Harry Potter and the Cave of Udanax

After Hermione, Lavender, and Parvati fell unconscious, all of the students stood outside the cave, each one lost in their own thoughts.

Neville shook his head. He simply couldn't believe that after such an awesome experience, something like this could happen. 'Why were Muggleborns affected differently?' He was very confused. 'Parvati and Lavender weren't Muggleborn, why were they affected?'

Feeling helplessly lost, he found himself staring at Malfoy with a confounded expression. He couldn't understand what the Slytherin boy was doing there. He also knew Harry and Ron were thinking the same thing. The silence stretched awkwardly. He decided to talk to Hagrid who was leaning against a boulder at the other side of the cave's entrance.

As Neville walked past the Slytherins, he noticed Goyle's expression. The Slytherin was craning his stubby neck to look at Parvati. He shook his head disbelievingly. He had barely taken a few steps when he heard Crabbe speak.

"Worried about the Gryffindor girl, huh, Goyle?"

Neville slightly turned his head and caught Crabbe looking at Goyle maliciously. Goyle, on the other hand, looked disgruntled.

"She's the nicest Potions partner I could ever have. Of course, I am worried about her." He heard Goyle grunt in response.

Shaking his head, Neville continued walking.

"I hope the little Mudblood rots in hell."

Neville froze. He swung around and saw Pansy Parkinson. Her face was contorted with hatred and her eyes were narrowed into slits.

"What did you say?"

"You heard me. I wish she dies soon enough," Pansy retorted furiously. "You've got a problem with that?"

Before Neville could make an angry retort, Millicent Bulstrode yanked Pansy by the arm and dragged her away.

"What is your problem, Bulstrode?" Pansy hissed under her breath. "Are you also siding with the Gryffindor now?"

"No," Millicent replied, "but you better watch out, if I were you."

"What do you mean?"

"Would you like to know what occupied his thoughts?"

"What?"

"Not what, who."

Pansy shot daggers at her. Then her eyes widened in shock. Her gaze swung towards the direction where Draco was standing. "I don't believe you," she said in a low voice. "Draco should know better than to fall for a muggleborn."

Neville couldn't believe his ears. Feeling more confused than ever, he strode towards where Hagrid was.

"Is there nothing we can do to Hermione?" he asked the half-giant.

Hagrid didn't respond. With a deep sigh, he straightened and walked towards Harry's direction. Neville followed him without a word.

Harry looked up when he saw Hagrid coming towards them. "Hagrid why don't we bring Hermione to Madam Pomfrey for treatment?"

"Yeah, maybe Madam Pomfrey could do something to help them," agreed Ron.

"No, better not," replied Hagrid, looking gravely serious. "I know that if somethin' wrong happened, must stay outside the cave an' wait."

The students grew increasingly restless as the minutes passed by. Seamus and Dean went to stand by Harry's side, while the rest of the Slytherins remained huddled by the side of the cave's entrance.

Neville was worried. All he could think of was how to save his friend.

"Professor, can we try the Life Giving song charm?"

Hagrid did a double take then nodded. "It would not hurt ter try!"

They immediately formed a big circle, with the three stretchers in the center of the circle. All of them held hands. Harry, Draco, Neville, and Ron led their fellow classmates in chanting the Life Giving charm. After a few agonizing minutes, their skin color had changed gradually from a dead-like bluish sheen to pale.

After seeing the change, they chanted with renewed determination. They were chanting for over fifteen minutes but nothing else happened. All that time Neville noticed Draco watching Hermione intently. 'His eyes never left her,' he noted. When Draco's right hand reached out and caressed her cheek gently, Neville's mouth dropped open. He watched in stunned silence as Draco Malfoy brushed the strands of hair away from her face.

He wasn't the only who noticed. Harry was livid upon seeing this. Wit his fist clenched tightly, he hissed angrily to Draco, "Get your filthy.." His words were cut off, as Seamus' voice echoed through the air.

"Lavender's awake!"

Everyone turned their heads to look at Lavender. With bated breath, they all watched as Lavender opened her eyes very slowly.

"What's going on?' Lavender asked weakly.

"Just lie down, Miss Brown," Hagrid said softly. "Yer be alright now."

They kept on chanting and after several agonizing minutes, Parvati's eyes slowly fluttered open.

"She's awake!" somebody shouted excitedly.

Parvati turned her head to her left and saw Lavender lying on the stretcher next to her. She extended her hand towards her best friend. Lavender reached out and clutched her hand tightly.

They continued the chant, their voices filled with renewed hope.

Harry, Ron, Neville and Draco's gaze remained fixed on Hermione, who remained immobile and stiff.

But five minutes passed by, Neville seemed to hear a faint buzzing sound inside his head. His vision became blurred, and he felt getting slightly weak on the knees. He wasn't the only one he noticed. Ron looked like he was fighting the urge to throw up. While Harry's eyes looked glazed. Even Draco seemed paler than usual. Neville shook his head, trying to shake the dizzying sensation he was feeling at that moment. He felt really horrible, like falling in a bottomless black hole. The dizziness increased as the minutes trickled by.

A tired-looking Hagrid told them they should better stop before they fall out of exhaustion. Everyone looked like they were ready to drop on the ground, but Neville didn't want to stop.

"We're not stopping."

Neville stared wide-eyed at Draco Malfoy. He couldn't believe what he just heard him say.

Then Harry surprised everyone by saying, "He's right, we're going to go on until Hermione wakes up."

"She's not going to make it."

Neville was not the only who stared at Pansy with open hatred. Harry, Ron, and the rest of Gryffindor were openly glaring at the pug-faced Slytherin.

"We're just waiting our energy for some ... worthless Mudblood," Pansy declared.

"Why you-" Ron and Harry lunged at her at the same time.

"She's awake!" Neville cried out excitedly.

Hermione opened her eyes for one brief second. Her glazed eyes made contact with Draco who was the closest to her side. Then again, she closed her eyes.

"Why is she not awake like Lavender and Parvati?" Ron asked worriedly.

"Is she going to be okay?" Harry tried to shake her awake.

"Harry, it's no use waking her up. At least, she opened her eyes." Hagrid turned to the group.

"A'right, let's bring them ter the infirmary." He whipped his wand and shouted, "Mobilicorpus!"

The stretchers carrying Hermione, Lavender and Parvati followed Hagrid back to the castle. All of the students hurriedly followed Hagrid, eager to leave the forest.

"What's all this?" asked an outraged Madam Pomfrey.

She took one look at the pale faces of the student, and quickly took several bars of chocolates. "Here," she said, handing the bars to Ron who was at the front, "distribute this to everyone."

For several minutes there was only silence as the students finished eating the nourishing chocolate bars.

"Forty five minutes!" Madam Pomfrey shrieked after Hagrid told her of what had happened inside the Cave of Udanax.

"You could have all died. I've read in the book that chanting more than thirty minutes would be fatal enough to cause death!" Pomfrey said in a shaking voice.

She immediately placed the three girls in a confinement room. When she came out, she noticed the group of students were still there.

"They are not to be disturbed," she said firmly to them. "You can come back to visit after four hours. Only four persons can be allowed inside."

Harry and Ron started to protest when Professor McGonagall entered the infirmary.

"Go back to your respective common room." Her tone was crisp and commanding.

Draco, whose face was inscrutable, was the first one to leave. He turned on his heel, and left in hurried strides. The rest of the students reluctantly left.

Professor McGonagall turned her attention to Harry and Ron.

"Mister Potter and Mister Weasley, you two will be permitted to watch over Miss Granger."

Harry and Ron quickly thanked her. She was about to leave when Neville said something to her. She nodded, said something, then left the infirmary. They looked questioningly at Neville.

"She permitted me to stay and watch Hermione too. I told her she was my only friend here in Hogwarts," explained Neville.

"Oh!" was all Harry and Ron could say. The three of them went to the Gryffindor common room and waited until the four hours were finally up.

~*~*~**~*~

By late afternoon, Parvati and Lavender, although still weak, were able to sit up and talk, but Hermione remained asleep.

That evening, Lavender's parents arrived and whisked her away despite her protests that she was fine.

Later on, a very proud looking Professor Flitwick dropped by at the infirmary. Hagrid had told the whole school about how the song charm saved the day.

"Both Gryffindor and Slytherin gets a hundred points each for performing the chant," the tiny professor announced happily. "And a special twenty points for Neville."

Neville looked flabbergasted. The extra points was unexpected. Harry and Ron gave him a hearty pat in the back.

After the Charms Professor had already left, Ron started teasing Neville about the extra twenty points when the door swung open again. A very thin, bespectacled woman, draped in a gauzy shawl and wearing innumerable chains and beads around her neck, entered the room.

"Hullo, Professor Trelawney," Neville greeted the teacher politely.

"It's so nice to see you, Professor," Parvati said warmly.

"I've heard what happened, I told Hagrid not to pick today to go inside the cave," Sybill Trelawney sighed dramatically. "But no, he wouldn't listen to me."

Ron rolled his eyes, while Harry tried to maintain a straight face.

"My dear, I am afraid," she began saying, her enormous eyes moving from Neville to Parvati's pale face, "there's no hope for this one-"

Professor Trelawney had barely taken a few steps towards Hermione when she suddenly went chalky white, her eyes started to roll as she turned rigid.

"Professor?"

She seemed not to hear Harry as her mouth opened and an eerie voice, which sounded like it came from the grave, came out of her lips.

"Someone walking in the darkness must never follow the light or she will never see the light of day...within the enclosing darkness, the dark shadow will come knocking on the door. The cursed shall not escape the talons of death, and innocence shall be lost forever, never to return."

Then Trelawney fell in a heap onto the floor.

For a second, Harry, Ron, Parvati, and Neville stared at her in shock. Then Neville and Ron quickly lifted the professor and placed her to bed next to Parvati's.

After a long silence, Ron whispered, "What was all that about?"

"All I got were the words 'Following the light and someone dying a horrible death'," Harry said quietly.

"Will she be alright?" Parvati whispered in a shaken voice.

"I'll go call Madam Pomfrey," said Neville, who quickly bolted out of the room. When he came back, he was accompanied by a very flustered-looking Madam Pomfrey.

"Good heavens!" the nurse exclaimed at seeing the unconscious Divinations instructor.

As Madam Pomfrey pulled the curtains around Trelawney's bed she could be heard mumbling to herself. "Oh dear, what's going to happen next?"

While the nurse was busy tending to the unconscious professor, the three noticed that Harry was silent and looking very grave.

"Harry, what's wrong?" Ron asked worriedly.

"Two years ago, she had predicted about a follower who would return back to his master and that you-know-who would rise back to power," Harry spoke in a low voice. "I did not believe her at the time she made the prediction, but after-"

To their surprise, Crabbe and Goyle, accompanied by Pansy, entered the room.

"Just wanted to see if Parvati's alright," said Goyle shyly.

When no one spoke, Goyle's face grew even more flustered.

"I thought you might like this."

Goyle shuffled closer to where Parvati was lying, and with an awkward gesture, handed a bunch of flowers to her.

"Thank you," she said, looking very surprised.

They gaped at Goyle in shock.

Harry and Ron were so surprised that they didn't notice the way Pansy openly ignored them as she stared at the still unconscious Hermione. But Neville had a sneaking suspicion what was going on inside the blonde's head.

Finally Ron noticed the expression on Pansy's face. He glared at her. "She's alive," Ron told her with open dislike. "No thanks to you."

Pansy merely narrowed her eyes, then stormed out of the room. A few minutes later, Crabbe and Goyle also took leave. At first, nobody said anything, then Ron gave out a loud snort, then burst into laughter.

"Imagine Goyle . . . doing something . . . nice?" Ron was laughing so hard, he was having trouble speaking.

"Goyle's been very nice to me during Potions," Parvati said quietly, her cheeks slightly red.

By nighttime, Parvati had fully recovered. Ron went to sit next to her bed and talked to her while Harry and Neville watched in amusement, seeing the two caught up in their own little world.

Harry went outside to get a glass of water, when he overheard Madam Pomfrey conversing with Dumbledore in a low voice.

"If Miss Granger's not revived in the next day, death will be inevitable."