Lethal Darkness

Fatal Darkness

By Snitch Builder

Chapter Five

The Final Challenge

"There are very few monsters who warrant the fear we have in them."

Andre Gide - French Writer

'Go on, then, Hermione,' Harry said. 'Give us your diagnosis.'

'Well,' she began, 'you remember when we were doing that special course on care of magical creatures, you know, when that funny little man came when Hagrid was arrested last year?'

'Erm, I think so,' Ron said nervously.

Hermione glanced disapprovingly at Ron before continuing. 'Can you remember when he said if one creature mates with another creature of a different type, then the mother will carry some of the identities of the other creature through the baby, sometimes not for the good of the mother?'

'Erm, I can recall something,' Ron replied and shifted nervously about.

'For crying out loud, Ron,' Hermione snapped. 'When will you ever remember anything that is said to you in class?'

'I do remember things,' Ron retorted, 'but its just sometimes I forget, that's all.'

'Go on, Hermione,' Harry said soothingly as he could see that her cheeks had flushed a deep crimson.

'Well,' Hermione said after shaking her head, 'maybe that's what has happened to Snape. He has taken on some of the characteristics of the Alien. You said it was very strong and powerful. Perhaps Snape jumped up there to get a better view. Who else but an Alien enhanced human could jump so high?'

Harry pondered this idea for a moment and it did seem a logical explanation. But it still left the school with a more serious issue that there was a more deadly Alien running around. It might not be as big as the first two Harry has encountered, but given its magical capabilities now, they could be in serious trouble.

The trunks and personal effects started to arrive and Harry sought out Dumbledore when he came into the room steering six trunks with his wand.

'Headmaster,' Harry said, 'have you noticed anything wrong with Professor Snape recently?'

Dumbledore steered the trunks to the back of the room and the Gryffindors sorted out whose trunk was whose. He turned to Harry and pocketed his wand.

'Professor Snape is perfectly fine,' Dumbledore said quietly.

'That's not what I mean,' Harry added. 'He seems a bit... well... jumpy. Skittish. Nervous even. But then what was all that hanging about he was doing an hour ago when we were led here?'

Dumbledore sighed deeply. 'Harry, I cannot put any explanation forward for Professor Snape's behaviour. The Ministry official is looking the Professor over as we speak. If there is anything you need to know, I shall let you know in due course. But if you'd excuse me.'

Dumbledore left the room and the chattering increased. Parvati came back down from the girls' dormitory and was smiling weakly.

'How are you?' Harry asked as he gave her a hug.

She sniffed and wiped her eyes. 'I feel a bit better now,' she whispered. 'I lay on Padma's bed and it has helped me a bit. I was going to look through her trunk, but I think I will leave it.'

'Don't worry,' he said softly. 'There'll be plenty of time for that when it's all over.'

He kissed her forehead. Yes, it will soon be over one way or another. If anything, the Alien was outnumbered, but Harry couldn't help thinking that perhaps they were outgunned.

Daylight crept into the cold common room where most of the Gryffindors were sleeping. There was no fire as they had shrunk the chimney to stop anything from getting down it. Harry had himself not slept, opting instead to stay awake on an armchair. It was now over forty-eight hours since he had told the nightmare to Madam Pomfrey and he was now beyond sleep. Sleep meant dreams, and dreams meant more nightmares. The windows had been shuttered, and it was through a crack in the shutter that daylight was poking a feeble light through. The lighting had now stopped, but distant rumblings of thunder indicated that this was just a slight respite from the storm.

Dumbledore came in and moved quietly between the sleeping students.

'Harry,' he whispered, 'the lighting has subsided now, and it has been decided that those who can Apparate can do so to a safe house in Aberdeen. I have visited the other houses, and I am arranging small groups to go to the bottom of the main drive to Apparate. I know you and Hermione can do it, so would you like to leave?'

'I think so,' Harry started to reply, but then a horrible thought struck him. 'What about Ron? Parvati? Seamus? Neville? No. I cant leave without them.'

'Nor will I,' Hermione added as she sat up from the floor and stretched.

'I thought that might be your answer,' Dumbledore replied. 'I cannot force you to go, but it will be a while before we can use the coaches as the wind is still too strong. I shall let you know what I can do about getting everyone away later today.'

He smiled and bustled from the room.

'Thanks, mate,' Ron said as he walked across to them, rubbing a stiff leg and with Lavender behind him.

'See, Ron!' Hermione snapped. 'If you'd actually paid attention for just one minute, in just one lesson, you could have left with Lavender. She can Apparate and now she risks staying here as well.'

'Well listen to you,' Ron spat. 'I'm sick of you going on about how thick I am. I'm sooo brilliant. Look at me! I'm Hermione Granger! La-de-da! I can make anything do anything! I know everything there is to know! Tra-la-la-la-la!" and he skipped about on the spot.

'Well you can just fuck off then, you ungrateful bastard!' Hermione yelled back. 'Just go and play with the Alien! Go on! Get your arse chewed off! See if I care!'

She stood up and Ron shoved her back down. She hit the floorboards hard and it must have hurt because a tear ran down her face.

'Don't you push me around!' Hermione cried, her tears in full flight now as she stood up to face Ron. 'Just clear off! Go on! Go back to Lavender. I'm sure she's a better lay than me any day with all the practice she has had!'

Lavender moved forward with her fist clenched, ready to put it into Hermione's face.

'Whoa!' Harry yelled and stood between them, one hand on Ron, his other on Hermione.

Everyone was awake now and all eyes were on the fight. Harry couldn't believe what Hermione had just said! So it was true! Ron and Hermione had shared a bed at some stage.

'Come on,' Harry said angrily. 'I don't know what's been going on between you two, but it's got to stop and stop NOW! We're all a little strung out at the moment. We're all tired and at our wits ends, but fighting between each other isn't going to help. Now, what is going on?'

'She started it,' Ron mumbled.

Hermione rushed over to punch Ron and Harry had to grab her round her waist to stop her.

'Calm down I said!' Harry shouted.

'Gerroffme, Harry,' she cried and struggled harder, trying to get away.

Hermione was in such a rage and flailing her hands around wildly that she accidentally punched Harry hard in his mouth. He fell over backwards, blood streaming from his gum where a tooth had been knocked out.

'Oh shit! Harry,' Hermione cried. 'I'm so sorry! Come on. Please. Let me have a look.'

She tried to pull his hand away from his mouth, but he snatched it away from her. A coppery taste filled his mouth making him feel sick, and he almost gagged when the tooth found its way to the back of his throat.

'Leave me alone!' he mumbled through his hand.

He spat the tooth out into a bloody mess onto the floor and stood up, and then put his hand back over his mouth; blood seeped from between his fingers and he shut his eyes tight against the pain.

'S-sorry,' Hermione stammered. 'It was an accident. Please Harry, let me have a look.'

Harry couldn't think straight at the minute and took the only course of action he felt necessary: he stormed out of the common room, but not up to the boys' dormitory, instead he went out into the corridor.

Once out of the common room, he looked around and then rushed to the far end of the corridor where it was much darker. He found a small recess in the wall and squeezed himself into it. The wall was damp, moist. Rainwater that had been blown through the crack in the window frame now ran down the wall; moss grew in green clumps. Harry didn't care. He pulled his knees up to his chest and pressed the palms of his hands into his eyes. Blood from his hand stuck his eyelids together, but at least now he was alone to think of what to do next.

Movement at the other end of the corridor made him turn and peek cautiously down the corridor. Ron's head appeared through the portrait hole and Harry ducked down even lower.

'No. I can't see him anywhere,' Ron whispered to someone behind him.

Hermione's tear-stained face appeared and looked up and down the corridor.

'Has he got his Invisibility Cloak with him?' she asked.

'I dunno,' Ron replied, giving a little shrug.

Ron went to go out of the common room and Hermione stopped him.

'No. Don't you dare,' she said threateningly.

Ron looked angrily at Hermione and then sighed.

'Okay,' he said. 'But the minute we see a teacher, I'm going to tell them Harry's gone off. And its your fault!'

'Yeah, whatever,' she replied in a resigned tone.

Both the heads disappeared back into the common room and Harry relaxed a little. What to do next? Well, he didn't want to go back into the Ravenclaw common room. He was starting to miss Parvati, but he didn't miss Ron and Hermione fighting. Go back to Gryffindor Tower? Could be one option, but the floor was now missing, so that was not such a tantalising prospect. But he had to do something. His back was starting to hurt and his backside had gone numb. He stood up and stretched.

His mouth had stopped hurting a little, but it still throbbed, making his gum feel hot, and the rest of his teeth felt dislodged somehow. She packs a mighty punch, that Hermione, he thought as he ran his tongue over the empty socket. Where the blood had congealed, it felt like a little bit of jelly had been stuck in the hole. When he ran his hand across his lip, he could feel it too was cut.

Still feeling mad at the argument, he walked back up towards Gryffindor Tower. As he passed the portraits adorning the walls, the occupants were talking to each other about sightings of the Alien. Some were quite informed and actually sounded like they had seen it. Others just sounded as though they were just joining in with the conversation.

When he reached the Fat Lady's portrait, she wasn't there. No reason why she should be. The common room was wrecked, and all their stuff was now over in the Ravenclaw Tower, so no reason to have it guarded. Winky's body had gone, and he glanced around for his Invisibility Cloak, but that too had been taken away.

He pulled on one side of the portrait and swung it open. Carefully, he crawled through and took a look around. Most of the floor had fallen through into the classroom below. What was left of the tables in the classroom were covered with the shattered remains of the floor, but at least the bodies of Padma and the Gryffindor boy had been removed. He thought of levitating himself across to the boys' dormitory and curling up alone on his bed, but as the pain subsided in his mouth, his reasoning came back, so he decided to go back to the Ravenclaw common room and confront Ron and Hermione instead. Maybe she could get his tooth back in. After all, her medi-magic was the most successful anyone has seen for a long time. Maybe he could even forgive her for thumping him.

He turned back and dropped into the corridor. A cold feeling spread all through his body like iced water as he sensed movement in the shadows at the end of the corridor. He stood frozen to the spot and he caught sight of something glinting in the darkness. Movement bought the thing into focus and standing not thirty metres away from him was the fully-grown Alien! Fear took hold of his brain and turned his stomach into a writhing mass.

Slowly, he moved back into the portrait hole. The Alien seemed to be watching, but with no eyes, how could it have? It took a step towards Harry, and he froze. Maybe it could only detect movement, like a cat, so Harry remained motionless half way into the common room. Harry's breathing became rapid. He felt light headed. Panic was starting to take hold. The monster took another step in his direction. The things breath condensed into small clouds in front of its nightmarish mouth. The Alien tilted its monstrous head and took another step forward. Perhaps the movement was deliberate to entice a reaction from its prey. Maybe the thing likes a chase, but Harry was not going to give it one.

He slowly moved further into the portrait hole and the Alien took another step forward. It suddenly turned its head towards the stairs from where the sound of running feet was coming. Harry took a chance on getting fully into the portrait hole, but then stopped. The source of the running feet turned out to be Snape!

Harry stood transfixed. Snape had stopped just in front of the nightmare and was looking at it intensely. Was he mad? Could he not see what was a mere centimetre from his face! Harry wanted to do something, but what? Spells were no good, and he was damn sure he wasn't going to try and wrestle with the thing.

Snape looked the monster up and down, and the monster did likewise to Snape. Harry's eyes stung as he realised he hadn't blinked for a while, but he dared not, lest he missed anything. As Harry watched in horror, Snape reached out and touched the side of the thing's skull. The monster seemed to respect him. Perhaps it was due to Snape surviving the birth of its now dead sibling. The Alien opened its mouth and made a hideous screeching noise. Snape didn't seem too impressed. He opened his mouth and made a similar noise! Before Harry could take this in, the Alien spun round and hit Snape hard with its tail. Snape fell down the stairs and the Alien leapt at him. Harry felt light headed and suddenly realised he was holding his breath. Through the sounds of his ragged breathing and his heart beating like a runaway train, he tried to listen for the sounds of death - the sound of Snape being ripped to pieces, but none came.

After a few moments, he carefully made his way out of the portrait hole. He sneaked across the corridor and flattened himself against the wall. When he had made his way to the top of the stairs, Snape and the Alien were nowhere to be seen.

Harry shook himself out of his daze and decided to find Dumbledore. As he ran down the stairs, he slipped on something wet on the floor and tumbled head over heels down the stone stairs. Down and down he fell, banging his head several times. When he finally came to a halt on one of the landings, he could see stars in front of his eyes, and a black veil was dropping over his vision. Oh no you don't, Harry thought. You're not taking me yet!

He shook his head as he sat up and blood fell onto the back of his hand. There was a nasty cut on the back of his head and the pain in his head was terrible, but he had to get to Dumbledore's office. With great difficulty he stood up and steadied himself on the banister. With the pain from his mouth, his head, and now from his ribs, he felt like a real wreck. His vision stabilised a little and he started to run as quickly as the pain would let him towards what he thought was the direction to Dumbledore's office.

After hurrying up another flight of stairs, he ran through the school. Turns loomed out of the darkness and recesses held monstrous visions that made him panic. He turned down another long dark corridor and went to turn again at the end of it, but there were no doors. Looking frantically round, he could see he was at the end of a long dark corridor. There were no other doors, no torches, no portraits, and the only window was the one at the end by which he now stood. He had never been in this part of the school before and he simply could not remember how he had got there.

The lightning had returned, sending a lurid strobe-effect along the corridor. When he turned to retrace his steps he stopped, for at the end of the corridor something lay on the floor. It looked like a thick snake, with a hard-looking, shiny, black skin. It moved. It wasn't a snake! It was the end of the Alien's tail! The Alien moved into the end of the corridor and once more surveyed Harry with interest.

In a blind panic, Harry turned to the window behind him. He pulled and pulled on the old handle, and it came away in his hand. A deep feeling of despair came over him like a ton weight. He turned back to the monster. It had vanished, but he could still hear its rasping breath. It became visible again and was getting closer. He was going to die! Anger rose in him as he remembered at least he could kill the thing when it came to kill him with its inner striking jaw. He reached into his robes. He checked his belt. No wand! The anger was replaced by fear again. He checked his wand-pocket. No wand! He checked his jacket pockets, his belt again, his back pockets. No wand! He had lost his wand, just like the dream said.

The monster was closing. Slowly it made its way down the corridor. Harry reached behind him and tried the window again, but it was old and rusted solid. The Alien disappeared again and Harry shrunk to the floor as he could hear its breath very close. It reappeared and was standing right next to him! Harry wet himself and started to shake hard with fear. Come on you bastard he thought. Do it! Get it over with!

The Alien bought its tail round slowly. It moved the tip carefully behind Harry and gently placed it against his shoulder blade. He shook even more violently as he felt it start to push its way through his clothes. It reached out and took hold of Harry's shoulders with its clawed hands and he could feel the immense power of the creature as it gripped him firmly. He closed his eyes tight and waited for the thing to punch a hole in his chest. Why was it being so careful? Then a thought hit him like a blow to his stomach. Perhaps the thing didn't want Harry to die, not just yet. What if it had another egg! The point of the tail reached his skin, puncturing it.

'OI! GET AWAY FROM HIM YOU BASTARD!' shouted a voice from behind the monster and Harry snapped his eyes open.

Harry was dropped to the floor and the Alien spun round, making a noise halfway between a scream and a hiss. Bright flashes of light lit the corridor and wand-arrows ricocheted off the monster, missing Harry by millimetres, digging craters in the walls and floor. It hissed and then screamed louder. More wand-arrows spanged off its armoured skin. Harry curled up in a tight ball and put his hands over his ears to block out the noise.

The Alien disappeared and reappeared a little further down the corridor, but it clung to the ceiling with the ribs sticking out of its back. More wand-arrows flew at the creature and it disappeared again. The wand-arrows kept coming one after the other. It reappeared back on the floor and screamed. But then, someone firing the arrows must have remembered its weak spot and the thing's head exploded into tiny fragments. As the remains of the alien dropped to the floor, Harry lifted his head a little and could see nothing but smoke; the stench burned his lungs and caused his eyes to water.

Acid blood poured across the floor, making tracks in the stone as it melted its way towards where he was lying. He jumped onto the windowsill away from the stream of acid. Suddenly, he felt very light and started to float over the debris of the destroyed creature and into the acrid smoke cloud. When he came through the other side of the smoke, he removed his glasses and wiped the sweat and smoke from his eyes as he felt himself being lowered to the ground. In front of him were Ron, Hermione, and Lavender - all of them had their wands drawn. Hermione was pointing her wand at him and he felt much heavier as she removed the Levitation Charm.

Apart from the soft hiss of the acid eating its way through the floor, the corridor was silent. Harry went to get up, but he found that once he realised how close he had come to dying, shock took away the power in his legs and he fell over backwards. He felt sick and he closed his eyes.

'Harry! Are you okay?' The voice seemed too distant to be close to his face.

He opened his eyes again and saw that Hermione was kneeling next to him; her tearstained face full of concern. He tried to speak, but his lungs felt too big for his body as he fought for breath. His eyes stung and he blinked hard to clear the tears that were blinding him. The light-headedness returned and everything was going black. He felt soft hands on him as they turned him on his side a little. It made his breathing easier and his stomach stopped writhing.

'What's happening to him?' he heard a feint voice say as the blackness descended further.

'I don't know,' said another. 'Look. He's got a hole in his shou - '

The voices trailed off into the distance. Darkness enveloped him as though someone had nailed him into a coffin. None of his limbs worked and he felt his breathing slow down along with his heart. He was falling from a great height. Down, down, into unknown depths.

Harry forced his eyes open a little and shut them against the bright light that burned his eyes with the intensity of an exploding star. Voices drifted into his mind, floating around as if blown on the breeze. Something was pounding on a door, but he realised it was just the blood rushing around his battered brain. A small voice whispered in his ear: 'Harry? Are you with us?'

He turned his head slowly towards the voice and opened his eyes carefully. He was in the hospital wing and Parvati was sitting on a chair next to him. When he opened his mouth to speak, his lungs didn't work for some reason.

'Shh,' she said gently. 'Don't speak. Just rest.'

Another voice drifted across the room: 'How is he?'

'He's almost awake,' the voice of Parvati replied.

Or was it Parvati? He couldn't tell. Another shadow passed across his blurred vision. Someone lifted him up gently and pressed a glass against his lips.

'Here,' a voice said. 'Drink this. It'll make you feel better.'

A fluid passed across his leathery tongue and he drank mechanically. Whatever it was burned his throat and tore into his stomach with the force of a hurricane. He felt himself laid back onto the bed and the drink started to help bring him back to normal.

Harry at last regained use of his voice: 'W-what h-happened?'

Dumbledore was standing at the end of his bed. 'It looks like the Alien stung you,' he explained quietly. 'There are two small puncture wounds on your shoulder. We had no idea what had happened to begin with, but Professor Snape came up with the suggestion about you being stung.'

'H-how long have I been here?' Harry asked.

'It's mid-afternoon,' Hermione said brightly. 'You've been out for about six hours. How are you feeling now?'

Harry looked at his old friend and smiled.

'I feel better now than I did earlier,' he said quietly. 'Thanks Hermione. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't turned up when you did.'

At that point, Ron wandered into the room, followed by Lavender.

'Wotcha Sleeping Beauty,' he bellowed. 'Good to have you back with us.'

'Thanks you two,' Harry said, glad to know that no one else had been hurt.

'No problem,' Ron replied brightly and bit the head off a chocolate frog. 'You want some?'

'Now that I have you all here,' Dumbledore said in a dark tone, 'I have to let you know that we are not happy about what happened.' Harry felt his good spirits vaporise. 'You were expressly forbidden to wander about the castle while the Alien was prowling the corridors. I am not impressed that given the danger, you were still intent on defying the rules that were made to protect you.' Harry looked round and saw that Ron was looking sheepishly at the floor, and Hermione had her head bent, and was obviously crying. But then Dumbledore's expression brightened. 'However, given the outcome, and that the creatures are now dead, I am willing to forgive you. But mark my words. The next time this sort of disobedience occurs, there will be strict penalties.'

Dumbledore patted Harry on his shoulder, which he wished he hadn't as it made the pain much worse, and then he bustled out of the room. Harry shook his head slowly and smiled. Madam Pomfrey came in and checked him over. He didn't like being prodded and poked while his friends watched.

'Looks like you can go in a little while,' she announced.

'Oh,' Parvati said suddenly. 'I have this for you,' and she handed back his wand.

'Where did you find it?' he asked as he sat up and took the wand from her.

'It was under the table in the common room,' she replied.

'Yes,' Hermione added sheepishly. 'You must have dropped it when I hit you. Sorry Harry. I promise I won't do it again.'

'Don't worry about it,' he said. 'But there is one question. How did you know where to find me?'

'The map,' Ron replied and swallowed the rest of his frog. 'You left it behind on the chair. It was Hermione's idea really. When we got to the corridor, I thought we were too late.'

'You see,' Hermione said in a matter-of-fact tone, 'it was using the pipes around the castle to move about. That's why it suddenly appeared on the map and disappeared soon after. It seems the map can only show people that are actually in contact with the floor. We tested it earlier. Ron climbed into one of the pipes and his dot vanished. His dot reappeared only when he was about a foot away from the floor.'

'I thought I was going to die,' Harry said with a wavering voice. 'When I heard someone shout, I just couldn't believe it.'

'What are friends for?' Lavender said quietly and put her hand on Hermione's shoulder.

This gesture indicated to Harry that whatever their disagreements had been earlier in the day, they were now resolved. Harry felt much better now that the nightmare was finally over, but even more pleased that the row between his closest friends was now a thing of the past.

Harry was released from the hospital wing just before supper. He was still very weak, but he was now quite hungry. Parvati arrived with some of his clothes, and with great difficulty he dressed himself. He had thought of letting Parvati help him, but he decided not to, as they might have been there all night, so he made her sit outside the room. When Parvati came back in, he could tell from her bloodshot eyes that she was still struggling to come to terms with her sister's untimely death.

'How are you?' Harry asked when he finally finished dressing and sat on the end of the bed.

She sniffed a little. 'Dunno,' she replied quietly and shrugged slightly. 'Dumbledore had Apparated over to see mum and dad to tell them what happened. They sent me an owl an hour ago. They asked if I was okay and they will be coming over tomorrow to p-pick P-Padma up. The f-funeral is n-next w-week,' and her voice dissolved into tears.

Harry put his arm around her and rocked her gently while she cried. There was going to be a lot more tears before the healing process numbed the pain and healed the wounds. But the mental scars will remain for the rest of her life.

After a while, Harry escorted her back to the Ravenclaw tower, as she wanted to lie down. When he met the others in the Great Hall for supper, there was a sombre, heavy air as all the deaths had been announced. When he sat down, Hermione had something for him.

'Here,' she said and dropped something in his glass of water.

Harry looked at it and suddenly realised what it was as the water started to get a slight pink tinge.

'My tooth! Where did you find it?' he asked as he pulled it out of the water.

'Where you gobbed it out on the floor,' she replied with a giggle. 'Here. Let me fix it.'

She took the tooth and placed it up against Harry's gum. She waved her wand and as she uttered a healing spell, the tooth punctured the blood clot and moved back into place, making his other teeth shift around back into their original positions.

'There,' she announced brightly. 'All done. Does that feel okay?'

Harry chomped his teeth together and bit a piece out of an apple.

'Thanks Hermione,' he mumbled, spitting bits of apple onto the table.

Hermione smiled widely. 'Oh, by the way,' Hermione said, 'where's Parvati?'

'Here,' Parvati said as she sat down opposite Harry; she had been crying again.

Harry felt a little better now for seeing Parvati, and he smiled at her. She was going through hell at the moment, but he had resolved to be there for her no matter what. However he was still puzzled about who could have opened up the monster's cave.

'I bet you a sickle against a bag of galleons that it was Malfoy,' Ron spat after they had finished lunch.

'Too obvious,' Lavender corrected.

'Why not him?' Parvati added as she played with a bread roll and sniffed loudly.

'I don't know,' Harry replied and looked over to where Malfoy was laughing and pointing over at Harry.

It was something that Malfoy did that made Harry think again about who it was that had released the nightmare.