Dear Diggory

chapter 41

That Friday my apparition class had been cancelled, which meant I had the day free.

Our geographical orientation group thought that we should use the free time to explore another location.

We'd decided to visit the Shrieking Shack; Cedric wasn't available to come because he had extra quidditch practice for the game on Sunday. When he told me I was disappointed, but I didn't reveal that to him. He already seemed stressed enough about the game.

And so, Jackson, Ava and I were on our way to the shack. Winter was beginning to set in and it was significantly colder than a few days earlier. I glanced up at the heavy clouds above us and wondered when it would begin to snow.

The students loved this time of the year, particularly because they got to have snow ball fights and go sledding. Someone always tried to bring one into potions class to throw at Snape's head when his back was turned. Not that they ever succeeded, the man had eyes on the reverse, sides and top of his head.

The walk was fairly long, but eventually we emerged from the woods in front of the barbed wire fence. We stopped for a moment and eyed the building in the distance.

It looked how it usually did, it was in great disrepair making it was obvious no one had touched it in decades. The outer wooden structure was splintered and it leant to the left slightly at a peculiar angle. I wondered how it was still standing really, I hoped it would be safe to enter at least.

We trudged around the fence, looking for an opening. Multiple signs were scattered along the wire warning of danger and not to enter but we ignored them. We soon found a big enough split in the barricade and slipped through, making our way up the slight hill to the front door.

I had never been this close to the shack and I noticed now that the wood was lighter than it appeared from a distance.

The front door was very grand with a large tree knocker and it was obvious that the house had once belonged to a wealthy family. It made me wonder what had happened to them, what horrors, if any, that we might find inside.

We stopped there for a while so I could sketch the outside view of the shack into the journal. I tried to work quickly before my hands got too cold and the others wrote descriptive notes.

Once we were finished Jackson twisted the doorknob and pushed hard against the heavy weight of it. The door opened and swung on its hinges with an almost comically-exaggerated creak.

We stepped into the space slowly as our breath froze in the air. The inside was somehow colder than outside and a draft whistled through the house.

The room was fairly empty, a few pieces of furniture remained but they were in terrible condition. A lot of them were covered with old white sheets and years worth of dust coated everything in sight.

The fireplace still had coal in it, as if someone had prepared it to be lit and gotten distracted with another task.

After a brief discussion, we decided to walk around the bottom floor and note all the rooms before moving on.

There were five in total; the living room, kitchen, dining room, parlour and an office. They were all similarly sparse of furniture and life.

In the parlour there were portraits and I was surprised I could still make out the figures despite the faded quality of the paint. The main one revealed a regal lady sitting on a chair, the man, who I assumed to be her husband, was stood behind her with a hand on her shoulder and a little boy knelt at their feet. It was a charming image and it was strange to think the building had once been a home to a normal family. That someone could just be there, and then one day be gone.