Harry Potter's Coolest Aunt

These are some crazy challenges

Don't be a silent reader

Hermione leaped up and struggled toward a damp wall. She had to struggle because the moment she had landed, the plant had started to twist snakelike tendrils around her ankles. As for the others, their legs had already been bound tightly in long creepers without their noticing.

Hermione had managed to free herself before the plant got a firm grip on her. Now she watched in horror as the others fought to pull the plant off them, but the more they strained against it, the tighter and faster the plant wound around them.

"Stop moving!" Hermione ordered them. "I know what this is — it's Devil's Snare!" "Oh, I'm so glad we know what it's called, that's a great help," snarled Ron, leaning back, trying to stop the plant from curling around his neck."Shut up, I'm trying to remember how to kill it!" said Hermione.

"Well, hurry up, I can't breathe!" Harry gasped, wrestling with it as it curled around his chest. Aishi screamed as her mouth was covered by a tendril.

"Devil's Snare, Devil's Snare . . . what did Professor Sprout say? — it likes the dark and the damp —" "So light a fire!" Draco choked. "Yes — of course — but there's no wood!" Hermione cried, wringing her hands. "HAVE YOU GONE MAD?" Ron bellowed. "ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?"

"Oh, right!" said Hermione, and she whipped out her wand, waved it, muttered something, and sent a jet of bluebell flame. In a matter of seconds, The kids felt it loosening its grip as it cringed away from the light and warmth. Wriggling and flailing, it unraveled itself from their bodies, and they were able to pull free. Harry had to help Aishi free for she was the most tied up.

"Lucky you pay attention in Herbology, Hermione," said Aishi as he joined her by the wall, wiping sweat off her face. "Yeah," said Ron, "and lucky Harry doesn't lose his head in a crisis — 'there's no wood,' honestly." "This way," said Harry, pointing down a stone passageway, which was the only way forward.

All they could hear apart from their footsteps was the gentle drip of water trickling down the walls. The passageway sloped downward, and Harry was reminded of Gringotts. With an unpleasant jolt of the heart, he remembered the dragons said to be guarding vaults in the wizards' bank. If they met a dragon, a fully-grown dragon — Norberta had been bad enough . . ."Can you hear something?" Ron whispered.

Harry listened. A soft rustling and clinking seemed to be coming from up ahead."Do you think it's a ghost?" "I don't know . . . sounds like wings to me." "There's light ahead — I can see something moving," Draco said. They reached the end of the passageway and saw before them a brilliantly lit chamber, its ceiling arching high above them. It was full of small, jewel-bright birds, fluttering and tumbling all around the room. On the opposite side of the chamber was a heavy wooden door.

"Do you think they'll attack us if we cross the room?" said Ron."Probably," said Harry. "They don't look very vicious, but I suppose if they all swooped down at once . . . well, there's no other
choice . . . I'll run." He took a deep breath, covered his face with his arms, and sprinted across the room. He expected to feel sharp beaks and claws tearing at him any second, but nothing happened. He reached the door untouched. He pulled the handle, but it was locked.

The others followed him. They tugged and heaved at the door, but it wouldn't budge, not even when Hermione tried her Alohomora Charm and Aishi kicked the door and fell backward. "Now what?" said Ron as Draco and Harry help Aishi up."These birds . . . they can't be here just for decoration," said Hermione.

They watched the birds soaring overhead, glittering — glittering? "They're not birds!" Aishi said suddenly. "They're keys! Winged keys — look carefully. So that must mean . . ." she looked around the chamber while the others squinted up at the flock of keys.