Basilisk Eyes

Chapter 52: The HMS Eden

Harry felt like they were really high up in the air now. His legs were starting to tremble from the exertion and he had broken out in a prickling sweat that smelled pretty rank. He had stashed his staff in his pocket and was holding onto Tony's waist now with both hands—steadying him as much as he was being guided by him. He could feel Tony trembling beneath his hands as well and knew it was as unnerving for him as it was for Harry.

Maybe worse. He can see how far up we are. I've got the advantage of not being able to look down, he thought.

Harry kept his knees slightly bent to accommodate the slight swaying and swelling of the boat and the gangplank. Each raised step beneath his foot felt reassuring as he made his way, one foot in front of the other, up the gangplank.

Surely, someone would have put protective charms on this gangplank to keep us from falling into the lake. Healer Jordan wouldn't put us in a hazardous situation that we can't handle. Right?

He tried to calm the doubts that were crowding his mind.

I should have refused to go up the gangplank. I could have insisted that they find another way.

Then he dismissed this idea. He didn't want to stand out; he didn't want people noticing him.

He thought about how easy it was to cross the threshold into the Mont Blanc room and be transported to another place; the owlery had been the same way.

Why can't we do that here? Why does it have to be an ordeal like this? Are they testing us? We had a hard enough time just sitting on the benches before. Seems kind of risky to make us hike down a mountain and then walk up a gangplank. It's almost cruel.

The voices from the deck were encouraging and definitely getting closer. Harry was pretty sure it was the two men from the path who were waiting for them at the top. They were almost there.

Tony paused at the top of the gangplank, and Harry bumped into him, almost unbalancing Tony. Luckily, the two men had grasped Tony's shoulders and stopped him from falling and then steadied him as he stepped onto the deck of the HMS Eden. They grasped Harry by his arms and helped him step down, too. The distance to the deck was deeper than he imagined and he stumbled forward before he found his footing.

"There you go!" The second man held firmly onto Harry's arm as he regained his balance. There was a tremor in his arm that made Harry wonder if it had been as scary to watch them climb the gangplank as it had been to do it. He let go and thumped Harry heartily on the back, reminding him of Hagrid.

"Er, thanks," Harry offered up. He felt really relieved and a little elated to have arrived safely on board.

I'm so glad I didn't pitch over the side of the gangplank into the lake. My shoes would never dry.

He was still clinging to Tony's shirt, and he imagined that he had nearly pulled it off Tony just then, but Tony didn't seem to mind. He didn't let go.

"Welcome aboard the HMS Eden!" A man greeted them from a level up. Harry imagined that the man was on the Quarterdeck of the ship. He remembered a favorite book at his Primary's library that detailed all the parts of a galleon; how he had poured over that book—dreaming about sailing far away from the Dursleys.

The boat creaked and groaned as it moved slightly in the water.

The second man was talking to Tony—he was the man who had grabbed Harry by his left arm. "Hey, why didn't Healer Jordan help you with your cuts and bruises?"

"Whoa, are you wearing an invisibility cloak?" Tony asked.

"Um, no. I had vanishing sickness," the man explained a bit wearily as if he were tired of explaining it.