"You are lying, Malfoy!"
Harry tried to speak in a tone that didn't sound like he was arguing, but the voice that emerged was close to a roar.
"I just came from over there, Malfoy. There's nothing there except a water channel. You're scaring people!"
Under normal circumstances, Malfoy might have pulled out his wand in retaliation at Potter's attitude, but now he showed no sign of offense, only a desolate sobbing.
"There's a body wearing chains crawling out of the water... I saw it..."
After speaking this sentence, Malfoy collapsed in front of the arched door of the small tomb chamber as if he had used up all his strength, muttering softly in a voice that sounded like it was trembling.
"Brynn wants to kill us, Potter. We'll all die..."
"Total nonsense," Harry bit his teeth and said.
"Mr. Brynn is an investigator and a professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts sent by the Board of Directors. All that happens here, Headmaster Dumbledore will know.... Professor Snape is also outside!"
Harry refuted Malfoy's absurd conjecture, but at least he believed one thing: that perhaps there really was another body just like the one he had entered, which he had not yet discovered.
"That's the wood..."
After a moment's reflection, Harry understood. The body Malfoy was talking about, shackled and in chains, should be the 'wood' floating in the middle of the small water channel. Because it had been stepped on by Harry, it had awakened from its eternal slumber.
Now, the situation Harry faced was that both the path ahead and the path behind were blocked by two animate, walking cadavers that looked like they might also bite. Harry and Malfoy were trapped in the middle, and it would be perhaps only thirty seconds before they had to confront those two bodies head-on. And his supposed 'ally,' Malfoy, seemed to have given up on any intention of resisting.
"Damn!"
Harry rushed over to Malfoy and dragged him from the arched door into the small tomb chamber, throughout which Malfoy showed no sign of resistance but only shivered and muttered things like 'It's over' under his breath.
"No, I have to do something..."
The sound of sand gradually became clear in his ears, as well as the sharp sound of chains sliding on the ground. Harry anxiously walked around the small tomb chamber, racking his brains to think of any means of resistance.
The best course of action would be to find two large stones to block the circular archways at both ends of the tomb chamber. Although the zombies looked sinister and dangerous, they seemed not to have much strength. If he could close off the room, then both he and Malfoy could save their lives!
However, he wasn't McGonagall, the professor of Transfiguration, who could transform a beetle into a teapot with a mere wave of her wand!
Harry was still thinking, but the two cadavers didn't wait for him to come up with a perfect solution. Soon, they appeared around the corner in his line of sight and were only about thirty feet away from the small room.
"Protego!"
When death approached, Harry abandoned thinking and turned his body over to instinct. Without any hesitation, he cast a spell at the bloated face with its crisscrossing fine cracks, wearing prisoner garb and bound by chains on both hands and feet.
Harry first saw this spell when Hermione used it against Neville last year. At that time, Neville was turned into a motionless statue for hours under the effect of this spell. Harry hoped that the Petrificus Totalus he cast would also produce such perfect effect.
But it was very unfortunate that his spell failed. The cadaver, which was under the effect of Protego Totalus, did stagger a bit in its steps but was not restrained!
"Expelliarmus!"
Harry made another attempt at the female zombie on the other side. The disarming spell was the only useful thing that Harry had learned from the dueling classes taught by Lockhart, and it was precisely Snape who taught him this.
A brilliant red light shot out from Harry's wand tip, precisely hitting the chest of the cadaver. The power of this spell was not to be underestimated. Even the cadaver was forced to retreat several steps by the spell!
But this did not solve the problem. The female zombie, having regained its balance, moved closer to the small room again.
The two consecutive failures made Harry feel desperate. Malfoy, who was leaning against the wall, had even closed his eyes, seemingly waiting for something to bite off his neck.
What should I do!
Large drops of sweat rolled down Harry's forehead to his cheeks, which were as red as cooked lobsters. He now seemed to believe what Professor Brynn had said in the office last night: power is power. No extreme emotion can help you overcome fear instantly; at most, it can only strengthen your resolve to pursue power.
"Come up with a plan, Malfoy. What else can we do to stop them from getting closer!"
In the midst of life and death, Harry no longer had the heart to scold Malfoy's disappointing performance. He roared at Malfoy, hoping to get some inspiration.
"We're doomed, Potter..."
Harry's two failed spells seemed to give Malfoy some encouragement. He trembled weakly against the wall, tears shining in his eyes.
"There's no spell that can defeat the dead!"
Gazing at the two zombie cadavers now only ten feet away from the front and back doors, after being cleansed by fear, Harry's two emerald eyes once again glowed with determination.
"Listen to me, Malfoy, hear me clearly. Don't ask why, because I myself don't know why I'm doing this!"
After a brief assessment, Harry focused on the cadaver bound by chains, breathing heavily.
"I'm going to try a trip spell to see if I can knock over this chained zombie right now. If... if that fails, I'll run out and bash it aside, while it's trying to bite my neck, you slip past from the side... please call Professor Snape in before I lose consciousness!"
Malfoy was stunned for a moment, staring at Harry with wide eyes as if he were meeting him for the first time.
Harry didn't give Malfoy a chance to ask questions, raising his wand after speaking the words, the still young face radiating with fearless light.
"Hold on, Potter... why..."
"It's over, Draco... and you, Potter. You can lower your wand now."
Before Malfoy's words were finished, another calm voice echoed in the narrow room.
As this voice appeared, the two zombies stopped in their tracks as if they received some kind of signal.
God be my witness, never before had Harry felt so happy about the appearance of Professor Snape, and because of his great relief, he even smiled at Snape who appeared from the wall!
And Professor Snape's expression towards Harry was also unlike any previous moment. He didn't rush to show that cold smile of his; instead, his face was complex, and the deep, dark eyes revealed a touch of... sadness?
"Professor..."
Harry was actually frightened by Snape's expression, raising his head and examining him carefully, he asked in a careful voice.
"Have we failed our challenge?"
Professor Snape answered the question in a nasal tone, took out the previously prepared happiness potion from his breast, and forcefully pushed it into Harry and Malfoy's hands. He watched as they drank it.
Under the effect of the happiness potion, Harry and Malfoy's pale faces relaxed.
With the external pressure gone, a wave of exhaustion from within instantly overwhelmed them, and they were about to collapse to the ground. Snape moved quickly to support them, holding each of them by the armpits. However, when he lifted Harry, Snape nearly slipped and dropped him.
"Let's go..."
In the end, Snape looked sideways at the two zombies that had already returned to their original positions, directly pierced through the wall and disappeared into thin air.
"Keep going..."
