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Hi everyone, in Harry Potter 1

At first they just hurtled through a maze of twisting passages.
...
Once, he thought he saw a burst of fire at the end of a passage and twisted around to see if it was a dragon, but too late – they plunged even deeper, passing an underground lake where huge stalactites and stalagmites grew from the ceiling and floor.

What is their direction? Is their direction perpendicular or parallel to the lake?

Thanks!
So the thing about water is that it always finds the lowest level. If they are passing a lake and they're going downwards you would expect that the water would flow down with them. Since they managed to pass the lake and continue downwards what it means is the lake is on a level where the water is blocked from flowing downwards. You can imagine a level of the cave that has some kind of open space with a depression for water to accumulate but keeps it trapped there because there are no cracks in the rock. That's "the lake". They don't even have to get very near it. If they're walking or climbing through a downsloping passageway they could even see the lake off in the distance as they pass by that level.
So the thing about water is that it always finds the lowest level. If they are passing a lake and they're going downwards you would expect that the water would flow down with them. Since they managed to pass the lake and continue downwards what it means is the lake is on a level where the water is blocked from flowing downwards. You can imagine a level of the cave that has some kind of open space with a depression for water to accumulate but keeps it trapped there because there are no cracks in the rock. That's "the lake". They don't even have to get very near it. If they're walking or climbing through a downsloping passageway they could even see the lake off in the distance as they pass by that level.
Thank you very much. It is very clear.
Apparently their direction is downward.

Possibly, or maybe even probably, but not necessarily. We also use "deep" to refer to distance into something. So even if a cave were level, we could say that we plunged deeper into the cave.

Once, he thought he saw a burst of fire at the end of a passage and twisted around to see if it was a dragon, but too late – they plunged even deeper, passing an underground lake where huge stalactites and stalagmites grew from the ceiling and floor.

It means that they walked on one side of the lake. Their path at that point may have been level, downward, or even upward. I myself have passed an underground lake on a cave tour. I just walked alongside the lake.
I hadn't thought of the meaning of deeper meaning farther inside but I think that is ruled out by the use of "plunging deeper". I can't imagine plunging deeper not referring to going downward. (But like you said, not necessarily on a straight line.)
I hadn't thought of the meaning of deeper meaning farther inside but I think that is ruled out by the use of "plunging deeper". I can't imagine plunging deeper not referring to going downward.

Why? The verb to plunge does not necessarily imply a downward direction.

plunge
3. To enter or move headlong through something: The hunting dogs plunged into the forest.

Therefore, "they plunged even deeper" means "they moved headlong through and even deeper into [the cave]."
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