The Raven's Call

Blazing Inferno

Making my way back up the stairs, I'd just turned a corner, my wand at the ready, when I nearly collided into someone moving just as quickly. 

 "Asteria—?"
 She steadied herself with a hand on my chest, eyes wide and electric. "Ah," she breathed. "Just the person I was looking for."
I blinked. "Are you alright? What's—"
 "I need your help," she interrupted. "It's important."
 Of course. It was always important. 

I nodded. She didn't wait for my answer before she turned on her heel, leading me down a series of dim corridors and winding staircases. "Asteria, what is that on your neck?" I asked, glancing over with a grin. Her face turned a bright red. "Ugh, I told him not to leave marks." she muttered. "You're terrible, Asteria." I reply with a grin. "Well, wouldn't you if you thought you could die soon?" She retorted "I definitely would. But Luna and I are waiting for marriage. If we both survive this, I'm gonna ask her." Asteria smiles at this. "I know something you don't know.~" She teased.  

Just as I was about to continue the conversation, we come to a dead end on the seventh floor, a stretch of wall I recognized. "The Room of Requirement?" I asked quietly. She nodded, stepping past me. "Ginny Weasley hid something here last year—a book." She spoke, looking up at the bare wall in front of us. The door appeared seamlessly, its iron handle cold beneath my palm. With a glance to Asteria, I pushed it open. The world inside felt like it belonged to someone else. A massive cathedral of forgotten things: towering shelves, broken furniture, rusted suits of armor, mountains of misplaced memories. I stepped in and the door sealed behind us. 

"Ginny said she wedged it into the hollow of a vanishing cabinet," Asteria explained as we picked our way between towers of rubbish and relics. I could still see the scratches on the ground where desperate students had hidden things over the years. "Wouldn't it have just disappeared?" I asked, stepping over a cracked mirror. "No. She said she cast a sticking charm. The cabinet swallowed the charm instead. You know how chaotic this room is. It doesn't always do what it's meant to." Asteria explained, I gave a low whistle. "Smart girl." 

 We searched, ducking and weaving through the maze of clutter. It wasn't long before I spotted a familiar piece of dark lacquered wood, half-concealed behind a stack of broken desks. "There!" I called out, moving toward it. She joined me, crouching low as we examined the inside. Just as she'd said—jammed into the dark cavity was an old, tattered book, its cover nearly peeled away. The Half-Blood Prince, no doubt. "Got it," I muttered, carefully pulling it free. But something in the air shifted. A creak. A voice. Multiple voices. 

"Well, well..." Draco's voice rings out from nearby. "What brings you here, Potter?" "I could ask you the same." Harry retorted. I hand Asteria the book before toddling off to where Harry's voice was coming from, Asteria did the same towards Draco's. "You have something that's mine, I'd like it back." Draco snarls. "What's wrong with the wand you have?" Harry asked in return. "It's my mother's. It's powerful, but it's... not the same. Doesn't quite understand me. You know what I mean?" Draco monologued, eyes meeting mine as I enter from the darkness. "Why didn't you tell her? Bellatrix? You knew it was me. You didn't say anything?" Harry asked, not yet noticing me. "Come on, Draco! Don't be a prat. Do him!" Goyle mumbles into Draco's ear. My eyes wander down as I see movement from Harry. He's slowly reaching for his wand. "Easy-" Draco warned as his eyes made the connection almost as quickly as mine did.

"Expelliarmus!" Hermione's voice rang out behind me. Draco's wand flew from his hand, clattering to the floor. "AVADA KEDAVRA!" Goyle shouted, wildly. The jet of green light missed, striking a pile of junk and exploding it—because Asteria had just smacked him in the back of the head with the butt of her wand. "Stupefy!" Hermione cast back immediately, the red light crashing into the chaos as Asteria and the boys took off running."That's my girlfriend, you numpties!" Ron yelled, bolting after them. I blink, then turned to Hermione, stunned but slightly amused. "What happened down in that chamber?" She only grinned, breathless, as I laughed and took off after Ron. Harry and Hermione stayed back, their voices lost behind the clutter. I wasn't sure what they were doing, but I trusted them to keep their heads. 

 Ahead, I caught a flash of platinum blonde. "Asteria!" I shouted. But she didn't look back. She was running with Draco, Blaise, and Goyle—her hair bouncing behind her as she vanished around a corner with them. "What the hell is she doing?" Ron snapped, running ahead of me. "No idea." I swallowed hard. "She's not stupid. There has to be a reason." We turned the corner just in time to see them skid to a stop at a dead end—walls of piled junk reaching the ceiling, no way forward. Draco spun in place, eyes darting wildly for a path. Blaise was panicking as he tried to remove the junk from their way. And that's when Goyle lost it. "They're gonna catch us!" he shouted, voice cracking. "They're gonna catch us!" 

"Goyle, don't—!" Draco warned. But it was too late."FIENDFYRE!" he screamed. "No—!" Draco's voice cracked with panic, but it was too late. The explosion of flame wasn't normal—it was alive. Fire didn't slither or snarl. Fire didn't laugh. But this did. Shapes tore through the air, fangs and wings and claws—a flaming hydra twisting into the rafters, a wolf snapping its jaws through falling debris. A dragon's head turned toward us, coiled and ready. Ron grabbed my arm. 

"RUN!" 

And run we did. Feet slamming against the stone, air thick with smoke and heat. The room roared behind us like a beast set loose from hell.Ron screamed. I screamed. He let go of my arm to pick up speed. We were nearly flying. Up ahead—Harry and Hermione. "RUN!"  I yelled as Ron grabbed Hermione's hand, dragging her with him. "Goyle set the bloody place on fire!" Ron choked out as they tore past. I grabbed Harry's arm without thinking. "Move— now!" 

We bolted, all four of us, the heat licking at our heels as the Fiendfyre chased us like a living apocalypse. We ran for what felt like ever, getting split up and reuniting again in an instant, but before we knew it.. We were cornered.The inferno twisted into monstrous shapes around us, cackling through the smoke like it enjoyed this. Flames licked the walls, dancing closer with every heartbeat. The dragon's fiery jaw snapped shut where we'd just been, its eyes glowing like suns. "This is it," I muttered, coughing through the smoke. "We're fried." 

"Wait—there!" Ron shouted, pointing through the haze. "Brooms!" I followed his gaze. Sure enough—tossed in a heap near the wreckage of what used to be a supply shelf—many battered broomsticks."GO!" Harry shouted. We dove toward them, coughing and tripping. Harry tossed one to Ron, another to Hermione. I grabbed my own, barely registering how splintered the handle was. 

We kicked off just as a flaming serpent lunged at our heels.Up, up, up.The fire snarled below like a living jungle, snapping at our brooms with tendrils of heat. I swerved hard as a burning bird dove past me, missing my face by inches. Ahead, I caught a glimpse—Draco. Blaise. Asteria. Goyle was nowhere to be seen. They were stranded atop a mountain of piled chairs, smoke swirling around them."This way!" Ron shouted, zooming past the three who stood frozen. "Harry!" I called out, motioning toward them. Their platform had begun to collapse—they were clinging to the edge for dear life. "We can't leave them!" Harry called back to Ron, already banking hard. "He's joking, right?!" Ron yelled, shooting a look to Hermione and me. I just shook my head grimly. "You know he's not." 

 We swerved our brooms around, angling back for the Slytherins. The first attempt failed—too much smoke, not enough clearance. My lungs burned as we climbed again. "If we die for them, Harry—I'm gonna kill you!" Ron snapped as we dove again. This time, we didn't miss.Harry grabbed Draco. Ron caught Blaise. And I, of course, reached out for Asteria—our hands locking tight just as the ledge gave way beneath her. "Hold on!" I shouted, lifting her onto my broom as we shot back up into the air, the fire roaring after us—furious and alive.