Idiosyncrasy |Harry Potter

Chapter Thirty Six

Zakari was completely clueless to the situation as he was being dragged through the corridors until they came upon Professor Lockhart's office. Then, he was entirely confused because he wasn't sure why anyone would go to Professor Lockhart for any sort of problem. It was like shaving with a bowling pin, it made no sense. He was really beginning to question Harry's and Ron's judgment when it came to making good decisions.  Upon entering the office, Zakari was able to see the man frantically packing things up in his office, while Ron and Harry confronted him. He couldn't hear anything that the three were saying, leaving him in the dark of the situation. 

He wasn't paying too much attention until Lockhart suddenly armed himself with his wand and went to point it at Harry and Ron, saying something to the boys. Zakari didn't like the look on the professor's face and quickly lifted his hands to create a distraction, but suddenly, Lockhart's robes flung themselves over the man's head, temporarily blinding him, long enough for Harry to disarm the man. 

He and Ron turned to face Zakari, who quickly lowered his hands and placed them behind his back with a shy look before looking to the floor.

With Lockhart disarmed, he was under the control of the three students, they demanded that he take them to the Chambers, however, Lockhart seemed to try and reason with them, at least with Zakari. Fortunately, it was one of the moments where Zakari was incredibly thankful that he was deaf so he didn't have to hear it. Harry led the way to the girl's bathroom, making Zakari internally question what the hell they were getting themselves into that evening. Suddenly, something brushed against Zakari's leg, causing the boy to yelp and scaring everyone else. They all looked down to see Duncan, the Loyal Corgi of Hogwarts.

The boy was so relieved to see his canine companion, that he quickly scooped the dog up into his arms and squeezed him tightly. Duncan seemed to be very happy to see him too as he licked the side of Zakari's face. However, upon seeing Lockhart, he let out a low growl baring his teeth in the direction of the professor. 

But the happiness of the reuniting didn't last for long as a ghost appeared, the one called Moaning Myrtle.  Zakari just stood patiently with Duncan in his arms as the ghost spoke, yet he didn't get anything that she said. But Harry seemed to pick up on it and moved towards a sink. Ron glanced over to Zakari with a worried look and even Lockhart didn't look as confident as he usually did. 

Suddenly, the sink that Harry had been talking to began to open up showing a hidden tunnel in place of it. 

Duncan began to shake in Zakari's hold, as the boy tried to soothe him with a couple of pets. Harry made the motion to him that they were going to slide down and Zakari was sure in that moment, Harry had officially lost his mind. 

Then again, if he wasn't going to be allowed to return back to Hogwarts, he was sure it was better to leave with as many bizarre memories as possible. 

Duncan squirmed in Zakari's hold until he placed him down on the floor. One by one, they slid down the pipe, leaving only Zakari and Duncan behind.  Duncan bit down on Zakari's pants, trying to prevent the boy from going any further, but he managed to free himself and began to descend down the pipe. 

Duncan didn't have much of an option as he glanced over in the direction of the irritating ghost that was wailing near him. It was either head down the pipe where he sensed danger or deal with the ghost girl. He quickly scrambled down the pipe after Zakari. 

Judging by the size of the pipes, Zakari finally understood what he was feeling when he sensed movement behind the walls. Walking around, they were met with a maze of tunnels and Zakari could figure out why the vibrations came and went as quickly as they did. Harry and Ron kept their wands drawn in the direction of the professor, but Zakari didn't feel the need to keep his drawn, after all, it wasn't like he could do anything with it really. 

They were walking along when Duncan lowered his body to the ground and began growling at something in the distance. As they approached it slowly, Zakari's eyes widened as they came upon the biggest snake skin he had ever seen. Even in the animal books he had read when he was younger, he had never witnessed something like that. 

Duncan barked viciously at it until Harry shushed the dog, not sure what attention the barking would bring to them.  However, they were all quickly distracted by Lockhart fainting. Zakari went to tend to the man as Ron and Harry didn't seem very willing, but just as they crowded about him, Lockhart jumped up and snatched Ron's wand from the boy. He pointed it back at them, causing the three to back away, while Duncan stood before them protectively. 

Lockhart was talking once more when he called out a spell but it didn't seem like things were going to go in the professor's favor as the wand backfired. 

 The ceiling began to cave and Duncan quickly barreled his master to get out of the way as the ceiling came down.