| Chapter 21 -Alcoves and Altercations Continued |
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| �Lumos,� he whispered, and a bright light emanated from the tip of his wand. He cautiously began descending into the dark hole. The stairs seemed incredibly long to Harry, and it felt to him like he had been walking for several minutes before he finally reached the bottom of the stairway. Harry squinted into the darkness and pointed his wand ahead of him. The room lit up, and Harry gasped at what he saw. Hundreds of old books lined the walls. There were several tables covered in jars with strange objects floating in them. Several cages sat in the corner. Most were empty, but sitting in one was a strange looking beast. It was small, but it resembled a snake with bird�s feet and plumes. Harry read the name card on the cage. Occamy. Harry shrugged, having never heard of an Occamy before. He walked over to a large table, on which several large, dusty books were laying. He blew the dust off the cover of a thick, old book, and read the title. �Dangerously Deadly: Potions and Spells That Kill� he said out loud to himself. He opened the book to a page near the center and looked at what was on it. There were several potions listed on the page, with names such as �Eternal Sleep� and �Knives in the Dark.� They all were potions that were used by wizards to kill people. I wonder why they�d have a book like this at the school, Harry wondered. He picked up a glass jar that had a small silver fish lying at the bottom. It looked dead. Harry tapped on the jar, trying to see if maybe the fish was just sleeping. It started shaking slightly, and then suddenly shot up at the glass, gnashing huge fangs. Harry, startled, almost dropped the glass. He put it down quickly; surprised that such a small fish could have such large teeth. He looked to his right and saw a rack of small flasks, filled with many different colored liquids. He picked one of the bottles up and read the label. �Lobalug Poison: Use with extreme caution.� Harry had never heard of many of the things he was looking out in the dark, damp alcove. All of the things he saw, however, looked as if they had a connotation with death. The eeriness of the room was beginning to affect him. He began to feel a chill sweeping over him like a cold wind. It reminded him of the feeling he got when a Dementor passed by him. He checked his watch. 10:42. I need to leave, he thought to himself. He suddenly had a strong urge to get out of the room as quickly as he could. He turned around quickly, and started walking towards where he thought the stairwell was. All of a sudden, Harry�s foot hit something hard, and he tripped. Unable to regain his balance quickly enough, he face forward, hitting his head on the hard, cold stone floor. His glasses cracked, and his wand rolled away, with the light that once radiated from it flickering out. After being unconscious for a while, Harry opened his eyes, feeling faint and dizzy. His forehead throbbed with pain. He sat up and rubbed his hand on his temple, feeling a warm and wet liquid smeared across it. Another twinge shot through his head. He winced, and pulled his hand away quickly. He felt along the floor for his glasses. Once he found them, he placed them crookedly on his face. It was no use, however, because the room was pitch black. How am I going to find my wand, Harry thought nervously to himself. He groped around blindly for several minutes. He had to search carefully, because there was no telling what would be on the floor. His hand felt over several cobweb-covered things, before he finally placed his hand on what felt to be his wand. He picked it up and tested it to be sure. �Lumos,� he whispered, and once again a light shone from the tip. Harry looked at his hand. It was covered in blood. �Oh man,� he groaned. He stumbled over to the stairs and began ascending them slowly. It seemed to take forever for him to reach the top, but finally, after about eight minutes of walking, he made it out of the stairwell. As soon as he stepped out of the opening, the bricks replaced themselves to their original form. After adjusting his cloak to cover his entire body, Harry left the trophy room and head back to the Common Room. He checked his watch, and saw that it was already 12:18. Wow, Hermione and Ron are probably really worried about me right now, Harry thought. He picked up the pace of his walking, even though his knees were banged up from his fall. Finally, Harry reached the portrait hole. He whispered the password, and quietly stepped into the Common Room. He walked over to where he had left Ron and Hermione over two hours earlier. He saw Ron snoring on one of the chairs, while Hermione was fast asleep on the couch. He removed his cloak and began to shake her softly, in order to wake her up. |