The Matnadorians roamed Hogwarts’ halls. Their hunched backs and their odd stances made them hideously terrifying. The fur covering their body was singed together and burned. The nails on their hands and feet were as sharp as knives, piercing the ground with a loud crack. The atmospheric essence surrounding the castle turned into a humid earthy smell awaking the students from Slytherin to Gryffindor sending them rushing into their common rooms. In the Gryffindor Common Room Harry stood out from all the rest, ready to defeat whatever Voldemort had in store for him.
But something stopped them. Something stopped each house ” Slytherin, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Gryffindor. Each one was stopped dead in their tracks.
“Who are you?” one of the first years from Gryffindor asked obliviously.
“There’s no time for that now. Don’t leave this ”,” He was interrupted by Harry himself.
“Who are you?! We would like to know,” Harry began to get agitated, taking his wand out quickly. He fired off a quick spell toward the newcomer. The spell hovered through his body and Harry had just noticed that he was hovering a few inches off the ground.
“Are you going to kill me, Harry?” The ghost laughed to himself ominously. “You can’t kill me, silly boy. I’m already dead.”
***
Meanwhile, in the Ravenclaw common room the same matter had been going on.
“But, why can’t we leave our common rooms? What’s going on out there?” one of the third years recalled back to the recent “lock-ins” per se and thought about the possibility of Voldemort being in the castle.
“How can we trust you? You’re just a ghost, anyone can see that. Your no different from anyone else. What’s your name? I’m going to tell Dumbledore about you, about how you got us all scared to pieces because of some silly prank!”
“This is no prank! My name is Rowena Ravenclaw. I am the founder of your house.”
The students stood in shock as they watched her ominous eyes pierce through their bodies with ease.
Her jet black hair quaintly covered the tops of her shoulders, giving her that extra touch of beauty. Her blue eyes were surrounded by thin lines of makeup creating a black barrier of charcoal. Her ghostly transparent skin was shimmering proudly in the dimly lit room.
“Do not leave the common room. Bellatrix’s Army is here.”
“What’s Bellatrix’s Army?” a second year asked.
She laughed to herself quietly in a strangled voice. “Why, it’s the worst army there is. The evil surely shows.”
***
Meanwhile in the Gryffindor common room, Harry watched the baleful figure float in the humid air.
“Death is a silly thing,” began the house ghost, “and you never can avoid it.” Godric Gryffindor floated toward Harry. “Except one. The-Boy-Who-Lived if I won’t be mistaken. Also known as Harry Potter.” Godric gave a small chuckle and gave a short glance around the room, “Avada Kedavra...two simple words, one incredible ending. Killing the innocent that, sometimes, helped protect us during our day-to-day activities.”
As Godric finished his sentence, two ghostly images appeared behind him. It was Lily and James Potter.
“Mum? Dad?” Harry walked over to them, seeing his parents face to face.
“That’s not them, only three-dimensional pictures,” Godric finished by waving his hand in a gloomy clockwise motion. Harry’s parents disappeared. “But now back to the real danger. What are we going to do with Bellatrix’s Army?”
“Stop them o’ course!” Seamus yelled triumphantly.
“I thought we couldn’t go outside the common room...” Neville finished lamely by seating himself near the fire.
“Well, that’s what Dumbledore said, but I have other plans.” Godric gave everyone a quick wink and vanished from the room. An envelope shattered into existence sending silvery sparks gyrating toward the ground. On the front in red translucent writing was one word ” ‘Army’.”
***
Meanwhile, in the Hufflepuff common room, Helga Hufflepuff was floating direly above the children. Her curly blonde hair was like a waterfall, cascading down her back in a lush menagerie of yellow. Her placid eyes looked around at the cowering children with love and compassion bursting forth. She just finished finishing her little talk with the same words Godric had finished his speech with, but this time when the envelope fluttered down onto the ground, on the front read the words ‘Bellatrix’s’. One of the students walked over hesitantly to the envelope and took the crippled paper out from inside. He began to read aloud:
The army that will take you down,
cannot be stopped until one found.
They are chosen from the four,
fighting until one will walk through the door.
The door to death will be near,
even making the brave cower in fear.
But in the end one will stand out from the rest,
bringing out that one person who is indeed the best.
The Hufflepuff student lowered the letter and looked confused. “But, what does the word ‘Bellatrix’s’ on the front have to do with this?”
“Maybe it’s some type of riddle. Is there anything we could decipher?” a third year asked.
“Well, we know one thing,” the reader of the letter stated, “the one found is none other than Harry Potter himself.”
***
In the Slytherin common room, Salazar had just vanished from sight, but strangely no letter had appeared this time, but something did appear. A green snake slithered out of the floor leaving no trace of entry. A loud hiss echoed throughout the room. The snake coiled itself up and sat there, it’s head dangling in the center. One of the first year students jabbed the snake with his wand, watching as it still sat there, motionless.
***
In the Ravenclaw Common Room, Rowena was giving everyone a shaky nod before vanishing from her spot. The third and final letter flittered down to the ground with the word ‘Defeat’ etched into it with fancy writing. A fourth year opened up the letter and read the one word that was imprinted on the afflicted paper aloud, “Surprise...?”
Two more copies of the letter swam out from the ceiling and were sent crashing through the wall and the floor, making small “mail slots” through the cement.
***
The snake in the Slytherin common room removed its head from the hole in the center and stretched it out, craning his neck out while opening his mouth. Two more snakes slumped out, looking just as venomous as the original. They moved up the walls and into the ceiling. The two holes that had formed from the snakes entry melted shut giving no sign that they had ever been there.
***
Everything seemed to have multiplied by two. Two more snakes, two more envelopes from the Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, and Hufflepuff common rooms, but two more returning to each one. Each common room now held a snake, and three envelopes. In each house, the snake whipped its tail around, moving the three envelopes into the correct order. The snake shot out a sticky residue from its mouth, sealing the cards together in a permanent bond. The three words in the end read “Defeat Bellatrix’s Army”. All the three cards had become one giant envelope. In the Gryffindor common room, Harry flipped over the giant envelope and took out the letter which, when unfolded, had been equally as large.
“Matnadorian...” Harry read quietly to himself.
On the paper had been a detailed picture of a Matnadorian, fangs bared and claws pointing hazardously outwards. The hideous figure turned his head, and only to Harry’s surprise, had a thin black strip covering its eyes.
“Looks like you can’t even look at a picture of them,” Harry finished lamely while folding the paper up and placing it back inside the envelope.
“Can’t look at who?” Ron asked, stepping up to Harry’s side.
“The Matnadorians, I suppose.” Harry pointed at the envelope and described every detail of how they looked to Ron. “Just don’t look at them. Their stare is deadly, killing the most powerful of wizards, able to kill me. At least, that’s what I think.”
***
Far away in Grimmauld Place, Remus and Mrs. Weasley stood there reminiscing in conversation
“I just don’t get how I could have seen her and now, we find out that she has been dead for three years!”
Grimmauld Place’s framework shook as a lightning bolt struck overhead. Remus and Molly looked over toward the window as they heard a slight pecking sound. It was Hedwig holding a letter inside her beak. They let her in and watched as the majestic bird glided toward the oak surface of the table.
She chirped a few times before letting the letter free from her mighty jaws. The birds beak left an imprint on the envelope. Remus looked on the front and saw his name in thick black ink, scribbled in Harry’s handwriting. He tore open the envelope and read it aloud:
Dear Remus,
I saw your sister today! I couldn’t believe it! I thought that you had lost her or something like that... I was just wondering if you had personally already found her, because if not then I have made a great discovery! ” Remus smiled at this” Please reply back with any information that you may have. Hope to hear from you soon! By the way, I got your letter. You know, the one with the first sentence starting with “I have a feeling I shall go mad”. Whatever you are going to do, please, please don’t do it.
Sincerely,
Harry
“That’s odd,” Remus muttered to himself quietly, skimming through the note again.
Remus ran to the nearest counter and took out a piece of parchment from his left coat pocket. He took out a quill and began to hastily write a reply back to Harry.
Dear Harry,
That’s great that you have found my sister! Never thought that I would have found her...which is exactly my point. Today, I found my sister. She only lives a few houses down from Grimmauld Place. Yet, when I went to bring Molly along with me the owner of the home said she had been dead for three years, and I just saw her in that same house a few minutes earlier! It’s all somewhat confusing to me at the moment. Well, speaking of my sister, where did you see her? Did she say anything about me? Did she seem fine? Well, I don’t even see why I am asking these questions because she is, supposedly, dead. Harry, I think this will be something we have to talk about together... Maybe later. By the way, that note... I never sent you a note with a sentence beginning like that. Whoever did send you that, however, doesn’t sound like they mean anything good by it. Anyways, hope to hear from you soon!
Sincerely,
Remus
Remus slapped the letter onto the table once he was done writing it and pulled out a brand new envelope, slipping the message inside. He wrote “Harry Potter” on the front and put the letter in Hedwig’s mouth. He watched the bird as she soared into the stormy sky. Lightning bolts seemed to be blazing all around her, but an invisible shield had protected her from harm.
“There, that should clear things up,” Remus whispered into the air. A wave of cold rushed into the room, surrounding them in ice. The ice froze over all the doors and windows, closing them in.
Remus fell onto the ground, Molly watching in fear as his body was shook madly.
Memories ejected from his head and melted into the ice, creating small casings for each memory. The ice shattered suddenly, encasing the memories in their own individual grave. Remus’ memories were gone. His main basics were still there ” Defense Against the Dark Arts, Potions, Herbology, etc.. They all were still there. But Remus... Remus had no more memories. No memory of James, Sirius, Harry, Molly... No memory of anyone.
“Remus!” Molly shouted while rushing over to his side, “Remus! Remus are you okay?” Molly wiped up a small blood spot on the back of his head from the previous fall.
“Who are you? Where am I?” Remus stuttered.
Suddenly, Remus’ eyes closed and his body arched up. In a loud, raspy voice, Remus began chanting:
“Death of the boy,
Life of the evil.
Amazing power,
Relieved from his soul.
Blood will be spilt,
From his lifeless body.
Voldemort is coming,
Voldemort is coming...”