"Bill, are you doing this, or am I?"
Douglas narrowed his eyes.
Bill raised an eyebrow.
"I, Bill Weasley, former Gringotts curse-breaker... step aside. I'm the professional here."
Sirius and Lupin stepped back in unison, making room.
Seeing Douglas still standing there watching, Sirius tugged him back.
"Stand aside. Don't get in the expert's way."
Bill nodded, very pleased with Sirius's conduct.
Then he carefully examined the stone slab before him and drew his wand.
This was clearly a major undertaking.
Beads of sweat appeared on Bill's forehead. He rapidly recited a counter-curse incantation, golden sparks shooting from his wand tip and eating away at the dark red patterns bit by bit.
Soon, delight crossed his face.
Crack!
A sharp snap rang out.
The black stone slab split open, revealing a pitch-black opening. A chilling aura a hundred times more intense than when the Dementors had still been there instantly gushed out.
Bill instinctively blocked it with a protective shield.
But the smell still drifted over to the other three.
Lupin, with his keen nose and sensitive mouth, instantly covered his nose.
"Cough, cough, cough!"
Sirius staggered back, choking and covering his nose.
"What is that smell? It's like a thousand corpses soaked in rotten cabbage soup and left to ferment for ten years!"
Douglas did not retreat. Instead, he stepped closer, his gaze growing serious.
"That's not the stench of corpses. It's... pure malice."
"Let's go down and look."
The four cast the highest-level Bubble-Head Charm on themselves and carefully descended the slime-covered stone steps.
It was an enormous basement.
Or rather, an underground cavern.
There were no ever-burning lamps on the walls, but it was not dark.
An eerie, gray-green phosphorescence filled the entire space.
A thick black fungal mat covered the ground, seeming to breathe. It felt