Harry Potter and the Lost Cities

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Sophie dreamt she was a witch.

If she was being honest, she'd dreamt this before; in fact, she was pretty sure that every Harry Potter fan ever had dreamt of seeing Hogwarts and meeting their heroes, Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Sophie having been a Potterhead since she was eight, of course she'd had several dreams over the years involving everything from the Giant Squid to Voldemort.

Yet, this one was different. Sure, Sophie still held a wand in her hand, and her subconscious knew, somehow, that she was a witch. But in this dream, she didn't stand with Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson― the people that, until recently, she'd known to be Harry, Ron, and Hermione― and Hogwarts was nowhere in sight.

Rather, Sophie stood in Harry's living room, and the only living thing in sight, crazy enough, was Kreacher.

"Young mistress," Kreacher bowed deeply to her. "What can Kreacher do for you?"

"I'm not your mistress," Sophie's dream-self replied. "Why are you bowing to me?"

"But of course you are, Mistress Sophie," Kreacher's eyes were wide with insistence. "You've just forgotten..."

The dream shifted. The part of Sophie that was aware of what was happening seemed to fight to return to Kreacher, to demand answers, but her subconscious wouldn't have it. This time, she did see Hogwarts, along with a very unwelcome sight: Lady Gisela.

"Sophie," Lady Gisela said, cool and calculated. "Haven't you figured it out yet?"

The aware part of her begged to ask what Lady Gisela was talking about, but dream-Sophie said nothing.

"It's so simple," Lady Gisela laughed, motioning towards Hogwarts. "I thought you were special, that you were smart enough to figure it out. It's not that difficult."

This time, dream-Sophie did say something, although it wasn't what her consciousness was hoping she'd say. "Good-bye, Lady Gisela," she watched herself whisper. Then, Sophie lifted her arm, light flowing from the wand she held. It hit Lady Gisela in the chest, and she staggered backward, stuttering until she collapsed on the ground. Motionless.

Sophie watched in horror. She'd just killed someone. Vaguely, she knew it was just a dream, yet it felt so real.

The dream started to fade, and again, Sophie tried to stop it. She had to get back there. If she could, maybe she could help Lady Gisela before the guilt shattered her mind. And she had to figure out what Lady Gisela was talking about. If she could only get back... she struggled to stay there, in her subconscious, hoping that somehow, she'd find all her answers.

But it was too late. Sophie's eyes flew open, and she felt herself shaking, heard herself crying.

"Shh, Sophie, you're okay," a gentle voice insisted, but Sophie didn't want to hear it. Her dream-self had killed Lady Gisela, but even in death, the Neverseen member had eluded her.

She felt a vial press against her lips, and she wanted to refuse it, to spit out the contents, but she felt too weak. The liquid sloshed in her mouth for a moment before she automatically swallowed.

As her bedroom in Havenfield came into focus, Sophie wanted to sigh at the familiar scene, but she didn't think her lungs could suck in enough air. How many times, exactly, had this happened? She'd failed at something and ended up on bedrest for who knew how long.

The reminder of her failures, though, drew her back into the present, as she remembered what had brought about this particular catastrophe and a pair of ice-blue eyes flashed through her mind. "Keefe!" she exclaimed, although her voice was so weak that she was shocked Elwin heard her.