ruins ; harry potter [1]

thirty nine ; riddle's cave

Salt water sprayed her face and waves crashed along jagged rocks and the cliff-face before them. She knew where they were: perched upon one of the rocks in the sea below the cave she saw in her dreams, facing the cave that meant so much to her father. They were here for a Horcrux.

In the cave, Dumbledore's lit wand caused their shadows to dance on the slimy rock walls. They jumped and watched them, flickering violently after Dumbledore lit a torch on one of the walls. The ominous air caused bumps to rise on Diana's skin, creeping up her arms and neck until she shook from the cold.

The cave sunk deep into the cliff, a cavernous expanse that was almost entirely undisturbed.

"Yes, this is the place," Dumbledore muttered as he peered at the walls shining with ocean mist.

"How can you tell?" whispered Harry.

"It has known magic," said Dumbledore simply.

Diana crept toward a dip in one of the walls, shadowed and dark and nearly hidden. She lit her wand, pointing it at the small hole. The wall, slimy and wet with mist, was covered in bright green moss. She pulled some of it to the side, and ran her fingers along an etching.

Behind her, Dumbledore was standing in front of an outline of an arched door. "Surely not," he muttered. "I rather think we a required to make payment to pass.

"Blood, if I'm not mistaken."

"Stop."

Diana's eyes were glued to carving on the hidden wall, tracing the lines with her eyes like a puzzle and running her fingers over the deepest etches.

"It has to be my blood."

Dumbledore was next to her now, and they peered at the wall in curious wonder.

Behind the bright moss, a large, detailed snake was carved, curved into a circle with its tail between his jaws. A large, glittering, purple gem was set as the eye of the snake, reflecting the light of their wands like a mirror.

"It needs my blood," she said, tracing the gem with her index finger. "It can only be opened by Voldemort's blood or Vera's. Or both."

And so, stepping to the stone arch embedded into the opposite wall, she pulled a silver dagger sheathed in leather from her bag and sliced her palm. The blood trickled from the wound and it stung as she pressed it into the stone, the small pebbles digging into her skin and her hands sticking from the wetness.

The arch glowed a magnificent silver, not unlike the color of the memories in the Pensieve. Under the arch, what was once stone was now a open passage into another cavern, one that was significantly larger than the one they were standing in now. Set before them was a gigantic lake, black under the dark ceiling and flowing far into the shadowed cave. The outer banks were hidden in the darkness, and the lake was still, like it was made purely of glass.

"Let us walk," said Dumbledore quietly. "Be very careful not to step into the water. Stay close to me."

They followed him around the edge of the lake closest to them as he examined the water. Their footsteps made loud slapping noises against the ground and it made her increasingly uneasy.

"Professor," said Harry. "Do you think we're going to have to go into the lake?"

"Into it? Only if we are very unfortunate."

"You don't think the Horcrux is at the bottom?"

"Oh no . . . I think the Horcrux is in the middle."

"So we're going to have to cross the lake to get to it?"

All of a sudden, Dumbledore muttered, "Aha!" His hand clamped around something invisible near the water and he tugged. A thick chain emerged from the depths in his hand, and next came a small boat that floated idly on the surface. Dumbledore beamed in delight, and ushered Harry and Diana into the boat, next clambering in himself.