Reverse Falls: A Hogwarts Story

Avoidances and Confrontation

It had been two weeks since the Halloween incident and nothing had been the same. Gideon was much more withdrawn than he had been before. Pacifica noticed and was trying to figure out why and Gideon was trying his best to avoid confrontation. It wasn't easy, considering that he all he wanted to tell her, but what else could he do? He had nightly check-ins with Linus as he slept, where Linus checked in and made sure that Gideon kept his secret. He was constantly grilled on what he did that day and who he talked to and what he talked about. Once Linus was certain that all was well, he would tell Gideon everything he remembered from his life to try and figure out who he was, then assigned reading.

Gideon had been told to read at least fifty pages of the book each day before he went to sleep. He would have to summarize what he read to Linus who would stand there thinking for a long time before Gideon snapped him out of it. Linus would tell Gideon any new knowledge that may have surfaced from the fogginess of his mind whenever he could. Which was not as often as he would have liked, especially since he wanted to figure this mystery out. What was the room where the book was held? Who built it? How old was this book? And most importantly, who wrote it?

He did not have the answers, due to a combination of Linus having amnesia and how a good portion of the journal had been written in another language. Not to mention that at least half the pages in the journal were blank. So it didn't take long for Gideon to finish the book as there were very few parts he could understand. Even the parts he did understand didn't make sense to him. So he spent every free minute he had trying to find the language that the rest was written in. Unfortunately, he had turned up unsuccessful and was nearly at the end of his rope. The only thing that kept him going on as of late was Linus, who kept somehow convincing him to not quit, not yet.

"Listen, I get that this is hard, but it has been years since I have been awoken." He said at the latest check-in. "We must have met for a reason and I want to know why. I know you do too."

Gideon didn't say anything. He hated the fact Linus was right. He did want to know why all this happened to him of all people. He still couldn't understand the appeal of choosing someone like him to hold the power and secrets of the journal. If anything the journal should have chosen Pacifica or Kathy. They were braver and stronger than he could ever be.

Speaking of Kathy, she seemed to be avoiding them lately. He hadn't realized at first because he had been so preoccupied with his situation with the journal and it wasn't until Pacifica pointed it out that he finally took notice.

"Hey, where is Kathy?" She asked one morning. She had been glancing around the room for the fifth time that day, looking for the girl.

Gideon looked up breaking out of his now daily trance for the first time in a long time. He followed Pacifica's example and searched the great hall for the familiar braided raven hair of Kathy Rollins. When there was no sign of her there he quit his search and faced his breakfast once again. He was so focused on his problems he was willing to overlook Kathy's unusual behavior. Pacifica, however, wasn't.

"Have you noticed her avoiding us lately?" She asked brows furrowed. "I mean I can't remember talking to her since Halloween. And it's not like we did anything bad to her that day, right?"

Pacifica suddenly looked worried, wondering if she somehow, unknowingly offended Kathy. Gideon, feeling it was his moral duty as a friend to comfort her, decided to stop thinking about his problems for right now. So he turned to her and patted her gently on the back, trying to soothe her.

"Look, I'm sure that you did nothing wrong. I was there with you and Kathy that day and nothing seemed out of the ordinary at the time. Maybe it's just family stuff, you know? I mean, things certainly haven't gotten easier for the Rollins."