The Shadow of Slytherin

The spiders' nest

Coarse stone grazes your skin, ivy grips your sleeves as you step closer, shielded by the hanging webbed sacks and some twitching animals the spiders have wrapped in webbing. Through a hole in the ruins, you keep on walking, ducked away, the hand on Ominis's head when he threatens to bump against the stone, unable to see where he steps as you walk next to him, but the men yell out, in search of both of you.

Then the ground starts to shake and more spiders appear, their fangs pointed at you, but the men that hunt you also get attacked.

Dodging the net a spider throws, you press Ominis against the wall and tell him to stay put, but he hears the spiders come your way and casts spells at them, flipendo, levioso, helping you as you cut through them or set them aflame.

Screeching, the giant critter runs past one of the poachers, who catches on fire as well, screaming out in pain when a spider bites him and starts to wrap him in webbing. The others run to his aid, but give up when he stops moving and when the Matriarchs approach, the men retrieve into the cave, followed by the spiders.

Quiet to not alarm them, you take Ominis by the hand and hush through the ruins to the other side to get away, but a voice draws your attention to an opening in the wall.

"Not so fast" the man yells out, casting a ring of fire around you, and when you pull back Ominis to not get burnt, the man steps through the fire, grinning at you, the wand pointed.

Glacius, Ominis whispers, the fire dying out, and you dash forward, Ominis still held by the hand, the wand waved at the man.

"What in Merlin's name are you doing to the spiders?"

"None of your business, kid" The man growls, then casts a spell that you deflect and strike back, the light shooting though the air, alarming some nearby spiders.

Once again surrounded, you find yourself trapped between the man, who keeps on casting spells, and soon after curses at you, and the giant spiders that dash forward to bite, their web shoots missing as you jump around to dodge them.

However as you jump aside, the strike of the man deflected, you hear a yelp behind you and when you manage to stun your opponent you turn to see Ominis caught in a web, unable to move. "Diffindo" you yell out, tearing through the webs that holds his body tight, then drag him with you, up a flight of stairs, chased by the spiders.

You try to get past the cave, but more spiders block your way, and the scream that comes from the ruins tells you the man did not make it either. "Stay close" you press out, hurrying into the cave. You have been there before, it is a dead end, but with no other way to go, you cannot do anything about it, other than walk inside and hope the spiders will not follow.

Yelps, screams, cries of pain reach your ears and as you turn the corner, the path lit with torches, you spot a giant gap in the wall. Although rows of columns reach from the entrance to the end of the cave, there is no place to hide, and then the voices of more people grow louder. Fast as you can, you pull Ominis with you into the cave and step towards a corner, casting the disillusionment charm on the both of you, the eyes on the entrance as more men walk inside, three giant Matriarchs stunned and levitating as they bring them through the gap.

"You think those will be enough?"

"We won't know for sure, wait for instructions, but until then-" The guy grins so terrible, you want to throws a spell at his head at that very moment, "lets torture those beasts"

The arm over Ominis's shoulder as you crouch in the corner, you sigh and lean closer, "The poor things, we have to do something"

"What? There are too many of them"

Biting your tongue, you scoff, then think back to the time Sebastian gave you the choice of how to enter a mine, quiet or blasting your way through. He would have knocked down every last man at your word, helped to take them out, no matter how long it takes, but Ominis would not. Of course not, it would be more than dangerous. "Right, then lets get out of here"

Your rise from the ground, Ominis behind you and head over to the entrance when two pairs of hands grab you both and drag you through the gap into the next bigger cave. "And what do we have here?"

A man with multiple scars on his face, crooked teeth that show as he grins, stands before you, the wand pressed against your throat. "Some children walking into the wrong place"

Ominis pushed to his knees, another man stands behind him, the wand pointed at the head, as he watches the first man bend down to your face. "Now what are you doing here, kid?"

Your lips pressed, you have a look around, at least two dozen men standing behind the first, some torturing the spiders, draining them, others filling bottles and placing them in crates then walking back to the first cave and out of sight. "What is this?"

"Curious one, are we? Now tell me what I want to know, and maybe we will let your friend here go"

Your eyes wander to Ominis on the ground, the blind eyes wandering around as well, but he does not say a word. "Let him go" You demand when two man drag him on his feet and push him before the first man.

More of a grunt than a laugh, the man squeezes your face with his hand, moving it closer to his. "Someone needs to be taught a lesson. Where are your manners?" Knocking you to the ground, he laughs then gestures for the other men to come closer, "Too bad that one can't watch"

"Salem" Ominis gasps, his hands before him, trying to reach you, but the men drag him back, throwing him against a wall, and with a groan, he drops to the ground, the head held with one hand, the other reached out for you.

"No, leave him be" You yell out, dashing forward, but a spell hits you, and you stumble to the ground. Writhing in pain, you scream out, then lay still, whimpering as you gather your strength. The jaw clenched, you jack up and draw your wand, deflecting a few spells until the wand refuses to obey your command. Frustrated, you toss it aside, the hands before you, throwing incantations at the men with such speed, you are not certain that the hand movement equals those you have learnt, but when the men back off, growing a sweat from the fight you put up, it encourages you to use more spells, some you have only read about in books, others you have heard Rookwood's followers use. Striking back as the men come closer, you fight until one strikes you from the side causing your body to collapse and stumble against the wall, next to Ominis, who manages to get a hold of you before your head drops to the side.

His hand on your back, Ominis stands up and casts spells at the people around, relentless, the wand spitting red and blue light, some you have never seen, spells you have not heard off, more powerful than the men expected as they withdraw, but one unfortunate strike knocks Ominis from the side and another comes right at him, so hard, he loses his balance.

At once, you jump up and help him, your wand picked from the ground, pointed at the men staring, grinning, their terrible laughs growing the more you fight.

"Feisty one, are we?" The man with crooked teeth remarks, "let's see how well you do with this" His voice gets deeper, and as he raises his wand, you keep on fighting the others, Ominis beside you, throwing out all the spells you know.

Bright light shoots from the wand of the terrible man, then flashing red, pointed at Ominis, but you jump in front to protect him, the pain forcing you to your knees as you scream out, clench your fist and instead of your wand use your ancient magic, throwing rocks at the men, tearing them down or ripping them apart until you notice a gap between them, grab Ominis and make a run for it, him behind you, the man in pursuit.

"Where are you leading us?" Ominis asks, watching the long tunnel you run through.

Your body twitching, you lean against the wall, letting the goblin magic absorb all the pain, then straighten up. "I don't know, Ominis, just away from them"

Deeper into the endless tunnel you run, the sound of men, footsteps crunching on the ground echoes through the dark tunnel, but when you find yourself in another cave filled with poachers, you sigh and grip your wand, determined to make it out alive.