"Uh, if neither of you wears one and I'm the only one who does, I'll look really... cowardly. Forget it. Finding Ginny comes first."
After giving himself a little pep talk, Ron hurried after them.
The three of them gripped their wands and passed one stone pillar after another. Every step sent a wet squelch echoing through the hall, where eerie shadows crowded together.
Ron and Harry both narrowed their eyes, ready to squeeze them shut the moment they heard so much as a rustle behind a pillar.
But by the time they reached the last pillar, neither had found a reason to close his eyes.
"Phew, all that worry for nothing. There really wasn't anything behind the pillars. Luo Bin, Harry, you know, I kept imagining those giant snakes' empty eye sockets were following me. Ugh, I think my calf is... cramping!"
Ron rubbed, pounded, and pinched his calf. It took quite a while for the wrenching pain to gradually subside.
Just as he was about to complain that his friends didn't care about him, he looked up and saw an enormous statue as tall as the hall itself, standing flush against the pitch-black stone wall.
Luo Bin was also craning his neck to study the statue. Its face was ugly and terrifying, ancient and decrepit, its features scrunched together like those of a great baboon.
Like the mythical Medusa's, its hair was made up of vicious-looking little snakes. Its beard was sparse but so long that it reached the hem of its wizarding robe.
Its two feet were enormous. Presumably because the floor was always wet, thick patches of moss had grown around their edges.
Between those feet lay a small figure in Gryffindor House robes, facedown. Her hair was red—the red of flames.
"Ginny! It's Ginny!"
Luo