The Fifth Marauder
Chapter 5: I, Witch:
"SAM!"
Daniel ran to catch her before she hit the floor; but Jack was closer. He easily took her in his (strong) arms (sorry…^_^!) and headed towards the infirmary as fast as he could, Daniel and Albus following close on his heels.
********
The doors of the infirmary swung open. Janet looked up from the back of the room to see the rude intruder; only to find the Colonel carrying an unconscious Major.
"Lye her in the bed. Quick." She ordered before dashing to her side. "What happened?"
Jack looked directly into Albus's eyes, still by the door with Daniel.
"She passed out as soon as she saw him."
Albus turned to Frasier with a polite smile.
"Emotional shock I presume."
Janet sighed with relief and put her stethoscope back around her shoulders. "She is totally fine. But she won't wake before a couple of hours."
"Can I-"
"Stay and look after her? Won't be necessary. But as you're still dismissed and have obviously nothing better to do, I'll let you stay."
Jack didn't know whether he should thank her or glare.
She smiled knowingly and left another nurse in charge of the room while she was informing Hammond of the Major's condition.
********
Jack's gaze left Sam's sleeping form and fell once more on Dumbledore. He slowly walked up at him, never breaking the eye contact. Daniel stared at them, lost.
"Huh…Jack?"
"Could you leave us Daniel? I would like to have a private conversation with…the 'Professor'. I'll watch over her."
He nodded and obeyed.
Dumbledore wasn't just looking at him. He was studying him. A reciprocal inspection.
"What do you want from her?"
The old man didn't respond . He kept smiling but intended to move closer to Sam. Jack impulsively reached for his collar in order to stop him…
But he was quicker and captured his wrist before he could grab any of his clothes. The Colonel gasped in amazement at such reflexes.
The man released him and stepped back, shacking his head slightly.
"Please, calm down Colonel. Believe me or not; but I will never ever harm Samantha in any way. As I said, seeing me after…all this time, was surely a bit of a shock and such reaction was expected."
He moved forward again and Jack just followed. They took place on the two chairs across the bed, facing each other.
Albus studied her face for a moment. She hadn't really changed. She was a mature woman now of course. Her hair was short while she used to have it long; surely because of the military codes. It suited her, though. She was really beautiful and still peaceful as she slept, her breath calm and regular. He smiled sadly and turned back to the Colonel.
'You…you remember him Carter?' Jacob had obviously not been Samantha's only confidant. He certainly could be trusted if she had opened her heart to him.
Hum… his remarkable intuition told him that there might be something between those two… Albus had always been a fine observer. The way the man now worriedly eyed her was an evident hint for the old experienced wizard. Mutual feelings? He postponed his train of thoughts. Something of higher importance needed to be sorted out.
How much had she told him?
The fact she hadn't recognize him straight away meant she hadn't remembered Hogwarts so far. Consequently, she mustn't have spoken about the magical word. Yet.
********
"My name is Professor Albus Dumbledore. I have been Samantha's headmaster."
"When?"
"High school."
Jack snorted. "In Vermont?"
"In England, where Samantha spent ten years. A private school: Hogwarts."
Hogwarts?!? Right, the guy being named 'Albus' 'Dumbledore', a strange word like 'Hogwarts' shouldn't have surprised him.
"The fact is…Professor Dumbledore, that Major Carter has NO memories of her school years at 'Hogwarts'. And we believe that these memories were erased on purpose. We, however, don't know how this was done and have only suspicions about the 'why'. But…" He posed meeting the smart blue eyes once more. "For all I know, you could possibly be involved."
"And I am."
Jack's jaw dropped at the straight answer.
"What?!?"
The old man held his gaze. "I am the one who modified Samantha's memory."
********
"Why?"
He sighed. "I think Samantha should be the one to know this first. I will explain everything to her and she will be free to-"
"I SAID 'WHY'!"
Jack yelled unable to control his temper faced with the man's apparent nonchalance. The nurse jumped in the other end of the room and sent him a warnings scowl. Sam shift slightly but did not wake.
"I asked you 'why'." He repeated more calmly.
Albus couldn't help but smile; his previous suggestions proved right.
"Do the names of Lily or James Potter mean something to you Colonel?"
He nodded.
"Lily was Samantha's best friend. She and her husband were murdered in front of her fourteen years ago. The…effects on Samantha's mental health were disastrous."
"She was in a shock state?"
The old man paused.
"She was insane Jack."
Jack's face paled as Albus's last words finally drew.
Insane?
Insane?!?
INSANE! Like in locked up wearing a strait-jacket?!? He remembered this time when they had thought Daniel insane only to discover that it was caused by an alien parasite… It hadn't been a pleasant sight and he felt sick only by thinking of Sam in the same condition.
Albus chose minutely his following words. He couldn't tell him everything, of course; but saying that Samantha's insanity was due to the events of this dreadful night was no lie at all. Lily and James's death must have been extremely traumatizing for sure. It was just occulting technical details that even him could just presumed.
What Voldemort had done to her he didn't know. But the curse that reduced him to nothingness and destroyed the entire house could certainly not have left Samantha unharmed…
********
"I was working on a process that could alter one's memory at the time and we have hastily decided to experience it on her." Advanced memory charms. The ministry's idea to help all those poor victims who laid in St Mungo… He had been reluctant at first. The charms were strong. Too strong. But something needed to be tried and he had helped them.
Jack's eyes darkened at the word 'experienced' but Albus calmly continued.
"We had nothing to loose, Jack. There was no other choice."
"We?"
"Jacob and I."
"Jacob Carter, of course."
"He is her father."
They both fell silent.
"That doesn't explain why you erased her school years as well. You could have simply altered the memory of that night."
Well worked out. Albus paused again.
Memory charms. Far too strong.
That had been a sufficient explanation for Fudge and his Ministry but it had been slightly more complicated.
And Samantha will hopefully understand…
Jack was going to ask his question again but-
"Lily…"
Both looked at Sam who was now heavily panting.
********
"Lily…"
Her face showed pain and fear. Jack touched nervously her forehead but she had no fever.
"She is having a nightmare."
"A memory I'm afraid, Colonel."
Jack's heart stopped as silent tears fell from her closed eyes.
"Lily…"
"She.. she couldn't become insane again, could she?"
Albus looked more serious than ever.
"I don't believe so."
"Fine."
She was now moving, mumbling in her sleep. He leaned and shook her gently.
"Major! Wake up!"
She blinked a few times before opening her eyes.
"…Sir?… where am I?"
"Infirmary. How are you feeling?"
She intended to smile at him.
"Well, you remember those cartoons where Wile E. Coyote gets run over by a truck? That's how I feel right now."
She turned and finally noticed the old headmaster. She tried to stay still as her eyes watered again.
"Would you leave us, Colonel?"
Her voice was shaky and Jack stood reluctantly… Was it safe?
Sam perceived his uneasiness and quickly added: "I'll be Ok."
He left and Albus moved closer to her, taking her hand.
"Samantha, I-"
He was cut in on as she threw herself into his arms.
"Professor…"
********
He held her close.
"I'm confused…so confused…"
"Which is perfectly understandable."
He helped her to adopt a comfortable sitting position and whispered something to the nurse. She glanced at Sam curiously and exited.
"Do you remember who I am?"
He was surprised by a negative answer after her emotional outburst.
"No. I mean, I somehow know your name and that I trust you. But there is something crucial I can't remember. Something that will make everything falls into place. Because the only thing am sure of now, is that a big part of my life has been a lie."
The truth in her words hurt him more than her sad expression.
He handed her a yellowish envelope. She looked at him questionably and unfolded it.
"I think this will give you some answers Samantha. It dates from July 1977."
She pulled out the old letter also written on a similar parchment with emerald green ink and read:
HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. Of Wizards)
Dear Ms. Carter,
We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
She gasped.
"Yes, Samantha. You are a witch."
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Author's Note:
Hey Everyone!
Chap 5 is short… I'll write more next time.
The Bac of French is finally over! YYYYEEEAAAHHHH. It was Ok. I had 11/20 for the writing part and 19/20 for the speaking part!
For my French readers, on the writing part I took the "commentaire". I had to speak about Electre of Giraudoux for the speaking part:
1) L'originalité de la scène 4, Acte I
2) Le langage théâtral et l'utilisation du mythe antique dans le théâtre du XX siècle.
I leave for the States on the 14th July. I'll spend a month there. I'll do my best to write but I'll certainly be very busy ^-^!
Thank you so much to Lara, Harriet, Hawke, LMiC2001, Mara cath and Lady Cinnibar for reviewing!!!!!!!!!
I have 13 reviews at this day! I really appreciate you telling me what you think of my work so don't stop LOL
As LMiC2001 suggested it, I've asked Lara who is English to be my beta reader so there will be fewer mistakes; but as she is in Malta for the moment (*LOL*) and is having a great time while I'm stuck at home until next Sunday (well, going to the States, I can't complaint THAT much…) she didn't send me the corrected version of this chapter yet.
I'll replace this one with it as soon as I get it.
To answer Hawke:
- I directly write in English; I do not translate it from French. Actually, I don't feel like writing in French at all…for the moment anyway.
- Is Sam Harry's godmother? Hahaha… yeah she is. A cookie for finding this out!
- A Stargate Sg1 / Star Wars crossover?? Mmmm… I might have an idea actually. But you'll have to wait until the end of this fic.
Just one more thing, I am building a web site; just to have fun and understand how it works, nothing really serious; and you could have a look if you want.
It's called "Jaina Solo's Jedi Academy"; which is funny because I didn't put anything related to Star Wars so far. My idea was to show Jaina Solo's interests apart from her Jedi training…
URL site: www.geocities.com/jainasolo_torsec
This story is dedicated to my best friend Lara.
REVIEW!
Jaina
Disclaimer: I have a big poster of Stargate Sg1 in my bedroom, all the Harry Potter books available, a HP calendar from last year and a screen saver stating "HP rules" (until the day before, my sister changed it).
But none of the characters belong to me…