Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 77: Shadows In The Walls
"Are you going to dissolve them all?" V asked.
"Too slow." Harry put both hands together, leaving both of his index fingers pointing at the closest golem. The runes on his arms flared up with unrestrained power.
"Perforo Omnia" (I Pierce All Things)
A translucent magical bullet shot out faster than the speed of sound and impacted the golem, breaking apart its chest and revealing the gem inside.
"Phew… I'm surprised it didn't go all the way through. I've seen that spell pierce a mountain from side to side," V said.
"It goes to show how resilient these things are." Harry extended his hand. "Accio." As soon as he pulled the gem from the golem's chest, it lost its ability to move and collapsed on the ground.
"Ten more…" Harry took a deep breath. He now had a good way to deal with them.
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"Are you okay?" V asked.
Twenty minutes later, Harry had collected all twelve gems, and the golems were now nothing but rubble.
"I thought I would be more tired after all of that. But I'm fine." Harry lifted his eyes. "Did you give me some magic without me noticing?"
"I did not," V responded. "You told me not to help, remember?"
"Mmm… okay." Harry found it a bit strange, but not enough to waste time thinking about it.
His attention shifted to the stone gate that was blocking his way. "Let's get that open."
He pointed his finger at the gate and gave it a twist. "Alohomora."
"…This is an ancient tomb belonging to a powerful sorcerer. Did you really think that was going to work?" V didn't try to hide his disappointment.
"Hey, there is nothing wrong with trying eve—"
He was interrupted by the loud clanking noise coming from the gate.
"You have to be kidding me," V exclaimed.
The gate became unlocked, and Harry could move it aside with his hand.
"Would you look at that?" He had a smug smile on his face as he crossed into the next chamber.
"Oh… now what?" The room that Harry was now in was circular in shape, and ahead of him, he could see a dozen more doorways.
"This tomb may be bigger than we initially thought," V said.
"I expect there will be a labyrinth of narrow corridors ahead of us," Harry said.
"And I expect there will be more than just stone walls in there," V warned.
Harry nodded. He had been thinking the same. "We'd better get started."
He chose the doorway on the left and walked inside.
"Luminas." Several orbs of light were created to float before and behind him as he moved.
The corridors were narrow and made of some yellow, porous stone. The ceiling was low enough for his hair to graze it as he walked.
After walking for a bit, he ran across the first bifurcation. There were no visible differences between the paths, so he chose one at random and kept going.
This would continue for almost an hour. Harry felt like he had walked many miles already.
"This is going on forever… are you sure we are not going in circles?" V asked.
"Yes, I am sure of that, at least." Harry looked down at his left hand, where he was holding a piece of red chalk.
"I conjured this when we entered, and I have been marking the corridors we went through."
"I see… clever," V said. There were no marks ahead, so this meant it was the first time they had come through here.
"Still, you may want to… hold on. There is something over there. I can feel a faint magical source."
Harry walked for a bit until he could feel it too. "It's inside the walls," he said as he ran his fingers across their irregular surface.
"And it's moving!" V sounded alarmed. "There is more than one now."
"I know." Harry narrowed his eyes. "Something is approaching us."
Thanks to the light of his charm, he was able to immediately spot it when it happened.
Just a few feet ahead of him, some black sludge began to be poured from the pores of the wall and fall onto the ground.
The sludge quickly began to form into the shape of a person.
"What is that thing?" Harry had read countless books, but somehow, he was unable to identify this creature.
"There is another one behind you," V warned.
The bizarre creatures remained attached to the yellow stone, making it look like humanoid torsos were coming out of the walls.
"Fulgor." Harry aimed his index finger at the one in front and fired a spell.
It made a noise that could be interpreted as a scream when the lightning went through its gelatinous body, but it was quickly restoring itself.
The one behind him was already moving. It seemed to slide across the walls with ease as it approached quickly.
"Don't let them touch you!" V exclaimed.
Harry turned to it. "Depulso." A wave of magic impacted the creature and pushed it back with tremendous force, splattering much of that black goo everywhere.
The other one had already recovered and was now getting close.
"I think I know what they are," V said. "They remind me of a dangerous magical creature that I read about many years ago. They were called Khaibit Shadows. They can be found deep inside caves in the Middle East, but they are extremely rare."
"Depulso." Harry pushed the creature away from him. He had to be careful not to put too much power into the spell, or the entire corridor would collapse on his head.
He also had no room to dodge in this narrow space.
"Tell me that you know what hurts them," Harry said.
"Yes, just… give me a moment to think," V responded. "Ah! I know!"
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