The Dark Mark | D.M

Lost in the Dungeons

III

The castle walls of Hogwarts were beautiful but dark. Everything was ravishing yet gloomy. The corridors stretch like labyrinthine veins throughout the ancient castle. Their stone walls, adorned with tapestries and portraits of past headmasters, echo with the whispers of countless generations. Tall windows intermittently punctuate the passageways, allowing streams of golden light to dance upon the flagstone floors. With each turn, the corridors reveal new secrets, leading to hidden alcoves and hidden doors that connect different parts of the castle, creating a maze of possibilities within its hallowed halls. These are the thoughts of three foreign girls as they wander around the corridors. They took a right from the Great Hall and then left to another set of... corridors?

"Hold on a minute. We've been walking straight for almost ten minutes now." Charlotte announced. "We should be at the carriage in less than five from the Great Hall."

"You're right." Amelie agreed before letting out a giggle. "Well, it's normal to get lost at some point. This place is huge." She smiled.

"If it's not the right corridor then— it's the left one," Charlotte grunted.

"Let's just go and turn back around, enough with the whining." Astrid cautioned with a small smile.

"Oh, shut up." Charlotte let out a chuckle.

The girls reached the Great Hall once more, noticing a few more Hogwarts students leaving one by one. When the trio was about to walk past the double doors and down the flight of stairs, a blonde boy exited the Great Hall. The blonde halted for a moment as his silvery eyes wander over the trio, mainly staring at the girl in the middle with his brows furrowed which slowly releases its tension from the interaction. He then proceeded and took quick steps straight and down the other flight of stairs.

"Oh, that's the blonde boy who kept on staring at you." Amelie gushed as she teasingly gave Astrid a push.

"Looks like someone got their eyes on you, rather quickly." Charlotte joined the teasing, causing the raven-haired to giggle.

As for Astrid, her features turned glum before locking her jaw. "You two go on." She ushered.

"What?" Charlotte asked dumbfoundedly. "We barely know this place, let alone leave you here with just half an hour till curfew."

"Don't worry, I'll be back before you know it." Astrid pushed.

"But Astrid—"

"Leave her be. We'll leave the dorm room door unlock for you. Be careful, hun." Amelie interrupted, sending the brunette a smile as she have a slight idea on what Astrid was about to do, though unsure why she was going to do it.

The pair left Astrid while Charlotte kept trying to pursue and come with the brunette, but thanks to Amelie, Astrid was able to follow a certain blonde down the stairs he just used and into a darker and colder set of corridors.
The unfamiliar hall sent shivers through her spine, her body hair raised, leaving her tad bit smaller body to briefly quiver. She strolled around the corridor when her peripheral vision caught the silver-haired once more, taking a sharp left turn towards the end of the hall.

Astrid followed the blonde as quickly as her legs can strut. If he took a left, she'll turn left, and if he turn right, she'll turn right. She followed the boy for as long as her little time around the halls as she can—until she turn another left and the boy a few feet away from her disappeared into thin air.

A blank wall greeted the brunette, a blank wall with nothing but cement, not even another corridor to turn to. Confusion engulfed the green-eyed girl as she curiously took careful steps towards the wall when a deep and strict man's voice echoed behind her.