He found himself stuck in a box. A blue box. It was so small, yet somehow so giant... and it was hurtling towards the ground with alarming speed. Someone was shouting next to him in a panicked voice, but he had more important things to worry about. He turned the plentiful knobs, pushed multiple buttons and levers on the console, ran to the walls to push more buttons, but nothing seemed to help. The box continued falling and they with it. For the first time in his long, long life he was actually at a loss at what to do. They were going to die.

"Don't you dare! Doctor, don't you dare give up! There has to be something we can still do! We're not going to die! Not like this!" He shot a look at the terrified young woman in the dress next to him.

"I am sorry, I am so, so sorry." is all he found he could say. Then all went black.
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John bolted up in his bed in the Gryffindor tower. He looked around in panic, before realizing that he was not in a box, but in his bed in the Gryffindor common room. It was just dream! Just a weird dream, nothing more he told himself still breathing hard. The details of the dream were fading fast, yet the scream of the woman was still penetrating his mind, like an echo. It was quiet in the room, seeing that everyone was sound asleep. Only the occasional soft snoring or shifting of a boy made a sound. Having relaxed slightly John let his head fall back onto the pillow in the hope that he could still catch some sleep, yet he quickly realized this was not going to be possible, because of the many thoughts that crossed his mind. He actually had been expecting that something would happen, seeing that the last few weeks have been far too calm. Everything was going well for John for once. He could control himself to an extent that his abilities were not that obvious and his classmates were more welcoming of him. The name calling diminished and Dumbledore's eyes did not follow almost every movement he made when in the great hall. The discussions that were taking place were now less the sorting and John and more the upcoming quidditch match of the Gryffindors. He was starting to enjoy the school, having subjects where he excelled, like charms and transfigurations, even those he was not that good at, like history of magic (he just could not listen to that voice without falling asleep) and astronomy, where he had problems remembering the name of celestial objects, almost like his mind was repelling them. All in all, they were a somewhat normal few weeks...until this dream.

At breakfast that morning, John sat with the rest of the first years tiredly nibbling at a piece of toast. "Are you okay?" Henry asked, giving him a sideways glance. "Ugh, yeah...just didn't get enough sleep." was the groggy reply. He continued nibbling until suddenly he let the toast fall and rushed his hands to his ears. A high-pitched trilling sound was invading him.
"What is that?" he asked frantically looking around trying to find the source of the sound.
"What is what?" Henry asked confusedly.
"That noise! Don't you hear it?" yet just as quickly as it started it also faded. "Hm...it's gone!"/
"Perhaps it was just a bout of tinnitus?" Henry offered. "It's not that uncommon."
"You're probably right..." John uncertainly added.\

Yet the path to their first lesson of the day, transfiguration, proved them wrong. The trilling noise came louder this time. "Seriously! It's back! What is that noise!?" He asked no one in particular and started to get rather flustered as they were standing in front of the classroom now.

"Okay, now you are starting to scare me." Henry retorted looking at him with bewilderment.
John ignored him and turned his head towards the corridor and took a few steps away from the classroom in the direction of the staircase. The trilling grew into something else, something finer.
"Is that...is that whispering!" John exclaimed. "Can you seriously not hear it? It's coming from...somewhere there." His voice trailed off and he continued walking in the direction.

"We...we have transfiguration now!" Henry called, trying to get him back. What was going on?

"J-just go to transfiguration. I will be there shortly...I promise! I just... need to see where that noise is coming from."

And with that John was gone. Henry hesitated at the door and undecidedly took a few steps towards the sounds of John's footsteps, but at that moment Professor McGonagall appeared and hustled him into the classroom, thus taking the decision to follow John from him.
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John slowly walked along the deserted corridor following the whispering until he abruptly stopped in his tracks at the staircase. The whispering had suddenly stopped. He looked around in confusion...and gasped. There she was again at the bottom of the staircase looking straight up at him with her unwavering eyes. The mysterious ghost. He remembered her from somewhere, he now realized; he had seen her somewhere before, apart from the sorting. But where?

"Who are you?" he whispered. As an answer she smiled at him and opened her mouth, but no sound came out. They stood like that for a moment and John realized that she was forming words. More so, she was repeating one word it seemed over and over again without sound. He took one tentative step towards her to see her better and maybe discern what she was saying, yet at his nearing she suddenly disappeared and appeared at the end of the corridor again, by the DADA classroom. Did she want him to follow her? He briefly wondered why they were heading to the shabby classroom as he hesitantly walked towards the waiting ghost. He had not quite managed to hide his fear. A thought drifted in his mind; maybe he could just turn around and go to class, like everyone else did, like Henry urged him to? A frown appeared on John's forehead. No, he had to know! He had to understand.

With new determination propelling him forward he finally stood in front of the ghost, who was still silently repeating the word over and over again. Slowly the door of the classroom opened and John could hear loud banging and rattling coming from inside, like someone was desperately trying to escape. It was a terrifying sound and John stood rooted to the spot, not managing to make his head turn to see what was in the room. His companion had drifted further into it and the next bang was so loud, that he felt his head snap around reflexively.
In the room was a single large wardrobe, from which the rattling and banging was coming from. The ghost stood next to it, patiently looking at him, never ceasing her silent word. He slowly, almost reproachfully, stepped into the room his eyes glued to the rattling wardrobe that was getting even louder. The moment his foot stepped onto the wooden floor the ghost shifted her position from the wardrobe and appeared directly next to him, her face mere inches away from his ear. He could really feel the icy coldness of her breath as she finally whispered the word she had been silently repeating all this time.

"Remember."

With that, she instantly vanished, and with her the rattling and banging of the wardrobe also ceased leaving John staring at the silence in front of him. It did not leave him a lot of time to ponder though, as a voice called out of the wardrobe.

"Let me out, John."