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chapter fifty-one | maze of horrors

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KAYA, AS WELL AS THE REST OF THE GROUP bellowed,

"REDUCTO!"

Many curses flew in all different directions and the shelves opposite them exploded as they hit. The towering structure swayed as a hundred glass spheres burst apart, pearly-white figures unfurling into the air and floating there, their voices echoing amid the torrent of crashing glass and splintered wood now raining down upon the floor.

Kaya could just about make out Harry's voice telling everyone to run — and she didn't have to be told twice.

She took off, Jaeden right behind her, throwing a stray glass ball at one of the Death Eaters that had been trying to follow them.

Everyone was yelling, there were cries of agony, and thunderous crashes sounded as the shelves collapsed upon themselves. The strange, echoing voices from Seers were unleashing from the spheres, drowning out any form of communication between both the Death Eaters and those in Harry's group.

Kaya felt fragments of glass brush across the side of her face and she let out a whimper of pain. She turned her head and let out a yelp of surprise at the sight of a Death Eater just catching up with her, nothing between them but a shelf of prophecies.

He was huge — around six foot eight, and was a powerfully built, heavily muscled man. He had an extremely imposing figure, even without any sign of magic. His hood had fallen now, to reveal his face. He had thin, dark brown hair that only seemed to grow on one side of his face. His eyes were a deathly grey, and frightening. In fact, with help of the light coming from the prophecies, Kaya could just make out that half of his face was in fact severely burned.

"Stupefy!" Kaya yelled, but the man deflected her spell immediately.

"Reducto!" she heard Jaeden's voice behind her.

Deflected, again.

Kaya pointed her wand at the nearest shelf, instead — one of the few that hadn't been affected by the fight, so far, and still had glass balls sitting tidily.

"Reducto!" she yelled, and the shelf on Kaya's left began to fall. It toppled onto the man, glass spheres crashing down over him.

Kaya sped up, doing her best to lose him, his growls of pain becoming more faint the further she ran.

She caught sight of a glimpse of silver-hair and immediately changed direction to follow the Silverstone girl several feet in front of her. Kaya had completely lost her way, now. She had to follow someone to make sure she exited out of the right door.

Kaya turned to look behind her to check she still had Jaeden behind her — she did. Sadie and Chad had also caught up with him, at this point.

But then a crash sounded, and a Death Eater was sent flying into another shelf.

"Fuck!" Kaya yelled, speeding up and running like she'd never ran before — she'd only just missed being crushed beneath the showering smashed glass and the broken pieces of splintered wood now behind her.

But Jaeden, Sadie and Chad had been forced to stop, as their pathway was now blocked.

They'd been separated.

"Keep going!" Jaeden yelled at her, before he guided Sadie and Chad to an alternate route — leaving Kaya completely stranded.

She kept her eyes firmly on Diana Silverstone, who seemed to be heading towards one particular door at the back of the room.

But she, too, was driven away from her planned route, as another shelf fell directly in front of where she was just about to turn, three Death Eaters appearing at the same time.

Diana immediately turned the opposite way, and sprinted even faster. Kaya had a job to keep up with her.

"Stupefy!" she yelled, successfully hitting one of the three Death Eaters on Diana's tail.

Kaya did not know what row she was at. She'd completely lost all memory of what the hallway had looked like when they first entered — and now that so many shelves were either blown to pieces or had toppled into others, it almost seemed like there were barely any rows left — and instead they were stuck in some kind of labyrinth.

Diana seemed to catch sight of another door whilst sending spells back towards the two Death Eaters still after her.

Kaya sent a prophecy their way, smashing one on the back of his head and knocking him unconscious.

Diana set the other aflame.

And so, jumping over the unconscious Death Eater and narrowly dodging the one on fire, Kaya grew closer to the Silverstone girl — and the door they were heading for.

She wasn't sure how much longer she could run for. She was sweaty, out of breath and had a huge pain in the side of her stomach. Actually, fuck that, her entire body was in pain. She had cuts all over from stray shards of glass, and could feel blisters starting to develop on the back of her ankles.

Diana pushed the door open with all her might and held it open for Kaya, before slamming it shut.

Both girls leaned against the door they'd just closed, panting heavily with their eyes closed. Sweat gleamed off both of their faces and blood was trickling down from where they'd been cut.

The sound of them trying to catch their breath was the only thing filling this room — whatever room they had ended up in, Kaya did not know.

It was very dimly lit. About as dark as the prophecy room they'd just been in, but instead of the glass spheres being the only source of light, the only things keeping Kaya and Diana from being plunged into darkness were two candles on either side of the door they had just closed.

"What room is this?" Kaya whispered.

"I don't know," Diana responded, pausing for a moment. "It must be one of the other doors we didn't try, earlier,"

The blonde took a step forward, examining what she could see in front of her, with what very little light she had.

In front of them was a long, stone grey wall taking up the entire length of the room — minus two small gaps at either end.

Diana and Kaya exchanged glances, before splitting up to examine these gaps. Diana went right, raising her wand, taking careful steps as though she were walking on glass. Kaya moved more quickly, though still keeping her steps quiet. She couldn't relax. She had to know where she was and who she was with. She had to get back to the others. She wasn't going to settle, not once, until she was out.

There was a short silence as the two girls moved further, and further apart.

Until a small rumble echoed.

"BENNETT—!" Diana's voice yelled with panic.

Kaya didn't have chance to discover what was behind the gap in the far corner. She whipped around at the sound of Diana's raised voice and her heart dropped.

Another wall, just like the grey one standing in from of them, was raising between the two girls.

"Oh, fuck," Kaya let out, and began sprinting in hopes of reaching Diana before the wall grew too high.

She can't be split up from everyone — she'd never find her way back.

"Diana—!" she called out. She was so close. The wall was raising but she could still make a jump if she had to. It was getting closer, only a few more steps and she'd be over, she'd be back on the Silverstone girl's side...

But she just wasn't quick enough.

Just as Kaya reached the wall it was about a foot taller than her — continuing to rise until it practically reached the ceiling, leaving a tiny gap above. Kaya cried out in frustration and smacked her palm against the wall, leaning her forehead against it in defeat.

There were still many Death Eaters searching for them — and she was all alone.

"Bennett?!" Diana's voice could faintly be heard from the other side of the wall. Her muffled voice suggested just how thick this stone wall was.

"Diana?!" she called back. This time she did not receive a response.

Kaya turned as if to head back to the door she'd entered the room in, but it was gone. Whether it had simply vanished, or been covered by the brand new wall, she didn't know.

She pointed her wand at the brand new wall that had just appeared.

"Reducto!" she yelled.

But instead of being blast apart, the stone seemed to absorb her spell.

"No spells work on it!" Kaya heard Diana shout to her. "We're gonna have to find another way out,"

And Kaya knew now the only way out was through the small gap at the far side of the room. The gap of which she really did not want to know what was behind.

Kaya's wand was slipping in her sweaty palms as she clenched it tightly, building the courage to force herself forward to discover what was behind this stone wall she was trapped behind.

She had half the mind to stay where she was until the others would find her... but would they find her? She supposed the Ministry would open up in the morning and she would eventually bump into somebody that worked there...

But if she stayed out and waited it all out, for all she knew, she could be letting her friends die. She could be waiting for all those Death Eaters to come and find her. Or perhaps she'd even be waiting for Voldemort himself to appear and do away with her.

Don't be a twat, K she thought to herself, before stepping forwards, edging closer to the small gap in the wall. You'll have to find out what's behind it at some point, whether you want to or not.

She poked her head around the corner first, but could only see a narrow passage leading her to the right — it was entirely dark. Kaya used her wand for light and held her breath before stepping forwards and turning right, walking slowly through the route she was forced to follow.

Kaya didn't want to call out for Diana, for she was frightened that if she were to make any noise, whatever was in this room would come charging straight at her — whether it be a Death Eater or something else.

She continued walking reluctantly, taking many left and right turns, listening out for Diana of whom she hadn't heard from since they were split up.

It took her a few moments, but she soon began to realise that this eerie room she had ended up in was a maze. A maze created of stone walls, a maze inside a pitch black room with nothing but shadows to take advantage of Kaya's blurry vision from her exhaustion.

She found herself in a small routine — poking her head around the next corner, checking nothing was there, before edging quietly forward and repeating the same movement when reaching the next edge of the many stone walls.

It was when she was starting to feel slightly more brave, did she call out Diana's name yet again.

But she received no response. Kaya wondered if Diana's side of the wall was a maze just like hers — or if she'd been taken through something entirely different.

One thing Kaya knew for certain — she had to do this part all on her own.

And then a defeating, painful cry sounded throughout the entire room, echoing off the many thick walls, bouncing from the ceiling and clinging to Kaya's ears, sending her stomach straight to her feet.

She knew this voice like the back of her hand.

"JAE?!" she bellowed, her voice contaminated with pure terror. "JAE?! YOU'RE IN HERE?! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

Kaya rushed forwards, not checking carefully every time she turned a corner this time. She didn't know how many rights, or lefts, she was taking. She didn't know if she was repeating the same steps over and over or if she was edging closer to the end of the room.

"KAYA!" Jaeden's voice cried once again.

Kaya had never heard someone sound so much in pain.

"JAEDEN?!" she yelled, turning yet another corner.

She was moving around so frantically, she was barely using the light on her wand anymore, placing her hands on the cold walls surrounding her as she swiftly sped around them.

Until she turned through another gap and met some kind of shadow lurking in the corner.

Her breath quivered, and she didn't hesitate. The only thing on her mind was the cry of her best friend and the many walls of this strange maze separating them.

"Reducto!" she yelled at the figure, sending the spell straight into its' chest.

It bounced off, drifting up to the ceiling and almost disappearing in thin air. Kaya stood in disbelief, her wand still raised.

The figure moved forwards, and the mask of a Death Eater came into the light still cast from Kaya's wand.

Fuck.

"Reducto!" Kaya tried yet again, but the spell reflected back off the Death Eater all the same, this time being absorbed by the stone wall next to it.

The Death Eater edged forward, slowly raising it's own wand.

"Levicorpus!" "Stupefy!" "Confringo!"

Kaya cried out many spells as she backed herself away from the Death Eater, her stomach filling with dread as she felt the coldness of the stone press up against her back.

Why was nothing working?!

And then Diana's voice screamed something at her.

"BENNETT!" she heard the girl yell. It was muffled and difficult to understand, as if she were underwater. "IT'S A..."

Kaya couldn't make out the last word.

"DIANA!" she yelled. "NONE OF MY SPELLS ARE WORKING!"

The Death Eater was drawing nearer — she didn't have time for this.

She took off, speeding through the maze once again, hoping, begging, she would find someone — be it Jaeden or Diana.

She couldn't get the sound of Jaeden's cries out of her head. They were haunting — the most awful thing she'd ever heard. They didn't even sound human. But they were. They belonged to Jaeden. And she couldn't find him to help him.

Thumps from the footsteps of the Death Eater Kaya was running away from were catching up, and she let out a desperate sob as she continued to sprint.

Another shadow was resting in a corner when she turned what felt like the thousandth right in this maze. The walls were so narrow, they could barely fit two people side-by-side.

"Stupefy!" Kaya tried yet again, but the Death Eater seemed unaffected. What was wrong with her? Why weren't her spells working?!

"BENNETT!" Diana's voice appeared from the other side of the wall. "THEY'RE..."

"REDUCTO!" Kaya tried yet again. No luck.

She was panicking. Her breathing was fast paced and in short breaths. She felt like she was going to faint.

"STOP!" Diana's voice bellowed. "THEY'RE — ...ARTS,"

"WHAT?!" Kaya bellowed back, not quite catching the final word. The Death Eaters were nearing, she would have to run again soon...

"THEY'RE — BOGGARTS!" Diana yelled.

Kaya froze, realisation setting in. They're Boggarts.

It made sense, if Kaya had the time and the right current mindset to think about it. What was it she feared the most, at this moment in time? The Death Eaters currently hunting them down throughout the entirety of the Ministry.

But how was she going to tell the difference between the Boggarts and the real Death Eaters?

Things just got a bit more complicated.

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A/N: I actually have no idea if spells like 'Reducto' etc. work on Boggarts or not but I tried to research it and couldn't really find anything so for the sake of this story let's just say they don't 😭

Also if anyone is confused, basically Kaya and Di have ended up in one of the 12 rooms in the department of mysteries — since we don't actually know what every single room is as they didn't enter all of them in the HP books, I've made up what is inside this particular one (more will be revealed in the next chapter 😉).

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed! Let me know what you thought <3333