(HOGWARTS MYSTERY) Janelle Morgan -- Year 1: The Forbidden Corridor

Chapter 13: Inside the Room

It seemed like yesterday, I had just begun my fantastic journey to Hogwarts, and now, it was the last day of final exams for the school year; and tomorrow, we would have the End-Of-Year Feast before boarding the train to head back home for the summer the day after that. Needless to say, it was unbelievable how quickly the year had passed.

This whole year has been filled with magic and friendship, which was everything a witch like me could ask for, but there was something missing that made this year not quite as magnificent as it should've been...

Any and all clues on the whereabouts of my brother.

But all of that was going to change very soon, because tonight, with the help of my friends, I was going to recover those clues from the mysterious room behind the locked door in the forbidden corridor; and once I did, I was going to be one step closer to finding him.

On the way back to the Gryffindor Common Room after my penultimate final exam, I had the unfortunate accident of catching sight of the one person I did not expect to see outside the Common Room—the caretaker, Mr. Filch; though this time, his filthy cat, Mrs. Norris, was not with him like she often was. She was more than likely patrolling the forbidden corridor, while Snape and Filch were working. Filch was glancing suspiciously around the corridor, seeming like he was waiting for someone. Maybe he was still looking for the two Gryffindors (Rowan and I) that he claimed his cat had seen just before the Christmas holidays, I thought. This thought made me smile, knowing that it was now the end of the year, and he still hadn't suspected it was us who had snooped in the corridor that night.

I tried sneaking my way past him as a large group of Gryffindors was entering the Common Room, but he caught me before I could enter.

"Where do you think you're goin'?" he growled at me as he stepped right in front of me, blocking me from entering.

Trying to act all innocent, I shook my head and said, "Me? Nowhere. Nowhere special. Just my dorm room. That's not considered rule-breaking, is it?" I then paused, thinking that last bit wasn't the best thing to say, especially to Filch. He seemed like the type of guy that would look for any excuse to punish a student, even if there wasn't a reason at all. "The stories I've heard about how he punishes misbehaving students make Snape look like a pleasant Hufflepuff," Rowan's words rang in my mind—stories that I really didn't want to find out about, certainly not now.

Instead of answering, Filch glared at me suspiciously and recognizably, making my skin crawl. "You're Jacob Morgan's sister, aren't you?" He said my brother's name bitterly, like that was how it physically tasted on his tongue.

Instead of lying, I decided to tell the truth for once, especially when he might actually be on to me about being in the forbidden corridor after hours that night. "Yes, I am," I said, "but I'm not lik—"

Filch didn't let me finish my confession. He interrupted me, saying with contempt in his scratchy voice, "Your brother was one o' the nastiest li'le rule-breakers this school 'as ever seen. I was sad to see 'im expelled."

That last statement suddenly made me pause. "You were?" I asked, frowning in confusion. As someone who loathed misbehaving students like my brother, it didn't make sense to me why Filch would feel sad to see him go.

"I was," he confirmed. "I missed my chance to 'ang 'im from the ceiling by his wrists."

"Oh." I was shocked after hearing this. As sick as the idea was, this was something that Filch should be thrown in Azkaban for. Who in their right mind would do such a thing?

Filch then smirked at me, showing rotten, yellow teeth. "Now I 'ave a second chance with you."

He seemed to truly mean what he was saying, but I wasn't going to let him scare me. "With respect," I said seriously, "I don't know what you think I am, but I'm not like my brother, Mr. Filch."