The Unknown of the Order (Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery

Lost and Found

When he woke up, everything was strange and unfamiliar. He was uncertain where or even who he was. He blinked his tired eyes open enough to look around the large, brightly lit room. There were beds with curtains around him. This brought back a memory of school. Was he a student?

He tried to sit up, but his muscles flooded with pain. At last, something familiar. He understood the pain. He let it overwhelm his entire body, and then he remembered who he was. Barnaby Lee. He'd been taken and tortured by his parents. But where was he now? Where were they?

"Barnaby?" He flinched automatically at the voice, causing another nauseating wave of pain to course through him.

A woman leaned over his bed. He could just make out her face through his barely opened eyes.

"Barnaby, do you recognize me?"

Though the pain of it nearly made him black out, he managed a small smile. "Hi, Chiara."

Chiara gave a sigh of relief before holding a bottle to his lips. "Drink this," she said. "For the pain."

Barnaby opened his mouth, allowing her to tip the potion into his mouth. As soon as he swallowed, the pain dulled to the kind of soreness one feels after intense exercise. He could live with that.

"Do you know where you are, Barnaby?" Chiara asked.

"No."

"You're at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries." She bustled about, shining light from her wand in his eyes, listening to his heart, and writing her findings on a clipboard. "We believe you were attacked."

"I was," he said, rubbing his eyes.

"So, you remember what happened to you?"

"Not really."

This wasn't true. Every second, more memories of the past few days came back to him, but he didn't want to tell Chiara anything he shouldn't. He also didn't want to relive any of that again.

"How did I get here?" he asked instead.

"Sarah Spellman brought you here. Last night."

"Sarah's here?" His heart shuddered.

"Not yet," she said. "I sent her home to get some sleep. I'm sure she'll be back to visit you soon, though."

Barnaby sighed happily. He slipped his hand into his pocket.

Not there.

His whole pocket wasn't there. He looked down at himself to realize he wasn't wearing the robes he'd had on when he'd been abducted by his parents, but some sort of hospital gown.

"Where are my robes?" he asked in a rising panic.

"We've sent them to be cleaned and mended," said Chiara. "They were in pretty bad shape."

"There was a box," he said. "A box in the pocket of my robes. What have you done with it?"

Chiara shook her head. "I'm sorry Barnaby, but you didn't have anything on you when you arrived here. Not even your wand."

"No," he moaned, slamming his head back against the pillows This made his vision fuzzy, so he closed his eyes. "I've lost it! I can't believe it!"

"It's alright, Barnaby," said Chiara. "Don't let yourself get upset. You'll be able to buy a new wand as soon as you're ready to leave here."

But he didn't care about the wand. His parents must have found the ring in his pocket. What had they done with it? The thought of it being in his father's hands made his blood boil.

He couldn't remember being this angry, not since his early days at Hogwarts when all the other students called him the Troll, and he'd settled all his problems with his wand or his fists.

Those fists were clenched tightly again until Chiara rested her hands on them.

"Try to calm down, we don't want to put anymore stress on your body," she said.

He did feel some of the pain returning, as if his anger literally did make his blood boil.

He took a deep breath, trying to relax.

"I can give you a sleeping potion," said Chiara with another glance at her clipboard.

"No, I'm alright," he said. "I want to be awake when Sarah gets here."

Chiara smiled. "So you two are still dating then?"

"I...don't know."

Chiara brought up her clipboard, her quill at the ready. "You mean, you don't remember?"

Barnaby shook his head. "I mean, I just...don't know."

Chiara sat down beside him. "Why don't you and I talk for a bit, and we'll see how much you remember about things." She must have seen uneasiness on his face, because she added, "We don't have to talk about your attack. Why don't we start with our Hogwarts days? Do you remember your favorite class?"

"Care of Magical Creatures," he said. "It was my best subject. I'm a magizoologist now."

Chiara smiled and nodded as she wrote on her clipboard. "Good, good. What else do you remember?"

They talked like that for a while until exhaustion overcame him and he fell asleep.