Snape moved so quickly that Albus had to jog to keep up. He led Albus down an old street, full of ramshackle-looking buildings. At last, they came to a worn-down old telephone booth. Panting, Albus looked up at Snape.
“Well, Potter? Get inside. Let’s not spend an eternity here.” He made no attempt to hide a bitter smirk, which Albus found exceedingly annoying. Reluctantly, the boy stepped into the tight space, and Snape followed, closing the door behind them. Snape picked up the phone and dialed a few numbers.
“Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business,” sang a voice from inside the booth.
“Ahh yes. Severus Snape, taking Mr. Albus Potter on . . . a bit of a tour.” With a whirring and a click, two silver badges slid down the coin return. Snape took them and held out one that said Albus Potter, Infernal Tour. Albus hardly had time to pin it on before the floor of the telephone booth began to sink slowly into the ground. Albus shuddered, thinking of being buried alive, and of tunnel collapses, and of his father’s stories about the Chamber of Secrets in Hogwarts.
“Uncomfortable, Potter?” Snape sneered. What was the matter with this lunatic? After what seemed like an hour (but what was probably closer to a minute), the telephone booth door opened into a magnificently long, dark hallway of a business office.
“Visitor, you must submit to a search and a wand registration at the security desk, at the far end of the Atrium. Thank you, and have a pleasant day,” said the elevator voice.
Albus followed Snape down the hallway. On his left, he noticed a looming black statue of a witch and a wizard on intricate thrones. Albus leaned in to get a closer look, and gasped. For instead of beautiful carvings, he now saw that the thrones were instead made from the crammed, twisted, naked bodies of humans--muggles. At the base of the state were engraved the words: MAGIC IS MIGHT. Clearly, the intent of the statue was to proclaim the hopelessness of muggles to resist the domination of the wizarding world.
Presently, they came to the security desk and handed in their wands to a handsome young man with wavy blonde hair. Albus thought that the man’s face looked strangely familiar...
“Oh, I recognize you! Aren’t you Gilderoy Lockhart? My mom has some books of yours.”
The wizard looked surprised. “Books? Did they belong to me? Well, I certainly shan’t be needing them here!” He examined the wands. “Very pretty. Very very lovely. Look how easy they are to wave around!” From Snape’s wand shot out a yellow jet of light that narrowly missed Lockhart’s ear. “Well well! That is a finicky one, isn’t it? Wouldn’t want to be careless with those!” With that, he handed the wand back to Snape, who rolled his eyes. Giving the other wand to Albus, Lockhart remarked, “Now, boy, be careful with that. A famously handsome face like yours could bring some cockiness with it.” Utterly confused (and slightly annoyed), Albus rejoined Snape to proceed to the search.
As they walked into the search area, Albus suddenly felt an icy breeze go through him, chilling him to his bones. Looking up, he saw Nearly Headless Nick, the ghost of the Gryffindor house.
“Nick! Finally a familiar face. What are you doing here?”
“Ahh, Albus, my boy! This is where the other half of my soul lives.”
“The other half?! You mean like a horcrux?”
“Hush! Not so loud! The security here takes dark magic very seriously. No, it’s not like that at all.”
“What do you mean?”
“Albus, look around you. Everyone you see in the Atrium here--everyone besides you and Snape, that is--is here because they refused to commit to one side or another during their lifetime. You already met Lockhart. During his time at Hogwarts, even as a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, he never committed to the fight for good or for evil. As for me, I refused to accept death. So in my case, my soul is split; I have an imprint here and an imprint in your world, but no full life anywhere.”
“I’m not sure I understand . . .”
“Think of it this way: the Atrium is really little more than a hallway, right? Well, those of us who never committed to anything in life are stuck here in this hallway. We aren’t tormented by any of the other departments, but we also can’t experience the joys of anywhere else. Our choice has been revoked, and we must work here, in this hallway, for all eternity.”
Nearly Headless Nick turned back to continue scanning the souls of the Atrium as Albus followed Snape into the nearest elevator, thinking upon the strangeness of the encounter. What had Nearly Headless Nick meant by the “torment” of the other departments? Albus held his breath as they began to descend to Level 1.
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