"Hey, Snape are you alive?" asked James, tapping Snape's arm with his foot.
"Don't bother, Potter," growled Snape from the ground, and without opening his eyes. The sleeve of his robes had been burned. Luckily the fire was gone, and his skin remained safe.
"You look like you're alright," said James with a grin as he saw Snape growling as usual.
Seeing Snape's condition, James decided to cast some healing spells on them. An Episkey and a resistance charm.
Snape felt refreshed and was able to get up. He only gave a slight nod of his head to thank James.
"How much time do we have left?" asked Snape, shaking the dust and dirt from his robes.
"I don't know. Regulus was taking the time," James replied as he turned and noticed that everyone was heading towards them.
"Is everyone alright?" asked James, looking at Sirius, Regulus, and Lupin.
"Better impossible... cof..." said Sirius, coughing because of the smoke he inhaled.
"Do you guys need me to cast some healing charms on you?" asked James.
"No. Take care of your energy. We can go on," replied Lupin, and the others nodded.
Regulus told them that a little over twenty minutes had passed. So they had entered the vault about forty minutes ago. They still had about fifty minutes.
As they left the great white room Regulus took the key and began to examine the remaining symbols with greater concentration than before. There were only three possible doors left, but they couldn't go wrong again.
It was preferable to take a little longer to choose and not waste time in a room that was not. Besides, there was no reward. Only possible death.
"It's this one," said Regulus, pointing to the side to the right of everything.
"Are you sure?" asked Snape hesitantly. He didn't want to go back into a deadly room where there was no reward. Although he felt excitement at being able to test his magical abilities in a more dangerous environment his energy had a limit.
"Yes, I didn't know before because the symbols were almost identical, but now that we've ruled out the jungle door. I'm sure it's this one," Regulus replied confidently. The symbol this vault used resembled that of a snowflake but combined with ancient runes.
James nodded, and Regulus placed the key in the opening. The gears began to chime again. The wall shifted, and James was the first to enter followed by the others.
They found themselves in a large circular room filled with ice. It was not unlike the main room of the vault. This was a good sign.
What most caught the attention of James and the others was an imposing ice figure towering for many feet.
It was a body of pure ice with muscular proportions and a solid appearance. The details in its anatomy, such as joints and muscles gave the illusion of a living creature.
The largest part of this creature was its torso with ice crystals that refract light, creating bright and shimmering sparkles. Then followed its two large, long arms. Each fist could easily crush James completely.
The legs were short but powerful. On top of it all was a small ice head with two slits that appeared to be the eyes of the creature that was about ten meters long.
On either side of the huge ice creature were two ice knights like the ones James faced the first time he entered the vault. However, no one was looking at the knights. All eyes were on the giant ice creature.
"Is that... a golem?" asked Sirius as he swallowed spittle and gripped his wand tighter.
"An ice golem," added Lupin, who was just as surprised as Sirius.
"Ten meters long," added James.
"Yes. I noticed that. Thanks," said Sirius.
"Look behind the golem," said Regulus, and they all tried to see through the opening between the legs of the giant golem. An ice door could be seen.
"That's it! This must be the right door," said Sirius with a little more enthusiasm.
"Yes, but first we have to defeat that thing," said Snape with a grimace as he noticed the golem's eyes activate. The same was true of the four knights. Luckily there were no archers. Two knights had swords, and two others had a short sword and a shield.
"Remember that the knights' weapons can cut spells. You must find an opening and hit them at that time. And it's time to take the potions," James said as he pulled out several potion bottles from his wallet.
He handed two vials to each of them. One vial had a turquoise-colored liquid in it. The other was a foul green color. These were the invigorating potion and the fortifying potion. One provides the consumer with prolonged endurance. The other increases the strength of the consumer.
Luckily, James had made more, and they had for everything. It was good to be prepared. They took advantage of the golem and knights' moment of activation to take them quickly.
No one cared about the ugly taste. It was more important to survive the monstrous golem.
After taking the two potions, James quickly pulled five swords out of his wallet and left them lying on the floor.
"What are the swords for?" asked Sirius blankly. The others except Regulus also looked on blankly.
"Just in case," replied James without further explanation as a tremor echoed through the room.
The golem began to move. It was slow, but each step it took echoed with an imposing force and made the room tremble slightly.
To James' bad luck, the ice knights seemed to have more intelligence than the previous ones. They followed the golem with their weapons pointed at them. They did not run straight at them. If they had, they could have been easily disposed of.
"What do we do!" asked Sirius. No one tried to cast a controlling spell like Immobulus or Diminuendo on the golem. Everyone thought the golem had resistance against spells.
Still, it wasn't bad to test it. Snape to test the golem's resistance cast a Petrificus Totalus on it, but as expected it did no good. The golem continued its march. The spell bounced off and didn't even hurt it.
"Let's target the shield knight on the left. Now!" commanded James as he launched a Reducto at the knight.
Five more flashes followed James'. A Bombarda, Diffindo, etc. The knight who was everyone's target managed to cut off James' first attack and cover himself with his shield from the second spell.
However, that was as far as his luck and ability went. The other four flashes hit him and destroyed him. Only his sword and shield remained as a trophy.
'It would have been better to target two knights,' thought James regretfully. The best decision would have been three flashes for one knight and three for another.
This was no time for regrets. The golem had already extended its giant right arm and struck James and the others' position.
"Run!" shouted James as he ran to the right along with Gwen and Snape. He knew it was impossible to stop that giant fist with his current Protego. If he did he would be crushed to death.
Sirius, Regulus, and Lupin ran to the left side. Being separated from the others.
PUM!
The golem's blow hit the floor and raised a cloud of frost, dust, and dirt. The dull crack of the impact against the floor echoed through the room, echoing off the walls of ice. The floor where they stood before was left with a hole the size of the golem's fist.
'Luckily their punches aren't fast,' thought James with sweat on his forehead. Although they were not fast they had a large area, and it was a simple punch.
Two ice knights moved at great speed toward James, Gwen, and Snape. They already had their sharp swords raised to cut them down. The remaining knight had most likely followed Sirius and the other two.
James covers him, and Snape uses a Protego. The knight's sword hit his shield and was reflected. Snape, who was aware of this, cast an Incendio and destroyed the knight. Only one left.
James covered Snape with his Protego, as Snape did not know how to use Protego or any defensive spell to help him protect himself from the knights. Gwen, on the other hand, did know defensive spells.
The other knight launched an attack towards Gwen, who defended herself with a very precise Aeromanteo. The air current deflected at the right time the knight's sharp sword passed just inches from Gwen's face.
Gwen took advantage that the knight was unprotected and threw a Reducto making him ashes.
"Why are you using Aeromanteo!?" exclaimed James with wide eyes. That was dangerous. He watched as the sword grazed Gwen's neck. One miscalculation and her head would have been severed.
"My Protego can't reflect attacks like yours. Instead, with the Aeromanteo I was able to find an opening," Gwen justified herself.
James taught Gwen Protego as well as Aeromanteo, but the girl was not yet advanced enough to be able to reflect attacks.
Although the Aeromanteo was useful in defending against the knights, it was very risky, especially when you knew how to use Protego. Why take the risk? Gwen took the risk because she wanted to find an opening.
"If you used Protego, I could have destroyed the knight. I had a blind spot," said James, unconvinced by Gwen, who wanted to eliminate the knight as fast as possible.
"I don't want to just defend myself and have you do all the work," snorted Gwen with a frown. It was boring just defending herself.
'This girl...' thought James sighing.
"Sorry to interrupt, but a giant fist is coming right at us," said Snape, pointing to the sky.
James and Gwen turned their heads and noticed the giant golem fist looking down at them with its little gray eyes. The fist began to descend towards them. Snape had already started to run.
James and Gwen followed. The fist crashed to the cold floor, and a shudder echoed throughout the room. They dodged it again by the skin of their teeth.
Something was different this time. When the first hit the ground ice spikes were created near the golem's huge hand and shot out towards James and the other two.
James heard the sound of the wind intensify. His instincts screamed danger. He turned his head slightly and noticed three long, deadly spikes heading their way.