Summery: Selene is ready to travel to Hogwarts for the first time with Professor Fig. What she didn't expect is to get attacked by a dragon.
Credit to Ink_Webcaster9 for the idea.
"Travel safely, honey. And don't forget to write as soon as you're settled, alright?" said Father as we hugged tightly. It will be a long time before we'd see each other again.
"Don't worry, I will," I assured.
"And make sure you really focus in your classes; you have a lot to catch up on. But if it's too much for you, you can always come back home. Or, I don't know, we can convince the headmaster to let you start as a first year."
I patted my father's shoulder to calm him down. "I think I'll be okay. Really, this was something I dreamed about for years. I'm not giving up that easily."
He chuckled. "Of course, you're my strong girl."
Just then, Professor Fig came up to us. "I don't mean to rush you, but we should be going right about now. It's a long journey, and I'm afraid our mode of transportation isn't as quick as the Hogwarts train."
Father nodded, and with one last hug, he said, "I'm going to miss you so much."
"Me too, Father."
With that last goodbye, Professor Fig and I walked out the door and onto the streets of London. We were on our way to meet with a carriage that Professor Fig had arranged. And when we made a turn to a particular street, it was strangely abandoned when I knew plenty of people walked or rode down this path. The only presence to be seen was a lone carriage with frightening black skeletal horses with leather wings. When we approached the carriage, I noticed it bore the Hogwarts crest on the door. This was the carriage that'll take me all the way to Hogwarts.
A man with a top hat and goggles hanging around his neck, who was sitting on the driver's seat, climbed down to greet us.
"Mr. Fig and Miss Holloway, I take it?"
"Ah, yes, we are," replied Professor Fig.
The man smiled. "Good day to you both," he said as he shook our hands. "Any possessions needing to be loaded?"
Professor Fig chuckled. "Precisely a carriage full." He reached into his pockets, pulling out all my trucks and packages that he shrunk, and set them on the ground to return them to their original size. The driver went straight to loading them onto the carriage.
"Well, seems we're nearly really to depart," said Professor Fig.
I grinned. "I'm so excited."
He chuckled. "I bet you are. Though, I do wish we had more time for you to learn more spells to at least cover the whole of first year. You have been practicing whenever you can on your spellcasting, yes?"
I nodded. "Yes, of course. Can't help but to use magic on everything."
"Good, good. Then I'm sure you have nothing to worry about. After all, it's quite surprising to see someone in your position be as skilled as you are already, with a second-hand wand no less."
"I really owe it all to you. I wouldn't be where I am now without your guidance, professor." Just then, I heard a loud woosh and a man appeared out of nowhere a few feet away with his back to us. He seemed, from the way he moved, uncertain of where he was, until he turned and saw us.
"Ah, Eleazar!"
"George," Professor Fig greeted and shook the man's hand, "So glad my rather cryptic description of our located didn't thwart you find us."
"Please, I've apparated to more vaguely defined locations than this. Although, on my first try I might have miscalculated a bit and end up giving some theater-goers a fright at the West End." He then chuckled at the occurrence.
Professor Fig gave a smile in response before saying, "It been much too long, my friend. When I received your owl, I must say—"
"Ah," the man jumped in, interrupting him. "Best not speak here, Eleazar, yes?" The look on his face seemed to have conveyed his meaning as Professor Fig showed to understand.
"Oh, yes, of course." He glanced briefly towards the carriage, where the driver was now waiting at his seat. "We can speak on our way to Hogwarts. There's a sorting ceremony we need to be on time for."
"That's a wonderful idea. As long as your charge doesn't mind me tagging along."
I gave a welcoming smile. "Not at all, sir."
"Splendid," he said before we started climbing into the carriage. "It'll be good to see the old pile of rocks." After that statement, I was curious to see when I got comfortable next to Professor Fig, that he seemed wary before climbing all the way in. That air of caution was gone as soon as we started moving into the air, so I let that curiosity fall. As we traveled higher into the air, the man questioned on who I was.
"She's a new student," answered Professor Fig.
"New? As in a transfer student?"
"No, sir," I said, "I'm starting Hogwarts new to magic in my fifth year."
"That's extraordinary," he said, astonished.
"Isn't it? The faculty has never heard of anyone developing their magic so late. But, of course, others her age have already gained years of experience honing their magic, the headmaster has asked me if I could get her up to speed before the term starts."
The man turned to me. "Well, I'd say you couldn't fare better with anyone else but him. Professor Fig is not only an exceptional teacher, he is also a remarkably intuitive—and gifted—wizard," he praised.
"You can tell by how he speaks that Mr. Osric is prone to flattery. I figure it's how he's risen so far up the Ministry."
All of us laughed a bit at the jest before Mr. Osric turned serious and pulled out a familiar newspaper from his coat. "Have you seen this, Eleazar?" The paper was published by the Daily Prophet that father would read every morning before work. And on the front page was a big moving image of a menacing looking goblin, with large bold print titling "RANROK'S GOBLIN REBELLION—TRUTH? OR 'GOBBLEDEGOOK'?" Looking at the date, it was published today, but I know father didn't read the paper this morning. Wouldn't this have worried him and refused to let me go if a rebellion was rising if he got around to reading this?
"I have. There's difference of opinions on how much of a threat Ranrok really is."
I grew concerned about this news. Never had I ever needed to worry about something serious like this. I hoped that wherever this is happening it wouldn't be anywhere near here, or close to Hogwarts where I'm heading now.
As both Professor Fig and Mr. Osric continued conversing about the rebellion, I look to the side out the window. The clouds looked lovely up-close compared to far away on the ground, and the setting sun giving them a soft peach coloring. But as I continued looking, something shadowy was slightly peeking through, and then disappeared. I was brought back into the conversation, setting aside what I saw, when Mr. Osric was mentioning Professor Fig's wife telling him about Ranrok's activities.
"She wrote to me about Ranrok before she died—wanting to know what the Ministry knew about him. But before I could respond, she sent me this." From his coat, he pulled out a beautiful looking cylinder container with a wispy symbol in the center. But the strange thing about it was how that symbol glowed. Must be some sort of charm placed on it. "It was the last thing she sent to me, Eleazar. It came via her owl—but with no correspondence. I can only assume—"
"That she had to get rid of it quickly," interrupted Professor Fig. "She wanted to keep this safe with someone she trusted."
"If I had to guess, from Ranrok. Although, I couldn't find a way to open it. Whatever magic this has protecting it, it's powerful."
Professor Fig inspected the container closely. "This looks awfully like goblin metal. And this symbol..." His line of questioning faded, like he didn't know what to say about it.
Curious about the glow since neither is bring it up, I spoke up. "What about the glowing on the symbol? Is that the magic protecting it?"
The both of them looked at me oddly, like I brought up something irrelevant. Professor Fig looked back at the container in his hands and moved it at different angles, trying to find what I see. But the glow is quite noticeable that nobody should be able to miss it. "I don't see a glow."
"Nor do I," said Mr. Osric.
"It's right there," I said, tracing the symbol. "It's glowing brightly." Couldn't they see it?
I could tell Professor Fig was thinking to himself, and then he passed the container into my hands. I thought it'd be heavy with it being made out of metal, but it was surprisingly lighter than what I imagined. Though, that wasn't the only surprise. After a moment of holding it, the glow shone brighter and it traveled to each end of the container. It then easily opened by itself, revealing a small key with the same wispy symbol as the handle.
Mr. Osric's eyes widened in shock. "Merlin's beard! H-how did you—"
As I was about to take the key out, Professor Fig stopped me. "We don't know what—"
Suddenly, the carriage felt like it blew up, leaving only half a carriage. But it didn't blow up. As Professor Fig and I tried holding on to the roof and seating so we wouldn't fall out, my heart felt like it stopped when I saw a huge dragon. And in its mouth was the other half of the carriage, with Mr. Osric screaming inside of it. I didn't have time to process the situation before the dragon crushed that carriage easily with its jaws, killing Mr. Osric instantly. I couldn't help but cover my gaping mouth in horror. I was becoming so scared for my life that my eyes were watering, especially when the dragon's opened mouth was turning bright orange with incoming fire. I thought this would be it; I was going to burn to death while falling from the sky.
It was then that Professor Fig grabbed my wrist. "Jump!" I instantly did as he said without thinking and we were falling. I heard another crunch above us; I assumed the dragon caught the other half of the carriage. I was falling fast that my eyes were drying up uncomfortably from the wind hitting me.
"The key!" I heard Professor Fig yell. "Give me your hand!" When he grabbed my wrist again, he yelled, "Accio!" And the next thing I knew, I was on the ground, shaking like a leaf.
Professor Fig placed a hand on my shoulder and asked, "Are you alright?"
"I—"I took a deep breath. "I don't know." I couldn't believe what just happened. My first time venturing out without my father and I almost died today. It wasn't even an hour since I left and I nearly died because of a dragon. Why?
"Oh, poor George," he said. "I can't believe he—what the hell got into that damn thing?! Attacking a carriage mid-air? A typical dragon would never have done this."
"P-professor?" I hugged my legs to my chest as I still shook slightly. "I should go back."
"Back?" he asked in confusion. "Back where?"
"Home," I answered. "For this to happen of all things, I just think I shouldn't be integrated into the Wizarding world if something is stopping me from doing so." There always seems to be something.
He shook his head softly. "Oh child, that's not something you should be thinking about. You have magic; therefore, you are a witch. And being a witch means you do belong in our world. You've wanted this your whole life, so don't let this very unfortunate incident sway you." He then looked at me in understanding. "But, if you're really sure about going back home, then that's your choice." He looked around. "Of course, before you make your final decision, we should find out where we are. That key from the container was clearly a portkey that took us who-knows-where."
Letting out a big breath, I moved to pick myself off the ground. "I understand, Professor. Hopefully we haven't gotten far."
"Whatever the distance, keep close to me. We don't know who made the portkey—or why for that matter." I nodded, and we walked towards the opening of the small cave we were dropped in. As we did, I started smelling something other than a damp scent of the cave; it gave off a salty smell, like we were near a beach. Covering my eyes from the brightness of the sun when we exited, I also felt how windy it was outside. When my eyes adjusted, I was in shock to see nothing but ocean ahead.
"How far did that portkey take us?"
"Farther from London than the carriage travelled. From this, I can assume we're somewhere in the Scottish Highlands."
"That far?" I asked in amazement.
"A portkey can easily take you across the world if you wanted."
When my eyes landed on a large pillar of rock, I noticed something odd about it. It looked like structures carved into it. And so, I pointed it out. "Professor, that rock—"
"Yes, I see it, too. They seem to be ruins of some sort. I believe the portkey brought us here to lead us there. Whatever is there for us to find seems to be of utter importance if my wife, Miriam, gave her life to protect the container by sending it to George. If you wouldn't mind indulging me for a bit, I would like to take a look."
"No, it's fine, sir. I am rather curious myself."
"Good. Now I believe if we follow this path, it'll lead us right over there. And mind your step, it seems a bit worn and rough."
"I actually wondered since the carriage ride, but how do you think your wife found the container with the portkey?" I asked as we started walking.
"Ah, yes, well Miriam spent years searching for evidence of a long-forgotten form of ancient magic."
"Ancient magic?"
"Yes. A powerful magic wielded by a rare few that seems to have been lost to time. It's rather unfortunate really. Hogwarts was built from ancient magic, so I would have loved to research more about it, if it was still around to study. But to your question, I don't know how she came into possessing it, though I would guess it had something to do with her search."
"But sir, was there a reason she decided to look for evidence of this lost magic?"
"Miriam wanted to understand why such powerful magic disappeared from the Wizarding world. Such power would have done a lot of good for the world she says. And while it's an optimistic thought to better the world, I believe that magic is no different than any power. What really matters is how it's wielded by an individual." In hearing this, I was in agreement. Magic is just another tool to use. Whether it will help or hurt you, that is up to the person's intentions.
We continued walking down the path until we were blocked by what looked like black ice. I voiced my thought.
"It's not cold enough here for that. Must be an enchantment someone put here to block the path." He signaled me to step back. "If you could step back a bit, I could melt the ice in a quick second." When I did as he said, he withdrew his wand and aimed it at the ice. "Confringo!" A big blast of fire erupted from his wand and hit the ice, melting it completely.
"There we go, a cleared path." We went on ahead, but we had to be careful as the path was a bit steep. A while passed until we arrived at the end of the path, the ruins right ahead, but there was nothing for us to cross over there. There might have been, but it seems like time has eroded the path so much it collapsed into the sea.
Before I went to suggest in finding another way across, Professor Fig waved his wand around. "Reparo!" To my astonishment, huge chunks of rock flew in the air before arranging themselves in the form of a bridge that probably was the initial path all fixed up.
"That was amazing," I said.
"It's always incredible to see the power from such a simple spell," he commented.
When we walked the rest of the path and into the ruins, it was so much bigger than how I saw it from afar. A long-time ago, this place must have been something grand with the architecture design of whatever was leftover. Although, with how beautiful this place must have been, it does pose a question.
"Why would someone want to build this place all the way out here?" I asked.
"Well, I can take an educated guess that this person valued their privacy." He looked towards me. "So, since I believe there must be something here for the portkey to take us all this way, I suggest we take a look around. We can probably find something out of place."
In agreement, we looked around for a bit. In our search, we discovered a detailed relief sculpture that covered a whole wall. Depicted was a bearded man either studying a bunch of cards and scrolls on the table, or him observing the night sky with a telescope. It was fascinating how studious this man was. And not too far away was a statue of the same man. Other than that, there didn't seem to be anything else here.
"There must be something we're overlooking," Professor Fig thought aloud. "The portkey can't have brought us here to just observe ruins."
Walking over to the statue of the man, I couldn't help but think he must have been someone important. After all, he got to have a place like this in the middle of nowhere. With him seeming like the type to study and learn, he had to have contributed in new discoveries to better the world. So, there must be something here, and well hidden.
"I can't find anything else here, Selene. Perhaps it's best to try and find a way back to civilization." I sighed in disappointment for him. If this place was connected to why his wife died, he would want see that whatever was here would be enough to show that she didn't die for nothing.
As I turned to regroup with him, something bright caught my eye. When I looked in that direction, I no longer saw it. But as I walked a step forward, there it was again. I knew it was coming from a wall of thick green vines. Wanting to uncover what that light was, I walked with purpose towards the wall. But, of course, as soon as I was in front of it, I saw nothing. Thinking of moving the leaves around to see if maybe there was a reflective item hanging on the wall behind all this foliage, I raised my hand and rested it on the leafy covered wall. Or that's what I thought it was. Instead of feeling something solid, I felt nothing when my hand just went through the vines.
"Professor Fig," I called out. "I think there's something here."
He quickly ran up to me. "What is it?"
I didn't answer, but I brought up my other hand and I parted the veil of vines, revealing another path. "Looks like there might be more back here."
"Ah, brilliant," he said in excitement. We followed the uneven path around the back of the ruins, and soon enough we reached the end. There was nothing at first glance, but then we did see the familiar enchanted black ice on the wall. The strange thing this time is that I saw the same glowing wispy symbol on it like the portkey container. Stranger yet, as I walked right up to it, the ice was spreading and then it revealed a room behind it. This was certainly a place I've never seen before. The place looked so fancy to be located anywhere near here with its two diamond chandeliers, marble pillars and floors with decorative black patterns, and a golden gilded gate positioned behind a tall desk. What looked out of place there was when I glanced to the left of the room, there was what seemed to be a cave with long and sharp stalactites and stalagmites.
"Well, this is odd," said Professor Fig. "Why would someone conjure the enchanted ice here?"
"The better question, sir, is how is there a fancy room behind it?"
"What room? I see nothing else here?"
"Not just that, but I also see the glowing wispy symbol. The same one the portkey container had."
"Where?"
I really had no idea how anyone could be missing all this. "It's right here." When I touched the area where the symbol was, I flinched back when the ice, and the room, completely disappeared, leaving only a stone wall.
"What in merlin's name—" exclaimed Professor Fig.
"I don't know. I only touched it." When I turned around, I was speechless to see that we weren't at the ruins anymore. We were in the fancy room I saw through the ice.
"I don't believe it," he said in awe.
As we approached the front desk, I was hearing the sound of deep snoring coming from a sleeping goblin. Professor Fig was trying to wake him by clearing his throat multiple times to no avail. And before he was going to try again, I decided to be less subtle about it.
"Excuse me," I called out. The goblin awoke with a startle from my voice and straightened himself out. Facing forward, his sleepy eyes seemed to take a moment to focus before it really saw us in front of him. His eyes widened in disbelief.
"It can't be," he said, and gave a smile showing all his pointy teeth. "Um, just a moment please." As he was stepping down from the desk, I could hear him muttering to himself. He came around to the front and bowed. "Welcome to Gringotts Wizarding Bank."
"Thank you," I said, feeling a tad awkward.
"Vault number twelve, I presume?"
I didn't know what to answer, but Professor Fig composed himself and said, "Precisely."
The goblin looked at us expectedly for a moment before extending his hand. "The key?"
Professor Fig looked confused.
The key. The portkey!
I leaned over to whisper, "Your wife's portkey."
His face change from confusion to understanding. "Ah, yes, of course." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the key to hand it over to the goblin.
Nodding in satisfaction, he pointed to the cave area. "This way, please." Professor Fig whispered for me to stay close to him before we followed the goblin to a platform. He let out a whistle, and a cart suddenly showed up, stopping by the platform for us to board it. When we all got on, the goblin announced, "Please, keep your hands and feet inside the cart at all times, if you don't wish to lose them." He pulled one of the levers and we were off.
The ride towards the vault was so unusual. I never needed to come to the bank with my father to take some money out of our vault, so I never experienced any of this. I knew the vaults were underneath the bank, but I never knew it was this vast and deep underground. Because the vault we were visiting was so old, being among the first group of vaults to be built shortly after Gringotts was established, it resided all the way down.
We slowed down at one point at the request of a goblin that looked to be a guard here.
"Vault number?" the guard asked.
"Vault twelve," answered the banker. "Momentous day!"
The guard only sneered, but let us pass with a gesture of his arm. But as he did that, there was something off about a band he was wearing on that arm. It was all glowy and red. It reminded me of the glow I kept seeing from the wispy symbol. But it was always blue. No, this I recall seeing for a moment during the attack with the dragon. It was wearing a collar with that same red glow. I voiced this to Professor Fig, but with the banker overhearing us, we had to let this discovery drop.
We finally arrived at a platform, where the vault was just ahead, and we all dismounted the cart.
"When was the last time this vault was accessed?" asked Professor Fig.
"A goblin has been stationed at my desk for hundreds of years. In that time, no one has requested to visit vault twelve—until now, that is."
Standing before the vault door, the goblin took out the key and inserted it into the keyhole. The mechanisms from the door began moving to unlock the door and it lowly opened.
"Thank you for your help," said Professor Fig. We both entered the small room, and I was surprised to see nothing of value in here.
"There's basically nothing here. What are we even meant to look for?" I questioned.
"I'm not sure." Professor Fig turned towards to the goblin. "Sir, I wonder if you might—"
The goblin interjected. "The instructions for vault twelve states clearly that I am meant to grant access to the holder of the key and then closed the door." With a wave of his hand, the door immediately shut with all the locks back in place. "Best of luck," we heard through the door.
Professor Fig and I glanced at each other in bewilderment at what just occurred. Now I was beginning to freak out inside. We were literally locked in a vault with no way out. What kind of person would give instructions like this?
"Professor? What do we do?"
"I...don't know. But that was surely unexpected. Let me think for a moment." He looked around the near barren vault. "Hmm...whoever wanted us to be here, they wouldn't want us to arrive at a dead-end. There must be something here. I wonder..." He took out his wand. "Revelio."
It was a blink-and-you-miss-it moment, but I saw it. Ahead of us, there was a shimmer. "There!" I voiced while pointing. "I saw a shimmer of something just now."
He nodded. "Let me get closer." Approaching the wall, he casted the spell again, and an ornate door appeared. At the center, it was that same glowing symbol. "Ah, now were getting somewhere. And look, it's the symbol. I don't suppose it's..."
"Yes, it's glowing just like the container."
"Well, if what you see is the way forward, then it looks like we'll be discovering the secret of this vault. Go and lead the way."
I approached closer to the door, and like last time, I placed my hand on the symbol. Instantly, it all went pitch black, except for the glow of the symbol, but that only lingered for a moment. Shortly, Professor Fig had his wand lit up. We weren't in the "main" vault anymore, but in a vast empty area with the only thing here are large pillars.
"This is definitely no ordinary vault," observed Professor Fig. "From the looks of it, we might need to earn our way out."
"'Earn our way out'? Like a test?"
"Precisely. Though to what end, I can't say. We should start walking and see what we find. But stay close. There will be no disapparating if things go poorly—not out of Gringotts."
We walked around for a few minutes, but doing so in the dark with little light in this place seemed like we were walking endlessly for a long time. It wasn't until another minute roaming that I caught a shine of something in the distance. As we walked closer, that glow was getting bigger and brighter.
"I see something up ahead," I announced before picking up the pace and hearing Professor Fig keeping up behind me.
"What is it?"
"It's that glow. A lot of it. But it's on the floor." After seeing the results of me being in contact with this stuff, I didn't hesitate to kneel down and touch it. As always, there was an immediate reaction. One that took Professor Fig aback from the force of magic, making him turn off the light from his wand. The glow disappeared and it was pitch black again. Professor Fig lit his wand back up, and we saw that the room has changed slightly.
"What was that?" he questioned.
"The glow I saw was different this time. It looked to be swirling about on the floor, and I touched it just like the other times."
"And you are unharmed?"
"I'm fine, sir."
"Hmm, touching that glow seemed to have caused the floor to change."
"Curious though on why there's a random statue within the floor."
"What statue?"
Strange that this is becoming a pattern on how it seems that I'm the only one to see anything weird. "There's a statue kneeling upside down within the floor. Like a reflection." If it is like a reflection, then there needs to be a statue right here to reflect, but there isn't anything up here. Or is there? Aiming my wand over the statue, and casting the Revealing charm, that statue I had expected appeared. But something was still off about it.
"I believe this was the statue you saw?"
"Yes, but the reflection isn't matching with this statue," I explained, but as I did, I noticed Professor Fig moving away and the reflection followed him. Or not really him, but the light in his hand. "Hold on. When you moved, the reflection followed you. I believe it's the light causing it."
"Interesting. To move forward, we need to align the statues with the light. Why don't you take over?"
I nodded, and lit up my wand. The reflection quickly moved all the way in my direction. Walking until I was in front of the statue, the reflection matched perfectly, and the statue was rising from its kneeling position. Slamming the point of its sword to the ground, it summoned many statues that came from above.
Now I was scared.
"Look out!" shouted Professor Fig when the original statue raised its sword to attack me. Without thinking, I dove out of the way before I got sliced by that sword. But as soon as I got to my feet, another was right there about to swing at me. I screamed when I quickly bent down to avoid it taking my head off. In fear, I ran away as I heard Professor Fig shooting off spells. But, thinking I could get away, I slammed into what felt like a wall, though there wasn't one—there was nothing. I was trapped in here by an invisible wall.
"Professor, we're trapped!" I yelled before evading another attack from a statue.
"We just need to take out these statues! Use Protego to shield yourself! And remember some of the spells I taught you!"
There were three statues left, and one of them was headed towards me. Just before it swung, I cast the shield where the sword bounced off it. Now unbalance, I shot Stupify at it, and it kneeled on the ground. Taking the chance for a blow, I cast Depolso on the statue. It flew across the room where it hit a pillar and smashed into pieces. It then became quiet. All the statues got taken care of.
The light from the torches attached to the pillars that were lit at the beginning of the fight went out. It was pitch dark again.
"Professor Fig?" He didn't answer. I lit up my wand and didn't see him anywhere. "Professor, where are you?" Nothing. He was gone. Realizing I was alone now made my heart race in panic. "Oh, this isn't good. What am I supposed to do?"
Thinking that I should just start walking ahead to find something again might be a good start. I walked ahead slowly in the near dark, my steps seeming to be louder than I thought—reminding me that I was alone in a strange place. I shouldn't even be here in the first place. I should have been on my way to Hogwarts.
After walking for some time and finding nothing, I considered going in another direction. I was seriously walking blind. But then I spotted some wispy lights, like fireflies, in front of me flying ahead. Seems like I'm meant to follow.
With no other option, I follow the wisps all the way to where they end right over the glow on the floor I saw before. As soon as my fingers touched it, the floor iced over again revealing the reflected statue again, only with an additional two. My breath hitched in realization with everything that occurred previously, it was going to happen I didn't have Professor Fig with me. Still, I have to do this or I'll be stuck here forever.
Knowing what to do this time, but took a minute to find out where to position myself to align all the reflections, I completed the task. And just as I thought, more statues came down and attacked. Prepared this time, I shielded myself before their swords hit me. The fight was overwhelming when it was just me against many. I spent more time shielding myself than fighting, so trying to destroy them all took a long time to accomplish. Also, it's not like I knew many spells to duel with. The only thing I could use are those that helped buy me some time as I focused on one or two at a time to use basic casting until they broke from the repetitive hits.
By the time the last one got destroyed, I was exhausted and achy. And like before when the fight ended, it went dark. The only light was the appearance of the glowing wisps. Following them to what I hoped was an exit this time, I flinched when I saw the glow on the floor again. I really didn't want to do this a third time; I'd most likely die in my tired state.
But that wasn't the only thing I saw. There was also a huge sculpture of the symbol that kept appearing all day. Glancing back at the swirling floor, I reluctantly touched it, and the sculpture completely melted before forming into a glowing archway. Beyond the archway, I saw a large fancy room with something place in the middle.
With my heart pounding full of nerves, not knowing what else I'll be facing alone, walked right through the archway. Now on the other side, the room was more majestic than I thought. Approaching closer to the center of the room, this thing I saw seemed like one of those bird baths I've witness on occasion at the park. And floating above it was a silver teardrop shaped vial. Taking it in my hand, I admired it for a bit before hearing the sound of doors opening. Following where the sound came from, I was so relieved to see Professor Fig coming through those doors.
"Ah, there you are," he said. "How did you—" He cut himself off when he saw we're in a new location. "Where are we now?"
"I don't know. But I found this floating above this...basin."
He looked surprised at seeing it. "Oh, that isn't just a basin. That is a pensieve. It allows you to view memories."
"It can?" I asked in disbelief. I've never heard of something like that.
"Yes." He eyed the vial in my hand. "I wonder." Taking the vial from me, he removed the top, and poured a silver liquid into the basin. "Follow my lead." He dunked his face into what I assumed was water, and I did the same.
The experience of this was weird to say the least as I felt like my body was floating down, but at the same time I could sense myself stable on the ground. All I saw at first was a fog and what seemed to be black ink swirling around me. But then, a scene was materializing—this room. The black ink materialized a bearded man who looked familiar. He was waving his wand around constructing pillars in the room. So, he created this place. And from what I could tell, he was holding something in his other hand, something small and silver. The vial?
Another man, younger, appeared doing the same thing in building this place. When it looked like they were done, they came together near the basin.
"All is in place," said the younger man.
"And the portkey is well hidden?"
"Perhaps, too well. I wonder if the path we've created..." he trailed off.
The older man finished his thought. "May be impossible to follow? It will only be impossible to those who cannot see the traces of magic as I can."
"Your ability to see what others cannot will not be enough, Percival. We are entrusting the one who embarks on this path with powerful secrets. Knowledge that others will do anything to obtain."
"Of course. And if we are correct, Charles, the witch or wizard who completes the trials will have proven themselves worthy of that knowledge and the responsibility that accompanies it."
The man, Charles, sighs. "We have done all that we can."
Percival nods at him and points his wand to his temple. What I can assume is he's taking the memory I'm seeing now to put into the vial. But the memory ended before confirming this. Professor Fig and I lifted our heads from the basin with the answers to questions we've been having this whole time.
"That's what you've been seeing? All the glowing that surrounded them?"
"Y-yes, sir." I was still amazed at all the magic I've been seeing from the memory. It looked like the man was wielding that magic to create—to build this very room, with ease. It was all beautiful. But so powerful at the same time with what I've encountered.
"Astonishing."
"Sir. Can I see...magic?" As far as I've seen, I've never actually seen magic. A wave of a wand and it just happens. That's how it works, isn't it?
"Traces of an ancient magic, to be precise. The magic that Miriam had always believed existed...but could never—" He paused. "Miriam—and perhaps George with that dragon attack—died in pursuit of knowledge that has been dormant for centuries. And you, it seems, are the key to understanding why."
My head was spinning. I could see magic...not normal magic, but the one thought to be gone a long time ago. And of all people to have this talent, it was me. Again, I ask why it had to be me? As much as I wanted to be a witch, I didn't ask to be a part of all this. Professor Fig's wife and friend died because of this. We both nearly died because of this. Now I really felt like getting out of here.
Suddenly, we both heard voices coming this way. "It all looks rather different than it did a moment ago."
Professor Fig was on guard. "Someone's coming."
The voices continued. "Who were they?"
"I-I don't know. Sir, please, you shouldn't be in here."
The doors opened to reveal several goblins. The banker, the guard, one I didn't know, and right up front was the goblin from the paper Mr. Osric showed us.
"Ranrok," Professor Fig said coldly.
"Seems like my reputation precedes me. I was beginning to think that no one was ever going to visit Rackham's vault."
"And why are you here?" Professor Fig took out his wand in defense, and I followed his lead, even though I'll be no match if we're dealing with a dangerous goblin.
Ranrok held up his hand in a peaceful gesture. "No need for that. Just give me whatever it is you found here, and we'll let bygones be bygones."
The air in the room felt tense when Professor Fig stood his ground, not complying to his negotiation. What broke it was the banker trying to defuse the situation. Even if he meant well, I knew he signed his fate as soon as he spoke. Someone like Ranrok isn't someone you should reason with. And I was proven correct when Ranrok, without hesitation, swiftly killed him. I tried not to let it show how it affected me to see another death right in front of me today, but my body still flinched.
"I have no patience for traitors. Now, where were we?"
"I'm not giving you anything."
Ranrok still looked composed for being rejected. "Hmm, well, perhaps your young friend there might be more helpful."
My breath hitched at being mentioned, but that made Professor Fig throw the first offense. A ray of magic hit Ranrok, but it didn't look like it was affecting him at all. He was easily able to shoot off his own magic at us that we flew across the room. I let out a grunt of pain when I hit the floor.
And before I knew it, the room was shaking. The basin that was in the middle of the room melted away, and from the floor that turned into liquid, came out a giant glowing metal statue. I felt petrified, thinking we had to deal with Ranrok, and now this. But I let out a breath of relief when the statue was focused on attacking Ranrok. We had to leave while he was distracted.
As I got up and quickly helped Professor Fig to his feet, I spotted an archway that showed a forest. I ran up to take a closer look, and I was positive this was a portal to another place, like the one that took us to Gringotts.
"Professor, I know a way out!" I turned to him, only to see he was still standing where I left him. The statue was blown back against the wall, and it swung its sword almost hitting Professor Fig. I yelled for him to come over just as the sword hit a pillar, cutting it in half, and the piece was about to fall on us. I urged him to run faster, and when he made it, I grabbed him and immediately touched the portal just as the pillar was right above us. There was a moment of lightheadedness, and then quiet. We were both catching our breaths before we looked at our surroundings to see we were in a forest area, like the portal showed.
I sighed when I came to terms that we were finally safe and out of that place.
"Are you alright?" asked a concerned Professor Fig.
"More or less, sir."
He nodded. "That's good, at least." He then looked worried. "Oh dear. I've never seen a goblin as powerful as this. He seems so unaffected by my magic."
Right now, I didn't even want to think about what happened a moment ago. "Where are we now?" I didn't think about it when I looked around, but it was dark out. It seems like we've been on this journey for hours.
He chuckled, as if in realization. "It can't be. It seems that whoever set all this up wanted someone with your ability to end up here."
"And where's here?"
He smiled. "On the outskirts of Hogwarts castle."
I was shocked, yet confused. "What?"
"No doubt about it. Just beyond these trees, it'll be in sight." I didn't know what to say or think. But one thing is clear for me. I was finally here. Professor Fig cleared his throat. "Now, I believe you still have yet to make a choice."
"A choice?"
"Do you still want to go back home?"
Oh, that's right. After the dragon attack, I thought about going home, believing it was a sign that I shouldn't go and be a witch. Even after all this, my first and only thought should be to go and never look back—that I'm not cut out for this.
"If I may. I think after today, you proved to be someone resilient. Someone that can take things as they come, even if you doubt yourself or get scared. And on top of that, it seems like you possess such a rare talent you could do good with the proper training."
"You think?"
"Wholeheartedly."
I nodded. "Alright. I'll stay."
He grinned at my answer. "In that case, we still have a sorting ceremony to get to. Hopefully we're not too late in arriving."
He apparated us outside of the castle borders, and walked the rest of the way until we arrived outside the Great Hall where everybody has gathered. Professor Fig peeked through the doors to see what was going on.
"Good, they're still sorting students." He looked at my outfit. "I'm afraid since your belongings have gotten lost, you're not in possession of your school robes. But I can help you with this in the meantime." He waved his wand in my direction, and my clothes transfigured into black robes. "We'll soon be able to help you replace everything. So, after everything that's happened, I'm going to need to contact the Ministry and explain about George's death and Ranrok. For the moment, I need you to keep all of this between you and me."
"Of course, sir."
"Thank you." He then became excited after moving past the serious talk. "Ready for the sorting ceremony?"
"Always have," I said with a grin.
He nodded and went back to peek through the door. He then backed away from the door with an exasperated look. "Phineas—Nigellus—Black." He pulled me away from the door. "Prepare yourself to meet the headmaster." The way he spoke about him tells me he's not a fan of his. And when the man himself came through the doors, right away I can tell why.
"Fig! Nice of you to join us," he said sarcastically. "The sorting ceremony is over."
"There were...complications."
"Complications?"
"It seems the goblins—"
The headmaster cut him off. "Enough. Goblins. I have no time for rumors, Fig. And I'm quickly losing whatever patience I have left." He then turned his attention to me. "If you're lucky, we might be still be able to sort you tonight." He walked back into the Great Hall.
I was about to follow when Professor Fig wanted to say on last thing. "I'll be in touch." Giving a nod in understanding, I quickly walked to catch up with the headmaster.
Upon entering the Great Hall, I had a hard time not letting my jaw fall to the floor when seeing how big and grand the room is. I even marveled at the many floating candles I've heard about. I even took in how many people were in attendance in this school, which is kind of intimidating now when they're all looking at me. So, I focused on looking forward and keeping calm until we reached the platform, where there was a simple stool.
The headmaster called everyone's attention. "Everyone! We will be having a new student with us who will be joining those in their fifth year." He then said as an afterthought, "Make her feel welcomed. Professor Weasley, if you please."
A smiling red-headed woman approached with an old hat. "Welcome, you're just in time. Have a seat."
I nervously sat down on the stool, and she placed the old hat on my head. And from within my head, I heard an old voice. "Well, you sure are older than the rest, aren't you? Been waiting for this moment I see." The voice went silent for a moment. "Ah, I sense a great power from you. Power can be a good thing. A quick thinker, too. And a thirst to learn. Yes, you would want to learn so much about the world you were almost denied. And you would want to prove you belong by being a great witch. Hmm, yes, it seems clear to me to put you in...SLYTHERIN!"
I smiled so wide at hearing my new house. It was official. The students clapped and cheered as I stood from the stool. Professor Weasley altered my all-black robes to have the color green. She waved me off to sit with my new housemates all the way to the right where the table had the Slytherin crest, and students with black and green robes like me. They made a space for me near the front.
"Oh, and one more thing," said Headmaster Black. "Due to the unfortunate injury on the pitch in last spring's final, this year's Quidditch season has been cancelled." Everyone sounded so upset with this news. I've only heard about Quidditch and how an amazing sport it is, but I didn't think it was that overly popular that students are outraged about its cancellation. "Enough! It's not like I've banned flying all together. But, don't test me. Now finish up your dinner and then head straight to your common rooms."
After the day I had, I was starving. I piled my plate with delicious looking food and happily ate. I was glad to see that some of my housemates wanted to chat with me—mainly about my situation starting school as a fifth year. I had to correct a few and specify that I never went to a Wizarding school before. That made them surprised to hear. It does show me that no one has ever gone through attending school late.
When dinner was done, everyone was getting up to head to bed as the headmaster instructed. Before I went to follow, Professor Weasley caught up to me.
"That was quite an entrance. It's lovely to meet you. I'm Professor Weasley."
"Oh, yes, hello, Professor. Selene Holloway. Pleased to meet you. And, of course, I do apologize for arriving late."
"Ah, no harm done. You did come in the nick of time. Now, as Deputy Headmistress, it is my distinct honor to escort you to your common room. We do have the house prefects in charge of escorting the first years, but your situation is a tad unique. If you'll follow me, please."
It was a long walk to the dungeons, but we finally arrived in front of a blank wall.
"It's quite uncommon for a student to begin as a fifth year. Might be a bit of a challenge, but one I'm sure you're up for."
"I am known to adapt easily."
"Very good quality to have. So, here is the entrance to the common room. It will only open with the correct password. Aspiration. Give it a try."
I nodded and faced the wall. "Aspiration." From the floor, a bronze snake arched up and revealed a large door.
"Well done. Now, go on in and get some sleep—you have a big day ahead of you tomorrow. I shall be back in the morning to collect you for your first class."
"Thank you, Professor."
"You're welcome. Oh, and to let you know, the girl's dorm is to the right, up the stairs. Each room is labeled by year."
"Got it."
"I hope you enjoy your first night at Hogwarts. Sleep well."
I bid her goodnight and walked through the door. Tomorrow my journey begins.