*****
Twenty-sixth November. Ten o'clock in the morning. Director's office. Hogwarts Castle.
The once quiet and calm office, where Albus could hide from the bustle of the world for a while, was now overcrowded with people. They were discussing something heatedly, while some were gesticulating no less heatedly, sometimes raising their voices.
The Headmaster of the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry himself tried to think over everything he had learned up to that moment. Fleeting rumors, words, sentences, sounds. Every fact, even seemingly insignificant, could not escape his fleeting glance. Every piece of the puzzle was examined, checked, cut and only then put into its rightful place, or thrown out because it was no longer needed.
One part of the old man's consciousness continued to monitor everything around him, listening to the conversations of his colleagues. The other was in the sea of his consciousness, collecting everything into a single structure.
And how evil it was that Fawkes disappeared somewhere, although his melody could have helped the poor old man. But Albus knew that he was busy now (he had recently undergone another rebirth), but very soon he would show up again.
"We'll have to close the school, Minerva." "And this is not even up for discussion," Sprout said sternly, having previously remained silent on the sidelines. It was very rare to see her so serious. Usually this young-looking girl embodied everything bright that could come to mind. — Three students are missing. Three. One of them was clearly a victim of the filling, and the second was a "suspect."
"Mr. Potter is innocent! And you know it perfectly well!" McGonagall hissed like a cat about to pounce.
"But that doesn't change the fact that your beloved Potter disappeared along with two other children," the Terror of the Underground spoke up, sitting in a corner away from everyone else. His mood was much darker than usual. Snape had been tormented by the Dark Mark for several days now, and it had been growing darker for several days now. A little more and it would become the same as before, and that meant...
- I am more concerned not with our Hero and his girlfriend, but with the adherent of my house. Mr. Wilson never allowed himself to break the rules. Or did it unnoticed. However, such a blatant violation... - the goblin, who had gathered himself, shook his head from side to side. - There is something fishy here. It is possible that he...
"Maybe we shouldn't guess, but ask his teacher?" Severus suggested. Surprisingly, no one objected, they just nodded their heads silently. "Headmaster, could you call..."
- You don't need to call me. "I'll come myself," Poppy's soft, beautiful voice sounded. He was like a babbling brook, just as young and handsome.
The deans turned their heads sharply in the direction of the sound and stared tensely into the void. Gradually, right before their eyes, a young girl began to appear. First, her grin appeared along with her emerald eyes, and then smoothly, as if from the void, the rest of her body appeared, dressed in a green robe, favorably emphasizing her outstanding figure in the right places.
"Poppy, I asked you not to scare your colleagues," Albus said kindly, instantly focusing all his attention on her.
- Well, you know me, Albus. I couldn't help myself, - and a charming grin at the end.
Each of the deans watched the bear closely. There was everything in their eyes: interest, fear, surprise, apprehension, disgust. But in each of them, without exception, there was a significant amount of wariness. None of them, without exception, could sense even a fraction of her presence. And that was frightening.
"Do you know anything about young Calder?" Where is he now? - Albus was the first to speak, because his colleagues could not utter a word at the moment.
"Alas, I myself don't know where he is now," a small grin colored her lips. "However, I can say with one hundred percent probability that at the moment he is alive and well. True, the signal is too weak. It's as if he's far away, or there's an incredible source of mana with him.
"The source?" the old man muttered barely audibly.
A bright and powerful flash of flame destroyed any hint of conversation. A fiery silhouette of a bird appeared right on the Director's desk. Fawkes appeared, and he was very wary about something.
"Fawkes? What's wrong, friend?" Albus asked him seriously.
The light trill of a phoenix's singing swept through the office. Nobody could understand what he wanted to say. The deans only looked at the bird warily. The director became more and more gloomy with every second. A green flame flashed in Poppy's eyes.
"Everyone, return to your Towers. Don't let anyone out!" The director's thunderous roar shook the walls. That's how strong the mana was in him.
Fuchs moved to his shoulder in an instant, and then the figure of the old man and the bird were engulfed in flames. They disappeared.
The deans looked at each other for some time, and then headed out. They could not disobey a direct order from the Castle Director.
And only Poppy, smiling mysteriously at the magicians, disappeared from the office like a light fog.
*****
A few hours earlier. Corridors of Hogwarts Castle.
"Potter, you're suicidal," I said confidently, walking behind her covered with the Invisibility Cloak.
"If I am destined to die, then you will die with me," this "woman" said, smiling madly at me over her shoulder.
I just tugged sadly at the chain of agony that had woven circles around my neck. Just one wish from Harriet and my head would fly off my shoulders, literally being sawed off by the chain. Not the most pleasant fate, what else can I say. And the worst thing is that mana and prana are still not available to me. They are like oases beyond the wandering, though so unattainable.
No, I tried to use them, but a warning! The pulsation of the soul itself clearly showed me that it was not worth doing. And I am inclined to believe it.
"I didn't even know that you had such inclinations," I tried to piss her off once again.
"You have no idea what kind, Cole. You have no idea," she almost sang, and all this in the form of a guy. Brrr.
Alas, my next attempt was fruitless. The madness that had so quickly and fruitfully taken hold of her did not want to let go of her mind. My attempts to influence with empathy only "drowned" in this "hole". Like throwing stones into a deep well, there seemed to be waves, but there was no result from this.
- Are you absolutely sure you're ready to meet a snake the size of a train, covered in impenetrable scales, armed with meter-long fangs, and a sweet look? - Why is she dragging me along? If she wants to die, then die yourself. At the slightest opportunity, it's worth running away. And I don't give a damn about the messiah of light and her life, my life is somehow more important.
- Shut up already! Better tell me where to go next! "She warned me with an angry growl. The chains on her neck squeezed her with force, the spikes slightly pierced her skin.
Silently indicating the further path, I followed her. Who would have guessed that the Blacks were so insane under madness? (Or is there another kind of madness here?) Now she doesn't care at all about the danger of the basilisk, the supposed death, and so on. All she cares about is punishing the culprit and fighting. Crazy woman.
For an hour I led her in circles, which almost caused me to lose my head a couple of times (figuratively speaking). I hoped that we would run into a patrol of teachers, and then I would somehow give us away. However, alas, we did not meet anyone. As if out of spite, everyone decided to abandon their duties.
- Women's restroom? Are you serious? And this is where you led me for an hour, although we could have arrived in about fifteen minutes? — the Heroine said first in surprise, and then angrily.
"According to the local ghost," I said, not paying any attention to her words, entering the room first. "She died here about fifty years ago. That's when the victim of the attack was discovered. Petrified," I clarified.
- That doesn't explain anything.
"When questioning her, I learned that the last thing she saw was: "Two giant eyes, right behind this sink," - he pointed with his hand to the fifth one, if you count the sink from the booths. — Upon inspection, I found an engraving of a snake on the mixer. Exactly like on the coat of arms of the "green" faculty.
To confirm my words, I called Potter to me and pointed to the drawing. She began to examine it closely.
- Well? Are you sure? And what do you plan to do now that you know where the passage is, but you can't open it? Check, I tried almost everything, and this is actually true.
After the "assignment" from Crystal, I feigned furious activity for a week, and then calmed down. During this time, I was just able to read about the "fear of spiders," the attack fifty years ago, the coat of arms, and so on. Myrtle didn't pass me by either. In order to get her to talk, all you had to do was say a few kind words and listen to her stories.
- Well? Let's go back," and for clarity, he went to the exit.
- "Open up!" - the hissing of the snake behind me stopped my movement.
Turning around sharply, I stared at two glowing green eyes. Right at that moment, their pupils elongated, making them even more snake-like.
— Surprised? - Harriet hissed, smiling ominously.
- Are you a parselmouth? By any chance, you are not the heir? - I said, taking one step back. Once again, the chain, having contracted, showed that this was not the way to do it.
At the same moment, the shells standing around began to move apart, and the "fifth" began to sink into the floor. Ten seconds later the passage was open.
Ah, what a loss. I couldn't witness this action. Only the feeling of mana showed that there was some space magic involved. Why tsk? I missed such an interesting, magical spectacle.
"If you don't end up at the bottom after me, the chain will kill you," she said, smiling sweetly at me (does she realize that she looks like a guy now? Brr) and jumped down.
Approaching the edge and not seeing the destination point, only ominous darkness, I bent down.
Hmm, familiar emotions nearby. What is he doing here?..
****
After sliding in the pipe for about thirty seconds, I finally flew out of it. Turning around in flight, I carefully landed on my feet. Well, now the robe is irreparably ruined.
- Oh, I see you value your life, - the girl who was living out my life said with a slight grin. Judging by her appearance, she also managed to land successfully. Or used a spell.
"You have no idea how much," I whispered barely audibly.
Bones cracked disgustingly underfoot. Whose skeletons were there: rats, mice, spiders, thestrals, werewolves, people, centaurs. Apparently snakes are not at all picky about food.
"Let's go," Potter said and headed into one of the corridors.
The next half hour was quite entertaining. The pipes formed a kind of labyrinth, through which we wandered. Bones were everywhere, as well as slime.
One time we went out into a natural cave where a basilisk was shedding its skin. Well, Potter was impressed by the size of the kite, although not in the way I expected. The grin on her lips grew much wider, and madness flared up with renewed vigor. What can I say, for a brief moment she literally flared up with mana.
Finally, after the allotted time, we came out into a wide corridor. It was built of green marble, torches hung on the walls (on both sides), burning with a green light. There was no water or bones here.
After looking around a little, we moved on. After another two minutes we approached the wall, on which two snakes were "knocked out", intertwined with each other.
"Stay here," she warned me. And then she came closer to the wall. - "Open up!"
It crashed. The snakes' eyes flashed green. Raising their heads, they "scanned" Potter, and then nodded to something and crawled to the sides.
The mana of space flared up, which I felt with my skin. At the place where the two snakes intertwined, a passage appeared, reminiscent of a crack in the rock. Its interior was burning (who would have thought?) with green light.
"Let's go," Potter said, smiling like crazy and stepped inside.
Well, I hope I survive.
*****