Slytherin Tales: The Divine Seven

Chapter 20: The Mission

Word Count: 2,680

Chapter 20: The Mission

We made our way down the halls, heading to the place I was sure I'd seen the portrait. It had to have been one of the times I walked Sable back to the Gryffindor Common Room. It has to be there, I'm sure! We were going through one of the corridors when we ran into a certain freckle faced Gryffindor.

"Sachie! What're you all doing here? You missed lunch," Albert remarked as he took a bite from the apple he was holding.

"Sorry Albert, I got caught up in some unfortunate circumstances, and I'm afraid we probably won't be making dinner tonight either," I sighed in disappointment. As I acknowledged this, my stomach let out a growl in protest. "I don't suppose you have any extra snacks?"

"I got you covered," he said, reaching for his bag and pulling out several wizarding snacks and fruits. Sable looked on with wide eyes as he pulled out more than the bag could seemingly hold. Noticing this, he laughed lightly and said," Undetectable Extension Charm allows me to store as many snacks as I want. I usually keep these for my tutoring sessions, but you look like your needs are greater right now."

"You are truly a blessing," I hugged Albert. We took the food graciously and were about to leave when he asked us one more thing.

"Where are you off to? I'll inform your brother so he doesn't worry."

"The Grand Staircase, there's something we have to find. I'll explain later." He nodded in understanding before disappearing around the corner. We continued on our way to our destination until finally it was upon us. We stepped onto the first staircase, our footsteps echoed up the tall building.

"It's here somewhere," I said confidently as we made our way along the moving staircases. It felt strange beneath my feet, knowing that we were moving and yet our bodies themselves were motionless. I'd only been to this area a couple of times as I preferred to use more stationary means of stairs. I forgot how big the Grand Staircase was, with its stone walls and stairs that reached high up many floors. Moving paintings and portraits were everywhere, going about their own business, some staring at our odd group while others simply ignored us entirely. It appeared as if the pictures themselves were alive, which only added to our apprehensiveness in regards to the unfamiliar sense of our surroundings. Only Rubina and Sable seemed comfortable with the setting.

"I never liked these stairs," Elliot murmured, shifting his feet and gripping the railing as the staircase beneath us began to move. He gripped Sable's red cardigan, his body very tense.

"Afraid of heights?" teased Sable, patting him on the head.

"No. Just falling."

"Think of it as an escalator."

"I hate escalators."

"What's an escalator?" questioned Val.

"Oh come on!" Sable gave an exaggerated sigh.

"Keep your eyes open everyone, I'm positive I've seen that portrait here before," I encouraged. We all kept scanning the room, there had to be hundreds of different portraits we observed as we got on and off many of the stairs and travelled up many floors.

"There! That corner!" Rubina pointed. We made our way over to see where she was pointing. About a floor above us was the exact painting in the photograph, the seven men sitting at a table, each holding a different snake. However, it was different from the others. It was stagnant, none of the men moved. That's why I remembered it. We made our way to the corner, all of us crowding around the platform beneath the painting.