Harry Potter and the Hall of Echoes [COMPLETED]

Chapter 14

The room that lay behind the dark, wooden door reminded Harry of the dungeon where Professor Snape taught potions. The walls were lined with cupboards that contained all manner of strange things: Harry saw a shelf filled with different-sized knives, another with a variety of animal tails (stored in little jars), and finally a curious row of items that looked somewhat like Muggle technology.

Headmaster Hopkins was currently walking over to an enormous cage, in the room's nearest corner, where a maroon-coloured creature was resting on the ground. The creature had pointy, black ears, and a fork-like tail: it was very thin, like a greyhound, but it had the vicious look of a wolf.

'Mr Puddles,' said Hopkins affectionately. 'Who's a good boy? You are, yes you are...'

The creature was glaring at his master with a look of deepest loathing.

'Sorry, my friend,' said Hopkins with a sigh. 'I know you don't like it, but I'm going to send you to the Void for a little while. Harry and I are going to be busy.'

Hopkins then pulled out an odd device from his pocket: it was a rounded piece of copper, similar to the Finders they used to get to classes, except it was much bigger in size, and it had a red button in the middle. It looked kind of like a crudely-modified video-game controller — there was a small antenna sticking out from the device's front-end.

'Brilliant, isn't it?' said Hopkins, holding up the odd-looking controller. 'You know, I really marvel at some of these things Muggles come up with.'

Hopkins pressed the red button, however nothing seemed to happen. He frowned for a moment, then strode over to the nearest bench; the surface of this bench was covered in assorted Muggle electronics. He pushed aside some circuit boards and wires, and placed the controller down in the clear space. Using a small set of pliers, Hopkins fiddled with its antenna, after which he pressed the button again.

This time around, the device seemed to work. A rumbling, grinding sound was coming from the cage, which soon began lowering into the floor.

A few moments later, the ground was smooth and flat, as if the cage had vanished from existence. But another soft rumbling started up again, and the cage started to rise once more.

Harry noticed, however, that the cage looked distinctly different now. It was wood-panelled at the top, and it had a light fixture on its ceiling, and as it rose and rose, Harry realised it was a different cage altogether.

Sitting on a chair, right in the middle of this new cage, was a very anxious and frightened-looking Hermione.

X

The room was filled with a loud, goopy, bubbling sound as Hopkins added a few ingredients to his potion. The contents of the cauldron were coloured a radioactive green, which cast an eerie and ominous light across Hopkins' face.

As Hopkins had cast a spell that had put both Harry and Hermione in chains, they could do nothing but watch as he brewed his potion.

'A few more moments,' Hopkins said to them lightly, 'then we'll get on with the Moulding, and that'll be that.'

Harry looked over to the bench filled with Muggle electronics: Hopkins had placed their wands right at its edge. If he could just find a way to get over there, somehow... or maybe figure out how to knock it over...

Hermione nudged him quickly in the back. 'Don't try anything, Harry,' she whispered. 'Please.'

'All right!' said Hopkins, turning around to face them. 'I think everything's ready now. Miss Granger — if you could just sit over there?'

Hopkins was gesturing towards a wooden stool next to the cauldron; Harry noticed its legs were covered in a dark, wax-like substance.

'Look,' Hopkins said to Hermione, 'I would like to do this the easy way, if we can. I don't want anyone to get hurt.'

Hermione hesitated for a moment, then she stood up slowly.

Hopkins seemed relieved, and his face softened into a smile — he'd clearly taken this act as a sign that they would not be putting up a fight. 'Thank you,' he said. 'Thank you for understanding. It'll be over soon. Promise.'

As Hermione walked over to the stool, she looked towards the cage in the corner, which Harry now realised was actually a miniscule bedroom. There was a bed in the cage that looked like it could only fit a toddler, and a small table with different boxes that appeared to contain food.

'Where does that cage go?' Hermione asked Hopkins, still staring at the cage, looking terrified. 'I...' she paused for a moment, then asked, 'How long were me and Ron gone for?'

Hopkins smiled.

'How about this,' he said to her. 'After we finish making your Echo — and after we finish making Harry's, of course — I'll tell you all you want to know about the Void.'

Hermione seemed too nervous to reply.

'You're not going to get away with this,' Harry said to Hopkins. 'Whatever you're planning, whatever this is —'

'No, Harry,' Hopkins said gently. 'I'm afraid that I will be getting away with it... But you seem to have taken me for some kind of evil, murderous wizard.'

'You put Hermione in a cage!' Harry exclaimed. 'You're making copies of other wizards! And you said that you're going to murder Professor Banjeev!'

Hopkins shook his head. 'I see these incidents as nothing more than minor indiscretions,' he assured Harry. 'You can call them "speed bumps" — to use a Muggle phrase. These are just things that must happen to finish off the plan.'

'Um, Professor,' said Hermione timidly. 'Could, uh, you explain the whole plan, please? You locked me in a cage, you see — so I don't really know what's going on...'

Hopkins raised an eyebrow. 'Well, I suppose I can,' he replied. 'The whole thing's quite ingenious, if I do say so myself. And it all started when I thought about those Nightwelps we used to keep on the school grounds — they're the ones who gave me the idea.' He glanced at the thin, wolf-like creature in the cage beside them. 'When Nightwelps give birth, you see,' he explained, 'they do it through mitotic division — they make a complete copy of themselves, head to toe...'

Hopkins then stared at Hermione momentarily, in a scrutinising sort of manner, then to Harry's surprise, he burst out laughing. 'Oh, Merlin's Beard!' he said. 'You know, that is excellent. Quite excellent. Trying to stall for time, are we? Hoping that someone will come to your rescue? How clever of you,' he mused, 'but alas...'

He ladled a small amount of the bubbling, green liquid into a glass goblet, then he pointed again for Hermione to sit on the stool.

'I will explain things,' Hopkins said, 'while the Moulding process occurs... I think that's a fair enough compromise, don't you?'

Hermione did not reply, which Hopkins took as a sign of agreement.

'All right,' he said, 'how about I start first with what's going to happen.' He cleared his throat, rolling up his sleeves as he handed the goblet to Hermione, then he said, 'In a few years' time, Dartford will be the best wizards' school in Britain.'

'Oh,' said Hermione, who clearly had been expecting something different. 'Er — how is Dartford going to be the best?'