Chapter 13.2- Doom Days

I nodded and stepped through the hole. He followed suit and the painting swung close behind us. Lighting up my wand, I led the way. This was an interesting secret passage because it seemed like all it did was warp space between two fixed points. Unlike most other passages that ran as part of a network with multiple entrances and exists, this one just had one entrance, and the sole exit was exactly ten steps away. If one went any further than ten steps, they just kept walking and walking for eternity. Things like this were what made me suspect that at least one of the Marauders had some seer in them. My money would be on Sirius Black in that case, I thought either a chuckle, and then I froze in my tracks. Fuck. Sirius! I’d forgotten him almost completely.

Flitwick looked at me quizzically so I just brushed off the thought for later and reached out towards the wall and pressed on one particular lose stone to make the wall turn into a door that swung open. We walked through and Flitwick actually gasped.

“How fascinating. Only fifteen steps and we’re all the way on the seventh floor? I hadn’t even felt myself be translocated. How fascinating. Surely you don’t mind if I study this in my own time, Mr. Potter”

“Go ahead, Professor” I said to him.

He seemed like he wanted to cancel the rest of our scheduled morning training to study the passageway, but thought better of it and followed me as I made my way to the stairs to go down to his classroom. I pretended not to notice the time he spent staring at the Portrait of the woman with the long gown and imperius face before he gave up and waddled along to join me.

“Was that- was that the same woman?” He asked.

“Best I can tell, yes. The passage only works one-way, in the sense that I’ve used it to come up so now I must use it go down if not I will not be able to use it to come up at a late date. It’s kind of like an elevator”

“An ele-what?” He asked instantly. I remembered just where I was and who I was talking to with a shake of my head.

“Nevermind, Professor” I said instead, and while he still seemed curious, he did not ask any other questions. In fact, he was stuck in his thoughts until we arrived at his classroom. My legs thanked me as I fell upon a seat and I wondered how bad they would have been if I’d gone up six flights instead of down one as I just did.

“Today, Mr. Potter. We will be working on shield charms” he said and I nodded.

“So how many do you know?” He asked.

“Just the general protego. Most books suggest that is more than enough and covers most situations” I said.

“Yes, that is correct. For an auror or a hit wizard, maybe. But you are to be a duelist. No duelist worth his salt can get by with just a single shield charm.”