Chapter 32 – Daisy Potter: Rescue Mission
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*Daisy's POV* 

I had never felt happier. I was having the time of my life at the shop as a business partner, selling the merchandise I had worked so hard on to help invent and to market, living with my best friends, being independent and being free. It felt so much like home living with Fred, George, and Terry, and I never wanted to leave. Of course I missed my family and friends, but once they got out of school they'd be able to come visit. And my scar was hurting less, and I was getting less nightmares now that I knew I was protected from Riddle and Floppy by the Fidelius Charm that Fred created, and the numerous bodyguards Kylie thought that she'd stationed around Diagon Alley without me noticing. 

But, on the topic of my scar and visions, the beginning of summer was about to go oh so wrong. 

It was a stifling hot evening. The sun was setting, sending golden and orange rays of sunlight across the rooftops of Diagon Alley. We had all windows to the apartment thrown open to let in the slight breeze going through the streets. The wizarding wireless on the table in the kitchen was on, and Fred had leapt up to the sound of 'Beat Back Those Bludgers, Boys, and Chuck That Quaffle Here,' grabbing me and whisking me around the room. I giggled loudly as he twirled me around, singing gallantly, "You'll catch that Golden Snitch with the easiest of ease! Grab your Beater's bat and in no time flat, prove the game is yours to seize!" 

"Oh my Godric, Freddie!" I shrieked, laughing, as he dipped me back dangerously low, the ends of my hair touching the tiled floor. 

"Beat back those Bludgers, boys, and chuck that Quaffle here! Those noble navy robes know not one ounce of fear!" Fred sang, grinning as he uprighted me. 

He whirled me around again, one of his hands in one of mine, the other on my waist. 

"Won't see them blagging, blatching, or blurting on their brooms! Playing by the rules, they're nobody's fools! Other teams will meet their dooms!" 

I giggled as I stumbled slightly, landing in Fred's arms. Fred chuckled softly, grinning down at me. 

But suddenly, I felt as if the world had shifted. I gazed up, panicked, into Fred's eyes as the music and the bright lights of the kitchen faded out around me, a sudden chill and darkness sweeping over me. 

I was in a cathedral-sized room full of shelves and glass spheres... my heart was beating very fast... when I reached shelf number ninety-seven I turned left and hurried along the aisle between two rows...

But there was a shape on the floor at the very end, a black shape moving on the floor like a wounded animal... my stomach contracted with fear... with excitement...

A voice issued from my own mouth, a high, cold voice empty of any human kindness...

"Take it for me... lift it down, now... I cannot touch it... but you can..." 

The black shape on the floor shifted a little. I saw a long-fingered white hand clutching a wand rise at the end of my own arm... heard the high, cold voice say "Crucio!" 

The boy on the floor let out a scream of pain, attempted to stand but fell back, writhing. I was laughing. I raised my wand, the curse lifted, and the figure groaned and became motionless.

"Lord Voldemort is waiting..." 

Very slowly, his arms trembling, the boy on the ground raised his shoulders a few inches and lifted his head. His face was bloodstained, twisted in pain yet rigid with defiance...

"You'll have to kill me." Harry whispered.

"Undoubtedly I shall in the end." The cold voice said. "But you will fetch it for me first, Harry... you think you have felt pain thus far? Think again... we have hours ahead of us and nobody to hear you scream..." 

But somebody screamed as Voldemort lowered his wand again; somebody yelled and fell sideways off a sofa onto the wooden floor; I awoke as I hit the ground, still yelling, my scar on fire, as the living room of my apartment erupted around me. 

~~~

"Okay, now that we're here, can you PLEASE tell us what the fuck is going on?" George pleaded desperately. 

I scanned the area frantically for any teachers or sign of Umbridge, but she didn't seem to be anywhere near the gates of Hogwarts. 

"Softpaw!" Fred yelled. I jumped, spinning around to them. 

"Red!" I yelled back, rifling through my pockets for my wand. 

Terry grabbed my arm as I pulled it out. "Seriously, mate. Give us something?" 

I sighed, my heart still pounding. After I'd woken up, I'd demanded them to Apparate us to Hogwarts to search for Harry. My twin brother was in danger, but I had to make sure he wasn't in school before I charged off anywhere. 

I explained to them what I had seen in my vision, and how I had to search for Harry now. The three boys listened intently, exchanging glances every now and then, and when I finished they all opened their mouths at once. 

But I held a hand up. 

"You guys need to stay here. I want you to be able to Apparate us to London at a moment's notice." 

"That won't be easy." George said hesitantly. "That's quite far from here." 

"But we'll do it." Fred said firmly. 

"I'll come with you." Terry said. "Stop it, Softpaw. You shouldn't be going anywhere alone. Sure, You-Know-Poo's dangerous out here, but Floppy still rules the roost at Hogwarts." 

I sighed again. "Fine. Hopper, we're gonna go find my brother. You guys, please stay here and wait for us." 

The twins nodded, and Terry and I set off through the gates, sprinting along the grounds, which were steadily growing darker. Terry and I hopped in through a ground floor boys' bathroom window, which was always open, and I led the way up to Gryffindor Tower. I burst in through the portrait hole, and I saw many Gryffindors look around in surprise at the sight of us. I darted up the stairs to the boys' dorms, checking in the fifth-years' room, but no sign of him. I ran back down the staircase, and Terry shook his head. 

"Not here, either." 

Kylie was picking her way across the common room towards us, as more and more people started getting up, craning their necks for a better view of us, clapping and whooping, coming towards us behind her. I looked around nervously; as great as it was that they were all so happy that I was back, I didn't want them all drawing attention to me, especially when I'm not here on social business. 

I gestured to Kylie to follow us quickly out of Gryffindor Tower, scurrying with Terry out of the portrait hole and down a few corridors. I spun around to my girlfriend once I was certain we wouldn't be seen, and she folded her arms, lifting an eyebrow in query. 

"Long time no see, baby girl." 

"Listen, Ky, we don't have long." I whispered urgently. "Have you seen Harry at all?" 

"Last I saw him, he was with his girlfriend." Kylie said lazily. "He was getting a bit heated about something, your hot friend and Ron were going over to him, and she was talking about the library. I didn't want to deal with any of that, so I left to come up here. That was... what, an hour ago? Why?" 

I gasped. "An hour? Terry!" 

Terry looked grim. "Thanks, Kylie. C'mon, Daze." 

"Wait, what's going on?" Kylie jogged along beside us as we speed-walked to the library. I rolled my eyes, and filled her in as we strode along the corridors. "I'm coming with you if you can't find him." She said immediately as I finished. 

"You can't." I said. 

"Yes I can." Kylie told me firmly. "I want to be able to protect you if anything goes south." 

Against everything, my heart fluttered. 

"Aw, that's cute." Terry joked, without any real humour in his voice. We reached the library, and hurried in. 

The only people here were a group of seventh years, a few second years, a Gryffindor third year, and - 

"Drakie!" Terry rushed at the Slytherin, hugging him tight. Draco's exclamation of surprise was met by Madam Pince's furious pointing at the door. 

"I love how she didn't even say anything about us being back here, she just wanted us the fuck out of her library 'cause we were noisy." Terry said. 

"Have you seen my brother?" I asked Draco desperately. 

Draco nodded. "He left about forty minutes ago, with Ron and Hermione. Suzanne went to the Great Hall for leftovers, I think." 

"Let's go." I hurried, the other three hot on my heels. We reached the Great Hall within minutes, and we bumped into Suzanne coming out. 

"Oh, thank fuck. Suzanne!" I cried across the Entrance Hall, waving. My blonde Hufflepuff friend did a double-take, glancing around before hurrying over to us. 

"Daze! Oh my days!" She said excitedly. "So you're not being tortured after all! That's always a bonus. How've things been at the shop?" 

"Hold up, I'm 'not being tortured?'" I said. "I wouldn't like to think so..." 

"Oh." Suzanne said awkwardly. "Well, Harry said he had a vision of you being tortured in the Ministry of Magic... I told him he was seeing utter nonsense, why would you go to the Ministry of Magic and get tortured there?" 

"Oh Merlin." I said. "He had the same vision of me, except reversed. That means it was planted there by Riddle. Fuck sake." 

"So Harry's not currently being tortured?" Kylie asked. 

"Doesn't seem like it." Terry said. 

"But he thinks I am?" I said. "Did he attempt to fly to the shop to see?" 

"No." Suzanne gasped. "Oh, Merlin... I think... I think he may have went straight to the Ministry." 

"WHAT?" I said. "Why the fuck would he do that?" 

"He was talking about it, saying he couldn't waste any time going to Diagon Alley when you were being tortured every second..." 

"That idiot." I shook my head. 

"Then I told him he was being ridiculous and that he has a bit of a 'saving people thing...'" Suzanne looked down at her feet. "That pissed him off, and he took Ron and Hermione and said he was going, but I didn't think anything of it at the time, I just thought he was going to blow off some steam... but now I think he might have..." 

"Yeah, those three are always up to something." I said. "No doubt he's roped them into a little rescue mission. You're right, Suzie, he DOES have a bit of a 'saving people thing' and now he's gone straight into Voldy's trap. And now I have to go save HIS little hero ass." 

"We." Draco corrected, and Terry high-fived him. 

"What?" I said. "I can't bring all of you. Terry and the twins are bad enough as it is, without bringing along the spouses as well." 

"I'm coming whether you like it or not." Kylie said. 

"Me too." Draco said fiercely. 

"And that's my boyfriend who's in danger." Suzanne said, her voice shaking now. "I'm coming with you. I have to." 

I looked around at all of them. They all stared back at me. Two sets of blue eyes, one round and soft, one narrow and piercing. A set of grey eyes, determined and stubborn. And a set of brown eyes, which blinked at me as the owner shrugged. 

"I mean, we can't stop them if they REALLY want to come." Terry said. "Even if we leave them behind, they'll find another way." 

I sighed loudly. "Alright, everybody -" 

"YOU!" 

We all jumped. I turned to see the pink demon herself, in all her short, toad-faced, tacky cardiganed glory, standing in the doorway to the Great Hall, shaking with fury. 

Ha. I wondered when I'd see her. 

"RUN." I told my friends, and set off at a sprint. I led the others out into the grounds, straight towards the Forbidden Forest, and the four followed me without question. I glanced back over my shoulder to watch, and I could see Umbridge following along at a distance, shouting and screaming. 

I led everyone deep into the Forest, not stopping until I heard the sound of hooves thudding in the distance. I halted, gesturing for the others to stop too. Umbridge's yells and shrieks were attracting exactly what I wanted... 

Just as she caught up with us, an arrow flew through the air and landed with a menacing thud in the tree just over her head. The air was suddenly FULL of the sound of hooves; I could feel the Forest floor trembling; Umbridge gave a little scream and pushed me in front of her like a shield - 

I wrenched myself free of her and turned. Around fifty centaurs were emerging on every side, their bows raised and loaded, pointing at us and Umbridge. We backed slowly into the centre of a nearby clearing, Umbridge uttering odd little whimpers of terror. I was wearing a triumphant smile.

"Who are you?" A voice said.

I looked left. A chestnut-bodied centaur called Magorian who I'd briefly met in first year was walking towards us out of the circle: his bow, like those of the others, was raised. On my right, Umbridge was still whimpering, her wand trembling violently as she pointed it at the advancing centaur.

"I asked you who are you, human." Magorian said roughly.

"I am Dolores Umbridge!" Umbridge said in a high-pitched, terrified voice. "Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic and Headmistress and High Inquisitor of Hogwarts!" 

"You are from the Ministry of Magic?" Magorian said, as many of the centaurs in the surrounding circle shifted restlessly.

"That's right!" Umbridge said, in an even higher voice. "So be very careful! By the laws laid down by the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, any attack by half-breeds such as yourselves on a human -" 

"What did you call us?" A wild-looking black centaur shouted, whom I recognised as Bane. There was a great deal of angry muttering and tightening of bowstrings around us.

Still pointing her shaking wand at Magorian, she continued, "Law Fifteen 'B' states clearly that 'any attack by a magical creature who is deemed to have near-human intelligence, and therefore considered responsible for its actions -'" 

"'Near-human intelligence?'" Magorian repeated, as Bane and several others roared with rage and pawed the ground. "We consider that a great insult, human! Our intelligence, thankfully, far outstrips your own." 

"What are you doing in our Forest?" A hard-faced grey centaur bellowed. "Why are you here?" 

"YOUR Forest?" Umbridge said, shaking now not only with fright but also, it seemed, with indignation. "I would remind you that you live here only because the Ministry of Magic permits you certain areas of land -" 

An arrow flew so close to her head that it caught at her mousy hair in passing: she let out an ear-splitting scream and threw her hands over her head, while some of the centaurs bellowed their approval and others laughed raucously. The sound of their wild, neighing laughter echoing around the dimly lit clearing and the sight of their pawing hooves was extremely unnerving.

"Whose Forest is it now, human?" Bane bellowed.

"Filthy half-breeds!" She screamed, her hands still tight over her head. "Beasts! Uncontrolled animals!" Umbridge pointed her wand at Magorian and screamed, "Incarcerous!" 

Ropes flew out of midair like thick snakes, wrapping themselves tightly around the centaur's torso and trapping his arms: he gave a cry of rage and reared on to his hind legs, attempting to free himself, while the other centaurs charged.

I grabbed Suzanne and pulled her to the ground; Terry, Draco, and Kylie followed suit; face down on the Forest floor, I knew a moment of terror as hooves thundered around me, but the centaurs leapt over and around us, bellowing and screaming with rage.

"Nooooo!" I heard Umbridge shriek. "Noooooo... I am Senior Undersecretary... you cannot - Unhand me, you animals... nooooo!" 

I saw a flash of red light and knew she had attempted to Stun one of them; then she screamed very loudly. Lifting my head a few inches, I saw that Umbridge had been seized from behind by Bane and lifted high into the air, wriggling and yelling with fright. 

I got to my feet slowly. Umbridge made eye contact with me. 

"Miss Potter! Potter! Do something! Tell them I mean no harm!" She shrieked. 

I smirked at her. "Sorry, Professor. Bad girls deserve to be punished." 

Over the plunging, many-coloured backs and heads of the centaurs, Umbridge was finally being borne away through the trees by Bane. Screaming non-stop, her voice grew fainter and fainter until we could no longer hear it over the trampling of hooves surrounding us.

Magorian nodded at us. "Daisy Potter. We will let you and your friends go. 'Half-breed' to 'half-breed.'" 

I nodded back at him, smirking. "Thanks, bro." 

~~~

We had already wasted so much time, so we sprinted back to Fred and George at full speed. There was no time to explain to them why we had three extra people, we could only hope that none of us got Splinched on the way.

Thankfully, we were all fine. I spotted four Thestrals outside the abandoned telephone box that led to the Ministry. 

"They must have taken those." I told the Insurgents grimly, as the other three looked quizzically at us. "C'mon, into the telephone box." 

I took one glance back at the Thestrals, which were foraging for scraps of rotten food inside a skip, then forced myself into the box after Draco.

"Whoever's nearest the receiver, dial six two four four two!" I said.

George did it, his arm bent bizarrely to reach the dial; as it whirred back into place the cool female voice sounded inside the box.

"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business." 

"Daisy Potter, Fred Weasley, George Weasley, Terry Boot," I said very quickly, "Kylie Ford, Draco Malfoy, Suzanne Wanders... we're here to save someone, unless your fucking Ministry can do it first!" 

"Thank you." The cool female voice said. "Visitors, please take the badges and attach them to the front of your robes." 

Half a dozen badges slid out of the metal chute where returned coins normally appeared. Terry scooped them up and handed them mutely to me over Fred's head with a grin; I glanced at the topmost one: Daisy Potter, Rescue Mission. 

"Nice. Everyone, take yours." I chortled, passing them out, and we all pinned ours to our jackets. 

"Visitors to the Ministry, you are required to submit to a search and present your wands for registration at the security desk, which is located at the far end of the Atrium." 

"Whatever!" I said loudly, as my scar gave another throb. "Now can we move?" 

The floor of the telephone box shuddered and the pavement rose up past its glass windows; the scavenging Thestrals were sliding out of sight; blackness closed over our heads and with a dull grinding noise we sank down into the depths of the Ministry of Magic.

A chink of soft golden light hit our feet and, widening, rose up our bodies. I bent my knees and held my wand as ready as I could in such cramped conditions as I peered through the glass to see whether anybody was waiting for us in the Atrium, but it seemed to be completely empty. The light was dimmer than it had been by day; there were no fires burning under the mantelpieces set into the walls, but as the lift slid smoothly to a halt I saw that golden symbols continued to twist sinuously in the dark blue ceiling.

"The Ministry of Magic wishes you a pleasant evening." The woman's voice said.

"K." I said. 

The door of the telephone box burst open; I toppled out of it, closely followed by Draco and Kylie. The only sound in the Atrium was the steady rush of water from the golden fountain, where jets from the wands of the witch and wizard, the point of the centaur's arrow, the tip of the goblin's hat, and the house-elf's ears continued to gush into the surrounding pool.

"Come on." I said quietly, and the seven of us sprinted off down the hall, me in the lead, past the fountain towards the desk where the watchwizard who had weighed my wand had sat, and which was now deserted.

I felt sure there ought to be a security person there, sure their absence was an ominous sign, and my feeling of foreboding increased as we passed through the golden gates to the lifts. I pressed the nearest 'down' button and a lift clattered into sight almost immediately, the golden grilles slid apart with a great, echoing clanking and we dashed inside. I stabbed the number nine button; the grilles closed with a bang and the lift began to descend, jangling and rattling. I hadn't realised how noisy the lifts were on the day I had come with Harry and Mr Weasley; I was sure the din would raise every security person within the building, yet when the lift halted, the cool female voice said, "Department of Mysteries," and the grilles slid open. We stepped out into the corridor where nothing was moving but the nearest torches, flickering in the rush of air from the lift.

I turned towards the plain black door. After months and months of dreaming about it, I was here at last.

"Let's go." I whispered, and I led the way down the corridor, Terry right behind me, gazing around with his mouth slightly open.

Just as it had in my dream, the door swung open and I marched over the threshold, the others at my heels.

We were standing in a large, circular room. Everything in here was black including the floor and ceiling; identical, unmarked, handleless black doors were set at intervals all around the black walls, interspersed with branches of candles whose flames burned blue; their cool, shimmering light reflected in the shining marble floor made it look as though there was dark water underfoot.

"Someone shut the door." I muttered.

I regretted giving this order the moment Suzanne had obeyed it. Without the long chink of light from the torchlit corridor behind us, the place became so dark that for a moment the only things we could see were the bunches of shivering blue flames on the walls and their ghostly reflections in the floor.

In my dream, I had always walked purposefully across this room to the door immediately opposite the entrance and walked on. But there were around a dozen doors here. Just as I was gazing ahead at the doors opposite me, trying to decide which was the right one, there was a great rumbling noise and the candles began to move sideways. The circular wall was rotating.

Terry grabbed my arm as though frightened the floor might move, too, but it did not. For a few seconds, the blue flames around us were blurred to resemble neon lines as the wall sped around; then, quite as suddenly as it had started, the rumbling stopped and everything became stationary once again.

My eyes had blue streaks burned into them; it was all I could see.

"What was that about?" Draco whispered fearfully.

"I think it was to stop us knowing which door we came in through." Terry said in a hushed voice.

I realised at once he was right: I could no sooner identify the exit door than locate an ant on the jet-black floor; and the door through which we needed to proceed could be any one of the dozen surrounding us.

"How're we going to get back out?" George said uncomfortably.

"It doesn't matter right now." I said forcefully, blinking to try to erase the blue lines from my vision, and clutching my wand tighter than ever. "We won't need to get out till we've found Harry and the others -" 

"Don't go calling for them, though!" Terry said urgently; but I had never needed his advice less - my instinct was to keep as quiet as possible.

"Where do we go, then, princess?" Kylie asked.

"I don't -" I began. "In the dreams I went through the door at the end of the corridor from the lifts into a dark room - that's this fuckin' one - and then I went through another door into a room that kind of... glitters or some shit. We should try a few doors." I said hastily. "I'll know the right way when I see it. C'mon." 

I marched straight at the door now facing me, the others following close behind me, set my left hand against its cool, shining surface, raised my wand ready to strike the moment it opened, and pushed.

It swung open easily.

After the darkness of the first room, the lamps hanging low on golden chains from this ceiling made this long rectangular room much brighter, though there were no glittering, shimmering lights as I had seen in my dreams. The place was quite empty except for a few desks and, in the very middle of the room, an enormous glass tank of deep green liquid, big enough for all of us to swim in; a number of pearly-white objects were drifting around lazily in it.

"What're those things?" Fred whispered.

"Dunno." I said.

"Are they fish?" George breathed.

"No." Terry said. He sounded odd. He moved forward to look through the side of the tank. "They're fucking brains." 

"Brains?" 

"Yeah... I wonder what they're doing with them?" 

I joined him at the tank. Sure enough, there could be no mistake now I saw them at close quarters. Glimmering eerily, they drifted in and out of sight in the depths of the green liquid. 

"They look like slimy cauliflowers." I said. The Insurgents sniggered. 

"There are doors here, too." Kylie said, pointing around the walls. My heart sank; how big was this place?

"In my dream I went through that dark room into the second one." I said. "I think we should go back and try from there." 

So we hurried back into the dark, circular room; the ghostly shapes of the brains were now swimming before my eyes instead of the blue candle flames.

"Wait!" Terry said sharply, as George made to close the door of the brain room behind us. "Flagrate!" 

He drew with his wand in midair and a fiery 'X' appeared on the door. No sooner had the door clicked shut behind us than there was a great rumbling, and once again the wall began to revolve very fast, but now there was a great red-gold blur in amongst the faint blue and, when all became still again, the fiery cross still burned, showing the door we had already tried.

"Good thinking." I said, impressed. "Alrighty, let's try this one -" 

Again, I strode directly at the door facing me and pushed it open, my wand still raised, the others at my heels.

This room was larger than the last, dimly lit and rectangular, and the centre of it was sunken, forming a great stone pit some twenty feet deep. We were standing on the topmost tier of what seemed to be stone benches running all around the room and descending in steep steps like an amphitheatre, or the courtroom in which I had been tried by the Wizengamot. Instead of a chained chair, however, there was a raised stone dais in the centre of the pit, on which stood a stone archway that looked so ancient, cracked, and crumbling that I was amazed the thing was still standing. Unsupported by any surrounding wall, the archway was hung with a tattered black curtain or veil which, despite the complete stillness of the cold surrounding air, was fluttering very slightly as though it had just been touched.

"Who's there?" I said, jumping down onto the bench below. There was no answering voice, but the veil continued to flutter and sway.

"Careful!" Suzanne whispered.

I scrambled down the benches one by one until I reached the stone bottom of the sunken pit. My footsteps echoed loudly as I walked slowly towards the dais. The pointed archway looked much taller from where I now stood than it had when I'd been looking down on it from above. Still the veil swayed gently, as though somebody had just passed through it.

"Harry?" I spoke again, but more quietly now that I was nearer.

I had the strangest feeling that there was someone standing right behind the veil on the other side of the archway. Gripping my wand very tightly, I edged around the dais, but there was nobody there; all that could be seen was the other side of the tattered black veil.

"Let's go." Terry called from halfway up the stone steps. "This isn't right, Softpaw, come on, let's go." 

He sounded scared, much more scared than he had in the room where the brains swam, yet I thought the archway had a kind of beauty about it, old though it was. The gently rippling veil intrigued me; I felt a very strong inclination to climb up on the dais and walk through it.

"Daisy, let's go, okay?" Terry said more forcefully.

"Okay." I said, but did not move. I had just heard something. There were faint whispering, murmuring noises coming from the other side of the veil.

"What are you saying?" I said, very loudly, so that my words echoed all around the stone benches.

"Nobody's talking, Daze!" Terry said, now moving over to me.

"Someone's whispering behind there." I said, moving out of his reach and continuing to frown at the veil. "Is that you, George?" 

"I'm here, mate." George said, appearing around the side of the archway.

"Can't anyone else hear it?" I demanded, for the whispering and murmuring was becoming louder; without really meaning to put it there, I found my foot was on the dais.

"I can hear them too." Fred breathed, joining us around the side of the archway and gazing at the swaying veil. 

Terry grabbed my arm and pulled, but I resisted.

"Daze, we're supposed to be here for Harry!" He said in a high-pitched, strained voice.

"Harry." I repeated, still gazing, mesmerised, at the continuously swaying veil. "Yeah..." 

Something finally slid back into place in my brain; Harry, captured, bound, and tortured because he thought I was, and I was staring at this archway...

I took several paces back from the dais and wrenched my eyes from the veil.

"Let's go." I said.

On the other side, Draco, Kylie, and Suzanne were staring, apparently entranced, at the veil too. Without speaking, Terry took hold of Draco's arm. 

I grabbed Kylie's, and the twins grabbed Suzanne, and we marched them firmly back to the lowest stone bench and clambered all the way back up to the door.

"What d'you reckon that arch was?" I asked Terry as we returned to the dark circular room.

"Dunno, but whatever it was, it was dangerous." He said firmly, again inscribing a fiery cross on the door.

Once more, the wall span and became still again. I approached another door at random and pushed. It didn't move. We couldn't unlock it with any charms, either, and we tried again. 

The wall slid to a halt and, with a feeling of increasing desperation, I pushed the next door open.

"This is it!" 

I knew it at once by the beautiful, dancing, diamond-sparkling light. As my eyes became accustomed to the brilliant glare, I saw clocks gleaming from every surface, large and small, grandfather and carriage, hanging in spaces between the bookcases or standing on desks ranging the length of the room, so that a busy, relentless ticking filled the place like thousands of minuscule, marching footsteps. The source of the dancing, diamond-bright light was a towering crystal bell jar that stood at the far end of the room.

"This way!" 

My heart was pumping frantically now that I knew we were on the right track; I led the way down the narrow space between the lines of desks, heading, as I had done in my dream, for the source of the light, the crystal bell jar quite as tall as I was that stood on a desk and appeared to be full of a billowing, glittering wind.

"Oh, look!" Suzanne said as we drew nearer, pointing at the very heart of the bell jar.

Drifting along in the sparkling current inside was a tiny, jewel-bright egg. As it rose in the jar, it cracked open and a hummingbird emerged, which was carried to the very top of the jar, but as it fell on the draught its feathers became bedraggled and damp again, and by the time it had been borne back to the bottom of the jar it had been enclosed once more in its egg.

We continued on past the bell jar to the only door behind it.

"This is it." I said again, and my heart was now pumping so hard and fast I felt it must interfere with my speech. "It's through here -" 

I glanced around at them all; they had their wands out and looked suddenly serious and anxious. I looked back at the door and pushed. It swung open.

We were there, we had found the place: high as a church and full of nothing but towering shelves covered in small, dusty glass orbs. They glimmered dully in the light issuing from more candle-brackets set at intervals along the shelves. Like those in the circular room behind us, their flames were burning blue. The room was very cold.

I edged forward and peered down one of the shadowy aisles between two rows of shelves. I couldn't hear anything or see the slightest sign of movement.

"You said it was row ninety-seven." Terry whispered.

"Yeah." I breathed, looking up at the end of the closest row. Beneath the branch of blue-glowing candles protruding from it glimmered the silver figure fifty-three.

"We need to go right, I think." Fred whispered, squinting to the next row. "Yeah... that's fifty-four..." 

"Keep your wands ready." Kylie said softly.

We crept forward, glancing behind us as we went on down the long alleys of shelves, the further ends of which were in near-total darkness. Tiny, yellowing labels had been stuck beneath each glass orb on the shelves. Some of them had a weird, liquid glow; others were as dull and dark within as blown light bulbs.

We passed row eighty-four... eighty-five... I could hear faint sounds of whispering now. 

"Ninety-seven!" Draco whispered. 

"Hey!" I said, forgetting to whisper. My brother, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were huddled together close to a shelf, whispering furiously. They all turned, and Harry's face collapsed in relief. We ran towards each other, our footsteps echoing, and threw our arms around each other. 

"Thank Godric you're alright!" We chorused. 

"Indeed." I said. 

"Naturally." We chorused again. 

"Twins are so weird." Terry said, and Fred punched him in the arm. 

"Why are you here, Ginny?" George said in surprise. 

"Excuse me, but I care what happens to Daisy as much as you do!" Ginny said, her jaw set so that her resemblance to Fred and George was suddenly striking.

We stood grouped around the end of the row, gazing down the alley beside it. The creepy, dusty silence was ominous. I shivered. 

"Daisy? Have you seen this?" Ron called. 

He was staring at one of the dusty glass spheres on the shelf.

"What?" I said. 

"It's - it's got your name on." Ron said.

We all moved a little closer. Ron was pointing at one of the small glass spheres that glowed with a dull inner light, though it was very dusty and appeared not to have been touched for many years.

"Daisy’s name?" Harry said blankly.

I stepped forwards. Not as tall as Ron, I had to crane my neck to read the yellowish label affixed to the shelf right beneath the dusty glass ball. In spidery writing was written a date of some sixteen years previously, and below that:

'S.P.T. to A.P.W.B.D. 

Dark Lord and (?)Daisy Potter' 

I stared at it.

"What is it?" Fred asked, sounding unnerved. "What's your name doing down here?" 

He glanced along at the other labels on that stretch of shelf.

"I'm not here." He said, sounding perplexed. "None of the rest of us are here." 

"Daisy, I don't think you should touch it." Hermione said sharply, as I stretched out my hand.

"Why not?" I said. "It's something to do with me, isn't it?" 

"Don't, baby." Kylie said suddenly. I looked at her. An expression that I'd never seen on her face before was prominent; she was worried. 

"It's got her name on." Harry said.

And I closed my fingers around the dusty ball's surface. Expecting, even hoping, that something dramatic was going to happen, something exciting that might make our long and dangerous journey worthwhile after all, I lifted the glass ball down from its shelf and stared at it, giving it to Harry as he reached his hand out for it.

Nothing whatsoever happened. The others moved in closer around Harry, gazing at the orb as he brushed it free of the clogging dust.

And then, from right behind us, a drawling voice spoke.

"Very good, Potter. Now turn around, nice and slowly, and give that to me."

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