Endgame

Chapter 66

One month later

"Hey, Hallie?" Lara called from the opposite side of the room. "Did you read Rita Skeeter's article? What a pile of dung."

"Is that the evil cow who said Harry was disturbed and dangerous back whenever she was writing that article on the Triwizard competition?" Hallie questioned, shoving more clothes into her backpack. "If height was measured by stupidity, you wouldn't be able to reach Skeeter."

Lara chuckled before tossing over the newspaper. "Read some of that."

"Stripping away the popular image of serene, silver-bearded wisdom, Rita Skeeter reveals the disturbed childhood, the lawless youth, the lifelong feuds and the guilty secrets Dumbledore carried to his grave. Oh Lara, please, I need to save my brain cells for useful things."

"I showed mum the article," Lara admitted. Hallie frowned deeply at the mention of her mum. Since she had decided to leave Hogwarts, she had been trying to pinpoint what her next move would be in her path of discovering the truth. Over the last month, the only thing that had occurred was the vivid dreams. Hallie slid down the wall, rubbing her eyes and sighing deeply.

"Hey," Lara ran over to her little sister. "I promise you, it's going to be okay. You will be okay, whatever decision we make may not be easy, but it will be right."

"I've had an idea, Lara, but I don't know if it will work," Hallie admitted.

Lara sat down beside her and put her arm around Hallie. "What's this?"

"Memory modification," Hallie stated, lifting out her old textbook from last year.

"For who, you?" Lara questioned.

"It's for mum," Hallie sighed. "I can't bring her with us, she's basically a muggle. She wouldn't stand a chance against a death eater and I couldn't bring myself to risk her life just to keep us happy."

"You don't know how long we're going to be away for," Lara stated. "This might not work."

"Well I'm taking the risk," Hallie stated, frustrated. "What other ideas do you have up your sleeve? People know who she is, Lara, and they will have a bounty on her head."

"What do you plan on doing once this is over? What if something happens to her while we are gone and we can't do anything about it?"

"I told you it was an idea, I've been working on it for a few weeks Lara, it would be a damn sight more helpful if you helped me execute it better instead of asking all of these questions you know I don't have the answer too."

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," Lara sighed. "I'm just worried. My heads been all over the place, Hal, I just want this to work so that mum will be okay."

"Come and sit," Hallie said, gesturing over to her bed. "Here's the piece of paper with the initial idea on it."

"We need to insert memories into mum's head. Fake ones that seem realistic and true," Hallie pointed at the diagram. "Here's the picture of the motion."

"This is really difficult, Lara. It takes loads of practise to master spells like these, years of dedication," Hallie sighed. "I don't know if I have it in me."

"Hallie Blackwell, are you doubting your abilities?" Lara questioned. "Do you know how gifted you're at charms? You will be able to do this."

"It's not just that," Hallie admitted. "There's something else I didn't tell you about."

"What?" Lara asked.