Harry Potter and the Prince of the Enchanted Forest

Chapter 9: In Which They Go Spelunking

Ron wrinkled his eyebrows. "What for?"

"You're witnesses," Daystar answered. "Plus, I think Father could think of something for all of you to do. But I'm afraid it's going to take a few days before we all can go. You have to take a potion to ensure your destination, and I'm running low on the ingredients. We got to get enough for all four of us."

Actually, that wasn't as hard as Daystar had thought. When school started up again, Daystar gathered them easily from Herbology, as most of them were herbal. He got what they lacked at their next Hogsmead visit. They agreed to take it on a Friday night, so they could sleep in if they needed to on Saturday morning.

Daystar served the potion in steaming coffee mugs. "This is a lot like Sleepy Time Tea. It has chamomile and peppermint. You can put in some sugar or honey to make it taste better, and it won't effect the magic of the potion. It will help you feel tired to prepare you for sleep. It will also give you control over your dreams, and you won't go off to another dreamension on your own." Harry and Ron looked confused, but Daystar shrugged. "You'll see what I mean. Drink up."

Harry sipped the potion. It did taste a lot like hot tea. He tried to drink more in one gulp, but he almost burned his tongue. "No, no. Don't drink it too fast. Take your time. It's very strong. You don't want to leave your body before you're asleep. It's not comfortable."

"We'd be four Professor Binns," Ron quipped.

Harry finished in reasonable time, about the same time Daystar finished. "OK, see you in a few minutes." Harry felt exhausted and followed Daystar up to the dormitory. He didn't get out of his robes but collapsed on his bed. He went to sleep right as he hit the pillow.

"Harry!" he later heard Daystar whisper. Harry opened his eyes to see Daystar in the same gardener-like outfit he saw him wear at Diagon Alley, the sword still at his side. "Come on. It's time to go." Daystar also woke Ron the same manner.

"Are you sure we're dreaming?" Ron asked groggily as he got up.

"Sure I'm sure," Daystar answered. "Turn around if you don't believe me."

Ron turned to see himself sleeping in his bed. As he turned, the sleeping Ron also turned over in bed. "Whoa," Ron whispered.

"Come on. Hermes is waiting for us," Daystar whispered.

"How do you know?" Harry asked, but Daystar didn't answer. Hermione was waiting on them as he predicted.

"Hey, check this out!" Ron cried. He put his arm through the wall, just like a ghost. "We can go through the portrait without the Fat Lady noticing."

"That maybe a good idea for another time," Daystar told him. "But watch this." Daystar stood before the portrait hole and said:

"By night and flame and shining rock,

Open thou thy hidden lock.

Alberolingarn!"

The portrait swung open, and they saw a dark tunnel. Harry pulled the wand out of his sleeve and whispered, "Lumos!" Ron and Hermione did the same.

"It's a cave!" Hermione cried.

"Not just any cave. My friends, welcome to the Caves of Fire and Night. Come in. Now, you can still hold your wands, but I need all of you to hold hands, or at least put your free hand on your neighbor's shoulder. Hermes, you're the closest to the wall. Keep your hand on the wall at all times. It's vitally important that we all stay together."

"The Caves of Fire and Night," Hermione whispered. "Isn't this in the Mountains of Morning, where the King of the Dragons lives?"

"It sure is," Daystar answered. "It's our quickest and safest way to the Enchanted Forest, and it's rather impressive."

"This isn't like other caves," Hermione said in awe. "It feels warm, not cold and damp. Nice place to go on a cold, winter day."

"That's part of the reason it's of fire." As Daystar said this, suddenly the lights on their wands went out.

"Lumos!" Ron yelled. "Lumos already! Stupid wand!" Harry felt Ron's wand tip scratching against his arm.

"Ron, calm down," Daystar voice said out of nowhere. "That's more of the caves' magic. Just keep walking, and stay together. That's why I said to keep holding hands."

"But I can't see anything!" Ron whimpered.

"Relax. I've been through these caves countless times. I know them like the back of my hand. The light will come back in a few minutes."

"I think this is amazing," Hermione said. "It reminds me when I was on holiday in America. I went through a cave system in Texas, and there was this one point that they turned off all the lights and read Genesis 1 in the dark. It was awesome, being completely in the dark for a little while. It feels like the rest of the world doesn't exist."

"Yeah," Ron said. "It's creepy."

"Oh, here we go," Daystar said. "Let there be light!" As he spoke, the wands lit up once more.

"Good. Now let's get going before it goes dark again," Ron said urgently.

"Then we'll want to take this tunnel here," Daystar said leading them from a five-tongued fork.

"What are in the other tunnels?" Harry asked.

"Some of those are my favorite places to go when I head down here. That first one has hot springs where some old dragons bathe. It's really relaxing. Then it leads into a cave with molten silver dripping off the walls and a chasm with molten lava. I like watching the dwarfs make swords down there, but I think the word is starting to get out. Last time I was down there, I saw three Asian guys molding a beautiful sword. The cave system right next to it is a maze, and the tunnels move around, so that no matter how you mark your way you get lost. It's a nice place for a morning jog. I have an elfish friend who likes to go through that maze, looking for treasure chests and monsters to fight. I keep trying to tell him there aren't any in there."

"So where do these tunnels lead?" Hermione asked eagerly.

"Through the King's Cave," Daystar answered.

"Oooh, I can't wait to see that!" Hermione grinned.

"Awwwe, crud!" Ron yelled. The lights went out again.

"The King's Cave," Harry thought aloud as Ron continued to grumble about the lights going out. "Is that where the King of the Dragons lives?"

"No. It's where Colin's Stone was discovered, which chooses the dragon king."

"Oh. I think I remember Morwen telling us about that." He mainly remembered Morwen overstressing that dragons are much more civilized than wizards make them out to be. Somehow, Harry thought it sounded much like Hagrid's discussion of hippogriffs.

The light came back up as they found themselves in a cave with a deep well at the end. "I've read about this place!" Hermione cried delighted. "This is the cave of the Healing Well. Heroes have to draw water in the well with the tin dipper. If they use the golden dipper, they turn to stone."

"What golden dipper?" Ron said.

"Hey, where'd it go?"

"I can fill you in," Daystar answered. "A year or so ago, a prince with some kind of identity problem came here. He first filled his flask up with the tin dipper and disenchanted the foolish princes that went before him. Then, as they left, he stole the golden dipper. Whenever he found himself stiffening up, he just drank from the water. The magic didn't like him looking for loopholes everywhere, so it blew him up. The golden dipper was destroyed. So now, all the princes have to do is get past the caves."

"I see. Well, that kinda defeats the purpose of the tale, but anyhow."

As the exited the cave, Daystar turned around and stopped them. "Now, you guys think Howlers are bad? Well, you better be careful in this next one. It's the King's Cave. We gotta get through as quickly as we can, and whatever you do, don't make a sound. Got it? Alright, let's go."

The cave was full of shiny, black rock that looked as though it had been polished a million times. "It's beautiful!" Hermione barely whispered, but the stones of the cave echoed her whisper so many times, it almost sounded like a scream. Harry cringed. Ron glared at Hermione. Daystar also gave her a stern look and put his finger to his lips. Hermione looked down in shame.

Even though the four of them were in slippers or bare feet, their gentle steps sounded like an entire marching army. As they approached the middle of the cave, Harry felt a slight vibration in his bones. It grew only a little stronger as he continued on, and it felt rather pleasant. Ron however groaned and collapsed. The sound of his fall was enough to make Harry's head split open almost. Daystar didn't get after him as he did Hermione, but motioned for Harry to help pick Ron up. They did so and walked out as silently as they possibly could.

"That was weird," Harry observed.

"Weird?" Ron cried. "It was awful! Didn't you all feel that shaking inside of you?"

"Yeah," Hermione said. "Wish I could have stayed in there longer. I imagine it could be nicely therapeutic."

"Therapeutic?!? It nearly shook me to pieces! It hurt!"

"Odd," Daystar said. "There's only one other creature I heard of that's upset by the King's Cave."

"What's that?"

"I'll have to think about that a little more," Daystar answered thoughtfully. "Hey, you all might be able to use a break, get a quick drink."

"These caves are rather dusty," Harry observed.

"We can have a drink when we get to the castle if Daystar's parents offer," Hermione said.

"No, we can have a stop in here. I'll show you one of my discoveries." He walked over to wall, tapped it with his sword, and steps appeared. He led them up to show several tiny, stone straws hanging down the walls. "This is Soda Straw Balcony."

"But soda straws are just tiny stalactites hollowed out. They're not really straws, are they?" Hermione said in her know-it-all voice.

"You forget, Hermes, we're in a magic cave. All you do is lie on your back very, very still. The nearest soda straw will touch your lips. Think about your favorite refreshment, and sip. The dragons didn't know about this because they're so big they couldn't take advantage of it. Go on, get comfortable."

As they got situated, the lights went out again. "We'll just hang around here until the light comes back. Then we'll have just enough time to get out of here."

Harry couldn't decide between Butterbeer and Morwen's cider, but the cider was tending to win. What he got was a tangy, fizzy cider with a hint of butterscotch. "This is really good."

"Mmm-hmm," Ron answered. "Just what I needed, the most refreshing Butterbeer I've ever had. What do you got, Hermione?"

"Dr. Pepper," Hermione answered satisfied.

"Huh?"

"It's a Muggle drink from America. It's really good."

"I'm rather partial to Morwen's cider myself," Daystar said. "It's nice and cool from the soda straws."

"Who goes there?" an angry female voice shot out of the dark. It shocked Harry so much, he choked on his Butter-cider, and it spilled all over his face. The lights came back up as the voice once again yelled, "Show yourself!"

Harry and the others peered over the balcony. The speaker was a young woman about Daystar's age. She wore a very worn-out, plain dress, full of tears and scorch marks. She wore a bandana on her head, but it could not hide her brilliantly red hair. Her face would have been very pretty, if she smiled a little more. She held a golden torch up to the balcony and scowled at them. Ron almost fell out of the balcony as he got a good look at her. "Joy?"

"Hey Shiara," Daystar said smiling.

The lady's face eased a little more when she heard Daystar's voice, but she still didn't smile. "Daystar, what do you think you're doing? You know better than to cause such a racket in the King's Cave, especially at this time of day."

"I tried my best, Shiara. I got newcomers. These are my friends, Harry, Ron, and Hermes."

"Quit calling me that!" Hermione hissed.

"Excuse me," Ron said. "Do you happen to have a twin sister named Joy McGuiggan who lives in Dublin?"

Shiara scoffed. "No. You're that kid who nearly got blown up all those times, aren't you?"

"Uh, no, I think you mean him." Ron nodded toward Harry.

"Are you? Let's see it then."

"What?" Harry asked.

"The scar, stupid!"

"Oh." Harry pushed back his hair to show her.

"Uh-huh." Shiara turned back to Ron. "I was about to say that that blow to the head must have done some damage to your brain."

Ron and Harry both looked taken aback. "Shiara, please, they're my friends!" Daystar said.

"Yeah, yeah, just get your posse out before you do anymore damage."

"OK. We need to be getting home anyway."

"Good." Shiara turned to leave as they got down from the balcony. Then she turned back again and gave a small smile, but she looked as though it was uncomfortable. "You guys have a safe journey, and a happy New Year."

"New Year's was days ago," Hermione said.

Shiara frowned again. "Well fine! I try to be polite and wish you well, but if that's all you have to say--" She continued to yell, and her hair burst into flames just as Ron's had done.

"Shiara, calm down!" Daystar cried. "We appreciate it greatly. We really do."

Shiara sighed, and he hair went out. "OK."

"That's better. Have a good day."

Shiara nodded and disappeared down the tunnels. "How do you stand her?" Harry asked.

"Believe it or not, she's getting better every day. She's probably a little high strung because this is her job. She was put in charge of guarding and maintaining the Caves of Fire and Night. I bet she didn't get much sleep."

"It's uncanny how much she looked like my cousin," Ron said. "Maybe I am a firewitch."

"Yeah, but what's a firewitch doing in the Mountains of Morning?" Hermione asked.

"Look!" Daystar said. "We're almost out." The lights went out in the cave once more, but there was enough light coming from the mouth of the cave to get them through. Daystar led them out and said triumphantly, "Ladies and gentlemen, we're home."

After he adjusted his eyes to the light, Harry looked around in amazement. Everything in the forest was covered in a vibrant, green moss that looked like fuzz. The trees were enormous, so tall he could only see the first row. Vibrant flowers peeked out here and there. Yet to Harry, the most prominent feature was that which he could not see. It was a cool, tingly feeling settled on his shoulders. Harry was sure it was more than just a nip in the air. It somehow made him feel comfortable, like this is where he belonged. Ron gazed around with the same wonder, but Hermione merely nodded. Harry had no idea how she couldn't be impressed. He expected something like the Forbidden Forest, but this was more like a jungle. He had never seen anything more exotic. Never.

"So, how long a walk do we have?" Hermione asked.

"Walk?" Daystar laughed. "Hermes, we don't have to walk at all!" With that, he plucked something in the air, and the forest disappeared.