Echoes of Stone and Gold… Pt 6
Everyone followed Fleamont quickly out of the room; but the moment they crossed the threshold, they realized that the corridors ahead of them were turning into gold. The walls shone with an unnatural glow, and the floor began to harden beneath a metallic layer that advanced slowly, as if it were alive. Without saying a word, they immediately retreated and went back inside, closing the door behind them.
Without wasting time, they decided to go in another direction.
"Grandfather, what is that?" Harry asked Fleamont as they all moved forward without stopping, their steps quick and alert.
"Harry, there are truly horrible curses in the world; many of them are dangerous and unknown," Fleamont said in a grave voice. "And precisely because of that, they are even more dangerous; because no one knows how to recover from them." He paused briefly before adding, "This is one of them."
"Is it like King Midas?" Billy asked, following that same line of thought.
Fleamont looked at him with interest, with a hint of approval in his expression, as he nodded slightly. "You are good; you are close," he added.
That made Billy feel proud, as it seemed he had at least been somewhat right.
"Some stories and legends are exaggerations of what truly happened," Fleamont continued. "Others, however, may be gentler versions of the truth."
"And which one is this?" Sirius asked.
"The gentle version; King Midas was punished by a god because of his greed," Fleamont explained at once. "He could not even embrace his daughter without turning her into gold by the same curse imposed upon him. In that story, the god forgives him for his audacity and tells him to wash away the curse in the river Pactolus; after that, everything returns to normal."
"And the other version?" Draco asked.
"If you were cursed by a dark wizard and that curse took your family from you," Fleamont replied calmly, "would you go and ask that wizard for forgiveness so that he would give them back? And how could you be sure he would do it, if he already gave you such a horrible curse simply because he could?"
"So, King Midas never returned to beg for mercy?" Billy asked.
"Not mercy; revenge," Fleamont added. "Sometimes curses are so powerful that even if you know how to impose them on others, that does not mean you know how to cure them."
That implied something important. If Dionysus, who placed the curse on Midas, was in truth a wizard so powerful that he was considered a god, then perhaps even he did not know how to remove it. And if he could not remove it, then what happened to Midas, who had lost his daughter?
"What happened then?" Harry asked.
"That will be a story for another day," Fleamont replied. "What matters now is that the bones that should be sealed in the dungeon are walking through the tower; and we must stop them, because they will not stop until they turn everything into gold. And after that, they will leave the tower to do the same to every living being in the world."
"But Grandfather, how did that skeleton get here?" Harry asked; after all, that was what bothered him the most.
"It is not the first time it has awakened, Harry," Fleamont explained. "My grandmother took part the last time it was active; she helped capture and seal it, and brought it here because it was the safest place to contain it, assuming no one touched the cell in the dungeon."
"In the dungeon? Isn't that where we went to look for…?" Before Tommy could say anything else, Harry immediately covered his mouth.
"The broom," Harry said without hesitation, earning the looks of everyone present.
"That's right; we wanted to clean something Tommy broke," Billy said quickly, helping Harry without thinking twice.
Everyone looked at them strangely, while Draco narrowed his eyes for a moment, watching his friend. Obviously, that lie would not work on someone who spent so much time with Harry and the girls.
"Well, it doesn't matter," Fleamont said, returning to the subject. "Catching it is not that difficult; it is easier than you think. We only need to find the bars of the cell; they are made of a special material that contains that curse. Then we have to lure it into the trap, just as my grandmother did in the past." Then he added, "Do not worry; once it is locked away, what has turned to gold will return to normal."
That made Sirius let out a sigh upon hearing it, because it meant that Remus had not died, visibly relaxing everyone.
It was not what they feared most; it was not death that was coming for them.
"Although, truly, it is not very pleasant to turn into gold," Fleamont added. "Returning to normal will be like tearing off your own skin."
That made everyone fear something else instead. At least it was not death, but having your skin torn off did not sound much better.
"And how do we lure it without being turned into gold?" Draco asked, his tone somewhat sarcastic.
"The last time, they used a young woman," Fleamont explained. "The only ones it would not attack while trying to turn them into gold were young women, because it seemed to remind it of its daughter. That is why everyone who took part in its capture back then was female; they even left notes stating that women should be the ones to capture it."
They all looked at one another for a moment, in a truly uncomfortable silence.
Fleamont glanced around, noticing the same thing, and put on a confused expression. "Where are the girls?" he asked.
"Well… today was boys' day, so they are at a spa," Sirius said.
Fleamont froze for a moment. "Well… then we are lost; we might as well wait for Wanda to find us," he said, giving up.
"Wait, wait, no," Sirius said quickly. "If the girls find out what happened, they will make fun of us; we cannot let them know that we need them. We can do this ourselves."
But the looks he received from the others did not seem to agree.
Meanwhile, Harry was thinking about something. He glanced at Draco for a moment and then broke into a truly wicked smile, which Draco seemed to notice, immediately turning away.
"I have a plan," Harry said.
…
While the others prepared the area in an attempt to trap the golden skeleton, Harry, who could float thanks to his chaos magic, moved through the corridors that had already turned to gold without touching either the walls or the floor. He advanced carefully, suspended in the air, heading toward the lowest part of the tower.
According to his grandfather, the first area to turn into gold and be detected as a serious threat was located in the deepest section. That meant it had been the point of release.
Harry moved through the air at great speed, keeping all his senses alert, paying attention to any sound that might give away the presence of something skeletal moving among the golden metal. Fortunately, he heard nothing.
So he descended through the corridors without stopping. With each level he went down, the tower felt more and more silent.
For a moment, he came across the golden statue of Remus and came to an abrupt halt in front of it. The golden shine covered him completely, freezing him in the exact instant in which he had raised his wand, pointing it forward, casting the last spell he had tried to use to save Wendell.
"Uncle Remus, just wait a moment; we will get you out of there soon," Harry said with a serious look. "Although… it will probably hurt quite a bit, according to Grandpa."
Remus remained there, unmoving, turned into a perfect golden sculpture, with determination still etched into his posture.
Harry continued downward, observing all the gold around him, the walls, the bars, the floors, until he finally reached the deepest part. There, that section of the dungeon was completely turned to gold, and the closer he got to the end, the more it felt as if he were praying inwardly.
"Please, let it not be Red; please, let it not be Red," he repeated over and over in a low voice.
Until he reached the final cell, one with dark bars, different from the rest, which seemed to absorb all the magic around them. They were the only thing in the entire dungeon that had not turned golden, standing out like a stain of darkness amid the metallic shine.
Harry stopped in midair and took a breath for a moment, without looking inside yet. He closed his eyes for a second before moving closer all at once.
And what he saw made him let out a long, exhausted sigh.
The chaotic dragon Red had been turned into gold, one paw raised, as if it had been the one he used to touch the skeleton for the first time. His foolish and proud expression had been immortalized in solid metal; he even had his tongue sticking out, which made him look even more ridiculous.
…
Meanwhile, on the other side of the tower, in the section that had not yet turned to gold, the others were preparing everything for when Harry returned so they could set the trap.
Among them stood a young blonde woman, frowning, with her arms crossed. She wore a somewhat old fashioned dress, but one that suited her very well, and her beautiful appearance made her stand out even without trying.
Even with that irritated expression, she was clearly pretty.
"I do not like this plan," she said angrily.