Violet Potter and the Basilisk Plague (Year Two)

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Chamber Of Destiny

TRIAL BY GRYFFINDOR: The Chamber of Destiny (Devon Wolfe)

When Devon Wolfe entered Gryffindor's Chamber of Destiny, his trial turned out to be very different than what happened to Tori in the Chamber of Healing.

Devon could see that a green patch of several Lilies of the Sun, so golden yellow that they appeared to glow, were waiting for him, growing near one of the ancient stone pillars furthest away from him, as if waiting for Devon to hurry over to pick one.

But Devon Wolfe was after all, a Ravenclaw, and already he was saying to himself, "This would be much too easy. There has to be something I have to do in order to be considered worthy to pick one of these lilies."

And sure enough, before Devon could take any further steps, walking proudly into his path was a large and very majestic stag. He shone very brightly with an ethereal silvery aura, all of which led Devon to conclude that this was not just any ordinary stag. He had to have some importance tied to him and even to his mission, though Devon could still not yet quite make heads or tails of it.

"How strangely glorious to find an animal like you here in Gryffindor's chamber. Did you wait here all this time or were you sent here to help me?" And the stag let out a small honk almost as though he wanted Devon to step closer toward him. And the stag moved so that his side faced closer to the young Ravenclaw. "Are you---do you want me to climb onto your back?" Devon asked the stag. And the stag honked more loudly and leapt, kicking up his legs excitedly.

"Somehow I'll take that as a hell yes!" Devon said as he struggled and pushed himself with both arms with all the strength he had up onto the stag to mount him, though it felt rather awkward even with the animal's apparent friendliness. Then Devon asked the stag, "Where is it exactly you want us to go?"

That was when the stag took off at such a great run that Devon found himself having to hold onto the animal for dear life. There were a few minutes when everything felt like such a blurry rush, like they were moving with so much magic that at one point, Devon yelled out, "MERLIN, CHRIST, AND CHRISTMAS...!" But as soon as he yelled that, it was apparent that they were now somewhere away from the Chamber of Destiny and Hogwarts Castle. They were now approaching the Forbidden Forest, it was pitch dark, and Devon jumped down from the stag and immediately pulled out his wand. "LUMOS!" And the tip of his wand glowed bright as it began to magically act as a flashlight. But Devon immediately began to wish he hadn't used lumos in that exact moment.

Hundreds of baby acromantulas were scurrying out of the Forbidden Forest, and they were after something, which to Devon's immediate relief, wasn't him or the mysterious magical stag. Only, when Devon turned back to where the stag had been before, he ended up doing the biggest double take of his young life.

The silvery ghost of a man with the sort of athletic appearance that came from training for and playing a lot of Quidditch, hair that was also quite as messy as someone among the living Devon and the entire Wizarding World already knew of was now standing where the stag once stood. And he gulped. "Er---so you are James Potter, or---the ghost of, at any rate? My Dad didn't tell me---"

"Now for Merlin's sake don't scream or run off! There's no time to be lost Devon, you must follow me, after the acromantulas! They are after my son and one of the Weasleys, we must help them!" James had told Devon, his voice rippling with very Gryffindor-like conviction and authority. "Right, anything you tell me!" Devon said as soon as he had gotten over the initial surprise of it all. The spirit of James Potter had appeared to him in the world of the living however temporarily, and he was also an animagus just like his own father. Devon just couldn't believe how wicked and wizard it all was!

That very night, Prongs was running again.

As they hurried into the Forbidden Forest, and stopped nearby the acromantula nesting ground, Devon got a good look at the most massive acromantula adult he had ever seen in real life. Rumor had it that this particular acromantula had belonged for so many years, even a few decades to Hagrid, the Hogwarts gamekeeper.