Percy read the new letter at breakfast, where Hermione could look at it with him.
"You are not the only heir. The seal was just the beginning."
Ron checked the back. "People could save a great deal of trouble by signing these."
Harry looked at Percy. "Does Dumbledore know?"
"I sent him the wording before we came down."
Hermione examined the ribbon. "There is no reason to believe this person yet. But if someone else can affect the binding, we need to know."
Percy tried to eat while she compared the new handwriting with the first warning. Nothing matched clearly. That was less satisfying than a clue, but it was still something to record.
An owl interrupted them. It dropped an envelope into Percy's lap and nearly struck Ron's cup with its wing.
This letter carried the Hogwarts crest.
Mr. Jackson,
Please report to my office as soon as you have finished breakfast. The password is Starflower. We have information about the lower seal.
Percy read it aloud. Then he finished the piece of toast Harry pushed toward him. An urgent meeting did not require him to arrive hungry as well.
Dumbledore's office was quiet when Percy arrived. Rain struck the high windows, and Fawkes watched him from his perch.
"We detected another response at the seal," Dumbledore said. "It resembles part of yours. The person who may explain it is here."
A woman stood beside the bookshelf. She lowered her hood when Percy turned toward her. Dark hair fell over one shoulder, and her eyes were gold.
"My name is Nyx. I sent the letter."
"Why not sign it?"
"I was not certain it would reach only you. I wanted the headmaster to confirm the connection before I gave you a name."
Percy looked at Dumbledore, who nodded without calling that method wise.
Nyx explained that her family kept records of the binding. She believed her magic matched another part of it.
"Another heir?" Percy asked.
"That is the word in our records. It does not mean you should accept everything I say."
"Good. I was getting tired of that instruction."
Dumbledore placed a record beside her map. "The response is real. We have not established her interpretation of its ancestry."
Nyx pointed to a lower route. "There is a second seal. The Founders strengthened the upper work, but this structure was already there. It is failing too."
Percy leaned over the map. "Then show us what you can actually locate."
Another response did not automatically mean another ally. Percy kept the unsigned letter beside the map rather than putting either question away.
Nyx moved the lamp so he could see the lower marks. She waited while he compared them with Hermione's drawing.
"How do I know I can trust you?" Percy asked, narrowing his eyes.
"You can check the route and the records," Nyx said. "You should do that before trusting me with anything more."
Dumbledore placed the latest measurements beside them. "The rate of change is increasing. We need a useful inspection, but we will not confuse urgency with certainty."
"The upper work controls access," Nyx said. "I believe the second binding holds something beyond it."
"What do you believe it holds?" Percy asked.
"Our records call it a Primordial. They say the builders could not destroy it. I cannot prove that from a name."
The room fell silent.
Fawkes let out a mournful trill, his feathers ruffling.
"We have to find the second seal," Percy said finally. "Where do we start?"
Nyx unfolded an old map. Rooms shifted as she placed it beside Dumbledore's drawing, but the lower routes remained in the same positions.
"The Precursor's Map," she said. "It records the older foundations. Use it with the current plan, or an ordinary wall may stop you before the old route does."
Percy leaned in, scanning the parchment. Toward the bottom corner, there was a section labeled The Forgotten Depths, a web of tunnels and chambers he had never seen on the Marauder's Map or in any history book.
Nyx traced a path beneath the Founders' Chamber. "We need someone who can compare the inscriptions. And people willing to leave when the evidence says stop."
"Hermione will want to see the comparison," Percy said. "Harry and Ron already know enough to notice what we overlook."
Nyx led the evening inspection. The staff kept the upper approach clear while Percy, Hermione, Harry, and Ron followed the old route. Harry carried his cloak for the narrower, exposed passages rather than trying to fit five people beneath it.
"I should have brought snacks," Ron said. "That was the part of the planning I understand best."
"You ate before we left," Hermione said. "We can finish this inspection before you require another meal."
They reached the statue of Godric Gryffindor at the far end of a forgotten corridor. Nyx pressed a small, rune-marked medallion into the lion's paw. The statue groaned and shifted, revealing a staircase spiraling downward into darkness.
The steps became rougher below the statue. Percy slowed when a stone shifted beneath his shoe, and the others followed his pace.
Torchlight flickered to life without a touch.
"This is insane," Harry whispered. "What if we're walking right into a trap?"
"We can turn back," Percy said. "If that starts looking like the better choice, say so."
The stairs ended in a cavern. Roots covered a cracked pedestal at its center. Light showed beneath the roots where something was moving against the stone.
"The second seal," Nyx breathed.
The nearest roots lifted before Nyx could examine them. Percy stepped back rather than putting his hand on the pedestal.
A voice came from the far side of the chamber.
"I warned you once, Perseus. And now you bring… others."
A figure stepped out of the darkness.
His hood concealed his face. The lamp caught two bright eyes and one hand at his side.
Percy recognized the voice before he recognized anything else.
He had heard it in the library, close to the locked gate.
The memory was enough to make him check the exit.
Someone had followed the warnings with a route directly toward this room.
"You…" Percy said, stepping back.
Nyx stopped. "Acheron?"
"The prison is failing," the man said. "You have brought what I need to finish it."
With a wave of his hand, the chamber exploded in light.
Percy tried Lumos when the light went out. His wand gave a narrow beam, enough to show that the man had changed position.
Hermione pulled Harry clear of the pedestal. Ron cast Expulso toward the empty floor beside the attacker, driving him away from their route back.
For a moment, Percy thought they had space to leave. Then the voice came from behind him.
"You are not ready, Perseus."
A spell struck him before he turned. He hit the wall and lost his breath.
Harry reached him first. Nyx moved between them and Acheron, her palms giving a pale light that forced the next attack aside.
"You will not take him."
Acheron looked at her. "You still think you can keep the old work closed."
He moved his hand. Roots struck the floor, and Ron dragged Hermione away from a falling length of stone. A crack opened beneath the pedestal, showing red light below it.
"When the seal breaks, you will remember," Acheron told Percy.
Then he stepped into the opening and was gone.
Harry helped Percy sit up. His ribs hurt, and he stopped himself claiming otherwise.
"I can move," he said. "I would prefer not to be hit again."
Hermione checked his face, then looked at Nyx. "Who was he?"
"Acheron. One of the Darkbloods. Their records treat blood as a right to control the old magic. He has been trying to open this boundary for years."
"He knew you," Ron said.
"Yes. I tried to stop him before."
Percy looked at the crack. "And you did not expect him here?"
Nyx shook her head. "I should have allowed for it."
That admission did not repair the mistake, but Percy preferred it to another claim that everything was inevitable.
The roots moved aside, revealing a stone disk. Red light followed a fracture through its center.
Nyx knelt beside it. "We may be able to slow this before going back. Our binding method uses blood and a remembered pattern. I do not know enough to promise that it is the right permanent repair."
Hermione leaned close without touching it. "What would Percy have to do?"
"Supply a small part of his connection while I restore this line. No more than that. If the pull grows, we stop."
Percy examined the light. It was already reaching beyond the fractured edge.
"Will it hold if we leave?"
"Not for long," Nyx said. "That is my estimate, not a certainty."
He disliked the available choices. He had also seen enough to know that Acheron wanted them worse.
"I will try," Percy said. "You tell me if the pattern changes."
Harry stayed beside him. Ron watched the crack Acheron had used. Hermione watched Nyx's hands rather than accepting the first line she spoke.
Percy placed his palm beside the seal. Nyx began the old sequence.
Light moved through the disk. For a moment the fracture narrowed.
Then something beneath it moved in response, and Percy felt a larger pressure meet the small part he had offered.
To Be Continued... Next week!
Chapters are getting longer, stay tuned!
By the way I'll be uploading on sundays starting today onwards!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
READ MORE!!!! ADD TO LIBRARY!!!! STONE ME!
Add the book to your library to get the next and subsequent chapters :)
Have some ideas about my story? Comment it and let me know. (constructive criticism/praise only!) NO TROLLS!