Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 164: Emergency Exit
"What in Merlin's name happened in here?!" Bella exclaimed.
She had been here mere hours ago, and the chamber was perfectly fine.
Now it looked like Hell itself had manifested inside the room. Everything was burned, charred, or even melted.
The previously smooth grey stones that covered the floor were now transformed into deformed black rock, and the center of the chamber still had some molten liquid, making it look like the inside of a volcano.
"Whoa! What is this?" Andromeda poked her head next to Bella.
"Hey, move! I'm burning my ass in here!" Sirius complained. He had applied some charms on himself, but it was not enough to override the suffocating sensation.
"James!" Bella finally spotted the figure of James lying on top of his table at the end of the lab, and he didn't seem to be conscious.
The next moment, she jumped out of the hole and onto the ground. There were only a couple of feet, so it wasn't difficult, but just as she ventured into the chamber proper, she felt the temperature continue to increase in a radical manner.
"Bella, wait!" Andromeda went down as well but immediately stopped. "Uff! This place is a bloody furnace!"
"Shit!" Sirius hurried to conjure some water to cover himself. "What did James do in here?. I thought he was just brewing potions."
"Bella, come back here!" Andromeda called for her sister.
A large part of the floor was melted, and it wasn't clear how safe it was to step on it. The sides of the chamber used to contain water, but now they were completely empty, leaving behind some deep holes that one could fall into.
"Tsk! Sirius, stay here." Andromeda knew her sister would not be able to carry James out by herself, even if she could get there.
"Hold on, why do I…" Sirius glanced down at the creature in his arms. "Right…"
"Glacius!" Bella conjured some ice to cool the stones a bit, as the heat was already starting to burn her shoes.
The ice didn't even last for a second before turning to water and evaporating into vapor. But it was just enough to let her walk by.
The two girls noticed that the hottest area was right at the center of the chamber, where there was something floating above the molten stones.
It was shining with an intense golden light, making it hard to discern what it was.
"Aquamenti." Andromeda continued to summon water to keep her body and Bella's as wet as possible while they passed by the shining object and were able to get to the other side.
They reached the table, and Bella went to check on James's condition.
"James, come on." She shook him a bit and got no response.
"Forget it. We need to get him out of here before checking how he is doing. I think I know a good spell for it." Andromeda pointed her wand at James. "Mobilicorpus!"
His body began to levitate in the air, making it easy for them to move him around.
Sirius did what he could to help them on the way out. He didn't know how to conjure ice the way Bella did, but water was easy enough for him to manage.
"How are we going to leave the chamber though? The exit is sealed," he asked.
After all, they needed to leave this room, but the next door was still closed. And there was also the basilisk skeleton, which, according to Nyxaris, would have already repaired itself.
"There is an alternate way to leave the chamber from here." The fairy floated above Sirius.
"Can you open it?" Bella asked as she arrived with James and her sister. She only knew of one way in and out of here.
She was aware that James used a different secret entrance, but he never shared where it was, and she never asked.
Nyxaris pointed at James. "I will need Master's magical signature to unlock it. I'm not sure if it will work while Master is not conscious, but…"
"But we have to try, right?" Andromeda said. "I mean, if we stay here, we are going to cook."
The only thing preventing that was their own magic, but that was not going to last forever.
"It's already a mystery how he managed to survive this long." Andromeda glanced at James.
"Tertivor had protected him from most of the damage and I did my best to maintain his body temperature as cool as possible," Nyxaris responded.
"What's a tertivor?" Andromeda asked.
Bella shook her head. "It doesn't matter right now, we h-"
"Can we leave now? I'm not a fan of the heat, by the way," Sirius commented. "I would very much like a cold shower right now."
"Aquamenti." Andromeda threw some water over him.
"That's not what I meant…" Sirius had an annoyed expression on his face.
"This way." Nyxaris guided them to a corner of the chamber.
At first glance, nothing appeared out of the ordinary—just more grey stone bricks like the rest of the wall. But she then began to tap some of these bricks in a specific pattern using her fingers.
Some of the stones moved out of the way to reveal a strange, smooth crystal with a pale blue color. "Place Master's hand on the crystal. If it works, the door should unlock."
Bella and Andromeda moved his unconscious body and placed his hand on the crystal panel. This one gained a soft glow and, following this, they heard some mechanical noises.
"Did it work? Or did we just activate more traps?" Sirius wondered.
"No, it worked. The exit is opening." Nyxaris pointed at another part of the wall as it began to part away, revealing an entrance.
"Okay, nice. Let's get out of this hell already," Andromeda said.
Bella pushed the floating body of James through the opening and the group began making their way out of the chamber.
"Man… that was intense," Sirius said as they walked, feeling much better now that the temperature was manageable at least.
"Yes. But…" Andromeda looked down at herself. "Looks like every time I spend time with James, I end up looking like crap. I need a bath…" She sighed.
A mischievous grin appeared on Sirius's face. "Aquamenti!"
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