Chapter 12
Regulus' POV
It was the weekend and I was a teenager so I didn't end up getting out of bed till around noon. I sat up and pulled the curtains back. It was then that I noticed the small rolled up piece of parchment on my bedside table. I curiously picked it up and unrolled it. I cursed aloud when I read the hastily written note in Joanne's handwriting.
Gone after Dare. Don't worry about me. I had to do it alone. Please understand. Don't come after me, you don't know where to look. In three days, this note will tell you where I went and if I'm not back by then you can try and find me. Hopefully I'll be back way before then though. Please don't be mad. -Joanne.
I quickly ran out of my dorm and down the stairs with the note clutched tightly in my hand.
...
Joanne's POV
Waking up in a tree is confusing at the best of times. Waking up in a tree with no magic and a very sharp object centimeters from your nose is down right alarming. It took me a grand total of ten seconds to calm down enough to remember everything and realize that maybe it wasn't such a great idea to sleep next to a sword.
Then I immediately started panicking again when I caught sight of what had woken me up. Professor Dare was standing below me, mere meters away from the tree I was currently lying in. I bit of the panic left me when I realized he seemed to be completely unaware of my presence.
This was fantastic! It's a perfect opportunity to try and get my magic back. Sure taking him by surprise is a bit of a dirty move but I didn't really stand a chance otherwise and I stopped caring much about things like that when Voldemort was still an issue. I picked up the sword and got in a crouching position, ready to jump down from the tree.
I began counting down in my head. One...two...THREE! I leapt from the tree and swung the sword at the wand Dare was holding. He didn't have enough time to react and I sliced the wand cleanly down the middle. He dropped it in shock. I know that he can do wandless magic but he can't have been that amazing at it if it took him weeks to get out of the dungeon. Hopefully I'll have a chance at beating him without my magic now.
Dare swung round to face me but I swung the flat side of the sword at his side and he had to duck and roll out of the way. "Well, if it isn't the newly made squib," he sneered as he got to his feet. "I didn't think I'd be seeing you again any time soon."
"Well you thought wrong," I snapped.
In a matter of seconds he jerked his hand forward and fired a colourful but deadly looking beam of light my way. I quickly lifted the sword and deflected it. He kept firing spells at me and I had to work hard to continue dodging them or redirecting them off the sword.
Soon he and I were both panting. I was right when I thought he wasn't that amazing at windless magic. All this spell casting seemed to really be straining him. At that moment, he managed to disarm me and the sword flew out of my hand. I was then too shocked at the sight of my sword leaving my hand to completely dodge the cutting curse he hurled my way. I was only just able to move to the side enough for it to avoid slicing into my chest but it ended up cutting deep into my upper arm.
Lucky for me, after all that spell work Dare couldn't do much more than momentarily bending over in exhaustion. I barely had to think before I quickly picked up a big rock and whacked it as hard as I could on his right temple. It had the desired effect and Dare immediately crumpled to the ground.
A warm sensation filled me up and I felt like a balloon inflating with positive feelings. I felt whole again. My magic was back.
I cheered in celebration as quietly as possible so as not to attract any unwanted forest goers. After I felt I had properly expressed my happiness, I crouched down over Dare to make sure he wasn't dead and found that he was still breathing. I then stunned him three times just to be sure he wouldn't wake.
Now how do I get back? My arm was bleeding quite badly and I didn't think I had the energy to walk all the way back through the forest or apparate out carrying Dare. I wonder if I can summon an entrance to the Room of Requirement from here. I was the heir and if it can make a passage to hogsmeade to feed the resistance in 'The Deathly Hallows', I don't see why it can't make one to the forbidden forest.
I closed my eyes and thought very hard about what I wanted. I heard a loud popping sound and opened my eyes. There was now a trap door in the ground. I can't believe that worked! I lifted the door and pushed Dare in before grabbing the sword of Gryffindor and jumping down myself.
I stumbled slightly as I landed just behind where Dare had landed. I levitated Dare in front of me as I walked through the tunnel. The arm that Dare had hit with the cutting curse was starting to really hurt but I didn't want to risk trying a healing spell when I was so tired. They can go really wrong sometimes and I didn't much feel like losing all the bones in my arm. Hopefully the tunnel will not be too long.
After walking for quite some time, I came to a ladder that lead directly upwards. It was hard to climb the ladder with a sword and an injured arm but I finally managed to get to the top after a lot of pain on my part. I came up into the Room of Requirement like I expected before levitating Dare up after me. It was a relief to be able to set him down on the ground. All that magic and walking was exhausting.
Now what was I going to do with Dare? That's when I had a great idea. The book that I required immediately popped into existence in my hands and I flipped through it until I came to the appropriate spell. It was a spell to bind Dare's magic. Let's see how he gets on without it. My eyes widened as I read the Latin incantation. It was probably the longest spell I had ever seen.
I took a deep breath and recited it carefully, "Indigni uires eis bonum. Hoc vitium cor est vere malum, non potest manere magica."(AN: Incase you're interested, here is the translation: 'Undeserving of his powers, let them leave for good. This vicious heart is truly evil, his magic can not stay.' I know it doesn't rhyme but I don't really care.) I pointed my finger and a red glow surrounded Dare's body. After a few seconds it went away so I'm just going to assume it's done and it worked. Now I was even tireder. So much for not straining myself...
A bed materialized beside me and, as much as I wanted to go and sleep in it, I had to get Dare back down to the dungeons first. Suddenly a slide popped into the room that disappeared down into the floor. There was a sign next to it that said 'To the dungeon' Sure that works I guess. I pushed Dare onto the slide and he slipped away to the dungeon.
I moved to go and lie down but then I remembered I was injured. How I forgot about my arm I don't know, but now it was hurting a lot more. I sighed and exited the Room of Requirement. I was barely abel to stop from passing out as I made my way to the hospital wing. My eyes were drooping and my feet felt like cinder blocks.
Finally I made it to the hospital wing and I didn't hesitate in passing out as soon as I walked through the doors and saw the current healer Madam Waterley look at me worriedly.
...
"I can't believe she did something so dangerous!" I heard a boy say.
"It's Joanne! I can totally believe it." A girl replied.
"She said she needed to do it alone so she probably had a good reason." A different girl argued. Thank you, person I have yet to identify!
"She better have!" The boy from before snapped. It finally clicked that the boy speaking was Regulus. He sounded mad.
In that instant I remembered what had happened and what I had done in the forest.
I squinted my eyes open and got used to the light before opening them fully and sitting up. I was lying on a bed in the hospital wing. Victoire, Regulus, Hattie and Tomas were standing around my bed.
"Joanne!" Victoire exclaimed.
"What in Merlin's name were you thinking?!" Hattie and Regulus yelled simultaneously. I just sighed and started explaining.
...
The Christmas holidays were starting in a few days and everyone was in a terrific mood. My friends stayed mad at me because of my disappearance for three whole days. They got over it when I said- yelled- that if they lost their magic they probably would have done the exact same thing.
Anyway, I'm actually going to be able to go home this year seeing as I'm back in the future and I really miss my family and muggle friends. I'll probably stay with some of my old wizard friends as well though because I kind of missed them too. I'm a little worried about leaving Dare and the other blood purists in the dungeons but Snape will be around so hopefully he'll make sure they don't escape.
It has also been great to have my magic back. I know I didn't lose it for very long but it was still pretty awful after having it for five years. I'd just gotten used to having magic. I hope I never lose it again.
...
Hey readers! Someone actually managed to guess the loop hole so here is the chapter a week early! Feel free to keep guessing though. The person who got it right knows who they are. Only a few more chapters to go. I think the next chapter might be the last or the second to last...or maybe the third to last. We'll see.
review replies:
fanficreader2842: I should have specified that everyone person who works at Hogwarts is included in the curse. But I am now...Good guess though. Thanks for reviewing!
Hive (Guest): The thing about that is, I could do it, but then I would be setting up for a longer sequel and as much as I love this series, I kind of want to move on to other stuff. Sorry if the antagonist isn't diabolical enough. Thank you for the review!
sabrina-luna-potter: Thanks for reviewing!
Sydpaigebow (Guest): It would kind of be lazy writing on my part to have the loop hole the same for two different curses. Good try though. The memory thing is a good idea but that wasn't what I was going to do. Thank you for your review!
SkyDragonRyu: Hell yeah she did! Love the enthusiasm. Thanks for the review!
