Rise From Dust | Harry Potter

Twenty-One

Chapter 21 | Harems and Snakes

31 October, 1993

He woke up to screams.

A single blood curdling scream, a sound that sent his heart racing and his pupils dilating, making his inquisitive, effervescent eyes a dark, pooling black. He sat up and threw off his sheets almost immediately, wondering where he was and why everything was so cold... and wet. It made no sense for there to be screams. There shouldn't even have been a shift of discomfort as every student of Hogwarts was laying in neat... well tidy rows of orderly makeshift beds. But yet, there was the sound that still rung in his ears. The sound of everlasting torture. It was only when he lept up- with his eyes fully awake and searching- that he noticed that he was, in fact, no longer in the Great Hall, for the ever-present sleeping bodies that were constantly whispering to one another had disappeared.

No, Harry Potter was not even in the school of wizardry. In fact, the place that he had come to did not look familiar in the slightest, although the intricate designs on the columns, the musky smell of the air, and the tiled floors seemed to have come from a distant memory. The boy knew that he had to find out what this place was, and that he had to get back to his school at some moment in time, but he did not know when that would be, for there were no windows in the damp space, and he carried no watch. He stepped forward, and recoiled at the feel of cold liquid touching his bare feet, partially due to the temperature, but mostly to the fact that it wasn't water that had touched him. No, water was far to thin and soft a substance then what he had felt. This fluid was heavier, and slicker... slimier. One that made him think of what walking in blood must feel like.

But, at the moment, none of the feelings or smells mattered. He knew that he had to get to the scream, he had to rescue that person. And so- shaking his foot as he ran to get rid of the goopy feeling that encased his ankles and heels- he searched the dark chamber, looking for any signs of torture, the screams continuing... continuing... continuing. If it were a normal person in his position, they would've gone mad by the sheer volume and amount cries that were heard bouncing throughout the domed ceiling and cathedral-like walls.

Harry looked around himself, only to find himself right next to his blankets and pillows once again. It was almost as if he had never moved. And with his frustration building up inside of him, he let out a burst of uncontrolled magic into the dark abyss that surrounded him in each direction. This was madness, this was torture, this was not a normal place on the world made for the normal being. And as the boy sobbed into his arms at a sudden failure as shrieks hit against the walls of his head, an iridescent light came slowly glowing towards him, pulsing with unknown magic.

It was at this moment that he decided to open his eyes- wiping the crust and snot away from his tear ducts and nose- that he noticed the pulsing glow creeping from the deep depths of what he now referred to as his dungeon or prison of torture and demise. It was curious, for the signature of the magic that was coming off of the light was one that he was familiar with. Something that he had possibly experienced in another life. And so, Harry just sat there, staring at the magic, waiting for it to encase him and bring him back to his ever-waiting death.

Though, what he expected to occur never did, for when the light went above his head- feeling almost like a thick, cool fog- he opened his eyes, expecting to see the lines of people waiting for their souls to be judged, and the familiar black hooded creature to check off names from the long, tumbling list. Instead, he was greeted by a new chamber. One where the screams came from every direction. With shaky legs, he stood up looking around himself and rubbing his eyes once more. For what Harry saw was something out of a nightmare, as snakes of every kind, but all in the darkest hues of green and black, surrounded him with their mouths open and forked tongues spitting various venoms at him.