Chapter 41: Picking up the Pieces

The only sound was the gifted’s harsh breathing. The place around them looked like a vast warehouse, wearied and battered cardboard boxes covering the shelves that barricaded the air around them. It was like being in a gigantic toy store, but there were no lights except from their wands.

"This is it," Lucy nodded as she squinted for a better view. The place fell way below room temperature and Shona’s teeth chattered.

"So where to, Lucy?" Shona asked in the silence. She walked forward to look in-between the shelves and felt the same sticky blackness bulge at her.

"The orb could be anywhere..." Lucy muttered in dismay as her wand light lit up the height of the shelf, it went on up to the ceiling and barricaded the darkness. Lucy turned to Shona and lit up her face with her wand.

"Shona, can you climb?"

"As sure as Snape’s cape should be a seventh wonder of the world!" She exclaimed and sprinted over to one of the shelves.  Lucy ignored her dad’s steaming look as her friend began to find grip on the iron steel like shelves.

"The orb in my dream was high up, on one of the higher tiers," Lucy informed her as her friend started to climb.

"Sure no problem," her friend dismissed and ventured upwards until all they could see was the girls ankles.

"Can you see anything?" Lucy asked as Shona climbed higher. The girl in the tattered top looked down upon them sadly.

"No! There are piles of boxes! We’ll never find it!" She moaned and started to pick open one at her side. She coughed as dust flew everywhere and raised her wand.

"Recarno!" She ordered and the tape wound itself back into an oval shape by the side. Shona ripped the top off it rapidly. Lucy and Snape held their breaths as Shona peered inside. Silence was broken though as the blight from Shona’s wand started to flicker.

"Shona?" Lucy asked as Shona seemed to bat away something. Suddenly a cold sweat seemed to come over the girl and Lucy’s mouth went dry.

"McGuire?" Snape shouted as the wand then abruptly shut off. No scream erupted, just silence. Lucy turned to Snape whose eyes were wide with shock. Lucy was about to scream when Snape clasped a hand over his mouth.

"Don’t panic," he said in a quivering voice. "We don’t want to alarm who’s up there."

"But Shona’s up there!" Lucy squeaked as Snape bolted round. Lucy poked her head over his shoulder, Snape raising his wand in the direction of the strange sound wandering round the area. Lucy looked over her back and felt her neck hair stand on end. Something was watching them.

"Guys?" a voice echoed in front of Snape who instantly relaxed at the sight of a confused Shona carrying a vast box above them. Lucy stared up and looked at her perplexed.

"What...how?" Lucy muttered and pointed up to the box. Shona clicked her fingers and picked out something from within the box.

"It’s full of goodies!" Shona pointed proudly from where she was.

"Just like in that room at school," Lucy gawped amazed as Shona nodded.

"Catch," Shona said and threw it down. Snape just about caught it and placed it at his side. Shona looked nervously down before suddenly losing her grip. "Snape, catch me!"

Snape stalked over and snatched the box, his eyes glittering at the sight of it. He turned his whole body around to view the area and sighed. Shona fell to Snape’s feet with a thud.

"Lost objects. This is the a department of callous objects!" He put a hand to his head as though he had been stupid. "I should have known!"

"Pardon?" Shona quizzed and Snape gave her a bored look.

"The Ministry has a hidden room for lost or mysterious objects they can’t understand, deep inside the department of mysteries. If it is a threat to the world, it goes into here..." he bit his tongue and instantly dropped the box as it started to buzz, falling onto Shona’s head.

"But why would the orb run off here? Unless it considers itself a danger..." Shona shook her head as the box quietened, Snape seemed to be the only one bothered about where they were, probably because they had no idea what was lurking in here.

"Maybe...maybe it does. But this it definitely the place that I dreamed of, It wasn’t hidden in a cardboard box though," Lucy scratched her head and kicked the ground. Shona opened the box again and picked out an object, Snape’s eyes beaming into her.

"No, McGuire put it back!" He warned as Shona laughed.

"Relax, Snivels, you think I’d just shove my hand in? — Don’t answer that," she added quickly as she saw Snape’s mouth open to disagree and shut rudely. "I had a look, maybe there’s some stuff that could help us find the orb."

"Oh yes, McGuire, I think we will risk our lives looking through boxes when we should be looking for Merlin’s orb, which is probably the most important ornament in all of history," Snape attacked viciously and rolled his eyes angrily. Snape shrugged her shoulders and started to mess with the thing she had picked out.

"McGuire," Snape warned, he looked as if he wanted to snatch the item off Shona but he looked too afraid to. Shona pulled out several items including a cracked time turner, an odd looking pair of glasses and a muggle rubix cube all the same colours of dead red.

"This could help..." Shona muttered and picked up the rubix cube. A quick swipe from Snape’s hand and it was gone.

"Dad! Shona could be onto something!" Lucy said and analysed the item. Snape flared his nostrils in the low light. "Maybe they can help us find the orb..."

"We’re wasting our time, Lucy, we need to find the orb before anything happens, besides, these aren’t meant to help! They are down here for a reason!" Snape ushered her away from the box and left Shona to run after them. Their footsteps echoed in the building as they came to the main hallway again, Lucy peered down and suddenly the rubix cube sprang to life.

"Get behind me!" Snape snarled and ripped his daughter behind him. The cube stuttered and started to shuffle its colours, even though they were all the same red colour. Shona perked curiously from behind the shelve to see it rumble dangerously.

Then all of a sudden it stopped. Shona stormed forwards and picked it up, Snape couldn’t have been angrier. He pulled it off her and grabbed her by the front of her top.

"Why don’t you do as your told!? Do you know how dangerous these weapons are?"

"Weapons?" Shona quizzed as Snape bared his teeth.

"I’m trying to protect little McGuire but no, McGuire won’t have it. McGuire has to walk off and get into trouble, McGuire must cause nonsense and lead we into trouble everywhere we step...how mature..."

"Dad, let her go!" Lucy snapped and both broke their gaze to look at her. "Shona is only trying to help you!"

"No she isn’t!" He bit back so viscously that Lucy jumped. "I’m getting sick and tired of your idiotic self McGuire! You’re a waste of space in this alliance! Now do as you’re told and shut your trap!"

Shona’s smile was wiped off her face. She didn’t at all look amused. Lucy gawped, her mouth open and looked at her dad in a disgusted way.  Then to Lucy’s horror Shona had grabbed the front of Snape’s robe and glared into him.

"Well I’m sorry, sir, maybe I can’t help you. Is it my personality that gets you stuck up? Or is it the way I look perhaps? Tell me one time I’ve ever endangered your life in any way. Go on, tell me," she snarled and Snape pushed her off.

"Guys..." Lucy stood in the middle of the scene. "We don’t need this! We’re the gifted! We need to find the way out of here! Guys!" She screamed as both went to glaring one another. Lucy causally glanced over to the rubix cube to see it had gone a black colour. In shock she stared back at Snape and Shona before aiming her wand at the cube.

"Expelliarmus!" She shouted and the rubix flew into the distance, breaking into tiny pieces before morphing back together on the floor. Lucy turned to see Snape and Shona looking rather confused at each other.

"What just happened?" Shona asked astounded, Snape feeling his forehead.

"That cube made you guys release your anger," Lucy bit her tongue as both looked at each other. Snape went a scarlet red colour and Shona looked at him pitifully.

"You think I’m a waste of space?" she muttered and looked at the ground. Snape cursed himself as Lucy advanced on him

"How dare you think of that? Shona’s a part of this group as much you or me! I don’t care if she messes around! She’s got us out of a lot of sticky situations! She’s even helped out you and we all know how good your relationship is..." Lucy barked at him. Snape huffed to himself before talking rashly to her.

"Look that wasn’t me that said that..." he began before Lucy shook her head. 

"But that’s what you think, and you need to take it back." Lucy ordered and walked off. "Come on Shona, this way." Lucy ordered and Shona swiftly followed. Snape made a face at himself before doing his well known stride.

*      *      *

"It has to be around somewhere!" Lucy groaned as they looked in another aisle with all the boxes. They had to find it otherwise they were in deep trouble. "We have to find it!"

"We will find it," Snape sighed as he looked in the boxes on the lower shelves just in case while Lucy and Shona carefully looked through the boxes on the highest shelf. "We have to."

"It's as though the orb had some kind of panic attack as though it was afraid of something," Shona mused. "But what's it afraid of exactly?"

"I don't know...you don't think it could be afraid of us, do you?" 

"There's a possibility," Snape shrugged. "Perhaps it's become afraid of us because maybe we took too much of it's powers...I don't know it's just a theory."

"Well keep thinking of theories because it's the only way we're going to get anywhere. We just have to find this damn orb..."

"It'll be somewhere," Snape ressured as Shona climbed down the shelf. "Well it's not up there...but I did find a cool broomstick up there!" (Snape glared at her). "But...I didn't touch it after your instructions..." 

"I say we try the next shelf!" Lucy commanded as she slowly made her way down the shelf she was on. "It has to be there!" 

"You've said that about every shelf we've looked at!" Shona groaned and began to scale the next shelf. 

"Lucy," Snape put a hand on her shoulder. "Surely you must have an idea as to where the orb is...a more specific idea? Perhaps you can sense it? Or maybe you could make your dream a little clearer?" 

"Um..." Lucy paused. "I don't know but I'll try." 

Lucy sat on the floor for a moment, just in case she fell after slipping into a dream or vision. She sat there until she had some sort of clue. 

'Row 87 .' The voice in her head whispered to her. 

"Row 87," she repeated and then felt a strange force pulling her towards the east side of the room. It was the way they were heading but much farther away. 

"Is that the row we're looking for?" Snape asked and helped her up. "Yes, it is. We have to find it because that's where the orb is...I just know it." She looked around for a minute. "This way,"  and she dragged Snape in the direction of Row 87. 

"Hey! Wait for me!" Shona yelled from halfway up the shelf she was climbing.

"Are you certain it's in row 87?" Snape wondered, doubting her a little. 

"That's what I saw and I suppose that's what we've just got to work with..." 

"With what?" 

"My instincts...can you help me up?" Lucy stood in front of the shelf full of more boxes than before and then Snape lifted her up and she got climbing towards the top of the shelf. 

"Be careful!" Snape warned as she made it to th mid point. 

"I will!" She replied as she kept going further. "It can't be that hard to find the orb..."

"Pride before a fall," Snape muttered sadly hoping this statement was false. 

When Lucy made it to the top of the shelf she began rapidly searching through all the boxes as though nothing could stop her, there was determination in her eyes because she simply had to find the orb. She didn't know what would happen if she didn't find the orb. 

"Is it up there?" Snape called as Shona finally made it to his side. 

"I don't know!" Lucy called back, she just about heard what Snape side because she was ripping open packages and then throwing them over her shoulder. "I'm still looking!" 

"Keep going we need to find it!" Shona called. 

"Why don't you keep quiet?" Snape narrowed his eyes, Shona looked at him but only to find a hint of sarcasm in his voice. 

"Why don't you?" Shona replied with a wink. 

But up on the top shelf of row 87, things were getting serious. Lucy's brain felt like it was going to stop working any minute, the only thing that kept her going was the voice inside her head 'I have to find the orb, I have to find the orb, I have to find the orb...' 

Then out of the corner of her eye, in an open box she saw a strange glow. She whipped around and dived at the box, she opened it up, flung all the other objects out and picked up the glass sphere that was known as the orb. 

"I GOT IT!" Lucy screamed at the top of her lungs, Snape and Shona looked relieved. 

"Alright, come down and lets get out of here..." Snape ordered as Lucy began to climb down the shelf. They had all had enough of the Department of Mysteries and wouldn't be returning, if they had a say, any time soon. 

But as Lucy placed both feet on the floor the whole room seemed to go pitch black. They all groaned, they had had enough of dark rooms. 

"Oh for goodness sakes, who fits the light bulbs in this place? I'm going to go and have them sued!" Shona growled as Snape reached out in the darkness for Lucy, he soon found her. She was shaking slightly but apart from that she seemed to be OK. 

"It's all magic, McGuire," Snape rolled his eyes. 

"i was being SARCASTIC!" Shona yelled. 

"I hate this place its really unpredictable..." 

"Oh," Shona said suddenly out of the darkness. "Perhaps that's why they call it the Department of Mysteries! Or did you have another theory?" 

Lucy could feel herself slipping under another vision but she tried so much to use the occulmency, she was fed up of all the visions and refused to see anymore today. She had the orb and that was OK, they just needed to get out of there. 

"Dad, we need to find the exit," Lucy said out of the blue. "We just need to get out of here and go home, that's all we need." 

"It would be nice if we could see to find the exit but I suppose we'll have to make do." 

"Lets go then," Shona said and began to walk off, her shoes making a low noise when they made contact with the surface. 

"Wait," Snape commanded and the sound of Shona's shoes stopped. "We're in row 87, the door must be either north or further east. Who wants to hazard a guess where it is?" 

Lucy just hoped Snape was being sarcastic and he actually knew where the door was because she had no clue. She just wanted to get out of here. 

"Let the leader pick," Shona yawned. 

"Further east," Lucy shrugged just hoping she was right.

"OK, lets go," Snape ordered, he held onto Lucy's hand as she walked forward hoping she didn't run into anything.  

"It has to be around here somewhere, it just has to be..." Snape muttered as Lucy stuck her other hand out and it hit something. The door. She clasped her hand firmly round the handle and smiled. 

"I've found the door, we can get out of here now. We can go home."