I looked at Kenneth. He was very pale, shaking and he looked terrified. I still had his wand, and he didn't try to take it from me.

I wondered if it would be worth risking using a digging spell in here. It could be a way out, or, more likely, it could cause this tiny cave to collapse on us like the larger one had.

What had Silas meant by 'Earth Trap'? What is an 'Earth Trap'? Why had I never heard of it before?

I realised we were in the Forbidden Forest, and Silas seemed to know a lot of things about it, certainly a lot more than I knew.

For the time being, I didn't know what to do. At least we had some light. I just waited. I wondered if we'd run out of air soon and start suffocating. Kenneth was hyperventilating already.

For some reason, whenever I'm in a horrible situation with someone taking it a lot worse than I am, I suddenly feel a lot more confident. I knew I had to calm Kenneth down somehow. I tried speaking to him, but he wasn't listening to me.

I put my hand on his shoulder,"Kenneth,"I tried saying, in a softer voice.

He was still panicking.

I put both my hands on his shoulders and looked at him,"listen to me, Kenneth, just breathe! Breathe in! Breathe out!"

Kenneth seemed to start listening to me then. After a few moments, he said, shakily,"how do we get out?"

"There might be a way,"I said,"but you need to calm down."

"I can't! I CAN'T! I need to get out now! I can't be down here!"Kenneth was saying.

"We may be able to get out, if we're able to think clearly and come up with a plan,"I said,"what spells do you know?"

"Not any to get out of here!"Kenneth responded.

I dared not use a digging spell. Even though we were already buried, I decided having some space around me was better than choking on dirt. It seemed more likely that using the digging spell would only result in a quicker, but somehow more horrible, demise.

"We're never going to get out!"Kenneth wailed, he began to cry.

I put my arm around him and hugged him,"don't think about that,"I said.

"We're stuck! We're trapped!"he went on.

"Don't think about it,"I said,"think about being alive. While we're alive, there's hope. If you calm down, maybe we can think of a way to get out together."

I continued to hug him, because it seemed to be helping him to calm down; also because feeling another human close to me was reassuring and comforting, even if it was someone as awful as Kenneth Brass.

There was a silence for a few moments, then Kenneth said, in a voice very unlike his voice that I am used to,"why did he choose you?"

I was quiet for a moment, then I said,"Silas isn't who you think he is."

"He chose YOU!"Kenneth said,"he left me to die, but you're his enemy!"

"He's not really your friend,"I said,"he's just been using you all this time. He has his own plans, and I think he needs me for something."

"He needs you more than me?"Kenneth said.

"He must do, otherwise he wouldn't have chosen me instead,"I said.

"Why didn't you go with him?"Kenneth asked,"you could have saved yourself."

"I was sure that would be jumping out of the frying pan into the fire,"I said,"whatever Silas was planning on doing with me, couldn't have been good."

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Out of the frying pan..."Kenneth said,"what could be worse than THIS!?"

"Just be glad you're not alone down here,"I said.

I couldn't think of any plans other than the one that would risk burying us completely. I decided to use that as a last resort. For now, if only I could think of an alternative...

Then I heard something. A voice. Calling to me. A familiar voice...

"Cathhhy!"

It seemed as though it was coming from the rock.

"I'm here!"I responded.

Kenneth screamed and pushed me away.

"Kenneth, be quiet! Can you hear that?"I said.

"Why are you doing that!?"Kenneth wailed.

"Cathhhy!"the voice came again.

Then I realised who it was! It was Oliver! No wonder Kenneth was screaming, he had heard me speaking Parceltongue.

"Kenneth, listen to me,"calm down. I'm talking to a friend. He might know a way for us to get out of here."

"Is - is your friend a snake?"Kenneth asked.

"Yes,"I responded,"but he's harmless."

"I hate snakes!"Kenneth yelled.

"It's alright, he won't go near you,"I said,"you want to find a way out of here, don't you?"

"Yes,"Kenneth whimpered.

I took his wand.

"Lumos!"

Suddenly I saw Oliver peeking at me from a hole in the rock. Kenneth saw him too, and screamed again.

"Do you know a way we can get out?"I asked Oliver.

"I'm looking for one,"Oliver replied,"I managed to find a way down here. I saw the ground eating you up."

"How were you in the Forbidden Forest at that time?"I asked.

"I was off travelling, looking for newts,"Oliver explained,"when I heard the snakes of the forest had been called to look for a girl, I knew that girl was you. So I followed them to see what was going on. Then I saw you and those boys. After the ground swallowed you up, I found a way down to you."

"But can you find a way for us to get out?"I asked.

"Ah,"said Oliver,"that is the problem. If you were snakes, then yes."

I suddenly thought of transfiguration. What if I was able to transfigure Kenneth into a snake? Or Kenneth was able to transfigure me into one?

Though there were several problems with this. The biggest one being the fact that only one of us would be able to get out. The other would remain trapped down here.

Oliver crawled down onto my shoulders.

"Are you sure you can't get us out?"I asked him.

"I suppose I could keep looking,"Oliver answered,"but if I can't get you out, I can bring you frogs and mice and things, if you need to eat."

There was another rock on the other side of the hollow space we were in. Where Kenneth was sitting.

"Kenneth, move!"I said.

Kenneth didn't even ask why, he shuffled out of the way, all the time staring at Oliver, his eyes almost popping out.

Oliver slithered over to the other rock.

"There's a gap in this one too,"he observed, as he disappeared into it.

He was gone for a few minutes.

"Find anything?"I asked, when he came back.

"There's a bigger cave in there,"Oliver said,"solid rock, most of it."

"Does it lead anywhere?"I asked.

"Well, that's up to you,"Oliver said.

"What do you mean by that?"I asked.

"The soil here isn't too wide,"Oliver said,"you'll be able to get through it if you're careful."

I gave Kenneth's wand to him to hold the light for me. I began to dig carefully with my hands. I dug a cavity in the soil, being as careful as I could.

"Keep going,"Oliver encouraged me,"not long now. Go on!"

Eventually I had dug a hole big enough to fit through. I crawled through. Oliver followed, and I got Kenneth to follow after we'd both gotten through. He was hesitant at first.

"Don't worry, Oliver is with me, he won't go near you,"I reassured him.

"Who's Oliver?"Kenneth asked.

"The snake,"I responded.

Kenneth crawled through.

Oliver was right, we were now in a much bigger cave. Though I still couldn't see a way out, I could stand up now. It was a lot nicer than being squashed in that small space. I noticed a ledge of rock that I could climb onto.

"How about the earth up here?"I asked Oliver, looking at a part of the cave ceiling that was soil with roots sticking through.

"If you dig a bit here..."Oliver suggested.

I dug a small cavity by a root. Oliver attempted to squeeze through, but he got stuck at one point, so I had to pull him out.

"You could be a bit more gentle next time!"Oliver hissed at me.

"You were stuck!"

"I was,"Oliver said,"but no need to yank me out like that!"

"Do you think I could dig through it?"I asked.

"I'm not sure,"Oliver said,"maybe you could use one of your spells?"

This place seemed a lot less likely to get buried in, as more of the walls were solid rock, and the place with the soil was quite high up, so it seemed fairly close to the surface.

"Kenneth, I need your wand back for a bit,"I said.

Kenneth gave it to me.

The cave went dark. Kenneth gasped.

"Fode Terram!"I cried.

The soil fell down onto us like a waterfall. I was knocked backwards off the ledge. Kenneth started screaming.

When all of the commotion, and dust, had cleared, I saw a faint light pouring into the cave.

Oliver managed to slither out from all the dirt.

"Ugh!? Did you have to bury me in the dirt like that!?"he grumbled.

"Come on, Oliver, you've found us a way out!"I said, putting him on my shoulder.

I climbed back onto the ledge and was able to pull myself up from there into the forest above. Then I reached down for Kenneth. I pulled him up towards me, but he was really heavy and quite clumsy coming up, so I struggled quite a bit; but soon we were both sitting on the ground or the Forbidden Forest.

But where in the Forbidden Forest? Were there more Earth Traps lurking beneath our feet, ready for us to fall into?