The Girl Who Saw Tomorrow II » Harry Potter

2.67 | Inferi in the Firestorm

A towering cliff stood behind them, a sheer drop, black and faceless. A few large chunks of rock, such as the one upon which Margaret, Harry and Dumbledore were standing, looked as though they had broken away from the cliff face at some point in the past. It was a bleak, harsh view, the sea and the rock unrelieved by any tree or sweep of grass or sand.

Dumbledore beckoned them to the very edge of the rock where a series of jagged niches made footholds leading down to boulders that lay half submerged in water and closer to the cliff.

"Our destination lies a bit further away," says Dumbledore. "Down we go, yes?"

It was a treacherous descent and Dumbledore, hampered slightly by his withered hand, moved slowly. Harry climbed after him, offering his hand to Margaret when the lower rocks were slippery with seawater. They could feel flecks of cold salt spray hitting their faces, the rush of the waves deafening around them.

"Lumos," sags Dumbledore, as he reached the boulder closest to the cliff face.

Bright golden light sparkled upon the dark surface of the water a few feet below where he crouched; the black wall of rock beside him was illuminated too.

"You see?" says Dumbledore quietly, holding his wand a little higher.

There was a fissure in the cliff into which dark water was swirling.

"Both of you will not object to getting a little wet?"

"No," says Harry.

But Margaret stayed silent, looking at the dark water, a terrible feeling rising up her chest. She had not swum in years, not after...

"Margaret?" says Dumbledore, looking up at her when she did not answer.

"Yes... I mean, no. I don't mind."

"Then take off your cloak, Harry - there is no need for it now - and let us take the plunge."

And with the sudden agility of a much younger man, Dumbledore slid from the boulder, landed in the sea, and began to swim, with a perfect breaststroke, toward the dark slit in the rock face, his lit wand held in his teeth.

Harry pulled off his Invisibility Cloak, which he had tied around his neck stuffed it into his pocket, and jumped in.

"Come on!" he says to Margaret, who was standing frozen on the rock.

She shook her head, immediately regretting it when she felt light-headed.

Pull yourself together, Margie.

The chances that she would drown in these treacherous waters were high; the chances that she might as well just pass out here out of panic were even higher.

"Margie?!" calls Harry again, still waiting for her. Dumbledore had already reached the fissure and was looking around at her.

Margaret gripped the key Dumbledore had given her as well as her locket before diving in.

"Argh!"

The water was icy, which immediately seemed to make her panic worse. The sensation of being struck by a hundred tiny knives was slowly coming alive as the water seeped into her clothes.

Margaret gasped for air as soon as her head broke through the surface. Immediately, one of Harry's hands came around her. Somehow he seemed to know she needed the support.

"All right?" he asks.

"I'm fine," she breathes harshly, teeth chattering as she tried not to gulp the salty seawater. "Let's... Let's go."