Seelischer Apparat

Chapter 17

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Seelischer Apparat

Moody looked out onto the desolate open plain. The wind howled ominously between the forests that buffered either side of the grassy corridor. His mind reeled with strategies and tactics in preparation for the trial that was to come. He took a sip of his tea, grimaced and positioned his wand under the cup, chanting until it was once again warm to the touch. Distant voices brought him out of his thoughts. He looked over his shoulder, and regarded his classmates walking slowly out of the mist.

Jeff was the first to arrive. "You're here early."

Moody shrugged. "Who could sleep?"

"Right. Are you nervous?"

Moody shook his head. "All I've ever wanted is to be an Auror, and today is the day."

Jeff smirked. "So, the answer is yes?"

"Don't get ahead of yourselves, mates," Reuben said upon his arrival. He hooked his arm around the necks of both Jeff and Moody playfully and teased, "I'm sure maestro has taken great pains to ensure that we have an 'interesting' exit test."

Both Jeff and Moody elbowed Reuben off.

"Regardless of how this turns out, I can't wait to finally move into my own flat," Jeff said as he bent over to recover his fallen hat. "Something tells me that our friendship wasn't going to survive us all bunking together for too much longer."

Reuben rubbed the sore spot on his ribs and pouted. "Is this about leaving the toilet seat up again?"

Jeff rolled his eyes and replaced his bowler hat. After setting it slightly askew, he continued his conversation with Moody. "Seriously, mate, I know you've been through a rough patch with Dru and all, but promise me you're going to keep your head in the game."

"Don't worry about me, Geoffrey. Truth be told, I've been looking forward to working out a bit of aggression." Moody finished what was left of his tea.

"Good. Now I won't feel so bad when I give you all a pasting."

Reuben chuckled and knocked the bowler off Jeff's head. "Don't you know that nice guys like you finish last?"

"Accio hat." Jeff glared at Reuben. "I am not that kind of nice, you anally expulsive git."

Reuben folded his arms and persisted, "Sorry, mate, but you are; it's annoying as hell."

Jeff frowned and regarded Angie as she passed. "Angie, am I nice?"

Angie smiled and patted his cheek. "Of course you are, dear. That's what we love about you."

Moody slapped him on the back and added, "No worries, Jeff. All we have to do is pass the blasted thing and we're in. Six months from now who's going to care?"

"Ah, my naive Alastor. You underestimate the value of bragging rights," Reuben said, his gaze locked on Angie as she continued on. "Angie, you're looking particularly fetching today."

"Thank you," Angie replied, looking over her shoulder at the three of them. "And I hate to agree with Reuben, but he's right. No hard feelings when I come away with top marks, boys. The first round of firewhisky is on me when this is all over."

Reuben caught up to her and stood in her path. "Care to make a wager on that, love?"

She placed her hands on her hips, annoyed, but indulged him nevertheless. "What are the stakes?"

"If you win, I will take you to dinner at the fanciest bistro in London."

"You're on," she said with a smirk. "Although, I'm not so sure dinner with you sounds like a winning proposition." She stepped aside and proceeded to walk around him.

Reuben cut her off again. "Well?"

Angie sighed. "'Well' what?"

"What do I get if I win?"

She shoved Reuben aside and replied, "My sheer and utter disbelief."

Reuben raised an eyebrow but let her pass. He noticed Moody and Jeff snickering.

"Nice try mate," Jeff said.

"Piss off, choir-boy."

BAM!

The cadets were quieted by the crack of the maestro and Shacklebolt's apparition. They walked towards the cadets, levitating a large cardboard box in tow.

After instructing them to line up, the maestro began. "You four are here today because you have demonstrated a passable competence in magical law enforcement."

With a wave of his wand, the box opened. Four folders egressed and levitated toward them until each one hovered directly in front of a cadet. Moody noticed that the folder in front of him was labeled with his name. He assumed that the other folders were labeled in a similar fashion.

The maestro's booming voice captured everyone's attention. "Unlike your former peers, you have each weathered every obstacle that the program has thrown at you, as evidenced by these files which serve as a record of your progress, skills and aptitudes. You should all be proud; these written records represent the culmination of your hard work over the past three years. Unfortunately, it means precisely nil."

The elder wizard snapped his fingers and the folders promptly caught on fire. The cadets stepped back instinctively in surprise and watched, helpless, as the records were reduced to ash in a matter of seconds. The wind blew away any remaining evidence.

"I've decided to take only one of you this year. I don't see the Auror division being any more enriched with all four of you on. Therefore, today's exit test will determine who will join the ranks of the elite few. The rest will be sent home with our thanks and an open invitation to re-apply next term." The maestro stopped to regard the reactions of the cadets; they all looked down at their feet, crestfallen...all except for Moody, that is. "Does that not meet with your approval, Scab Moody?"

For once, Moody returned the old wizard's glare. "No, Maestro, it doesn't."

"Well, you can bypass the procedure entirely if you like." The maestro took out his wand and crossed his arms. "All you have to do is get by me." He addressed all four of them as he said this, but his eyes were on Moody. "No takers?"

Moody eventually backed down. "Not at the moment, Maestro."

Oblivious to this exchange, Shacklebolt took over the presentation and directed everyone's attention back to the open plain. "Welcome to The Gauntlet. The goal is simple: make a go for the bell at the far end of the quad. Unlike your previous challenges, the first person to ring the bell at the end will be declared the winner."

"And before you get any bright ideas, the area will be laced with anti-apparition jinxes," the maestro interjected. "You can try to jump the jinx, I suppose, but I wouldn't recommend it."

Moody squinted. When the sun came out from behind the clouds, he did indeed see a faint glint of metal in the distance about three football fields away by his reckoning.

"Well, good luck to each of you. Are there any questions before we begin?" Shacklebolt asked in closing. She smiled when all four cadets raised their hands. "Er, sorry, that was rhetorical."

BAM!

The two instructors disapparated and four wizards, dressed in black robes, threw off their invisibility cloaks. They fired at the unprepared cadets.

Moody suffered a total of three jinxes before he hit the ground. He managed to keep his bearings and pointed his wand at the nearest attacker.

"Expelliarmus!"

Their spells clashed. Moody tried to rise to his feet while keeping his wand engaged in the duel, but his legs felt like jelly. Unable to balance, he fell on his bum and lost his concentration, breaking out of the duel.

Moody sat up almost immediately, but his attacker was gone. He turned toward the sound of Reuben's familiar voice laying out a string of curses as he struggled against his opponents. Reuben was the only one left on his feet and was wrestling against two dark-robed wizards. He took two hexes in the chest and fell to the ground.

Eager to return the favor, Moody steadied himself on his knees and blasted one of the wizards off Reuben. The attackers responded in kind and sent three stun spells in his direction of which Moody blocked expertly. He pointed his wand to counter-attack but stopped mid-curse; the wizards had disappeared as quickly as they had come. By this time, Angie and Jeff had caught a second wind, and the four of them swept the area with their wands, keeping a keen eye out for more surprises.

Moody tried to rise to his feet, but his jelly-legs were useless. He looked toward his peers and saw that they were struggling similarly to achieve ambulation. Reuben had given up entirely and had started to crawl his way to the bell. Jeff and Angie took Reuben's lead and started to crawl after him. The race was on.

After taking one final look around, Moody reluctantly sheathed his wand and got on his hands and knees, but he did not give up on walking. They were about fifty yards out when Moody could feel his legs again. Moody steadied himself and rose slowly until he regained his balance.

Work, blast it!

Moody's tenacity paid off. He limped along at first, but he soon found himself almost back to normal. He quickly passed the other three cadets who were still crawling along.

Angie scoffed, "How is it that you're so nimble already?"

Moody shrugged in response. "The tea I was drinking was laced with essence of Murtlap." He tried not to smile too broadly.

Jeff laughed. "I wish I'd thought of that. Good show, chap."

"This isn't over yet, Moody." Reuben redoubled his efforts, even though he had no chance of keeping pace with Moody.

Moody took no joy in leaving them behind, but he had sacrificed much to be an Auror, so he took comfort in the notion that each of them would do the same in his position.

Although Moody had a good lead with excellent visibility, he remained wary of how easy this all seemed. This can't be all there is to it.

The sun returned from behind the clouds. The shadow of an oddly-shaped bird caught Moody's eye. No, not a bird. He looked skyward and gasped. The four dark-robed wizards, now mounted on brooms, were fast approaching. Moody's mind raced as he finally comprehended their strategy: an open field with high visibility, and hobbled prey with nowhere to hide. It was unlikely that any of them would make it on foot before being overtaken. This wasn't a test of skill as much as it was a turkey shoot.

There was no time; the four broomsmen were already angling in for a strafing run. Moody's only recourse was to seek refuge into the forest along the border. Moody began to run, but paused when he remembered his friends.

Friends, or rivals?

Moody curled his lip, raised his wand and levitated Jeff, Angie and Reuben to safety. When they were secure, he ran as fast as he could. He stumbled at first, but as he looked over his shoulder at the fast-approaching brooms, adrenaline steadied his gait. He ignored the jeers of his teammates while he made a run for the trees.

"Alastor, what the bloody hell do you think you're doing?"

"Settin' us up for failure, he is!"

"I never thought you'd sink this low!"

But when the others finally noticed the brooms, they quickly had a change of heart.

"FASTER!"

"THEY'RE ALMOST ON TOP OF US!"

"What are you pussy-footin' about for? GO! GO! GO!"

This first sortie clipped them just before the tree line. Moody's levitation spell failed, and they all fell on top of him in a pile. Jeff and Angie cast a Protego charm while Moody and Reuben fired back to cover the four of them as they retreated into the forest.

Moody was the last to enter the trees. As he had hoped, the dense vegetation made it impossible for their pursuers to track them from the air. All was quiet, but Moody could see the silhouettes of the broomsmen circling ominously overhead. He joined the others at a small clearing only to find them glaring upon his arrival. They sat in silence for several minutes, waiting for the jinxes to wear off.

Moody had grown uncomfortable with their continued stares. "What is it?"

Jeff was the first to respond. "Alastor, are you daft? You're not supposed to help us."

"I didn't hear any complaints during the act," Moody replied. "They were about to pound all of us into the dirt."

Angie threw up her hands. "It's supposed to be hard; that's the point."

"You're going to bollocks things up for all of us!" Reuben added.

"You saw what happened out there," Moody said, feeling shocked that he had to justify his actions. "Is there any doubt in your heads that maestro wants us all to fail?"

Jeff nodded. "Moody has a point. That's the Medusa squadron out there. I'm not partial to getting my arse torn to pieces, either."

Angie made her way back to the tree line. "I have no intention of throwing away three years of my life just because you blokes are afraid of getting knocked around a bit." With that, she took her leave of them.

The three men sat in silence and waited patiently, ignoring the sounds of battle that marked Angie's obvious entrance onto the field. Soon enough, silence returned to the forest. They heard footsteps and brought their wands to the ready. They lowered their guard when Angie stepped out from behind the bushes. Her hair was covered in ash and her clothing was singed.

She patted out the last of the smoldering embers on her sleeve. "Teamwork, then?"

The ensuing laughter was cut short with the arrival of a forest imp. At one meter tall its body was covered with dull green fur. Its head was disproportionately large, and vestigial wings protruded from its back. It entered the camp, hopping onto a rock to get a better view. It leered at the young wizards, pointing a thin, crooked finger and spoke in a raspy and gurgled voice.

"Out of bounds!" The imp threw an object that hit Reuben squarely on the chest.

Reuben raised his wand and snarled, "Scram, you little shit!"

A yellow spark hit the rock that the imp was perched upon. It screamed and threw its hands up in the air. Its wings flapped as it ran back into the bushes.

"Reuben, that was mean!" Angie scolded.

"Well, the little bugger threw a... " Reuben trailed off as he knelt to pick up the object at his feet. "A mushroom?" He chuckled and threw it away.

BOOM!

The mushroom exploded, covering the four of them in debris. Moody tried to ignore the ringing in his ears while he struggled to make out the whispers coming from the shadows.

Out of bounds...

The others joined Moody in tracking their wands toward the sounds of shuffling footsteps scurrying amongst the brush. The whispers became more numerous as they chanted in unison.

Out of bounds...

"I hope this teaches you a lesson about picking on small, defenseless creatures, Reuben." Jeff said.

"That it does," Reuben replied. "Next time I won't let the little piss-ant escape so he can fetch his friends."

Out of bounds...

More mushrooms were pitched at them from the shadows. The four cadets took cover behind the trees before the volatile fungi exploded and sent the leaves that covered the forest floor into the air. In the silence that followed, the leaves rained back down gently, obscuring their vision.

Moody fired blindly in the general direction of the whispers. His assault was answered with another volley of mushrooms. He retreated. "We can't stay here."

"Bah." Reuben pitched back a few of the mushrooms before they exploded. "We can take these little buggers easily; it's not like they're lobbing boulder-sized mushrooms at us."

Everyone's attention was drawn to the sound of rustling leaves and snapping branches. A boulder-sized mushroom came rolling toward them down the muddy embankment. The four wizards ran for the edge of the forest with Reuben in the lead but the mushroom not far behind.

"You were saying?" Jeff panted as he looked over his shoulder.

"Meh, it could be worse; at least they're not flinging big, stinky piles of..."

"SHUT UP, REUBEN!" Angie, Jeff and Moody had had quite enough.

They broke out onto the field just as the mega-mushroom exploded. The shockwave knocked them on the grass all to the triumphant cheers of the forest imps.

"Right." Reuben rolled up his sleeves and headed back toward the trees, eager for round two. There was a sudden flash of heat, and he hopped back, yelping. An impenetrable wall of fire had appeared, cutting off all access to the forest.

They dreaded to look up, but they had no choice. The Medusa squadron soared overhead in a foreboding "V" formation; their dark robes flapped loudly as they accelerated ever higher. As a single unit, they banked tightly and began their rapid descent with the sun at their backs.

"They'll be within range in seconds," Angie said, gripping her wand tightly.

"We should scatter," Reuben said in nervous anticipation. "Every man for himself."

"No." Moody grabbed Reuben's shoulder before he could run off. "We stick together and hold the line!"

Angie kept her gaze fixed on the fast-approaching brooms. "Alastor, need I remind you that the Auror's field guide advises against surface-to-air dueling?"

"No, but in for a penny, in for a pound, I always say."

Jeff arched a wary eyebrow toward Moody. "What are you thinking, old man?"

"Do you remember the lesson that maestro gave on firearms?" Moody said with a wry smile.

A grin appeared on Jeff's face and he snorted. "The Two-by-Two Cross-cover Formation? That's a Muggle tactic."

"This is bollocks!" Reuben exclaimed. "I always ended up on point!"

"That's because you're the fastest bloke," Jeff replied.

"But the man on point always takes the first hit!"

"For Merlin's sake, Reuben, don't be such a nancy-boy," Angie said. "I'll take point with you."

Reuben snorted. "But you're a girl."

"Don't worry." She winked. "I'll try not to leave you too far behind."

When the Medusas were within range, Moody took the initiative and shot his best jinx at the lead broom. Moody's spell met the other's jinx in mid-air. He held his ground and tracked the squadron leader as he flew by, marked by a tether of red versus violet. When they were out of range, Moody and Jeff made a run for the bell, appearing to leave Angie and Reuben behind. The Medusas stayed in formation and came about in pursuit. As soon as they started their strafing run, Moody and Jeff spun on their heels, dug in and fired a flurry of curses skyward.

As if on cue, Angie and Reuben started to run, following the path laid out for them by their teammates. They passed Moody and Jeff, who continued to cover them as they advanced the forward position. Fifty meters out, Angie and Jeff stopped and laid down suppression fire, allowing Moody and Jeff to start another leg of the relay.

It was working; the broomsmen scattered in confusion. The powerful tactic had allowed Moody, Jeff, Angie and Reuben to traverse two-thirds of the plain successfully. They were about to start another relay when the Medusas broke formation and split apart. They encircled their targets to pinch them from all sides. Before the wizards on the ground could adapt to this change in strategy, the Medusas fired into the earth. The ground shook.

The sudden appearance of a crevasse separated Angie from Reuben. She slipped and started to fall in. Reuben grabbed her arm, but the mini-earthquake made it impossible for him to maintain his footing and he stumbled. In the nick of time, Moody and Jeff leapt over and dove toward Reuben. They each managed to get a firm hold of one of Reuben's ankles. With a heave, all four were back to relative safety.

Another quake. A structure rose from one of the sinkholes, a large oblong tabernacle covered in vines. On instinct, the four wizards made a break for the edifice, but their footing was precarious. A large gap separated them from sanctuary.

Angie shot a yellow beam into the cracked earth and it slowly started to close...but not enough. Following her lead, Moody, Jeff and Reuben cast a similar repair charm that served to knit the earth back together. When the way was clear, they crossed the gap and proceeded to seek refuge within the structure.

Once inside they collapsed, relieved to have found a temporary reprieve from their exhausting task. It was hot in the narrow corridor. There was just enough light coming in from the ceiling to illuminate the vine-covered inner walls of the tabernacle.

Jeff removed his bowler and wiped the sweat from his brow. "You do realize, of course, that we've been corralled."

Moody nodded, resting with his palms propped on his knees. "Yeah. But anything they throw at us in here can't be as bad as what's out there."

"Agreed. And at least we'll be able to see it coming this time," Reuben said, resting his hand against the wall. He didn't notice at first, but his hand had slowly begun to sink into the vegetation that lined the wall. When he realized that his hand was held fast, he gave it good yank. In response, the surrounding vines shot down his arm and curled around his body.

The other vines in the hallway seemed to come alive. Before the others could react, they found themselves similarly ensnared.

Moody struggled against the tendrils. The barbs that lined the vines felt like fire when they pricked his skin, even through his clothing. The harder he struggled, the deeper the barbs dug into him. "I stand corrected."

"Bah, this isn't so bad," Reuben said. "As long as we don't resist we'll slip out of its grip." He stopped struggling and let his body slump, but this did nothing to relieve his apparent discomfort.

"You're thinking of Devil's Snare," Angie said, trying not to wince as she did so. "This species is Venomous Tentacula, but it's also a man-eater. It'll take us to the main vine where we'll be slowly digested."

"Well, it could be worse," Reuben said. "Tentacle rape, anyone?"

Angie glared at him. "Can you be serious for two seconds?"

Reuben waited precisely two seconds and replied, "You still have yet to tell me what I get if I win."

"Maybe you two should pick this up after we resolve our current predicament?" Moody suggested. He struggled in vain to free his wand arm. "First off, we have to free ourselves of these tendrils."

Reuben rolled his eyes. "Think of that all by yourself, Alastor?"

"That's not constructive, Reuben," Jeff scolded.

"You want constructive? " Reuben managed to angle his wand toward the ground. A silver effigy of a rodent with large, puffy cheeks and a bushy tail coalesced at his feet. It scurried quickly up the vine where it started to gnaw at one of the tendrils.

Jeff smiled. "A chipmunk? Your Patronus is a chipmunk?"

"Yes, what of it?"

He sniggered. "Nothing, he's just so damn cute."

Reuben glared in response to Moody's laughter. "Sorry, what is your Patronus, again, Moody?"

"Don't listen to them, Reuben," Angie said, tightlipped. "Your Patronus is very masculine."

"Thank you, Angie," Reuben replied. He turned to the other two gents and teased, "HAH!"

Jeff guffawed. "Reuben, when a girl has to tell you something is manly, chances are, it's anything but."

Reuben looked back to Angie with a furrowed brow and asked, "Is that true?"

She shrugged. "I'm sorry, Reuben. But he is so very cute. I wish I had one." Jeff and Moody's infectious laughter made it impossible for Angie to hide her amusement any longer. "Come now, Reuben. Why aren't you joining in the fun?"

"Because it's at my expense!"

She pouted. "Oh, right."

Still smiling, Moody diverted his attention to balancing the tip of his wand against the tendril that bound his wrist. "Y'know, far be it from me to be a party pooper, but I think we should all stay on task."

"I'm loath to admit it, but I agree with you," Reuben said.

Angie frowned flippantly. "Oh, pooh to both of you. You're no fun!"

For the first time, Reuben regarded Angie's odd behavior. He noticed her bloodshot eyes and general lethargy. At first he assumed it was from the ordeal of the trial, but he soon realized that Jeff was exhibiting the same symptoms. "Alastor?"

"What?"

"Is it me, or are Jeff and Angie acting a bit out of character?"

Moody was too focused on trying to free himself with the pruning spell to notice. "What are you going on about?" He cursed when the spell missed the tendril.

"They look drunk. And I know drunk."

"Are you sure?"

Reuben rolled his eyes impatiently and decided to illustrate his point. "Angie, love, what do you say we grab a show tonight and then head back to my place for an end away?"

Angie looked at Reuben and smiled seductively. "Mmhmm... that sounds like fun."

That got Moody's attention. "Holy shite!"

"I told you... and Jeff has gone completely bye-bye."

"Angie?" Moody looked into her reddened eyes. "ANGIE!" She seemed oblivious. He struggled to keep her engaged. "I need you to focus. What are the effects of Venemous Tentacula?"

"The venom... acts as a narcotic... makes the prey more tractable... for... digestion."

"Hence the name, I guess." Moody then eyed Reuben suspiciously. "The Murtlap is obviously still working for me, but why aren't you affected?"

"It's the Scot in me. You'll never meet a Ledley who can't hold his liquor."

Reuben's Patronus finished gnawing through his vines just as Moody managed to free himself. The two went to work in freeing an unconscious Jeff and Angie. After setting them down in the middle of the hallway, they remained motionless until the pulsating vines stilled.

Satisfied, Reuben joined Moody, eyeing the exit at the far end. "So, what now? It's going to take them a few minutes to sleep this off."

"Stay with them." Moody started down the path.

Reuben grabbed him by the arm. "Where do you think you're going?"

Moody glared in return until Reuben released him. "We won't make it out of this corridor unless one of us takes out the root."

"I disagree. When all of us are back on our feet, we should cut our way out by force. "

"No, you blokes can barely walk as it is. Besides, the vines are attracted to movement. The less bodies, the better chance I'll have of punching through." Moody brushed past Reuben and began to walk away. He detected a flash of red from behind and spun around, pointing his wand at Reuben. He reconsidered casting a counter-spell upon noticing the severed, twitching tendril at his feet. He clenched his teeth. "Thanks."

Reuben nodded but kept his wand at the ready. "We're not done here, mate."

Moody sheathed his wand. "We are not mates."

"Damn right we're not." Reuben likewise stood down. "How do I know you can be trusted not to make a go for the bell?"

"Need I remind you that if it weren't for me, you wouldn't have gotten this far?"

"Yeah, 'teamwork,' is that it? It works out well for you, too, doesn't it? That is, until you no longer need us. We all know how badly Alastor Moody wants to be an Auror."

Moody snorted. "Almost as badly as you in sending me to that whorehouse, I take it? Were you so desperate for points?"

"Get over yourself, Moody. We both know that, in the end, there's only one bell."

"We're not at that point yet. You're going on like I'm some back-stabbing Muggle."

Reuben's eyes narrowed. "And I am, is that it?"

"That's not what I meant."

"Isn't it? Then what did you mean?"

The discussion was interrupted when Angie stirred.

"Fabian... Gideon... please don't fight."

Reuben knelt beside her and let her rest in his lap. Moody took off his overcoat, folded it and placed it gently under Jeff's head. He was startled when Reuben threw a garment at him. He picked up the invisibility cloak and gave Reuben a curious look.

"You'll need that," Reuben said. "I tore this off one of those blokes at the start."

"Plants don't have eyes."

"But the Medusas, who are, no doubt, stationed at the exit, will."

Moody smiled in understanding, put on the cloak and made his way silently down the corridor.

It took all his skills at stealth to sneak to the end of the tabernacle without activating any more tentacles. He placed the hood of the cloak over his head and peeked outside. The ground ahead was carpeted with tendrils; stepping on even one of them would surely activate another attack. All of the vines radiated out from a single point in the center of which was a large, hideous plant. Its pulsating maw made visible its many rows of sharp teeth.

Moody nearly gasped when on the other side, just beyond the plants reach, he saw the golden bell floating above a mighty rock. He ventured further and stepped carefully over a vine. As he surveyed the area, he froze when he saw the Medusa squadron perched just behind the entrance to the tabernacle. Had he not been wearing his cloak, he would surely have been cut down where he stood.

He explored his options; no obvious solution came conveniently to mind. Taking out the root would expose his position to the enemy. On the other hand, even if by some miracle he could take out all four Medusas at once, he would be captured by the man-eating plant in the struggle.

A chill traveled down his spine as a tentacle slid slowly across his shoe. He didn't dare move as it curled around his ankle. The barbs raked across his skin. It wouldn't be long before it detected him as prey.

He smiled.

Ever so slowly, Moody levitated a vine around the ankles of each of the broomsmen. When the vines were within range, they latched on and jerked the wizards violently from their brooms. The struggling prey acted like an on-switch, calling the rest of the vines into action, assailing them faster than the Medusas could cut them down.

The tendrils around Moody shot vertically many meters into the air, exposing much of the ground. It was now or never.

Moody sped toward the root. He caught the attention of every tendril he brushed past, and they launched after him. Maneuvering through the maze of vegetation prevented him from running his fastest, so it was only a matter of time before he tripped. Grasping his wand in his teeth, Moody recovered by cart-wheeling out of the tentacle's reach. He maintained his momentum. Back-springs soon replaced cart-wheels; the world turned topsy-turvy, faster and faster until it was impossible to tell which way was up.

Moody grunted when the plant snatched him in mid-air. Fortunately, the root was within range. He spat out his wand, caught it in his hand and aimed. His spell shredded the root to pieces. Moody fell when the tentacle released him, and he hit the ground hard. Dying vines crashed around him; the Protego charm was the only thing that saved him from being crushed.

When all was quiet, Moody found himself cut off from the world. The darkness and heat were reminiscent of the training drills he had suffered at Stonehenge. The air was becoming stale, so he carefully cut a small air hole through the vegetation. He chuckled to himself, grateful that levitating objects was far easier with the use of a wand. It was fortunate considering that without a frame of reference, it could take him the better part of an hour to cut himself free.

It became easy to lose track of time as he worked his way through the vines. Moody heard sounds of activity above. He debated as to whether that was bad news or good news. There was a tapping sound, and a sudden bright light caused his eyes to snap shut. He breathed deeply, refreshed by the cool rush of air. When his eyes adjusted to the sunlight, he saw Reuben standing over him. For once Moody wasn't annoyed to see him.

"I found him," Reuben called out. A wicked grin broadened across his face. "Bad news: he's alive."

Reuben cut away the last of the fallen tendrils and offered his hand. Moody took it, and Reuben helped him up. They were joined by Jeff and Angie.

"Where's the Medusa squadron?" Moody questioned.

Jeff gestured to the massive pile of tendrils before turning back to say, "Let the sods dig themselves out."

They laughed and looked toward the hovering bell; no more obstacles stood between them and the end of their journey. In silent awe they walked the rest of the way unchallenged. The bell's brilliance was amplified by the noon-hour sun. It was the physical manifestation of all their toil and sacrifice.

Moody was mesmerized. The bell's glow reminded him of Gryffindor's Core and he wondered if this was the way Tom had felt about the amulet in the tomb. He shook his head and regarded his teammates. "So, what do we do now?"

"Duel for it?" Reuben offered.

"After all we've been through, how could you suggest such a thing?" Angie said.

He shrugged his shoulders. "I'm just sayin' what we're all thinkin'."

"But it's not fair," Angie persisted. "We all deserve a shot at the bell."

"Then let's do this... together," Jeff said.

They all looked at each other and smiled. In unison, they raised their wands and fired at the bell. It started to vibrate and glow. Before anyone could react, energy from the feedback spilled over and hit them all.

BAM!

The young wizards were surprised to find themselves back at their training plot at Stonehenge. The bell began to ring, prompting the arrival of the maestro and Shacklebolt. Moody, Jeff, Angie and Reuben instinctively lined up. The maestro did not break his stride as he went straight to Moody and back-handed him across the face.