𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒 | draco malfoy [6]

𝐗𝐈𝐗. INFERI GUARDS

CHAPTER NINETEEN
INFERI GUARDS

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"You two remember the conditions on which I brought you with me?" Dumbledore asked Harry and I. "This potion might paralyze me. Might make me forget why I'm here. Might cause me so much pain that I beg for relief. You are not to indulge these requests. It's your job to make sure I keep drinking this potion. You may even have to force it down my throat. Understood?"

"Sir, I'm sure I could drink it..." I gazed at the foggy green liquid, intrigued by it.

"I'm much older. Much cleverer, and much less valuable," Dumbledore told me, then grabbed the shell that sat next to the potion. "For good health."

I held my breath as he raised the filled shell to his lips and drank the potion. For a moment, nothing happened, and then the headmaster began shaking and gasping.

"Professor-" Harry rushed forward to help him as he fell to the ground, and I caught the shell he had dropped. "Can you hear me? Professor?"

I quickly filled the shell again and brought it over to Harry, who tried giving it to Dumbledore. He drank it, only to cry out in pain once more. I kept refilling it and passing it to Harry, who lied to Dumbledore by saying if he drank it, it would stop the pain.

Then, suddenly, I heard the whispers again. I switched with Harry as he filled the shell and brought it to Dumbledore. I walked to the edge of the crystal rock, peering into the dark and glassy water.

Surprisingly, I didn't yell when a withered white hand popped out of the water. I was stunned when I realized that I wasn't even afraid. Curious, more like. Reaching out, I touched the hand, and instantly pulled my own back. It was cold and awful.

Whispers that I had been hearing sounded out again, only this time, they were audible. I watched, transfixed, as the hand sunk back into the water. It was then when I noticed the hundreds of white, dead bodies, just like the one I had seen.

Giovanna Potter... it is time you join...

I shivered, trying to block out the whispers. Harry called my name, giving me excuse to rush back over to him and Dumbledore, staying away from the water. Harry looked pointedly at Dumbledore, who was refusing the shell.

"Professor, please, this one will help," I lied, knowing that it hurt Harry too much to keep lying. Dumbledore drank. "This one will make the pain go away," I continued as Harry fed him another shellful.

"Kill me... kill me!" Dumbledore yelled, and I winced. His voice dropped to a whisper. "It's my fault... all my fault..."

"One more!" Harry yelled. Now Dumbledore refused to open his mouth. "Please, then we'll do what you say!" 

"One more, then it's over. It'll be over for real," I pleaded.

Reluctantly, Dumbledore opened his mouth, drinking the last of the potion. As Harry held the shell to his mouth, I raced over to the crystal bowl, and grabbed the Horcrux.

It was a locket. It was a greenish gold, with a large S branded on the front of it. I pocketed it and turned back to the other two.

"Water..." Dumbledore croaked. "Harry, Giovanna... water..."

I turned back to the bowl and pointed my wand at it. "Aguamenti," I said, and it filled with water. Harry dipped the shell into it, but it didn't pick up any water. I tried casting the spell directly into the shell, but nothing happened.

Harry and I slowly looked at each other, then down at the dark water below us. "Let me do it," I whispered.

I shuffled back down to the edge, and crouched down by the water. I took a deep breath and lowered my hand, scooping some of it up in the shell. This time, it stayed. I noticed the white bodies floating by, but they did nothing.

Well, to me, they didn't. Harry had ducked down by the water a few feet away, and a white hand had shot out and grabbed Harry's wrist. He yelled out in fear, and I hurried over to him. He had managed to pull free, and grabbed my hand, tugging me away from the water.

However, this wasn't the end. All around the crystal island we stood upon, the water rustled and bubbled as the bodies began to surface.

"Now you've done it," I muttered, glaring at Harry as we raised our wands.

"Lumos maxima!" He called, brightening the light on his wand. It enabled us to see the bodies creeping over the edge of the rock, climbing up to us.

Harry and I instantly began shooting spells. I couldn't keep track of how many times I yelled "Stupefy!", "Impedimenta!", or "Levicorpus!". We were able to send a few of the bodies flying back into the water, but there were too many that were still advancing.

My head turned when I heard Harry cry out, only to see him drop his wand as two of the bodies seized his arms, dragging him down the rock to the water.

"NO!" I exclaimed, running over to him. I wanted to shoot a spell, but they were too close, and I didn't want to risk hitting Harry.

The bodies had reached the water, and they pulled Harry in, diving deep enough so that I could no longer see them. Anger overcame me, and I yelled with a sense of authority and power I didn't realize I had.

"Let him go!"

At once, the bodies that had been surrounding and closing in on me halted. I raised my eyebrows, confused but not complaining. The water near my feet rippled, and I knew Harry had been released.

Then, as though they sensed my calmer attitude and loss of focus, they began advancing again. Harry pulled himself up into the rock, spluttering and coughing up water.

I pulled him up and tossed him his wand, but there wasn't much we had to do. Dumbledore had stood, and retrieved his wand. He waved it around in a wide circle above his head.

At once, fire lit all around the island, burning the bodies. It sent them flying back into the water, or made them too scared to approach us anymore. He called out another incantation, and a pathway opened up in the flames.

Harry and I wasted no time assisting Dumbledore into the boat we arrived on. It went sailing back across the water, all within the path of flames Dumbledore had cleared for us.

The fire faded as we reached the other side of the cave, all the bodies I now recognized as Inferi retreated back into the water. Harry and I held on to Dumbledore, turned on the spot, and apparated back to Hogwarts.