Rainbows (A Hogwarts Mystery Story)

Chapter 3

"What?! How could you not believe me?"

"I'm sorry, dear. We've all read the Daily Prophet--the Cursed Vaults are just myths. They don't really exist."

A shatter resounded through the empty kitchen as Jacob took his empty glass goblet and smashed it hard on the ground, between his chair and my mother's. For at least ten seconds, no one moved, the sudden shift in the atmosphere making the air tense. Both my parents looked like they were hit with the Impediment Jinx, which somehow seemed to bring Jacob some satisfaction as he turned to me, his eyes wild.

"Clara, you believe me, do you?"

I looked up at the deep brown eyes of my older brother, staring at him almost in incredulity. My younger self wasn't sure what to comprehend. "I--I don't know--"

"I thought so." Jacob turned his back on me with a downcast look in his eyes, muted anger making him hunch over. "I get it. None of you will ever understand."

With that, he stood up from the dinner table and tucked in his chair.

"Jacob--"

The name rose up my throat and stuck in my vocal chords, threatening to choke me as I tried to call after my sibling. But Jacob simply walked away with a final look of loathing in his eyes.

It was the last I saw of him, and I sat there, helpless, as he grabbed his black cloak from the closet and ran up the stairs.

It took every fibre in me not to scream after him.

---

"Rennervate!"

An impact flying as fast as a bullet soon hit me in the chest and I woke up, my mouth open in a scream and my eyes scanning wildly across the dormitory. The sight of Rowan looking at me with a worried look in her eyes made me freeze in my frenzy, heavy breathing escaping my open mouth as the shock slowly began to subside. Every muscle in me seemed to have been paralyzed in shock now; I found it difficult to breathe the longer I stood, wondering why I would be thinking of this memory in my dreams. Did something happen to my brother now that made him hate me, or worse, forget about me?

"Good Merlin, Clara," Rowan said, approaching me with a small frown. "Are you okay? You looked like someone put a Fully Body Bind Jinx over you."

I shook my head on impulse, collapsing back against my bed, and felt the mattress dip on my right as Rowan sat beside me and put an arm around my back. "I--I had a nightmare last night," I managed to say after a bit. 

"A nightmare? Talk to me about it," she implored.

So I did. I told her about the last day I saw Jacob, the day he refused to meet any of our eyes after we told him for what seemed to be the umpteenth time that the Cursed Vaults did not exist. I told her about the last look of loathing he had in his eyes when he walked away from me. Just like I did in first year before our prefect, Angelica Cole, helped us work on our duelling on the Training Grounds, I told her everything about my family.

"That seems harsh," Rowan finally murmured.

I nodded, rubbing the back of my neck to rid it of the cramp that was forming. "All we ever wanted was the best for him," I said quietly, glancing down at my hands. "How could that be possible now when we don't know where he is? I mean, I didn't believe him when I was younger. Now I wish I could take it all back."

"We've got clues and evidence, Clara," Rowan said firmly. "We'll use them to find him. I know he's still out there somewhere."

"I remember having a conversation with Rita Skeeter last year," I suddenly recalled, bolting up. "She said that he was being held captive somewhere, but she wouldn't give me any details."

The fear in Rowan's eyes was pretty hard to miss.

"Good Merlin. What do you think would happen to him?" Rowan asked me. "Or rather, what is happening to him?"

"I wish I knew," I said with a sigh. "I just hope he's alright."

Rowa nodded slowly, removing her arm from around me as we sat together in silence. My eyes caught sight of the sunlight streaming from the window into the small circular room, casting a beautiful golden glow over the floor. As good of a time it seemed now to snap out of the realm of dreams, it did nothing to thaw the paralysis in my limbs and release the vice-like grip clawing away at my heart. It was as if some part of the dream still remained within me.

"I know he will be," Rowan finally said. "Though I'm sure if he comes back, he wouldn't want to see you become a Hogwarts dropout. We still have classes today, remember?"

Of course we do. In fact, we'd have classes everyday, and we'd have to work hard to retain Gryffindor's reputation. "Yup," I agreed with a nod, offering her a confident smile. "I'm just about as ready as I'll ever be."

Moments later, we headed down to the Great Hall (though we were halted partway by Peeves who thought it was hilarious to drop grenades that allowed multicoloured blobs of paint to splatter all over the place), and took a seat at the Gryffindor table. Before we could even grab any food, however, we heard a familiar little scream from behind.

"What happened to you?" Ben asked the both of us as he brought out his wand from his robes, glancing at the pink, blue, white, purple, and green splats that decorated our clothes.

"Peeves," I said with a shrug as I turned to him. "Always up to mischief."

"Ah. I should have known," Ben said with a shake of his head, waving his wand at our robes. "Tergeo!"

In an instant, any trace of paint that was previously on our robes have now been siphoned away, leaving the black fabric gleaming like new.

"Thanks, Ben." I glanced up and smiled at him in appreciation, and he nodded back before taking a seat beside me.

"So...we've got Defence Against the Dark Arts, Charms, and...Care of Magical Creatures in the afternoon today," Rowan remarked as she glanced at the new timetable that Professor McGonagall was passing around up and down the Gryffindor table. "Sounds like a pretty good schedule."

"Care of Magical Creatures with the Slytherins, though." I took one look at the schedule and stuck my tongue out in disgust. "I wouldn't be surprised if Merula decided to shriek at the sight of a Flobberworm. I know Hagrid was breeding them just last year."

"I just hope there aren't any big beasts that would bite my head off," Ben said in a slight worry. "I'd rather keep myself in one piece this year."

"Don't worry, Ben. If you can conquer flying and a Cursed Vault, then a magical creature should hopefully be piece of cake," I said with a grin. "Now let's eat. I'm starving."

"Yeah, you'd better eat well, Lin. This may very well be your last meal."

I was not interested in having another argument with Merula Snyde, let alone even turn around to look at her when talking to her.

"I'm not going to die, okay?" I said rather loudly with a roll of my eyes, pretending to indulge in some food. "This is Hogwarts, not St. Mungo's. And I'm not on my deathbed, see?"

"Oh, I'm not blind," Merula sneered. "On the contrary, I can see what might happen quite well. Given your circumstances, you might not even live to see the next Cursed Vault, let alone your brother."

"Haven't you already had enough trouble with McGonagall at the feast?" Rowan backed up for me, her eyes unforgiving as they glared deep into Merula's violet ones. "You don't want to get even more punishment after that. Never in Hogwarts history had any House's points started with a negative balance."

The look on Merula's face was priceless. Never had I seen anyone mimic a sour toad so well.

"Don't mess with me, Khanna. There'll be enough trouble this year as it is," Merula countered, folding her arms with a slight huff and walking away. 

Despite Rowan and Ben trying to calm me down and reassuring me that I would be fine, my head swam with Merula's words. What in the world did she mean? Was I really in danger? Was Jacob in danger? Would either of us be alright?

Something told me that there would be much more than just a dangerous magical creature to worry about this year.