Sleeping Dragons

The ornate Persian rugs muffled our footsteps through the empty corridors of the U.A.A. The walnut panels were filled with paintings in which most of the inhabitants gave us a little wave as we walked by. Ron, Harry and I were heading to Dumbledore's briefing room located at the far end of the building. Harry seemed incredibly tense and Ron and I managed to keep quiet so as not to irritate him.

Upon entering, we saw a few more people than usual. Dumbledore and two other teams sat at the round oak table. Ron sometimes joked that it often reminded him of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, but I always brushed it away. That night though, the table was full and I began to see some truth to the jest.

"Come in," said Dumbledore. "You're the last to arrive." I took a seat by Cho.

"Have you really found Sirius?" Harry asked, a little desperately.

"I will tell you. Just have a seat." He waited for us to settle down.

"Yes, I have found Sirius Black. I used a Memoria spell, which is specifically used for determining the location of a person."

"How does that work?" asked someone from another team curiously. I vaguely recalled reading about it in one of the books that the U.A.A. confiscated.

"Only a very powerful wizard could manage it," I said, glancing at Dumbledore.

"Correct," he replied. "It locates the person in question by memories and requires a strong connection. You can go into their minds and see through their eyes. It would be impossible to use the Memoria spell on those such as Lucius Malfoy since none of us have had strong ties with him. Besides, most Dark Wizards are blocked. Voldemort found a way when he first came to power."

"But surely," began Harry, "your connection to Sirius wasn't that strong?"

"No," said Dumbledore. "But Remus Lupin's is. He and Sirius have shared similar memories since they were eleven years old."

Harry was silent. I was sure he was thinking about his own connection with Sirius. It was true that Remus and Sirius had known each other for almost their entire life, but Sirius was also Harry's godfather, someone who Harry looked to for support. I couldn't help but suspect that Harry felt a little jealous.

"So... where exactly is Sirius?" asked Cho.

"He's been hidden under our noses the entire time," said Dumbledore. "From what Remus could see from Sirius' point of view, we can only conclude that he is in the Malfoy Manor."

"At the Malfoys'? But wouldn't someone have noticed?"

"Their manor has been abandoned since they ran away," Ron mused. "It makes sense. Everything's been confiscated there anyway, no one has a reason to go back. It's the perfect spot to hide a prisoner."

"Especially in the dungeons where Sirius is located."

"Did Remus see anything else?" I asked.

"No, the spell is very limiting. We saw the cells and the hall that his cell looked out upon. We only knew it was the Malfoy Manor because we were both involved in emptying it. We recognized the location immediately."

"This is giving me a bad feeling..." said Ron. "We're not going there, are we?"

"Exactly right, Ron." He outlined a short plan for us to follow. Our main goals -- to get Sirius and draw as little attention as possible. "No matter what, I do not want any of you being seen by any of the Malfoys or a Death Eater. We cannot compromise any more information."

"So what happens now?" asked Harry. He seemed anxious to get going.

"Now, Harry, we rescue Sirius."

"Wow," said Ron. Though empty and abandoned, the Malfoy Manor still loomed impressively before us. It gave us a feeling of a miniature castle... an evil miniature castle. We stood at the broken gate -- Ron, Harry and I, along with the two other teams -- and stared up at the towering spires. The Manor was huge. The estate was even bigger. If it weren't so dark, ruined, spooky and covered in overgrown weeds, I wouldn't have minded living there.

"Dumbledore said all the charms are gone so we should be able to get in easily," said Cho. "It's only a matter of actually finding the dungeons."

"Well, that's easy," I said. "They should be underground, right?"

"Right, but who knows how far down this thing goes?"

We subtlely and silently headed towards the manor in three separate groups, in case Lucius or any of his henchmen were lurking. The three of us crept along some hedges, which were in desperate need of trimming. We reached the path where the hedges stopped, and crouched low.

"Cho, Ella and Tony are in position," Ron whispered in my ear. I glanced over at the other team, Patrick, Marcy and Owen, to make sure they were ready.

Patrick gave the signal -- gesturing his open palm toward the castle - and we immediately made our way in the shadows to the front door. They creaked as Marcy pushed them open. I wanted to laugh. Breaking in through the front doors? Oh well, no one lived there, anyway. I held up my wand to the stifling darkness and murmured, "Lumos."

"I can't believe it," whispered Tony in awe. "They actually lived here?" Even though it was dusty and empty inside, it sure was a lot better than a dirt bedroom.

The foyer itself was massive. A grand staircase led up to the two wings of the manor. I remembered the paintings and dark materials that the U.A.A. confiscated, pictured them in the Manor, and I suddenly had an inkling of why Draco Malfoy turned out the way he did.

Ella reached into her cloak and pulled out a map of the Manor that Dumbledore had given us before we left. "To get to the dungeons we have to head that way." She pointed and our eyes followed her finger's path.

"Ella, do you realize that's a wall?" asked Ron. "We can't walk through walls."

"That's what it says on the map," she retorted. "See for yourself." She held the map out for us.

I held my lit wand over the parchment map. Sure enough, the entrance to the dungeons was supposed to be directly through the wall. "I think Albus forgot to tell us something."

"He never forgets," said Ron. "He wants us to figure it out for ourselves."

I walked to the wall, and the others followed. "It must be sealed with a spell or some kind of mechanism," I murmured, running my hand over the smooth surface.

"I have an idea," said Harry, who had been unusually silent through the trip. "Stand back." I assumed he was about to use some kind of revealing spell but instead, he pointed at the middle of the wall and yelled, "Aboleo!"

With a bang, the wall burst apart and crumbled to pieces, leaving a large tunnel for us to go into. When the dust cleared, Harry, without saying a word, walked into the dark tunnel.

"Right, Harry," muttered Owen. "Real subtle."

The nine of us walked in single file with Harry leading the way. Our lit wands created eerie shadows on the walls. As we walked, I could feel the mild incline of the ground. We were going underground -- far underground. "How far is this supposed to be?" complained Ron after ten minutes.

"Almost there," said Cho, who had possession of the map. After a few more minutes, we stopped walking.

"It stops here," Harry said loudly for the other teams to hear. Ron and I were right behind him, and we could see the deep chasm that went down a metre in front of Harry's feet.

"What's going on?" asked Owen from the back of the line.

"There's a chasm," I explained. I peered into the inky blackness. "I think we have to go down it. There's a wall blocking our way if we want to go across."

"Go down? Does this remind you of our first year by any chance, Hermione?" Ron grumbled.

Harry had already begun lowering himself. "What are you doing?" Marcy shrieked. "What if it falls hundreds of feet below us?"

"Relax, there're handholds here." Harry's head bobbed slowly into the dark pit.

"Might as well follow," said Ron with a sigh. He, too, lowered himself, and I followed. Cho was next and soon we were all descending the long ladder.

It seemed like forever until we reached the bottom. Lucius Malfoy must have either been a very patient man or had a few charms to get to the dungeons quickly. I had a feeling it was the latter.

"I hope this is it," Marcy muttered under her breath.

One by one, we jumped off the last rung of the ladder onto the muddy and grimy floor. Holding our wands up, I saw that we were in a deep underground prison. I had a feeling that we were well below the Manor by miles. The only light available was being emitted from our wands.

"Where are we now?" I asked Cho. She took out the map and we gathered around it.

"We have to head that way," she said. Her wand was pointed in the direction of a wooden door that looked oddly out of place in the stone prison.

We trooped over and Harry opened the door. Stepping in, the first thing I noticed were aisles of barred cells. Lots of them. The cells had been placed in a sort of organized way, as if Lucius Malfoy had so many prisoners he needed some form of classification. According to Dumbledore and Remus, Sirius was supposed to be in one of them. It was only a matter of finding which one.

We split into three groups again, each picking an aisle to walk down. The cells were empty, having been picked clean by the Ministry. The abandoned dungeons were giving me chills, so I walked a little closer to Ron. Images of tormented wizards imprisoned there invaded my mind, and I tried unsuccessfully to push the thoughts out of my head. I could tell that Ron was a little uneasy too, by the way he gripped my hand. Harry, though, walked ahead without a care.

"Found him!" someone yelled out. It sounded like Tony. We quickly made our way over to the next row of cells where the others had already gathered, looking through the bars.

Sirius Black was lying unconscious in the cramped cell.

"Alohomora," said Harry, aiming his wand at the iron padlock. It clicked open and Harry stepped inside.

Ron and I went in after him, while the others stood milling around, unsure of what to do. Finally, they all just plopped to the ground or leaned against the bars, tired from the walking and climbing.

"Enervate," I said, pointing my own wand at Sirius. He stirred and I looked at him closer. His face was a little pale from what I could see in the light of Ron's lit wand, and some stubble had appeared on his face.

"Harry? What are you doing here?" Sirius coughed. Ron took off his cloak and rolled it into a ball, placing it under Sirius' head.

"Do you know where you are?" I asked him.

"Yeah... at the Malfoys'. What day is it?"

"It's been two days since Lucius kidnapped you. Have you been here the entire time?"

Sirius nodded, but winced as he put a hand to his head. "Yes. I was walking in the woods and I found Malfoy's hideout. A Death Eater came out and saw me. Then they just attacked."

His voice sounded hoarse. Tony grabbed an empty bottle out of his bag, tapped it with his wand and said, "Aqua." Water quickly filled the bottle, which Tony handed to a grateful Sirius.

"Who's 'they?'" asked Harry.

"Lucius Malfoy and another Death Eater. I think it was MacNair. Next thing I knew, I woke up in this stupid cell and Malfoy was standing outside, watching me. He used Stupefy a few times to knock me out."

"Have you seen any of the other Malfoys?" asked Owen from around the cell.

"No one else has come down. Only Lucius and he just keeps on trying to get information. He used veritaserum on me. He knows everything about the U.A.A. now." Sirius looked so ashamed that I instantly felt a pang of sorrow for him.

"It's not your fault, Sirius," said Harry sharply.

"At least he can't break in. Only Dumbledore knows how to get past the charms," said Ron. Only U.A. agents could Apparate or Disapparate from the agency.

"Sirius, how are you feeling? Do you think you can walk?" I asked.

"I'll be fine," he rasped. He got to his feet with the help of Harry and Ron. "Let's get out of here before anyone comes back."

We all stood up to leave the dungeons.

"Let's get out of here fast. This place creeps me out," said Cho. She leaned against one of the cell doors. "At least we -- oh!" Her wand had slipped out of her pocket and into the cell. We stared as it disappeared in midair.

"Here," said Owen. He pointed his wand at the cell's lock, nervously saying "Alohomora."

After it unlocked, Cho opened the door and cautiously walked inside. There was a collective gasp and we all took a step backwards as she, too, disappeared. Even after seeing Cho walk inside, the cell looked empty like all the other cells in the dungeon. A few seconds later, she emerged, holding her wand and looking white as a ghost.

"Cho?" Ella looked worried. "What happened? What did you see?"

Cho said nothing as she gave us a perplexed look, then turned back to the cell. She raised her wand and in a shaking voice, said, "Aparecium."

At first, nothing happened. But then, slowly, the air inside shimmered. Then nothing again.

"Someone help me with this," she said. I took a step forward and so did Marcy. Together, the three of us pointed our wands at the cell, concentrated and said, "Aparecium." The others stood waiting.

The air shimmered again but with more force. Then it looked as if the inside of the cell turned to dust and fell to the ground. What was left was an exact replica of the previous cell, but with an addition. Lying on the floor, sleeping like a baby, was Draco Malfoy.