The Princess of Light

Chapter 5.37 (The Department of Mysteries)

They were standing in a large, circular room. Everything in here was black including the floor and ceiling. Identical, unmarked, handle-less black doors were set at intervals all around the black walls, interspersed with branches of candles whose flames burned blue. Their cool shimmering light reflected in the shining marble floor made it look as though there was dark water underfoot.

"Someone shut the door." Harry muttered.

Aurora regretted it the moment she obeyed him. Without the long chink of light from the torchlit corridor behind them, the place became so dark that for a moment the only things they could see were the bunches of shivering blue flames on the walls and their ghostly reflections in the floor.

"Harry, which door is the right one?" But as soon as Aurora had voiced the question, there was a great rumbling nouse and the candles began to move sideways. The circular wall was rotating.

Aurora grabbed Caspian's arm, afraid she might somehow lose him in the darkness.

"I'm not leaving your side," he whispered comfortingly.

For a few seconds, the blue flames around them were blurred to resemble neon lines as the wall sped around, then, quite as suddenly as it had started, the rumbling stopped and everything became stationary once again.

Aurora's eyes had blue streaks burned into them. It was all she could see.

"What was that about?" Whispered Ron fearfully.

"I think it was to stop us knowing which door we came in through." Said Ginny in a hushed voice.

Aurora realised at once she was right: she could no sooner identify the exit door than locate an ant on the jet-black floor. And the door through which they needed to proceed could be any one of the dozen surrounding them.

"How're we going to get back out?" Said Neville uncomfortably.

"Well, that doesn't matter now." Said Harry forcefully. "We won't need to get out till we've found Sirius - "

"Don't go calling for him, though!" Hermione said urgently, but Aurora knew Harry never needed her advice less. Everyone's instinct was to keep as quiet as possible.

"Where do we go, then, Harry?" Ron asked.

"I don't - " Harry began. He swallowed. "In the dreams I went through the door at the end of the corridor from the lifts into a dark room - that's this one - and then I went through another door into a room that kind of...glitters. we should try a few doors." He said hastily. "I'll know the right way when I see it. C'mon."

He marched straight at the door now facing him, the other following closely behind him, set his left hand against its cool, shining surface, raised his wand ready to strike the moment it opened, and pushed.

It swung open easily.

After the darkness of the first room, the lamps hanging low on golden chains from the ceiling gave the impression that this long rectangular room was much brighter, though there were no glittering, shimmering lights like Harry had decribed.

The place was quite empty except for a few desks and, in the very middle of the room, an enormous glass tank of deep green liquid, big enough for all of them to swim in. A number of pearly-white objects were drifting around lazily in it.

"What're those things?" Whispered Ron.

"Dunno," said Harry.

"Are they fish?" Breathed Ginny.

"Aquavirius Maggots!" Said Luna excitedly. "Dad said the Ministry were breeding-"

"No," said Hermione. She sounded odd. She moved forwards to look through the side of the tank. "They're brains."