Chapter 251
"Well, we did help catch those thieves outside Diagon. Maybe the Director thought we deserved a break," the guard called Benji replied, fiddling with his hood, "Whatever the case, I'm not complaining. Going through the maze to the lockups is always fun."
"Is it true that it's designed after the Labyrinth?" Stewie asked. Harry kept an ear open. Any information was good for someone in his situation, and this Benji guy seemed quite free with it in front of what appeared to be someone new to this thing.
"You bet it is," Benji replied, the grin hidden by his hood obvious in his voice.
With a grumble and trundle and thump, the circular section of the floor they were standing on ground to a stop. With the torchlight from the tiny room above them now reduced to a mere speck, barely anything was visible other than the shadowy forms of the two guards.
'Mage Sight activate' Harry thought, and the world around him flared to life. Benji and Stewie glowed a vibrant orange and yellow, and the walls of the shaft around them glowed a soft gentle blue everywhere but in one position, where a rectangle the size of a large door glowed a harsh orange. Keeping Mage Sight on, Harry slinked alongside the wall closer to the spot, making sure that if the Guards decided to suddenly enter, he'd be able to easily follow them.
Benji and Stewie made their way over to the same section of the wall that Harry had detected something off with and then placed both their hands on it at the same time.
A minute passed. Nothing happened.
"Am I doing it right Benji?" Stewie asked, his uncertainty obvious in his voice. Harry keenly listened for the reply.
"Don't you worry mate," was the reply, "Just let the door work its magic for a bit. There are a lot of spells on it to make sure no one gets in or out without permission."
Another half a minute passed before Benji took his hand off and Stewie followed suit. Suddenly without any warning, the stone wall section melted away into the floor, revealing a wooden door just enough to fit one man in. The Guards opened the door and entered one after another, Stewie following Benji, and Harry surreptitiously following them in.
"Make sure to keep focused okay?" Benji said as they headed straight down the corridor with the stone walls, "The maze messes with gravity, so we'll be walking walls and roofs and you'll see some weird stuff."
"Gravity?" Stewie disbelievingly muttered, turning around and staring right through Harry as the door behind them slid shut.
"They use a bunch of that Limbo mist to make the maze even more befuddling than it already is. It'll be confusing as we head on, so stay focused and follow me."
Stewie obeyed, and Harry followed them both, using every skill he had in his arsenal to make sure he wasn't detected. Silencios, using Aeromancy to make sure that his movements didn't disturb the air and tip anyone off, the Invisibility Cloak, Stealth skill. He was practically non-existent, and unless one of the Guards actually tackled right into him, there was no chance of him getting caught.
The maze walls, roof, and floors looked to be made of brownstone, with nothing but the occasional torch to light the passage.
The tunnel they were in bent right, and then left, and then a complete U before it forked into two at an interjection. The left tunnel was similar to the one they had been following thus far, and the right one showed a noticeable change in that it was completely made of black marble. Benji stopped, looked at both sides and closed his eyes.
"This way," he said, opening his eyes a moment later and pointing to the right.
"How do you know?" Stewie curiously asked as they headed into the tunnel
"Practice," Benji replied, "Now focus! We have one of those gravity messing parts coming up ahead, and you don't want to be thrown off while you're in its effect."
Realizing something, Harry quickly pulled out his wand and cast sticking charms, sticking his cloak onto his shoes. If the parts that messed with gravity did actually mess with gravity, then he didn't want his Cloak to fall right off of him and expose him in the process. Making sure that the charm stuck, Harry hurried along to catch up with the Guards, who had briskly walked on.
Left they went . . . then right . . . and right again. The material of the walls around him changed from marble to coarse granite, and then brick. A quick look behind him showed that the path they had come from wasn't there anymore, instead having been replaced with an endlessly long corridor. The maze was replacing their paths as soon as they passed, and it was unnerving how swiftly it was doing it.
Ahead, a veil of golden mist that hung ominously at the end of the corridor, obscuring the path further ahead of them.
Benji walked ahead unflinchingly as they approached it, not saying a word as he stepped right through. Stewie followed, and Harry, taking a deep breath, readied himself and stepped into the mist.
The world turned upside down.
Harry was hanging from the ground with his hair on end, with Stewie and Benji standing a mere two steps ahead, too close for comfort. Benji's mouth was moving, but the blood rushing to Harry's head was blurring his vision and leaving him with a terrible ringing noise in his head. Forcing Gamer's Mind to use whatever portion of his brain that wasn't being waterboarded by his own blood to focus on Benji's voice, Harry listened.
"…Get used to the feeling Stewie. We have a couple more minutes left to go," Benji's voice said.
"This…this is just weird," Stewie sounded quite woozy, "You sure that I won't fall if I step ahead?"
"Positive. Now come on. It only gets more disconcerting from here."
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