(Eng) Weasleys, Pranks and other Curses

36

There were murals on the walls here, too, but they were much more stylized than before. A tree with people - or human-like creatures - sitting on its branches.

In the next picture, you could see the root system of the tree, but the roots ended in torn snake mouths digging into the ground.

The left wall showed the same tree in the first picture, but the second showed the tree's canopy and a giant bird above it holding a human in its talons.

"What do you think?" George put a hand on my shoulder. "I've never seen anything like it."

I shrugged my shoulders as well. "I can only speculate wildly." My chest tightened. "That one looks like the attack at Hogwarts." The tree was the tower the bird had 'plucked' me from. "But I have no idea what the roots are all about."

"Do you remember what was on the back wall?"

"The ivy was pretty thick by then. That's the only way I got in here." I pointed to a tiny hatch that led to some kind of air shaft. None of us would fit through there today. "This was all underground, after all. Only this opening had been washed out by the rain."

"And you thought it was a good idea to crawl into a dark hole." It wasn't a question, so I just smiled apologetically.

"I think it's the tree, too. But much bigger." I pointed to a tiny corner of the back wall where the ivy had not yet spread. With a little imagination, the pattern could represent leaves. Or it was just chipped stone.

"There will be nothing left for us to do but remove the ivy, if we are to say that with any certainty." George pushed past me as we heard the echo of a scream. Automatically we both turned toward the entrance, but it was not that.

Like an arrow, the ghostly bird came shooting through the hatch. Metal bars shot out of the doorway like stakes, flinging the barricade aside. The exit was closed.

"Was it like this last time?" wanted George to know. We both had our wands drawn and were spinning with the bird circling overhead.

"I would have remembered that."

The bird launched its first attack. No matter what spell we hurled at it, it parried them as if we had merely thrown pillows at it. With one last dive, we were able to get to safety behind an open grave.

"Is he immune?"

"I don't think so." Our light swirled around the center of the room, startled by the beast's wings. It was the first time I had seen my pursuer so close. Whenever the greenish feathers had appeared on the horizon, I had taken flight. The last time he had caught me, I had had other things to worry about than getting a closer look at the animal.

The next attack came even faster than the first and we could only escape by jumping in different directions.

"George!" "Camille!" Maddie and Fred had reached the blocked door.

"Is that an Augurey?", I yelled to Maddie. It didn't matter if we were quiet. The bird knew where we were, and if a sentry was close enough to hear us, the bird's squawking had alerted him anyway.

"It's too dark." Maddie actually tried to squeeze between the bars, but Fred pulled her back. Instead, he pulled two more lights from his jacket and tossed them into the room.

It took a minute for them to reach their full potential. That was too long.
I saw the bird start to attack again and came out of hiding before I could change my mind. I just made it to the lights before I felt the drops raining down. I wrenched my arms over my head, but George was faster. Just in time, he tackled me to the side.

"George!" yelled Fred again, rattling the bars.

Only through this did I understand how serious the situation actually was for George. Dark blood soaked one side of his face. I wrapped his arm around my shoulders before the bird could attack us again. The adrenaline gave me an unexpected strength and I was able to pull George up to the entrance, where I leaned him against the bars so the others could patch him up.