us.
In silence we passed the research sector, where it was better for an untrained person not to enter, the storage of dangerous artefacts, the storage of essences, where even trained mages were not recommended to enter. Finally, we found ourselves at a simple wooden door with a sign on it that said we were here.
Strangely enough, the door was unlocked. Ciaran fiddled with the door and slipped his hand into one of his pockets, pulling out a small glass through which he examined something on the other side.
- I couldn't see anything, there was too much magic in the neighbouring hall. - At last my teacher had to admit it. - I can only see that there are three or four people there.
- What are we doing? - I relied entirely on the more experienced auror for that question.
- We do-" Ciaran packed his glass carefully. - On command, we rush in and stun everyone who's there, especially since they're at the far end of the hall, so they're unlikely to even hear us.
Cautiously, wands at the ready, we crept inside, finding ourselves in a cyclopean-sized hall, overwhelming in its grandeur. The ceiling reaching far upwards spoke of the incredible power and skill of those who had cast the space-expanding spells. Somewhere up there, the rafters and beams glowed faintly, but more often it was just fog.
And racks. Dozens, hundreds of long, tall racks, stacked with boxes of glowing glass spheres covered in centuries-old dust.
A muffled, quiet muttering, in which it was impossible to distinguish individual words, filled the entire room, as if it were the sound of all the countless prophecies that had been collected by mages for centuries.
Remembering the diagram of the hall we had seen at the Bleck Mansion, we headed for the far end of the room, where the more recent prophecies were located. As old Mr Jones had written to us, the orb we were interested in was in the last shelf in the left-hand corner, on the lowest shelf, marked with red Runes.
The closer we got to the right section of the hall, the clearer the fact became - the unknown people were in the same sector and near the same shelf that held the prophecy about the Dark Lord.
Ciaran gestured to take the left side of the corridor between the rack and the wall, while I was left with the people on the right.
- Stupefy! Retis caligo!!! Confundus! - A series of spells thrown by me flew towards the figures in black robes who were frozen near the rack. Ciaran, briefly hissed something, sending a cluster of black lights along the corridor.
All our spells, however, shattered impotently against a matte-glossy black wall that instantly condensed out of thin air. Two men, wands raised, stepped forward. And one of them, or rather one of them, I recognised immediately: a pale, emaciated face with black eyes framed by straight, stiff black hair. A crooked smile on full lips. A suffocating blush. Bellatrix Lestrange, Sirius's sister.
- What a meeting, gentlemen... - The woman's mocking tone hid the threat.
Behind her back, two more wizards were trying to tear the compartment where the prophecy was stored from the shelving unit - a graceful decision in its unexpectedness, considering that only I or the Dark Lord could pull the orb out of that compartment.
Bellactrix's companion waved his wand, sending Patronus off somewhere, and I realised that if we got out alive tonight, we'd be thanking the heavens for such good fortune.
Ciaran had also sent a golden glowing messenger through the wall, and now it was a simple matter of which of us would get help the fastest.
- Mr Potter," the woman walking towards us said softly, "you've grown a lot since I saw you in the pictures in the Prophet.
- The press is lying, lady. - I didn't take my eyes off her companion, expecting an attack. Ciaran glided softly down the corridor, gradually quickening his step.
- Harry, the mage is yours. - The teacher's voice sounded deeper than usual. - Don't bring all those racks down on us.
Deprived of the ability to use truly powerful mass spells, we were forced into direct combat.
The two figures blurred into rapid motion, it seemed they both didn't need wings to fly, so fast were their movements. I didn't have time to see what happened next between the pair, busy trying not to get killed. I had a pureblood from an old dark family as my opponent, and there was no other way to explain the stream of forbidden spells flying in my direction.
I jumped, dodging the heartbreaking curse Sirius was showing me. Still in the air, my wand looped in the air-and the air thickened for a moment, stopping dozens of steel blades transfigured from the dust that covered everything around me.
- Seco-Crucio-Insendio," a new trio of my spells, cast in an attempt to stop the Eater's attack, shattered just as surely against the shield created from the air, this time of stone.
A step to the side, an Enhanced Slashing spell and something explosive flying past, and an explosion thudding behind me, but I didn't care.
Levitation spells toss me into the air, and a bubble of fire bursts in my place, turning the stone into boiling lava.
- Leviosa Circle-Bombarda! - The ball of boiling granite ripped off the surface of the fiery lake my opponent had created, and the explosive that followed turned it into a multitude of accelerated fire droplets that could burn a man through and through.
- Insendio-Seco-Cardio Arrest! - The first two spells travelled almost the entire distance to the unknown mage, who hesitated for a few seconds under the rain of fire caused by his own spells, but hit the stone wall just the same. The third, an intangible ray of pure black, went through, but my opponent somersaulted backward, wasting an invaluable moment of the fight.
- Leviosa Circle," a lump of gradually cooling lava burst out of the floor and enveloped the stone shield that soared around the mage. The ugly lump of solidifying stone froze in the centre of the passage, but I knew there was still a dangerous assassin inside.
A new levitation spell, and I was suspended high above the cracking lump of stone, clinging to the rack with my hands.
- Gereja banyak sinar," I whispered softly as an internal explosion sent shrapnel flying in every direction. The dust-covered mage began to utter the first bars of some dark spell, but five grey rays, one of the most energy-intensive of the Blacks curses, burst from my wand and struck from above, embedding themselves in the man, who screamed in terrible pain. The mangled body fell to the ground, accompanied by the crunch of breaking bones.
- Bastard! - One of the two remaining men at the rack swung his wand in fury, sending a wall of fire at me.
- Bayangan api mayat yang," I nearly vomited as the corpse of the man I'd just killed spread a mist and floated toward the mages occupying the rack. I couldn't imagine who could have come up with such a spell, or why.
Bellatrix, feeling the breath of the blackest magic, took one long leap out from under the sheaf of icy air that Ciaran had tried to knock her down with and managed to counter my spell with her own.
The woman's face contorted with tension, but the purple fire that swirled around the trio of Voldemort's servants safely deflected both my cloud and Ciaran's choking gas.
Two against three. The only good thing was that the wizards, who hadn't had time to finally cut through the unexpectedly strong material of the rack, had moved further away, but we couldn't take the orb of prophecy either - there was no chance of dodging the spell at such a short distance.
* * *
- Stop!" Sirius Black pulled away from drawing an incredibly complex Runes pattern on the stone floor, listening to the quiet rustle of the Wolf Patronus coming out of the wall. Dumbledore looked at the glowing beast with bewilderment - who the Patronus of such a shape belonged to, the old wizard did not know.
- Albus," Sirius turned to the wizard, pale. - There is a battle going on in the Department of Mysteries. Voldemort has sent his men to retrieve the prophecy.
- How did you-" The Headmaster started, then realised how his plans might be threatened by the contents of this balloon being made public, or even by Voldemort taking it over. - Sirius, I will gather the Order. Fawkes!
Grasping the tail of his phoenix, the old man disappeared, and Black slammed his fist into the wall in fury:
- The bastard, he's coming at the very end when nothing can be changed... Dobby, take me to my mansion, quickly.
Once in the basement of the mansion, the mage screamed at the top of his voice:
- Alika!!!
The girl who looked out of the training room, surprised by this treatment, saw the aristocrat picking the pockets of elixirs and asked anxiously:
- Lord Black, what's wrong?
- Alert all members of our group to gather at my mansion and at the same time to the Department of Mysteries, there is a battle going on.
- And you?!
- Harry's in there," Black flew back up the stairs, pouring all the power he could into his aura as he ran. With a sharp jerk, the man slipped through the Division's crackling defences and into the once quiet halls, where explosions rumbled and beams of Unforgivable spells flew silently.
- Devil! - The only surviving auror on duty from Alastor's group of five, with swift passes of his bloody hands, once again managed to throw a steel block he had instantly created out of a stone wall in front of a blob of unknown radiance flying in our direction. The master of transfiguration did not want to die without taking with him at least one of the dozens of enemies who were attacking our trio.
I don't know by some miracle, but we'd been holding our position in the wide corridor near the prophecy rack for several minutes now. The stone of the floor was not as strong as the shelves, and was quite amenable to both transfiguration and levitation spells.
Four dead Aurors in various places on the floor and as many still, broken bodies in the corridor, where once again in my short life I could smell the stench of impending death, it wouldn't be long before Bellatrix would be able to overcome Ciaran's and my defences. The noblewoman was standing behind her companions, unconstrained by the need to dodge our blows, drawing a pentagram on the floor as a group of men in black robes pelted our position with the darkest of spells.
- Harry," Ciaran exhaled, fending off another Avada with a cobblestone pulled from the floor, "we have to break through or we're all going to end up here. - Auror shouted a spell I didn't know, and the corridor in front of us filled with black smoke, while the transfiguration wizard waved his wand and turned the floor in front of the position into slime.
- Grab him, lad. - Alastor's subordinate turned towards me, squeezing the words out with blood. Having received a beam of some kind of black curse early in the battle, not fully repelled by his shield, he was gradually giving up.
- There's supposed to be another hall behind our wall," Ciaran pointed to the wall where we were hiding behind the barriers created by magic.
Heor waved his wand, leaving a trail of smoke and sparks, and a small section of the wall crumbled with sand, revealing the exit to the next room.
- Go on," he wheezed. - Soon they'll pick up the counterspell to the poisonous smoke and be able to sneak in here.
Ciaran silently clutched the pale auror's shoulder and sprang out of hiding.
- 'Hurry up, Harry.
I reached out and simply took the crystal ball from the half-destroyed vault. Just, without any effects, it was in the palm of my hand-no signalling spells, nothing.
Ciaran literally pushed me through the breach and, tossing some object to the auror, followed.
- Let's run for the exit," the mage pulled me with him. - We need to go back across the floor to the transgression point.
As we cautiously made our way out the door, there was a jolt of air and a deafening explosion at our backs.
- What was that?
- A last chance amulet. - Ciaran smiled sadly. - The equivalent of a Muggle time bomb, you might say. I think there are a few fresh corpses in there now.
From the sounds coming from all directions, the Death Eaters and the guards on the underground level had been reinforced, so the whole floor was now a battlefield where no one would be happy to see us.
- Let's go. - Auror looked around and rushed to the far end of the corridor, weaving a spell to search for people. Stopping abruptly before the next corner, he turned to me.
- There are almost fifteen people in the transgression hall right now, and I don't know who they might be. But it would be suicide to go in there. And there's a very powerful mage walking towards us.
The corridor went dark, as if something had drunk some of the light right out of the air. Ciaran leapt out from around the corner with his wand, but the torrent of killing spells never came off his hands. And the wave of darkness that came towards him fell away, rolling backwards.
- Sirius, damn it. - Auror laughed nervously, "I almost sent an Avada at you.
- Harry! - My godfather clenched my shoulders.
Surrounded by a seething cloud of magic, Sirius Black did indeed look like a descendant of an ancient dark family, though he didn't usually emphasise that fact.
- Sirius, Bellatrix was here.
The godfather grinned grimly, "Of course, the lord sent his most loyal chain dog for that prophecy.
- We should go upstairs," Ciaran turned to the main corridor that cut the floor in half. - The apparatus room is full of people.
- Let's move," the half-eyed auror said worriedly. - A group of people were heading in our direction.
- Harry, if we get attacked after we pass the stairs to the next floor, run on alone, we'll follow. It should be clear upstairs, all the people concerned are already here. - Black exhaled on the run. - True, that bastard Dumbledore didn't come with me, he started to gather the Order, so they'll be here by the end of the fight.
As I peered down a side corridor, I saw several black-cloaked figures rushing towards us.
Suddenly, three silver-masked men blocked our way. Death Eaters of the inner circle.
The emerald net one of them had created across the corridor made us stop. There was a blaze of flame and pebbles raining from the ceiling, but Blek managed to push through the defences with his own aura, and the black figure of the mage opposite flinched in pain, immediately receiving a green Avada beam from me. Ciaran tried to push back the wizards holding the passage, but judging by the glint of magic and the explosions, he had met worthy opponents.
- Sirius! - A loud shout from the remaining corridor behind him made Bleek turn round sharply.
- Bella, what an encounter. - A dark wave ripped towards the fragile female figure, immediately met by a thick stream of lightning.
The eerie rumble of clashing magic of strong wizards almost deafened me. Ciaran, having tied up the two surviving Eaters, was slowly pushing them into the back of the side corridor, clearing a path for me to the exit.
Three of Bellatrix's friends, all of whom had been badly injured in the prophecy chamber explosion, jumped out of the crossroads after Bellatrix and scrambled back down the corridor, making it impossible to stay near the fighting aristocrats.
With a sharp whoosh, similar to the sound of steam escaping from the cauldron of the Hogwarts Express, a piece of the wall near where the brother and sister were fighting was split by invisible blades. Stones rumbled in all directions, causing me to jump back. Despite my attempts to hit Bellatrix, the woman seemed to ignore my spells, quickly moving away from Avada or absorbing the elemental blows with an aura of darkness. From the corridor where the three fighting mages had gone, there were incessant explosions and cracking sounds, as if giants were breaking down stone walls. Bellatrix made an incredible leap in the air and moved into the room, still pouring a stream of spells at Sirius. I could see that his hours of training had not been wasted on him; the mage looked unharmed, and his Azkaban-crazed sister had a dozen burns and scratches; unfortunately, the woman had managed to keep herself from more serious damage.
I followed them over the rubble, still trying to hit Bellatrix with the blackest spells available to me, but the woman was indeed an incredibly capable wizard, I realised, as Sirius had told us during the meeting at Bleak House.
- Gereja banyak sinar," I whispered again, causing a beam of rays to burst towards Bellatrix, but she swung her palm briefly in the air, and all the bone-breaking spells faded into the thickening air.
The hall we found ourselves in was not remarkable for its size. Rough stone walls with water dripping down from somewhere above, as if we were in a karst cave. The cold, impossible even underground. And distant voices, whispering, hissing, even through the sounds of clashing spells, that were vaguely disturbing.
In the centre of the hall stood an impossibly ancient, cracked stone arch, the air beneath which trembled faintly, as if heated by the heat rising from below. I remembered that according to the floor plan this was the Hall of Death, the place where, centuries ago, doomed criminals were executed by throwing them into this very archway.
A new wave of rumbling came from the corridor, as if reinforcements had arrived. A shriek of inhuman pain rang in my ears; I hadn't realised it was possible to scream like that under a curse.
The brother and sister continued to fight, and I could see that their spells were becoming less colourful and less magic-rich, the strain of their powers draining them. The mages' auras were fading, no longer shattering the stone walls with their occasional misses, but Bellatrix's ability to evade my spells was unaffected by her exhaustion. All I had to do was wait until the woman was completely exhausted and deliver an Avada at close range.
The noise of battle, heard through the breach in the wall, told of the ongoing carnage in the Mystery Department - apparently everyone who cared about the outcome of the battle was here. Flashes and crossing beams were visible through the breach, but no one was using attack charms as powerful as the Blacks clashing spells - there was a good chance they'd hit their own.
Sirius deftly dodged a ghostly blade that passed over his head and sent a stream of black fire at Bellatrix, slashing at the woman's left arm, leaving an ugly stain of burnt flesh. Losing concentration, the madwoman also lost control of her aura, which immediately flashed purple, preventing her from approaching.
The wall Sirius was standing against collapsed with an eerie rumble, shattering everything around him. A bloody body in a black robe flew through the new breach he'd just made, shattering into pieces as it flew. The godfather looked away from his rival for a split second, who immediately took advantage of the situation.
- Die! - Black fire struck Sirius, throwing him back towards the Arch of Death... A thin film of defence surrounded his body at the last moment, but the impact was too strong.
- NO! - The arch was engulfed in smoke and rocks fell, revealing to my eyes the ruins of an ancient structure that had crumbled from the terrible blow.
- YES! - Bellatrix laughed, but suddenly coughed, blood spurting from her mouth.
When she saw Alastor Moody, who now looked like some kind of Muggle assassin because the old mage was covered in someone else's blood, and Ciaran, smouldering but alive, climbing over the rubble to our side, she ran to the exit, limping heavily. Her wand described an intricate loop in the air, partially bringing the ceiling down on the heads of the aurors forced to retreat back into the corridor.
I could see that the movement was causing her great pain-the godfather's spell had clearly been double-bottomed, and now the curses were slowly eating away at her body.
- You killed Sirius! Ignea Hastam! Gereja banyak sinar!!! - I lunged towards her, but the woman threw some kind of spell at me, breaking through my shield and I was thrown to the ground.
- I'm sorry, Potter, but you've lost. - My burnt, blackened left hand ripped off my belt, in one of the pockets of which hid an orb with a prophecy. - The Lord will get the prophecy, by all means.
- BASTARD! - My roar made even Bellatrix shudder.
- The lord ordered that you not be killed, boy, so.... Crucio! - I was doused in boiling tar, every vein screaming in pain, and Bellatrix, stamping on her right foot, ran for the exit, just ahead of Alastor and Ciaran, who were holding a shield against the falling stones from the ceiling.
- No!!! - I staggered up from the floor, fighting the pain in my shuddering muscles.
- Harry, stop! - Ciaran ran in my direction, and Alastor turned towards the ruins at the site of the Arch of Death.
I heard nothing, all thoughts centred on the pain that clawed at my heart. Godfather! One of the two truly close people I had left. It was like a bloody mist was covering my eyes, but I rushed after the fleeing Bellatrix, who had managed to get quite far down the corridor.
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