[HP] Looking for you #23 (Patreon)

Chapter #23: The fifth test, part IV.

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Harry couldn’t believe it, he was on the floor after his best friend had pushed him downstairs and even though he knew her actions were most likely because of the effects of this place, he couldn’t take it anymore, he didn’t like when people fear him, but if that's what it takes that for them to respect him then he was going to do that.

“You’re going to pay for this Hermione—” Harry growled before he realized something once he was back to his feet. “What the…” Harry said in a low tone.

The reason for his surprise was interesting, he was expecting to be on the main floor located in the center of the room but surprisingly, he was now one step ahead of his friends and he was now looking down at them, this didn't make sense unless he had been teleported.

“What the…Didn’t you push me towards the ground Hermione? Shouldn’t I be behind you guys? Why am I ahead of you?” Asked Harry desperately with a confused expression, he felt like he was going mad too.

Hermione was just as shocked as the rest of the group, however, she couldn’t help but think about what she did and caused Harry to now be ahead of them, and then, her eyes widened.

“That’s it…Up is the way but not the method!” Hermione said as she had a realization.

Soon, the rest of the group stared at her with confused expressions.

“Harry…I want you to take one step ahead…But do it while looking in our direction,” Hermione said with a cheerful smile to a very confused Harry. “Well, that probably wasn’t worded very well, what I mean is that from your point of view, I want you to take one step back,” Hermione’s words were still a bit weird for the group.

However, the anger Harry felt towards Hermione was suddenly replaced by the eagerness to know more about whatever theory his best friend had, so, in the end, he decided to do as she told him.

After following her instructions, his eyes widened and the rest of the group gasped, thanks to Hermione's idea Harry was able to keep walking upstairs, he took a few steps back to test it longer and he managed to continue upwards.

“So we just need to take steps back…” Harry said in a low tone.

He didn’t have too much time to analyze the situation because suddenly he was joined by his friends who did the same thing he did.

“Well, it seems like you found out what we had to do Mrs. Granger Weasley,” Harry said in a cold tone now remembering that he had been pushed towards the ground by Hermione, his supposed best friend.

“Oh Harry…I’m sorry, it’s just that…You know me very well, I hate situations that are out of my control and your idea was getting us nowhere…” Hermione tried to apologize but Harry just sighed.

“And yet, without my idea, we wouldn’t have figured this out, we would’ve spent years analyzing the situation if I didn’t decide to make you guys come with me,” Harry wasn’t happy with the way his best friend treated him.

“Please Harry…That wasn’t me, I just suddenly realized that I was acting weird, it was as if something had possessed me, you know me very well, while I’m usually a bossy annoying know-it-all friend, I had never physically harmed you in the past,” Hermione said with an embarrassed tone.

Harry wasn’t happy but at the same time, he knew that what his best friend was saying was the truth, there had been no one more loyal to him than Hermione had been, he couldn’t help but sigh, he knew it wasn’t her fault but that doesn't change anything about the way he feels, still, he knows that as a group, it’s not a good idea to hold a grudge against a member of the party.

“I’m sorry…” Hermione said before she hugged him.

It was one of those classic trademarked Hermione hugs that he had always loved and even though he wanted to continue being angry with her, being embraced by his best friend suddenly made him feel better.

“You’re right…It’s not completely your fault, this place seems cursed in my opinion, it’s clear that it’s been designed to drive us mad,” Harry said as he hugged his best friend back.

“Well…I think we should start moving, we don’t know how long it’ll take us to finish this part of the quest as the stairs seem endless,” Victoire said trying to break the hug between Harry and her aunt.

She didn’t want to admit it but for some reason, she was feeling jealous that it was her aunt Hermione the person who was comforting Harry and not her, and it was weird because this wasn’t the first time she had seen them hugging like this but this is the first time she feels jealous about it.

“Yes, let’s grab each other’s hands, I don’t want to sound paranoid but I think our steps should be perfect, I think that if we stumble or make any other little mistake, we’re going to get back to the starting point, so, let’s all try to finish this at once,” Lucero told the group who were surprised by the quick analysis of the Mexican witch.

And even though they tried to be hopeful, they knew that what Lucero said could be the truth, so, they nodded at each other and waited for everyone to get on their positions, soon, they were coordinating their steps and they were doing it slowly as they tried to maintain a calm mind while they did this.

With every step they made, the floor was getting more and more away from them as the stairs were disappearing too, it was like they were walking on the edge of a mountain, and it was scary to think that they could stumble and fall to an unavoidable death, that’s why taking the next step back was like torture for them.

They don’t know how many steps they walked and how long it took them but there came a point at which the stairs were completely gone and now they were on the outside world, well, it seemed to be more like the roof of the building, the sun was shining in the sky and there were no clouds.

“Well, it seems like we've reached the top, to be honest, I was expecting a monster or something to greet us once we finished,” Harry said with a relieved sigh.

“If this is the end of this level I must admit that it hasn’t been that much difficult, however, it has been very long…I guess this was designed to drive people insane,” Hermione commented with a serious tone and the rest of the group agreed.

They were waiting for the voice in the sky to tell them that the test had been completed but what surprised them next was that the golden door for the next level suddenly appeared in the sky.

“How are we going to—” Charlie was about to say but then something already appeared in front of them.

Four interesting flying creatures of green color that were around the size of a wolf appeared in front of them, they had the form of a snake but with feathers on their heads and the creatures looked happy to see them as they floated close to the group.

“Wait those are…Baby quetzal dragons!” Charlie said before he got close to one of the creatures to pet them.

Suddenly, Charlie decided to ride the one he was petting which caused the group to gasp.

“Relax guys, I think that the dungeon masters have prepared these five beauties so we could go towards the door...However, will it be as easy as it looks like?” Charlie’s words surprised the group.

But knowing how twisted this place had been, they knew that was a logical thing to think, still, no matter if the masters had other things planned for them on this level, they had no choice but to keep going if they wanted to get over it already.