The air in the broom closet was stagnant and oppressive. Filch's curses and Mrs. Norris's shrill cries outside the door were drawing closer and closer. Snape's Muffling Charm could block out sound, but it could not stop the growing sense of threat.
Lin Yanqing's hand had already slipped inside his robes, his fingertips touching the irregular piece of metal he had just acquired—the Emergency Key. He could feel Snape's tense breathing, as well as the agitation and cold calculations of a trapped beast coming through the contract.
We can't use it here. Snape's voice was so low it was almost lip-reading. Random teleportation would be worse if we landed in front of Filch.
His sharp gaze swept across the cramped broom closet before finally settling on a small window at the back, covered in cobwebs and seemingly sealed shut. Beyond it lay a rarely visited courtyard on the castle's northern side.
Three seconds. Snape abruptly drew his wand, not at the door, but at the window. A subtle Cutting Charm sliced precisely along the edge of the frame without making a sound. Follow me.
Just as Filch's hand seemed about to touch the broom closet's handle, Snape rammed his shoulder into the weakened window. Icy air and snowflakes rushed in at once. Without hesitation, he grabbed Lin Yanqing's wrist and leapt from the second-floor height.
The fall was brief, but it gave Lin Yanqing enough time to react. Just before they hit the ground, he activated the Portkey in his hand.
A familiar sensation of being hooked behind the navel struck him. The surroundings twisted and spun. When his vision cleared again, they were standing in a corner of an abandoned armor display room on the castle's seventh floor, surrounded by ancient suits of armor blanketed in dust. Everything was