Harry Potter: The Golden Viper

062 Expected Failure

You are lying, Malfoy!

Harry tried to make his tone sound less like an accusation, but the voice that came out was almost a roar. His green eyes flashed with anger and disbelief as he glared at the blond boy in front of him.

"I just came from there, Malfoy, there's nothing there but a drain, you're scaring people!"

He gestured wildly at the dark and damp corridor behind him, where he had just escaped from a horrifying encounter with a corpse-like creature. He had barely made it out alive, thanks to his quick reflexes and his trusty wand. If it were normal times, Malfoy, who was treated by Potter with this attitude, might have taken out his wand and fought back, but now, he had no trace of being offended, only desperate sobbing. His pale face was twisted with fear and his silver eyes were wide with horror. He looked like he had seen a ghost - or worse.

"There was a corpse with chains crawling out of the water, I saw it."

After saying this, Malfoy collapsed in front of the round arch of the small tomb chamber like he had used up all his strength. He curled up into a ball on the cold stone floor, whispering in a lost voice,

"Watson wants to kill us, Potter, we're all going to die"

"Nonsense," Harry gritted his teeth and said, "Professor Watson is the investigator and Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher sent by the board of governors, everything that happens here, Headmaster Dumbledore will know, Professor Snape is outside too!"

Harry refuted Malfoy's absurd inference, but at least he believed one thing, that there was indeed a corpse on the side he came in from, only he didn't notice. It was that piece of wood.

After a little thought, Harry understood that the corpse with chains that Malfoy said should be the 'wood' floating in the middle of the small drain. Because he stepped on it, it woke up from its eternal sleep.

Now, the situation facing Harry was that both the front and back roads were blocked by two corpses that could move and walk, and looked like they could bite people. He and Malfoy were caught in the middle. Probably in thirty seconds, they would have to face those two corpses head-on. And his only 'teammate' Malfoy looked like he had given up on resisting.

"Damn it!"

Harry ran to Malfoy's side and dragged him into the small tomb chamber from outside the arch. All the way, Malfoy didn't make any resistance. He just shivered and muttered something like 'it's over'. His blond hair was matted with sweat and dirt, and his robes were torn and stained with blood.

"No way, I have to do something."

The clear rustling sound and the crisp sound of chains sliding on the ground came to his ears. Harry anxiously turned around in the small tomb chamber, wracking his brains for what he could do to resist.

The chamber was dimly lit by a few torches on the walls. It was filled with ancient coffins and statues of unknown wizards. Harry wondered if they were buried here or if they were guarding something. The best way was to get two big stones to block the round arches at both ends of the room. The two inferi's looked evil and dangerous, but they didn't seem to be very strong. If he could seal the room, he and Malfoy could save their lives!

But he was not Professor McGonagall who taught Transfiguration. He didn't have the amazing ability to turn a beetle into a teapot with a light wave of his wand! He didn't even know how to conjure a simple stone!

Harry was still thinking, but those two inferi's wouldn't be so kind as to wait for him to come up with a perfect solution. Soon, they walked around the corner and appeared in Harry's sight. And they were only about ten feet away from this small room.

"Petrificus Totalus!"

When death approached, Harry abandoned thinking and gave his body to instinct. Without any hesitation, he threw a curse at the corpse with swollen face covered with fine cracks, wearing prison clothes, and whose hands and feet were clamped by two chains.

The inferi' had sunken eyes and rotten teeth that made Harry feel sick. Harry saw this curse for the first time last year when Hermione used it to deal with Neville. At that time, Neville turned into a statue that couldn't move for several hours under the effect of this curse. Harry hoped that his Petrificus Totalus could also produce such a perfect effect.

But unfortunately, his curse failed. The inferi''s slow pace did stagger a bit after being hit by Petrificus Totalus, but it didn't stop moving! It seemed that it was immune to such simple spells.

"Expelliarmus!"

Harry tried again against the other female inferi'. Disarming Charm was the only useful thing Harry learned from Lockhart's dueling class. And it was Snape who taught him this. Harry hated to admit it, but Snape was a better teacher than Lockhart in this aspect.

A brilliant red beam of light shot out from the tip of Harry's wand and hit the chest of the female inferi with a loud thud. The power of this curse was not negligible. Even the undead creature, whose flesh was rotting and bones were exposed, was forced to stagger back several steps by the impact of the light! But this was far from enough to solve the problem.

The female inferi, who quickly regained her balance, resumed her relentless approach towards the small room where Harry and Malfoy were trapped. Harry had already failed twice to stop the inferi with his spells. He felt a surge of despair in his chest. He leaned against the cold stone wall and closed his eyes, as if resigned to his fate.

He could almost feel the inferi's sharp teeth tearing at his neck. What should I do! Big drops of sweat rolled down from his forehead to his cheeks like pearls. His face was flushed red as if he had a fever. He remembered what Professor Watson had said in his office last night. Power is power. No matter what kind of extreme emotion can help you gain power to overcome fear in an instant, it can only make you more determined to pursue power, not give you power itself.

"Think of something, Malfoy, anything that can stop them from getting closer!"

Harry shouted at Malfoy, hoping to get some inspiration from him. But Malfoy was no help at all. He was curled up in a corner of the room, trembling and sobbing. He looked up at Harry with tearful eyes and said in a hopeless voice,

"We're doomed, Potter."

Harry's two failed curses seemed to have shattered Malfoy's last shred of confidence. He stood up shakily, leaning against the wall for support,

"There's no curse that can defeat the dead!"

Harry glanced at the two inferi that were closing in on them from both sides. They were only ten feet away from the front and back doors of the room. Harry felt a surge of adrenaline in his veins. His two green eyes shone with a fierce determination after going through the ordeal of fear.

"Listen to me, Malfoy, listen carefully to what I say, and don't ask why, because I don't know why I'm doing this either!"

Harry said in a low but firm voice. He fixed his gaze on the inferi that was chained to the wall. He took a deep breath,

"In a moment, I'll use the Leg-locker curse to try to knock down this chained guy. If it fails, I'll rush out and push him aside. While he's biting my neck, you slip past him and run for help. And please call Professor Snape before I die!"

Malfoy was stunned by Harry's words. He opened his mouth and stared at Harry as if he had never seen him before.

Harry didn't give Malfoy a chance to ask questions or protest. After saying that, he raised his wand and pointed it at the chained inferi.

"Wait, Potter, why-"

"It's over, Draco and you Potter, you can put down your wands."

Malfoy's words were cut off by another calm voice that echoed in the narrow room. As soon as the voice sounded, the two inferi stopped in their tracks as if they had received some command and didn't move any further.

Harry couldn't believe his ears. He turned his head and saw Snape standing at the entrance of the room, looking at them with a stern expression. Harry had never felt so happy to see Snape before. He was so relieved that he even showed Snape a grateful smile!

And Snape looked at Harry differently from all the previous times. He didn't hurry to sneer or scold him. Instead, his face was complex and his black eyes showed a hint of sadness?

"Professor."

Snape's look made Harry uneasy. He looked up at Snape and asked in a cautious voice, "Did we fail our challenge?"

Snape answered this question with a nasal voice. He took out two vials of cheering potion from his robes and handed them roughly to Harry and Draco. He watched them drink it with a cold gaze.

Under the effect of the cheering potion, Harry and Draco's pale faces relaxed a bit. And after losing the external pressure, they felt a wave of fatigue wash over them from head to toe. They were about to collapse on the ground. Snape quickly caught them and tucked them under his arms. Only when he picked up Harry, Snape almost lost his grip and dropped him on the ground.

"Let's go."

Finally, Snape glanced at the two inferi who had walked back to their original positions and walked through the wall without looking back.