The party decided to press deeper into the dungeon, passing through the door they had revealed behind the ancient throne. The tunnels wound back to a room dominated by a ring hovering over a pool of frozen water.
Katya tested the ice, finding it firm beneath her touch. She made a decision: as part of the line of protectors, with the dungeon now compromised, she would claim the ring herself to protect it. But the moment her fingers closed around it, the ice cracked beneath her. She managed to reach the edge and leave the ring on the frozen shore before the water dragged her under.
A water elemental rose from the depths and attacked. Ice reformed over the ring as if the creature was trying to reclaim it, but Otto smashed through and grabbed it. Each of them tried to slip it on, but the ring rejected them all, leaving them weaker than before.
Katya pulled herself from the water, gasping, but the cave had begun to shake. Rocks crashed down, sealing the way they had come. Callum spotted something sunlight peeking through another exit, and Caoimhe drove it off with a bombardment spell. As they fled toward the new passage, the water elemental struck again. It slammed into Katya and dragged her under. This time, she didn’t resurface.
The party watched in horror, but there was no time to grieve. The elemental was still hunting them. They ran.
The exit led to a dead end, though thin shafts of daylight filtered through holes in the ceiling above. Otto cast Wingardium Leviosa and lifted Caoimhe through one of the openings. She lowered her rope, pulling the others up one by one. Otto nearly fell when his grip slipped, but Caoimhe’s quick Arresto Momentum saved him before he hit the ground.
They barely had time to catch their breath before voices approached. Two hooded figures, their conversation carrying on the wind: “Nyx was injured… the dungeon caved in…” The party tried to slip away, but a third figure stepped into their path—a man in robes that looked disturbingly like Death Eater garb, his face hidden behind a mask.
Caoimhe hit him with Immobulus before he could react, and they bolted. But the other two heard their footsteps as they fled and approached them, demanding to know where the ring was. Finlay, thinking fast, swallowed it.
They denied having anything. The robed man’s response was brutal. He cast Crucio on Otto. Callum broke first, begging them to just give up the ring. Otto, still shaking from the curse, handed over the decoy ring instead.
Hungry for power, the Death Eater slipped it on immediately. He began to writhe in agony as the ring’s curse took hold. His companion, furious, raised his wand and began to cast Avada Kedavra at Otto.
But the killing curse never finished. Tobias Crane and Rafael Santos, Aurors from the Ministry of Magic, apparated into the clearing with wands drawn. They had been tracking the children through The Trace ever since their underage magic pinged in a location that should have been uninhabited.
Tobias demanded answers. Rafael, the younger and friendlier of the pair, suggested they get somewhere safe first. They apparated to the outskirts of Hogwarts, where carriages waited. As the children climbed aboard, they noticed something that made their stomachs turn: they could see the thestrals now. Death had marked them.
During the carriage ride, Tobias questioned them relentlessly. Otto finally told him partial truths. He lied and said that they purchased, at an underground market at Hogwarts, a potion that made them forget things, waking up somehow transported to the spider cave. Everything after that, he told straight, except for the ring. Tobias wanted proof of this underground operation. Eventually, Callum cracked and told them about June’s Midnight Market.
When they arrived at Hogwarts, the professors’ fury was palpable. The party was placed under twenty-four-hour escort for the remainder of the semester. June’s Midnight Market was shut down, and everyone blamed Callum (though June herself seemed oddly unbothered by the whole affair).
Summer came as a relief. The party convinced their parents to let them stay at Otto’s estate, where they threw themselves into research. They learned that Seylon Vane (the wizard whose tower they had been exploring) was actually Callum’s ancestor. Their search for information about Death Eaters turned up little; official sources claimed the organization had been dismantled, though rumors persisted of small groups causing trouble. They found nothing more about the ring, but they commissioned a magical jewelry box keyed to their blood, ensuring no one else could open it.
When they returned to school, the escorts continued, though with less intensity. On the first day of Potions class, Professor Wizzlethorpe called them into his office.
He knew. He knew about their adventures. He knew about Seylon’s Tower. And then he surprised them: he wanted them to go back.
He had a vanishing cabinet installed in their dormitory, connected directly to the Firefly Cellar. Wizzlethorpe explained that the Death Eaters who had attacked them had been captured and questioned. They belonged to a group called Bellatrix’s Children, and they were hunting for relics that Seylon had created. According to legend, Seylon had crafted one supreme artifact—something powerful enough to bring back the dead.
Wizzlethorpe told them what the Ministry knew: Seylon Vane had been a brilliant wizard renowned for creating magical items. After his wife died, and then his daughter succumbed to illness, he became obsessed with creating something that could resurrect her. He poured everything into that tower, pushing the boundaries of magic until he went mad.
Bellatrix’s Children believe he succeeded. Most others (including the ministry) do not.
Wizzlethorpe explained that he needed them because only children could enter the tower. When adults tried, they saw nothing but abandoned ruins. Some powerful enchantment Seylon had cast ensured that only the young could perceive its true nature. Finally, he asked them to keep this secret. The other professors at Hogwarts would not approve of him allowing children to embark on such a dangerous quest.