Using Snape's hastily drawn directions, Soren and Jacqueline followed the narrow, twisting dungeon corridors.
Finally, they stopped at an old wooden door covered in scratches.
Soren looked at the parchment again.
"The directions on Snape's letter say this is the Potions Storeroom…"
Jacqueline frowned a little, she was confused, "That's odd. I always thought the storeroom was in the Tapestry Corridor. Maybe… there's more than one?"
Soren exhaled.
"Well, wherever we are… I need to find a jar of pickled slugs and take them to Snape. If I do that, he'll give Slytherin back the ten House Points."
Jacqueline nodded.
"Then let's go."
They pushed open the old door.
The moment they stepped inside, everything went black.
Jacqueline gasped, "Soren… It's completely dark. I can't see anything."
Soren reached out blindly, while asking, "Jacqueline… Why did you close the door?"
Jacqueline turned, confused and slightly panicked.
"I didn't close it!"
She rattled the handle.
"When we stepped inside, something shut it behind us. And… it's locked!"
A chill went through Soren's chest.
It was locked from the outside. It means, someone wanted to trap them.
Jacqueline took a breath, and told him, "Soren, cast the Wand-Lighting Charm. We need to see, why are we trapped here."
Soren lifted his wand, and read the spell.
"Lumos!"
A bright white glow appeared on his wand tip, and instantly illuminated the room around them.
But seeing the scenario in front of them, both of them froze.
---
The room wasn't empty. Along the walls… Across the ceiling… Even curling over shelves…
Were thick, dark-green vines, pulsing faintly like living veins. While some were slowly creeping toward the two first-years.
Jacqueline became frightened seeing this, "What… what is this?"
Soren stepped back instinctively.
"This isn't a normal room… Jacqueline… I think this room is a trap."
The vines shifted in the darkness.
Then, a muffled voice spoke from behind the locked door.
"That plant is called Devil's Snare. Deadly stuff."
Soren and Jacqueline froze.
The voice continued, taunting them, "Some fourth-years showed it to me when I first arrived. It's extremely sensitive to light. If you're better at wand-light spells than I am, Soren… escaping shouldn't be a problem."
Jacqueline's eyes widened, she recognised it, "…Merula."
Soren's stomach dropped. He shouted, "Merula! You locked us in here?!"
Merula laughed lightly.
"Of course I did. That letter from 'Professor Snape'? I wrote it myself."
The truth hit Soren like a brick. She tricked him. She lured them here.
Merula continuously mocked him, "I told you things would only get worse for you, Soren. You should have accepted me as the most powerful witch at Hogwarts."
Jacqueline clenched her fists. "You're insane!"
Merula ignored her. "Someone has to stop you from ruining Hogwarts. Maybe… Devil's Snare will do the job."
With a triumphant huff, she stepped away from the door.
Her fading voice echoed, "Good luck, Whitlock. You'll need it."
Then the vines moved again—
faster, hungrier.
"What should we—AH!"
A thick vine whipped forward and wrapped around Soren's leg, yanking him off his feet.
Jacqueline shouted, "Soren!"
He fell hard, wand clattering but still in his grip. The vines began curling around his waist and arms.
Jacqueline backed toward the door, and suggested to him, "Merula was right… Devil's Snare is sensitive to light!"
Another vine slithered along the wall toward Soren's face.
She shouted, "Soren! Keep using Lumos!
Bright light will push it back!"
Soren gritted his teeth, raising his wand toward the creeping vines.
"LUMOS!"
A bright flare burst from his wand tip.
The vines recoiled, but only for a few seconds. There were too many vines.
Jacqueline turned to the door and began banging on it with all her strength, shouting at the top of her lungs.
"HELP! ANYONE! SOMEONE, HELP US!
DEVIL'S SNARE! WE'RE TRAPPED!"
Soren was struggling, pulling himself up as another vine wrapped around his chest.
The light flickered.
"Jacqueline—hurry!"
Jacqueline kept pounding on the wood, her voice cracking.
"SOMEONE HELP! SOREN CAN'T HOLD THEM ALL BACK!"
The vines tightened, and Soren's wand light was weakening again, while the Devil's Snare crept closer, ready to engulf him completely.
Soren said while gasping, "L–Lumos…!"
The light flickered, barely pushing the vines back now.
Jacqueline's heart raced.
"Soren! Keep fighting! Someone's coming—I can hear footsteps!"
Soren clenched his teeth and shouted again, "LUMOS!"
A flare burst out desperately. The vines recoiled but immediately surged forward again.
Jacqueline stepped aside from the door just as a voice outside shouted—
"Alohomora!"
CLICK.
The lock burst open. The door swung wide, and standing there a girl, her wand raised, her face blazing with fury, she was none other than Selene Avery.
The Slytherin prefect took one look at the vines choking Soren, she didn't hesitate for even a second, and shouted, "LUMOS MAXIMA!"
A blinding explosion of white light filled the room, ten times brighter than anything Soren had cast.
The Devil's Snare screamed, and its vines recoiled violently, curling away from Soren like burned ropes.
In seconds, they shriveled against the walls, retreating into dark corners.
Soren collapsed onto the floor, gasping for air, his clothes were damaged.
Jacqueline rushed to him. "Soren! Are you okay?!"
Selene hurried forward, kneeling beside him, "Don't speak. Just breathe."
Soren coughed, trying to sit up. "T-Thank you… Selene…"
Selene clenched her jaw in fury.
"Whoever did this… is going to regret it."
She looked around the room, and told them, "Jacqueline, help him stand. We're getting out of here."
Jacqueline nodded and grabbed Soren's arm gently.
---
Jacqueline and Soren leaned against each other as they stood, still shaking from the Devil's Snare attack.
Their breathing was uneven, their hands shaking.
Soren finally managed to speak.
"Selene… Thank you. If you hadn't come when you did… we don't know if we'd even be alive."
Jacqueline nodded quickly, "Yes, Senior Selene… If you hadn't arrived, something terrible could have happened. But… how did you get there so fast?"
Selene paused in the corridor, turning toward them with a serious expression.
"When you two went off toward the location on that letter… I got suspicious."
Soren blinked.
"Suspicious? Why?"
Selene crossed her arms.
"Because Snape returned points? Snape offering to undo a punishment? That's one of the most impossible things in Hogwarts history."
Jacqueline let out a small gasp, "So you thought something was wrong…"
"Yes. Immediately."
She continued, "So, I decided to verify. And went straight to Professor Snape's office."
Soren and Jacqueline exchanged wide-eyed looks.
"And the moment I asked… Snape told me he never sent any letter."
Jacqueline felt her stomach twist.
"And after finding the location, where you were going towards, Snape directly warned me, that room contains Devil Snare."
"Hearing this, I knew you two were already heading into a trap. So I ran straight to the lower dungeons."
"And thank Merlin, you did." Soren nodded while swallowing hard. The reality of how close they had come to serious harm, or worse, finally sank in.
"Becauss, if you arrived even a minute later… that Devil's Snare would've—"
Selene raised a hand to stop him.
"Don't think about that. What matters is that I got there in time."
Jacqueline's voice trembled but held gratitude.
"Thank you… truly."
Selene gave a small, protective smile.
"You two are Slytherins. I look after my House. Always."
She adjusted her prefect badge and motioned for them to continue walking.
But as they moved down the corridor, her brow furrowed in confusion.
"But who dared to send a fake letter in Snape's name?"
"It's Merula. Merula Snyde. She sent the fake letter." Soren replied to her, without any hesitation.
Selene stopped walking, looking sharply at him. "How can you be so confident it was her?"
Before Soren could answer, Jacqueline stepped forward.
"Because when we entered the storeroom, she locked the door behind us. And she confessed it. She literally told us she sent the fake letter."
Selene's eyes widened in fury. "That girl has crossed a line."
Her anger simmered, but then she slowed, thinking more carefully.
"…But even with that, we still can't prove it was her. Not without evidence. If she denies it, it becomes your word against hers."
Soren raised his hand.
"No. We do have proof."
Selene turned to him immediately.
"What proof?"
Soren reached into his robe pocket. And took out the fake letter.
"The letter. Her fake letter. With it, we can prove it was her."
Selene stared at him.
The hope in Soren's voice was strong.
But Selene knew Hogwarts rules better than them both.
She lowered her tone.
"But if she denies writing it… If she says someone else forged her handwriting… then what?"
Hearing this, both Soren and Jacqueline became silent, and started thinking that if she denied, they can't prove it was her.
Without a confession, the letter alone might not be enough. They had not solid proof.
Soren's jaw tightened, frustration burning inside him. They had almost died. And Merula might still escape punishment.
They understand, Merula was smart. Manipulative. Cunning enough to lie without blinking.
But it makes them wonder, if she is so cunning, and good at lying, then how did she end up in Gryffindor of all Houses, instead of the Slytherin?
Because Slytherin is known for cunning while Gryffindor is supposed to be for… Bravery.
Soren murmured, "I'll think of something. There must be a way."
But for the moment, they had no answer. And aware that Merula Snyde was far more dangerous than they realized.