The Wandmaker's Granddaughter

The Wandmaker's Granddaughter Dreams

Amelia woke with her face pressed against the cold, stone floor of a passageway somewhere deep in the castle. Her night clothes were dirty and disheveled. Scratches bled across the palms of her hands and dried blood covered the edge of her mouth.

She managed to stand, the chill of the floor pressing into her bare feet as she struggled to find her bearings. The world seemed to tip haphazardly around her as Amelia struggled forward down the hall. She stumbled into a wall  before turning a corner and slumping back to the floor utterly lost and confused.

Memories came in waves and flashes: running, voices, the world of her dreams. The voices, whispers more piercing  than screams, saying "Come to me." "Find me." "Trust me." The voice that sounded warm, deep, loving.

Amelia pressed her throbbing hands against her head. Please stop, she thought. Not again.

"Amelia?"

Amelia looked up. It was Professor Longbottom.  

"What happened?" he asked helping her stand.

"I was dreaming," she muttered.

"Why are you here?"

"Where am I?"

"Let me help you.  Hold on," Professor Longbottom said lifting Amelia into his arms and beginning to carry her to the infirmary.  As they turned down another passage way they passed by a window that filled the hall with bright morning light.

"The forest," she whispered. "They wanted me to go to the forest."

"Who?" Professor Longbottom asked.

"The voices," Amelia said looking out at the Forbidden Forest. Professor Longbottom watched Amelia as he knit his brow. "The voices in my dream."

The professor stayed quiet as he brought Amelia to the hospital wing. They entered the bright infirmary as Mrs. Hannah Longbottom, Professor Longbottom's wife and school nurse, finished checking on a student with bursting pustules. She looked up and her eyes widened with surprise.

"What happened?" Mrs. Longbottom asked coming over to help them.

"I found her like this,"  Professor Longbottom said setting Amelia down on one of the beds where she curled up into a small ball.  "She was talking about voices in her dreams."

"Amelia?" Mrs. Longbottom asked gently reaching out to touch Amelia's arm.

Amelia looked at her.

"Are you okay?"

Amelia stayed silent, lost in her own mind. Professor and Mrs. Longbottom moved away from Amelia and began talking in hushed tones. The sun rose higher in the sky as the professor left to go to class and inform the headmistress about Amelia's condition

Mrs. Longbottom brought over some chocolate and began healing the cuts on Amelia's hands. Amelia winced as the skin closed shut and soon it was only a memory.

By noon Amelia had returned to relative normalcy. She was able to return and meet her friends at lunch much to their surprise and pleasure.

"Where have you been?" Lucy asked through a half eaten bite of food.

"I wasn't feeling well," Amelia said with little emotion looking down at her lap. Lucy leaned in closer followed by Athena and Ivy.

"What happened?" Lucy asked in a lower voice taking another bite for her lunch.

"Was it the Slytherins? Did they do something to you?" Athena asked glaring over at the Slytherin table.

"No, I was sleepwalking," Amelia said hesitantly.

"You sleepwalk?" Athena asked.

"Sometimes, but this time was really strange," Amelia said narrowing her eyes at the plate in front of her.

"How?" Lucy asked sipping her juice.

"There were voices . . . no, there was one voice. It was telling me to go into the forbidden forest," Amelia looked over to Lucy.  "I think that's where I was going in my sleep."

"Why?" Lucy asked.

"I don't know," Amelia said.

"It could be a prank by the Slytherins," Ivy chimed in.

"That must be it," Athena said glaring at the back of Nero's head.  "They're just trying to scare you."

"I don't think so," Amelia said. "It felt like someone I knew, but from a long time ago.  When I was little."