That particular morning in the library, there sat all but one of Sparrow’s crew. Miranda was away again – not for taking ill, as Sparrow had feared, but simply to be able to work on her Sunlight Potions in peace.

That Miranda was not beset by her woes today did not seem to bring Iphis any relief from his own frustration at the news. He sat back in his chair, sighed, and only listlessly flipped the pages of the large tome before him.

"You miss Miranda that much?" said Wren, briefly glancing up from the Wireless that they had laying on the table with its back casing open. As Sparrow peered into it, she could see it was composed mostly of crystals of all colors, with grooves in the metal connecting their locations, and some carved runes.

Iphis grunted, and straightened up, rather forcefully flipping the book’s pages, his eyes barely skimming the text. "I am simply very annoyed. This whole Hogsmeade business, you know, Budge could very well handle it himself. Or get the teachers to do it. Instead of pulling us away from our studies. I don’t appreciate the interruptions in my lesson plans, it makes it very difficult to actually set up a quiz when people are at different places in the material." He glanced at the Wireless. "I also don’t appreciate my teaching being ignored."

"We’re working on the metal-manipulation spell," said Wren. "I have that one down pat. As you can see from the very item I am working on, that you have helped me with, dear."

Iphis raised his eyebrows, unable to give any rejoinder, for Wren was correct – not only was the Wireless there as a testament to Wren’s skill, Jill and Sparrow and Jocasta had small hunks of steel laid out before each of them that spoke to their lack of skill. Jill’s set looked more melted than shaped, which seemed fitting enough; Sparrow’s set were twisted in loops with the occasional jagged spike where her wand hand had been less than steady; only Jocasta had perfectly formed shapes before her – a cube, a dodecahedron, a four-sided pyramid, an eight-sided diamond shape. Simple, but still beyond Sparrow or Jill.

Sparrow glanced at the Wireless. "You could at least pretend to – who am I kidding, none of us are that good at sitting still for boring things."

Wren giggled. "Good thing you got us out of all of our classes, then, eh? I can’t get a terrible grade in History of Magic if I’m not in History of Magic!"

"You are," said Iphis, "in fact. It’s just less structured than before. And with much higher stakes for the exam."

Wren glanced up at Iphis, and raised his eyebrows, but did not seem to be able to make a witty reply.

Jill cleared her throat. "Got enough crystals in that thing?"

Wren shook their head vigorously, braid flying back and forth.

"If you teach me how to look for them," said Sparrow, "I’ll go and fetch them after dinner."

Everyone at the table stared at her in horror.

Sparrow crossed her arms. "What exactly is the matter with my going? From what I’ve heard of the lower tunnels, all they do is some kind of psychological bullying. I won’t even need to cast my shield spell. It will be fine."

"Some kind of psychological bullying," said Jocasta. "Some generic bullying! Sparrow, that place gets into whatever cracks are in your psyche, and tears them open."

"I told you what happened to me down there," said Jill.

"You guessed what happened to me down there," said Wren.

"I don’t have magical outbursts like two of us here do," said Sparrow. "Even if the place breaks me down, I can only do so much damage."

"On the contrary," said Iphis. "You do not have magical outbursts, but you certainly have political outbursts. Which can be quite a bit more dangerous, in the long run."

Sparrow opened her mouth to give some sort of retort, but she paused, unable to think of any. She let out a long sigh and sat back in her chair, wracking her brains for any reply. "I...can’t get up to very much politics when I’m down there?"

"Unless the thing down there decides to speak with you," said Wren. "Which it absolutely will."

"I’m going alright?" said Sparrow. "I’m perfectly safe down there compared to everyone else, I’m not letting anyone else come to harm for a critical piece of equipment, and who am I if I can’t do things for my friend anyway. I’m going down there, alone, so that none of the rest of you have to suffer."

Iphis slammed the book shut. "Absolutely not."

"Iffy –"

"I am going with you, Captain."

"Iffy!"

"I am confronting the thing that has caused trouble for my partner," said Iphis. "You cannot deny me that responsibility."

Wren raised their head from the Wireless. "Can I –"

"No," said Sparrow and Iphis simultaneously.

Wren raised their hands in surrender. "Alright, alright, martyr yourselves for me. I’ll call it a birthday gift."

Miranda was also not to be found at jumping practice-slash-detention that afternoon. Which couldn’t be objected to, really, she wasn’t in detention with the rest of them, she had things to be doing that had taken her away from far more critical matters, Iphis could not possibly claim that her absence was interrupting his efforts here. And yet, as they flipped and twirled and leapt and dodged through the floating, shifting obstacle course, Iphis’ movements were both more energetic and more pointed than usual. It was the acrobatic equivalent of sharply closing a kitchen cupboard in the midst of a spat.

Sparrow bounced off a glowing golden disc and flipped over a rotating cube, seeing Iphis’ fierce expression upside-down as he followed in her path. ⋄⋄MIDSHIPMAN BROWN. WHAT TROUBLES YOU NOW? ⋄⋄

≠≠≠≠ JESUS CHRIST, SPARROW, YOU DO REALIZE THAT YOU MIGHT BE BROADCASTING THAT QUESTION TO THE REST OF THE CREW? ≠≠≠≠

This was certainly not the sort of response Sparrow had been expecting. She had thought Iphis would claim to still be angry about the interrupted lesson plan, or name some specific trouble like being worried about going into the lower tunnels. This hasty defensive reaction...almost felt like Iphis was poorly hiding something.

She smacked face-first into a floating cube, and fell out of the air for about two seconds before landing butt-first hard on a glowing golden disc. As she painfully rose to her feet and cast a healing spell on her nose, she decided to focus on the current lesson and leave pondering aside for the moment.

Standing at the stone wall at the far end of the dungeons with Iphis was a moment she could have posed the question again. But Iphis looked fiercely determined to make their way forward into possible emotional doom. So however much Sparrow was bursting with the desire to ask, the time was still not right.

Especially since they had to figure out how to get past this thing. The first time Sparrow had spent any true length of time at this end of things, she had been paying far more attention to, well, Jill and Jocasta’s attentions, ahem ahem. She only realized now that the wall had been solid as Jill had stood before it, then open to a staircase the next time they had ventured near – and now solid again. What on earth opened this thing?

____IT SEEMS YOU SEEK TO ENTER ONCE MORE, LITTLE BIRD.____

⋄⋄YOU! ⋄⋄

____COME IN, COME IN. I HAVEN’T HAD MUCH CHANCE AT YOU YET.____ The stone of the wall folded as it parted, as of the cloth of curtains drawn open, to reveal the same staircase as before. ____WE HAVE MUCH TO DISCUSS.____

≠≠≠≠ YOU HURT MY PARTNER, YOU SON OF A BITCH. WE HAVE NOTHING TO DISCUSS. ≠≠≠≠

____OOH, DO I DETECT A WEAKNESS? HEH HEH HEH.____

"Don’t talk to it if you don’t want to," said Sparrow. "Come on." She stepped forward, beckoning Iphis to follow.

They heard nothing further from the mysterious entity as they made their way down the stairs. Nor when they hit the bottom landing, nor when they moved through the space where Jill and Jocasta had dealt with the Bulstrode boys. An optimistic person would have hoped that the mysterious entity had nothing else to say. Sparrow could only hope that was true. But as they made their way into a narrower passage, she felt far more like it was only lying in wait.

"Who even carved these tunnels?" said Sparrow, as the two of them clambered over rugged rises and stumbled over unseen dips, the light from their wands their only guide. There were curious conical stacks of stone jutting up from the floor, and hanging down from the ceiling. It felt like the art of some mad genius, and yet, how could they expect anyone to ever come and gaze upon their work? There was no order to it that seemed the work of hand or wand, only a jumble of ropy, lumpy stone, which here opened into a passage wide enough to fit a dragon, and here narrowed into a space that pressed even her. Was this a game? An obstacle course?

Iphis finally halted, and looked back at Sparrow. "Carved?"

"Yeah, I mean –"

"Who?"

"That’s what I’m asking."

"Who carved these passages," said Iphis. "It’s not a who, Sparrow. Don’t you know anything about caves? This place was carved by the passage of water, over countless years. There’s no hand at work here."

Sparrow could not quite comprehend what Iphis was saying, but she could ask more about it later. In the meantime, she had caught sight of something just at the edge of her wand’s glow. She moved a bit closer. It looked like someone had drawn on the wall in crayon. "Well someone else has been down here," she said, pointing her wand at the wall, "and it looked like they left the work of hands. Honestly, who could be so immature?"

Iphis looked where Sparrow was pointing. His eyes grew wide. "Hang on. Is that…" he scrambled over a rise in the floor to get close. "It is."

"What is?"

≠≠≠≠ IT’S OLDER THAN DIRT. ≠≠≠≠

Sparrow scrambled over the rise to stand beside Iphis. He was staring at the drawings, slack-jawed. The drawings themselves...were of creatures, large creature of some kind, very similar to what she had seen in books, only more cartoonish. They seemed too crude at first, but as she looked from one to another – here a hulking elephant with tusks too long, there a hefty-looking horse, there a cat with fangs too long for its mouth – she realized that the style was consistent, and the line was smooth. This was the work of practiced hands.

She gently brushed the linework. Iphis smacked her hand away, but not before she’d managed to put a visible finger mark in it. She looked at her finger, its tip stained by a dark substance. She looked back up at the pictures. All of them made of this fragile substance – and as Sparrow moved the light of her wand up and down, she could see they filled the whole wall of the passage, from floor to ceiling –

And the movement of her light made them animated, for a moment, like one of the little flip books she had made years ago.

But then they all started moving even as she held her wand steady. Horses galloped away, elephants stomped forward, cats bounded after them – stick figures holding spears chasing after them. The entire panoply of pictures was moving away down the passage, beginning to leave the wall bare. "Dammit," growled Sparrow. "After them, come on." She charged forward, the light of her wand trained on the wall, barely watching where she planted her feet as she tried to keep sight of the pictures.

But soon enough, they were completely out of sight, and Sparrow came to a halt, catching her breath, as Iphis halted behind her. "We are," he breathed, "supposed to be – looking for – crystals."

Sparrow looked about her. In her haste, she’d run past a few different side passages and picked a few forks, and she realized, belatedly, that she didn’t know exactly which was the proper route back to the surface. Suddenly she began to feel terribly confined. "Uh...well, I think we’re going to be looking for something slightly more important in a moment. Did either of us think to leave some kind of trail of magical breadcrumbs?"

____HA! TOO EASY TO MAKE YOU FOLLOW. NOW I’VE GOT YOU WHERE I WANT YOU.____

"Oh," growled Sparrow. "You. What the hell do you want, anyway?"

____I COULD PRETEND I JUST LIKE HAVING PEOPLE TO PLAY WITH DOWN HERE.____ In the light of the wands, Sparrow could see the panoply of pictorial creatures returning, this time on the opposite wall. ____BUT IN TRUTH, I AM INTRIGUED BY YOUR MERRY LITTLE CREW. I HAVE HEARD OF YOUR AMBITIONS.____

"Have you now," said Iphis. "And why do you care?"

____ONCE UPON A TIME, I LOVED THE LONG-GONE PEOPLE OF THESE HILLS, WHO MADE THEIR DRAWING UPON THESE WALLS – WHO WERE OF THE MAGIC OF THIS LAND, ALL OF THEM. THEY DID NOT LOCK MAGIC AWAY THE WAY YOUR FELLOWS DO NOW. ____

Sparrow frowned. "Long-gone people?" She turned to Iphis. "What did you mean, older than dirt? Who made these?"

"Are you telling me you’ve never heard of cavemen," said Iphis.

Sparrow’s eyes widened. "That far back?" She looked at the pictures on the wall. "And these are...did Wizards make these?"

____I DESPISE THAT WORD, ‘WIZARDS’. AS IF THERE WERE ONLY A FEW IN THIS WORLD WITH MAGICAL POTENTIAL. IT TOOK WHOLE POPULATIONS CENTURIES TO CREATE ME BY ACCIDENT.____

Sparrow stood up a bit straighter. "Yes? Go on."

____I MIGHT BE ABLE TO GIVE YOU...SOME AID, FOR WHAT YOU ARE SEEKING. FOR I WOULD SEE MAGIC RETURN TO ALL PEOPLE.____

"Oh no," whispered Iphis. "Sparrow, don’t be taken in by this."

"Are you kidding?" Sparrow turned to Iphis with a grin on her face. "This could be the solution to all our problems! This could be what I’ve been looking for, for months if not years!" She turned back to the darkness. "Alright, what do you need from me then?"

____JUST ONE THING.____The pictures on the walls began to shift, melting together, reforming into a blob of blackness – and within it, the negative space showed a picture of a tall, broad figure, quickly re-shaping into the form of a wolf. ____I NEED YOU TO KILL RODOLPHUS CARROW.____

Sparrow froze. In the deafening silence, all the previous discussions she’d had about this place came back to her. Jill melting the stone down here. Wren coming down to look for crystals. Both friends had probably been asked to do horrifying things, just like this. Jill had clearly rejected the offer. Wren...Wren had not. Sparrow shuddered. She was going to have to ask them about their own price, and it was not going to be an easy discussion. At last she cleared her throat. "What the fuck do you need me to do that for?"

____HE IS IN YOUR WAY.____

"I think it’s time we be leaving," said Iphis.

____NOT INTERESTED IN MY HELP? WELL, IFFY, THERE ARE OTHER ROUTES. THERE’S YOUR ROUTE.____

Iphis’ eyes flew wide. He stood stock-still, not even trembling. "If you breathe one word of that language –"

____OH NO, I WON’T. BUT YOU SEEM SO EAGER TO, DON’T YOU? SO EAGER TO...SACRIFICE YOURSELF. YOU COULD JUST SACRIFICE THE LAND AROUND YOU, LIKE CERTAIN PEOPLE USED TO. BUT YOU’RE TOO NOBLE. SO THE TRAIL OF BLOOD WILL COME FROM YOU, AND NOT FROM STRANGERS.____

"I’m almost eager to breathe one word of the Runes against you," growled Iphis.

Sparrow put a hand on Iphis’ shoulder. "Hold on there, my friend. This thing is trying to mess with our heads."

____OR WE COULD START WITH A SMALLER OFFER.____ The picture became a great set of grinning teeth. They parted, and as they parted the wall parted with them, to reveal a real, physical void – out of which extended a long oval of silvery metal, on which sat a pile of rubies.

Sparrow folded her arms, as Iphis put his arms behind his back. Both of them glared at the picture, saying nothing.

_____SURE YOU’RE NOT INTERESTED?_____

"You’re just going to set another insane price."

The picture re-shaped itself to show a group of adults surrounding a child sitting at a fireplace. ____I WOULDN’T CALL IT INSANE. ALL I WANT TO DO IS SHOW YOU WHAT REALLY HAPPENED THIS ONE EVENING.____ The picture re-shaped itself again, to show an adult standing over a little girl at some table with tools on it. ____OR PERHAPS YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE WHAT THEY MADE YOUR OTHER DARLING DO.____ Again the picture re-shaped itself, to show a great castle crumbling into a great pit. _____OR PERHAPS YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE WARNED OF HOW YOUR FRIENDS WILL DIE._____

That last one brought Sparrow up short. She nearly reached for the rubies – only managing to twitch before the silver oval was drawn back into the wall, which closed with a snap. _____AH HA, THAT LAST ONE GOT YOU. BUT YOU HAVE TO AGREE FIRST._____

"We need to go," said Iphis.

Sparrow stood motionless. The offers of knowledge of the past were useless – she had confidence that she would know the full story of Jocasta’s torment in time. But certain knowledge of the future, that was a different matter. Professor Clearwater had said that Sparrow couldn’t avoid seeking every forecast that might keep people safe.

"As if a despicable spirit buried in the basement could possibly say anything true about the future," growled Iphis. He grabbed Sparrow’s hand and hauled her away.

So they went back the way they’d come – or whatever way they might have come – Sparrow still didn’t remember which fork was which. Iphis was choosing the way that went upward at each fork, but it was impossible to be certain they were going the right way. Nothing looked familiar.

Eventually Sparrow yanked her hand out of Iphis, and came to a halt. "This isn’t getting us anywhere. You of all people should know a basic navigation spell." In the light of her wand, she could see that Iphis’ wasn’t lit. "Unless...you were using one?"

"I’ve been trying," growled Iphis. "My head is feeling fuzzy."

"You’re getting confounded by magic," said Sparrow. "Maybe I am too. I ought to remember any of this."

____I CAN TELL YOU THE WAY OUT, IF YOU – ____

"Shut UP!" shouted Iphis and Sparrow in unison.

°°° I’LL SHOW YOU THE WAY, JUST STAY PUT AND I’LL FIND YOU. °°°

⋄⋄MIRANDA, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING DOWN HERE!⋄⋄

°°° WHAT I NEED TO. DON’T WORRY, I’M FINE. °°°

≠≠≠≠ YOU SAID YOU WERE WORKING ON POTIONS. ≠≠≠≠

°°° I DID. THEN I DIDN’T TELL YOU WHERE ELSE I WAS GOING. YOU AND EVERYONE ELSE WOULD HAVE COME CHARGING AFTER ME. IT’S SAFEST IF I COME DOWN HERE ALONE. °°°

"Where have I heard that before," growled Iphis, throwing a sharp glance at Sparrow.

Sparrow crossed her arms. "I guess we both understand the instinct to be protective. I guess we all do. We’re just doing it for different people."

Iphis raised his eyebrows and looked away. "You’re...not wrong."

"Ahem," said a voice.

There out of the darkness gleamed two ice-blue eyes, causing Sparrow to jump. Their glow faded as Miranda stepped into the light, her face utterly impassive, her fist closed around something.

"Miranda," whispered Sparrow. "Is that...do you make deals with the thing down here?"

Miranda nodded slowly.

"At what price?"

Miranda shrugged. "The usual? I seek precious metals and gems for the more powerful of my potions, and in return I must watch horrifying images of the past and the future. Taunts, tricks, mental traps. The thing thinks it can torment me." Her eyes flashed blue. "As if I am not already tormented."

"But…" Sparrow thought of how she could put the question delicately. "If you were to ask for something greater, and be set a greater price…"

Miranda’s eyes snapped to Sparrow’s. "The thing has made the offer."

"And?"

"And the price does not bear repeating," said Miranda. "Nor does the one it set for you. I have admired your courage and your reckless creativity, my friend. I was actually quite worried, in the moment, that you might take the offer blindly. But you held firm." She glanced at Iphis. "Both of you. I admire your restraint."

Iphis was looking away nervously. "I’m worried about just how much you heard of what was said to me."

"Sending in the clear can be broadcast farther than the Sender expects," said Miranda. "We all learned that, in the very first moment of the matter. So. I know you seem to have some manner of easy solution. Something involving a trail of blood. Clearly linked to whatever you did in the library that one time. Something spoken, wandless. The runes?"

Iphis turned and thumped his head against the wall.

"You can’t get anything by this crew for long," said Sparrow. "Especially not if you’re waving it about like a flag, Iffy."

Iffy groaned in frustration. "That’s another person who can’t study the runes out loud now." He whirled back to Miranda, pointing a finger in her face. "Not a single word of them out of your mouth again, do you understand? It’s magic that works without needing intent. Not one word of them aloud."

"At least until such time as you explain them," said Miranda, "as you promised."

"That goes without saying," said Iphis. "Not that...not that I would be remotely happy to hear you or anyone actually speak the runes aloud, even then. Considering what they do."

"Oh of course," said Miranda, taking a step towards Iphis. "And yet, my friend, you yourself will be only too happy to make use of them, for I know you well enough. I know, now, what you have been driving at, when in our moments alone, you have broached the topic of relieving my torment." She took another step forward, looming over Iphis. "I know, now, what you have been offering."

Iphis stared up at Miranda, undaunted. "I can’t stand seeing you in pain. How could I, when I know mine?"

"And could I stand seeing you covered in blood?" said Miranda. "I know full well what it would take for you to give me that easy way out, my dear." She paid a hand on Iphis’ shoulder. "I will never ask you for that shortcut. I will never ask you for that sacrifice – no, I will not even accept your volunteering. I am asking you not for a swift solution, but for the same restraint you have shown here. No matter my pain, or yours. Do you understand?"

Iphis nodded, his face grim.

"Let’s get out of this stupid place," said Sparrow. "You said you had expertise, Miranda, lead the way."

So they made their way back, Miranda taking turns Sparrow had overlooked, sidling through passages Sparrow had forgotten. She didn’t even have her wand out for a navigation spell. "How do you know this place so well?"

"I did tell you I’ve been here for years," said Miranda.

"And you’ve...braved that horrible voice for years?"

"It was a form of psychological self-harm in the beginning," said Miranda. "These days, I’m numb to it. And it gives me precious spell materials."

"Goddamn," said Sparrow. "You really are tough."

"Or just heedless," said Iphis.

"That’s the Gryffindor charm," said Miranda.

They reached the dim light of the staircase at last, and Miranda pulled ahead, evidently still set on her course of solitude this evening. Sparrow found herself alone with Iphis once more. She cleared her throat. "Iffy…"

"I’m perfectly fine," grumbled Iphis. "You?"

Sparrow thought back to what she had been offered, down in the deeps below. If the thing down there hadn’t been so foolish as to demand she murder someone, she might very well have seized upon the offer before knowing the price. As for the other offers, though they were smaller, she could not get the thing’s hinting out of her mind. Especially that there was more to Jill’s story – not that it wasn’t already clear. The nightmare memory had a few mysteries left unsolved. But to be offered a chance to know...Sparrow shook her head. "I’m not fine. That stupid thing messed with me. So maybe you’re not fine either." She gave Iphis a pointed look.

Iphis sighed and turned away. "Am I ever fine? Are any of us?"

"Perhaps only in the arms of our loved ones," said Sparrow. "So. Let’s be reaching them more swiftly, then."

That thought in mind, the two of them picked up the pace on their way to the Hufflepuff house.

In the Hufflepuff common room, Wren was waiting there by the sofa, looking starry-eyed, their fist closed around something.

Iphis approached, offering a hug. But Wren shook their head. "Wait a moment, wait a moment dear. Look." They opened their hand.

In their palm lay a few rubies as big as cherries, and many nuggets of gold as big as beans.

Iphis gaped at it. "She...oh, for God’s sake Miranda."

"What did she say about self-sacrifice?" said Sparrow. "Well, at least it’s not bloody. Physically, anyway. But I still think it’s my job."

"Looks like it’s turning into everyone’s job," said Wren. "I’m beginning to understand what you mean, Sparrow, about cooling it on the martyrdom." They closed their fist around their precious gifts. "How the hell you thank someone for it, for one thing. Am I in debt now? Do I owe Miranda a huge favor?"

"Do you," said Sparrow. "Well, she saved you from having to ask that thing down there twice, didn’t she? She saved you from having to pay a price again."

Wren looked nervous. "Yes. That is true."

"What price did you pay last time?"

"It offered to show me how my friends were doing," murmured Wren.

"And you accepted?"

Wren nodded mutely.

"My dear," said Iphis, laying a gentle hand on Wren’s shoulder. "I agree with you, you must cease your own martyrdom. You must never go down there again. You must never let yourself be tempted by its tricks. Our hearts are broken as it is. I would not see yours torn in two." He kissed Wren’s head. "I would not see you in pain, any more than Miranda. For my sake, stay where your heart is safe."

Wren gave Iphis a brief kiss on the lips. Then they threw their arms about him, holding him tightly.

But they made no word of promise. Nor any further word, as the two departed for the stairs. It was only Iphis who turned and said, "Sweet dreams, Sparrow."

Sparrow hoped that for once, they would be.

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