Magic? || Years 1-5

Tom Riddle: Year 2

Both Amisty and Ron nodded the second his words left his mouth.

There wasn't any way they would let him go alone.

"Me too," Ron declared steadily, his blue eyes blazing.

"We're coming with you," Amisty supported. There was a brief moment of silence in the bathroom.

"Well, you hardly seem to need me. I'll just -- " Lockhart spoke up for the first time in a while, his hand just above the door knob.

All three of them withdrew their wands, and a feral sort of growl erupted from Amisty's throat.

Lockhart was the only one who seemed to be the slightest bit scared of the noise.

"You can go first," Ron snarled, his eyes barely more than slits as he glared at their former Professor.

"But... But what good will it do?" He asked meekly, obediently walking towards the opening.

Harry gave him a harsh shove in his back and he immediately slid his legs into the pipe.

"I really don't think -- " He started, but his words were cut off as Ron, still furious, pushed him down.

Harry followed, then Ron, then Amisty.

She slid down the slimy pipe easily, occasionally hitting the turns with a muffled bump.

It was slimy, dark, and far from welcoming. As her eyes adjusted, she caught glimpses of other pipes stretching off from the one she was on. The farther down she went, the damper the air, and the more threatening the darkness became.

The second she started thinking that the pipe would never end it leveled out and she went shooting out the end and into a dark tunnel.

Unfortunately, that also meant she went crashing right into Harry.

Wordlessly he helped her to her feet, his eyes like green shards of glass.

She took in the surroundings. The tunnel they were standing in was covered in slime, the ceiling just barely brushing against their heads.

"We must be miles under the school," Harry commented, his voice echoing eerily in the tunnel.

"Under the lake, probably," Ron replied, his gaze wandering around the damp and slimy walls.

"Lumos," Harry whispered, his wand lighting up at the tip and throwing ghostly shadows over the walls. "C'mon."

They continued through, footsteps far too loud to Amisty's liking as they walked on.

The light of Harry's wand did little to combat the suffocating darkness that pressed in on them at all sides.

"Remember, any sign of movement, close your eyes right away..." Harry warned.

His words seemed to be meaningless, though, as they continued on without any noise. That is, until Ron's foot crushed a rat's skull with a sickening crunching noise.

Harry dipped down, his wand illuminating a wide array of rodent skeletons scattered around.

It wasn't a welcoming sight.

They hurried on.

"Harry -- there's something up there -- " Ron whispered suddenly, his voice quivering with fear.

Amisty peered into the darkness, her heart seeming to stop and then coming back full force at the sight before her.

It was hard to see in the darkness, but it seemed to be the outline of a long curving body.