Mary Smith and The Three-Headed Dog

21. A Guide In The Dark

"If you think I'd tell you anything- YOU BROKE MY NOSE!"

--Zachrias Smith

Chapter 21: A Guide In The Dark

"Are you okay?" Dean winced but didn't come any closer. Leanne rested unconscious against his back, held tight by a sort of harness Daphne had fashioned out of my robes. She'd even torn parts to secure and...well...hold together Leanne's leg. Daphne was really good at tying all kinds of knots.

It was all getting to me. The trolls, our close brush with death, the smell that wafted up to me from Leanne's leg as we journeyed back around the lake. My stomach churned and before I knew it, I was throwing up. "I'm fine," I croaked, spitting up the last of it. I was careful not to get any on the birth totem dangling from my wrist. Maah Maah said if we showed this to her son when we found him, he'd trust us enough to return with us. "Let's just get Leanne back and find that troll."

"That won't be happening tonight." The three of us turned to see Cedric emerge from the dark thick brush of the forest, wand first. His face was completely unreadable. His eyes seemed to narrow when they settled on Dean and Leanne. "Follow me." Cedric didn't stop to see if we obeyed and didn't think it would be a very good idea not to.

We followed Cedric into the forest. He didn't speak and neither did we. I noticed Daphne glancing between the two of us, but I avoided her gaze. I could practically hear her questions from here. A couple yards into the forest, not far in enough to encounter any of the creepy sounds emanating from it, we came upon a very large, very wide, tree stump. Cedric spit onto his palm, ew, and pressed it to the surface of the stump for a moment before stepping back.

There was a low rumbling cracking sound as the roots of the stump pulled themselves from the earth. It stood and walked itself out of the way to reveal a large hole and ladder. "Climb in."

Daphne grasped at my hand, giving me another one of those looks almost demanding that I explain. "It's okay Daphne. We should do as Cedric says for now," I smiled before climbing down into the hole. When my feet touched the ground, I looked around and things immediately felt familiar. This earthy tunnel looked almost identical to the tunnels that led to all our after-school lesson rooms. It certainly went on farther than we first-years had ever been allowed to go, but all the way underneath the forbidden forest?

Dean came down the ladder next, very carefully. Then Daphne, and finally Cedric. The stump crawled back over, blocking the little moonlight shining into the dark space. "What is this?" Daphne whispered into the dark.

I was too afraid to attempt to answer with Cedric right there. I could feel anger rolling off him in waves, despite how calm he looked. When he got me to our abandoned classroom in the restricted corridor, I was going to get an earful.

Cedric whistled a tune. Low tempo, with a few high-pitched notes. Shortly after, burrowing out of the sides of the walls came several fireflies lighting the way. We followed after them, turning down many different tunnels. How Cedric knew whether to make a left, right, or straight, was beyond me. There were hills and doors we passed. At one point we could hear laughter and dishes clanging. "The Great Hall," Dean gasped. The light of a small hole shone on his face and when he looked in, he could see everyone attending the Great Feast. His stomach growled again.

"Don't fall behind," Cedric snapped. We came up on a door to our right. "This is you Slytherin." Cedric went to open the door. "You're going to slip into the Great Hall, go to your table. And you're going to keep your mouth shut about all of this."

"About what?" She muttered to herself with a frown. None of her questions had been answered but she snapped her narrowed gaze at me to let me know, this wasn't over.