*****
A moment of disorientation, coupled with a sense of space curvature, and I step onto the marble floor of a new hall.
Snakes, lots of snakes. They all had different colors, shapes, types of scales, etc. Thousands, tens of thousands of different representatives of this species were depicted on walls, columns, and ceilings.
The magic torches burned with the same green flame, only the base itself was made in the form of intertwining snakes.
Some parts of the walls were bulging, made in the form of the same snakes, but ready to be thrown. Water erupted from their mouths, which fell steadily down into small channels, and then flowed away in an unknown direction.
And all this splendor was decorated with millions of runes, sigils, runic circles. Each scale of the snake, each detail of the sculptures, everything was decorated with magical writing. And as you can easily guess, I was unable to examine all this splendor closely, and my magical "sense" was only enough to detect all the runes. Although I am sure that there are many more of them here. Perhaps they create other, more complex runes. Alas, but I am not destined to find out about this.
The magical background of this hall was amazing. Just by moving my hands I felt like I was cutting through the "magic jelly", the concentration of mana here was so great.
"Don't make me pull you by force, Wilson," Harry's excited voice brought me out of my contemplation.
Turning my slightly displeased gaze to Potter, I encountered emerald holes. Rage, impatience, expectation, joy, madness. All this and many other things fought in the head of the young Potter. I simply saw how she was physically contorted by this. Eyes darting, mouth arbitrarily opening and closing, hands slightly twitching from side to side. What's more, for a short moment I saw how Harry's face swam, but after a second it returned to its previous shape.
What's wrong with her?..
We fought with our gazes for a few more moments, but after a second Potter turned her head away from me and headed further, to where a giant statue of a man could be seen.
With each step I could make out more and more details in the appearance of the man, who is depicted in the form of a statue. A strong, stocky body, indicating that the man did not disdain physical training, this was also indicated by the sword that hung on the man's belt. He was dressed in a rather wide robe, decorated with runic script.
It was impossible to see the man's face, as it was hidden under long hair and a beard. The only thing that stood out was two eyes with, for some reason, vertical pupils, and also a rather large mouth peeking out from under the beard.
At the feet of the statue there is a huge swimming pool. Its bottom was not visible, perhaps it is used by a basilisk? Well, what if he is connected with the black lake?
Somewhere from the side I heard a light rustling sound, as if someone heavy was crawling on the ground. So the womb is here...
Gradually, slowing down, I moved further and further away from the heroine. Finally, freezing in place, I carefully began to move towards one of the columns. I don't know who exactly designed this room, but he definitely didn't think about how big a snake could grow. The distance between the columns was quite narrow; the basilisk would definitely not be able to wake up.
Harriet, paying no attention to anything, walked forward. Finally, having reached the center of the rectangular area, she looked around. There were no traces of anyone's presence. Not Ginny, not the heir, not the Basilisk himself. Alas, the distance between us was more than fifty-five meters, and my zone of feeling emotions simply did not reach it.
A scarlet flash of a spell rushed towards the standing guy, but it collided with a translucent barrier, which became visible for literally a moment.
- Oh, Great Merlin, just look who has deigned to come to us, - a slightly hissing, dual voice echoed through the hall. It sounded like a young girl, and also like an adult man. Hmm, interesting. - You're not as bad as they say.
"Who's there? Show yourself!" Potter responded in a commanding tone after failing to find her opponent.
However, no one answered her. Only the rustling became louder and more distinct. The basilisk was approaching. Even Potter noticed this rustling, and began to look around intently.
The agonizing seconds of waiting flowed by. Harry, wand in hand, was intently examining the space around him, wanting to find the Heir. At the same time, I was gradually retreating back, closer to the exit. I was not tempted to die here because of the desire of one person.
The sound of footsteps coming from the left side of the hall made both me and Potter freeze in place. Slowly, a solitary figure dressed in a black robe stepped out from the shadow of one of the columns into the light.
"Ginny?" Potter asked menacingly, pointing her wand at her. Slowly, a greenish ball of light began to glow at the end of the magical instrument.
And this was precisely the youngest of the Weasley family. A small, slightly thin girl. Her hair fell untidy, there were circles under her eyes, and her body itself seemed ready to fall from the slightest breath of wind. And only the eyes, once brown, but now ruby-scarlet, looked at the world with cruelty and hatred inaccessible to the girl.
In general, she gave the effect of a sickly girl. It's as if Ginny has been sick with something for months now. Contact with a dark artifact does not pass without a trace, as does obsession.
The girl's left hand held the black-bound diary in a death grip. Here it was, the Dark Lord's first Horcrux.
"I thought you were smarter, Harry Potter," a slight ripple behind Ginny caught our attention. Thin lips, giving off a dead blue color, spread into an ominous grin. Scarlet eyes blazed with mana.
The light around the girl's figure faded. Her body plunged into darkness, disappearing there completely. Potter, however, did not wait for the culmination, and sent a whole line of various spells towards the girl, including the familiar chains.
As soon as the chains were born, I felt that the "steel collar" had disappeared, giving access to Psi energy. Great, now there's an even better chance of getting out of this mess alive.
At the same time, all the spells drowned in darkness, never reaching their goal.
"Apparently your parents didn't teach you manners, Potter," a velvety male voice, which you just want to trust, sounded from the veil. "Although, what am I talking about? After all, I killed your parents."
With a slight ringing sound the darkness dissipated. The girl disappeared, revealing a new character to the world. A stately, young man, dressed in a dark robe consisting of darkness. His face, posture, smile, demeanor, all this revealed him as a strong magician who knew his worth. And only scarlet eyes, and flashes of black mana, did not let us forget about who was in front of us.
"Voldemort," Potter growled, almost like a beast. "So you survived!"
"Well, you could say that, Potter," Tom smiled kindly. "How does it feel to see your parents' killer alive? Even though you've already tried to kill me twice."
- Shut up! - a new outbreak of spells from Harry was stopped with his bare hand. Tom simply grabbed the charm and then crushed it.
"Weak, Potter. Although, what should I expect from the son of a mudblood?" he asked into the void, continuing to watch Potter.
- Crucio! — the pillar of the spell, oversaturated with mana, hit Tom directly.
For a brief moment I saw him become a light haze. And right underneath it was the body of young Ginny Weasley. That means he hasn't fully returned to his previous form yet, that means he doesn't have much strength. Although that will be enough for us (I hope only for Harry, and I will leave this room at that moment.)
- Wow. The Messiah of Light, the Hero who defeated the Dark Lord, practices dark magic. How exciting this is, don't you think? — then his gaze went straight to me, hidden behind a column. Well, yes, it would be too great if he didn't notice me. "And what would your parents say, Harry?" How would they feel?
- Imminenti morte! (Inevitable death) - an unknown spell broke off from Potter's wand and rushed towards Tom.
This time he didn't catch or deflect the spell, but stepped aside, letting a barely visible distortion of air pass next to him. Tom apparently knew what kind of spell it was.
"Imminent death," he said thoughtfully, looking at the wall where the spell hit. There was a hole in it that continued to expand. And this is in stone reinforced with runes and imbued with thousand-year-old magic. "One of Rod Black's favorite spells," then his gaze fell again on Potter, who fell exhausted to the floor, but continued to glare at Tom with an evil gaze. — Apparently the Black blood is strong in you. I wonder who raised you...
Potter didn't hear him, though. I saw her body begin to sway from side to side until she fell forward, landing on the floor.
The Dark Lord's lips stretched into a devilish grin, and I felt a tremor in my psi. That was his plan, he was artificially fueling Potter's hatred, undermining her shields. And the magical exhaustion from the last spell (it was clearly beyond the young witch's strength) weakened them even more.
- Strong, but not experienced. He would have been another ten years old, maybe he could have entertained me," he said, slowly approaching the lying Harriet. - Well, it's time to start.
He grabbed Harry's wand and pointed it towards the lying girl, but...
A flash of flame, a phoenix song and a guttural cry prevented him from accomplishing his plan.
- Vell luminis! (Veil of the world)
*****
Gilderoy was in a hurry. The path from his office to the moving stairs was quite long. Because of this, he had every chance of missing his goal.
Corridors, turns, porters, statues - all this rushed past him, being practically unnoticed. He has a plan, which means it's worth sticking to.
Fifteen minutes later he ran out onto one of the stairs. Taking out the medallion, he looked again to see where the scarlet light was. This time it was moving towards one of the women's toilets.
Did this detail bother Lockhart? Not at all, he only rushed towards his target with double speed.
Again corridors, again nooks and paintings. But none of this mattered. He needed to catch up with the target and then interrogate it. The results of the interrogation would determine whether he would kill him or take him with him.
Could they have stopped him? Yes they could. Did he care? No, I didn't care. Gilderoy always has an escape plan, and even more than one. So he was confident in himself.
Checking the "map" again, Lockhart burst into the women's room to see his target jump into a passage. He should have followed him immediately, but he wasn't overconfident. He didn't know what was hidden behind that passage.
After ten minutes of careful checks, the hero of the books was convinced that the passage was completely safe.
One step and he rushes into the void.
The spell cast on him worked as expected, helping him get all the way down without any problems.
Lockhart carefully stepped onto the bone-strewn floor and checked the map again. This time, a blue light appeared on it, himself. The red and blue lights were connected by a green thread, the path that must be followed.
Nodding to something, Gilderoy set off on his way.
Of course, he wasn't going to move forward without reconnaissance. His scouts were golems, made in the style of bats. So he sent them forward, not forgetting about the reconnaissance charms.
Twenty minutes later the road led him to a small crack in the wall. Apparently the target entered it. The sent bat, not reaching a few centimeters from the break, collided with a bluish barrier, after which it crumbled into dust.
This barrier was definitely put there by someone else. So there is someone here…
"Are you going far, Mr. Lockhart?" A smiling girl, whose beauty could knock you down, slowly appeared out of thin air.
"Good morning to you too, Madam Pomfrey," he said tensely, looking into the ominous, fiery eyes. - Or would it be better to call you...
A sinister grin graced the girl's lips.
*****