They were finally descending, and Cassie let out a surprised scream as the creature swooped downwards. Now, bright orange lights were growing larger and rounder on all sides; they could see the tops of buildings, chains of headlights resembling insect eyes.
She clung to the Thestral with her last bit of strength, bracing for a sudden impact, but the creature landed on the dark ground with the lightness of a shadow, and she slipped off its back, peering around the street. The overflowing dumpster remained a short distance from the vandalized telephone booth, both neglected under the uniform orange glow of the street lamps.
Ron landed a bit ahead and immediately fell off the Thestral onto the pavement. "Never again," he said, struggling to get up. He tried to move away from the creature but, unable to see it, collided with something and almost fell again. "Never, never again... It was the worst..." he grumbled.
Hermione and Ginny dismounted on each side, both sliding off the creature a bit more gracefully than Ron, although with similar expressions of relief at being back on solid ground. Neville jumped down, trembling, and Luna dismounted gently, just like Harry.
"So, where are we going now?" Luna asked casually.
(...)
They hurried towards a telephone booth, squeezing together inside. "The Ministry of Magic wishes you a pleasant evening," said the female voice.
The door of the telephone booth swung open, and Cassie stumbled out, followed by Harry, Neville, and Luna. The only sound in the Atrium was the continuous flow of water in the golden fountain, pouring from the wands of the witch and wizard, the centaur's arrow, the goblin's hat, and the house-elves' ears into the surrounding tank.
"Let's go," Harry whispered, and the seven of them rushed through the hall, with Harry in the lead. They passed by the fountain and headed towards the table where the wizard guard, who had weighed Cassie's wand when she registered as an Animagus, was now absent.
They crossed the golden gates towards the lift. Harry pressed the nearest down button, and an elevator appeared almost immediately with a deafening noise. The golden gates opened, producing a loud metallic echo, and they boarded quickly. Harry pressed the button for the ninth floor, and the gates closed with a bang, and the elevator began to descend, swaying noisily.
"Department of Mysteries," announced the elevator's voice, and the gates opened. They stepped out into the corridor, exploring through the doors.
"In my dream, I went through that dark room, and then another. I think we should go back and try again from there," Harry pointed out. So, they quickly returned to the dark and circular room.
"Wait!" Hermione said energetically as Luna moved to close the door of the Brain Room behind them. "Flagrate!" She drew a symbol in the air with her wand, and a flaming X appeared on the door. Just as the door snapped shut with a click, there was a loud noise, and once again, the wall began to spin rapidly. But now, there was a red and gold blur in the middle of the pale blue, and when everything stopped, the fiery cross was still burning, indicating the door they had already tried.
"Well thought," Cassie praised, and Hermione's cheeks turned ruby red.
"Okay, this is the one," said Hermione.
Everyone had their wands in hand and suddenly seemed serious and anxious. Cassi turned to the door and pushed it open. It revealed the room; they had found it: as tall as a cathedral, containing only high shelves covered with small glass spheres filled with dust. The spheres glowed dimly in the light of the chandeliers fixed at intervals along the shelves. Like in the circular room they had left behind, the flames were blue. The room was very cold.
Cassi pushed Harry and tried to listen for any movement. "There's no one here," she whispered. "At least not for now."
"You said it was on corridor ninety-seven," she whispered to Harry.
Under the chandelier of blue flames, which stood out, they saw the number fifty-three in silver.
"We need to go to the right, I think," whispered Hermione, squinting to see the next row.
"And... this is fifty-four..."
"Keep your wands ready," Harry recommended quietly.
They moved slowly, looking back as they walked along the long corridors of shelves, the far end of which was shrouded in almost complete darkness. Tiny yellowed labels were stuck under each glass sphere on the shelves. Some had a strange liquid gleam; others were opaque and dark inside, like burnt-out lamps. They passed row eighty-four... eighty-five...
Cassi stopped abruptly when she heard her name.
94
She took a few steps back and saw one sphere glowing more than the others, as f calling her. There was her name on a yellowed paper with a scribbled letter. The date was from 17 years ago.
S.P.T. to A.P.W.B.G. Cassiopeia Gaunt.
Cassi approached and picked up the sphere in her hands. Surprisingly, despite looking like a cold object, it was warm to the touch.
"In the deepest darkness, when the last breath of April fills the air, from those who bravely betrayed, a girl will be born to avenge the departed. From the darkest lineages, she shall emerge, bathed in Black, yet bearer of the Light. After the fall of night, she shall bring forth the dawn, a beacon of hope that all shall see. Torn between darkness and light, she shall be the guardian of the chosen one, his shield and protection. She shall deceive the Dark Lord, the blood of her blood, defying his oppression."
Cassi took a step back, almost dropping the sphere to the ground. She was breathing heavily and looked around for her friends. They were a little ahead, so she had to run a bit.
"Harry!" she called out.
Then Cassi saw a figure behind the shelf and raised her wand towards it.
"Damn it... Harry!" she called out louder.
"What?!" he shouted.
"Sirius is not here," she stated, confirming her fears.
This was definitely a trap.
No one spoke. Harry didn't want to look at anyone.
"Did you see this?" Ron asked suddenly.
"What?" said Harry, this time anxious.
"There's... there's your name written here," said Ron, pointing to a blue sphere.
Oh, damn. This is what Voldemort wants.
Harry approached a little closer.
"My name?" said Harry, not understanding.
He took one step forward. Harry's eyes widened.
"What is this?" Ron asked, looking nervous. "Why is your name here?" Ron looked at the other labels on that shelf. "I'm not here," he said, perplexed. "None of us are."
"Well, actually, I am," Cassi lifted the blue sphere in her hands, and six pairs of eyes looked at her.
"Harry, I think you shouldn't touch that," Cassi warned when Harry reached out for the sphere.
"Why?" he said. "It's something related to me, isn't it?"
"No, Harry," she pleaded firmly.
"It has my name on it," said Harry, reaching out and grabbing the damn sphere.
The others moved closer to Harry, staring at the globe as he wiped off the dust covering it.
Cassi heard something behind them, and her eyes widened when she saw the masked person.
"Damn it," she whispered to herself.
"Harry!" she shouted to get his attention.
"Well done, Potter. Now turn around very slowly and hand that over to me."
Dark figures emerged from all sides, blocking the boys' path to the left and right. Eyes glowed in the hood slits, and a dozen lit wand tips were pointed directly at their hearts.
"To me, Potter," Lucius Malfoy's drawling voice repeated, palm up.
Well, screw it. She was right after all. Numerical disadvantage of two to one.
"To me," Lucius repeated again.
"Where is Sirius?" Harry asked.
Several Death Eaters laughed; a shrill woman's voice, among the shadowy figures to Harry's left, triumphantly said, "The Dark Lord is always right!"
"Always," repeated Malfoy softly. "Now, give me the prophecy, Potter."
Cassi felt a tingling in her hands. Her chest went numb, and then she knew whose voice it was.
"Oh no" she whispered to herself.
A pair of deep dark brown orbs. Eyes that were filled with mischief and framed by the most beautiful set of wild black curls. They stared at her in the shadows.
"I want to know where Sirius is!"
"I want to know where Sirius is!" Bellatrix mimicked. She and her fellow Death Eaters had approached and were just a few meters away from Cassi and the others.
"You caught him," Harry panicked. "He's here. I know he is."
"He's not! Airhead," Cassi growled exasperatedly. "It's a trap."
"The little baby woke up scared and thought his dream was reality," Bellatrix mocked childishly with a baby's voice. "You'd better listen to the girl. She seems to be the smart one," she resumed her voice in a hoarse and deep tone.
"Don't do anything!" Harry muttered.
"Not yet..." Cassi agreed with a nod.
Bellatrix burst into laughter. "Did you hear that? Did you hear that? Giving instructions to the other kids as if he thought he could face us!"
"If you do anything, I'll break it," Harry growled.
Cassi watched Hermione discreetly pull her hand to exchange the spheres. She guided it to her friend and took Harry's sphere, tucking it into her jacket.
Then Bellatrix laughed and stepped out of the shadows. "He knows how to play..." she laughed maniacally. "Itty, bitty, baby, Potter!"
"Bellatrix Lestrange," Neville recognized with a shudder.
"Neville Longbottom, is it? How's mom and dad?" she taunted in a laugh.
"Better now that they're about to be avenged," Neville growled, pointing his wand, and Cassiopeia didn't know why, but she held him back to stop him.
She felt Bellatrix's burning eyes on her and tried to look anywhere but at the woman.
"Well, let's all calm down," Lucius politely requested. "We just want that prophecy."
"Why did Voldemort need me to come and get it?" Harry questioned.
"How dare you speak his name?" Bellatrix questioned horrified. "YOU FILTHY HALF-BLOOD!"
"He's half-blood, you know. Your leader is a half-blood," Hermione taunted.
"HOW DARE YOU ADDRESS ME, YOU MUDBLOOD!" Bellatrix roared in fury. "My lord is a descendant of Salazar himself."
"A disowned one, actually," Cassi taunted, wrinkling her nose like Narcissa. "His great-grandfather was expelled from the family many years ago for being overly ambitious. He almost destroyed our fortune. My great-grandmother Noctua I , saved us from ruin and kept the pure bloodline."
Bellatrix seemed like she wanted to curse her, but Lucius stopped her. "It's alright. Let's focus on what matters. Potter is a curious boy, isn't he?" Lucius tried to pacify.
"The prophecy can only be removed by those of whom they speak. Which is very lucky for you, really," he said, getting closer as he spoke.
"Ah, yes... Very lucky," Cassi lamented, giving a look to her friend who smiled sourly in apology.
"Haven't you always wondered the reason for the connection between you and the dark lord? Hum?" Lucius continued to approach as he spoke. "Why he was unable to kill you... when you were just an infant? Don't you want to know the secret of your scar? All the answers are there, Potter, in your hand. All you have to do... is give it to me... then I can show you everything."
"I've waited 14 years," Harry said sadly.
Cassi whispered to Hermione, who nodded slightly.
"I know," Lucius said paternalistically. "I guess I can wait a little longer!" Harry smiled wryly.
"NOW!" Cassiopeia shouted.
"STUPEFY!" They all yelled, sending the Death Eaters flying in different directions.
"REDUCTO!" Cassi shouted, and the shelves in front of them exploded when hit. The enormous structure swayed as a hundred glass spheres shattered, pearly-white shapes unfolded in the air and floated, their voices echoing from a long-dead past, amid a rain of glass and wood shards now falling to the ground.
"RUN!" Harry shouted as the shelves swayed precariously and more glass spheres started to fall.
Cassiopeia grabbed Hermione's robes and pulled her forward, raising her arm to protect their heads from the glass shardls raining down on them. A Death Eater lunged at them through the cloud of dust, and Harry threw himself on top of them, elbowing them
asked face with force. Everyone was shouting; there were cries of pain and crashes of shelves collapsing on them, strangely fragmented echoes of the Seers freed from their spheres...
They ran, arms over their heads; something heavy struck her hip, but she merely put her hand in front of it and kept running. Something grabbed her shoulder, and she pushe Hermione forward before shouting, "STUPEFY!" over her shoulder.
The hand released her immediately... They were at the end of aisle ninety-seven: the group turned right and started running at full speed.
They stumbled into a cramped room, and she sealed the room with three protective spells.
"Listen!" Cassi growled, paying attention to the corridor outside.
Footsteps and shouts echoed from the other side of the door that Cassiopeia had just sealed; then they heard Lucius shouting, "Leave him, Nott, leave him there. His injuries will mean nothing to the Dark Lord compared to losing the prophecy."
"Jugson, come back here, we need to organize ourselves! Let's split into pairs and search, and remember, be gentle with Potter until we have the prophecy; you can kill the others if you need to... except for Gaunt! Don't hurt her! Bellatrix, Ron Macnair, and Avery, come over here... Rookwood, over there..."
"What do we do?" Harry asked in panic.
"Staying here and waiting for them to find us won't be it!" Cassi taunted.
They sneaked around, trying to make as little noise as possible as they headed for the exit leading to the circular room in the back. They were almost reaching the place when suddenly Cassi heard a heavy thud against the door, which she quickly sealed with a spell.
"Stand back!" said a harsh voice.
"Run!" Cassi shouted, and they hurriedly left as the Death Eaters tried in vain to open the door.
However, they fell from a great height, and if it weren't for Hermione, they would have turned into jelly.
"Department of Mysteries... A quite fitting name, don't you think?" Ron commented, helping Cassi to her feet.
In the center of the room, there was an immense stone arch that looked like a portal. Cassi was surprised to see the structure standing.
But then she heard her name being called.
"The voices," Harry questioned, approaching as well. "Are you hearing what they say?"
"There are no voices," Hermione asserted, watching them closely.
"I hear them too," Luna said, looking around.
However, before they could fully comprehend what was happening, the Death Eaters found them.
"Back off!" Cassi shouted, and the group positioned themselves for a fight.
It was chaos. Dark shadows flew around them, making it hard to distinguish friends from foes. Firm hands grabbed them, a powerful jolt of electricity ran through Cassi, and she found herself being pulled by the waist by someone.
Cassiopeia was pulled back, pressing against a warm and feminine body. Her captor wore leather clothes, and Cassiopeia could feel the curves of the woman's body pressing against her back.
A cold hand landed on her hair and guided her head back, resting it on a strong shoulder, while the hand holding her wand was tightly gripped, keeping her arm and hand by her side with the woman's arm around her body.
"Nice perfume," Bellatrix whispered in her ear, burying her head between Cassiopeia's neck and shoulder to smell her better.
Cassi tried to pull away, but Bellatrix held her firmly, pressing them together.
"Stay still, pet," Bellatrix growled, pointing her wand at Cassiopeia's neck, freezing her in place. She was conflicted, not knowing whether to be terrified at the idea of being held captive by the legendary mad witch or grateful that it was her and not a creepy man.
"That's better," Bellatrix praised with a little chuckle.
Meanwhile, Harry was lying on the floor, and his friends were being held by the Death Eaters.
"Did you actually believe, or were you truly naive enough to think... that children stood a chance against us?" Lucius asked, amused, as he approached Harry. "I'll make this simple for you, Potter. Give me the prophecy now... or watch your friends die." He extended his hand.
Harry looked around frantically.
"Don't give it to him, Harry!" Cassi exclaimed, and Bellatrix pulled her hair, tilting her head back so forcefully that she cried out in pain.
"No joking around, my little doll," the witch hissed in her ear.
Harry handed the prophecy to Lucius, who had a look of immense satisfaction on his face.
Cassiopeia fought to hold back laughter. That was her prophecy.
Then, two more doors opened high above, and five more people rushed into the room: Sirius, Lupin, Moody, Tonks, and Kingsley.
Lucius didn't have time to react.
"Stay away from my godson," Sirius said calmly and punched Malfoy, who fell to the floor like a sack of garbage.
"And from my NIECE!" Sirius shouted, casting a spell at Bellatrix, who narrowly ducked.
Bellatrix raised her wand, but Tonks had already fired a Stunning Spell at her.
Cassi didn't wait to see if the witch was hit; she quickly moved away from the dais and the attacks.
The Death Eaters were completely distracted by the arrival of the Order members, who began to cast spells non-stop against the enemies.
The prophecy fell from Lucius's hands and shattered on the floor. He stood there, mouth agape, looking like an idiot.
A chaos of spells followed, and Cassiopeia found herself alongside Siris and Harry, fighting four Death Eaters.
"Missed you, old dog!" Cassi exclaimed as she sent Dollohov flying through the air.
"Good girl!" Sirius yelled, laughing.
Harry sent Lestrange flying.
"That was a good one, James!" Said Sirius
Harry looked very surprised to be called by his father's name and smiled with pride.
"When all this is over, we'll have ice cream together," Sirius laughed as he focused on the fight.
Lucius was hit by a spell and flew away.
But then Bellatrix threw something at Sirius that left him dazed for a moment. He stumbled backward, disoriented, with a deep look of fear taking over his face. Tripping over his own feet, he fell into the portal, disappearing.
Bellatrix seemed to panic, her face torn between shock and something else before she vanished.
Cassiopeia didn't hear anything else. She swayed on her own body as she felt her legs give way, her knees hitting the ground hard, letting out a desperate scream. The world seemed to crumble around her.
Tears ran down her cheeks as she tried to process Sirius's death. A sense of emptiness flooded her, a profound despair that seemed to suffocate her.
She wanted to scream, she wanted it to be just a terrible nightmare she could wake up from.
Is it real? He's not coming back? No no no no no.
Her words came out in a sob, "It can't be true, it can't be."
She felt a sharp pain in her chest, as if a part of her had been ripped away, something writhing darkly and taking its place. The image of Sirius falling into the portal was etched into her mind, and a sense of helplessness overwhelmed her.
Harry seemed to want to go towards the portal, hoping that Sirius would be okay. But Lupin held him back as he too cried out in deep pain. Cassiopeia wanted to approach, to comfort Harry and share her own sorrow, but everything around her felt distant and blurred. The sounds became indistinct, as if they were coming from very far away.
Someone grabbed her and pulled her into the darkness. Cassi tried to fight, desperate to escape and return to her friends, but she felt a great unease spreading through her body. Her vision began to blur, and darkness swallowed her as she lost consciousness.
"Sorry, little witch, but I have orders to follow," someone whispered as they cast a spell on her body, causing her to faint.