The New Age - Emily Potter Series Finale

Chapter Eleven - Ghostly Encounters

"I don't want to study anymore," Belinda whined, tossing her book to the grass and along with it went her attention span. "My brain is fried."

Minerva looked up from her copy of Spellman's Syllabary, aghast at the thirteen-year-old lying down on the field with her eyes on the clouds. "It's been twenty minutes. I've only asked you to translate seven lines – "

"My brain is short-circuiting. Come lie down with me for like, five minutes." She begged, quickly grabbing her tutor by the arm and forcing her to lie down on the grass with her. Minerva sighed, joining the movement of tossing textbooks away from sight.

She did have to admit that taking a break was an inspired idea. It was a beautiful November morning, and even more so by the banks of the Black Lake. Minerva closed her eyes and felt her body melt into the sweet fragrant field, the tips of her fingers felt like they were being pulled by the blades of grass. She was certain that this was a perfect example of her ideal day; the wind howled enough to cool you with its breeze, but not too much that it would make your ears blush red, and the sun present with its warmth although covered by tufts of pillow-like clouds.

Belinda had her head in the clouds, trying to spot one that could resemble any figure that she was familiar with but to no avail, she found them all to look like formless lumps. The girl rested her head with her cheek against the earth, her eyes catching sight of a gargantuan slab of black marble that sat ominously on a small hill in its lonesome. "Hey, Min."

"Mhm?"

"Have you ever thought of the chances of a war happening again in our time?"

The sixth-year Slytherin opened her eyes, instinctively looking at the memorial monument to the far side of the field. "I can't say that I have, and I can only hope that the Battle of Hogwarts is the last one for all of Wizarding History." Belinda tugged on Minnie's sleeve, "Let's take a look at it."

"Surely you've already seen it when you were a first-year,"

"I have but it wouldn't hurt to take another look at it, right? Come on! Right after this, we can go back to melting my brain cells with Ancient Runes."

"Bold of you to assume you have any brain cells left – "

"MALFOY!" Belinda screamed, throwing a handful of grass at Minerva's face as retaliation. "Now you have to go with me, come on – " Slowly but surely, she had managed to haul Minerva into a sitting position and then proceeded to hoist her up from under her arms like a toddler. "Really now, you are a grown woman!"

Amused at the sight of seeing a tiny girl attempt to carry a person roughly five times their body mass, Minerva finally put the joke to rest and stood on her own, smiling snidely at Belinda. The two walked together towards the monument and at the five-foot mark, they could already make out the golden engravings that glowed on the black marble.

IN MEMORIAM

The Fallen Fifty of The Battle of Hogwarts

May 2, 1998

Minerva was too young to recognize the depth behind the monument when she first saw it, but she could remember how cold the stone felt under her little hands when her parents had brought them over to Hogwarts for the ten-year anniversary of the war. She could remember seeing her mother and Uncle Harry standing alone in front of it while her father and Aunt Ginny played with them by the lake, Minnie recalled the ghostly look in their eyes and how quickly it had faded once their children were in sight.

Belinda gently nudged her, prompting her out of the memory. "Do you know any of these names, Min?"

"I know him," She pointed to one of the first names atop the stone. "He's one of my Aunt Ginny's older brothers. She says that he died in a duel with death eaters."