Chapter 1 - The Nightmare
The nightmares were getting worse each night since I returned to Hogwarts. When I slept it's as if I lose all control, my thoughts wander to the darkest corners of my mind. The dream is always the same.
I'm running through a courtyard with a sense of urgency, with the moon shining its silver light along the stone floors and I stare up at the castle, it's Hogwarts. I'm now in the Great Hall with a fire in the centre of the room. The fire flickers unusual colours of black and green, while hooded figures stand around it, they turn and point at me, I cannot see their faces. The floor beneath them is laid with yellow flowers, as I approach the flowers they fade to grey and whither to ash. I can hear whispers all around me and cries of pain echoing against the walls.
The scene fades and I'm now in a dimly lit room, there's an old woman speaking incantations I've never heard before. I'm lying in a bed, holding my stomach trying to ease the pain. I can feel the ancient magic running through my veins with so much force, as if it was trying to burst through my skin. The pain is like nothing I've felt before, even worse than when Sebastian cast the Cruciatus curse on me in Salazar's Scriptorium. I would've taken the curse tenfold over this kind of pain. My eyes are starting to glaze over, but I can see the old woman kneeling next to the bed, with her wand pointed at my chest, whilst her free hand hovers over something laid out on the bed next to me. I can't make out what it is. With every moment that passes, with every word of the spell she utters, the pain intensifies. It's as if my skin and blood vessels are being pulled apart and sewn back together at the same time. The sweat is rolling off my brow and my skin is hot to the touch. I'm now shaking uncontrollably as the old woman shouts her words even louder.
The air was so electric it felt like storm was brewing within the room. The old witch is now standing trying to steady herself, as it seems as if a tornado has entered the room, continuing with her magic. Books and vials were thrown around with the gusts of winds, my hair was blowing all over the place as I screamed.
"Please stop! I can't take it anymore!" I pleaded with her as the tears streamed down my face. She continued mercilessly, barely stopping to take a breath. I feel my body start to levitate out of the bed, my throat starts to close and my screaming stops as I can no longer breathe. I can feel the grips of death enclosing around my neck. The ancient magic starts to spill out of my eyes, my ears, even my fingertips. I hang in the air with my arms outstretched in an eerie manner, my mouth opened as if I was screaming, but no sound escapes me. I say a quiet prayer begging for release from this agony. The witch screams the last word of the hideous spell, the room goes silent and the air stills. As I float above the bed I can hear the faint heartbeat within me, so slow, so peaceful. The moment is over as I slammed back into the bed with an unimaginable force.