I had only been back for a week, and I was already drowning in homework. Most of my teachers had dismissed me from doing four months worth of work, but a few insisted I had to catch up to the rest of the class in order to pass. This meant that I had nearly a semester's worth of history of magic, potions, and charms homework to do.
I sat in the empty Ravenclaw common room, working on a history of magic essay, having skipped dinner to work on it. I had to write five pages on Lord Voldemort and his rise to power, and how it benefitted our society. I was flipping through a book titled Lord Voldemort's Rise to Power, which I had obtained from the restricted section of the library, when a certain paragraph caught my eye. I read over it several times, not believing what I had just read.
About half an hour later, students began to return to the common room. Abigail, whom I had become close friends with in the past week, sat next to me at my table in the corner of the room.
"I almost didn't see you back here" she commented, gesturing to the many stacks of books and parchment cluttering the table. "Oh, and I brought you something" she added, handing me two dinner rolls.
"Thanks" I replied, sinking my teeth into the still warm bread, much better than anything we had back home.
"No problem. The best part? I didn't have to dodge any explosives to get them!" She jokes.
"Not funny." i reply, her reminder of those horrible games hurting more than i had expected. "Oh! I want to show you something I found, I think you might find it interesting." I showed her the page from the book I was reading earlier.
"On May 2, 1998, Lord Voldemort won the Second Wizarding war. He named himself sole ruler of the British Wizarding World, and appointed his followers to ministry positions. He quickly disposed of all he deemed unworthy: mudbloods and blood traitors. Due to these actions, our society is much purer of Wizarding blood.
Several decades later, the governments of North America, both magical and muggle, began to weaken. Lord Voldemort used this as an opportunity to increase his power. After a long series of tumultuous wars, known as the Dark Days, he gained control over this land, creating one large country known as Panem. In order to maintain control over the country, he rid it of all things magical, intending to weaken the citizens in case of a rebellion"
"What? Seriously?" She whispered. "How did we, or anyone else, not know about this before?"
"I'm not sure. I'm assuming that the true leadership of Panem has been a closely guarded secret. Snow is probably just a puppet ruler, controlled by Voldemort." I explained.
"True. That also explains why no other country has attempted to intervene with Panem and its harsh government. I'll bet there's some kind of magical protection that keeps outsiders from seeing or knowing what's happening there." She pauses, looking puzzled. "But wait, if it was such a closely guarded secret, why is it in a book in the library, where anyone could read it?"
I thought for a moment. "Well, it was in the restricted section. Or maybe whoever wrote it wanted people to know. I see how it could be deemed acceptable to put in the library, as this is the only mention of the subject. I mean, who would want to read this whole thing cover to cover, just to see if it contained government secrets?" I reasoned, gesturing to the hefty book in front of us.
Abigail silently nodded in agreement. I now knew that my reason for fulfilling Katniss's mission was greater than either of us thought. I knew I should tell Abby, she's the closest friend I have, and this could affect her too.
"Hey, Abby, can I trust you with some, uh, important information? I asked cautiously. "You can't tell anyone though."
"Yeah, of course Finch." She replied. I told her about the end of the games, and the mission Katniss had entrusted me with.
A/N- Thank you so much for all of your kind reviews, they really make my day! Get ready to see your characters in the next chapter!