Harry Potter and the Cave of Udanax

CHAPTER THREE

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Draco stared morosely at the lake. He could remember how she loved to watch the giant squid.

"Damn it!" He cursed softly. I am already thinking of her as if she were dead.

He couldn't help but recall the conversation he had just overheard between Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey. He had wanted to sneak a look at Hermione and had entered the infirmary secretly. Hiding amongst the shadows he heard Madam Pomfrey's voice. "If Miss Granger's not revived the next day, death will be inevitable."

He angrily kicked at a pebble and watched it bounce several feet ahead of him. He was about to turn away when he saw something odd. He squinted at the unfamiliar object, trying to guess what it was. His curiosity got the better of him; he went near it. As he came closer, his eyes widened, he quickly kneeled and scooped it with his hands.

This couldn't possibly be... He was stunned. He quickly ran all the way back to the castle with the object gently cradled in both his hands. Upon reaching the gargoyle, he stopped and tried to think of the password.

"Err...ice mice?" He gritted his teeth. He felt annoyed that he hadn't memorized all the names of the candies in Honey Dukes. As he looked at the thing he held in his hand, Hermione's paper-white face appeared and galvanized him into a thinking frenzy.

"Cockroach Cluster!"

"Sugar Quill!"

"Jelly Slugs!"

"Pepper Imps!"

"Damn it! You stupid gargoyle!" In his anger, he took a swing at the statue and ended up with a broken knuckle. Think, Malfoy! Use your brains. He ignored the blood that trickled out from the wound and took a deep breath as he tried to think straight.

"Blood-flavored Lollipops!" He cried one more time out of desperation. Since nothing happened, he decided to go look for Professor Snape. He had barely taken two steps away when the gargoyle slid to the side and the entrance to Dumbledore's office came into view. He quickly went inside and nearly crashed headlong into the Headmaster. "Headmaster, look!" He showed the object in his hands to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore's face turned from jovial to troubled, as his bright blue eyes suddenly darkened like a stormy cloud. He didn't ask Draco any questions as he reached out to take it. He lay it on the table, then whispered a few soft words to Fawkes, who was silently perched on the book table. Fawkes flew out of the window in an instant. "Give me your right hand."

Draco was surprised at the request, he slowly extended his hand towards the Headmaster. Dumbledore pointed his wand and uttered, "Healaga woundu."

Draco's hand was magically healed in seconds. "Thank you, Headmaster."

Dumbledore nodded. He turned his attention back to the object. His fingers gently stroking it, he looked into Draco's worried face. "Where did you find it?"

"I saw it outside near the lake. Nearly didn't recognize it. It wasn't gleaming with colors like the first time I saw it. It was like a blur and when I touched it, it was like touching a cotton ball. There was none of the tingling sensations I had felt inside the cave."

Dumbledore didn't say anything.

"I checked the ground, I only found this one...is it dead?"

"I'm not sure, but it would be if you hadn't seen it."

Draco wanted to ask more but the door swung open and in came Severus Snape and Minerva McGonagall, both wearing anxious expression.

"Albus, what happened...?" McGonagall stopped in mid-sentence upon laying eyes on the blurred figure on the table. "My goodness! Is that what I think it is?" She quickly took the limp creature and very nearly dropped it. "How could this be possible?"

"Stop asking questions that none of us can answer," snapped Snape.

"Mr. Malfoy discovered it by the lake." At the shocked look on the two teachers, Dumbledore continued, "The Sennipah had come a long way from the Forbidden Forest. Something dire must have occurred inside the cave."

He turned to Snape. "Severus, get Hagrid. The two of you need to check the Cave of Udanax."

"Minerva, go and check Miss Granger's condition. There must be a correlation between what happened to Miss Granger and to the state of the Sennipah."

McGonagall quickly left the room, but Snape seemed reluctant to leave.

"Sir, may I go with Professor Snape?"

Dumbledore and Snape turned around to look at the young Slytherin, who was usually regarded as cool and aloof, but now seemed greatly disturbed and worried. Apparently, they had forgotten his presence. Dumbledore slowly nodded.

"I don't think that would be a good idea," countered Snape. "It's already past midnight, you should have been in your common room by now."

"Let Mister Malfoy go. He might be of some assistance." The Headmaster's words silenced any further argument by Snape.

"All right, let's go Mister Malfoy," Snape said impatiently.

Snape and Hagrid flanked Draco in the middle. All three were silent as they trod their way to the Forbidden Forest. The mist was incredibly thick. Their wands were of no use, since all they could make out were the pointed glowing tips of their wand. If it hadn't been for Hagrid's familiarity with the surrounding, they would probably have gotten lost.

"Yeh better put yer wands out now. No magic insider the cave," warned Hagrid. Both Draco and Snape put out their wands.

When they entered the cave, Draco realized no matter how eerie the cave was during daytime, it was much better compared to the unnerving stark darkness and goose-bumps inducing icy air that welcomed them at that moment. Even the most brave-hearted would quail in fear.

"Strange, shulda bin some light by now," wondered Hagrid. He was very sure they had reached the center of the cave.

"What the-"

Draco stumbled and found himself sprawled across the gravelly ground of the cave. He could feel his knees bleeding as the sharp stones cut through his clothes.

"Are you alright, Mr. Malfoy?" Snape's voice echoed loudly in the darkness.

"Stay there. Don't move until I tell you so."

Snape looked around and could see absolutely nothing. It was almost like walking in a room with your eyes shut tightly.

"To hell with this!" Snape growled. He got angry at groping blindly in the darkness, and got impatient, uncaring what the consequences would be he as shouted, "LUMOS!"

The tip of his wand glowed and as Snape adjusted his eyes to the light, he looked around the cave. His eyes fell on Hagrid who stood rigidly at the far end of the cave, he was looking upwards. Snape followed Hagrid's gaze.

"Merlin's beard!" Hagrid was aghast at seeing the stalactite hanging at the center of the cave, blackened, with half of it broken and shattered.

Draco remembered Hagrid's lecture that under normal circumstances, no magic should be done inside the cave. Hagrid had told the class that the last time someone tried to do magic inside the cave, the poor student was turned into a pillar of stone for 245 days. He stood up and stared at the stalactite or what was left of it. Something is very wrong...

There were no signs of the Sennipah. Snape closed over the distance and kneeled to look closely at the shattered stalactite lying on the ground.

"Don't touch it. Yer never know what mighta happen," Hagrid said in a whisper. He remained where he was standing, refusing to budge from his position.

But Snape refused too listen, he touched the surface of the stalactite with his right hand.

"Arrgh!!" Snape quickly removed his hand. "Bloody Hell!"

A searing white-hot pain shot across Snape's hand and burned a large hole at the center of his palm. He didn't realize that the stalactite was as hot as a branding iron. He pressed the wand on his right palm and muttered, "Mendum burnos!".

It took several minutes before the burning sensation stopped. But his palm remained scorching red, and blood trickled steadily from the gaping wound. He scowled, clearly annoyed at his stupidity. As an excruciating pain overtook him, his vision started to dim.

"I told yer not to touch it." Hagrid took two steps towards Snape when he noticed the stunned expression on Draco who looked alarmingly pale.

"Doncha be frightened, he's all right." At that exact moment Snape slid on the floor unconscious.

Draco pointed a finger at Hagrid's back. "Hagrid, look out!"

It was too late. Hagrid had not realized that something had slowly encircled his entire being. He struggled with all his might with whatever it was that had engulfed his whole body. But it was no use, Hagrid was dragged into a black hole which suddenly appeared at the far end of the cave.

Draco recovered his senses and was about to go near Hagrid but the half-giant shouted, "Yeh take Snape and go ter Dumbledore NOW!"

Snape was still unconscious. Draco quickly pulled the professor away from the dark shadow which had slowly crept towards Snape's prone figure.

He shouted, "Mobilicorpus!" and Snape, dangling a few inches above the ground, drifted in front of him. They were able to get out of the cave, but Draco was greeted with more problems. He looked helplessly through the thick mist. Only Hagrid knows this path. How can I find my way to the castle?

When they were a short distance away from the cave he stopped. "Ennervate!" he shouted, as he pointed the wand at Snape's stiff figure. But Snape remained unconscious. It's just like what happened to Hermione. Should I use the life giving song charm on him? A lone person would have no effect whatsoever. Besides it wasn't the effect of the Sennipah, it must probably be due to losing too much blood.

He tried the healing spell but it had no effect whatsoever. Strange, the spell won't work and Snape's wound won't close. Draco had no choice but tore the end of his robe and used the ripped cloth to bind tightly around the wound to stop the bleeding. He continued walking through the thick mist; his wand pointed at Snape to keep him drifting ahead of him. The professor's robe kept getting snagged between thick branches as they made their way through the thick cluster of trees.

But after an hour, the usually unruffled Slytherin realized he was walking in circles. He slumped to the ground, thoroughly exhausted. His face was grim, as he run his fingers through his hair in exasperation. He remained in that position for a long time.

Hermione! He suddenly remembered why he was in the Forbidden Forest in the first place, he hurriedly stood up. But the mist was so thick, it would be next to impossible for him to get out of the forest. Out of anger, he threw a rock against a tree.

"IS THERE ANYONE WHO CAN BLOODY HELP US?" he shouted at the top of his lungs, as he punched his fist up into the air. "CAN ANYBODY HEAR ME? WE NEED HELP!"

He kept on shouting himself hoarse until he crumpled to the ground in surrender. He was filled with guilt at what happened inside the cave. He had noticed something slowly creeping around Hagrid but he dismissed it; thinking it was just a mere harmless shadow. He had had no idea it had a life of its own. If I had just said something, maybe Hagrid would not...

As his bleak eyes fell on Snape, a memory not so long ago came rushing back at him. It was one of those moonlit nights, they were by the lake, watching the giant squid.

"Granger, what's the point of learning this stupid spell?"

"You can dismiss this spell Malfoy, but you'll find this quite useful later on."

"Just because your precious Potter used this in the Tri-Wizard competition, doesn't mean it should be on the Top Ten List of Spells Every Wizard Should Know. If you ask me, this spell belongs to the Top Secret Spell Potter Needs To Find A Girlfriend, or better yet, Longbottom's Top Three Spells Needed To Find His Brain."

"First of all, he is not my precious Potter. Second, you'll never know when you might get lost. Although, knowing you're such a daft prick, you wouldn't realize you were already lost until it's too late. And I'm warning you, Malfoy...if you say 'your precious Potter' one more time or any bad word against Neville, I swear you will be one sorry looking ferret when I'm finished with you!"

As his mind returned to the present, a ghost of a smile appeared at the corners of his mouth for a fleeting second. Then he remembered the state of her condition and the predicament he was in right now, and for the first time in his life, Draco felt overwhelmed with helplessness. He stared blankly towards through the mist, not knowing what to do.

All of a sudden, he remembered what Hermione told him the day before they were supposed to go to the cave.

"What? You're not afraid of going inside a cave, are you?"

"Excuse me, Granger, a Malfoy is not afraid of anything!"

"Oh, yeah? That would be the day. Harry told me how scared you were in the Forbidden Forest when we were eleven. Don't you dare deny it!"

"I was eleven, that was ages ago. I'll show you what Malfoys are made of!"

"You're all talk. Prove it first."

He slowly stood up. Those words were exactly what he needed. His face set with determination, he placed the wand flat on his open right palm and said, "Point me."

Draco looked on as the wand rotated and pointed to a direction. With Snape's wand in his left hand, he kept the Potions Master drifting ahead of him. He followed the direction the other wand pointed, but since he never did pay much attention to the Four-Point Spell when Hermione was teaching it to him, he wasn't sure if he did it correctly or if he was going to the right direction.

It had been quite sometime when he finally decided to stop and look around. At least, most of the mist had cleared up. He looked closely to where he was. He was still in the midst of the Forbidden Forest with a professor still out cold. Great, I'm still lost. Serves me right for not listening to her... His mood sank to its lowest level as he stared bleakly at his surroundings.

All of a sudden, an unfamiliar clicking sound echoed through the stillness. His ears pricked and he could sense danger ahead. He quickly took refuge behind a huge boulder, he held the unconscious Snape close to him. Soon enough, he saw something gigantic; it was carrying something in it's huge pincers.

A Giant Spider! How could it possibly exist in the Forbidden Forest? He ducked from view and hoped that it would not see them. The sight of a spider the size of a small elephant with eight legs made him break out in cold sweat.

The monster stopped a few feet away from the boulder, clicking its pincers wildly. Perspiration trickled down his face as he pressed closer against the boulder. With his hand gripping his wand tightly, he shut his eyes and tried to think what spell to use in case it discovered him and Snape. He stiffened when he felt the monster coming closer to where he was hiding; but the monster passed by the boulder and headed towards a narrow clearing. When he heard it walk away, Draco heaved a sigh of relief. Whew, that was bloody close!

With Snape still drifting ahead of him, he took the opposite direction, stumbled upon a small clearing and was nearly trampled by a half-horse, half-man. It was raven-haired, dark-skinned and chestnut-bodied with a savage look on his face. Caught by surprise, Draco had dropped Snape's wand and the unconscious Potions Master fell on the ground with a loud thud, face first.

"What are you doing here?" The Centaur's cold voice echoed in the air.

"Hagrid is trapped inside the Cave of Udanax and Professor Snape is knocked out cold. I am lost and couldn't find my way back to the school. Can you please show me the way? I've been going in circles..."

His words stopped as the Centaur looked at him icily. Both human and magical beast looked at each other straight in the eye. Draco remembered poor Snape still lying face down on the ground; he quickly picked up the wand and the professor's prone figure floated above the ground.

Still the Centaur remained silent, and this angered Draco. Damn it, I don't have time for this. If you don't want to help just bloody say so. I'm not going to beg.

The Centaur extended one bronzed muscular hand towards the left path. "Go straight ahead, and don't look back. After you reached three dead intertwined tree, you take the middle road, then go straight until you reach the castle."

Draco couldn't believe it. He thanked the Centaur, who nodded gravely at him, then quickly took the direction the Centaur suggested. I must get to Dumbledore!

(To be continued)