Emma Potter; Going to War

83: Field Trip

I could smell salt and hear rushing waves; a light,chilly breeze ruffled my hair as I looked out at moonlit sea and star-strewn sky. I was standing upon a high outcrop ofdark rock, water foaming and churning below him. I glancedover my shoulder. 

A towering cliff stood behind us, a sheer drop,black and faceless. A few large chunks of rock, such as the oneupon which Me, Harry and Dumbledore were standing, looked asthough they had broken away from the cliff face at some point inthe past.  It was a bleak, harsh view, the sea and the rock unrelievedby any tree or sweep of grass or sand. 

"What do you think?" asked Dumbledore. He might have beenasking our opinion on whether it was a good site for a picnic. 

"They brought the kids from the orphanage here?" asked Harry,I could not imagine a less cozy spot for a day trip. 

"Not here, precisely," said Dumbledore. "There is a village ofsorts about halfway along the cliffs behind us. I believe the orphans  were taken there for a little sea air and a view of the waves. No, Ithink it was only ever Tom Riddle and his youthful victims whovisited this spot. No Muggle could reach this rock unless they wereuncommonly good mountaineers, and boats cannot approach thecliffs, the waters around them are too dangerous.

" I imagine thatRiddle climbed down; magic would have served better than ropes.And he brought two small children with him, probably for thepleasure of terrorizing them. I think the journey alone would havedone it, don't you?" 

I looked up at the cliff again and felt goose bumps. 

"But his final destination — and ours — lies a little farther on.Come."

 Dumbledore beckoned us to the very edge of the rock wherea series of jagged niches made footholds leading down to bouldersthat lay half-submerged in water and closer to the cliff. It was atreacherous descent and Dumbledore, hampered slightly by hiswithered hand, moved slowly. 

The lower rocks were slippery withseawater. I could feel flecks of cold salt spray hitting my face. 

"Lumos," said Dumbledore, as he reached the boulder closest tothe cliff face. A thousand flecks of golden light sparkled upon thedark surface of the water a few feet below where he crouched; theblack wall of rock beside him was illuminated too. 

"You see?" said Dumbledore quietly, holding his wand a littlehigher. I saw a fissure in the cliff into which dark water wasswirling."You will not object to getting a little wet?"

 "No," said Harry. I shook my head.

"Then take off your Invisibility Cloak — there is no need for itnow — and let us take the plunge."

And with the sudden agility of a much younger man, Dumbledore slid from the boulder, landed in the sea, and began to swim,with a perfect breaststroke, toward the dark slit in the rock face, hislit wand held in his teeth. 

I pulled off the cloak, and Harry stuffed it intohis pocket, and began to follow.

"Hold on" I said "our clothes will drag us down."

I unbuttoned my robe; leaving me in my black jacket, shirt and skirt. Harry followed suite and we both jumped.

The water was icy; my waterlogged clothes billowed around me and weighed me down. Taking deep breaths that filled my nostrils with the tang of salt and seaweed, I struck out for theshimmering, shrinking light now moving deeper into the cliff.

 The fissure soon opened into a dark tunnel that I could tellwould be filled with water at high tide. The slimy walls were barelythree feet apart and glimmered like wet tar in the passing light ofDumbledore's wand.