37 Victory

When I came to, the first thing I noticed was the darkness. There was absolutely no light down here. Next, I realized I was trapped beneath some rubble and I couldn't feel my wand. I wasn't in any pain. But, considering the painless potion that I drank earlier — meant that I could be more injured than I realized. Before I could worry about that, I heard something that chilled my blood.

A low guttural growl made its way to my ears, freezing me in place. No way, it can't be. I saw it get buried.

Panicking, I started feeling around for my wand. Unable to find it, I reached for my magic, while wandless magic was not particularly reliable. At least I was able to make things happen on command.

Remembering my training, I concentrated harshly on my wand and commanded, "Come to me."

There was a slight pop, and I felt my trusty wand appear in my hand. Quickly, I held it up and chanted, "Lumos."

A bright light revealed the status of the area I was trapped in. The cave-in had demolished half of the fortress, and I was trapped beneath some rubble. But, what was even more terrifying, was the bloodied Grendel lying on the ground about twenty-five feet away from me.

Apparently, it's healing factor could be worn out, because it only looked a few steps from death. As it slowly started crawling my way, I panicked.

When I caused the cave-in, I had accepted my death, but as I watched the Grendel crawling towards me with a hungry gleam in its eye. I found a new will to live burning inside of me.

Pointing the wand towards the rubble trapping me, I chanted, "Reducto."

Thankfully, the reductor curse only works on objects, so as the rubble faded away into a fine mist, I was untouched. Once the wreckage was gone, I pulled myself off the floor and turned back towards the Grendel.

As I watched it slowly claw it's way across the floor towards me, I noticed that it had nearly been split in two. The Grendel must have left its legs back in rubble, and it's a healing factor was barely able to keep it alive, but was currently unable to regrow its limbs.

I wonder if it's because of all the damage it had to heal. Surely there is some limit to its healing ability. Seeing how wounded and disable it was, gave me some confidence, to keep myself safe.

Studying the Grendel crawling its way towards me, I couldn't help but admire its determination. I would have liked it more if that determination wasn't driving it to kill and possibly eat me. But nothing perfect.

I internally debated on my next course of action, I had tried slicing, burning, and crushing, and the Grendel was still alive. The only way to deal with this thing may require far more advanced magic.

However, an intriguing thought accrued to me. Perhaps my thinking was too linear. I didn't need to kill it; I just needed it out of commission. There was a perfectly good time-dilation field deep within the basement, and I had the key to pass within it.

The more I considered it, the more I liked the idea. I had always been curious about the Grendel and the transformation the wizard went through. Maybe when I'm older and have a greater understanding of magic, I could study it and see exactly what happened. Perhaps it was even possible to reverse engineer what happened and fix him. I could learn so much by studying him, the possibilities were endless.

After putting on the bracer with the time stone, I pointed my wand at the Grendel, and chanted, "Wingardium Leviosa."

When the spell took effect, what was left of the Grendel rose several feet off the ground. Furious, the it roared and swiped towards me, but with no leverage, all it was able to do was harmlessly wave its arms in frustration.

Mentally, I maneuvered what was left of Grendel through the air towards the door leading to the basement. When I got to the bottom, I forced the Grendel into the time dilation field.

After making sure that the bracer was secure, I took a deep breath and followed. As soon as the Grendel was inside, it froze, unable to move. I deposited the Grendel near the center, where time moved the slowest.

Seeing the Grendel frozen, I let a sigh of relief. Finally, after months of planning and training, I could retrieve my ring. Reaching out, I snatched my ring off the chunk of gold it was lying on.

After slipping it on my finger, the first thing I did was attach a sticking charm to it. I was not going to deal with losing this ring ever again. Once the ring was secured, I opened another one of my pouches and started stuffing everything down here inside.

Once the room was emptied of everything, but the Grendel and the time stone, I left determined to find a way back to the surface. But, when I got back upstairs, the adrenaline that was keeping me going started to fade, and I had to force myself to say awake.

I downed another healing potion, but it didn't help much, because what I needed was rest. After a quick break, I headed out to the cavern to see the damage.

Climbing over all the rocks, once I got out into the cavern, the light from my wand illuminated the damage. Seeing the result of my actions made my heart sink; the tunnels were buried under massive amounts of rock.

Not content to sit around and hope for rescue, I made my way over to where I thought the tunnel was located. We were so far underground that I knew this was going to be a struggle. Knowing that the sooner I got started, the sooner, I would make it out of here.

I decided that it would probably be faster and safer to make a new tunnel rather than try and go through the rubble and find the old one. So, I pointed my wand in an upward slope towards the cave wall and chanted, "Reducto."

A small hole formed in the wall as the rock turned to mist. I sighed; this was going to take forever. Over and over, I chanted the same spell. Slowly but surely, I made progress, and I started crawling through the tunnel I was making.

I lost track of time, and the number of times I cast the reductor curse. But as I got deeper into the hole I made. Eventually, I moved past the rock and got to the dirt in the ground. While this made me excited, I was also worried about a cave-in.

At this point, my head was pounding due to the amount of magic that I had used during the past few hours. More than once, I was tempted to close my eyes and rest, but instead, I pressed on.

Finally, after casting seemed like a million spells, my last curse punched a small hole to the surface, letting in the evening sun's rays illuminate the darkness.

Before I could try and worm my way through the small hole, an enormous familiar hand reached in and grabbed me and pulled me out. What greeted me on the other side, was Hagrid's big face.

Pulling me into a bear hug, he yelled, "What were you bloody thinking coming out to the forest all alone."

Not letting me get a word in, he continued, "You're damn lucky to be alive, if you didn't look half-dead, I'd bloody thump ya."

Wheezing, I whispered in a hoarse voice, "My friends."

Setting me down, Hagrid patted me on the shoulder, and said, "Your friends are fine, they're back at the castle, right now I bet they're being looked over by Madam Pomfrey."

As soon as I got put down, I heard a yowl and got bowled over when Athena tackled me. The first thing I noticed was she was bigger, almost twice the size of a typical cat.

Looking her over in wonder, I asked, "What happened to you?"

Looking pleased with her new size Athena, as Athena looked me over, making sure I was ok, Hagrid explained, "I imagine her new size has something to do with you.."

Seeing my look of confusion, he explained, "Back at Hogwarts a few hours ago. Athena started making all sorts of racket and started growing. She must have sensed you were in trouble, so she forced herself to grow a bit, once Athena was finished, she took off into the forest like a bat out of hell. I figured something was wrong, so I took off after her."

Hearing how she underwent a forced growth because of my actions, made me feel terrible. I pulled Athena in close and murmured, "I'm sorry little one."

Hagrid continued, "When I arrived, I found your friends try to dig out the tunnel, they were having very much luck. Once they told me you were trapped down there, I sent them back to the castle for help. Dumbledore himself showed up soon after."

Embarrassed and worried that I had gotten the headmaster involved, I nervously asked, "Where is the headmaster."

Hagrid's eyes shifted, and he said, "I think he is having a few words with the vampire and is explaining a few things."

Closing my eyes, I leaned back and tried to think, preparing my story. But, as soon as my eyes closed, the exhaustion and injuries caught up to me, making it hard to stay awake.

Seeing how close I was to passing out, Hagrid lowered his voice, and soother, "Don't you worry about nothing, I'll get you back safe and sound."

I felt myself being scooped up by Hagrid, and I drifted off to sleep, secure in the knowledge that my friends were safe, and I would be back at Hogwarts soon.

The next thing I knew, I was awoken by Madam Pomfrey in the hospital wing at Hogwarts. I came to, lying in one of the beds, before I could register anything, Madam Pomfrey urgently asking, "What potions did you take."

My mind still foggy, I confusedly muttered, "Painless potions, and the standard healing potion."

I heard Madam Pomfrey murmur, "It would be helpful if I had a sample of the potion, I want to make sure there is nothing wrong with the potion itself. From what his friends said, he brewed the potions himself, and if he messed up at all, and I give him something else, it could have a negative reaction."

Before I could reply, I saw Anna rummaging through the pouch, where I secured my potions. Pulling out a few potions, Anna turned and said, "Here, I'm pretty sure this is what he used."

Professor Snape snatched the potion bottles from Anna and brought them closer to his face scrutinizing them. Seemingly satisfied at what he found, he sneered at me, and said, "Apparently, his recent stupidity didn't tarnish his potion-making abilities. Although they are rather advanced potions, he brewed them correctly."

Hearing Professor Snape's harsh backhanded compliment, made my face turn red. What I had done was stupid; I should have just left it alone. No ring, however valuable, was worth the lives of my friends.

Anna looked ready to speak up in my defense, but before she could say anything. Professor Snape turned to her and scathingly said, "I expect students of my house to conduct themselves a little more intelligence. Seeing you go along with this foolishness makes me question the sorting hats intelligence."

Anna's face turned beet red in embarrassment, and before she could reply, Madam Pomfrey intervened. "That's enough, these children have just been through a very trying time, and they need rest. Out with all of you, you can return in the morning and deal with them when they recovered.

Professor Snape turned his dark eyes on her, but Madam Pomfrey flinched at his annoyed gaze, but then puffed herself up and declared, "My hospital, my rules."

Professor Snape sneered and seemed like he was going to say something. But then he seemed to think better of it and walked away.

I sat back in relief; at least I would have time to strategize with everyone before we were interrogated about our activities. After Madam Pomfrey shooed everyone out of the hospital, I glanced at my friends.

The only other person who had been injured was Alicia, but she looked like she was doing ok. Cedric and Anna seemed to have made it through the ordeal with just some light cuts and bruises. As I got up to speak with them, Madam Pomfrey demanded, "Get back into bed, it's lights out and time for you to get some rest. You can speak to your friends in the morning."

Even though Anna and Cedric's weren't injured, Madam Pomfrey made us all spend the night in the hospital wing. She was worse than a mother hen when it came to her students. I motioned for my friends to wait; we could discuss everything once Madam Pomfrey had left.