Chapter 20

"Ashley? Ashley, hellooooooo?" I heard a voice above me fading in and out of reality. It sounded like Sorina. What was she doing?

Sorina!!!! The dungeon!!!! I sat up quickly and winced at the pain in my arm. I collapsed back down into the cot I was lying on.

"Where…am I?" I stuttered, wincing at the pain.

"Ashley, you're awake!!!" Sorina's voice cried.

I couldn't open my eyes because my arm hurt so much, but I remembered what had happened.

"Are my…powers…?" I asked weakly, unable to speak a full sentence.

"Let her rest! She's my patient! Out, out!" a commanding voice ordered. Madam Pomfrey?

"Wait…," I stuttered. "How did we...escape?" I winced after the word we because Madam Pomfrey was trying to prop me up into a sitting position. She reached for my arm to straighten me.

I gasped, clutching my broken arm. I couldn't breath and all I could see was little flicks of light inside my eyelids.

"Your friend, Miss Aborino, saved you. Now rest!!!" I was told by the strict nurse.

"But how…?" I was cut off by a large bottle of some type being forced into my mouth. I almost spit whatever it was out, it tasted so vile. I managed to chug it down and then felt myself drifting off into dreamland.

The next time I woke up, silvery blue eyes were glinting over me. I blinked a few times to clear my vision and Dumbledore's smile swam into view.

"Are you okay?" he asked me.

I just looked up at him, unable to shake my head or speak.

He seemed satisfied, probably since Madam Pomfrey knew that I would be in that condition.

"What happened?" I eventually managed to croak.

Dumbledore, who had been whispering with Madam Pomfrey, turned to me and sat down on the end of my bed. "One of the wizards kidnapped you by hypnotizing Sorina, then you. He then managed to get you to his lair and, so Miss Aborino tells me, he chained you up to some kind of machine where you began to glow and grew paler and paler. Your friend yanked you off the wall and…well, I think it's up to her if she wants to tell you the rest."

"But she couldn't have pulled off those chains…" I started, trailing off.

"Couldn't she?" Dumbledore asked, with a twinkle of amusement in his eyes.

"I, I don't think so." I stuttered.

He patted my bed and then stood up. About to leave, he turned back as if he had forgotten to tell me something. "By the way, Madam Pomfrey thinks it would be best if you remained in the hospital wing for a few days."

I mentally groaned.

He smiled at me knowingly and then left the room.

Madam Pomfrey bustled over and began giving me all kinds of nasty potions for my arm, head, and my shock.

Speaking of shock, I was in for a lot of it tomorrow when I had a visit from Potter, Emma, and Sorina. What an odd combination. But it was one I'd have to get used to.

Chapter 21

I woke, groggily, the next day, wishing that I could go back to sleep.

Madam Pomfrey immediately bustled over to me. "You have visitors," she reported. "I told them to come back later but they keep insisting. Should I let them in?"

I shrugged, snuggling more into the rumpled blankets of the hospital wing cot.

She spun on her heel and soon returned with Potter, Emma, and Sorina.

'What the heck?' I thought, unsure why there would be such a group.

Emma leaned down on her knee and took my hand. "Are you okay?" she asked, looking me directly in the eyes.

"I guess so," I croaked. My voice still hadn't woken up, even if I had. "What happened?" I asked.

"I know you didn't loose your memory," Sorina pointed out.

I rolled my eyes. "I mean, how did we get out of there? How did we get back to Hogwarts?"

Harry gave Sorina a look that clearly said "It's up to you."

She sighed. "Where do I begin?" she asked desperately, glancing hopefully at Emma and Potter.

Potter put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "From the beginning," he suggested calmly, although it seemed a little too calm for all this mystery and secretively.

Sorina took a deep breath as though she were about to admit something big. "Okay," she gave in, speaking quietly and sadly. "I'll tell. It all started when I was born…"

Chapter 22

"It all started when I was born. I was unusual for a baby. I always seemed to be making animal noises…or doing something to do with animals. My parents considered this normal. My dad was, after all, a zookeeper. But then one day I was in my crib and my mom left the room for a bit. When she came back I was lying on the floor playing happily with my dolls and drooling all over the floor. She laughed nervously and put me back in my crib. This time she made sure the sides were on tight and that the top was too high for me to climb over. She quickly left to tell my dad that we might need a new crib. When she came back…"

"What does this have to do with how we escaped?" I interrupted.

Potter shushed me and motioned for Sorina to keep going.

Sorina sighed and went on. "When my mom came back I was once again on the floor of my room and my crib wasn't opened at all. My mom was suspicious so she put me in my crib. Covered the top, locked the side of the crib that could slide up and down, and pretended to leave. She kept the door open a crack and spied on me. She was freaking when she saw how I got out."

"How?" I asked.

"Please don't interrupt," she begged me. "It's hard enough to start. I was just getting to that anyway. My mom saw a show in me of a snake. I wasn't moving but the snake shadow surrounding me was. It stuck its tail outside of the crib, yanked off the lock and slid down the side of the crib. It then slithered out and changed to a monkey. All through this my normal, human appearance was just following the movements of the animal shadow with out even a trace of expression. The monkey me climbed onto the crib, slid the side back up, and scampered back to the middle of the floor. The shadow disappeared and I was sitting on the floor as a little baby, happily playing with my dolls."

I wanted to speak but decided against it. I could imagine how hard it would be for her to start up again. I still wasn't sure exactly what she was getting at but it seemed to be getting somewhere at least.

"My mom couldn't believe her eyes. So she walked into my room and played with me, ignoring the crib for a bit. Life went on and the animal shadow appeared a few more times. My dad saw it also and in time my parents decided that whatever it was, it couldn't be good. They decided to never tell anyone about the animal shadows and they raised me telling me that it was normal, but bad manners to talk about or do. I stopped doing it as often, but whenever I lost my temper or felt strong emotion, it came back again. It's been a secret from everyone but my parents and I've been hiding it all my life. I became afraid of it when I realized that in books or anywhere else it never happened. My parents told me the truth and I was shocked. I didn't know what was wrong with me! I was scared." She began to cry.

I leaned over and patted her on the back. She glanced up, thankfully at me.

"I was afraid I might hurt someone because I couldn't control it very well. When it happened, I didn't remember anything except being in one place one second and another place, the next. I found a way to find out what animal it was though. I think about my emotions at the time when I forget, and in my dreams I can see what I did. It's horrible!!! I'm such a freak!!! I never had any friends before Hogwarts because I was afraid they might hate me if they found out. I was friends with the animals in my dad's zoo and that was it. When I came to Hogwarts I didn't tell anyone, not even Dumbledore. I'm afraid, Ashley, I'm afraid. I don't know what's wrong with me and I hate it!! I hate myself for it!!! And you were my only friend. I didn't want to tell you because you might hate me too. So go ahead, hate me. There's nothing I can do about it know." Sorina burst into tears.

Emma and Potter exchanged an awkward, worried glance.

I hugged Sorina and asked her, "Why would I hate you? I have weird, unusual powers too. We're not that different Sorina. You've just known about it longer, I didn't know so I wasn't as afraid. But really, we're both afraid. We can be afraid together. I'll always be here for you. I couldn't ever hate you!!!"

Sorina sobbed and threw her arms around me. We hugged tightly. Talk about a sentimental moment. When I looked up, Potter had gone. Emma was sitting on the end of the bed, patting Sorina's shoulder.

"Maybe you should be our student, too. We can help you. Dumbledore would probably be fine with it. You were brave to tell Ashley and him what happened. Feel better, Ashley. And remember, Sorina, we won't ever hate you for being different."

With that Emma left.

Sorina wiped her dripping nose. "Sorry," she mumbled.

"For what," I asked, smiling a bit. "For not telling anyone because you didn't want to e a freak? For saving us both form the evil wizard? For being my friend? For what, Sorina, for what?"

"For crying I guess," she smiled up at me. "And there's more. You've been in the hospital wing for 2 days. I know exactly how we escaped now."

Trying not to seem too pushy and uncaring, I asked curiously, "How?"

"I turned into a bear when I saw that machine taking away your powers. You looked like you were dying."

"I was," I answered, sadly, wondering if my powers were still there? If not, that'd be great!! But if my normal witch powers were gone, would I have to return to being a muggle?

"Well, I got angry. I turned into a bear. The shadow ripped the chains off the wall and pulled you free. Then I turned back into myself and realized that I was holding your arm, and you were practically dead. I sighed and put you on my back like I was giving you a piggy back ride. I then imagined being angry at the evil wizard, who had run away from the bear me by then, and the shadow wolf appeared. I ran far as I could until I found a wizarding village. I'm not sure how far it was. Judging by the distance in the dream I'd say a couple hundred miles. I never could've run that far normally."

I laughed. "That's for sure."

Sorina grinned at me. "So I ran into a house, as a human, where this old wizard was eating breakfast. I told him that I needed to get to Hogsmeade. He made a portkey for me, which was probably illegal but under the circumstances the Ministry would understand, and when I reached Hogsmeade I dragged you up to the school. I sort of collapsed from the effort when I reached the great hall but Rowling happened to be walking by and she brought us up to the hospital wing and got Dumbledore. I told him about the animal shadows and he seemed to be okay with it. Madam Pomfrey gave me some chocolate and fixed me up. Stella and Nicole were curious about what happened but I wouldn't tell them. I came to visit you today and Professor Potter and Emma were here. You know what happened from there."

"Yeah." We sat in silence for a bit.

"What do you mean by shadow? Like a reflection?" I asked, finally.

"Not really. More like a faint but colored illusion of an animal surrounding me. Maybe if Emma and Harry can help me control it then you'll see. That sounded weird, didn't it? Calling a teacher by his first name. He told me to though."

I shrugged off that comment. Maybe I would get to see what Sorina meant by shadow later. Right then all I wanted to do was sleep. Sleep and think.