Muggle | 𝐹𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑊𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑙𝑒𝑦

Chapter 85

"Wh-what?" My lips fell slightly apart as I stared at Dumbledore, as if I had heard him wrong.

     "Sirius is alive," he said again. "You saved him."

     "How — but I thought — how is this possible?" I mused, blinking rapidly.

      "Now that's what I've been asking myself as well," said Dumbledore with a smile. "How is this possible?"

     I was still too dazed and shocked to utter a word, so as I remained silent, he went on,

     "How is it possible that you were able to do magic?" Dumbledore repeated himself. "What happened last night had been one of my guesses, Lexi, from long ago. But I wasn't sure. I couldn't be sure. So I decided not to talk to you about it just yet."

     "What is it, sir?" I asked feebly.

     "I'd told you once before that it wasn't an accident that you were sent back here. I told you that there was something you had to change, yet I didn't know what it was. And I told you that when the time came, you'd receive a sign. And that was it, Lexi. That was the sign."

     "The — the blue lights?" I questioned, gulping. "What was that? What happened to me?"

     "The lights were called the Illuminers. They are the effects of an ancient magic, Lexi. Something I'd never seen before, and only heard about," he said. "Although, this ancient magic is not so much of a spell, but rather, an ancient Potion. The Concealment Potion."

     "I — I've never read about it before... What is that?"

     "It's a complex potion to make, that when drank, it hides the drinker's magic inside them. It conceals the magic within themselves."

     I felt my mouth go dry as my heartbeat picked up, staring at him with widened eyes, hungry to hear more.

    "As it seems, Lexi, you've been given the Concealment Potion soon after you were born, before the Ministry could put the trace on you. But why would anyone wish to do that, I do not know. Perhaps... a protection? But from what?"

My mind started wondering off, my head spinning with all the possibilities. Then last night, what I had done at the Ministry... it wasn't a hallucination. It was real. I had picked up a wand. I had performed a spell. I had done magic.

I was still too in shock and therefore remained wordless, so Dumbledore went on as I was in silence.

     "The Concealment Potion is a powerful potion and once you drank it, all signs of magic was hidden inside you," said Dumbledore. "But you could still see Hogwarts, you could still see the Knight Bus, and you could still brew potions. Because your magic was never taken away from you. Just hidden. Just concealed."

     "Did you know this, sir?" I asked. "Before... did you know I was under the effects of this potion?"

      "For a long time I thought that you were a Squib, but when I figured that neither of your parents carried magical blood, I thought of the possibility of your magic being hidden."

     He's still lying to me, I thought to myself bitterly. I know my mother's a witch. He must know this too.

     "But last night, Lexi, you proved me both wrong and right at the same time," Dumbledore continued. "You broke the seal as you felt enormous pain, both physical and emotional; you were tortured, and you feared, loved, and hated last night. Those are all strong emotions, Lexi. Enough to break the concealment. The Illuminers were acting like a shield inside your veins, trying to fight off your magic from being set free. That's why it must've felt painful."

     "But — I still don't understand," I bit my lip. "I thought Sirius was dead."

     "A common mistake made by many of us last night," Dumbledore smiled. "After the seal was broken and your magic was set free, I don't know whether it was your instinct to use magic after seeing the Illuminers or whether it was just an act of helplessness, but you took up the wand and performed a Stunning Spell on Sirius. Although my question is, how did you manage to perform it so perfectly, as it was you first time?"

    "I've been practicing," I grinned lightly to myself. "Whenever I was alone, I practiced the wand movement with the fake wand you had given me. It was the first spell that came to my mind when I wanted to throw Sirius out of the way."

     "I see," he beamed at me. "Well, as I was saying... you stunned Sirius and so Bellatrix's curse missed him by a few inches. He was stunned by you, but everyone had only heard Bellatrix's spell and never expected any magic of you anyway, which led them to believe that Sirius was dead. But soon, right after you had passed out, Mr. Lupin noticed that he was still breathing and so did the counter spell and brought him back to consciousness."

     "Where is Sirius now!?" I asked anxiously. "What if the Ministry got him —"

     "Relax, Lexi," Dumbledore chuckled lightly, holding his hands up. "He's currently staying at the Weasleys' house, resting. I had a talk with the Minister and explained everything that has been going on. Sirius's name will be cleared in no time, and all thanks to you."

     "Does Harry know?"

     "Of course," Dumbledore nodded. "I spoke to him after we had left the Ministry."

     I smiled in relief, finally breathing freely as I sighed to myself. But then my thoughts started wondering off once more.

     "Sir... there's also something else." I gulped, looking down. "Neville was supposed to be at the Ministry, but he didn't turn up."

      For a second I thought saw a flicker in his eyes, but as I told him about my theory of the Butterfly Effect, he seemed ever so calm.

     "I'm afraid, that was indeed one of the consequences I was talking about, even though at the time I didn't know what it was going to be," said Dumbledore. He then leaned forward and lowered his voice, saying, "But... there are ways to undo what we have done. And they might be easier that what we think. It's just going to take some time."

      I nodded, still avoiding his gaze. Seeing me looking overwhelmed by emotions and overthinking again, Dumbledore quickly said,

     "But what's done is done. What matters is that we must be more careful for the future from now on. And I'm sure you'll have many other things on your mind, anyway."

     My head shod up at that and I looked at him once again. "Like what?"

     "Like getting your first wand from Diagon Alley. Ollivander's is known to be the best one around." Dumbledore smiled. "I'm sure you're going to make a brilliant witch, Miss Hooper."