Spellbound Sacrifice: The Hidden Truth (Book 1)

Chapter 5 - The Tunnel of Truth

Chapter 5 - The Tunnel of Truth

The skyscraper walls ensured any enemies of Hogwarts would be primarily slowed down as the trio looked up to see if they could see over the top but instead were greeted with more shimmering brick,

"What's that noise?" Hermione gasped as they slowly looked behind them, into the darkness of the forest.

The rustling became louder and more intense, as the trio realised they couldn't lose another member of the group, and raced towards the other side of the wall.

A large dense shadow gave them chase as they wildly threw their wands back and fired at the gloomy figure racing towards them to try and slow it down,

"Harry come on!" Hermione screamed as Harry went tumbling to the ground.

She ran back and tried to pull him from the ground,

"Harry, get up! It's gaining on us!" Hermione panicked as she hastily grabbed and pulled at his shoulder.

"I'm stuck!" Harry yelled as he grabbed and pulled at his tethered leg as Hermione slowed down to see the cause of Harry's pain.

As he laid on the floor, struggling to move, Hermione realised that Harry had fallen foul of the deadly Devil's Snare plant which had secretly emerged from a small dark cavern near the mighty ancient oak tree.

The glistening black vines quickly wrapped themselves around Harry's squirming ankle as he frantically pulled and twisted to get away from the deadly entrapment.

The vines began to make their way up Harry's panicking body as the fatal plant attempted to drag him into its gloomy cavern,

"Heeelp!" Harry screamed as the last vine smothered his face and began to drag him to the entrance of his doom.

Due to the distraction of the Devil's Snare, the trio forgot, momentarily, about the large shadow figure that was now only meters away, bounding towards them,

"Ron shoot!" Hermione screeched as she lifted her wand and fired at Harry's now mummified body.

"Lumos Solem"! Hermione yelled as a bolt of bright light flew frantically from her wand and connected with another piercing bright light that flew over her head and met her stream of light as the electricity penetrated the slimy mummified mass and evaporated the vines into a sticky gunge on the ground.

"Harry!" Hermione screamed as she ran over and eagerly assessed her friend was still alive.

The air became still and dense as Harry's lifeless body laid limp in Hermione's shivering arms.

Hermione refused to take her eyes off her lifeless friend as an eerie silence besieged the forest and the sunlight escaped behind a cloud of uncertainty.

Struggling to remove the sticky sludge away from Harry's nose and mouth in the restricted light, she looked up to see the dark mass towering above her as Ron stood back in fear,

"Hermione get back!" Ron stuttered as Hermione looked up at the shadowy figure and slowly put Harry's limp body on the ground and cautiously backed away to join a stunned Ron.

They watched on with foreboding eyes as the giant hooded shadow crouched down and inspected the unresponsive body on the ground,

"Get away from him!" Hermione screeched as she lunged forward with her wand in the air, ready to defend her lifeless friend.

The dark figure turned and looked up at a frantic Hermione as she swung her wand and fired at the hooded intruder,

"Nooo!" Ron yelled as he pushed Hermione's hand, leaving the electric bolt to fire away from its target and disappear into the wailing forest,

"Hermione it's me but we have no time for pleasantries, we need to get him to Dumbledore and quick" the deep voice bellowed as Hermione lower her wand in disbelief at the recognition of the familiar voice.

The hooded giant lifted the limp body off the ground as his hood fell off to reveal the towering figure's true identity,

"Hagrid!" Ron yelled as he lost himself in the excitement and ran over to the anxious looking gamekeeper.

Hagrid stepped back and looked around with concern,

"We need to get away from here now as the Devil's Snare was not the only enemy watching us" Hagrid whispered as he took a long winding walking stick from beneath his cape and tapped a selection of bricks in the wall,

"Stand back" he whispered as the bricks started to shimmer and shake revealing a dark corridor with a faint light at the end,

"Quickly get in, you'll be safe in here" he gestured as he pushed the pair into the dark hole and tapped on the wall, alerting the bricks to slide back into their closed position.

As soon as the last brick slid into its rightful place, the pitch black corridor came to life,

"It's beautiful" Hermione gasped as she looked around in awe of the shimmering sight before her.

The tunnel walls transformed from a dark jagged brick surface to a sparkling blue and pink sheen as Ron became distracted from a scrapping next to his feet,

"Out of the way!" a disgruntled voice sneered as Ron jumped back to see an annoyed elf trying to get his wheelbarrow of jewels passed his foot,

"What is this place?" Ron asked as more elves struggled to get passed him as they continued with their work, unaffected by their presence.

Hagrid beckoned them forward as they continued their journey throughout the shimmering tunnel with Harry flopping around in his arms,

"Some of the elves came to Dumbledore after the battle and needed protection from their masters as they chose the other side, so Dumbledore arranged for them to mine the jewels from here so they get protection as the tunnel is hidden from view and Dumbledore uses the jewels to fund the school to keep it going" Hagrid explained as an inquisitive elf cautiously approach Hermione with a small diamond.

Overwhelmed by the beautiful magical environment, Hermione stopped, bent down and put her hands together, ready to receive the touching gift.

A silence swept the tunnel as all the elves stopped their routine and watched the curious toddler elf.

Her hands were out of proportion for her size but her innocent eyes gleamed friendship as she carefully dropped the clear cut gem into Hermione's hands.

Hermione smiled and stood back up as the nervous toddler ran back and hid behind her parents as she peeked out from around her mother, eager to see her new friends reaction to the shiny gift,

"Let's see then" Ron whispered as he opened her hands and jumped back in amazement,

"It's changing colour" Hermione gasped as the clear cut diamond began to be filled with a swirling red fog.

An alarming gasp filled the tunnel as Hagrid backed away from Hermione as she dropped the newly coloured gem stone on the ground and looked around to see equally petrified faces staring back at her,

"Why did it do that?" Hermione questioned as the elves retreated out of sight, leaving a gawping Hagrid examining a shaken Hermione.

Sensing a change in the friendly atmosphere, Ron kicked the crimson jewel to the side and held onto his wife,

"Have you been in contact with something evil or have you dabbled in the dark arts recently?" Hagrid questioned as inspected her face for the truth.

Ron laughed at his questions and stepped in front of Hermione before she could answer,

"You're not being serious are you? You know we left magic behind all them years ago so maybe you need to update or fix your gems because they are way off here" Ron chuckled.

Hagrid looked at Hermione suspiciously as she avoided his questioning stare, instead preferring to concentrate on the glimmering ground before Ron grabbed her hand and guided them towards the end of the tunnel as he changed the subject to improve on the new awkward mood as Hermione spent the rest of the journey wondering what else the gem could tell Hagrid about her recent experience with the Dark Arts.