Learn From the History

Chapter 12: Beyond the Chamber

A dark figure entered the room; there was a dim light surrounding it. A dim light? Alex didn't think a Chimaera would glow, so it wasn't that creature then.

Suddenly the footstep stopped and he heard a shaking voice came from the entrance.

"Is... is anyone here?"

Alex jumped at the sound. Though the voice was missing its usual arrogance, he recognized it immediately.

"Lestrange?" he asked into the darkness.

He heard a gasp followed by a sigh of relief. "Salutor?"

"Lumos." Alex lighted his wand and heard Tom muttered the incantation beside him. With the light of three wands, they immediately spotted a paled Coilean Lestrange standing at the entrance.

Alex stared at the brown haired boy in shock. "What are you doing here?" he asked with the disbelieving tone Tom had used earlier when Alex came to his rescue.

Lestrange's gaze shifted from Alex to Tom, then back to Alex. If they were not in a situation like this, Alex would be amazed to see the arrogant Slytherin prefect was actually panicking.

"Where are we?" he asked with a shaking voice.

"You're here in the first place and yet you ask me where we are?" Alex narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Lestrange was scared and seemingly did not know anything about this place; there was only one possible explanation of why he was here.

Obviously, Tom had also come to the same conclusion. He stepped forward, eyes narrowed. "You followed us," he said in a dangerous soft voice.

Alex filched. That was a tone he seldom heard Tom used. Whenever Tom used this kind of tone in his speech, which usually directed at muggles, Alex would shiver involuntarily. It was because this side of Tom made Alex felt that his younger friend was actually... dangerous.

Lestrange unconsciously took a step backward. When it was clear that the Slytherin was not going to say anything, Tom continued in the same voice, "What do you want?"

As Lestrange paled even more, Alex placed his hand on Tom's shoulder, squeezing it softly to calm the boy down. He felt Tom slowly relax, but the boy's eyes never left the Slytherin Prefect.

Alex sighed. He knew why Tom behaved like that. Growing up in an orphanage gave Tom a distrustful character. The boy was always on his guard and rarely dropped his wall of defense. Somehow Alex doubted anyone had ever broken through Tom's wall and got to know the lonely boy behind it except him. And from his experience with Tom, he knew it was the truth.

"Why did you follow us, Lestrange? Why are you here?" still keeping his hand on Tom's shoulder, Alex asked in a cold voice.

Under two pairs of piercing glares, Lestrange swallowed and took a deep breath in attempt to calm himself. He looked at Alex and started his explanation. "I saw you enter the common room and rush out again after a few minutes. Then I noticed that Riddle was not in the common room too... I knew something was going on and followed you. I followed you into the Forbidden Forest and decided to turn back. But several wolves attacked me on my way. I lost my sense of direction while I tried to escape and I ran to a clearing in the forest with them still on my tail. I have no other choice so I jumped into this hole and found you here." Lestrange paused and looked away. Despite the boy's effort to conceal his emotion, Alex could tell that Lestrange was frightened and was more than glad to see them.

"Why did you follow me then? Somehow I doubt that was because of our well being." said Alex, locking his eyes with the brown haired boy.

"I'm a prefect." Lestrange answered simply, raising his head slightly at the same time.

Tom narrowed his eyes while Alex raised his eyebrows at the answer. Alex had a feeling that Tom would start throwing hexes to the arrogant Slytherin soon. Not that he really cared, but they had some other urgent matters in hand. Well, Lestrange didn't seem to know they were in mortal danger now and Tom needed something to help him calm down anyway...

"In case you really don't know what did you put yourself into, Lestrange, we are now standing in a tunnel with a locked door ahead and a Chimaera behind," said Alex calmly and slowly. He watched in amusement as the information started to sink in. The boy's eyes widened and turned his shaking body to look at back the direction he came from.

"You are..." he said with his trembling voice.

"Telling the truth," said Tom, answering his unfinished question.

Alex eyed Tom, the boy had obviously calmed down a little, and he even chuckled softly when Lestrange collapsed on the ground in shock.

"Now, tell us what do you want." said Alex. He did feel a little sorry for the boy, but he didn't let it shown on his face.

Lestrange sighed. "I know you two are planning something secretly. You've been working on something for months," he said. "I know it's about a secret of Salazar Slytherin. And..." he paused and looked at Tom.

"You don't want a half blood to know Slytherin's secret." Tom finished the sentence in a soft voice.

Lestrange held Tom's glance for a while then nodded. "But I don't think that mattered anymore..." he said.

Alex sighed and helped the boy to his feet. "Come on, let's work out the runes before the Chimaera comes," he said quietly.

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The three Slytherins worked in an uncomfortable silence. Though the fact that Lestrange chose Ancient Runes over Divenation as his elective did help a lot, their speed of translation was still very slow.

"It seems to be a riddle..." said Tom absentmindedly as they finished translating nearly half of the runes.

Alex snickered. "Oh, is it your aunt or your uncle, Tom?" he asked from beside the boy.

Tom snorted and pushed Alex away playfully while Lestrange watched the scene with amusement.

Suddenly a rock dropped down from the ceiling, narrowly missing Alex by only a few inches. Before any of them had time to react, the ground started shaking; more sands and rocks fell down from the top.

"What's going on?" asked Lestrange, shielding his head with his hands.

A roar from the direction of the entrance caught the boys' attention. The three of them turned as one. They could see a lion's head appeared from the entrance, followed by a goat's body and a dragon's tail. The ground shook with every movement the creature made.

Lestrange paled. "That is..."

"It seems the Chimaera can't wait until we attempt to get out and decide to kill its prey now." said Alex grimly. He unconsciously moved closer to Tom, prepared to protect his younger friend if necessary.

The Chimaera's piercing red eyes scanned through them. As its eyes met Lestrange's, the brown haired boy gasped and started running away from the glance.

"Lestrange! Get back here!" Alex yelled and started running after him.

Lestrange's attempt to escape was quite useless actually, since the Chimaera blocked the entrance and the action would only catch the creature's attention. The Chimaera followed Lestrange's movement as he ran halfway across the room before being stopped by Alex who grabbed his shoulder tightly.

"Stay calm. Don't let it know you are frightened." Alex hissed in his roommate's ear.

Lestrange glared at Alex briefly and shoved off his hand. Alex looked up at the Chimaera again. He swore under his breath as the creature started running towards them. The ground started shaking again; Alex tried his best to stay on his feet while training his wand on the Chimaera at the same time. The creature suddenly leaped at them but stopped just before it reached Lestrange. It stared at the boy who was now shaking violently and slowly backed off.

'Lestrange is a pureblood.' Alex thought. 'That's why the Chimaera didn't attack him. But we are still in danger... there's no way we can escape with it running around freely...'

Thinking quickly, Alex said, "The Stunning Spell. Together. On my count of three." He turned to Lestrange beside him; the boy swallowed and nodded, showing he understood the plan. Then he turned to the other side of the room where Tom stood. The boy was pointing his wand directly at the Chimaera and sensing Alex's glance, he inclined his head slightly.

The Chimaera had returned to its attacking posture and was focusing on Tom at the moment.

"One... two... three..."

"Stupefy!"

"Stupefy!"

"Stupefy!"

Three red curses flew at the Chimaera at the same time. Upon being hit by the curses, the Chimaera fell down, its eyes half closed and its body was still moving, struggling to get up.

"Let's go before it gets up." said Alex.

As Alex ran out of the room with Lestrange, he turned and startled to see Tom was still in there.

"What are you doing there, Tom? Run!" he yelled.

Tom bit his lip. "I..."

He glanced at Alex, then at the locked door and the runes.

"Leave it there, Tom! Get out now!" Alex shouted desperately.

But it was too late. Tom gasped as the Chimaera stood up and jumped at him. The next moment he wand was knocked out of his hand and he was pinned on the floor. He closed his eyes, prepared for the coming attack.

"Tom!"

Alex rushed forward, shoving off Lestrange's grip on him. He did the only thing on his mind: he jumped onto the creature's back and stabbed its eye with his wand. The Chimaera roared and turned abruptly. Alex was thrown off to the ground. He rolled to his back and his eyes widened at the red eyes staring down at him. The Chimaera lunged at him and landed on his chest heavily. Alex drew his left arm in front of himself instinctively as the creature opened its mouth to reveal its shape teeth. Blood spilt everywhere as the shape teeth pierced deeply into Alex's forearm. Alex screamed in pain, he felt his arm was going to be torn off. But the Chimaera didn't cease its attack; it made another bite on Alex's shoulder as he turned in pain. All these happened in a few seconds, but for Alex it felt like ages. He closed his eyes tightly; the pain was almost unbearable as the creature torn out the flesh from his shoulder.

Tom, still lying on the ground, watched in horror as the Chimaera left him to attack his friend. His paled as Alex screamed in pain and his blood scattered everywhere. Tom rolled to his right and grabbed his wand on the ground. With a sharp turn, he pointed his wand at the Chimaera. His eyes narrowed in fury and his yelled the most powerful curse he knew.

"Avada Kedavra!"