(1) Lux Brumalis (R. Weasley)

Chapter Fifty-Five

Footsteps echo through the passageway as Pixie follows after Ron, Hermione, and Harry. She's at the back, but not dragging her feet. Just watching their backs. They have no idea if something is going to come up behind them. They have no idea what is going to happen. There could be other booby-traps waiting for them. It's strange. Pixie thought that being in the dark. Being in this sort of situation, that she'd been absolutely bricking it. She is scared. But it's not that bad. She can process it. She understands that it is there, but she can move past it. To think clearly and work on the task at hand.

"Can you hear something?" Ron whispers. And he's right. There is a rustling, clinking, fluttering sound ahead of them. Pixie reaches into her pocket to find comfort in Kaa, who curls around her fingers.

"Do you think it's a ghost?" Harry asks, Ron shakes his head.

"I don't know... sounds like wings to me."

"There's light ahead...." Pixie points out, narrowing her eyes through the darkness to try and make out what it is or where it is coming from. "I can see something moving." It's not that far along the passageway, but in the dark, it seems to go on for far further. But they do eventually come to the end, the passageway leading out into a brightly lit chamber, a high ceiling above them filled with small, jewel-bright birds, fluttering and tumbling all around the room. On the opposite side of the chamber is a heavy wooden door.

"Do you think they'll attack us if we cross the room?" Ron asks.

"Probably," Harry answers. "They don't look very vicious, but I suppose if they all swooped down at once... well, there's no other choice... I'll run." Harry takes a deep breath, covers his face with his arms and then bolts across the room towards the door. But nothing happens to him. He lowers his arms as he lets out a relieved breath. His fingers grip the handle of the door and pulled. But it is locked. Hermione, Ron, and Pixie hurry across the room to join Harry, each having a go at the door too but it's firm in its hold, to keep them passing through. Hermione pulls out her wand and points it at the lock.

"Alohomora" Hermione tries, but nothing. The door has clearly been spelled to not allow access even with the unlocking charm. Hermione huffs in annoyance.

"Now what?" Ron muses.

"These birds... they can't be here just for decoration," Hermione offers as she looks up at the birds.

"They're not birds!" Harry realises. "They're keys! Winged keys...look carefully. So that must mean..." Harry looks around the chamber while the other three squint up at the flock of keys. "...yes....look! Broomsticks! We've got to catch the key to the door!"

"But there are hundreds of them!" Pixie complains. Ron turns back to the door and lowers down to look at the lock. He draws his finger around it.

"We're looking for a big, old-fashioned one" Ron informs them. "Probably silver, like the handle." Harry moves to the broomsticks first, grabbing one from the wall. Ron, Hermione, and Pixie follow his lead. Each of them grabs a broomstick and takes off into the air, flying straight up into the cloud of keys above them. There are so many keys flying around. How they are supposed to find one key among all of them that might just fit the lock? Pixie suddenly realises that they're not looking for a new key. No. It wouldn't be new. It will be used. Someone else would have come through here first. Someone else will have already taken a key and used it. She pulls the broomstick to a stop. Her eyes flicker around at the keys. Ignoring the beautifully perfect wands, and seeks the imperfect. The used one. She notices a large silver key that has a bent wing.

"That one!" She shouts, alerting the others. "It's that one...That big one with bright blue wings.....the feathers are all crumpled on one side." Ron suddenly bursts through the air on his broomstick, straight towards where Pixie is pointing, straight towards the key she pointed out. Only he goes crashing into the ceiling instead, almost sending him sprawling back to the ground, only just hanging onto the broom, scrambling to pull himself back up onto it.

"We've got to close in on it!" Harry counters, his eyes locked on the key as it flutters lopsided. "Ron, you come at it from above, Hermione, stay below and stop it from going down, Pixie...you and me, we'll come at it from either side and I'll try and catch it. Right, NOW!" Ron dives. Hermione rockets upward, and Pixie and Harry fly towards the centre of the room, towards one another and the key between them. The key dodges Ron and Hermione who barely manage to avoid one another. Pixie swerves Hermione and darts forward towards the key. Harry's closer though. He streaks towards it with some speed. And there is a reason he is the youngest seeker in Gryffindor history. Harry leans forward on the broom and snatches the key out of the air with one hand. Pixie lets out an involuntary whoop as Ron and Hermione cheer. They all fly back down to the ground, quickly dismounting and dropping the broomsticks where they stand before they follow Harry to the locked door. Harry rams the key straight into the lock and turns it, proving that it is the right key as the lock inside the door opens with a sharp crack. The key suddenly takes flight again, its broken wing barely holding it up in the air. Harry lets out a breath and turns to his friends, his hand tightly wrapped around the door handle.

"Ready?" He asks them. Ready might not really be the right word here. They are prepared to go forward, but how can anyone be ready for whatever might be coming beyond that door. But Ron, Pixie, and Hermione all nod the same.