The match continued above ground.
Under the castle, something old began to flow.
A sealed pipe in the dungeons trembled once.
Then again.
The pipe had not carried water for a hundred years. It belonged to an older Hogwarts drainage system, one that had been blocked off, forgotten, and eventually buried behind stone and dust.
Now red liquid seeped through its cracks.
Not blood.
Not exactly.
It was thinner than blood, darker than water, and carried a cold smell that made nearby rats flee into the walls.
A suit of armor outside the Potions corridor turned its helmet toward the sound.
The red water dripped onto the stone floor.
One drop.
Two drops.
Then a thin stream.
The stone hissed.
In the hospital wing corridor, Snape's expression changed.
He knew the dungeons too well.
Every pipe.
Every corner.
Every rotten patch of damp stone.
Something had just moved where nothing should move.
He turned toward the Quidditch pitch for one second.
Then toward the stairs leading down.
His jaw tightened.
"Of course," he muttered.
Then he swept away like a black storm.
At the pitch, Theodore felt Snape move.
Good.
The dungeon node had chosen its timing well. Everyone's attention was on the match. The pitch core was pinned but still active. Voldemort was bound in the Headmaster's office. The staff were scattered.
A normal enemy would use this chance to strike the spectators.
This one went for the foundation.
Red Water Array.
Its method was not as flashy as Golden Light or as obvious as Wind Roar. It seeped. It corroded. It contaminated. Once it entered a protective system, it softened the roots from below.
Theodore looked toward the dungeons.
Willow Immortal's roots had already sensed the red water. The nearest roots withdrew a little, not from fear but from instinct.
The red water was poisonous to living spiritual veins.
That was troublesome.
Ron noticed Theodore's expression from the stands.
"Why is he making that face?"
Harry looked over at once.
Theodore was calm, as usual.
But Harry had learned the difference between Theodore's normal calm and Theodore's "something annoying has happened" calm.
"This isn't over," Harry said.
Hermione followed his gaze, then touched the fire-crab pendant.
It was warm.
Not hot.
Warm in the wrong direction, as if warning her about something far away.
"The dungeons," she said.
Ron stared. "How do you know?"
"I don't. I guessed."
"That is somehow worse."
Above them, Lee Jordan was shouting about the match again. The players had regained rhythm, and the crowd had mostly recovered from the scoreboard incident. Madam Hooch watched everything like a hawk with a whistle addiction.
Theodore could not leave the pitch openly.
The core would notice.
The spectators would notice.
The formation would change.
So he did not leave.
He raised one hand under his sleeve.
A willow leaf detached from the root around his ankle and vanished into the ground.
Deep beneath Hogwarts, the leaf traveled along the Wuzhuang foundation, slipping through roots and old magic until it reached the dungeon corridor.
Snape arrived just as the red water spread across the floor.
He stopped before it.
His robes brushed the edge of the first step.
The water flowed slowly, almost politely, toward him.
Snape stared at it with deep disgust.
"I assume you are not ordinary plumbing."
The red water answered by melting a corner of the stone.
Snape's lip curled.
"Charming."
He raised his wand.
"Evanesco."
The spell struck the red water.
A portion vanished.
For half a second.
Then the remaining water split, multiplied, and crawled faster along the cracks.
Snape's eyes narrowed.
So vanishing it made it spread.
Of course it did.
Hogwarts never allowed a simple answer.
A green leaf floated down beside him.
Snape glanced at it.
Theodore's voice came from the leaf.
"Do not use direct removal spells."
Snape's face darkened.
"I noticed."
"Good."
"I did not require your approval."
The leaf turned slightly, as if looking at the red water.
"Keep it away from the main staircase. If it reaches the upper corridors, the pitch defense weakens."
Snape's expression became colder.
"And how, precisely, do you suggest I stop cursed water that multiplies when removed?"
Theodore's voice remained calm.
"Make it think it has somewhere better to go."
Snape stared at the leaf.
"I dislike you."
"That is unrelated."
Unfortunately, Snape understood.
He pointed his wand at the dry pipe beside the wall and blasted it open.
The red water paused.
Then it changed direction, flowing toward the new opening.
Snape immediately drew a line of dark fire across the floor behind it. The flame did not touch the water directly. It only blocked the route back.
The red water slipped into the pipe.
Snape followed, wand raised.
"If this ruins my stores," he said softly, "I will deduct points from everyone."
The leaf drifted after him.
At the pitch, Theodore's attention split between the match and the dungeon.
That was exactly what the array wanted.
The pitch core pulsed.
A Bludger suddenly curved too sharply toward one of the guest players.
Harry moved.
The willow branch flashed.
The Bludger's path shifted just enough for the player to duck.
Harry's cut was cleaner this time.
Less force.
Better timing.
Theodore nodded faintly.
Progress.
Hermione was watching the crowd again when her pendant heated sharply.
Not toward the pitch.
Toward the castle.
"Red Water," she whispered.
She did not know why the words came to mind. Maybe Theodore had mentioned the array name before. Maybe the pendant was guiding her. Either way, she knew the warning.
Ron looked at her. "What now?"
"The dungeon node is moving."
Ron's face fell.
"Why can't danger respect scheduling?"
Hermione looked toward the pitch. "Theodore can't leave."
Harry understood immediately. "Then we go?"
Hermione hesitated.
Theodore had told them to stay in their positions.
But if the dungeons were under attack, Snape might be alone.
Ron slowly raised his hand.
"I vote we don't go into the creepy dungeon full of cursed red water."
One of his Chomping Cabbages raised its head eagerly.
Ron looked betrayed.
"You're not helping."
Before Hermione could answer, a yellow talisman flew through the air and stuck to the railing beside them.
Filch's voice came from below.
"Don't move unless Mr. Snow tells you!"
Ron blinked.
"Filch can hear us from there?"
Hermione stared at the talisman.
The paper burned faintly, forming three words.
Stay. Watch. Wait.
It was Theodore's instruction.
Harry tightened his hand around the branch and forced himself to remain still.
That was harder than running.
In the dungeons, Snape followed the red water through the broken pipe route into an older corridor.
Dust covered the walls.
The ceiling was low.
The air smelled of rust and old magic.
The red water flowed ahead of him, turning left at an intersection that should not have existed.
Snape stopped.
He knew this section of the castle.
There was no left turn here.
The leaf beside him glowed faintly.
Theodore's voice came again.
"The node has opened a hidden path."
"I can see that."
"Do not step into the water."
Snape looked down at the red stream running beside his boot.
His patience thinned.
"Again, your wisdom arrives late."
The corridor ahead widened.
At the center stood an old stone basin.
Red water poured into it from three cracked pipes, rising slowly. Above the basin floated a small crimson bead. Inside the bead, something churned like a drowned storm.
Snape lifted his wand.
"The node?"
"Yes."
"Can I destroy it?"
"No."
Snape's expression became unpleasant.
"You keep saying that."
"Because you keep wanting to destroy useful things."
The red water in the basin rose faster.
It climbed over the rim and spilled toward Snape.
He stepped back.
The water followed.
Not flowing now.
Reaching.
Snape flicked his wand.
A line of black fire formed a half-circle in front of him.
The red water struck the flame and hissed.
For a moment, it stopped.
Then it began seeping under the fire through cracks in the stone.
Snape's eyes hardened.
Clever.
Too clever.
He hated clever things when they were not his.
The leaf moved forward.
Green light spread from it, touching the old stones around the basin.
Willow Immortal's roots could not enter the red water directly, but they could enter the stone around it.
Tiny roots emerged from the cracks.
The red water immediately surged toward them.
Snape understood the bait.
He pointed his wand at the basin.
Not at the water.
At the stone beneath it.
"Confringo."
The basin cracked.
The red water rushed downward into the gap.
At the same time, the willow roots tightened around the outer stone, shaping the crack into a narrow channel.
The red water poured through the channel greedily.
Straight into the trap Theodore had prepared through the leaf.
Wutu Divine Light flashed from the ground.
The channel hardened.
The red water stopped.
Yimu Divine Light did not touch it directly. Instead, it grew around the sealed channel, forming layers like bark around poison.
The crimson bead trembled.
Snape's wand snapped toward it.
"Now?"
Theodore's voice finally said, "Now."
Snape smiled thinly.
"Diffindo."
The spell cut the crimson bead from the basin's center.
The leaf flew forward and caught it before it fell.
The bead struggled, splashing red droplets in the air, but Wutu light sealed it from below and Yimu roots wrapped around it from outside.
The Red Water fragment was captured.
At the pitch, Theodore closed his fingers.
Far below, the leaf vanished with the crimson bead.
The third nail formed beneath the Wuzhuang foundation.
This nail did not enter the pitch.
It entered the underground water vein beneath the castle.
A heavy thud rolled through Hogwarts.
The students in the stands felt only a faint vibration.
The match continued.
The Quaffle flew.
The crowd cheered.
No one knew that beneath their feet, a poisoned vein had just been pinned before it could reach the roots.
Snape walked out of the old corridor with dust on his robes and murder in his eyes.
Theodore's leaf floated beside him.
"Good work, Professor."
Snape did not look at it.
"Tell anyone I followed instructions from a leaf, and I will ensure your next potion tastes like regret."
The leaf burned away.
On the pitch, Theodore laughed softly.
Hermione noticed his expression relax a little.
"Handled?" she whispered.
The talisman on the railing changed words.
Handled.
Ron exhaled.
"Great. Can the next murder array wait until after snacks?"
The pitch core pulsed under the field.
Slower.
Angrier.
Now three nails held the network.
Center.
Scoreboard.
Underground water vein.
The Ten Absolute Arrays were no longer merely attacking Hogwarts.
They were being mapped.
And somewhere in the castle, the remaining nodes began to hide.
Theodore looked toward the shadows beneath the stands.
"Too late."
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