"Are you ready?" Pandora asked, watching Snape squint down at a piece of parchment. He'd been staring at it for what felt like an eternity.
"I'm ready," she said, patting the small bag on the table. "Everything we need is inside."
"Give me a moment." Snape didn't look up, his gaze still fixed on the Marauder's Map.
He was tracking the small ink dot labeled "Mulciber," waiting for it to vanish—confirmation that he'd entered the secret passage again.
Outside, the sunset angled through the high windows of the Room of Requirement, washing the stone walls in a dim golden hue.
They'd shared some crusty bread earlier, choosing to skip dinner in the Great Hall entirely.
Seconds stretched into minutes, until suddenly—Snape's eyes lit up.
Mulciber's dot had disappeared.
"He's gone back in. Perfect. Come here, I'll cast Disillusionment on you."
Pandora stepped over, and Snape lifted his wand, tapping her gently on the crown of her head.
"There."
"Nicely done, Severus," she said, glancing down as her body shifted. It didn't vanish completely, but her skin and robes blended seamlessly into the surroundings. Her outline shimmered like heat on stone—camouflaged, like a humanoid chameleon.
Snape moved to cast the spell on himself—only to see a faint, translucent wand bop him gently on the skull.
A chill surged from the spot where it struck, trickling through him like ice water.
"Thanks, Pandora." He grabbed the small, deceptively heavy bag. "I'll carry this."
The door to the Room of Requirement swung open soundlessly, then closed again—vanishing flawlessly into the stone behind them.
They crept down the stairs to the fifth floor, avoiding torchlight and footfalls.
When the corridor was clear, Snape approached the enchanted mirror and whispered the trigger.
"Go on, get in," he murmured to the empty air.
Unsure whether Pandora had entered, he waited a few more seconds, then stepped inside himself.
A soft glow appeared, like a swarm of fireflies darting in the air, casting faint light on the uneven tunnel walls.
"Not bad," Pandora's voice echoed softly. "Good place for experiments. So why are we destroying it again?"
Snape hesitated. "Well… it might get used for something dangerous. And you already have your own lab, right? This one's kind of redundant."
"True. All right, let's do it." She didn't seem bothered. "Put the bag down—I can't see it."
"Oh—right." Snape placed it on the floor. "Let's drop the Disillusionment."
They both muttered the counter-spell and shimmered back into full visibility.
Pandora crouched, unzipping the bag and removing an assortment of jars filled with colored powders and viscous liquids.
As she sang strange incantations, the materials floated into the air—each element weaving into the next like thread through a loom—before settling on the stone stairs and walls in thin, glimmering layers.
With every whispered word, glowing runes began to pulse from the rock itself—ancient symbols like ᛇᚷᛚᚠᛟᛋᛇᛟᚾ, flickering with power as though trying to claw their way free of the stone.
Then they did.
The runes peeled from the wall, hovered like specters, then faded into nothing.
"Rare bit of old magic," Pandora said, pleased. "Took loads of neutralizing agents and layered charms to purge it. But it gave me new insight too. That rune sequence? I thought it meant detonation, but turns out it was a protection ward."
"…What?"
"ᛇᚷᛚᚠᛟᛋᛇᛟᚾ," she repeated.
Snape stared blankly. So much for my top marks in Ancient Runes.
"What now?" he asked.
"Let's hit it with Bombarda Maxima," Pandora suggested, her eyes gleaming.
She opened her mouth to speak the first syllable—but Snape raised a hand.
"Wait! Let me. Stand back."
He didn't trust the situation enough to risk Pandora getting hurt. Not when she was with him.
Then he smelled something.
A faint, metallic stench drifted in from the stairs below. His skin prickled.
Before he could place the scent, a clammy, pale hand emerged over the edge of the steps—followed by more.
He looked down—and inhaled sharply.
A tide of corpses was swarming upward.
Gaunt, pale heads. Clawing hands. Men, women, even children, all with hollow, sightless eyes and rotting flesh, shuffling forward with relentless, silent hunger.
"Inferi!" Snape shouted. "Bombarda Maxima!"
The massive spell cracked against the stone, creating fissures in the wall—but it wasn't enough. Not fast enough.
There was no time to collapse the tunnel.
"Petrificus Totalus!"
The leading Inferius seized up and tumbled back into the dark.
"Impedimenta! Incarcerous!"
Snape threw spell after spell, backing up fast, the tunnel flashing with streaks of magic. But the Inferi kept coming—hands scrabbling at stone, milky eyes fixed on them, tattered robes trailing filth and rot.
"Pandora—run!" he yelled, grabbing her wrist and pulling her back toward the exit.
His wand traced a small owl into the air, glowing as it etched the charm.
"Soar on wings!"
The entrance quivered.
The Inferi reached upward, their dead fingers stretching toward them.
He prayed the wall would open.
"Wait, Severus." Pandora stumbled behind him. "I have another idea—"
"Forget that! Run!" Snape was pale, his voice breaking. "We need to find the professors, now!"
The wall slid open.
Snape pulled her forward—but before they could escape, a brilliant flash of light struck.
He was yanked upside down, suspended in midair, ankle caught by a hex.
"Caught you, Snivellus. Hand over the bag."
James Potter's face swung into view, upside-down and furious. His eyes burned with fury and hatred.
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New translation : Naruto: I Can Use Corpse Release !
Give power stones to that new story if you want bonus chapter in all current translated fanfics !
300 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter