New Potions and the Enraged Noseless One (3)

Ginny stopped in front of a heavy, handleless stone door. The door was gray and blended into the surrounding walls; if you did not know it was there, you would never notice it.

Ginny extended her right hand, pressing her palm against the door, her fingers slightly spread. Her hand was very pale, pale enough for the blue veins beneath her skin to show. The stone door trembled, then slowly slid apart to either side.

Beyond it lay a narrower, darker passage. Every few steps, there was a recess in the walls on either side, each holding ancient stone statues of indeterminate age—some resembling people, some animals, and some things that resembled neither, their outlines weathered beyond recognition.

Ginny walked down the middle of the passage. As she passed, the shadows of the statues on both sides shifted across the walls, as though following her.

At the end of the passage stood a wall. A dull gray stone wall covered in moss, no different from the walls around it. Ginny stood before it, her lips moving. She made a hissing sound, like a snake flicking its tongue—it was Parseltongue.

"Open."

The stone wall began to shake. It was not a violent tremor that made one lose their footing, but a subtle vibration of great amplitude. Then the wall began to recede—not shattering into fragments, but sinking slowly from top to bottom, revealing a deeper, darker passage exhaling a chill from within.

Something seemed to be moving in the depths of the passage. Faint, slow sounds like metal folding came closer and closer to the entrance, accompanied by an enormous shadow.

Ginny stood at the entrance without going in.

"Go. Find those who drank the potion. They came out of the Great Hall. You know where they are. Teach them a