Polyjuice Party

Chapter 20: Task #5 - Slytherin

"What are Harry and Ginny doing here?" Alex exclaimed, to which she got no response.

"Hermione?" Henry looked up to the brunette nervously. She held her hand up to silence the group and took a deep breath.

"Don't go over to them" she said. "It could be a trap." Everyone nodded silently. Harry and Ginny were stumbling around, twitching and occasionally stopping in their tracks and turning in the other direction like robots.

Suddenly, a deafening boom echoed and there was the ear-splitting sound of stones grating against each other. A thick wall appeared behind the group, moving with an accelerated speed that knocked them off their feet and pushed them in the opposite direction to Harry and Ginny. They must've been 25 metres apart.

"Ouch" Henry got up and rubbed his legs. "Harsh."

"Task 5. Slytherin." the voice was back. Hermione's blood ran cold again. Hearing it's cruel growl didn't get easier. "This one's a simple one. Harry and Ginny can't see you. I've blinded them. Don't let them die." Hermione waited for the voice to continue, but it didn't. She met eyes with Draco and they both shared a nervous glance. His hair was still wet from the Ravenclaw task and Hermione couldn't ignore how good it looked when it was like that. Shut up, she thought. Now is not the time.

There was a ear-splitting sound as the floor began to open up, like a piece of paper someone was ripping open. Within the cracks, treacly-orange lava bubbled furiously. Ginny put a shaky step forward.

"Stop!" Draco yelled, cupping his hands around his mouth. "Ginny, don't move!"

"W-who's there?" Ginny called out. "I-I can't see!"

"Draco! Listen - just don't step forward. You'll fall into a pit of lava." He pleaded again, to which Ginny remained frozen, before cautiously bringing her foot back.

"D-Draco?" Harry called out. Hermione noticed how now, a maze of cracked and pits separated them, with bubbling lava at the bottom of every one.

"Yes, Harry. Me, Hermione and three of the kidnapped first years. Follow my instructions very carefully, both of you. There's holes leading to lava all around you and -" Draco was cut off by Ginny releasing a nervous yelp. "You need to get over here. Harry. Take two steps forward."

Hermione admired how cool Draco was being under such pressure, as she had a lump in her throat which made it hard for her to speak. Harry obliged and took two shaky steps forwards, his arms outstretched. 

"Good. Now Ginny, turn to the left and walk three steps." Ginny followed Draco's commands.

"Look, Hermione." Wren tapped her shoulder and Hermione turned and saw a sleek, mahogany door behind them. There were two hand-shaped imprints into the wood.

"It'll only be Harry and Ginny who can open it." Hermione whispered back.

"Good. To the left and three steps, Harry." Hermione hadn't noticed, but Draco had gotten the blind pair halfway between them and their starting place. Harry stumbled forward and his foot slipped, causing him to loose his footing but catch his balance just before he plummeted to his death. Everyone's hearts had stopped and started again. Hermione heard Alex breathe a sigh of relief.

After a few more horrible minutes, Ginny and Harry had made it to the group. Hermione ran forward and grabbed Ginny in her arms, hugging her tightly.

"Thank god." she whispered.

Hermione felt someone wrap their arms around her waist and embrace her.She turned her head and saw it was Draco. Hermione felt a tear flee down her cheek and she turned and kissed Draco's cheek softly. "Thank you." she whispered. He nodded in response.

"Blimey, I can see!" Harry said, rubbing his eyes from behind his glasses. "God, I can see again!"

Ginny blinked rapidly and laughed breathlessly. "Oh, me too! Oh thank God." She turned her attention to the three first years. "How are you three doing, eh?"

"I've been better." Alex replied.

"Come on. Let's go." Draco ushered everyone to the door and Harry and Ginny pressed one of their hands into the imprints in the wood. There was a subtle clicking and grating sound and the door slid open. The last first year was on the floor in a heap behind the door, robes tattered and ripped.

Hermione was too used to this, now. She bent down over the child and tapped her gently, to which she stirred and opened her big grey eyes. She flinched at first, but when she saw Hermione and the others, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Is it over?" She had cuts all over her face.

"Yes." Hermione helped her to her feet. That's when she noticed that Emily had been lying on a trap door.

"Through here?" Ginny opened it with a creak. "Seems like it." She jumped down inside of it.

"Ginny! Wait!" Harry called after her. He jumped down as well.

"Shouldn't they have checked before they jumped?" Alex knitted her brows. Hermione smirked at her, she really did remind her of her young self.

"That would've been the logical decision, yes." She crouched down over the trapdoor. "Alright down there?"

"Yep. Hurry up!" Ginny echoed back.

"Alright then, down we go." First Emily, then Henry, then Hermione, then Alex and finally Draco. He felt the wind whistling in her ears for less than a second before he landed on a soft, spongey surface and met with the others. He dusted himself off and looked around, noticing they were in hallway made entirely of stone, with regal banners hung up beside torches with roaring flames spurting out the top. A red carpet with a white trimming lined the floor.

Without saying a word, the group of eight padded down the hallway into the unknown. Glass cases filled with peculiar artefacts were also dotted around. Draco saw one that had the skeleton of a small, human-like fairy creature encased inside and another had the mummified body of a house elf.

Finally, the long hallway opened into a much bigger room with an arched ceiling and even bigger banners. At the end of the room was an iron lectern with eight wands lined up along it. And behind the lectern was a iron seat, like a terrifying throne.

Draco's heart dropped when he noticed that the throne was occupied, with a familiar redhead sat on it.