Dungeon Chamber

[Sir Spazalots]

On the lower level of the dungeons, the dungeon chambers spans vastly under the murky green lake and is one of the largest rooms down in the dungeons. This wide expanse of open area makes this a notable spot to feature the Death Day party for the school's ghost inhabitants.

 

[Essy ze Ninja]

Slip out the back before they know you were there

and at the worst you'll see nobody cares,

you don't want to be around when it all goes down...

William Dante Nott the Third

Second Year, Slytherin

Calloused fingers worn from early mornings of laborious activities grazed the fragile fabric of parchment within the thick leather bound textbook opened upon an empty desk riddled with dust. The fine print scrawled details over charms, some dull, others dangerous, but Tay had busied his finger under a certain spell. He had already suffered through several attempts and only succeeded with negative results, but he pushed himself to try again.

He stood out in the center of the chamber room; the large expanse of area gave birth to several different passages along each direction. Sprawled across the floor were several old and broken knick knacks he had accumulated through the dungeons, tattered and worn portraits and cracked and rusted cauldrons to practice spells upon. He hadn’t bothered to keep quiet because he knew that students hardly ever ventured down to the second floor of the dungeons, nonetheless, journey through the long corridor until the chamber he resided in was reached. ”Aurumflamma!” He recited again, and for the hundredth time that it began to turn to mush on his tongue, but only a spurt of golden flames surged forward but had died before ever reaching its target.

”Bloody hell, what’s wrong with me?!” He grimaced, hands strewn up in wild auburn hair as he stood staring wretchedly at his own fault. ”I hate tutors, what in bloody Circe’s name am I going to do?”

╔══════════════╗
Location:Dungeon Chamber
Injuries:
Desires:Power
╚══════════════╝

..even heroes know when to be scared.

 

[Essy ze Ninja]

Slip out the back before they know you were there

and at the worst you'll see nobody cares,

you don't want to be around when it all goes down...

William Dante Nott the Third

Second Year, Slytherin

”Aurumflamma!” Tay decreed with a dignified echo, but all that had been managed was a spurt of flames that trickled from the end of his wand like sparklers. He sighed as he dropped his wand arm, eyes of molten gold had targeted the decrepit cauldron from where it resided several feet across from him. The spell, supposedly, should have caused the basin to burst to flames and obliterate into a pile of ashes, but he could never muster more than a spout of golden flailing embers. Defeated, Tay didn’t know what else to do, so he kicked the cauldron with the tip of his dragon hide boots and watched in mild amusement as it clattered across the open room and then collided against a locked cabinet, which instantly began to tremor. Frozen with the exception of blinking eyes, Tay suddenly lost sight of his anger and was controlled by this new profound curiosity.

Again, the cabinet clattered this way and clambered that, the hinges reverberated and the door almost seemed to be shaking loose. From sheer suspicion, Tay glanced over his shoulder several times as he neared the cabinet with slow, progressing steps. Once he was sure he was alone, his fingers worked the latched as much as he could until he was met with one singular lock.

”Alohamora.” He recited, clear and concise, and with a single pop the lock fell apart. And then, BOOM!

At once, Tay was knocked on his feet, the doors slammed open and a dreadful shadowed silhouette lunged forth from the confines of its prison. Tay, so shocked, couldn’t even utter a word of surprise as he fell backwards onto his behind and stared upwards, face to face, with the demons that plagued his mind.

”You’re a monster.” The figure of a young boy had deemed, pale and impassive, with dark rims under his eyes and the whisper of death haunting his visage. ”You don’t feel like us, you don’t care, you don’t hurt, you don’t cry.”

”Riley?” The cold and stark bitter voice of Tay cut the silence at once, but no fear was evident, just a lack of emotion.

”You’re a monster.” The boggart repeated again before it shifted, this time, it took the shape of a different little boy with auburn hair and eyes gold as coin. There, the boggart sat, stained in blood that had not been there before reliving the memory that Tay had pondered over since its occurrence. The boggart of Tay, a mere six years old, was wretched with a smile, fingers diligently etching into the spilt blood of another little boy, Riley.

Despite it all, Tay didn’t know what to feel. The reminiscent anger surged, but the lack of empathy caused a bubbled confusion to overflow within him as he realized, he hadn’t been scared at all. But there the boggart sat, exerting what should have been his worst fear—

But then he realized, this was his worst fear… Being found out.

╔══════════════╗
Location:Dungeon Chamber
Injuries:
Desires:Power
╚══════════════╝

..even heroes know when to be scared.

 

[Essy ze Ninja]

Slip out the back before they know you were there

and at the worst you'll see nobody cares,

you don't want to be around when it all goes down...

William Dante Nott the Third

Second Year, Slytherin

Tay scrambled backwards, flustered, too caught up in the moment to rise to his feet and meet his own reflection face to face, but the boggart hadn’t seemed to mind. A sinister smile played at the lips of the boggart who had taken the shape of a younger version of Tay, and the fiend stood, the echoing droplets of blood haunted the premises as it inched closer and closer. Finally, the real Tay had all but managed to clamber to his feet in time to seize his wand and thrust it towards the boggart, but he couldn’t move. He was frozen.

”You’ll never be like them.” The promised lace of poison fluttered past the boggarts lips with Tay’s own voice, but encrypted with a secret that no one knew. ”You never will.”

”Shut up.” Tay had managed a growl, the peak of ferocity boiled within his eyes, but the boggart only prodded further. It reached out with crimson fingertips, the sickening smile a mirror of his own emotions on the faithful day that allowed him the privilege of the thestrals sight. ”Ridikulus!” He decreed, inching backwards away from the younger version of himself, but to no avail.

”And it won’t be a secret for long.” The boggart taunted Tay with his own voice, seeing Colton whereas Tay could not.

”Ridikulus! Ridikulus!” He repeated, over and over in vain, still inching backwards, shocked. But one thing was clear, not a trace of fear, nor a hint of remorse or guilt could be evident in his voice or on his features, only a worry that he might, one day, be caught.

╔══════════════╗
Location:Dungeon Chamber
Injuries:
Desires:Power
╚══════════════╝

..even heroes know when to be scared.

 

[Porcelaine Ivory]

яεġrετ┃ηστнιηġ ♦ ғεαя┃ησ σηε ♦ ταkε prιdε ιη┃εvεяyτнιηġ

Colton gripped the icy doorway and swung himself inside. Sure enough, his eyes grazed over the face of his most recent enemy, but that wasn't what held his attention. Standing in front of a tall wooden cabinet was a much younger boy, but it was clear that it wasn't the same one who had been speaking just moments ago. That boy sounded scared, and somewhat accusing. This boy, this...thing...it stood up straight without a hint of fear, or anything else he had sensed in that cold, haunting voice. This boy was...smiling, he was covered in blood, and...he looked just like a younger version of Tay. He watched in confusion as the two boys carried out a rushed conversation and his classmate began throwing spells at his reflection.

Colt quickly connected the odd, unrealistic image before him with the open cabinet and the sound of the loud bang that had drawn him into the dungeon chamber. His eyes lept nervously between the two versions of one evil as he stepped further into the room and withdrew his wand from the depths of his robes - but not fast enough. The boggart had caught onto his fear. The same thick thoughts that had been trapped within him for the past several weeks. The same daunting image brought itself to life right before him, just as he had been afraid of.

A little boy, not much older than the one that had just been in its place, now stood on a thin sheet of ice, glancing timidly over his shoulder, his coat covered snow and his brilliant green eyes drilling holes deep into Colton's heart. Subconsciously, the Gryffindor reached out a helpless hand, but quickly stopped himself when the image shattered rapidly into another - this one making him take a step back. It was him - 10 year old Colton, mittens on, thick winter coat, kneeling longingly upon the ice. His gloved fists beat endlessly on the frosty surface, and his young, shivering voice echoed repeatedly throughout the chamber. "Gavin! Gavin!" Just as he pulled himself together enough to lift his wand, the image snapped once more. A small, frozen body lay motionless on the surface of the broken ice, but Colton only saw one thing - those same, lifeless green eyes - wide open, and staring fearfully back at him. Gavin's lips were a pale blue, as was his skin, his entire body frozen in a pose that reflected his short struggle to escape the glacial waters from beneath the marble ice. That same pang of regret struck hard against his ribs. Regret from forcing the boy to his death, regret for not getting into the water fast enough, regret of his cousin's death.

"Riddikulus!" Colton's deep, but shaky voice broke the silence, and light from the end of his wand transformed the image for what he hoped would be the last time. The frozen body melted into water atop the frozen sheet of ice, and from the small open opening climbed a trio of penguins, dressed in winter apparel and ice-skating artistically. The image did nothing to invoke laughter at such a time, but it erased the one of his dead cousin. "De-PUHL-so!" Colton hollered the incantation to the advanced spell, stabbing his wand at the image and sending the frolicking penguins back into the cabinet with clear hesitation and reluctance. Despite all the times he had practiced the Banishing Charm, it wasn't nearly as strong as it had been in the past, but it did the job. Colton swept across the room and slammed the door shut manually before locking it with his wand.

Turning slowly with an expression of exhaustion and cold sweat dripping from his forehead, the boy slid down the wooden door until he was seated uncomfortably on the floor of the dungeon chamber, his back against the shaking wood. Fearfully, Colton raised his gray eyes to those of the auburn-haired boy. Nobody had seen the vision that had just played out in front of the Slytherin, nobody but Colt. He gripped his wand with both hands, unable to find words for his thoughts. Suddenly the words of the younger Tay reverberated inside of his damaged head. "And it won't be a secret for long."

 

[Essy ze Ninja]

Slip out the back before they know you were there

and at the worst you'll see nobody cares,

you don't want to be around when it all goes down...

William Dante Nott the Third

Second Year, Slytherin

Motions took to a blur all around him, and he couldn’t focus. On one hand, the demented vision of his former self had haunted him, but on the other hand, the thought of retreat sat like a wretched stone where his heart should have resided, instead, that rock pounded against his ribcage with a tremendous force, echoing the drums of war within his veins. Caught in a frenzy, Tay had been taken aback with the abrupt thunder of footsteps hailing towards him from behind, and the young Slytherin was quick to retreat backwards separating himself from the boggart as it already began to shift.

Another boy had morphed, this time, there was a bitter sweet remnant of an old winter day, bundled tight with motherly care. The boy, whoever it was, had a carefree grin spread lopsided across rosy cheeks, until suddenly, the grin fell, and just as quickly, he fell too. A splash of cold water shone against the dim light as it spewed across, and then the boggart had morphed once more.

Tay stood vigil, wand in hand, but helpless. His eyes were wide with curiosity, lips parted and muscles unmoving, as if any notion could potentially lead to a traumatic death. And then eyes of glittering silver shifted into view, and what Tay saw couldn’t have surprised him more. There the boggart stood as Colton, shouting, crying, bleeding his heart out onto his voice as if that could save the very boy he had subsequently murdered.

The blast of spells had brought Tay to his senses, but before he knew it, the shrouded vision of fleeting penguins had shifted into an oblique darkness, and ensnared like the devil it was. Eyes of gold, polar opposites of the reflection of silver orbs from his nemesis, Tay stood locked with his wand still upheld, this time, directed towards Colton. A hesitance could be noted on his features, hidden beneath the mask upheld by a contortion of relief and anger. Unsure of how to approach the subject, Tay narrowed his eyes and flicked his tongue back and forth against his teeth silently debating upon an appropriate response. He hadn’t at all seemed phased by the demons of his past like Colton was, not even a hint. Instead, it was clear he was much too preoccupied to cover up his tracks.

”Raines.” He began with a formal and cavalier drawl to his British tongue. ”What brings you to my neck of the woods.” He decidedly inquired as he took a short and deliberate step to the side to block the exit into the corridor.

╔══════════════╗
Location:Dungeon Chamber
Injuries:
Desires:Power
╚══════════════╝

..even heroes know when to be scared.

 

[Porcelaine Ivory]

яεġrετ┃ηστнιηġ ♦ ғεαя┃ησ σηε ♦ ταkε prιdε ιη┃εvεяyτнιηġ

The longer Colton sat against the cold floor, the longer all of the pieces of the puzzle began to click. Tay, whether his intentions had been the same Colton highly doubted, was somewhat in the same position as him - or at least had been a few years in the past. It appeared that the two had clearly handled death differently, and that likely had much to do with their personalities and again, intentions. A wave of assumptions began to bang at his inner-walls, but the boy felt it better to wait until he was alone to begin calling the Slytherin a murderer based purely upon a show put on by a boggart.

When Tay spoke, Colt slowly raised his eyes to meet those that were so contradictory of his own. "William." He greeted darkly in return, not acknowledging the boy's nickname, despite how often he used it in his head and amongst his friends.

Trying to think of an answer to the question that arose, but unable to find one, he decided to turn the tables. "Would you rather I had left you alone with that filthy thing? I could let him back out if you'd prefer?" He said, raising his tone slightly as he gestured to the still-rattling door behind him.

It was obvious that Colton had avoided the question, but he could care less. As much as Tay didn't need to know what had brought the Gryffindor to the dungeons, he was pretty positive that he would figure it out on his own from what had just happened, if he hadn't gathered that much already. The problem with knowing his weakness was no longer a secret was how little protection he would now have against attack.

His fortification walls had fallen, he was no longer impregnable, and Tay knew that.

 

[Essy ze Ninja]

Slip out the back before they know you were there

and at the worst you'll see nobody cares,

you don't want to be around when it all goes down...

William Dante Nott the Third

Second Year, Slytherin

”Go ahead,” Tay taunted with preeminent pleasure plucking the corner of thin lips into a sardonic smile of lies, and the accompany of a pointless jest from his raised wand encouraged his mirth. ”Do it.” Tay persisted with a voice of stone. ”Turn your back to me and do it.”

With his wand trained on Colton, he hadn’t a doubt in his mind for his victory despite the toll that it had taken. Now, Colton knew what others did not, and perhaps, he would be able to identify his own true weakness, his one true strength, all in one depending on the cards that’s been played. But even with the rich and luxurious scent of ascendency, it would only put him at risk to the eyes of the school officials, and he couldn’t have that. As sure as he was that both students rivaled in pride, he knew there was one difference that would ultimately lead to the decision to submit to the authority of the headmistress, and those were his friends. One by one, he’d have to pick them apart, and as his retinas retained the image of the young boy fastened in woolen and heavy clothing, sickly pale from fright and wrought with wretched hues of crimson, he had found a leeway. And he would find more.

”But why be so brash, mate?” Tay drawled on impassively, the hint of arrogance fluxed with each syllable. ”After all, it’s not like we’re that far from family, right? The Notts and Flints have gone back as far as time itself can tell, and any friend of the Flint’s is a friend of mine.” Depicted with fact, Colton would hardly notice the sarcasm that tainted every lick of his hissing tongue. ”Your mum’s been chums with the Flints for just as long, hasn’t she? Too long, if you ask me. Especially considering Flint’s wife left him… your mum must be a sweet one for helping him cope through all of this.” With the truth shone to light, he couldn’t resist the signature smirk that resided on the lips of his uncle for years unbound, and even now, he mimicked the airy and infernal depiction; with his uncles’ own words as ammunition.

╔══════════════╗
Location:Dungeon Chamber
Injuries:
Desires:Power
╚══════════════╝

..even heroes know when to be scared.

 

[Porcelaine Ivory]

яεġrετ┃ηστнιηġ ♦ ғεαя┃ησ σηε ♦ ταkε prιdε ιη┃εvεяyτнιηġ

Colton was on his feet within a second of Tay's comment, fists clenched and veins bulging. His wand was gripped solidly in his hand and out in front of him, but it shook vigorously with the rage that emanated from the boy's body. For a very brief moment, he actually considered what the Slytherin had suggested, but quickly forced the unruly possibility from his too-full head.

"Alfons isn't half the man my father is - and no Flint, and certainly no Nott, will ever be in comparison with my family." Somehow, Colton managed to keep his words steady as he slowly lessened the distance between him and the shorter boy, at the same time moving closer to the open dungeon door. His gray eyes pierced his opponent as he came to a stop in the doorway. "You better watch you words, William. You might find yourself drowning in regret." Colt caught the second meaning he had accidentally slipped into his own words. A meaning that certainly didn't belong there. He had meant to threaten Tay, but not with the same death he had just rewitnessed thanks to the boggart. A light breeze blew past his shoulders, but the hairs on the back of his neck were already standing.

 

[Essy ze Ninja]

Slip out the back before they know you were there

and at the worst you'll see nobody cares,

you don't want to be around when it all goes down...

William Dante Nott the Third

Second Year, Slytherin

”Of course, of course,” Tay flicked his tongue back and forth behind slick teeth with passive aggressive animosity laced through and through. ”How could I forget? The sea can drown the snake, but in the end, it’s your honor that will be the death of you.” A sudden smirk had fluttered upon his lips, blown in by the chilled breeze that struck the dungeon to the bones, pierce beyond any metal or diamond could hope to pierce, the soul. And with the sudden glitter of gold in his cold eyes, he knew he had won for now.

”You know, you shouldn’t be spending your days so far from your friends, Raines. Who knows what sorts of troubles that little mouse had gotten into, but if I know my boys, then she should have just checked into the Hospital Wing,” Tay paused, long enough to show his blatant disregard towards Colt by retrieving a silver pocket watch from his trousers. ”…Ten minutes ago.” He concluded with the loud clasp of his watch and allowed the lie to sift pass his lips with airy truth and pride; the depths of which, knew no bounds. As he examined the taller, broader, leaner, wizard with disdain, his eyes searched frantic. Frantic for information, for telltale signs of weakness, for anything really.

But, upon realizing his foolish mistake of sending the lion to its den, where the abyss of his heritage remained hostage, he fought to lie, and lie again, until he was sure that he had left the boy in such disarray, he wouldn’t know where to flee to first. ”This is the first time the lot of you finally separated, hasn’t it?” He insinuated, not at all sure if it was true, but considering the fact that not only Phinelia had ventured down to the dungeons not even an hour ago, and now, here was Colton? Something must have happened, he was sure. ”I know you’ve been watching me, my cousin…

“You’re not very discreet, I can assure you. Right now, that little loyal Hufflepuff is probably looking for her mates, which is just as well, perhaps she’ll realize what happens when her friends always… leave her behind.

“Shame, really, how you lot always do. Storm’s no better, what with his two wands, I can imagine the hindrance that could propose, of course, that’s if he still has his wands, foolish, stating his views in the snake pit.” Tay sudden admitted defeated, everything in the purpose of throwing the lion off its foremost destination, Phinelia. His wand suddenly relaxed in his hand, arms tossed up to the side from where he stood blocking one of the corridors, admitting a feign bit of truce, because he knew he wouldn’t win, not now, not here. ”But, you should go see for yourself, mate. Don’t let me be the one to tell you what you should have already known.” He knew the position he cornered himself in, but he had hoped that honor above all else would restrain Raines from proposing an attack when a sort of truce had been offered, when Tay was defenseless, and Raines friends pressing for immediate attention, or, so the tongue of the snake hissed.

╔══════════════╗
Location:Dungeon Chamber
Injuries:
Desires:Power
╚══════════════╝

..even heroes know when to be scared.

 

[Porcelaine Ivory]

яεġrετ┃ηστнιηġ ♦ ғεαя┃ησ σηε ♦ ταkε prιdε ιη┃εvεяyτнιηġ

Colt rolled his eyes at another of Tay's responses which was surely meant to sound clever, though he himself didn't find it so. Staring back into those evil eyes of melted gold, the Gryffindor listened as the boy continued to ramble on, and it was only then that he raised himself up to his full height, his rough hand gripping the handle of his wand as if it were the hand of his child. Before he could stop himself, he was storming across the room until the boys were standing nose to nose, the power of his wand nearly forgotten at his side. "What did you do to Phinelia?" He spat his words in a hurry through his gritted teeth, body quickly beginning to tremble. How could he have left her alone? The one person he felt bound to protect was now in fate's hands rather than his own.

When Tay chose to ignore him and keep up his fortress walls, repeatedly tossing sharp comments in his face, Colt distanced himself again, his eyes jumping anxiously from the door, to the Slytherin, and back again. He filed every word said in the back of his mind for later, but at the moment, nothing could distract Colton from what had already been revealed.

His body shook as he scrambled for some deeper meaning, something that would tell him what had happened - or if he was perhaps lying in attempt to save himself from this lonely moment in the dungeon. Finally realizing that he could not afford to waste any time, he raised his wand, pointing it directly in Tay's face. "Hospital wing?" He inquired, hoping to get a for sure answer out of the boy before he flew up several flights of stairs only to find out that she had never made it to the nurse.

 

[Essy ze Ninja]

Slip out the back before they know you were there

and at the worst you'll see nobody cares,

you don't want to be around when it all goes down...

William Dante Nott the Third

Second Year, Slytherin

The moment those words had yet but even been graced with the fresh taste of oxygen, the blister of chills erupted down his spine and a bitter cord of fear had been struck in his thundering heart, and Colton, the catalyst to his racing blood of ice and vengeance as it tightened his muscles and stiffened his bones, and then every step afterward that the rugged Gryffindor had taken had struck him with the static shock of lightening until suddenly, there he was towering, overshadowing him. William Dante Nott the Third summoned a smirk with wistful simple ease, maybe too easy, considering the circumstances…

But when the point of that wand had suddenly hovered inches from his nose, the pupils between gold widened, and then shrunk for a split moment before he barely uttered. ”The Hospital Wing.”

╔══════════════╗
Location:Dungeon Chamber was with Colton
Injuries:
Desires: …My Book
╚══════════════╝

..even heroes know when to be scared.

 

[Porcelaine Ivory]

яεġrετ┃ηστнιηġ ♦ ғεαя┃ησ σηε ♦ ταkε prιdε ιη┃εvεяyτнιηġ

Colton's eyes narrowed and he locked his line of sight with Tay's for several long seconds before letting out a long sigh and lowering his wand. There he stood, hesitating for only a moment, choosing his last word carefully. Taking one last step forward and eliminating any chance his enemy had for escape, he whispered, "If you're telling the truth...and she has been harmed in any way...I promise you that we will see each other again...very, very soon." The towering boy hovered with his overpowering look of menace just long enough to get his message across before thundering out of the dungeon.

 

[Essy ze Ninja]

Slip out the back before they know you were there

and at the worst you'll see nobody cares,

you don't want to be around when it all goes down...

William Dante Nott the Third

Second Year, Slytherin

Oxygen entangled within his throat, growing thicker than blood as his own nerves of steel strengthened like diamonds under the crumbling weight of the overtowering Gryffindor. But Tay hadn't relented, he hadn't even batted an eyelash under the ferocity of his gaze. However, when Colton finally fled down the hall, he exerted a loud sigh and slunk down to the floor in a heap on the ground. Wide eyes of paranoid gold flickered left and right, as though he were sure that Colton would return within the instance.

He was safe for now, he knew. But not forever. Soon enough, that overzealous boy will reach the hospital wing, and soon enough, he'll find Phinelia. Only his imagination knew the outcome of the events that transpired, and all he could do was hope that it wouldn't be enough to send the fuming lion back down into the snake pit. But then a curious thought struck him, and his attention wavered back down from whence he had came.

Perhaps this was exactly what he needed? Perhaps, this was exactly what it would take to get his plans rolling into action.

Suddenly, the soft humming purr of a feline had drifted to his ears, and out from under the shrouded corner of the dungeon chambers, the iconic vision of Annabelle's half kneazle approached knowingly. "Go find Belle," Tay pointed, exhausted. "It's time." A meow had been offered like a biting remark, but the cat had promptly ascended the stairs anyway, sure to be on his mission, even if the cat didn't really know what it was, Belle did.

For now, all he could do was retreat, and seek sanctuary within the Slytherin Common Room ...

But above all else, he needs to get his book back.

╔══════════════╗
Location:Dungeon Chamber with Lady
Injuries:
Desires: …My Book
╚══════════════╝

..even heroes know when to be scared.

 

[a porg]

❝I'm gonna hide my heart behind the peacock's fan, and keep my friends real close, yeah this is how it's gonna go.❞

▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄

A figure sat waiting against one of the walls. He often checked his pocket watch which would then be followed by a loud sigh that would echo off into the abyss of the dungeon. The emptiness did not bother the boy. He would prefer it that way, especially what he had set his mind on doing. Darkness had infiltrated his heart, and ruthlessness made his mind up for him.

Yet there was one thing missing from the Chamber. "Erianthe," he hissed, slightly annoyed.

▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄

OOC: ---

❝Should I kill you with my sword, yeah? Or should I kill you with this word?❞