"You want to what?" Rose asked.
It was after dinner and Sam, Rose and Colin were huddled together in a corner of the Hufflepuff common room. Sam had been quiet through most of dinner. She was watching her father talking with Pansy. He was obviously smitten with her and Sam couldn't understand how he could let all this go so easily. She looked at at all the magic around her and how everyone seemingly took it for granted. Magic food, enchanted ceilings, ghosts, it was amazing. As she scanned the room, she locked eyes with the headmaster. He smiled and raised his goblet to her. It was almost like he knew what she was thinking.
"It's not fair," Sam said. "I don't want to forget this place."
"You can't, Sam," Rose said. "I don't know what Colin told you, but there is no way. When you get your memory altered, it's gone, I mean unless something terrible goes wrong. I've heard about people going crazy from having too many memory wipes and needing to go to St. Mungo's"
"That's what I'm talking about, Rose," Sam said. "I want to find a crazy loophole so that I can come back here or at least see all of you again. This is all too good to lose. Can you imagine leaving tomorrow and never coming back?"
"I'm sorry Sam," Rose said. The only way you could be any part of our world would be if you are magically inclined or married a wizard, and it's a little early for that, don't you think?"
"But I won't even know that this exists or that I should marry a wizard to see you all again," Sam said, her lip starting to quiver.
"Maybe we could sneak away and see her over Christmas break," Colin suggested. "We have to do something."
"We would get in trouble for sure. The ministry would know. Here," Rose said after a minute and handed Sam her wand. "Wave it in a circle and see what happens."
"What are you doing?" Colin asked.
"Remember when you got your wand? Ollivander said to wave it around. Maybe it will do something and they would have to make her a student. Its worth a try," Rose said.
Sam waved it around. She concentrated, she said 'abracadabra' in her head. Nothing happened. She wasn't magical in the least. She handed the wooden stick back to Rose.
"Ok, so you can't be a student," Rose said as she thought for a minute. "Maybe she could get a job in Diagon Alley."
"What's that?" Sam asked.
"Magical shops," Colin said simply.
"Magical shops?" Rose said disgustedly. "It's so much more than 'magical shops.' It's the center of the magical worlds bloody commerce is what it is. Why are you saying that?"
"Because I don't want to make her sadder, Rose," Colin said. "What are you going to do? Tell her how great it is and then, So sorry that you'll never see it?"
"Now you must tell me everything about it," Rose said.
And they did. Gringott's, wands, animals the joke shop and candy stores. How every wizard in England started there before going to Hogwarts. The Leaky Cauldron as the secret entrance that was in plain sight, just that muggles couldn't see it.
"Why is that?" Sam asked. "If it's a real place, why couldn't I fine it and walk right in? Maybe if I found it on my own they would let me visit you or we could meet there?"
"Charms," Colin said. "It has about a million on it. You couldn't see it unless you knew it was there. I could tell you how to find it, and you could probably get close, but I imagine you'd get confused and never really get that close. Some charms make it invisible to passersby and other charms make those that are looking for it forget what they are looking for or make them go the wrong way. If they wipe your memory you'll never find it. It's about two blocks from St. James. Tiny little street with a greasy black sign. I wish you could find it. It is all very magical." He reached out and put his hand on top of Sam's and said, "I'm sorry. We are going to miss you."
That made Sam's heart break a little more and she started to cry.
"What's got our visitor down?" An older girl said. She was Nathalie, one of the prefects that Sam had met when she first came to the Hufflepuff common room.
"Tomorrow is her last day," Rose said. "She's sad that she has to leave and won't see us again."
"You could see her," Nathalie said. "It's like with any Muggle contact. Ye' couldn't do magic in front of her or remind her about visiting us, but she'll be a right normal Muggle just like the rest of 'em."
Colin, Rose and Sam stared at Nathalie.
"Are ye' daft?" Nathalie laughed. "You can talk to Muggles can't ye? How do ye' get around out in the world? Have ye' no Muggle friends?"
"But I won't remember them," Sam said, drying her eyes.
"Be new friends then," Nathalie said as she walked away shaking her head.
Colin took a quill and parchment from a nearby table. "Write down your address."