Harry Potter: Beneath The Skin

Disclaimer:

Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.

I own nothing but the original characters I make.

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

-Author notes-

Chapter 09: The Secret Room

A middle-aged man was comfortably sitting in front of a dining table. He had a hot cup of coffee in one hand and was browsing today's newspaper with raspy interest.

He then heard steps coming from above, and he knew it was the newbie Aurors he had sent to patrol the upper levels of the prison. It was a simple task, perfect for a couple of new recruits.

The warden was not expecting them to return so quickly, as it had only been around fifteen minutes since they left. On top of that, he only saw one of them coming down the stairs.

"Tonks, what happened? Where is Graham?"

Nymphadora Tonks was walking slowly but at a steady pace. She finished descending the stairs and continued moving.

"N-Nothing is wrong… Sir. T-The dementors are back in their posts. Mark is… checking the sixth floor."

Her eyes were glazed over and her speech became somewhat stuttered as she was continuously trying to resist the curse that had been placed on her.

Unfortunately, she was still too new to this, and her Occlumency shield could not fight back against it. Not completely, at least.

"You left him to finish the rounds alone?" The superior officer noticed her strange behavior.

She walked past the table where he was sitting, without even slowing her pace.

"Hey, Tonks. Where are you going?" The man put down his coffee and stood up from the chair with a deep frown on his face. He was not used to people disobeying his orders.

"Tonks! I'm speaking to you! Stop right now."

"I'm going to the bathroom." A soft whisper that was barely audible found its way to her.

"I'm going to the bathroom," Tonks repeated the words she heard and walked out of the dining room, making her way to the lower levels.

The warden stood there, watching her leave with an angry expression.

"Damn newbies. The disrespect!" He slammed his hand on the table.

Tonks kept walking through the living quarters of the prison while Harry stayed close to her, hidden by the use of an invisibility charm.

He knew this was risky. If anyone even had the mild idea that someone was there, it would be very easy to locate him.

Harry also knew that, right now, he was in no position to fight against several trained wizards. He had just come back to life and didn't even have the chance to get used to his new body, much less to use his magic properly.

If Tonks hadn't been such a young and inexperienced witch, he would not have attempted this plan at all, as it would have certainly failed.

However, given the circumstances, he had taken a calculated risk. The rewards would certainly be worth it.

If he could retrieve his personal belongings, it would make things much easier for him.

"Keep moving," he ordered Tonks when he saw another auror walking their way.

He gave her a cordial greeting, and she barely responded while passing by.

"Huh?" The auror turned toward her, clearly surprised by her cold reaction.

Nymphadora Tonks was usually a very cheerful and vocal girl. This was very out of character for her.

Harry noticed this and knew that he must be quick. It won't take long before these people realize that something is wrong with her.

They finally arrived at the basement.

This part of Azkaban was like a maze. There were countless corridors...some of them didn't lead anywhere, while others gave way to many rooms.

There were no guards in this area, as this was only used for storage.

Harry was able to remove his invisibility and walk at a faster pace while dragging Tonks along with verbal commands.

Luckily, his resurrection had not affected his memory, and he still remembered exactly where everything was.

He had personally designed this maze, meaning that it would be impossible for him to get lost here.

Eventually, he reached a corridor that seemed to be a dead end.

"Here…" He could not help but be nervous.

It's been too long since he was here for the last time. As much confidence as he had in his own security measures, part of him was worried that his most precious belongings had been taken away.

His hands moved across the stone surface of the wall until he found the exact spot.

No matter how much one looked at the wall, they would never find anything special about it. There was nothing different compared to the other countless walls in the basement.

Only he knew the location of the magical mechanism to open the secret door.

He pushed his magic into the hidden formation, activating the locking rune formation.

The wall let out a satisfying clicking noise and began to move aside.

Harry let out a sigh of relief. He also had some doubts about being able to open this gate while in a different body, even if his magic should have been the same. It was just theoretical, after all.

A narrow set of stairs led to the third and last basement of this fortress. A basement that no one even knew existed.

"Come on." He dragged Tonks along with him and they descended the stars until they arrived at a small room.

"Ah… yes." His green eyes became filled with excitement when he noted that everything was as he had left it.

All his belongings were still secured on the shelves.

Harry was about to take a step forward when he realized there was something on the ground.

"Right… how could I forget about this?"

There was a skeleton in the middle of the room. It was still dressed in his favorite set of robes, the ones he was wearing the day he died.

"This is a strange situation, that's for sure." Harry was staring at the remnants of his old self.

It made sense that it was still here since no one had accessed this room in the last five hundred years.

The interior of the room was covered in preservation charms as well. This made the skeleton appear in fairly good condition. His long gray hair was still attached to the skull as well.

"It is getting disturbing." He gave his wand a wave and destroyed the remnants.

He did not want to leave anything behind that could be used against him. It was better for it to go.

After clearing the dust mess he had created, it was finally time to loot his prize.

He scanned over the shelves, looking at his treasures.

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