A New Discovery in the Library

The library was quiet as Hope turned another leaf in the book she'd gotten from the Junk Store in Diagon Alley. Each page held passages of instructions with detailed illustrations. She didn't have to be told this book was meant for more than the average Witch or Wizard. 

It was complicatedly beautiful. 

Genius, even. 

From creating daylight rings for vampires to a summoning spell for the Other Side. 

Hope wasn't quite sure what the Other Side was, but she didn't feel like finding out yet. Footsteps echoed in the near silent space, making Hope look up to see Albus walking toward her, smiling.

"Newt said you might be here. He mentioned you'd found something interesting." He sat across from her at the glossy table between two rows of books.

"Shhh," Hope whispered with a smile and leaned forward, "I've already been scolded twice for being too loud." She ended with a grin, glancing to her right where the librarian stacked and unstacked already organized books.

Albus smiled, his eyes glittering as he held back a chuckle. "I'll keep that in mind," he whispered in return.

Hope laughed and nodded, pushing the book toward him. "I found it in the Junk Shop. I thought it looked familiar. Then, when I touched it, I saw something."

With furrowed brows, he turned pages over, pausing on a few pages. "Hm." He murmured, stroking his fingers through his dark, speckled beard. "And what vision did you have?" He looked up now, blue eyes focused on her intently.

"It was the same man in a cloak, but I could hear him this time. He said uhm…" she thought back. "Something that started with a 'p' sound…I think. I didn't recognize it."

"And he did this while pointing a wand at you?"

Nodding, she tapped the book. "I thought I might get more from touching it again, but I haven't seen anything yet," the words suddenly came to her, "Oh…it was p-something totalus?" She questioned her memory; it had happened so quickly that it was hard to pick out details.

"Petrificus Totalus?" He asked, eyebrows raised.

"Yes!" Hope nodded with excitement. Those were the words he'd said!

"SHH!" The librarian hissed at her, making her quickly purse her lips together into a thin line. She looked at him with slightly widened eyes before nodding.

"That's the one," she started but frowned as she noticed he didn't seem too happy about the discovery, "What's wrong?"

Albus nodded slowly, tapping his fingers against the book. "Petrificus Totalus is a spell used for temporary paralysis." He paused and put his fingers together. "If they intended to wipe your memory, for whatever reason they had- why paralyze you first?"

The question hung in the air. While it seemed Albus usually had all the answers, this one stumped them. It simply didn't make sense.

"Either way," his easy smile returned, "You still have uncovered another memory and have something that you likely had with you the day your memories were taken. A spellbook of-"

"Grimoire." Hope corrected immediately, surprising him. It surprised her, too. 

She blinked, shaking her head as he looked the cover over, as if searching for where it said Grimoire, but didn't say it anywhere. "I don't know how that word came to mind."

Albus' eyes seemed to gaze through her. "Well, the word Grimoire originates from the word grammaire. It's French, I believe. Old French- very old. Usually, Grimoire's are written…" he trailed off as if lost in thought and turned the book to her. He pointed at a passage. "Tell me what this says." He instructed before pulling his hand back to rest under his chin, watching her intently.

Swallowing, unsure what test this was, she looked down, seeing the headlines for different spells. "Hm, this one talks about…" she ran her finger under the markings that somehow made sense to her, "this one is 'spirit sealing' basically, says it prevents someone from stealing another's body through the subconscious by keeping them sealed in their own body." 

Hope looked up, but she wasn't sure what to make of his expression. "What?" She asked with narrowed eyes.

"Hope. You just read ancient Latin…" he tapped the Grimoire with his index finger, "this book, the way it's written, makes it nearly a thousand years old, if not older. And you can read it."

Looking down at the spells, she felt a wave of familiarity. "Is that a good or a bad thing?" She glanced up at him.

"Well, this book is," he shook his head, flipping carefully through pages, "Dark. If it were at Hogwarts, its home would have been the restricted section. Even then, this is not a book Wizards of our kind would use."

She tried to process that and slowly shook her head. "I don't think I understand what you're trying to tell me," she said.

"I think you're a witch," Albus pursed his lips, watching her curiously, "But I think you're a witch our kind thought to be…" He seemed to try to find the right words.

"Thought to be what?" Hope leaned closer to him. Eyes focused, lips parted.

"Extinct."