Mia Potter was the other Potter. Looking almost identical to her mother, she was a force to be reckoned with. But there was only one person who could reckon with her, and his name was Draco Malfoy.
In which the youngest Potter twin finds herself fa...
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"This way," Mia said and off they went, their footsteps slapping loudly on the wet floor.
The tunnel was so dark that they could only see a little distance ahead. Their shadows on the wet walls looked monstrous in the wandlight.
"Remember," Harry said quietly as they walked cautiously forward, "any sign of movement, close your eyes right away. . . ."
But the tunnel was quiet as the grave, and the first unexpected sound they heard was a loud crunch as Ron stepped on what turned out to be a rat's skull. Mia lowered her wand to look at the floor and saw that it was littered with small animal bones. Trying very hard not to imagine what Ginny might look like if they found her, Mia led the way forward, around a dark bend in the tunnel.
"Mia, there's something up there. . . ." said Ron hoarsely, grabbing Mia's shoulder.
They froze, watching. Mia could just see the outline of something huge and curved, lying right across the tunnel. It wasn't moving.
"Maybe it's asleep," she breathed, glancing back at the other two. Lockhart's hands were pressed over his eyes. Mia turned back to look at the thing, her heart beating so fast it hurt.
Very slowly, her eyes as narrow as she could make them and still see, Mia edged forward, her wand held high.
The light slid over a gigantic snake skin, of a vivid, poisonous green, lying curled and empty across the tunnel floor. The creature that had shed it must have been twenty feet long at least.
"What's this?" Ron asked.
"It's a snake skin," Mia said, looking horrified.
"Bloody hell," Ron said in shock, "whatever shed this must be sixty feet long. Or more." There was a sudden movement behind them. Gilderoy Lockhart's knees had given way.
"Get up," said Ron sharply, pointing his wand at Lockhart.
Lockhart got to his fee, then he dived at Ron, knocking him to the ground.
Mia and Harry jumped forward, but too late. Lockhart was straightening up, panting, Ron's wand in his hand and a gleaming smile back on his face.
"The adventure ends here, you three," Lockhart said, "but don't fret. The world will know our story. How I was too late to save the girl, how you two tragically lost your minds at the sight of her mangled body. So. . . ." he pointed the wand at Mia, ". . . .you first, Miss. Potter. Say good-bye to your memories." He raised Ron's Spellotaped wand high over his head and yelled, "Obliviate!"
The wand exploded with the force of a small bomb. Mia flung her arms over her head and ran, slipping over the coils of snake skin, out of the way of great chunks of tunnel ceiling that were thundering to the floor. Next moment, she was standing alone, gazing at a solid wall of broken rock.
