Harry Potter and the Fortunate Queen - Chapter 373

The kiss lasted maybe for a couple of seconds before Chris pulled back. She rolled away from Oziyat and he sat up.

“Christina, I’m sorry if I startled you. That wasn’t very gentlemanly of me, I should have asked first,” Oziyat muttered looking worried.

Chris stood up abruptly and started dusting her clothes, trying to avoid looking at Oziyat.

“Oziyat, I —”

“Oziyat!” Gweneth came running and pulled Oziyat up from the ground. “You okay, Prince?”

Oziyat didn’t look at Gweneth, he was staring at Chris, who still didn’t look at him.

“Christina?”

“Sorry, Oziyat. I can’t, I just . . . this is not the time or place. I . . .” Chris finally looked at him and saw the confusion on his face. “I need to check on my friends.”

Chris hurried away to her friends, leaving Oziyat and Gweneth in the corner.

“Ginny! Colin! Luna!”

Luna was mostly fine, Ginny was looking a little battered but her wounds didn’t look much deep, however, Colin looked bad. He was still standing but while shielding Luna, he took the worse. His arms and neck were bloodstained.

“Colin, you—” Chris began but Colin waved.

“It’s fine. I will be fine,” he mumbled.

“Yes, but drink this.” Luna pulled out a small vial from her bag and gave him. “It was very stupid of you. Why did you do that? The ceiling could have collapsed on you.”

Without answering Colin gulped down the potion, smiling the whole time.

“I know, right?” Ginny chuckled then suddenly turned serious. “Hey, noticed the suffocating feeling is almost gone.”

Ginny was right, Chris realized. The oily oppressive dark magic wasn’t dimming their powers anymore.

“It must be connected to the Snallygaster,” Colin said looking at the gigantic body of Snallygaster on the ground.

Chris looked at it as well and felt guilty about killing it. It wasn’t its fault that Malgino used it for his advantage. The ground was matted with the black blood of the beast as Chris walked towards it. One of Gweneth’s blades was still stuck on its front leg, Oziyat’s rapier was on its neck, and both Sword of Gryffindor and Rosaline’s dagger were on its heart.

“Sorry,” Chris mumbled before pulling out the sword of Gryffindor and the dagger from its heart and examined the wounds.

“What is it?” Ginny asked coming behind Chris.

“It’s dead,” Chris replied.

“I think we all know that, Lady Christina,” Gweneth said loudly as she pulled out her blade from the Snallygaster’s leg.

Ginny opened her mouth angrily to snap at Gweneth but Chris’s words stunned everyone to silence.

“I mean, it was dead even before we killed it, Gweneth.”

The revelation hung on the air as everyone processed it.

“Like Inferi?” said Luna first.

“Dead bodies that have been bewitched to do a Dark wizard’s bidding?” exclaimed Gweneth. “I thought the wizards could only do it on human corpses.”

“Yes but there is no limit to the dark magic, is there?” Oziyat said coming forward. He took out his rapier from the Snallygaster’s neck and examined the beast. “I think, Christina is right. It was a corpse even before we killed it, which explains the oppressive magic we felt as soon as we entered.”

“Malgino?” Colin whispered to Chris.

“Yes, I think so,” Chris said briskly and straightened up. “Anyway, let’s move on. We are not finished yet.”

Ginny, Luna, Colin, and Oziyat nodded and followed Chris. Chris noticed Oziyat was looking absolutely composed as if nothing happened. Of course, he was a royal and he was trained to look calm. However, as soon as his eyes met Chris’s, she saw the uneasiness through his calm facade. Chris looked away and sighed.

Chris finally reached the double door, she couldn’t last time. She pushed the door and realized it was locked.

“Locked,” muttered Chris and waved her wand but the door didn’t budge.

“I would have been surprised if it had opened,” Oziyat said stepping beside her. “Here, let me try.”

Chris backed away and Oziyat pressed his palm on the door. He concentrated on the door, mumbling something, and the next second the door opened wide with a bang.

Beyond the door there was darkness. Just pitch-black darkness. Chris peered inside and only saw two steps of the staircase going down and after that nothing.

“Stay here with the Guardians, Gweneth,” Oziyat said as Gweneth tried to come closer to the door.

“And you will go with them?” Gweneth looked surprised and angry. “Who will protect you if something more dangerous is inside?”

“Fortunately, I am perfectly capable of protecting myself,” Oziyat’s voice deepened. “And this is an order from the Prince.”

Immediately, the other two guards stepped back. Gweneth looked hurt as she slowly retreated looking at Oziyat.

Without wasting any more time, Chris waved her wand (muttering “Lumos”), and stepped on the first descending step and then the next. Before she could take the next step, a big fireball illuminated the next stair for her as Oziyat and her friends walked in after her. With four wand lights and Oziyat’s fireball, Chris could see the steps clearly. They walked down in silence, saved for their footstep echoing around them. Chris could feel that everyone was tense, thinking what would come next in this dark corridor.

Almost seven minutes passed but nothing happened. That’s when unexpectedly Chris collided with something big and smooth. Everyone stopped in their tracks as a loud gong sounded through their surrounding.

“What happened?” asked Ginny and her voice echoed strangely around them.

“I walked into something. . .” Chris held up her wand to see if there was anything in front of her. There was nothing. Yet when she reached out she felt a cold smooth surface just in front of her. “There is something. A transparent glass barrier.” Chris grimaced and softly called, “Oziyat?”

“Yes?” Oziyat replied from the back of the group. Ginny and Luna made way for him to come forward. He stood beside Chris and examined the barrier. “Hmm. . . I think I have an idea about what it is.”

Oziyat closed her eyes and held up her hands, he drew a symbol in the air, which turned into smoke as soon as he finished. Chris recognized the symbols. It was a life and death rune intercepting each other. Oziyat blew the smoke towards the glass wall and Chris thought it shimmered for a second. But then nothing happened.

“Did it work?” Colin asked.

“One way to find out,” Oziyat put his hands on the glass and pushed. The next second his body was halfway through the glass.

“Woah!” Colin’s eyes widened as Oziyat completely disappeared inside the glass.

“Great,” Chris put her hand on the glass wall as well and felt her hand glide through the glass. “Well, here goes everything.”

They were at the underground temple. It smelled faintly of earth and dampness. Countless light orbs like overgrown fireflies were dancing around the rune-carved pillars. In the middle was a high platform holding a scepter but the crystal at the top of the scepter was missing.

“You okay?” Oziyat asked still supporting her.

Chris looked up at him surprised. She was so absorbed with her surroundings that she forgot she was still holding onto Oziyat. She quickly detached herself from him.

“Sorry. Yeah, I’m fine,” Chris mumbled as Luna toppled out from the glass wall.

Chris grabbed her arm and held her steady. Luna looked up with a smile as she observed the new place.

“It’s beautiful.”

Luna walked around as Ginny and Colin came through the glass as well. Oziyat pulled out a scroll from her coat and started to look around.

“What is it?” Luna asked Oziyat.

“It’s a painting of this place. I borrowed it from my mother’s private vault,” Oziyat showed them the painting. “I hoped to see what’s different now.”

“Chris! Look at the runes!” Colin shouted suddenly. “They are coming alive.”

“What?”

Chris got closer to one pillar and realized Colin was right. The runes were moving as if alive, they twisted in between themselves and Chris tried to read them. Luna extended her hands as if compelled by the fascinating runes but Chris snatched her hands away.

“Luna!” Colin pulled Luna back, looking shocked.

“It’s not her fault, Colin” Chris said nervously. “These runes are designed to attract if you look at them too long.”

“Yes, I feel like touching them too,” Ginny said looking away from the runes.

“It doesn’t affect me,” said Oziyat. “Is it because I’m a vampire?”

“I don’t think so,” Chris replied. “I don’t feel the urge too and I think I know why.”

“But what does it say?” Ginny asked urgently.

“Apart from the two who are chosen, everyone will be burned if they dared to touch the auspicious runes.” Chris translated the runes which were moving to form the sentence.

“Chosen two?” Oziyat looked surprised as he examined the runes. “I thought you were the only chosen one.”

Chris frowned staring at the runes then something dawned on her.

“Oziyat, show me the painting again.”

Oziyat immediately held the painting scroll out to show Chris. She glanced at it and then at her surroundings.

“I guessed right. These runes are not in the painting. Not even on one pillar.” Chris showed everyone the pillars in the painting.

“Then what does it — do you think it’s also done by Malgino?” Colin guessed.

“No,” Chris looked at the runes. “This is not Malgino’s magic. I know it. You know, I was wondering all the way here. Why did Malgino put a dangerous dead beast to guard this place after he stole the crystal? There was no reason for him to do it unless —”

“Unless he had something to hide here,” Oziyat completed.

⟦To be continued⟧