Lost Memories

xxi. development

As Hermione and I went to Gryffindor Tower later that night, Professor McGonagall was waiting for me in the common room. Like on the first day of term, she brought me to Dumbledore's office, but instead of coming up with me, she stayed on the ground and let me go in alone.

This time, the room felt different than it did the day before the final task when I had begged Dumbeldore to cancel it. Rage burned in my veins causing a hot power to burn my skin– it felt like it was burning, but looking down, it was fine. And I felt the humming once more...

"Come sit with me," Dumbledore spoke. He motioned to the chair next to him, instead of the one across from him. "I know you are upset with me but you must trust me. This was a necessary loss—"

"Cedric's death was unnecessary. You could have banned him from the tournament or-or done something. Harry could have gone alone, there was no need for Cedric to die," I said hastily.

"Charlotte, you have every right to be angry, but you have to listen to me, now that Lord Voldemort has come back to power, you can help us stop him," he took a sip of his tea.

"Whenever I get a sign, right?" I spat and crossed my arms over my chest.

"Yes, you will know when that sign is—"

"What if I missed it? What if I had gotten a sign before the tournament and missed it because I was too busy getting comfortable with. . . storybook characters and superficial things that'll disappear once my duty is fulfilled?" I shouted.

"The sign will not be something you can miss. It is a sign for a reason. What it may be is unknown to me, but I do know you will absolutely know when," nodded Dumbledore.

After a few moments of silence, I looked back up to Dumbledore.

"Why did you ask me here? I- I'm tired and want to go to sleep," I whispered.

"I've summoned you here to ask a favour. You may deny it if you please, but I strongly recommend you join us," Dumbledore placed his teacup down and stood up, walking over to a bookshelf.

Pulling my legs down from the chair, I quickly stood up and followed him. He pulled out a large black leather book that looked to be over a hundred years old. The parchment pages were ripped and threatening to fall out from the spine. Dumbledore sat in his desk chair and I followed suit.

"Join who?" I asked, staring at the heavy black book.

Saying nothing, Dumbledore turned the black book towards me, allowing me to read the worn engraved cursive on the cover. My eyes snapped up to his and a small gasp left my mouth.

"W-why?" the whisper barely came out of my mouth.

"Your knowledge is like none other. No one in the entire Order or Wizarding World knows what you know. You will be a great asset to us. Of course, this would require them to know of your status, full confidentiality included. And you may not tell this to anyone, not even those you trusted with your secret," Dumbledore warned. Heat pinched my cheeks at the idea that he knew I broke our little promise.

"But– I can't do any magic, I can barely keep up with the information I've learned here. . . And what I know is so little, I'm losing it! How can I– I'm a muggle– a no-maj, technically," I stuttered.

"This is not based on your knowledge of the subjects you've learned in school, but your knowledge of the past and future of this world– this timeline," he whispered. "Your knowledge is powerful, much more powerful than our magic. One wrong sentence and you can ruin lives."

"I don't want to ruin lives. . ." I mumbled.

"I know you don't. You're a sweet girl with an abundance of knowledge that can help us immensely," Dumbledore smiled down at me. "What do you say?"