MJs Hogwarts Journal Chapter 53

Friday 23^rd May

Woopee! Exams are over. I have never had such a feeling of relief in all of my life. I got through it. I managed to survive all of my tests, both theory and practical. I think that I did alright on my Potions theory. I think I managed to name all of the ingredients for the Wiggenweld Potion and all twelve uses of dragons’ blood. I think that I did okay in my practical too – it was to make the Forgetfulness Potion. I’m sure that Snape coughed at Blondie when he picked up the Lethe River Water for the second time instead of the Valerian Sprigs – cheater!

Herbology went okay too. In fact, the very last thing that Josie taught me about Moly plants was on our test – that was lucky. Moly is a pretty little flower. It has a black stem and smooth, curled white petals. You can eat it in order to protect yourself against Dark Elements. However, I thought that I recognised the name of it, but up until a few hours ago I didn't know why. I’m sure that it’s the same flower (only crushed up) that you use in the Wiggenweld Potion. I’m not so sure about the Herbology practical though. We had to plant the seeds to a Bouncing Bulb. They were only small little purple seeds, but even they bounced around everywhere. One of mine dropped on the floor and scooted under the table. I waited until I had managed to bury the other two in the soil before I tried to retrieve it – I hope that didn’t cost me any marks.

Our History of Magic exam was way easier than I had expected. We only had to write about Gaspard Shingeton (the wizard who invented the Self-Stirring Cauldron). We didn’t need to know all that other stuff about the Werewolf Code of Conduct or the Soap Blizzard of thirteen-seventy-eight. The one cool thing is that I have a Chocolate Frog card of Gaspard Shingleton, so I think that I got all of the important years right.

In Transfiguration, I was right that the theory exam would be heavily based around the transfigurating formula. There were some pretty difficult questions, like what power of (Z) would you need if a person stood at five foot eight inches, weighed two-hundred-and-ten pounds and had a pitching arm strong enough to throw you off your broom with just one swift swing at a Bludger. I’m not sure that all of my calculations were accurate, but I did write a really lengthy description about it depending on the strength in your heart (viciousness), mind (concentration) and wand core (and wand power) – I hope that was right, or that it will at least score me benefit-of-the-doubt points. Our practical, though, was to change a mouse into a snuffbox. I was a little worried that this might end out like my mouse into a matchbox a few weeks ago. I had been practising a few times since them. Apparently, Professor McGonagall was giving points for the prettiness of the box, but deducting points if whiskers or any body parts still remained. I went for a silver coloured box with swirls and flowers on the tin – well at least I think I did. I wouldn’t look inside it, too scared as to what I might see. I just passed it straight to McGonagall. It was hard to read her though. She just had her blank stare on – like the one that Josie does sometimes, hey she’d make a great teacher. I just hope that I didn’t mess up. Oh well, there’s no use in dwelling. I’ll just have to wait until the results arrive in the post, just like everyone else.

Then there was Defence Against the Dark Arts. In our theory-based paper, we had to answer questions on a bunch of dark-creatures. There were bowtruckls, doxies, gytrashes and snails, as well as the correct thing to do if you get bitten by a werewolf. There wasn’t much about actual spells apart from a multiple-choice question at the end. The question asked us to pick which spell we thought would work best when defending yourself against an unknown enemy, where you were unaware of their spell capability. You had to pick from the following spells and explain the reason behind your choice: the Knockback Jinx (Flipendo), the Damaging Sparks (Vermillious), the Smokescreen Spell (Fumos), the Stagger-back Spell (Everte Statum) or the Body-Binding Spell (Petrificus Totalus). I opted for the Smokescreen Spell, because if you have never encountered that enemy before you don’t know whether any of your other spells will be powerful enough. You might be able to have a go at one of the jinxes, once your enemy can’t see you. That was my excuse anyway. Although I realise now that if your enemy can’t see you, then you couldn’t be able to see them to jinx them. Oh well, at least you could run away, so longs as you didn’t trip over something through the fog. Maybe I’d pick Petrificus Totalus once I know that it will work first time.

We didn’t really have an assessment in Flying. Madam Hooch had already told us that she would be giving us a pass/fail mark depending upon our performance overall in class. Great, so I guess that’s an epic fail for me then.

Now for Astronomy. This wasn’t too bad. Professor Sinistra had given us sheets with various star constellations on and we had to match the name to the picture. There were a few questions with a little bit of history behind the naming of the constellation that were a little bit trickier, but I think that I did okay.

Slytherin’s last exam was in Charms. We had already had our theory-based exam earlier on in the week. This had two questions, one was: what are the locking and unlocking charms and the second was to describe their importance and their relation to locking and unlocking things with an actual key. I think I did alright there – I remembered getting a ‘Well Done,’ on a similar homework question. Our practical was a little stranger than I had thought it might be. Professor Flitwick sat at his desk, with a watermelon. He wanted us to cut it open for him and then put it back together again. Thinking about the theory paper, I wondered whether this was some sort of trick locking and unlocking spell, but then I decided to use the Severing Charm (Diffindo) and the Mending Charm (Reparo) – he smiled at me and gave a little nod when I was done, so I hope that means I did the right thing.

*

After our last exam, Jed and I met up with Josie. She had her Potions practical last. As with all lessons, each class had a different assessment to another, so that none of us could pass information on to other houses. Josie told us, “I guess it didn’t go as badly as it could have,” when we met up with her. “We had to make the Healing/awakening potion, Wiggenweld. I’m so thankful that Professor Snape tutored me though. I’d never have got it otherwise. And I guess I should be thankful that Draco taught me how to remember the difference between Wiggenweld, Wiggentree and Wideye – without that, I might have mixed the spells up.”

Jed and I discussed with her our Charms practical. When Josie told us hers, I was so thankful to be in Slytherin and not Ravenclaw. She had to make a pineapple dance across the desk. Lucky for her she’s good at that spell. I still can’t make anything dance. Josie was really worried that Professor Flitwick would ask her to perform Wingardium Leviosa, because she still can’t do it. Her practical was this morning and during breakfast I watched as Fabian tried to get her to levitate Derrick’s quill. She tried countless times, but the feather didn’t even quiver. It’s a shame, because she’s brilliant at almost every other spell. There isn’t another spell that she’s struggled with so much – which is silly because it’s the easiest and most simple spell.

We weren’t the only ones discussing spells and exams as we walked through the courtyard towards the Astronomy tower. Almost everyone we saw was walking the other way, towards the Great Hall or to their Common Rooms. I did manage to catch the conversation of a group, who were speaking rather loudly nearby. “Did you hear Dumbledore’s sending us home a week early,” one student told their group of friends.

“Wait – I heard he got called off to a meeting in London,” exclaimed another. “Does that mean he won’t be giving the end-of-year speech?”

“Forget the speech,” snapped another. “What about the Quidditch tournament? There’s still two more games. We can’t leave until we know who’s won the House Cup.”

“Don’t worry,” groaned the first. “I can answer that for you right now. Slytherin always win.”

It looks like we weren’t the only ones who had heard about Professor Dumbledore closing down the school. It seems a little bit coincidental though that the day everyone will have questions for the Headmaster and want to know why he’s making us leave early and why he’s shutting down the school, he’s mysteriously been whisked off to London. Very convenient Professor Dumbledore. Very convenient indeed.

Having passed all of the gossipers, the three of us exchanged glances. “So it’s official then,” I said as we headed inside the entrance to the Astronomy Tower. “Dumbledore is closing the school.”

“Not yet,” said Jed. “We’ve still got a chance.”

We climbed the stairs in silence. None of us spoke until we stood in front of the two suits of armour guarding the invisible Room of Requirement. My stomach went all queasy. It swirled my insides around. I licked my lips as my throat grew dry. Staring ahead at the wall, my palms grew sweaty. This was it. My heart beat louder. We were going back. The beating grew faster. The room of the troll. Bump-bump. The Forbidden Forest. Thud… thud… thud. The unicorns. The black figure. The evil curse. What were we thinking? We’re only First-Years. What do we know? If Dumbledore can’t – but he doesn’t have the key… or know about the castle crack… Still this is mad. But it needs to be done. We need to save our school. We need Hogwarts.

“D’you think you can do it José?” asked Jed. I turned towards her as she shrugged.

“I think so,” she replied. “I’ve never wished for a school to stay open so badly before.”

“Me either,” I agreed. Jed and I stood back, giving Josie some room. She loosened the tie around her neck, before pulling the key out of her blouse. Squeezing it in her palm, Josie paced back and forth. The floor vibrated. The outline of a doorway appeared, engraved in the wall.

“Yes!” Jed hissed. “Way t’ go José.”

“I’m not sure if I got it right,” she confessed, as she stared at us. My heart sunk.

“What do you mean?” I asked her.

“Well I don’t know if I really asked for the room for the key, or if I asked to save the school?” she muttered, as a confused expression burrowed on her forehead. “Don’t you remember what the library book said about the Room of Requirement? You can only find what you are in desperate need for. And once you’ve found it, it is almost impossible to ever find it again.”

“Well what did you ask for?” asked Jed.

“To find the key’s room to save the school,” she replied. “I think…” she added with a little doubt.

“Good enough for me,” said Jed and he planted his palm on her shoulder. “Let’s go.”

*

The three of us heaved the door open, stepped inside and closed it behind us. We waited for the latch to click, before turning around to face the room. It was small and dark. The two wooden clubs hung opposite each other on the walls. Dust, dirt and pieces of straw littered the ground. I glanced up; the celling was too dark to detect. “Josie,” I whispered with both a smile of amazement and spiral of dread in the pit of my stomach. “You did it. This is exactly as the room was before.”

“You know what this means?” she gasped, looking from me to Jed.

“That we can go back and find out what’s killing the unicorns and save the school from closing,” said Jed rather matter-of-factly.

“Yes,” muttered. Josie. “But that’s not what I meant.” She turned towards me. “We are the first people in Hogwarts history to ever find the same room in the Room of Requirement twice.” A huge smile spread across her face.

“Wow,” I whispered. “You’re right.”

“And we won’t be here to see it a third time if we don’t get going,” Jed snapped. “Now come on.”

Jed was right. We were short for time. I’m glad that Josie realised what she did whilst we were in the Room of Requirement though. It would have been a shame to realise afterwards. At least we got to live in the moment a little.

Crouching down, Jed swept the dust and straw from the patch around the trapdoor and heaved it up. Looking over the edge it was still hard to see what was down there. “The Devil’s Snare had better still be there,” I told Jed and he sat over the edge, dangling his legs over.

“Course it will,” he said with a shrug. “But just in case,” he added quickly. “Don’t you girls come down ‘til I say. Like before, if anything happens… leave me and get Snape… agreed?” Josie and looked at each other. She was just as anxious as I was, I could tell. We knew we had to agree though. We had no choice.

“Okay,” I said to Jed. Josie nodded. Closing his eyes, Jed took in several deep breaths.

“It will be there,” he muttered to himself. “It will be there. Stupid plant, of course it will.” He rolled himself onto his front and shimmied over the door’s edge. “See you girls at the bottom,” he said, before mumbled to himself, “I hope.” Jed let go.

Clawing her hands through her hair, Josie tied her hair back. She closed her eyes, taking in slow deep breaths. I fiddled with the bag on my arm. Its weight was pulling on my right shoulder. I tried to contemplate the possibility of leaving it behind, while I tried to block out the fierce pounding of my heart inside of me. My chest grew heavy. The pounding got louder. I swear I thought the buttons of my school blouse were going to pop.

“I’m fine!” came the echoing call of Jed’s voice through the trapdoor. “You can come down.” Josie went next and I followed after her. She had insisted that I went before her, but I didn’t want to. I like being at the back. I like being able to keep an eye on them both. That way I know that nothing has happened to them that I can’t see, or that nothing has grabbed them from behind. Oh dear, I never even thought about the concept if something grabbing me from behind. Oh well. It’s better me than them. There, take that uncertain loyalties – I put my friends before myself, so there!

Dropping down, we bounced just like before, landing in the tangle of Devil’s Snare. As its spindly branches wriggle their way around my limbs tightening and tightening, I could not help but squirm. I held my breath. Pain shot up my legs. Pinching my eyes and mouth shut, my voice-box squeaked. “Keep still!” Josie shouted. I couldn’t see her. I couldn’t see anything. A vine looped its way around my right arm. I nudged it away. Bad idea. The branch tightened. ‘Hurry up Josie,’ my brain screamed. ‘Hurry up!’ I couldn’t remember the spell to loosen this deadly ivy. Even if I did, I couldn’t cast it. My wand was in my bag and I definitely couldn’t reach my bag. Not without getting the blood flow cut from my arm. “Incentutum!” she shouted. Blue light flashed before me. Flames flickered. The knots around me loosened. They danced away underneath me. I dropped. As the blue flames faded, Josie shouted the spell again. My vision brightened as the blue flames fluttered around us once more. I felt the vines wriggle underneath me, as I dropped down again.

Thud! I seeped a breath through gritted teeth. Gripping my head with one hand, I tried to push myself up with the other. I didn’t remember the drop down to the ground being so hard. “Is everyone okay?” asked Josie as she clambered to her feet. She had already cast Lumos on her wand. I could see her faintly from the blurriness of my squint.

“Think so,” Jed muttered as he rubbed a hand to his bottom. “You coulda wished for pillows, you know?” he grumbled.

“Sorry,” Josie mumbled back, although I doubt that this had anything to do with the Room of Requirement anymore. I’m fairly certain that the second we opened up the trapdoor we had left the safely of our little secret hideaway. “MJ, are you alright?” she asked holding out her hand. As I grabbed it, Jed and I both got out our wands and said the Lumos spell.

I turned around to check the direction behind us. It was definitely nothing but a brick wall – I had to double check. Turning back, I followed them as Jed led the way. The corridor appeared untouched since we were last here. It was still dark, dusty and full of spider webs. I made sure this time not to press my hand against the wall in case I came into contact with a creepy crawly.

The corridor narrowed. Jed slowed his pace. “The stairs are around here somewhere,” he warned, shinning his wand at the ground a little way ahead of himself. “Whoa,” he exclaimed staggering back. “I found ‘em.” I don’t know about Jed and Josie, but following the steps down, my stomach gurgled all the way. Something twisted at my insides, as my heart raced a zillion beats a second. My fingers shook. My legs trembled. Bits of stone crumbled away underfoot. I slipped. Clawing my hand at the wall, I tried to regain my balance.

“You okay?” Josie cried, throwing her head around to see me.

“What happened?” gasped Jed.

“Nothing,” I panted, pressing a hand to my chest. “I just slipped. I’m fine.”

“Well be careful,” Jed muttered.

The decent down these stairs felt like they went on a lot longer than before. I guess it was just the nerves and the thought of Hogwarts closing that played on my mind. Eventually the glow appeared from below. We extinguished out wands. Creeping down the stairs, we poked our heads around to check that there was no one around. Just like before, we were alone.

We were back in the corridor that appeared to resemble parts of the main school building. The candles, clubs and lanterns still lit the way, just like they did all those months ago – I’m assuming that they are magically powered flames, as the candles never appear to grow smaller and the flames haven’t extinguished. Hey, I may just have figured out how come the teachers appear to trust all of the students with candles and fire and flames – maybe they are all magically, enchanted safety-flames. Now that would make sense.

We reached the door. The door to the troll room. Reaching out behind her neck, Josie took off her necklace. Sliding the key into the lock, she didn’t even hesitate to look over her shoulder at us, before twisting her wrist to the right. The metal scraped. The lock clicked. Josie pulled the key back out and together, the three of us heaved the door open.

That disgustingly familiar smell swept over me. I threw my robes to my nostrils, before we had even pushed the door closed behind us. Troll. I don’t know what exactly. Troll sweat? Troll body odour? Troll faeces? Whatever it was, it made me heave. I could feel my stomach forcing its way up to my throat, as my chest contracted.

Roaring. It sounded like a deep, hollow groan, with a bit of a throaty croak to it. Chains rattled. I gasped, throwing a hand to my mouth. Josie staggered back. Jed threw an arm out in front of us, in aims of protecting us from whatever that thing was capable of. It gave another roar. The chains clanked again, louder. “Stay behind me,” Jed whispered as he crept closer. Josie and I both nodded as we followed after him.

Creeping against the furthest wall from the troll, Jed tried to lead us through the archway and into the next segment where we found the creature sleeping before. The troll gave another throaty call. It sensed us coming. It probably smelt us. Making it through the archway, Jed ordered, “Get back against the wall.” He didn’t have to say it, I was already there. Hiding behind my sleeve, I gawked ahead at the beast. With its arms and legs chained to manacles, bolted into the ground and walls, the towering green figure appeared more menacing. It stomped towards us. The ground trembled. Josie whimpered, as she clung onto me. I squeezed her back. The chains jangled. Stretched at full length, the troll stood barely a foot from us. Growling its breath wafted in our faces. My stomach reflexed. Opening its mouth, the creature’s teeth – the few that it had, were yellowy-brown and its gums a violent shade of red. The brown, potato-like sack that he was draped in barely covered him decently. It stretched over his one shoulder, across his chest and at his hips, before fraying at the thigh.

The chains rattled again, as the troll cried out. His arms trembled, as he tried to force them towards us. My heart hammered. The chains clangored again. I squeaked, as I gasped. “W-w, we need to get p-p-past him,” Josie whispered.

“I know,” said Jed, his voice shaking. The troll jittered towards us. I took short, shallow breaths. The troll’s scent seeped into my lungs. Pressing a hand to my stomach, I coughed. The troll roared, edging forwards. Jed flinched back. He stepped on Josie’s foot, but neither of them seemed to notice. The beast roared again.

“Jed,” I squeaked. “Just run ‘round him.”

“I can’t!” he exclaimed. Sweat dripped from his forehead. “The distance between us narrows at the archway,” he warned. Without breaking eye contact with the troll, Jed pointed a finger in the direction that we needed to go. With the scraping of metal and a groan, the troll twisted himself around towards the archway.

“Jed!” Josie cried, gripping a hand on his shoulder. He gasped, shuddering as she touched him. “Look!” Throwing her arm over Jed’s shoulder, Josie pointed at a wooden club on the ground in the corner of the room, behind the troll’s left foot.

“What?” he shrieked. “I can’t get it. He’ll grab me.” She flicked his ear. “Ooow!” he yelled. The troll screamed, throwing his head around towards us.

“You’re a wizard,” she huffed. “Use Wingardium Leviosa and-”

“Knock it out!” they said together. Jed’s eyes widened, as a slight grin appeared. Pointing his wand out towards the troll’s wooden club, Jed shouted, “Wingardium Leviosa!” The lump of wood levitated. The troll staggered back. It gasped. Stumbling on the chain’s locks on the ground, it howled.

“Now!” Josie whispered. Swiping his wand, Jed directed the caveman club towards the troll’s head. Dragging his wrist up, Jed snapped his hand down. The club whacked the troll’s head. It howled out in pain, before dropping to its knees. Jed raised his hand again, before swiping down. The club swung at the creature again, in the same place – to the left of his head. The troll screamed out in pain. I threw my hands over my ears. Jed whacked it again. The spot on the troll’s head turned purple. It didn’t scream this time though. Instead, it fell forwards – its face crashing against the ground. Jittering back, Jed and Josie gasped.

The troll lay face down on the ground. Its club dropped down alongside him. My chest shook. I stared ahead at the creature, my hands trembling at my face. “Is it…” I muttered too scared to say anything more.

“It’s just stunned,” Jed replied emotionlessly, as he stared down at the lump on the ground. “They have thick skulls.” Cupping a hand towards himself, he signalled for Josie and I to follow him into the next part of the chamber. As I stepped passed the troll it flinched. Jumping towards Josie, I screamed. “What?” Jed cried as he and Josie spun around to face me. A low hum sounded, followed by a deep growling. I let out a breath. It was the troll. He was snoring. I don’t understand how, but the clonk on the head must have sent him to sleep somehow. Lucky for us.

Creeping into the next chamber, I leant against the wall, lowering my hands from my face. My stomach churned. The stench was still strong, but I could cope. The drum inside of me slowed a little. Closing my eyes, I forced myself to take slow, deep breaths. I could hear the others doing the same. “That was too close,” I muttered, opening my eyes. “Well done Jed,” I said with a smile, resting a hand on his shoulder.

“Thanks,” he replied, poking the corner of his mouth up in a smile.

“It’s there,” Josie whispered in alarm pointing.

“What?” I gasped, looking directly at Josie and not at where she was pointing.

“Where?” exclaimed Jed. He must have done the same as me. Neither of us wanted to see it, whatever it was.

“There,” she hissed, prodding her finger forwards. “Unicorn’s blood.” It was difficult to see in the light. As Josie took a step towards it, Jed and I followed. She was right. A fresh trail of silver lay splattered on the ground. It sparkled under the glow of the flames on the wall. A clump of it sat in the centre of the room, whilst a small trickle led around and upon the crate that was covering the hole in the wall. My stomach dropped. Everything tingled. My arms, my legs, my spine, even my cheeks. The blood drained to my feet. So that black figure knew about this. We thought that he might. Josie’s head shot around. I jumped. My heart threw itself against my ribcage.

“What the-” gasped Jed.

“Sorry,” Josie blurted out. “I was just checking,” she panted. I spun around. My eyes darted to ever corner. “That it wasn’t behind us.” I knew she never meant the troll, but the black mass. I tried to slow my breathing back down again. My eyes inspected every shadow. Every glimmer of light. I know Jed’s did too. The drumming inside of me pounded with every movement, every flicker of fire.

We knew what we had to do. There was only one place left to go. Outside. We dragged the crate away from the wall and clambered through, finding ourselves in the Forbidden Forest once more. We were here a lot earlier in the day this time and in a lot brighter month too. The weather had been bright and sunny when came here, yet standing out in the Forbidden Forest everything seemed dark. Thinking about it now, it always did appear dark inside the forest whenever you looked towards it from the castle. I wonder whether it is magically enchanted to always appear dark and scary in hopes of trying to keep intruders away from the castle. Well that plan obviously failed on this black mass – it appears to thrive on dark and dingy place.

As we made our way along the path, Jed whispered, “I think I recognise where we are… I came this way with Hagrid… I think…” Swiping his wand from his back pocket, he whispered the Lumos spell and held his wand close to the ground. Leading the way, Jed took us along the path before turning off around a cluster of bushes. “Around here,” Jed whispered. “This is near where Hagrid said the unicorns sometimes feed on the berries. We might find-” Jed snapped his mouth shut and extinguished his wand. Jerking his head to the right, Josie and I followed him as he darted behind the bushes. He pressed his finger to his mouth. “Voices,” he hissed. “Listen.”

Closing my eyes, I strained my ears to listen. The leaves rustled in the trees. A few birds tweeted. “Don’t forget the harp,” growled a raspy voice.

“N-no, Sir,” muttered another.

“You need it t’ pass Fluffy,” barked the first voice.

“I know, Sir,” replied the second.

“The stone,” the first speaker boomed. “It’s in my grasp. Finally, after all this time…”

“I know, Sir,” the second muttered again. I felt myself gasp and threw a hand to my mouth.

“Sshhh,” one of them hissed. “I hear something,” it was the growling of the first man’s voice. Footsteps neared us. My heart raced. We stepped back. The bushes rustled. My breathing increased. There was a growl. I stumbled back.

Hands emerged between branches. I pressed my hands harder over my mouth. My voice-box squealed. Jed and Josie whipped out their wands. I did too. A black hooded figure emerged from the bushes. My feet froze. My heart hammered. He cackled. Throwing his wand in our direction, the hooded man shouted a spell. I don’t know what it was he said – I was too scared to listen. In a reflex action I threw myself in front of Jed and Josie and yelled, “Protego!” It was the first defensive spell that I could think of. My eyes widened. I must have worked. We were okay.

The hooded figure ran at us. We darted into separation. I tripped. Some large branch lay on the ground. I kicked it aside. Spinning around, my head shot left and right. The hooded man was after Josie. He ran towards her, swishing his wand. He cackled, before yelling, “Crucio!” A bright red light emitted from the end of his wand. I gasped. Jed leapt forwards. Throwing his arms around Josie, from behind, they both stumbled to the ground. The hooded figure cursed.

Clambering to her feet, Josie spun around. The masked figure aimed his wand at her. Shooting her arm in the enemy’s direction Josie shouted, “Flipendo!” A blue glow shone from her wand. The black mass stumbled back. Swinging his arms at his sides, he quickly regained balance.

Snapping his wrist in Josie’s direction he bellowed, “Incarcerous,” at the same time that Jed and I both shouted the Protego defence. I think we did it.

The three of us ran off in separate directions. He was only one man. He couldn’t chase all of us. Whatever happened to the second voice that we heard, I don’t know. Maybe he fled. I threw my head behind me, hearing Jed yell, “Periculum,” as he pointed his wand to the skies. A mass of red sparks shot up in the air.

The hooded figure ran for Josie. He had obviously noticed that she was the strongest spell caster of the three of us. Jed and I ran after him. Shooting his wand over his shoulder, the hooded man shot a spell at Jed without even turning around. Jed staggered backwards – his wand shooting across the path. How the man knew where to aim, I’ll never know. It’s like he had eyes at the back of his head. The hooded mass ran on. Josie’s knees buckled. She dropped to the ground.

I changed direction and ran right. I hoped to run the man off and disarm him. I stumbled. It was that branch again. I looked down and dragged my right foot back to kick it. Swinging my leg forwards, I stopped. It wasn’t a twig. It was a broomstick. It looked just like the ones we use in our Flying lesson. I swiped it. Holding it out in front of me, I threw one leg over it. I kicked my heels off the ground. I leapt in the air. Leaning forwards, I soared towards Jed. Crouching down, he retrieved his wand. I threw my hand out towards him. Grabbing hold, I pulled him up. He gripped his hands around my waist. I tugged upwards on the handle. We soared higher.

The masked man had his wand pointed at Josie. She edged away. Holding her wand in front of her, she backed into a tree. I could see her from up here, but there wasn’t anything I could do. The black mass jabbed his wand at her. “Periculum!” Jed yelled again. More red sparks shot up overhead. The masked figure spun around towards us. Josie scrambled away from him.

Darting the broomstick downwards, Jed and I zoomed towards the cloaked figure. I circled him. His robes twisted around his feet. Josie ran forwards. I zipped out from the man’s side, as he made a grab for my bag. “Wingardium Leviosa!” Josie screamed. The black mass zoomed backwards. His wand flew deeper into the forest. Shooting past Josie, Jed threw his arms out to grab her. The bushes behind us rustled. Jed hauled Josie up. I spun around. Hagrid’s head appeared through the trees. He stepped closer. Professor Dumbledore was at his side. I circled around, landing beside them.

“What’s goin’ on ‘ere?” demanded Hagrid. The black mass darted past them. It crashed into Professor Dumbledore, before scarpering in the direction of the crack in castle wall.

“Hagrid!” exclaimed Jed.

“Professor Dumbledore,” Josie and I cried. The three of us then began a frenzied ramble all at the same time of everything that happened. Each telling our own story, we all raised our voices as loud as we could to be heard. Hagrid gripped his hands over his ears. The three of us talking all at once was too much for his brain to take. Professor Dumbledore on the other hand, nodded. He held up a hand to halt us once we were all pretty much finished anyway.

“He’s gone!” Jed shouted, pointing in the direction that we had come from. “He’s gonna sneak into the school!” Clasping her hands to her mouth, Josie tried to hide her gasp.

“I never locked the door,” Josie cried. Scratching her hand against her neck, she pulled out her key and showed it to the Headmaster. “It locks the door to the-” Dumbledore put his hand up to stop her.

“Hagrid, get the children somewhere safe. Quickly,” he ordered.

“But Professor-” Hagrid muttered.

“Now Hagrid,” demanded the Headmaster. “I had a feeling this would happen,” he mumbled, more to himself than us. Hagrid nodded. Professor Dumbledore’s blue cloak shot through the forest, whilst Hagrid hurried to lead us away.

*

We sat in Hagrid’s hut for hours. The giant wasn’t as mad at us as I thought he would be. I think he was just glad that we were okay. “I saw yer sparks, Jed. That’s when Dumbledore an’ I came a runnin’,” Hagrid told us as he ushered us inside.

“Good job you had detention,” I muttered to him. That was where he had learnt about the spell to cast the red sparks – Hagrid had taught him to use them if he was in danger when exploring the Forbidden Forest.

“Yeah,” Jed agreed as he dropped down into a seat. I looked over at Josie. Gripping her head, she held onto the edge of the chair, as she lowered herself down. Her legs trembled.

“José, you okay?” I asked her. She hummed at me.

“I’m fine,” she muttered. Burying her head from us, Josie folded her arms on Hagrid’s table and pressed her face against her right elbow.

Hagrid made us explain everything. How we got the key, when we got it, how we found out where it led, how we found the room, how many times we went there, when we went there, what we saw and did we see what the figure looked like. The last one was a, ‘no’, but we were able to answer everything else. Hagrid made us tea and passed us some cakes while Jed and I rambled on. Josie had taken her necklace off and placed the key in the centre of the table. She stayed quiet the entire time. She didn’t even touch Hagrid’s tea or cakes. Jed wolfed down as many cakes as he could. I ate three myself. We were starving. All that running around really made us hungry.

I noticed Hagrid staring at Josie. She had been quiet ever since we got here. I was worried about her, but while me and Jed spoke about what happened, I just assumed that she didn’t want to remember – I know I sure didn’t. “He’s back, isn’t he?” she murmured. We all fell silent and stared at her. Looking up from the table, Josie sat upright, her eyes met Hagrid’s. Her eyes appeared to tremble, not being able to focus solely on one spot for longer than a split second. “You-Know-Who… that was him.”

Hagrid cleared his throat. “Well now, who’d like another cake?” asked Hagrid, as he averted his gaze to the table. Grabbing the plate, he held it over towards us.

Jed leant over, singing, “I don’t mind if I do.” I took another as well.

“Don’t ya want one, Josie?” Hagrid asked, pushing the plate towards her more. Shooting her eyes to her lap, Josie shook her head. “Come on how,” Hagrid said with a laugh. “Ya know, Josie, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you eat.” Josie didn’t even blink. I watched as she hugged her arms around herself.

“Come on José,” I sighed. “It’s just one cake. It’ll make you feel better.” She shook her head. Her clothes puckered up around her grip. “Come on, you won’t explode,” I laughed.

“Tell that to Posey Pansy,” she mumbled, twisting herself away from us.

My mouth dropped open as I gazed ahead at Jed. He stared back wide-eyed. So many unspoken words passed between us. We glanced over at Hagrid – I think even he was beginning to see the picture too. “You haven’t been listening to Pansy Parkinson, have you?” I asked her, in a rather demanding tone. Josie flickered her eyes up at me, before looking back down at the floor. “Josie…” I tried taking charge in the same way that my parents do to me when Viki and I have been arguing. She still wouldn’t look at me. “Is that why you fainted in Herbology… and fell back then when he chased you?” She gripped her arms tighter around herself, refusing to break eye contact with the floor. I stared ahead at Jed. I didn’t know what to say. I really didn’t. This was almost as scary as being chased by the black mass.

“Pansy only says that stuff ‘cause she’s jealous of you,” Jed told her. He reached a hand out towards her shoulder. She jerked herself away from him.

“Why would she be?” she mumbled, still staring at the floor.

“Oh… I can think of a few reasons,” Jed said in a sing-song tone and a smile.

“I think you do too,” I whispered to her. She blinked a few times, before looking over at me. A smile stretched across my face. Her mouth poked up in the right corner.

“Maybe I am a little hungry,” she murmured. She looked over at Hagrid, who dipped the plate towards her.

*

Whilst Josie ate her first of Hagrid’s rock cakes, my mind bounced back and forth through several things. One, I actually rode a broomstick. A real broomstick. Me. Flying. I can’t believe it. I wasn’t even scared of falling. I didn’t even think about it. I just saw my friends were in danger and went with it. I have no idea what the broomstick was doing in the middle of the forest though. Is it possible that it belonged to, to, to You-Know-Who? Oh no! I hope not. I really hope not. What was it doing just lying on the ground anyway? Two, not only did Jed save us by shooting up the red sparks (that he learnt in detention with Hagrid), but he also saved Josie’s life. I know that the two of them argue – sometimes worse than others, but when it comes down to it, I know they really do care. I don’t know what I would do without them. I really don’t. Three, Josie actually performed Wingardium Leviosa and on a person! The very first time that she used it, she made the black figure fly backwards. How amazing is that? See, I knew she could do it. I must remember to congratulate both of them properly later.

The fourth thing that occurred to me, I had to share with the others. “Erm, can I ask something please, Hagrid?” I said a little hesitant, not wanting to disrupt, but knowing that I had to ask. It just didn’t make sense.

“Course, MJ,” said Hagrid with a smile. “Go ahead.”

“Well… what was Professor Dumbledore doing here?” I asked, pressing my right hand against the side of my head. “I thought he had some meeting in London or something. Hadn’t he left?”

“That’s right,” Jed added. “We heard he’d left by the end of our last exam.” Hagrid took in a deep breath and let out just as bigger sigh. He looked at each of us in turn.

“Yer right. He had,” Hagrid told us. Just as I was about to ask why though, he continued. “Twas a trap. A decoy, yes it were. There was no meetin’ in London. Whoever sent Dumbledore that letter was tryin’ ta get rid a him, so’s You-Know-Who could make his move, like. The second he found out, he comes straight back here to tell me t’ keep an eye on the Forbidden Forest, like. That’s when we seen yer sparks, Jed.” I shuddered. This news was probably more scary than anything that we actually faced out there in the Forbidden Forest. Everyone says, and I’ve even read, that You-Know-Who is scared of Professor Dumbledore. Therefore, nothing bad could ever happen at Hogwarts whilst Dumbledore is here. If Dumbledore had stopped a second or so longer to have a conversation with someone in London, then he may not have been back in time to save us.

Hagrid tried to lighten the mood. He started asking us questions about our exams. He wanted to know what spells we had to perform and how well we thought we had done. Even Josie joined in. We all praised her for her Wingardium Leviosa spell too. Hagrid was very impressed. He said that he had never seen anyone try it on a person before. “I was aiming for the cloak,” Josie confessed. “But thanks.”

There was a knock at the door. Fang, who had been quiet the entire time since we had arrived (lying asleep in the corner) jumped up and began barking. “Alright, alright,” Hagrid called as he got up. As Hagrid opened the door, I could just about make out flap of blue fabric from underneath his arm.

“I would like to see the children in my office, if you please, Hagrid.” It was Professor Dumbledore. His voice was serious and deadly, like that of Professor Snape or McGonagall. I forced myself to swallow.

“Yer hear that, kids,” Hagrid called over his shoulder. “Yer Headmaster’ll be wantin’ a few words wiv yer.” We thanked Hagrid for everything and got up to follow Professor Dumbledore out.

“Thank you for the cake, Hagrid,” Josie said with a smile, as she waved to him. He smiled back and waved.

“Any time, Josie,” he told her. “Any time.” I smiled at them both, feeling my stomach tingle, as I followed Josie out.

*

Having spent nearly two hours at Hagrid’s, we spent the next hour or so in Professor Dumbledore’s office. It was an amazing place. I can hardly believe that I was able to concentrate for so long, without allowing my mind to wander. There were loads of portraits hung on the back wall. They were all of past Head Teachers at Hogwarts. Like all of the other paintings in the school, they moved. I watched as some of them blinked and conversed with one another. Professor Dumbledore even went over to a few of them and had a hushed conversation, before ordering some of the people inside to disappear off and find out information. The room was full of books too. Cases and cases of them circled the room – yes circled. Professor Dumbledore’s office was actually round. He had tonnes of golden scales and shining ink pots, as well as loads of little trinkets. Behind us, by the door, lay a desk littered with photographs and picture frames. To our left was a glass cabinet full of hundreds of tiny cylinder-shaped tubes with little stoppers on the top. Inside the tubes were an array of colours – most of them were pastels, but a few of them were rather bright and I noticed a couple of whites and greys too.

Professor Dumbledore sat on the opposite side of his desk to us. He had a stack of parchment with a quill that seemed to dip itself in the ink and write stuff out all of the while that we spoke, without him having to hold it. He asked us a lot of questions, like Hagrid did. Where did we find the key? When? How did we find the room? He wanted to know how we found out about the Room of Requirement’s existence in the first place – he found this part really fascinating, telling us, “You know, I once found a room on the seventh floor full of lavatories when I was in desperate need of the toilet. I have searched for it time and time again, but never found it since.” That was quite amusing that he shared that with us, especially considering I kind of felt like he should be interrogating us. In fact, the entire time that he spoke to us, he never once said a harsh word or spoke to us as though we had done anything wrong. This was amazing. If it were Professor Snape, no matter how much Jed and I are loyal Slytherins, he would scream at us until he lost his voice.

He praised Josie for looking after the key for so long and for keeping it safe. He asked us if we had managed to figure out who it belonged to. I’m not quite sure why because I could tell that he knew. Leaning back in the chair, I stared at the key, which now sat on Professor Dumbledore’s desk. I gasped. All eyes turned to me. “Yes, Miss Frost,” said Professor Dumbledore with a smile. “You have something to say?”

“The key,” I blurted out. “It was Professor Quirrell’s, wasn’t it?”

“And what makes you think that?” he asked me. Pressing his elbows onto his desk, the Headmaster laced his fingers together and rested his chin upon them as he gazed at me.

“Well it only made sense just now,” I confessed. “But way back at the beginning of the year, I bumped into Professor Quirrell on my way up from the Slytherin Common Room. He said that he got locked out of his classroom and had to get the key from Filch to unlock it… I never gave it any thought at the time, but his classroom is on the complete other side of the school… and on one of the highest floors. He stole the key to the troll room to let it out on Hallowe’en, didn’t he Sir?” Closing his eyes, Professor Dumbledore nodded.

“Excellent work, Miss Frost,” he praised.

“But what about Mister Filch?” Josie asked. “Professor Flitwick was with me when we asked about the key. Mister Filch said that they were all accounted for,” Josie told him.

“Professor Quirrell must have duplicated the key upon his request for it,” the Headmaster explained. Every time we tried to ask him what Professor Quirrell would want with the key or the troll, all Professor Dumbledore would reply is: “I am afraid that I cannot answer your questions at this time, children, for it is a sad occasion and Professor Quirrell is no longer with us.” After he said this for the third time, I am beginning to think that Professor Quirrell must have died at some point in the last few hours. This is quite scary. But he did ensure us that everything is fine now.

Jed mentioned the other man. “When we were in the forest, there were two voices,” Jed told the Headmaster. “But we only saw one person. Did the other get away?”

“You needn’t worry,” said Dumbledore as he held up a hand to stop Jed from mentioning anymore. “Those who were involved have parted ways with us. It is far better for you all if you try not to dwell on the events that have just transpired.” He gave a nod, before pushing himself out of his chair and pacing the room. “Rules were broken, things were saved, lives were wasted. You three are safe – as are the other three First-Year students who believed that they too could overcome dangerous events without the help of their superiors.” At this Professor Dumbledore stopped in front of one of the paintings and began a mumbled conversation.

Other students? You mean that there were others who attempted to do what we did? Who were they? What did they do? How did they find out? I knew that I could never ask these questions and that I would probably never discover the answers. It was just one of those things, I guess, that I will be pondering over for a long time.

As Professor Dumbledore returned to us, he praised each of us for the parts that we played. He congratulated me on my flying ability and promised to speak to Madam Hooch about my grade. He also congratulated Jed and I on our bravery to stick up to an enemy and both produce powerful defence spells, ensuring that our Defence Against the Dark Arts grade would be raised by fifteen percent, regardless of what our overall mark is. He praised Josie on her magic ability, telling her that there aren’t many witches or wizards alive today that could have stood up to the black mass (which he referred to as him) the way that she did by performing a spell that she had no comfort with, yet succeeding with such expectations. He let us know that all of our efforts had been recognised and that he would notify all of our Heads-of-House of our achievements.

We couldn’t get out of him what happened to the hooded figure, whether he made his way into the school or not. All we do know is Professor Dumbledore said to us, “It is with your acts of bravery that what happened was able to be put right. Now what occurred tonight is a danger that we hope will never be repeated again. I would thank you very much if you were to refrain from ever mentioning this moment again. But I would like to thank you all for your achievements and for helping to keep Hogwarts open.” The three of us could not stop smiling after that. We helped to save Hogwarts. The three of us. Three First-Year students helped save Hogwarts – well six actually, but the three of us helped. This is amazing. Absolutely amazing. Oh and of course, we kept by Professor Dumbledore’s word and swore not to speak of any of this to anyone. We’ll just keep it between us.

- Josie -