"Damnit, run everyone!" She was quick on the uptake, but how did she plan to… She didn't plan to stay behind, did she?!
I can't just leave her!
Move legs, move!
"Run ahead; Harry, Hermione." Taka directed us. "Excuse me." With little to no trouble, Taka lifted Alice into a princess carry and bounded down the corridor as if he wasn't weighed down by the mass in his hands. Did he use magic? Or did she? It was hard to believe he was moving so fast, so effortlessly, whilst we had trouble just keeping up unhindered.
"AHHHH! I don't wanna die here! I promise I'll be good, I'll stop copying Harry and Hermione's homework, I'll even put in some real effort! Just get me out of this!"
"Instead of praying you should focus on running!" Hermione managed to barf out those words as she ran for her life.
This is strange… This corridor looked the same before. But something's off.
"Sakayanagi, our lead won't last. Can you slow it down?"
"Wouldn't matter, I left one of my butterflies at the entrance. We aren't getting any closer to it."
"What did you say?!" The unmistakable tone of Ron's shriek reached our ears. There's something strange going on… I've been chased by a dog before. There is absolutely no way a human can outrun them, not for long. So why…?
"That doesn't mean we can stop either… What the hell are we supposed to do?!"
"I did think it was strange that we weren't immediately eaten…" Taka said simply.
"The hell are you saying so calmly?!"
"It's a dog, oversized or not. We can't beat that thing in a race. Humans are good for one thing compared to other animals, that's stamina. Now ask yourself; why hasn't it caught us yet, despite being much faster than any of us here?" Now that he mentioned it… That dog was going strangely slow. It's like it was trying to corner us. Did it see us as some sort of toy instead of any tangible threat?
That might be our way out of this.
"You think it's testing us?" Hermione asked between heavy breaths, she didn't seem the type for much exercise, what with being holed in the library most hours of the day. This was probably the hardest for her, hopefully the adrenaline was enough to make her keep up.
"Maybe. That thing's protecting something. It's entirely possible this is some type of safety protocol the teachers introduced in order to maintain whatever is kept below the school." Even whilst running at a breakneck pace, whilst holding another person. His breathing wasn't laboured in the slightest.
"…Wait, below? How could you possibly know that?!"
"It was stood on top of a trap door, did you not see it?"
"I saw it." Alice and Hermione said in unison. Though, Hermione was a bit more rushed and slurred with her speech on account of running for her life. Alice was pretty calm in comparison.
"I don't know if I was the only one… But I was pretty occupied with the heads snarling at us. If you didn't realise; there were three of them!" Ron peered over his shoulder, to see the same dog chasing after us, drool escaping it's three mouths and dribbling onto the floor. "AHHH! I regret looking back. Find some way out of this, you're clever, aren't you?!"
"I don't know, let me enjoy this a bit more." Alice nuzzled into Taka's chest slightly. Feigning a sigh as she rested, visibly enjoying the moment.
"OI! Are you insane?! Just because you've got it easy doesn't mean that the rest of us aren't about to kick the bucket, seriously do something!"
"Sakayanagi, have you got a way out of this?"
"Hah… Fine, if you're asking me so nicely…"
"Bombar-"
"Stop! You can't do that!" Hermione shouted over the sound of Alice's voice. Preventing whatever that spell she intended to cast would produce.
"Are you always so fussy, Ms. Granger? In this moment we don't have much choice."
"That's barbaric, you can't just kill it!"
"That thing is more than ready to eat us and spit us up in a moment. What's the difference?"
"…Still, I won't do it." So, that's what it was… I was wondering why she seemed so on guard when Taka showed up in this place. It made more sense now, though I couldn't come to agree with Hermione's brand of logic. In that moment he saved us… Imagining a reality where Taka didn't arrive… we would've been whittled off by that gargantuan troll. Noone would have saved Hermione. The teachers arrived too late, at the very least one of us would be dead.
"Good. It wasn't up to you in the first place. Bomba-"
"Sakayanagi. Is there another way?" That surprised me. I assumed he was fine with this. Taka was the one that had done the most damage to the troll. I didn't hold it against him, not in the least. I might've not survived that ordeal had he not followed after us. Opposite to Hermione, I could only acknowledge and envy that composure.
"Don't tell me you've begun to grow soft on me as well, Ayanokouji-kun?"
"Cerbie is here to protect whatever is beneath the school, if we killed it then whoever's trying to retrieve that item, they'll have a better chance. It might not end with us just being expelled, we might end up being dragged into whatever is going on."
"Sorry, Cerbie?! Don't give it a name!" Ron shouted between gulps of air.
"Isn't it cute? Short for Cerberus." Taka could be holding the closest approximation to a smile I've ever seen him perform, that was the feeling that projected from his voice. I wasn't so interested in that, that I'd take my attention off of the ground directly in front of me. Cobbled steps passing by rapidly as we continued to speed up.
"I think it's wonderful, Ayanokouji-kun."
"Am I dreaming? What the hell is going on?!" Ron was audibly losing his mind over there.
"So? Going to give a hand here, Sakayanagi?"
"Well, I suppose you have a point, Ayanokouji-kun. I can't imagine you would enjoy being involved in these plots."
"Most definitely not."
"That leaves us with one option. I didn't want to bother with the risk. I'll have to trouble you a bit further, Ayanokouji-kun."
"It's fine, I requested this of you anyway. Everything's in line with what we assumed."
"Most likely."
"What are our chances; by your estimation? You have more experience with this field than I do." Taka asked as if he were requesting a weather forecast.
"If it's us two; then it's always 100%."
"There goes that overconfidence again… Has anyone ever told you that'll be your own undoing?"
"I'll say it as many times as I need to; for me and you, there's no such thing."
"Hah… Don't regret your decision, Hermione." It felt like those words should've been delivered with a harsher tone. Was he incapable of sounding irritated, or was he trying to convey something else? Even now, Taka was a complete enigma. A person that didn't falter in the slightest when danger came his way. That was something I admired to an unsettling degree.
"All of you; run in the direction of that mutt." Alice said in an even tone, unwavering. She really meant that…
"She really has lost her mind… Has all the blood rushed to your head whilst you've been lay back?! In case you didn't realise, that's what I want to get away from!" Ron exclaimed, still running for his life at the other edge of the corridor.
"Keep on running in the direction of a door that will never appear. The only escape lies beyond that dog. If we can't incapacitate it, that means we must run past it. You've made your bed, lie in it."
"I don't remember saying you can't get rid of the dog, by all means, get rid of it. Please! Please, get rid of it!" I wasn't so against it either.
I'd rather it bit the bullet than us.
"I'm complying with a request made by Ayanokouji-kun, I don't often experience such a thing. I'd rather be eaten by this dog here and now than disappoint him." She said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"I regret ever taking those damn stairs… FINE, I'VE JUST GOT TO DO IT, RIGHT? THEN I'LL SHOW YOU! COME AND GET IT, YOU OVERGROWN MUTT!" Ron turned on his feet, dust pluming as his feet came to a screeching halt.
"Ron!" Hermione shouted, looking over her shoulder at him and the huge dog towering in the tunnel.
She had come to a standstill. All of us had.
That looming figure slowed… Or did it? It was as if the dog was never running at all. Those overgrown limbs and outstretched claws clinked over the surface of the cobbled ground, sending debris rolling and sparks showering over the surface. Then it began to stalk, slinking forwards like a predator that eyed a particularly juicy cut of meat. It approached the group, snarling.
"Ayanokouji-kun."
"Got it." He accelerated in the blink of an eye, effortlessly tossing Alice into the air as if he had thrown a feather, within two breaths he had punched two of the dog's noses and moved onto striking the third with his foot. A yelp escaped from each of the dog's mouths as he continued combat.
Ron ran past, hugging the wall all the while. Sprinting as soon as the threat was out of his reach, looking back only to make sure we were following.
The three pairs of eyes glared at Taka, turning a violent, bloody red hue as they raged and focused on him. Claws extending and sweeping on his location. He effortlessly dodged and leaped over them, catching Alice in his outstretched arms and jumping over the behemoth onto its back.
"Follow after Ron, leave the rear to us." I wasn't even staying to process what he said. My feet naturally carried me towards the recesses of the corridor, where Ron had already found his head start. How could they stay so calm in this chaos? Are they even human? Was there some sort of magical component that allowed them to keep that composure? Or are they just insane?
I sprinted alongside Hermione and Ron. Suddenly the feeling changed slightly. We had been running in that direction for what was probably a few minutes, yet after less than a hundred paces in the opposite direction, we passed the trap door that Taka mentioned. So it really was true, we could've been running forever if they didn't notice.
Soon enough, a wonderful sight made itself apparent to our dishevelled selves. A door, the same door we had entered through, it was at the end of the corridor. Barely visible to us through the din.
A sudden snarl resounded, so loud it penetrated my ears and sent my brain wringing. It was all we could do to continue running without scrambling to the floor.
The door was a few feet away.
Open it.
Open it!
Ron barged into the door with his full force, it erupted outwards. Ron falling face flat on the other side, Hermione joining him just a moment after and tripping outside the confines of the monster's lair.
We looked back to see Taka with Alice in his arms blitzing, practically gliding across the floor as they came ever closer to the door.
"Ascendio: Columnar terra. Rigidus." A variety of words came from Alice as she looked over Taka's shoulder, right at the terrifying hellhound. Pointing the cane ever so slightly towards the ground that passed them by.
The room rumbled for a moment before a huge stone pillar jutted out from the ground, pinning a single head of the hound to the ceiling as they quickly escaped through the opened door. Shutting it just as quickly and locking it with another spell.
We each wheezed a few breaths in and out. Hermione nearly threw up, her hand clawing at the walls of the corridor we know found ourselves in. I couldn't help but notice even now, he was completely unbothered. His cadence was completely controlled and intentional, not even the faintest sheen of sweat was present on his forehead.
It doesn't even make any sense.
"Ahem." Taka sent Alice a simple look towards the ground.
"Darn." He placed Alice on her feet gently, I don't think I was imagining the obvious disappointment on her face at the gesture. "Phew. That was fun, should think about doing that some other time."
"Are. You. Absolutely. Mental?" Ron apparently had enough energy to quip back and forth like this. He slowly crawled on the ground, struggling under Hermione who had tripped and landed on top of him. The two separated instantly. I was quickly losing my appetite and will to converse.
"Shame we couldn't figure out what was there. I guess we'll just have to give it another try some other time."
"Wait! You shouldn't go risking your lives again like that." I wanted to stop them. Needed to. Both of them were way too laid back about this, I had no doubt they'd actually try again.
"Don't worry, you don't have to come along next time. I'll manage with just Ayanokouji-kun and myself."
"Seriously, just leave it be. Whatever is down there… has got nothing to do with us students." Hermione was quick to come to my aid.
"She's right, whatever's down there is the business of Headmaster Dumbledore. We're better off leaving it. We should get going."
"Hold it. How suspicious, you talk as if you know what's down there for a fact. How about it, going to share with the rest of the class?" Alice asked in an innocuous tone. But I knew what it really was… A threat, they'd continue doing this until they learned the truth… It was like saying that their death was on my hands alone.
"…" Damnit.
"Well, we can always figure it out ourselves." She turned almost immediately. Preparing to walk out of the corridor. If I don't stop her now, they'll both be in danger. She knows it. I know that. She's already predicted that I'll cave here, I can see it from her eyes and that ridiculously smug smile. So frustrating. Perpetually stuck between a rock and a hard place.
"Fine! Fine. I went to Gringotts' with Hagrid, the groundskeeper, before coming to Hogwarts. We entered. I grabbed the things from my vault… But we also visited another vault after."
"I'm guessing it was the same that had the break-in earlier last month?"
"Yeah. The very same."
"Did you manage to get a look at whatever was inside?" Her eyes lit up slightly at the mention of the contents.
"No, I know that it was small. Small enough to fit in a pouch, couldn't be more than enough to fill your hand. Though, as far as that's concerned. It could be a solid object or a fine powder. Who's to say? The only other person you could ask is Hagrid."
"Did he mention anything else that tipped you off? Perhaps when he was talking to the bank managers, one of the goblins?"
"He just said that it was for; you-know-what, in vault you-know-which. Then handed him a key."
"Make you think of anything?" Alice posed to the group, looking at each of us in turn. I had an idea, but that should be impossible. After all, he was supposed to be dead…
"…Yeah, it immediately gets your mind running towards one person, doesn't it?" Ron was quick to associate patterns and puzzles. He could see the link almost immediately. "You-know-what. You-know-which. The next logical step is you-know-who."
"Sorry, I'm lost now. Is that supposed to mean something?" Taka asked for the first time. Following the conversation hadn't been particularly difficult up to this point. I'm guessing as a muggle born wizard, he didn't know anything about this… The only question that raised was; why does Hermione know this sort of stuff? She should be in the same boat as Taka. Perhaps she came across those stories whilst she was researching the magical world… But that didn't add up either; Hermione was interested in factual information, she wanted spells and practical knowledge. For those you'd start at the classical learning books for wizards, all of which should be way too old to mention anything about me.
I'm overthinking it… She probably just heard whispers about me and got curious like any other wizard our age. Just a coincidence that led to her finding out about me.
"The reason Mr. Potter here is so famous, you see. You-know-who refers to a dark lord that plunged the continent into chaos roughly two decades ago, that reign was ended by this boy. Except, even now there are witches and wizards too afraid to speak that dark lord's name."
"You mean Voldemort." It was automatic. The hatred that welled up at the mere thought of that name was palpable. I wouldn't shrink away in fear from some person I had never even seen, especially not the coward that killed my parents.
"And then there are the idiots that say it aloud, without knowing what it means." Alice continued, staring at me.
"…What?"
"Magic can come in all forms. Words are magic in a way, as well. It was once thought that this particular dark lord used a complicated spell to discover the surroundings where his name was spoken. Now, whether that was true or not is beside the point. You shouldn't go saying it thoughtlessly, it's no less than brazen arrogance." Alice pointed her dagger like eyes at me. Taka's in contrast regarded Alice with suspicion, wondering if this same girl that casually looked death in the face and laughed was at all qualified to offer such advice.
"Uh, sorry… I really didn't know." That made sense… Of course, how could I be so stupid? The real people a dark lord should fear are those unafraid to say his name openly, those would be the ones actively taking steps to combat his regime. It'd make sense to use his own name as a weapon against them. Was that one of the reasons he targeted my parents, were they making organised efforts that thwarted his plans?
"I suppose I can forgive the error in that case. That hatred you feel towards he-who-must-not-be-named, I can relate to a degree. However, I ask that you don't waste the chance that your parents gave, just to appear brave. That would be an incredibly stupid failing on our part." Our?
"Wait, what do you mean by-"
"This isn't the time for that. Besides, that isn't a topic I want to discuss at length with any of you." …Did that apply to Taka as well? It was no secret she had some strange affection for him, what was the extent of their relationship?
"…"
"The questions you should be asking yourselves are; what is beneath this school, who is trying to retrieve that item, why do they want it, what does it all mean?" She listed off a few huge bombshells that had been meandering through my train of thought, lowering a finger with the reveal of each new piece of the puzzle. Pieces arranged and fell apart constantly, just how exactly did it all fit together? Maybe, I should take a visit to Hagrid's hut…
"Sakayanagi, you know that was bad of you." Taka said out of the blue.
"Whatever are you talking about, Ayanokouji-kun?"
"Without us here they would've died easily. You plan on luring them to find more clues themselves. They won't survive that danger." Now that he said it… those few words, those questions prompted me to search even further into the mystery. A mystery that was none of my business. Was that what she was planning? Why would she care, simple boredom?
"Hardly. I know just as much as you do, they wouldn't have survived without you and me. Whether it was Cerbie, as you put it, or that troll the other day."
"…" I couldn't refute those words, they were the truth. That reality made me grit my teeth even harder. I disliked this total feeling of powerlessness. It didn't matter whether it was the muggle world or the magical world, was I always at the whim of stronger people?
"Forget Sakayanagi's words. If you want to continue living here without fear, then you should ignore those questions."
"Still… How boring, I was expecting slightly more from the boy-who-lived. We should get going, Ayanokouji-kun." Alice walked off into the distance, not at a very fast pace, on account of her disability. Quiet bangs echoed from ahead as her cane impacted the ground with every step.
"So antisocial…" He remarked looking at the girl's small back disappearing into the dark. "Sorry about that. Like you all said; it isn't a normal student's place to be exploring these areas. Pretend this never happened." Normal student, huh? I hate how he worded that. I've never been highly competitive, but those words from the both of them… they stirred me and egged me on. They were right about how weak and uninformed we were, but that just made me want to prove them wrong.
"You both plan to continue this, don't you?" I asked, knowing full well, he did. They both did, it didn't matter what words came from his mouth. He could admit it or lie straight to my face. Alice was steadfast in her goals, Taka for better or worse was a complete mystery. Though, something told me he would follow her all the same.
"Who knows? At the very least that shouldn't be in any of your interests. The only thing lurking beyond that trapdoor is danger. Going any further is impossible, as you are." He didn't admit or deny. Maybe Taka wasn't one for lies? It was hard to tell, his face didn't give any indication either way.
"I can understand her, but it isn't like you can survive beyond there either. You're going to get yourself killed, you don't even have magic yet." Hermione said in a hurry, the words forming quicker than the thoughts would in her mind. She must've realised how stupid that statement was. He didn't even need magic. For some reason he could compete on the same level without it… Why was that? I accepted it unquestioningly simply because magic existed, so someone with ridiculous physical abilities seemed almost obvious in comparison.
Did Ron understand it?
He expressed surprise whenever Taka did anything. Not at the same level as me and Hermione, but all the same... Perhaps he had glimpsed those abilities during the month they lived together.
"I appreciate your worry Hermione, that ever-present compassion of yours is something I could never emulate. However, you need to distinguish when something is and isn't appropriate for the time. The troll and now this, pity for your opponent is an oversight. One that could lead to fatalities."
"I'm not a savage that enjoys taking lives."
"I never said to enjoy it. Recognise it as the necessity it is."
"I will never-!"
"Or become so powerful that you can spare any opponent. Those two paths are fine. The only issue is that you haven't achieved the requisite ability for either choice." Taka's calm tone drowned out Hermione's raising voice.
"…" Quiet washed over our group.
"I've spoken too much. Follow the path to the left out of here, that should lead you to a familiar enough place. I'm sure you'll find your own way from there. See you." Before we could say another thing, he was already gone, disappeared in the dark. It was as if he had never been here at all. I began to wonder if I dreamed the entire sequence of events into existence.
Regarding the other two with a sombre look, we followed the directions of Taka's ghost and made our way towards the Great Hall.
One thing was for sure. I had enough for one day. I would eat, sleep and then think about this another time. My body was weary and haggard, as I imagine was the same for Ron and Hermione.
'Going any further is impossible, as you are.' His words rattled in my mind for another moment.
I must be imagining it.
Right?
---
Word count: 4072
Not much to say this time around. Sometimes I feel I might be rambling a bit too much in these sections. Let me know.
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