𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲, Sirius Black

seventy-two

Ivar opened one of the doors and they entered another hallway, at its end was a big, black door. Talea followed the man as he pulled out a key out of his bag, fiddling with the many keys that hung on a chain until he seemed to have found the correct one and opened the door. Curious. The other doors weren't locked.

He pushed the heavy door open, the squeaking sound echoed through the room. The Chamber, as usual as dark and mysterious as the others but this room carried its own, warm and extraordinary kind of light.

The room was cold, like the others but it carried an indescribable scent that warmed Talea's heart.

"This is the Love Room" stated Ivar.

At its centre, stood a kind of fountain containing some kind of love potion, a very powerful love potion as it seemed. There were several wizards and witches buzzing around, taking small vessels which, they filled with the glittering potion and walked back to their tables where some kind of investigation objects stood. Talea assumed that they were studying the effects of the powerful potion.

She watched in awe as an Unspeakable waved his wand over the vessel and sparks erupted in the air. He grabbed a quill and wrote onto a piece of parchment, a smile on his face.

Ivar pulled her out of her trance as he motioned her to follow him and they walked around the room. They walked over to the wizard that Talea has previously watched and approached him.

His face was covered in wrinkles and his mouth was stretched into a friendly smile. His hair was long but already white and he had pulled it up into a bun.

"Ah, you must be Ms Lupin."

Talea nodded her head and offered him a polite smile "Yes, nice to meet you Mr..."

"Oh, Albert Sallow, I've heard some things about you Ms Lupin, great things you know." Talea just smiled awkward, not knowing what to reply to his answer.

Ivar seemed to notice her problem and questioned "Well, could you explain what the Love Room is about exactly?"

"This room has to be locked at all times, it contains a force that is at once more wonderful and more terrible than death, than human intelligence, than the forces of nature, than anything else you could possibly imagine. You know, it is also, perhaps, the most mysterious of the many subjects for study that reside there. This chamber is used to study all the effects of the potions and the subject of love in general. But you could've explained that too Mr. Marshall, isn't it one of your favourite subjects to work with?"

"Of course," chuckled Ivar "But no one is able to describe the Love Chamber as dramatic as you, Mr. Sallow."

The old man grinned "Ah yes, this is really my favourite thing to work with. Love is just such an interesting subject."

After a few moments of small talk Ivar decided to walk back to the Entrance Chamber and opened another door.

This Chamber was larger than the love Chamber, dimly lit and rectangular, and the center of it was sunken, forming a great stone pit about twenty feet below them. They were standing on what seemed to be stone benches running all around the room and descending in steep steps. There was a raised stone dais in the center of the lowered floor, where a stone archway stood that looked very ancient and had cracks in it, like it could crumble down any moment. The archway was hung with a tattered black curtain despite the complete stillness of the cold surrounding air, was fluttering very slightly as though it had just been touched.

Talea shuddered, something in this room made her shiver but it wasn't just the cold, it was as if the place held a horrible past or a distant memory that haunted her like a nightmare.