War for Hogwarts: Episode 8 (A Harry Potter Fanfiction by Mark Borne)

Sorry, forgot to schedule one for yesterday. Anyways, this is the penultimate episode of Season 1 of War for Hogwarts.

When Mark awoke the next day, he found an owl waiting on a chair. It fluttered a little and flew over to him, and dropped a letter on his lap. “What’s this?” he wondered. He opened it.

          Dear Sanderson,

          I have been watching your movements with great interest. I have already supplied a few other Hogwarts students in the past, your sister. Hannah, and your friend, Sofi, are among them. I have something to give you, too, though. I did not know if you should be the one to take this path, but after your survival of the Killing Curse, it is evident that only you can finish this. Find Dumbledore and have him cast a Memory Extraction Spell on himself. As for which memory, tell him to look for the fifth day of the month of his graduation from Hogwarts. The memory he extracts should then be viewed by you, and you should follow the memory to the location you see, and you will find the source of the Amnesia Curse. Farewell, Mark. I will be watching you with even greater intestest.

Sincerely, an Interested Third Party

“And it’s in print, so it’s not like I can identify someone’s handwriting,” Mark grumbled. He looked up, but the owl was gone. He went downstairs.

          “I saw the owl,” Sofi told him. She was stirring some sort of soup in a kettle over a fire. “It came to me first. Told me what it was telling you.” She turned to Mark. “Please. Don’t go. You could die.”

          “If I don’t, Hogwarts could fall,” Mark told her. “Once the Ministry of Magic finds out, they’ll stop at nothing to shut this place down.” He also remembered what Dumbledore had said. If it’s a continuation of another attack, then we have an enemy, and I have to stop him.

          Sofi nodded, understanding his logic. “At least eat some of this soup before you go. You’ll need strength and energy, and I put a Strengthening Solution in here. You wanted Kiera to teach it to you, right?”

          “I did,” Mark muttered. It seemed like so long ago, now, even though in his memories, it was a couple of days ago. Sofi poured him a bowl and he started to eat. “When was the Strengthening Solution sweet?” he asked her. “I never heard anything of it being sugary.”

          “That’s not the secret ingredient,” Sofi whispered, almost mournfully. She fingered her necklace. Mark noticed something different about it.

          “You used the rest of your potion in the soup?” he asked her, his eyes widening. She nodded. “Why?”

          Sofi seemed puzzled, as far as what to say. “Let’s just say, I hope you can remember when we first met.”

          Mark remembered when he first met her. It was in the Hufflepuff common room with Hailey. But something told him he had forgotten something.

          So Mark simply nodded as if he understood. “I’ve got to go alone, don’t I?”

          “My letter says so, at any rate,” Sofi shrugged. “Any clue who it is?”

          Mark thought for a moment and then shook his head. “As far as I know, I’ve never met this person.” He stared at Sofi. “I guess I’ve got to go. The sooner this is over with, the better.”

          “Before you go,” Sofi told him hurriedly, as he turned to leave. She blushed slightly and kissed his cheek. “In case you need extra luck.”

          Mark smiled and nodded, leaving with a good feeling. Of course, that also means that I now know exactly how much she’s counting on me, and exactly how badly I can fail her.

Mark met Dumbledore immediately. “You need to remember the fifth month of your graduation from Hogwarts!” Mark blurted.

          Dumbledore’s eyebrows raised. “And what makes you say that?” he asked curiously.

          “I got a letter,” Mark told Dumbledore. “It said that, wherever you were on that day, that’s where the source of the Amnesia Curse is.”

          “The only other person who knows of that memory is Grindelwald,” Dumbledore muttered. “Did he send you the letter?”

          “I’m not sure,” Mark responded. “But don’t you think if there’s a chance this is true, we’ve got to go?”

          Dumbledore looked ready to object, but he smiled instead. “Yes, yes, of course. The safety of Hogwarts is our main concern. But are you sure you can handle whoever’s there?”

          “No, but I have to try,” Mark replied. Fear spiraled around him.

          “That’s my boy!” a familiar voice cried. Mark turned and found the Sorting Hat. “I knew you would rise to the occasion! Though, honestly, I had no idea you were this courageous. Even little old me is wrong sometimes!”

          “Why did you put me in Hufflepuff?” Mark asked it. “What did you see in me?”

          “I saw an ignorant little boy who wanted his way,” the Hat replied. “I wanted to show you that the unexpected, and the unwanted, can become the most amazing thing of all. Use that knowledge, Sanderson! Stop the Amnesia Curse! I can’t forget a thing, of course, but I could always be destroyed if you fail!”

          Mark gave the Sorting Hat a look. “Thanks. Very helpful.”

          “I told you I’m encouraging, Dumbledore!” the Sorting Hat crowed.

          “He was being sarcastic,” Dumbledore told the Hat.

          “Oh, well, I almost had it,” the Hat countered. Dumbledore held out a small vial to Mark.

“During your chat with the Hat, I retrieved the memory for you.,” Dumbledore told Mark sternly. It was as serious as Dumbledore had ever been in front of Mark. “Be careful. Whatever lies before you defeated me. Whatever it is can just as easily kill you.”