Underground

II

"How do I get in?"

You grumbled to yourself, pacing up and down the wall that prevented you from entering the labyrinth. You'd been searching for a way in for at least 15 minutes, and by now you were despairing in frustration. How were you supposed to complete the labyrinth and save Harry if you couldn't even get in?

Is this what the Goblin King meant by his labyrinth being complicated?

You stopped, huffing loudly while setting your hands firmly to your hips. You stared at the wall ahead, practically glaring. There must be an entrance that you just weren't seeing. Maybe it blended in with the wall, it was camouflaged and that's why you couldn't find it so easily. It would make sense, seeing as how it guarded the castle.

You were never very good at puzzles, or mazes actually. You were kidding yourself when you'd said you had completed mazes before. You'd never gone through a maze by yourself, and there were always workers scattered throughout to offer help to those that needed it.

You highly doubted that there would be guides within the labyrinth offering support.

A noise caught your attention. You lowered your hands and turned to the side, now staring at a creature from behind. A fairy, it looked like; a small thing, giggling and fluttering around in a small patch of flowers that was dusted with glitter. It seemed as though everything had a sparkle to it. It made the labyrinth seem less dangerous than it obviously was. A false sense of security.

"Excuse me?" You timidly asked, now approaching the fairy with exceeding caution, afraid that you'd frighten it off. It stopped messing with the flowers and turned to look at you, now falling quiet with curiosity. You crouched down and held out your hand, watching in childish delight as it perched itself into your palm. "Hi," you whispered happily, "I'm looking for the entrance to the labyrinth. Do you happen to know the way in?"

The fairy nodded eagerly, and pointed to the spot directly where you had been originally looking. You stood and turned, gasping in surprise as a large, gated door appeared where the wall used to be. You moved towards it as they slowly opened with a creak, and a ball of fog rolled out.

You looked down at the fairy and beamed. "Thank you for your help." You watched as the fairy hovered above your hand, a squeak leaving her mouth as her tiny hand waved, reflecting your delight. Then, she fluttered away, returning back to the flowers that you had found her in.

You stared into the foggy entrance, nose crinkling at the lack of vision. You began walking in, immediately spotting that the path either led left or right. You hummed in thought, wondering which way would be best to take. And staring down them, you couldn't see a visible turn or curve in either direction, leaving you with little ways to weigh out the pros and cons. Instead, you covered your eyes and decided to spin in a circle, and whichever way you stopped would be the way you'd go.

To the right.

You shrugged, feeling indifferent and set off walking. The fog began to fade out, and the sun beamed down from the sky. You stepped over roots embedded into the ground, and ducked under twigs that poked out from the walls. You kept your hand trailing on the wall, your eyes fixated ahead.

Another 15 minutes passed with you walking utterly straight. And soon you started to frown deeply at the lack of turnings and twists. There weren't any dead ends, and the pathway just seemed to continue onwards no matter what. You paused in the middle of the labyrinth, taking a moment to scan your surroundings in hopes that you'd missed any clues or signs. But no, there was nothing but glitter sparkling under the sunshine, and twigs that stuck out and often caught your hair.

"This is..." hard. You didn't want to admit it out loud, for the fear that the Goblin King would hear you. You didn't want to admit defeat so early on, not when Harry was depending on you.