Artemis Hexley and the Return to the Riddles

Chapter 22: Through the Darkness, and What Artemis Found There

Artemis had never used Gillyweed before, and she would not soon use it again. Its effects were wholly unpleasant - moments after she had swallowed the slimy tendrils of the plant, she felt a searing pain on either side of her neck. Instinctively, her hands went to the place that hurt, and her fingertips brushed over deep ridges in the skin. Gills.

All of a sudden, she felt as if her lungs had become empty. She tried to gasp, but she could not breathe. Looking around at her companions, they were experiencing the same horrible sensation.

"The water," Tulip gasped. "We need to get into the water."

She dived off the jetty, and Artemis and the others followed suit, plunging themselves headfirst into the ice cold water. The second she was fully submerged, the pressure in Artemis' chest lifted. She could breathe at last. She looked down at her hands and feet, and saw that she not only had the plant given her gills, but also webbed fingers and toes.

The effects of the Gillyweed meant that the group were able to swim more powerfully through the lake to the cave which housed the Cursed Vault, with Artemis, Merula, and Ben leading the way through the murky depths.

Just as they had found a year previously, the closer they got to their destination, the clearer the water became. By the time the cave was visible, towering over the inky depths from the point where it extended from the floor of the lake, there was no sign that any life had been close by in years. Artemis felt a chill all over her body that she suspected had nothing to do with the temperature of the water.

Inside the cave, there was no water at all, and the Gillyweed's effects immediately wore off. Artemis took a deep breath through her mouth, feeling the cold, damp air fill her lungs.

"I don't like this," said Penny, staring at the walls of the cave. "I don't like this at all. It feels..."

"Evil," Tulip finished Penny's sentence for her. Beside her, Barnaby nodded, his eyes wide and frightened.

"These places often do," said Bill. He spoke with the confidence of a seasoned curse-breaker, but Artemis could see the way his jaw had tightened. "Come on. It's high time we broke this curse. Which way do we go?"

Artemis pointed at a hole in the wall of the cave, which lead through to a second, smaller cave. With the others following behind her, she led the cave system until they reached a dead end.

"This is it," she said. "Everyone in?"

She waved her wand, casting the revealing spell Professor McGonagall had taught her in her second year, and the whole cave began to rumble and shake. The ground below trembled, and the rocks that formed the cave walls shifted so that there were seven of them, with no exit in sight. In the centre of the Vault, a glowing column rose from the ground. Bill's eyebrows raised.

"This really is it," he said. "So, what next?"

"I'm not sure," said Artemis, frowning as she stared at the glowing column. "Last time I tried Legilimency, but it didn't work. I had to touch the column - actually touch it - and then it..."

Her voice tailed off as she remembered the way the Vault had fought back; the darkness that had consumed her, the terrible memories she had been forced to relive, the feeling of deep and unending despair. She swallowed hard.

"Everything went dark and we all got stuck in a memory loop," Merula explained for her. "All our worst memories played in our heads."

"Don't forget how horrible it felt," said Ben. "Like you'd never be able to feel anything good again."

"So, the Vault is full of a big Dementor," said Barnaby. Everyone stared at him, and he nodded his head sagely.

"I'm not sure what it was," Artemis told him. "But it only went away when we had our hands holding someone else's."