The Last Horcrux

The Snake and the Phoenix

Harry, Ginny and Sirius followed the snake through the woods. It was dark, with the moon only occasionally peering out from behind thickening clouds. Elmore apparently didn't understand about paths. He led them through dense underbrush. They pushed their way through low lying branches, stumbled over fallen trees, their faces scratched and bleeding, panting to keep up with the snake.

He brought them to a narrow crack in the foundation. It was wide enough for them to wriggle through - barely. They squeezed themselves into a dank basement of some kind. It was pitch black.

"Lumos," Ginny whispered. The walls were bare stone, the floor made of earth. The snake was already slithering toward a dark passage. Ginny covered the tip of her wand with her hand so just a tiny bit of light escaped, barely enough to see by. They followed the snake.

Elmore led them through a warren of dark tunnels that smelled of earth. As they rose upward the floor turned to flagstones and the air grew fresher. All was dark and still. At last, Elmore slithered up a flight of wooden stairs into a large kitchen, filled with shadows. He raised up on his tail and pointed to a pegboard hung with many keys.

"That one, Harry Potter," the snake hissed, inclining his head toward a large, old fashioned key on the upper left.

Harry grabbed the key. It was cool and heavy in his hand.

"Where now?" he asked the snake.

"Follow me," Elmore replied. He led them back down the stairs to the basement rooms below.

********

Dudley's anxiety grew as he and the others followed Celia through the dizzying black and white tents of the Night Circus. It was very late now, and there were hardly any patrons about. The place seemed deserted and sad. Empty food wrappers blew along the white paths, crushed cartons lay on the ground. The harmonium played on, the music eerie and haunting, winding its way among the nearly abandoned tents. They saw several cats, all either snowy white or coal black, prowling along the deserted pathways.

Where - the fuck - was Draco?

Celia stopped at a tent labeled House of Horrors. "This tent," she said, "was added after Rodolphus took over." She pulled back the flap and they followed her inside.

Dudley ducked as a huge clown face came swooping at them out of the darkness. Its leering mouth was painted a vicious red, its histrionic laugh filled the air. He heard Amanda gasp. Next to him, Gavin reached for his hand and held it tightly. Biscuit whined.

The apparition faded into smoke above their heads, leaving only the echo of its laughter behind.

"Come along," Celia said, into the hollow silence. From somewhere ahead of them came a faint scream.

They went down a cramped passage, Celia's lantern illuminating the way. A coffin came out of the wall and opened with a loud creak. A skeleton rose from it and rattled its bones at them. An armored knight towered above them, swinging a mace. A vampire emerged from a pool of mist, its fangs dripping blood. Giant spiders clicked their pincers menacingly, their rows of blue green eyes glowing in the lamplight. Harpies descended on them from above, screeching horribly, their faces lurid and green, then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

It was claustrophobic in the narrow passageway filled with horrors jumping out at them, unexplained thumps and weird laughter echoing. Dudley's palms were wet and he thought he might lose it. Where was this ghostly woman taking them? Could they trust her? He'd much rather be out in the open, fighting, than this. He fingered his wand nervously.

At last they came to a larger area. This room was filled with torture devices; chains, a bed of nails, a rack, a collection of evil looking spikes.

"What's that?" gasped Amanda, pointing. It was a rat. For a moment, Dudley was afraid it was the same rat that had turned into a man earlier in the evening (was that really this same night? It felt like another lifetime ago.) The rat gave them a long unperturbed look and went back to snuffling among an assortment of thumb screws.