After what had happened during Extimum's birthday party that day, the relationships among those involved changed very subtly.
Draco and Ron acted as if nothing had ever occurred.
Pretending it hadn't happened was their easiest way out. Still, they occasionally exchanged awkward glances—as if the idea that they'd acted like best friends that day simply didn't sit well with either of them.
The girls, on the other hand, were a little more bashful about the whole thing. If the boys had said odd things, then the girls were no better off. Of course, considering their age, some of the comments could be seen as normal. But even so, they hadn't held back in what they said, which led to many truths being spoken with unusual honesty.
Still, as the days went by, things began to settle, and the incident slowly faded into the background. Yet, what had happened that day left a lingering impression in each of them.
Pansy was the perfect example.
For days afterward, she had been staring at Neville whenever she saw him—completely forgetting to tease or annoy him. Whatever Neville had said that day must have been pretty impressive to leave her looking like that.
Harry, on the other hand, had gained a bit of a reputation among some first-year girls. Quiet whispers passed between a few about how good he was with girls. The rumor was innocent in tone, but the older students who overheard it didn't take it quite so innocently.
The potion, in truth, didn't have an especially strong effect; otherwise, it would've been nearly a veritaserum[1]. Its outcome was more of an accidental mix of various factors.
The low resistance of 11-12-year old bodies, their lack of mental discipline to hold back from saying things they normally wouldn't, and of course, the key point: the potion had been a failed attempt.
It must be said, the effects were so wild that they had secretly alarmed even Tonks. Though she hadn't looked it, she'd ended up quite affected herself, prompting her to question the student who had handed out the potion.
At first, the student hadn't wanted to talk, but with a bit of persuasion from Tonks, he eventually admitted that even he wasn't fully aware of the potion's effects. As it turned out, it was actually a failed brew—the original wasn't supposed to be that strong, even if it was meant to produce something similar.
Meanwhile, classes continued as usual over the following months.
Extimum kept working on his business project, and by then he had a solid foundation. He just needed to iron out a few more things before trying it out to see if it was viable. That said, what he had was still just a basic model, but if it worked, he could offer a magical remodeling service.
His studies on space magic had also improved. However, he still lacked the general knowledge needed to really take advantage of it—especially when it came to applying what he'd learned to spells that other people could actually use. Though he'd made progress, most of his results were more like proof-of-concept tests. They were incredibly complex and exhausting to perform. Basically, unless you were an expert in the field, you couldn't cast the spells, and trying might just make you explode.
Extimum had also spent time getting to know Tonks, Padma, and Pavarti better, deepening those new relationships. His friendship with Draco had also come a long way.
It seemed that after the events of that party, Draco had lost a good portion of his usual arrogance. He was still hostile and combative toward Harry and his group, but Extimum noticed that his attitude was less overtly scornful.
The clearest sign of this change was how Draco started paying attention to Hermione—or more accurately, how he started going out of his way to ignore her.
Draco had plenty of prejudices and wouldn't hesitate to badmouth her if asked—especially after she'd grown closer to Harry. But he had noticed the special attention Extimum gave her, so he made an effort to hold back. And by "hold back," we mean he just ignored her entirely to avoid any confrontation.
Still, Draco couldn't make sense of Extimum and Hermione's closeness. It felt wrong to him. He comforted himself with the thought that maybe Hermione was just a toy or pet for Extimum's amusement.
Otherwise, he couldn't understand why an heir to one of the most prestigious and noble families would associate with a mudblood born to Muggles.
But anyway.
Something interesting had happened with Pansy, too. While she still followed Draco around, her fanaticism had definitely toned down. Oh, and Extimum was quite sure why that was—but that's a story for another time.
In recent months, as always, Quidditch had become the center of attention for the student body.
Harry had played in almost every match and had performed remarkably well, despite being new to the game.
Extimum, meanwhile, had been racking up more and more points for Ravenclaw, placing his house in first place, just ahead of Slytherin.
Was it possible to beat Gryffindor, currently sitting in third? That would depend on whether Dumbledore decided to get involved.
As for the professors, they didn't seem to have said anything about—or interfered in—any of the earlier activities. Their focus appeared to be mostly on the older, more troublesome students. After all, who would expect a bunch of 11-year-olds to be messing with a Cerberus or spying on a mass murderer? Nothing like that, surely.
As time went on, final exams inevitably arrived—Ron's personal nightmare and just a casual review session for Extimum. At least until fourth year, Extimum didn't really need to worry about studying too seriously.
...
Extimum's Private Room
Currently, Extimum was sitting at his desk, fiddling with a prototype of his business project.
The functionality was nearly finished. Just a few more days and he could try to get it working.
*Brrrr*
While he was working, a token on his desk lit up and vibrated faintly.
Extimum: "Oh? Someone wants to see me right now?"
Extimum had already taken his exams that morning, and since they were long ones, there were no classes or exams scheduled for the afternoon. That gave him time to improve his prototype, and he assumed everyone else would be resting or studying for the upcoming exams.
The token was one of his first inventions while studying runes—a kind of magical doorbell. Since his room only allowed access to himself or those he authorized, and didn't have a real door, he had installed two tokens that would resonate and send a signal to each other when activated by magic.
One token was naturally placed near the secret entrance, and the other he kept in his room.
Since it was buzzing, that meant someone was outside calling him.
Leaving the tools and materials he was working with, he slipped on his coat and headed down the hallway toward the room's exit.
As he approached, he spotted Trudor standing at the entrance, peering down the hallway.
From the outside, it just looked like a normal wall. But from the inside, it was as if the wall didn't exist—you could see right through it. That only changed when Extimum chose to hide it.
Outside, Trudor stood with a somewhat unsure expression, patiently staring at the seemingly ordinary wall through which he'd seen Extimum come and go many times.
At some point during his awkward wait, the wall turned translucent, revealing the hallway beyond. But to his disappointment, all he saw was a shadowy, slightly eerie corridor.
Only when he saw Extimum slowly emerging from the darkness did he breathe a sigh of relief.
Trudor: "Dude, when you come out of a dark hallway with that cold look, you seriously seem like some evil wizard stepping out of his lair."
Extimum: "Don't be ridiculous. Just tell me—what's going on?"
Trudor: "Hehe... when are you going to let me see what you're hiding in there?" — He was about to start rambling again when he felt Extimum's cold stare and quickly cut himself off — "Ahem Right. Harry, Ron, and Hermione are outside the common room. They seemed kind of agitated and asked me to come get you."
Extimum: "Alright, I'll go now. If you want, you can come into my lair—just make sure not to touch anything. Wouldn't want you ending up as a test subject in my evil experiments."
Trudor: "Gulp."
Even though Extimum said it as a joke, his stoic expression made it hard to tell if he was kidding.
Trudor: "Ahaha, maybe I'll wait until you decide to show it to all of us. I just remembered I had something to do. Bye!"
Extimum: "Hmph. Even if something did catch you in there, you wouldn't suffer too much." Extimum muttered as he walked toward the exit of the common room.
Trudor: 'Sigh, I really dodged something there.' Trudor sighed as he walked away, having clearly heard Extimum's mutter.
In truth, Extimum did have a few traps—but none were deadly. They were just pranks, like getting smacked by something or hit with a tickling or itching spell. Nothing truly dangerous. At worst, you might pass out. And even then, they only activated if someone touched one of his important items.
...
As Extimum stepped out of the common room, he spotted Harry, Ron, and Hermione pacing anxiously near the entrance, clearly waiting for him.
As soon as they saw him, they didn't even let him speak. They grabbed him and hurried off down a quiet, secluded corridor before finally stopping to talk.
Harry: "Extimum, finally. We've discovered something, and we needed to tell you."
Ron: "Yeah, we think it really is Quirrell who's trying to steal the Stone."
Harry: "It came to me just after we left the exams—something we hadn't noticed before. When we were following Quirrell, we saw him sometimes sneaking out of the castle under a cloak to visit certain places. One of those places was the same pub where Hagrid went."
Extimum: "And?"
Ron: "The bloke who gave Hagrid the dragon egg—it had to be Quirrell. And apparently, he was really curious about Fluffy. Hagrid told him all about it."
Hermione: "Which means he might've given Hagrid the egg just to get information about the defences. He could already know how the Stone is being protected."
Harry: "We also went to tell Professor McGonagall, and she said that Dumbledore had left Hogwarts. Bit of a coincidence, don't you think?"
Hermione: "Yes, he must've found a way to get Dumbledore out of the castle. Now he's probably just waiting until the teachers are distracted so he can make his move."
Harry: "We have to stop him. We can't let him get the Stone. If he already knows how to get past the protections, then we have to beat him to it."
Extimum: "And how exactly do you plan on defeating Quirrell?"
Harry: "…We just have to get to the Stone before he does and hold out until Dumbledore gets back."
Extimum gave him a look but said nothing immediately.
'That plan doesn't exactly inspire confidence.'
Ron: "You're coming with us, yeah?"
'*Sigh*, I'd really rather not. Harry might be able to do this on his own. Getting involved could just make things worse—or change something important. I could try taking a teacher along, but they probably wouldn't believe me… unless I just brought them straight to it. Even then, a direct fight between a teacher and Quirrell might not end any better than Harry just touching him and turning him to ashes.'*
'Besides, I doubt Voldemort would let me catch him off guard this time. He's probably already wary after I hurt him physically before. And I'm not arrogant enough to think I can beat him in my current state…'
'Fine. Just this once. I'm already tangled in this, so I'll interfere—but only to make sure things go smoothly. I won't get caught up in all these conspiracies again unless it's absolutely necessary.'
Extimum: "Alright. When are we going?"
Harry: "Tonight. We can't afford to wait."
Extimum: "Alright."
Hermione: "Let's meet here—outside the entrance to the Ravenclaw tower."
'I'd better think up a few safety measures.'
After a bit more discussion, Extimum returned to his room.
He needed to plan a safer way to get to the Stone.
The security around it likely wasn't as simple as it looked. It was probably more dangerous—and might not even match what he remembered from the film. It was more likely to reflect the books, which were a bit more grounded. After all, these were meant to be actual defences—not games.
'I've only got a rough idea of what the trials might be like. I'd better prepare some countermeasures.'
Extimum pulled a wooden sword from his bag, gave it a long look, then took out his wand and pointed it at the blade.
'Let's hope this works.'
He cast several enchantments on it to increase its durability and give it a little bit of an edge. It probably wouldn't be much use in real combat, but it could help if he needed to fend off physical attacks.
He also prepared a few protective amulets—weak, but better than nothing—and brewed some potions to counter poison or slow bleeding. You never knew what might happen.
...
Night arrived.
Extimum stepped out of the Ravenclaw tower and stood not far from the entrance. It was 8:20 p.m.—he'd arrived about ten minutes before their scheduled meeting time.
'Let's hope everything goes smoothly.'
As he waited, lost in thought about what lay ahead, time slipped by. When he looked up again, it was already 8:40—and still no sign of the others.
'Surely nothing unexpected happened… right?'
To his relief, he soon sensed someone approaching.
While he waited, Extimum stared in the direction he could feel them coming from. He couldn't see them, but his senses allowed him to build a vague image in his mind.
His hearing gave him spatial awareness, while his sense of smell worked almost like a compass, pinpointing the exact position of each person. Finally, his empathic sense added faint emotional colours to the shapes, albeit very faint and distorted.
Combined with a bit of imagination, it allowed his mind to reconstruct the image of three approaching figures—even if his eyes saw nothing.
Although his vision was quite sharp, it wasn't keen enough to pick up invisible figures—at most, he could spot minor distortions if he focused hard, and even that was only thanks to his intuition and the mental image his senses created.
As they reached him, they stopped, and then—
Ron: "Boo!"
Ron yanked off the cloak and made a sudden movement to try to scare him.
Extimum: "…"
He just gave Ron a blank stare.
Ron: "Oh, come on! How could you not be startled? We came out of nowhere!"
Harry: "Maybe… he was expecting us."
Ron: "What? That's impossible."
Hermione: "But he was clearly looking right at us before we even got close. Didn't you see it? Can you actually tell where we are?"
Extimum: "I can't see you… not with my eyes, anyway. But I can sense you."
Ron: "Are you sure you're not secretly half magical creature or something?"
Extimum: "Not that I'm aware of."
Harry: "Alright, let's not waste time. Let's go."
Extimum cloaked himself with his illusion spell and followed along as they made their way to the third floor. Since all of them were now invisible, it was more like a silent agreement—they were going together, but no one could really see each other.
Extimum: "By the way, why were you late?"
Ron: "Huh? Oh—Neville wouldn't let us leave. Hermione tried to petrify him, but he was more alert than usual and dodged it. We had to try a couple more times. He looked really pale—I don't think he's been sleeping much lately. Maybe the nerves made him sharper."
Extimum: "Shouldn't he be taking a calming draught or something?"
Ron: "He is, but he's taken so many lately they don't work as well anymore. He had to stop for a bit."
Hermione: "You should speak to Pansy. At this rate, Neville won't be able to rest properly. Although... maybe now he'll feel a bit calmer."
Even though Pansy was a major concern for Neville, it wasn't the only one. The exams had also eaten up much of the students' rest time.
Ron: "That's evil."
Hermione: "Do you want to get hexed too?"
Ron: "Evilly brillian."
.
As they reached the door leading into the room where Fluffy was, they all stopped and took a deep breath to brace themselves.
Harry: "Alright, time to go in." Harry removed the cloak—it wouldn't help against Fluffy, as the creature could still sense them even if it couldn't see them. Given his size, it wouldn't be very effective anyway. Extimum also dispelled his illusion.
Hermione: "Alohomora." Hermione pointed her wand and cast the unlocking charm.
Hermione: "Let's go in."
They all entered the dimly lit room once again.
Fluffy was sitting in the middle of the room. One of his three heads was asleep, another looked drowsy, and the last one had an annoyed expression, shifting its gaze from a broken harp in the nearby corner to the four intruders.
*Guaur*
The central head, the one awake, let out a loud bark. Curiously, the sound didn't seem to wake the other two heads.
Ron: "Ahhh, it's clearly angry."
Harry: "But look, there's a harp over there—that means Quirrell must have already been here, and two of its heads are still asleep."
Ron: "Come on, Harry, use the flute before it gets closer!"
Harry: "Right."
Harry pulled a flute from his pocket. Hagrid had given it to him for Christmas, and he had practiced a bit with it. He planned to use it to lull the Cerberus to sleep after hearing Hagrid mention its weakness.
They had already discussed how to get past the Cerberus before arriving, although they hadn't expected the situation to be different from what they had anticipated.
*Fiu~~~*
The Cerberus seemed to halt its movement and its anger as soon as it heard the sound, but its eyes still remained locked onto them. After a brief pause, it slowly began to approach.
Ron: "It's not fully working."
Hermione: "Ah, I don't know, it should just fall asleep with the music."
Seeing that the Cerberus was still resisting, Extimum acted as well. He released his aura, sending out feelings of calm and drowsiness. The effect was quite clear—the Cerberus's slow steps grew even slower, and its eyes began to blink more and more sluggishly.
*Fiu~~~*
Ron: "It's slowing down, but it's still coming this way." Even though the room wasn't that large, the Cerberus, despite its irritation, had already appeared quite drowsy when they arrived, and its steps were heavy. In fact, one of its heads had already fallen asleep by the time the music started.
*Bam*
The Cerberus collapsed into sleep just a few inches away from them.
Harry: "That… was close, I was getting tired of playing the flute."
Extimum: "Let's not waste any more time, let's go." Extimum took the lead, continuing to release his aura with feelings of calm and drowsiness directed at Fluffy, while gripping his wand tightly.
After stepping over Fluffy, they reached the trapdoor, which was now completely uncovered.
Ron opened it and looked down into what seemed like a dark void.
Ron: "Let's hope it's not too deep."
Harry: "I'll go first." Harry was decisive, jumping in right after speaking.
Extimum: 'There are already several divergences… I don't even know what to expect down there anymore.' He didn't say anything else and jumped immediately after Harry.
Shortly after Extimum, Hermione and Ron jumped down as well.
As they fell, a faint light emitted by some plants allowed them to vaguely make out the vine-covered walls drawing closer, and at the bottom, a web-like network of plants.
*Aahh*
Harry's scream echoed as he fell, a few meters below Extimum. The fall seemed deeper than expected.
As they neared the plant net, Extimum felt a sudden surge of danger.
Kicking in the air, he launched his body to the left and dodged what seemed to be a green tentacle—no, on closer look, it was a thick vine, nearly perfectly camouflaged along the walls of the shaft.
Extimum: 'Damn it.' Looking around, he noticed the room was clearly a plant-based trap. There was a net below, but the walls were lined with thousands of plants that had started to strike the moment they got close.
Extimum: "Everyone, watch out for the plants on the walls!"
His reaction and analysis seemed to take time, but in reality, all of it happened within the few seconds they were falling.
Extimum extended two of his tails, lengthening them to grab Ron and Hermione by the waist as they fell above him.
Ron: "Ah! Something grabbed me!"
Extimum: "Calm down, that was me."
With some effort, Extimum pulled them toward himself and, stepping on the air, dove straight downward. The plants along the walls didn't just seem to want to entangle them—some looked sharp enough to impale them.
As they plunged downward, one plant grazed Ron's arm, while another tore a bit of Hermione's shirt.
*Puff*
They finally landed on the plant net, which was surprisingly soft, cushioning the fall so it didn't hurt.
Harry: "Are you guys okay?" Harry appeared completely unharmed—the plants didn't seem to have targeted him. Perhaps his entry had triggered the attention toward Extimum and the others who followed.
Ron: "Ugh, yeah… lucky these plants were here to break our fall. Some of the ones above scratched me, but Extimum saved me—otherwise I might've been skewered." Ron said as he slowly got up.
Hermione: "I'm fine too, just my shirt got torn a bit."
Extimum: "Good. Let's not waste time. These plants are dangerous, and the one we're standing on is no different. We need fir—"
Harry: "Ah!"
Hermione: "Ahh!!!"
Ron: "Help!!!"
Before Extimum could continue and draw his wand, the vines below them moved and shot out in all directions, trapping them.
Harry was yanked down by the feet, leaving only half his body visible; Hermione was grabbed by the ankles and lifted upside down in the air; Ron was snatched by both hands and feet, suspended in an X-shaped position.
Extimum, on the other hand, seemed to be treated as the greatest threat. His entire body was pulled away to one side of the room.
His feet were bound and dragged downward, embedding them up to his ankles in the vegetation below. His arms were twisted backward and restrained, while another vine gagged him.
The Devil's Snare seemed far more dangerous and intelligent than the books described.
Ron: "Ahhh! Get me down from here!"
Hermione: "Stay still or it'll kill you faster!" Even as she said it, her own panic wasn't any less—especially being upside down with vines sliding across her skin, tightening their grip.
Ron: "Kill me faster? Oh great, now I'll relax for sure." He said sarcastically, his nerves only getting worse. He struggled, but the vines were like chains.
Harry: "Extimum seemed like he was about to say something about fire—think of something fast! He's being attacked way more than us, I can barely see him now."
Harry wasn't in a good state either. The vines weren't as aggressive since he was staying still, but they were still constricting him visibly fast.
Hermione: "It's Devil's Snare—they like darkness and moisture!"
Harry: "Make fire!" He couldn't do it himself—his wand was in his trousers, and that part of his body was already buried in vines. Only now did he regret not bringing the holster Extimum had given him for Christmas—he just wasn't used to using it yet.
Hermione: "Yes... of course... but I don't have wood!" Panic and growing nerves had clouded Hermione's ability to think clearly.
Ron: "Have you gone mad? You're a witch, aren't you?" Ron shouted.
Hermione: "Oh, right!"
Hermione: "Incendio!"Being the only one with her hands free and still enough mobility and space, Hermione cast the spell toward the center of the room.
A red flame burst forth, lighting up the dark surroundings.
screek
A low, strange screech echoed. The vines twisted and released their grip. Realizing her situation too late, Hermione fell face-first onto the plant-covered floor. Still, she quickly got back up and moved the fire closer to Ron to free him.
Ron also fell ungracefully to the floor—though in a better state than Hermione. He quickly grabbed his wand and conjured fire to defend himself.
screekkkk
The sudden light and heat agitated the vines, making them back off slightly. However, Extimum and Harry weren't as fortunate.
The unrest sped up the attack on Harry, who was closer to the other two. The vines engulfed him more quickly, pulling him further into the ground. Only his head remained visible. His face paled.
In Extimum's case, the vines attacking him also became more aggressive, but the sudden appearance of fire had created a brief pause—one he took full advantage of.
Extimum: 'Screw these plants.'Extimum: "Ahh!"
Letting out a muffled roar, he released his magic in a burst, expanding a field of raw energy around him, pushing the vines back as far as he could.
Huuuu
When he couldn't push them back any further, he abruptly collapsed the field, and his wand was already in motion.
Extimum: "Incendio!"The spell burst from his now-free mouth with power.
screekkkk
An even louder, strange screech echoed as a large ball of fire ignited in front of Extimum.
The fireball clashed with the vines lunging at him again. Even though he had pulled back as much as he could, his clothes still got singed a bit.
Still, there was no time to worry about that. He maintained the fireball, holding it out to keep the vines at bay, though they seemed to resist—hovering menacingly around him.
Even so, he had gained a brief moment of respite. His violet eyes glowed faintly, completely focused on the vines.
Beads of sweat slid down one side of his face. Maintaining the spell was one thing, but being so close to the fire was very uncomfortable.
He decided to take a bigger risk. His left hand moved, channeling more of his magic into the fireball. He hurled it toward where the others were and ran after it, not looking back.
screekkkk
Flames roared, rising and falling, as a hand tore through the still-hot vines and finally broke free of the trap.
Behind him, his tails thrashed with fierce determination, striking and blocking the vines that charged at him in a final attempt to stop him.
screek
The fire had nearly burned out, but with another flicker from his wand, it reignited, forming another fireball that roared in Harry's direction under his control.
Seeing him emerge, Hermione directed the flame from her wand to support his retreat, allowing him to return to the center of the chamber alongside her and Ron.
Extimum: "sigh That was exhausting." If his image seemed somewhat fierce in that moment, no one commented on it.
With three sources of flame, the temperature in the room rose quickly, finally intimidating the vines.
Reluctantly, they released Harry, who immediately fell through a large hole beneath him, revealing a room below.
Extimum: "Harry, are you okay?"
The three of them rushed to the edge to look down.
Harry: "Ugh… I don't feel so good. Those vines squeezed me so much I feel like throwing up."
Hermione: "sigh At least we're alive. That was way too close. Ugh, I don't want to go through that again."
Ron: "I'm with you. Let's get down there quick—I want to stay away from these vines as much as possible."
In unanimous agreement, they all jumped down, clearing the way with fire first. The drop wasn't too far, so they landed fairly easily.
They had arrived in a dark, empty stone room. Aside from the hole they had jumped through, the only other feature was a long corridor leading somewhere.
The vines hadn't extended their reach down here, nor did they seem inclined to try.
Extimum: "Let's rest for a moment. It'd be dangerous to continue if we run into something similar while tired."
All: "Alright."
Even though the fight with the Devil's Snare hadn't lasted long, it had still been a desperate struggle against relentless vines.
…
After resting for a few minutes, they continued. They walked through a few short corridors and, after crossing a door, entered a wide and mostly empty chamber. There was a window in the ceiling letting in moonlight, and on the opposite side, another door stood shut.
*srrrrrr*
A strange sound echoed as they entered—it was like the fluttering of wings, continuous and rapid.
Hermione: "How curious… I've never seen birds like that."
Harry: "They're not birds—they're keys."
Extimum: "And they're going to be another nuisance." He commented as his eyes easily picked up the fluttering objects. He had already regained his neat appearance along the way.
Harry: "One of them probably opens that door." He pointed to the locked door.
They were all looking around until Ron pointed to a broom floating in midair in the center of the chamber.
Ron: "Look, a broom—and it's floating."
Hermione: "Ugh, now what do we do? There must be hundreds of keys."
Ron: "Let me try opening the door first." Ron approached the door that would let them advance and pointed his wand at it.
Ron: "Alohomora."But the door didn't budge—it seemed to be enchanted against the unlocking charm.
Ron: "Well, had to try… We'll need an old-looking key—rusted, like the door's handle."
Extimum, meanwhile, was thinking of two ways he could try to open the door. The first was to force it open; the second was to capture the key without flying on the broom. Both options might trigger unexpected consequences, but he didn't fully trust the idea of using the broom.
Harry: "There, that one—the one with the broken wing. But… I don't think it'll be that easy."
Ron: "Go on, Harry. If Quirrell managed to get it, so can you—you're a star player."
Harry drew courage from his words and was about to grab the broom when Extimum stopped his hand.
Extimum: "Wait. We both know this isn't going to end well. Let me try something first." He said this because, as Harry reached for the broom, the keys had started to move faster and more aggressively.
Harry: "Alright." Harry withdrew his hand and waited.
Extimum stared at the thick, broken-winged key as it flitted among the sea of keys.
His eyes followed it without blinking, like a predator watching prey, and then narrowed slightly. Moving his hand, he made a grabbing gesture and focused on the key.
Suddenly, as if blocked by something, the key stopped moving. It struggled a little but ultimately couldn't move anymore.
Ron: "Whoa, you caught it that easily?"
Seeing this, the others smiled, but Extimum didn't. He didn't even comment on his success, because at the very moment the key was caught and began floating toward him—all the other keys stopped.
They stopped fluttering, but remained suspended in the air, turning the previously noisy chamber into complete silence.
Something unsettling. It didn't feel quite right.
Just a second before the key dropped into his hands, the room changed.
The light dimmed, the walls seemed to shift, and the once-still keys surged into a frenzy, swarming like a tide—then aimed directly at them.
Extimum: "Run! Take the key!"He handed the key to Harry, who was at his side, and together they ran toward the door.
As they ran, the room grew darker—so dark that the door they had entered through vanished into the blackness.
The keys, meanwhile, had a faint, flickering glow, making them hard to track as they blinked in and out of visibility.
Ron: "The darkness is closing in!"
Hermione: "Ron, make room so Harry can unlock the door!"
Harry reached the door—but at the same time, the keys arrived. A bloody scene was about to unfold as they swarmed toward Hermione and Ron.
But at the last second, Extimum turned around and extended his hand. A field of invisible energy erupted from him, shielding all of them.
*tras plum paf*
The keys slammed into the barrier, filling their vision. The fastest even managed to pierce slightly into it—but all were successfully stopped.
Ron: "Hurry, Harry!"
Harry: "The door won't open! It must be because we didn't take the key with the broom!"
Extimum: "What?"He exclaimed, visibly perturbed. Even though he hadn't used the broom, he had still captured the key using a legitimate method.
Beads of sweat formed on his forehead as he focused on resisting the barrage of flying keys. They came in waves, while others attacked sporadically from all directions.
Extimum: "Damn it, these trials want me to play by their rules—but I'm not here to play."
Diverting his gaze briefly from the keys and still holding out his hand, he moved his other hand with his wand and aimed at the door.
Extimum: "Move, Harry."
Extimum: "Open—Portaberto!"He shouted the spell at the door.
He had considered casting 'Alohomora Maxima' in frustration, but remembered at the last second that such a spell might destroy the door—so he quickly switched to a safer unlocking spell.
Immediately after Extimum's incantation, the door's lock appeared to melt and fall away, leaving a hole where it once was.
Hermione: "Quick, get in!"
Harry, Ron, and Hermione pushed the door open and rushed inside. As they turned to look back at Extimum, they realized the situation on the other side.
Everything beyond Extimum's barrier had vanished into darkness. Only the keys embedded in the shield and the faint glow of the barrier itself were still visible. A bit of that darkness even threatened to seep into the barrier.
Extimum remained focused on maintaining the shield. His palms were sweaty. Seeing they had passed through, he aimed his free hand toward the barrier and shouted—
[1] Veritaserum is a potion that forces the person who consumes it to tell the truth.