War for Hogwarts: Episode 4 (A Harry Potter Fanfiction by Mark Borne)

When Mark got back to the Hufflepuff common room, he felt like he had walked into a party. Everyone was cheering and getting excited. “What’s all this about?” Sofi wondered.

          “We are so gonna slay Slytherin at this weeks game!” one of the Quidditch players told her.

          “Oh, so boring stuff,” Mark concluded. “Got it.”

          “Hey, if they want to be unreasonably happy, let them,” Sofi told him, although her voice was playful and lighthearted. “We can just go invent our own super cool sport. Like…hoverball?”

          “Hoverball…” Mark agreed reluctantly. “Yes. That super cool game…”

          “I probably overdid it, didn’t I?” Sofi sighed.

          “Everyone!” Hailey’s voice shouted over the noise. “I know you’re excited, but we have classes tomorrow, and we need to wake up bright and early if we’re going to earn more house points! Off to the dorms!”

          Everyone began moving towards their beds, agreeing with Hailey’s logic. “See you tomorrow,” Sofi told Mark, and Mark grinned.

          I’ve got a real friend and I don’t have potions tomorrow. Tomorrow is going to be the best day yet.

         

“Quidditch practice was yesterday?” asked one of the members of the Quidditch team. Mark thought his memory was bad, but he was pretty sure he’d remember something that had been as exciting as Quidditch practice apparently was.

          “Yes,” Hailey told him, obviously annoyed. “What’s wrong with you? Did someone cast an amnesia spell on you?”

          “I don’t know,” the other replied. “We must have been about average. I can’t recall any of the details. It’s like I was spaced out.”

          “We did awesome,” the Quidditch leader told him. “You don’t remember?”

          “No,” he replied. Mark’s feeling from the previous night had vanished.

          “Mark?” Sofi asked, and Mark whirled around. “What’s going on? Why can’t they remember?”

          “You’re asking me?” Mark inquired incredulously. “I don’t even know how to cast lumos!”

          “Two minds are better than one,” Sofi sighed. “Maybe if we drank some liquid luck…”

          “No, that’s too valuable,” Mark told her firmly. “Dumbledore will figure it out. Or Kiera. But hopefully Dumbledore.”

          “Haven’t you heard?” Sofi asked Mark. “Dumbledore’s gone. Rumor has it, he left Hogwarts to try to catch Voldemort.”

The next day, more people had forgotten different things. Professor McGonagall had instructed everyone to remain calm, as all the professors were trying to solve the problem in their free time.

          Mark found himself in Potions Class, facing Snape once again. He watched Sofi drink a sip of Felix Felicia out of the corner of his eye and wished he could taste it, too.

          Kiera once again dominated his part of Potions Class, and he was grateful that Snape seemed to take no notice of that fact. Immediately afterwards, he went to Charms Class. “Today, we will be learning the Flipendo charm,” Professor Flitwick squeaked.

          A Ravenclaw student raised his hand, and with Flitwick’s nod, stood to speak. “Does this have to do with the Amnesia Curse? Are you preparing us to come face-to-face with You-Know-Who?”

          “I can assure you, You-Know-Who is not behind the amnesia attacks,” Flitwick told the student. “And even if he was, nothing we can do can prepare you to face him, but we are preparing you, in case you come face-to-face with whoever is behind the attacks.”

          Kiera raised her hand, much to Mark’s annoyance. “What about Expelliarmus? Isn’t that equally important, if not more?”

          “The disarming charm is indeed important, but Flipendo is of greater importance,” Flitwick replied. “Expelliarmus, however, is a high priority as well.” After a few minutes of students practicing, he instructed everyone to pair up, and Mark noticed that he didn’t say, “pair up into groups of two”.

          “You first,” Kiera told Mark. “I’m pretty sure I’ve already mastered it.”

          “I don’t doubt you,” Mark acknowledged. “Flipendo!” Kiera remained standing, although she had burst into a series of laughter. “Did I accidentally cast the tickling charm?” he moaned.

          “No, I just think your pronunciation is hilarious,” Kiera managed to say, despite her laughter. “Flipendo!” Her wand was not raised, and nothing happened, so Mark got the sense that she was mocking him.

          “Think you can do better?” he retorted.

          Kiera’s laughter faded and she smirked at him. “Flipendo!” This time, her wand was raised and pointed at him.

          Mark felt the air in his chest vanish as he went soaring and hit the wall behind him. He landed with a dull thud, and his ears began to ring from the impact.

          “…right?” Kiera asked, her voice small. Mark blinked rapidly, trying to readjust his vision. “Um, Professor Flitwick, am I going to lose points for this?”

          “Not this time,” Flitwick’s voice said. “It’ll be useful for him knowing how the knockback jinx affects people.”

          “Okay, thank you,” Kiera replied.

          “Let’s never speak of this again,” Mark told Kiera darkly.