“It’s
over!” Mark shouted as he entered the Room of Requirement.
“Oh, precious,” a cloaked and hooded
girl muttered. “You found me. Finally. I was beginning to grow tired of this
game of cat and mouse.”
“You sound familiar,” Mark told her,
caught off guard.
“Yes, I suppose I do,” the girl
nodded. Mark caught a brief glimpse of white skin beneath the hood. “I’ve been
a valuable part of your education this last year.”
“Kiera?” Mark asked doubtfully.
“Oh, forget about her, for just one
second, will you?” the girl moaned. “’I’ve convinced Kiera to help me with
advanced potions.’ Ugh. She could get stuck in a wormhole for all I care.”
“Then who are you?” Mark demanded.
“And why haven’t you tried to kill me, yet? If you were the one who tried to
kill me several other times, then I know you can cast Avada Kedavra.”
“That’s not the point,” the girl told
him. “Don’t you see? That I’m doing this for you? For Sofi?”
Wait
a second…
“Hogwarts threw out my brother too long ago for
following the rules. Your stupid sister was the one who got him cast out. I’m saving this school, by purging all the
corruption from this stupid place!”
“Hailey?” Mark gasped.
The girl pushed down her hood, and her
long blond hair fell out onto her shoulders. Her eyes narrowed at him. “Yes,”
Hailey said simply.
“Then who…” He wanted to ask, Then who tried to kill me in the fields? His
question, however, died in his throat. “Why all the torture?”
“It’s not torture if they just can’t
remember,” Hailey countered. “I had to wipe some of your memories. You weren’t
offended.”
“What memories?” Mark demanded, and
her smile infuriated him. “Oh, for crying out loud, what would Sofi say?!”
“It doesn’t matter what she would say,
or what she does say!” Hailey screeched. “I’m doing this for her, and she’s
going to appreciate it! With new trustworthy teachers, I’m going to make this
the ideal magical school for her! Specifically for her!”
Mark raised his wand. “I can’t let
you,” he told her firmly. His mind screamed, however, and he realized he barely
knew any spells. All I’ve got is two
potions from Sofi, Stupefy, and
that’s it! How can I beat Hailey, who’s several years ahead of me?
“Avada Kedavra!”
Hailey shouted, and the blazing green light leapt at Mark.
“Expecto
Patronum!” Mark countered out of pure hope. He thought of Sofi as he cast
it. I’ve got to live!
A white light countered the deathly green light and
Mark’s eyes found a glowing fox-like creature. A Patronus!
“I did it!” Mark shouted, and Hailey groaned.
“Enough of the shouting and jokes and
all,” Hailey told him. “Just die! Avada Kedavra!”
Mark simply sidestepped the curse, and
feeling confident, lifted his want again. “Flipendo!”
Hailey flew against the wall and fell
to the ground, moaning in pain.
“Been there, done that,” Mark
muttered. He walked over to Hailey. “I’m sorry, but you chose the wrong path. Stupefy!” Hailey’s eyes rolled into the
back of her head and she fell backwards. A brilliant wave of red light erupted,
throwing Mark against the opposite wall. He got up and saw Dumbledore rushing
in, followed by Kiera and Janay.
“Hailey?” Janay gasped. “But she was a
prefect! Is everyone a threat, now?”
“Not now, no,” Dumbledore told her.
“Mark, you have solved a mystery I could not. And more importantly, you have
stopped a crisis that was threatening Hogwarts. One-hundred points to
Hufflepuff!”
Mark
sat silently, waiting for people to arrive at the station, and for the Hogwarts
Express to arrive and take him home. I
can get answers from Hannah, now. I can find out what happened, what’s going
on, who’s really behind all of this.
He knew Hailey was really just misled by someone else.
She was a good girl. She’d never harm her sister. But regardless, her actions
had expelled her from Hogwarts, and wizards were posted around her house to
monitor her at all times.
Dumbledore arrived and sat next to
Mark. “Why couldn’t she kill me?” Mark asked. “In the fields and in the Room of
Requirement. Why couldn’t she kill me?”
“I suspect it had something to do with
love,” Dumbledore responded. “Sofi loves you, and Hailey loves Sofi. Perhaps
she realized this and the thought of killing you was painful. You can only
truly kill someone if you don’t care. She did.”
Mark wasn’t satisfied. “Whatever’s
going on isn’t going to stop. Someone else is behind all of this, and while
I’ve mastered three spells, I’m ages behind in all my classes. I won’t be able
to stop any threats next year.”
“That’s why I brought this,”
Dumbledore handed Mark a thick book. “All first year spells and potions. Don’t
make the potions, those are disastrous, but the spell book is set to glow green
if you get it right, and red if you get it wrong. It’ll also dampen the effects
of your spells considerably, so you won’t get arrested for casting spells
outside of school. Train hard, Mark. It could be decades before the next
attack, but it could also be when you first step foot on the Hogwarts Express
to come back here.”
Mark nodded sorrowfully. “I haven’t
gotten a chance to talk with Sofi much. How is she?”
“Unfortunately, many of the minds of
our students have been wiped,” Dumbledore told him. “Few know the outcome. I
suspect Sofi will find out, when she discovers her sister was expelled, but who
can say for certain. I must go. Take care, Mark.”
Dumbledore walked away, and Mark felt
emptier than ever. He had won the battle, but he had lost a friend, and he felt
awful.
THE END
Of Season 1...
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