𝙎𝙋𝙀𝙇𝙇𝘽𝙊𝙊𝙆𝙎 !!! (Modern Hogwarts)

. 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙚

CHAPTER 3 - MEMORIES - September 2, 2019

LINNEA SHOT UP IN BED, gasping and breathing heavily as the last few images faded from her sight. The velvet green curtains that surrounded her on her 4-poster bed started to come into view. Apart from her ample breathing and a couple of snores from the other girls, the dormitory was silent.

She slowly slid the curtains open, and as quietly as she could, warily stepped to the window. She sleepily turned her head to check the time. The golden clock's rusty hands read 4:32 AM. Only about an hour and a half before the others would wake. "It was only a nightmare." She whispered to try to convince herself that it didn't happen. But it must have, she thought, it was so vivid, so...real. She shook her head to clear the worries out of her mind, sat on the window sill, and watched the fish and grindylows dart in and out of the kelp.

Her thoughts came back, though, drifting from the creatures of The Black Lake to her nightmare. She closed her eyes and steadied her breathing, as the vague images and sounds started coming back to her. She could hear a young boy's voice screaming: "No! Stop! Help! HELP!" As she tried to move from her place on the ground, she found herself unable to. The room that they seemed to be in was very damp and dark, except for the green and red bursts of light that bounced around the room trying to hit their mark. In the back of her mind, she could hear voices around the room and a terrible, maniacal cackling sound that echoed throughout the carved stone walls. The young boy was now silent.

Linnea opened her eyes and was back to looking out the window deep in thought. Now that she was awake and had time to think about it, those screams reminded her of Quincey. After that perturbing revelation, she started questioning her recollections of her nightmare. She began to think, why had he been screaming? Why couldn't she move? Why had someone been shooting spells at them? Was there anyone else there? Who had been casting incantations at them? Where was the dark, damp room? Who had she heard let out that awful, hyena-like laugh? Why did it sound so familiar?

She tried to stop the myriad of questions that formed in her brain, but to no avail. Why had he fallen silent toward the end? Had he been killed? Knocked out? Charmed quiet? Or had he fallen silent due to fear? What were those voices in the back of her mind? Were they actually there? Were they friends or foes? Was Quincey alright? Of course, Quincey is alright. You had just been with him less than twenty-four hours ago, idiot. Don't worry, she reminded herself. But was this just a nightmare? She already knew of a famous seer that she was a descendant of. Had she inherited her ancestor's gift? Could this nightmare possibly happen in the future? If it could, then when would it happen?

Linnea was soon snapped out of her thoughts by the horrible, obnoxious beeping of Hazel's alarm clock. Had it really been an hour and a half already? "Will someone please shut that thing up?!" Ruth shouted at the top of her lungs as her head of tangled red hair arose from an olive pillow. She had never been a morning person. Mumbles of agreement drifted through the room, as Amelia shoved her overstuffed pillow on top of her head and burrowed herself deeper into her blankets. The clock still didn't give up, even after Hazel had given it a few good hits in her attempts to turn it off. "BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!" It protested as EJ kept hitting it with the silencing charm. Though in her daze, she had only made the sound grow louder. "BEEP!!! BEEP!!! BEEP!!!" It continued, when suddenly Linnea, who had been on the window sill watching the scene with amusement evident on her face, finally moved away from the window and gently pressed the off button. Silence followed, and sighs of relief escaped each of her roommates.

Her roommates consisted of Hazel Wilson, EJ Hall, Ruth Martin, and Amelia Robinson. After the second wizarding war, the population of witches and wizards started to increase again. Therefore, all the common rooms were expanded and more dorms were added with an undetectable extension charm. Now, the boys get three dorms per year and the same with the girls. Five people or less were always assigned to a dorm.

Hazel was a half-blood, middle child of three, and most definitely, no questions asked, the mom of the group. She was one hundred and sixty-eight centimeters with wavy, black hair that reached to the middle of her spine and gorgeous, aquamarine eyes. Hazel was actually the oldest of their group of girls, though being only two days older than EJ (she was very proud of this accomplishment).

EJ was a half-blood, youngest child out of three, and the group intellect. She was about two inches shorter than her noirette roommate, had straight, platinum blonde hair that just barely touched her hips, and sparkling blue eyes. EJ was one of those people who saw the majority of things as 'if you want something done right, do it yourself'. She tended to correct everyone under her breath. It didn't matter what year they were in or even if they were a professor, they would be corrected.

Ruth was the muggle-born and the most fashion-oriented and flirtatious of them all. She was the shortest in the dorm at one hundred and fifty-eight centimeters and had wavy, red hair, normally in a long bob cut, paired with beautiful, hazel eyes. If anyone wanted advice about any kind of relationship, family and friends included, she would be there and try her best to help. If you interrupted her beauty rest, though, something was bound to be thrown across the room.

Amelia was a pureblood and was probably the most athletic of the five, and definitely the prankster of their dorm. She was around the same height as EJ, had curly, dirty, elbow-length blonde hair, and had pretty, bright green eyes. Oh, that Gryffindor was being a jerk and insulted you? They would most certainly regret it and apologize. If not, then they would be stuck with bright yellow skin or wouldn't be able to stop speaking in rhyme for two months (these had already happened to multiple people).

"Why did we need to set an alarm again?" Ruth questioned as she ran her brush through the tangles of her hair. "We do it so we don't sleep in and miss class like last year," EJ replied. "I explained it all last night, don't you remember?" Linnea tried very hard not to zone out while she re-explained everything that she had said the night before, about how everyone's body adapts to a sleep schedule.

"That's great, EJ, but if we don't get ready and go to breakfast now, we will be late to class!" Hazel interjected worryingly. As soon as she finished her sentence, there was a sudden scramble for the bathroom. Amelia had burst out from underneath her covers and had somehow beaten everyone to the bathroom, even though it was across the room from her bed. Linnea had not moved a muscle, knowing full well how it would end if she, too, had tried to get to the bathroom first. Once everyone had pounced and fallen to the floor from running into the door that had been slammed shut by Amelia, Linnea calmly walked to her bed and sat down. She glanced at her schedule sitting on her bedside table. Soon, Linnea once again found herself being pulled back into her thoughts.