To Granger's credit, the only professors to arrive before the counselor were the Headmaster and his deputy. Ambervale himself appeared as the Dark Maiden was explaining the situation, skidding around the corner at high speed. He was carrying the battle-axe that had been hanging on his wall in one hand. Close on his heels were professors Flitwick, Burbage, Vector, and Sinistra. Hagrid was lumbering a short distance behind, puffing slightly from exertion. All of them came to halt behind the counselor, being careful to give the battle-axe a rather wide berth.

Pamela wasted little time. "The seal somehow weakened enough that a student accidentally entered. If we don't act fast, he will die. He's no match for the monster trapped inside."

Professor Sinistra stared at the Dark Maiden. "What kind of monster is it? One that will repel spells?"

Pamela just shook her head. "Oh no, it's quite possible to harm it with magic. Unfortunately except for a few weaknesses, the effort required to do that is somewhat on par with subduing a Nundu. It's extremely resilient. And what's worse, the student inside doesn't have a single spell that could hurt it at his disposal. He needs to be found. Fast."

~~~

Harry first realized that something wasn't right when he noticed how dirty the halls looked. By that time, he had calmed down enough to actually start noticing his surroundings. Looking closer at one wall, he saw that it was spattered with what looked like scorch marks.

What was more, he could hear a faint, but consistent, scratching noise, the sort an animal would make when it was trapped behind a door. The sound seemed to be coming from everywhere at once, but there was no sign of anything that could be making it.

The most obvious sign of wrongness however, showed itself farther down the hallway. Though the open space seemed to be covered by some kind of odd waxy sheen, it didn't prevent the window from letting through a beam of radiant sunlight. Less odd, and far more disturbing, was the message that someone seemed to have gouged into the wall below the window, and from the looks of it, it had been done in a great hurry.

Harry knelt to read it, feeling the warm sun shining on his back. "You who read this, know this. What stalks these halls is neither of this world, nor of this realm. It is not of the kind of we who walk in the sun. Ye sunwalker…thou must use true courage to defend thyself.

Unbidden the words of the woman in Harry's dreams flashed through his mind. "Even the worst creatures respect true courage." She had said.

Below the message was a crude drawing, along with another string of words. "Draw thy wand and allow thine magic to flow, feel the music grow from within thy soul. Spirits of death and darkness wander where they do not belong, bring them calm through the power of the solar song."

Drawing his wand and wondering if he was crazy, Harry stood. Then he drew in a deep breath, and felt for his magic the way he had when Pamela had shown him how to move the staircases.

It came much more easily this time, rushing through him into his wand, which seemed to glow. Drawing in another breath, Harry waved the wand in the pattern the drawing seemed to show.

Instantly, it felt as though every fiber of his body was basking in warm sunlight. A strange golden glow spiraled out of him, arcing to fill the room with shifting waves of gold, a lilting melody accompanying it from nowhere and everywhere at the same time.

Then there was an earsplitting screech of pain from above. Shocked, Harry looked straight up. Then he was sure his heart stopped.

It was like nothing he had ever seen. There were eight legs like a spider, but any similarity to one ended there. The body looked as if it might have been somewhat bloated at one point, though now it seemed almost concave. He could see at least six rows of sharp teeth, all looking very long, and seeming to take up the majority of its face. There were three blood red eyes, all oversized and all with snake-like pupils. The skin was the same color as the stone around it, though leathery. There were even arms and hands, which looked much like a human's, but with wickedly sharp claws.

Most alarming however, was the fact that it was glaring him without blinking.

The golden waves of light swirling through the room spun together suddenly, and blasted into the creature with amazing speed. It let out another screech of pain as the golden light swept over it, and then froze, falling off the ceiling to smash onto the ground with a crash, body twitching slightly.

A ray of the light spun off to collide with a section of wall, which instantly slid away to reveal a staircase. Harry wasted no time in running for it. The instant his foot touched the first step, the wall slid closed. A few seconds later there was another earsplitting screech, though this one was distinctly muffled, and the sound of furious scratching. After nearly a minute, the monstrosity let out what was clearly a howl of rage.

Harry shuddered and backed up the steps as the scratching started up again.

"Don't worry."

Had he a voice, Harry would have most definitely screamed. He whirled to find the speaker a short way up the steps.

It, he rather, for it was most definitely human and male in appearance, glided down the steps. Harry was tempted to call it a ghost, except he had already seen some of the ghosts that called the castle home, and this being didn't look much like them. But then again neither did Pamela, whom Harry was starting to suspect was the general exception to the rule.

The being, whatever it was, laid a luminescent golden hand on his shoulder. "This staircase and the rooms it leads to are well guarded. The power of the sun protects it. The sunwalkers alone may enter here.

Harry blinked at the word. "Did you write that message on the wall?" Belatedly, he remembered that Snape had done something to disable the quill. It therefore came as a surprise to him when there was a small pop, and the quill suddenly appeared out of thin air in a flash of silver light.

It still looked rather wilted and bedraggled, and the letters were shaky, but to Harry's heartfelt relief, it wrote out the words all the same.

The being smiled slightly. "Yes. I also placed an enchantment on the window. Whether it be day or night, real sunlight will always shine through. It is a barrier the monster cannot withstand or break. You see, it comes from a place that has no such thing as sunlight, and therefore is greatly weakened by it. Light itself is akin to an allergy for it."

He frowned now, looking grim. "The fact that you are here is most troubling however. The seal protecting this portion of the castle should not have failed." He stopped and seemed to look beyond the wall. Then he leaned down so that he was at eye level with Harry. "There are others here now. They are searching for you even as we speak. It would be best if you wait in this pathway for them. The monstrosity cannot reach you here."

"Are you sure it can't get in?"

He smiled again. "I am. I gave my last to protect this path. It will hold against the darkness, and no evil may penetrate here." He stood and glided past him down the stairs. Over one shoulder he said, "Lady Peace would have my head were it any other way." He stopped briefly. "Remember the Solar Song, it has great power over those who are here beyond their time. There are other soul melodies hidden within the walls of the castle. I would advise that they be sought out." Then he turned away, and with a faint chiming sound, vanished.

~~~

"Keep your wands ready at all times!" Ambervale snapped out as he made gesture with one hand. The blank wall before them rippled as though it were puddle, and become faint and misty. "Be warned, if we encounter the beast, it will take a concentrated effort for almost any spell to damage it." He turned to Draco and Hermione. "Mister Malfoy, Miss Granger, please go to the hospital wing at once and alert Madame Pomfrey to be prepared for our arrival, and wait there for our return." They both nodded and dashed away.

As she sighted down her wand, Charity frowned. "Why are they waiting for us?"

Ambervale scowled. "I'd prefer that they assure themselves of their friend's safety. Less hassle on all parts." He hefted the axe. "Be alert. The beast is very adept at stealth. And stay in pairs of two minimum."

The Dark Maiden gave a rather dangerous looking smile. "I'll go it alone, thanks all the same. There's not much it could do to me as I am. And I can go through walls." She floated up above their heads, looking around. "If I spot Harry, I'll let you know."

She started to fly off, but paused when Ambervale spoke. "Harry? As in Harry Potter?!" he snapped.

She nodded. "Yes. Apparently he was upset about something, and ran off after his class. Straight into here somehow. I have yet to get the full story."

Ambervale's expression was unreadable. "I see." His tone was clipped and cold, and upon hearing it, Professor Burbage carefully edged away from him. He hefted his axe and scowled. "Go then. Hurry."

Pamela was gone through a wall before he finished speaking.

~~~

The problem with being in the dark, Harry found, was that it was too dark for his liking. Without the being, whatever he was, there was nothing to keep the darkness at bay. And after what he'd just seen, Harry found he had no desire for the pitch-blackness. Then there was a faint chirp from his robes. Whimsy rose from his pocket, seeming to shiver as he did so.

The tiny creature twitched in midair. Harry blinked as he felt a strange pressure seem to build around them. Then he heard a faint chiming sound. As it faded, so did the pressure. However, Whimsy, or his feathers at any rate, began to glow.

In a few seconds, the tiny avian was shining like a beacon, bathing the hall in a small, but tangible pool of light.

Harry felt his jaw trying to drop. Reaching a finger out to stroke Whimsy's head, he thought. "You're amazing, you know that?" The snidget let out a rather smug sounding chirp.

They both froze when the faint sound of a door creaking open came from farther down the hall, Whimsy dropping to land on Harry's shoulder. Harry bit his lip, waiting for something to happen.

Something did. Though not from where he expected. There was an earsplitting shriek of some kind from behind them, followed by the sound of a muffled impact.

Deciding that whatever was up ahead could hardly be as bad as what was behind them, Harry ran for it. As weird as it was, the being had said, "Evil cannot penetrate here." Harry was willing to take his chances with that.

~~~

Once the Dark Maiden was gone, they split up into groups. Ambervale himself was with Professor Burbage and Hagrid, who had been afraid of the possibility of him trampling poor Professor Flitwick.

Though she wouldn't say it out loud, Charity was glad the giant man was with them. His very presence was reassuring to have. Instead she asked, "What can actually hurt this thing?"

Ambervale scowled. "Not much." He whispered. "It's naturally resistant to magic itself, so it's generally better to cast at something other than the beast." He hefted his weapon. "My axe however, can wound it rather easily. It is the sort of monstrosity it was designed to combat." After stopping to peer around a corner he said, "However, it absolutely detests light, sunlight in particular. Almost any light spell can deter it, so long as it's sufficiently bright."

Hagrid let out a low growl. "And Harry can't cast any magic! He's a goner in here for sure!"

~~~

The room obviously hadn't seen any use for a very long time. The dust lay so thick that everything looked dull and gray. It reminded Harry very strongly of Ollivander's shop. Whimsy darted into the room, dust trails sparkling around the tiny glowing wings.

Harry followed the bird, trying very hard not to sneeze, and nearly went head over heels when he tripped on something lying on the floor. He saw a moldy looking curtain hanging on one wall. There was evidently a window behind it, as the fabric was glowing slightly with what looked like ordinary sunlight.

Making his way over to it, Harry grasped the aged silken fabric and yanked it aside. Sunlight streamed into the room, mixing with the billowing cloud of dust that escaped from the sheet.

As the cloud finally settled, Whimsy stopped glowing, and started flying about the room, inspecting things now that they were properly lit. Harry glanced around and found the object that had tripped him. Now that he could see it properly, he discovered it to be a broken table. The top was propped up against one leg. He flinched when a muffled explosion came from somewhere underneath the room, followed by a roar. Thankfully, it sounded far away.

~~~

Professor Ambervale peered around another corner. "Be as quiet as possible." He whispered. "The creature makes nary a sound when it doesn't want to, and it can move at ridiculous speeds."

All three of the flinched when a seeming war-cry erupted from behind them, and they turned just in time to catch the Dark Maiden tearing down the corridor, fists blazing with mage flame. She hurtled around the corner at breakneck speed. "Chew on this, you misbegotten nightmare!" There was a wash of heat as an explosion ripped through the halls, shaking dust and grime from the stones.

As a hideous shrieking roar sounded, Ambervale shook his head. "So much for stealth." He muttered. Then, hefting his axe, he dashed forward to join the fight, Charity and Hagrid right behind him.

~~~

Harry leaned back against the table leg, accidentally knocking into the table top. He managed to catch it before it fell over. To his surprise, some of the dust wiped away to reveal a shiny surface. Curious, he flipped a sleeve over one hand and started rubbing at the table top in earnest.

He had cleared a patch the size of his fist in the center when the table top suddenly said, "Well! It's about damn time!" Harry nearly dropped the object when he found the cleared space was no longer empty. Instead, an enormous eye was staring at him, looking rather peeved.

Charity nearly shrieked when she caught her first glimpse of the beast. Then she rallied herself. "Lumos Solem!"

As radiant sunlight poured from the wandtip, the creature backed steadily away. Then it hooked a leg into nearby door, and with a swift motion, jerked it from its hinges and sent it flying at her. Charity barely managed to duck underneath it. Hagrid caught it mid-flight and flung it back with all the force he could muster. It flew with astonishing speed, and impacted with the creature, splintering to pieces and sending it tumbling back.

Something white and vaguely blade shaped zipped overhead, impacting with the nightmarish face. It let out a shrill squeal, sounding rather like a pig. It clawed at its face as jet black liquid oozed from the cut.

Mahelestro Ambervale deftly stepped around Hagrid, gripping his axe, the blade of which was still glowing. He smiled rather darkly. "Ill met, old foe."

The beast went silent at that, staring at the man unblinkingly.

~~~

The iris of the eye was an orange that bordered on neon. The eye itself also showed no sign of remaining silent. Its voice was a deep bass tenor, though it sounded remarkably grumpy. "Honestly! Do you have any idea just how…" It trailed off suddenly, looking Harry over. "Oh. You're not him." It sounded disappointed.

Harry bit his lip. "Umm…I'm sorry?"

The eye blinked. "For what? Being here?" Then it glanced around. "Speaking of which, this place looks like its seen better days." Its gaze snapped back to Harry. "Hey much as I appreciate what you've already done, would you mind finishing what you started? Monocular vision leaves a lot to be desired."

Harry blinked, then nodded. "Sure." He pulled the object forward and started rubbing in earnest.

The eye crinkled slightly. "Thanks kid." It said.

~~~

The beast was staring at the man in unabashed shock, totally heedless of the blood streaming down its face. Then it hissed, picking itself up off the ground.

Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, Sinistra, Vector, and Flitwick arrived then, looking slightly winded.

The monster paid them absolutely no attention, its gaze fixed on Ambervale's. It hissed again, sliding into what was definitely a fighting stance.

Ambervale simply smiled and slid into a stance of his own, axe blade glowing white.

~~~

As it turned out, the talking eye was not one at all. Or rather it was an eye, but it was attached to a face and head. Aside from having a distinctly male face, the head was fairly androgynous. The eyes were the only thing that had color; the rest of it was in various shades of milky white. It was rather like being stared down by a bird of prey.

The head made a rolling motion, looking for all the world like someone stretching. Then it looked around the room again. "Eesh! From the looks of it, I've been here a while." It glanced at Harry. "What year is it anyway?"

"Nineteen ninety one."

The head blinked. "Oh. Longer than I thought. A lot longer. Well…you're here, and wearing student robes, so the castle must still be going as a school." Harry stared at it. "I don't suppose you're here because they finally managed to off that psychopathic spider demon?" It didn't sound very hopeful.

"You mean that thing prowling the halls?"

The head sighed. "I'll take that as a no." Then it brightened. "But you still got here, so that's something."

"I don't know how I got here actually. I just read some message and made some kind of music with it, and escaped into here."

"Music?" The head asked sharply. "You mean you cast the Solar Song?"

Harry blinked. "That's what that guy called it too! What is it?"

The head spun like a top and vanished. In its place an image of the sun appeared. From somewhere within the depths of the mirror, the head's voice spoke. "The Solar Song is ancient spell from the soul class of magic. Its music is a celebration of life, growth, and the joy felt by all beings that walk in its warmth." The image vanished as the head returned. "Because of its nature, the dead who are beyond their time can't withstand it, because it reminds them of what they've lost."

The head frowned. "The Solar Song is one of the few things that can cause any significant trouble for the demon." Its frown deepened. "But how did you even find it? This whole portion of the castle was locked away centuries ago to trap it. "

Harry shook his head. "I don't know how I got in here. I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going, and the next thing I know, there was a message carved into a wall." He shrugged. "I don't even know how I'm going to get out of here!"

The head grunted. "Oh I can help with that. There's just one thing you gotta do."

Harry stared at it "What's that?"

"Spring me."

Harry blinked. "What?"

"Did I stutter?" The head looked grouchy again. "I want out of this dirt trap. I've been stuck here for centuries, and enough's enough!" It looked at him. "Get me out of here, and I'll help you however I can. And that's an open ended contract you can count on."

Harry felt his eyebrows raise. "Um, alright." He looked the mirror up and down. It was taller than he was. "Erm…how?"

The head blinked. "Well…" It trailed off. After a moment of silence however, it brightened. "I know! I've got a shrinking spell built into me for just such an occasion! It doesn't last very long, but it shouldn't have to"

Harry frowned. "How do I activate it?"

The head grinned. "Easy as pie! Tap the top of me with your wand twice."

Harry did so, and had to scramble to catch the mirror as it abruptly shrank to the size of his fist. "Where to now Mister?"

The tiny head contorted into a brief expression of disgust. "Don't call me mister! My name is Silverius, and that's what I'd prefer, thank you very much." Upon seeing Harry's expression however, Silverius's softened somewhat. "Mister makes me sound like someone more sociable that's all." He grinned. "I'm a grouch, and proud of it"

At this, Harry couldn't help smiling too. "All right then, Silverius it is. My name's Harry."

Silverius grin stayed in place. "Nice to meet ya' kid."

Harry glanced around as Whimsy settled onto his shoulder. "So how do we get out of here?"

The mirror let out a curious humming sound that made Harry's ears throb. Then it seemed to flash. As the humming noise faded, Silverius said triumphantly, "Got it!" He looked inordinately pleased with himself. "Thanks to you, my powers are starting to come back on. We should get going while the coast is clear." He frowned in concentration. "It looks like that psychopathic man-eater's run smack into a group of about nine. And they look like they'll actually be able to give it something to fuss about!"

~~~

Ambervale tightened his grip as the monster before him stared him down.

Then demon creature let out a roar and swiped one of its clawed hands back, then flung it forward, releasing something that was black as night and sending it flying towards the counselor.

Ambervale brought the axe up fast as lightning. The dark mass impacted on the blade and exploded in a mass of shadow and noise. Behind him, the Dark Maiden lobbed some kind of golden yellow spell through the faint haze. It collided with a second projectile from the demon and caused it to implode with a horrid squelching sound. "Fight it with light and nature!"

The monster hissed and swung a leg into a nearby wall, neatly breaking a chunk of stone several feet wide out of it and sending it flying towards them. A quick spell from Septima Vector caused it to explode mid-flight. Professor Flitwick was already casting a charm, and before the rubble made it to the ground, it began to glow.

The glowing chunks of stone pulled out of their free-fall and took off back towards the monster, harrying its head like a pack of oversized fireflies. The beast let out a sound of annoyance and swiped at them.

It was effectively distracted from them when Professor Sinistra fired off a spell that shot straight into its open mouth and exploded with a muffled whump. It reared back with a scream, several teeth falling to the ground.

Professor Sinistra looked rather pleased. "Not so spell-proof on the inside I see!" They could all see a definite gap in the beast's teeth where the spell had blown them out.

She was forced to dodge away when the demon set its sights squarely on her and charged. Fast as she was, it still managed to put a deep gash into one leg. As it turned to strike at her again, a ridiculously overpowered expulsion spell from the headmaster caught it square in the chest, sending it flying backwards to smack hard into a wall.

Professor McGonagall sent some kind of spell towards the flying stones, and they morphed into what appeared to be gargoyles, though they still glowed. With a sharp swipe of her wand, they launched themselves at the demon.

For its part, the demon proved to be more than capable of brawling at close range. One of the gargoyles was sliced in half. A second one lost its head.

While it was distracted with the remaining creatures, Professor Vector raised her wand and drew a shining symbol in midair. The symbol rose above her head and pulsed. Then brilliant light started pouring out of it.

This was evidently the last straw. The demon hissed and spread its arms. A wall of solid black shot towards them, obliterating the gargoyles as it went.

Ambervale leaped in front of them, axe blade glowing again. There was a metallic screeching sound as the wall collided with the blade. The counselor grunted as he was forced back several steps, the walls cracking and dust falling from the ceiling. Professor Vector drew another rune in midair. This one let out what looked to be a stream of magenta energy which hit the wall and spread, like water over a floor.

Professor Ambervale smiled grimly and drew back before making a mighty chop with the axe. The glowing blade cleaved through the wall as if it were so much tissue paper. There was a rushing sound, and the blackness disintegrated in a blast of air.

Down the hall, the demon hissed. It hunched in on itself and a vortex of shadows sprouted up around it. There was another blast of air, and it vanished, the shadows spinning away to dissolve into nothingness.

In the sudden ringing silence, Charity swallowed. "Is it…dead?"

Ambervale shook his head. "Doubt it. Far too resilient for that. More likely gone to lick wounds somewhere." He turned to Professor Vector. "Thank you for assistance. What was the second rune?"

Professor Vector's lips twitched. "Believe it or not, it was an anti-dementor seal." She shrugged when the others stared at her. "It's supposed to seal areas against dark influences. That or seal the dark influences in. I don't know what made me think of it."

Ambervale tapped his lips. "Hmm. Seems like downgraded version of castle seal." Behind him, Hagrid finished bandaging Professor Sinistra's leg and stood.

Helping her to her feet he said, "Tha's best I can do fessor'."

The astronomy professor smiled. "Thank you Hagrid. I think I'll be fine now."

Ambervale frowned. "Nevertheless, should still see Poppy about it. Creature's claws are highly dangerous. Anyone else hurt?"

Charity shrugged. "Just a few scrapes and bruises from the rubble and whatnot."

When there was a general murmur of assent Ambervale said, "Good. Only leaves us with finding Mister Potter now."

Professor McGonagall dusted her hands. "You don't think that thing will attack again?"

The counselor shook his head. "Unless inadvertently run across hiding place, no. It's outmatched against all of us at once, and knows it."

The Dark Maiden frowned. "That's all well and good, but we still have no idea where Harry is."

"He is in the hidden halls beyond the enchanted window." Everyone whipped around to face the golden apparition standing near one wall. "Though for how long is debatable. He seems to be on the move again."

A brief smile lit the counselor's face. "Drear."

The apparition smiled faintly in return. "Mahalestro. Still among the bodied I see." Spotting the Dark Maiden, He gave her a short bow. "My lady."

Giving him a nod, she said, "It's good to see your face again Drear." She frowned. "You said he's in the halls guarded by the enchanted window?"

The golden being inclined his head. "Yes. He may not be there much longer however; I can feel his magical signature moving."

Pamela clapped her hands decisively. "Then we'd better get moving! I'll meet you lot inside!" With that, she darted up through the ceiling.

Professor Ambervale sighed. "As the rest of us cannot do that, I suggest we walk to the nearest entrance. Quickly."

~~~

"This is the spot?" He held up the mirror so it could see.

After a moment it said, "Yup. That's it alright." The head spun in place for a moment. "Ok, once this thing is open, you'll have a straight shot at the nearest seal." Silverius spun again. "Alright, see those four red bricks? You need to tap them with your wand in a certain pattern."

The mirror suddenly began shining with a brilliant ruby red light. "Hold it!" Silverius shouted. Harry jumped so badly he almost dropped him. Silverius winced. "Er, sorry. That demon is just on the other side, and boy is it ticked!" He sounded pleased. "Seems your little rescue party gave it what for!"

"Is it dying?"

Harry felt his hopes drop when Silverius snorted. Loudly. "Fat chance I'm afraid. It's pretty resilient." Then the face blinked. "But maybe not as much as I thought."

Harry frowned at him. "What do you mean?"

Silverius glowed. "I think one of your professors missed their calling. One of them managed to a blow a hole in its teeth. Here's me thinking something like that was impossible."

Then he seemed to shake himself. "But that's beside the point. An animal's never more dangerous than when it's wounded, and the same principle applies here. We need to go a different way. Head back through the door and hang a left."

Harry turned to do so. Then he froze as something rocketed into the hall.

It crashed into a dust ridden torch sconce and exploded with a whump of displaced air, sending centuries of accumulated gray powder flying, and setting the sconce ablaze with writhing magenta and green flames.

Harry felt something seeming to well up inside him. Another projectile came rocketing down the hall, lighting another sconce. This time it was accompanied by a faint shout. "Harry? If you can hear me, make some noise!"

The feeling seemed to explode inside his chest, burning brighter than the torches. Doing the only thing he could think of, he put his fingers to his lips and whistled as hard as he could.

Instantly a flurry of the fireballs came zooming down the halls, homing in on the unlit braziers and sconces, and bathing the hallway in multicolored warmth. Then something much larger than the fireballs came haring towards the little group. It was Pamela, seeming to be going faster than the fireballs she had thrown.

She stopped so suddenly that she appeared to almost turn inside out, her body nothing but misty fog from the waist down. "Thank goodness!" She looked intensely relieved. "And you look like you're in one piece thankfully! Are you hurt?"

Harry shook his head. "Just a few scratches really."

Pamela frowned upon seeing the bedraggled looking quill. "Well, we'll still take you to see Madame Pomfrey anyway, being as we need to take Professor Sinistra too. But what in Merlin's name happened to your quill?"

"Professor Snape did something to it. I thought it was busted, but it came back when I needed it."

Pamela's lips quirked, her hands on her misty hips. "Well of course it did! Mahalestro's magic doesn't go down without a fight! It'll take more than some simple little spell to fry one of his enchantments!" Then she glanced at the wall behind him. "I see you found one of the exits. Mahalestro and the rest are on their way, but perhaps we can meet up with them."

"Not that way! That thing is just on the other side!"

Pamela frowned and cautiously stuck her head through the wall. Drawing it back she said, "So it is. But how did you know that?"

"Silverius told me."

Pamela blinked. "Silverius told you?" She frowned. "I think you'd better tell me everything from the beginning."

Silverius himself interrupted before Harry could respond. "Ain't got time for that! The shrink spell isn't gonna last much longer, and it can't be re-activated for another twenty four hours. Best we be outta here before that happens, as I can guarantee it won't be fun lugging my overweight self around."

Pamela took a look at the mirror in Harry's hand. Then a flash of something darted across her face. All she did however, was smile broadly. "Nonsense! You've never heard of a hover charm?"

Silverius grimaced. "Heard of it? Yes. Approve of it? No. Most spells cast on me give out pretty quick anyway."

Pamela frowned. "Probably from magical interference." She muttered. More loudly she said, "Alright then, can you tell us the fastest route to meet up with the others?"

Silverius grunted. "Without running into old psycho spidey? Hang a left and then go through the third door on the right."

Pamela smiled again. "Excellent! Let's go kiddo!" With that she grabbed his free hand and charged forward, Whimsy trailing in their wake.

Professor Ambervale stopped them in front of a seemingly empty stretch of wall. "This is nearest entrance. This portion was placed under different protection than the rest." He drew his wand. "Let's see, was two taps east, then three west, one north, and five south I think."

He had gotten no further than the second tap when there was a sudden rumbling from the bricks. He stepped back quickly as the wall split in two and began to swing outward.

"See kiddo? Two east, three west, one north, and five south." She frowned as the wall came to stop. "It's a bit of a skeleton key thing really. The same combo will override all of the trick doors and stairs, and a fair majority of the regular doors too. Very handy if you get caught in one of them and they don't want to let you go."

"It does not work on the main staircases, however." Professor McGonagall said crisply.

"It does for the one that touches down on the entrance hall landing." The Headmaster said. "I was forced to put it in place in July, when it developed a nasty habit of trying to throw people towards their destination. It gave me a rather vigorous flight up to the fifth floor." He looked down at Harry and winked. "But I doubt many others would appreciate the method of travel." He smiled lightly as Harry grinned. "It's good to see you in one piece Harry."

Harry, for his part, was trying to take in the large number of people grouped in the little hall. As before, Hagrid, looming up in the back of the group, looked far too large to be allowed.

Professor Sinistra limped out from behind the Headmaster. Harry could see a rather large bandage wrapped around one leg. "What do you say we get out of this place and down to the infirmary before anything else happens?" She grimaced. "I don't really fancy another fight with that nightmare reject, and we've been in here all night. I for one could do with something to eat and a nap."

Professor Ambervale actually laughed. "Agreed." He glanced at Harry. "You should come too. Have two friends waiting to make sure you're alright." When Harry nodded, he smiled. "This way."

He led them down a side corridor and stopped in front of a wall. The bricks were glowing a faint white. He made a gesture with his wand and the bricks vanished. "Quickly, before they return." The group hustled through the archway. Ambervale, who was the last, turned and made another gesture. The brick wall returned with a crunch and a loud bang. Then he drew a deep breath. "Now for more dangerous part of the day." His lips twitched at the glances he was receiving. "Now we enter Poppy's domain."

Harry couldn't' help feeling apprehensive when every single adult, with the exception of Pamela, gulped.

~~~

Madame Pomfrey was every bit as stern as Professor McGonagall, but she seemed to take it in a different direction.

"You're to keep this wrapped for the next three days, and if I catch you walking on it, I'll stick you to a broom." She told Professor Sinistra. The astronomy professor simply rolled her eyes, looking bored.

Having already declared the rest of the professors as perfectly healthy, and subsequently dismissed them from her infirmary to eat breakfast, the only ones left aside from Harry and Professor Sinistra were Pamela and Professor Ambervale. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry could see the two of them talking with Draco and Hermione, whom the matron had yet to allow near him.

His thoughts were interrupted by Silverius. "Oy! Spell's wearing off! Get me down on something big, quick!"

Harry hurriedly put the mirror onto the empty bed next to him. He was just in time. No sooner had the mirror touched the bed, than it gave off a blinding flash of light and reverted to its original height of nearly five feet.

Silverius grunted. "Little help please? Ceiling's lovely, but it's not much to look at." Harry nodded and with some assistance from an intrigued Professor Sinistra, propped the mirror up against the headboard. "Thanks."

"He what?!" They all looked over to see Pamela, floating in midair, and looking ready to breathe fire. "That tears it!" She whirled around. "I'll be back soon." she snapped, and blazed through the doors in a billow of roiling fog, looking rather like a thundercloud set to unleash its electric fury.

Madame Pomfrey clucked disapprovingly. "Such a temper on that creature." She said.

"But well warranted this time." Professor Ambervale said as he joined them. He had a rather strange expression on his face, and it was a few moments before Harry realized it was anger. It vanished as he looked at them. "How is he?"

The mediwitch folded her arms. "To be honest, I don't really know. He's more or less immune to most of my diagnostic spells for some reason. The only thing I can say for certain is that his magical levels are severely depleted."

"Direct result of using the Solar Song." Silverius said suddenly. "Soul magic of that magnitude doesn't exactly roll off the wand you know."

Harry found himself forced down on the hospital bed. "Soul magic?" Madame Pomfrey's wand was out and glowing, running up and down his body at high speed.

When it finally stopped, Harry found himself quite unable to get up. Professor Sinistra snorted. "Really Poppy, was a sticking charm necessary?"

The mediwitch huffed. "You don't know the students like I do! Turn your back for a second and they'll be gallivanting all over creation!"

Professor Sinistra merely shook her head and drew her wand. "I think you can trust him not to gallivant about. Finite"

Harry sat up in relief. Being flat on his back was not a position he liked.

Madame Pomfrey looked as though she were about to re-apply the spell when Professor Ambervale calmly held up a hand. "Injuries not that severe. No need to make things uncomfortable."

The mediwitch huffed, but put her wand away. "Oh all right." She grumbled. "But he's to be on bed rest for today and tomorrow!" She frowned. "We'll have to put off your check-up for a bit I'm afraid." She told Harry. "You're one of those rare cases who're immune to the majority of standard testing charms. I'll need to get some specialized equipment in. I'll send you a notice when it's ready."

Harry nodded. "Erm, do I have to stay here, Professor Pomfrey?"

She actually laughed in response. "I'm Madame Pomfrey, Mister Potter. I don't really teach classes." She frowned slightly. "In answer to your question however…" She rubbed her chin. "You don't seem to be seriously injured, and you don't hurt anywhere do you?" When Harry shook his head she sighed slightly. "Well…alright. I suppose you can return to your tower, provided that you stay in bed. Your magical energy has been severely depleted, and too much more stress could cause it to burn out. In most cases, your magic would eventually return, but there are some who were so badly damaged they were rendered powerless."

Upon seeing Harry's somewhat frightened expression, she shook her head. "Don't worry, you aren't anywhere near that stage. Your magic levels just took a nosedive that's all."

Professor Ambervale muttered something and jabbed his wand at a chair, which promptly transformed into a rather plush looking armchair and trundled over to Professor Sinistra, allowing her to clamber into it.

She nodded her thanks and swished her wand, Causing the chair to turn towards the entrance. Over one shoulder she said to Harry, "Considering the circumstances, I think I can let you safely skip out of tonight's class. Just make sure you read up on the phases of the moon before our next one."

Harry nodded. "Yes ma'am."

She smiled and left, the sound of the chair's wooden feet echoing behind her.

Professor Ambervale helped Harry to his feet. "Come. I shall escort you to tower. Can have breakfast there."

"Can you bring Silverius?" He indicated the mirror. "Or am I not allowed to have a magic mirror?"

The counselor's lips twitched. "There's nothing in rules against owning a mirror, magic or otherwise." He said. Then he looked closer. "Appears to be quite an antique."

"Watch who you're calling an antique bub!" Silverius snapped. "I'm just as good as any of your newer models!"

"A good antique, I meant." The man said soothingly. To Harry he said, "There's very few mirrors of his age still around, and perhaps none in as fine a condition."

"Got that right." Silverius sounded smug. "You'd be surprised what I can do too."

"Yes, well…" Ambervale drew his wand again. "Suspensus." The mirror promptly rose off the bed. Gesturing towards the door, he said, "Ready when you are, Mister Potter." When Harry nodded, he flicked his wand at the mirror. "Moto." Guiding it in front of him, the strange trio left the hospital wing, Hermione and Draco badgering Harry with questions as they went.

~~~

It was in the middle of his class of first year Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws that Severus felt his day had begun to go south. It started when an alarm went off on his desk, signifying an intrusion in his office.

Given that worst the color changing potion could do when it was bollixed up was smell like bad eggs, he placed a monitoring charm on them and left to catch the miscreant.

The intruder was nowhere to be seen, but the office was a madhouse. Papers were scattered everywhere, and ink dripped from practically every surface. Most of his books were stuck to the ceiling, and his desk appeared to have suffered from the special attentions of what appeared to be a hexed hand axe. The sharp implement was currently hacking away at one of his bookcases, evidently feeling it had exhausted all its available options where the desk was concerned.

Severus had to admit it had done a fairly thorough job, as the desk looked like nothing so much as a pile of kindling. He glanced up at a sharp creaking sound, and had just enough time to glimpse a bucket before something wet and sticky cascaded over him. As he sputtered, there was a whump of displaced air, and a positively enormous pile of assorted feathers smacked down on him.

Then there was a brilliant flash of light. He opened his eyes to find a camera not more than twenty feet away from him. Before he could do more than draw his wand, it hurtled past him at breakneck speed and zoomed down the hallway.

Feeling some of his self-control slip, Severus vanished the feathers and liquid with an angry wave of his wand. Then he whirled and reduced the hand axe to tiny pieces with a blasting curse.

Before he had time to do anything else, the monitoring charm he had left in place went off, signifying trouble in his classroom.

With an explosive growl, Severus stalked from the office and subjected the door to the strongest locking spells he knew.

The first thing he saw was that the classroom was largely unchanged, aside from a peculiar looking fog that spanned the ceiling. The students appeared not to notice him at first, and after following their gaze, Severus understood why.

Up on the board a piece of chalk was calmly adding a sentence to his name. It had left the "Professor Snape" part alone, but it had thus far added, "is a temperamental, gargoyle nosed, bat faced, slimy son of a b –" He growled and blasted the chalk before it could finish the sentence.

"Back to work!" he snapped. Then he turned his attention to the ceiling. The first two spells had absolutely no effect, and the third simply bounced. The fog finally faded away on the fourth attempt. He turned back to the board to find that another stick of chalk had taken over for the first.

It had taken finished the first sentence, and proceeded to write a long paragraph that mused about his uncanny resemblance to a troll's backside. He growled and sent it to join its fellow in the oblivion of dust. Then he was infuriated to discover that absolutely no spell would remove anything either one had written, and refused to respond to the eraser either.

Then there was a shriek from one of the Hufflepuffs. He whirled around to find the ladle from her cauldron had risen and was calmly flicking excess potion at the ceiling. Then it turned and focused unerringly on him.

Not wishing to risk a blasting spell that close to a student, Severus was forced to grab an unused ladle from his desk and bring it up in a hasty block. The apparently vindictive ladle proceeded to attack with a ferocity he hadn't seen since the last wizarding war.

Within seconds, he found himself engrossed in a fierce fencing match. The opposing instrument gave no quarter and fought fiercely, driving him into the center of the room. Finally spotting an opening, Severus swung as hard as he could, sending the possessed object flying. He sighed and set his own ladle down, drawing his wand.

This proved to be a mistake. One of the Ravenclaw's behind him gasped. He turned to find her cauldron had now risen into the air. Before he could attempt to vanish it, the cauldron drew back and let fly with its contents, students shrieking and scrambling to get out of its way.

The ladle reappeared suddenly, sending his wand flying out of his hand, and smacking him sharply on the nose. The potion hit him head on, drenching him thoroughly from head to toe. There was a flash of light, and an almighty bang as the potion took effect.

His once black robes were now a brilliant gold, the cloak a deep red. His shoes too, he saw. His hair had turned gold as well, and from what he could see, his skin had changed to a brilliant shade of ruby.

Severus Snape had just become a Gryffindor.