Mark entered
Transfiguration Class, both nervous about the Amnesia Curse, and excited for
cooler spells. But Professor McGonagall looked at Mark sharply. “Mister
Sanderson, you are exempt from this class. Professor Dumbledore would like to
speak to you in the courtyard.”
“Me?” Mark squeaked. You always squeak when your plans turn
upside down.
“Yes,”
McGonagall replied, her voice remaining stiff. “As for why, I have no clue, so
don’t waste your breath.”
Mark glanced at Sofi, whose eyes had
gone wide with surprise, and then at Kiera, who’s eyebrows were arched.
“What’s going to be taught in this
class?” he asked, and noticing McGonagall’s disproving face, decided to head
immediately to the courtyard.
“The clouds are
darkening,” Professor Albus Dumbledore said to Mark.
The
greatest wizard alive, and his first words to me are about the weather?
“Um,
yes, sir,” he agreed. “You wanted to see me?”
“That would not be inaccurate,”
Dumbledore replied, and looked at Mark. “I fear this Amnesia attack might be
related to the attack on Hogwarts that your sister witnessed, and stopped.”
“Pardon me?” Mark inquired, suddenly
interested.
“When your sister was in Ravenclaw,
she managed to stop a tickling curse from taking over Hogwarts,” Dumbledore
explained. “Unfortunately, the attack patterns of this Amnesia attack match the
Tickle attack. That is why I wish to see you.”
“I’m not my sister,” Mark shrugged.
“She said she was able to divert the crisis with knowledge and spells. I’m
really only good at making friends. And not even that.”
“Friends and allies seem to be just
what we need,” Dumbledore agreed. “I have gotten back from tracking the origins
of the Amnesia curse, but I was unable to stop it, and I found myself back
here, with no clue as to where to look. Whatever we’re fighting may be a more
important threat than Voldemort, at the moment.”
Mark frowned at this. Dumbledore couldn’t fight the Amnesia Curse,
and he wants me to? And to top it
off, he’s using Voldemort’s name? I
thought Dumbledore was smart.
“So
what are you going to do?” Mark asked him.
“I plan on sitting down, eating some
candy, and coming up with a decent plan,” Dumbledore replied with a strange
smile. It didn’t seem sinister, or even insane, but Mark was unable to read its
meaning.
“So we’re doomed,” Mark sighed.
“I never said doomed,” Dumbledore
told him. “Throughout my years teaching at Hogwarts, many promising students
have come under my wing. Newton Scamander, James Potter, at one point Tom
Riddle, although his potential swung in a direction I didn’t approve of.
Hopefully, one day, Harry Potter will join the ever-growing list. You are
another of those promising students, though, Mark Sanderson. The potential you
possess isn’t limitless, but it can provide a light in the darkness. Hope.”
Mark cringed. “I’m going to be
honest, all I really understood was Harry
Potter. Are you talking about the Harry
Potter, whom You-Know-Who tried to kill?”
“Yes, he is alive and well,”
Dumbledore nodded. “I will speak more when the other arrives.”
As if on cue, Hailey came around the
corner. “Professor Dumbledore,” she said in greeting. She turned to Mark.
“You’re here, too?”
“Yes, he is,” Dumbledore told her.
“We must speak of the Amnesia Curse.”
“It’s scary,” Hailey shivered. “I
have no clue if I’m forgetting anything or not.”
“You’d know if you had forgotten,”
Dumbledore told her. “Right now, it’s at minor strength, so forgotten memories
are left blank, as if you spaced out. When it gets stronger, it will began to
remove sections of the day and perhaps even chunks of the past as well. I
believe you two are the keys to this puzzle.”
Mark and Hailey exchanged a look. “I’m
sorry to question you,” Hailey muttered, “but you do realize that he’s a first-year, right? He doesn’t know many
spells, or potions. My sister’s got a bigger chance, and she only recently
learned of magic.”
“Hey!” Mark protested.
“True, true,” Dumbledore nodded.
“But you can train Mark. I hereby exempt you from all History of Magic classes,
in order to allow for personal study time. I would not be opposed to you
skipping Astronomy classes, either.”
“What if we’re hit by Amnesia?” Mark
inquired.
Dumbledore gave him a hard look.
“Don’t forget.” He chuckled a little to himself and began to walk away slowly.
“Start tomorrow?” Hailey asked,
obviously trying to use as little words as possible.
“Absolutely,” Mark nodded. “Kiera
promised to help me study for Potions and Charms, but those sessions barely
take up any of the day. If we get up bright and early, we should be able to get
down several spells.”
“Good to hear,” Hailey nodded.
“Don’t sleep in.”
She walked off briskly. Mark rubbed
his forehead in worry. “I’ll try to remember,” he told himself, but immediately
felt worse, because no one would ever get to hear that joke he had made.
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