Clover Hawkings and the Triwizard Tournament

15. Midnight Breakthrough

Fingers pressed against my temples. A cave. Seaspray. Blood on rock.

"Clover?"

White knuckles wrapped around chair arms. A lake as black as death. A slimy hand floats.  A crystal basin. 

"Clov, are you okay?"

Back rigid against the chair. A seashell cup. A pale hand cups around sticky liquid. Wand is drawn. 

There's a rustling sound. Someone is getting out of bed. 

"Almost there..." the fingers are burning on my head. Into my head. Boots crunch on bone. A splash. Then, a scream.

My eyes flew open. 

I've done it again. It takes me a moment to realize my surroundings. It was a dream. No, a memory. Even better! This time, I saw my memory of a memory being given to me. A horrible memory, one with a cave and a lake and death. I could smell it. My mother could, too..... Because it was her memory. "Class Three Memory regain....I've found it, Cass..." My mother found something and hid in it me, then erased my memory of having it. And then died. Panic builds. 

"Well, fuck."

"Shhh.." 

"But I-"

"I've got you."

"I can't-" 

"Just breathe. Inhale, exhale."

"I'm fucking trying!"

"Clover, stay here." 

Soft sparkes from her wand pierce the darkness's thick hide. Artemis wraps her arms tighter around me. 

"Stay here." 

I will myself to do so. Not in my uncomplete homework, not in the day that changed everything years ago, not lost in a cloud of panic. Not in a wooden chair.  Here. 

Another swish from her wand. Multicolored bubbles, glowing softly, light the room. 

"Did- did you have a bad dream?" Artemis asks cautiously. 

"No. Yes." I struggle to explain. "It's in my head, but it's like I was there." 

"So it was a dream? Then it's not real, Clover. You know that." I know she's trying to make me feel better, but I'm not sure it's working.

"No." I tug myself out of Artemis's arms. "It's not a dream, because I can remember it perfectly, and it feels like I've been there before.  Plys, I could hear you. More like...a memory. Or a vision." 

"A memory," Artemis repeated. 

I take a deep breath and say: "My mother found something for the Order- oh but she was a D- oh but maybe she was a double agent, yes, and she buried the secret in my mind. What this cave-dream-memory thing was, that must have been part of it. Whatever it is also involves Karkaroff, which is why I had that memory regain because it had been triggered by him. Whatever it is, I need to find out what happened- what's happening," I think of the Triwizard successfully starting for the first time in years. It can't be a coincidence. 

Artemis stares.

I sink. 

"I'm gonna need alot more than that."

Oh. I realize what I've done. "Um, well, it's late, so," I reach around Artemis to grab my wand, point it at myself and whisper, "Dormeo." 

A heavy haze falls over me. Typical Clover way to solve the situation- put yourself magically to sleep and deal with it in the morning. I snuggle into my covers. My eyes weigh a million pounds. "Thanks for listening."

"Um," a dumbfounded Artemis flops down on her own bed, "Any time?" 

At the top is a quick drawing of this scene I did, hope you like it 😊 all rights reserved and such, do not use without permission. 

Have a good day, everyong!