Lincoln's School of Magic - Lost Treasure

The Basement

The evening arrived sooner than expected — probably because I do not want to explore the basement with Lucia. We are currently in our small stone-walled dormitory packing small black backpacks with equipment in case of emergency. I tuck in a purple cotton hoodie, a Boil-Cure potion and a list of charms in case I forget how to use them.

Lumos - Light your wand

Wingardium Leviosa - Levitate objects

Expelliarmus - Disarm the enemy

Alohomora - Unlocking charm

Nox - Turn off the light on wand

They are simple charms that I know how to perform, but I don't know if I would be able to remember them under pressure.

I look to my right to see Lucia kneeling next to me on the wooden floor frantically packing everything she sees. A torch, a pair of black dress shoes, parchment, 2 quills, a hairbrush and a coat.

"You sure you have enough?" I ask her jokingly as I stand up and put my backpack on my back.

"I don't know," she answers without looking up from her bag. "What do you think?"

"What do you think we're going to run into?" I laugh. "Dragons?"

"I'm just nervous," Lucia says in a trembling tone.

"I'm sure there's nothing to worry about," I say to calm her down.

"Then why is everyone scared to go down there? Why is Burnaby cautious when speaking of it?"

I stop to think for a moment, reflecting on her questions.

"I don't know," I mumble after a moment of silence.

"Well," Lucia chuckles, "I suppose we're going to find out."

-

We walk down many flights of concrete stairs, passing many ghosts on our way down as they're the only ones lurking in the halls during the night.

"What are you two doing awake at this hour?" Madame DuPont asks just as we're about to go down the last set of stairs.

Madame DuPont's blue transparent eyes stare at us angrily. Her pudgy cheeks are the only thing showing a sign of colour on her ghostly body.

"We were coming to see you, of course!" Lucia defends.

"Me?" DuPont asks with a pleased tone.

"Yeah!" Lucia smiles knowing that her lie has worked. "How've you been?"

"Oh, you know, same old, same old. No one usually comes down here to see me." DuPont lowers her head with sadness filling her eyes.

Lucia steps a little closer to her to comfort her, but suddenly, DuPont looks up at her angrily.

"I've never seen you before!" She shouts in realization. "Why would you come all the way down here at this hour for me? Hm?"

Her clear eyes widen at us. Her arms are crossed as she floats lower to the ground closer to us.

"Run!" I shout.

Lucia and I run through Madame DuPont and down the last flight of stairs. Out of breath, we stand in the cold and dark hall in the basement, trying to catch our breaths.

"That was too close," Lucia says through deep breaths.

I look around our surroundings, not seeing anything but the dim light of the torches on the rock walls. I tap Lucia's shoulder to bring her back to reality. She looks up as well, then turns to face me.

"Now what?" She asks through a shaky voice.

"Now we search," I say sternly. "Lumos."

A white light grows at the tip of my vine wand, making the rest of the way visible. We begin walking forward, the only path to go, deeper into the cave-like basement.

"D'you think DuPont will tell?" Lucia asks me after a moment of silence.

I take a deep breath, getting a whiff of water and dust.

"Probably," I sigh. "But let's not worry about that."

Lucia doesn't answer. The torches begin to disappear from the walls, making the light from my wand the only thing visible. I can hear Lucia rummaging around in her bag, searching for something.

"Lumos," I hear her whisper.

Another glowing white orb begins shining next to me, adding a little more visibility to the cave.

"Audrey?" I hear Lucia ask nervously from my right.

"Yes?"

"I don't think he's down here," she says.

Just as she finishes her sentence, we hear a teenage boy speaking from the distance. Then a flash of yellow comes our way, knocking us both over.

"I think he is!" I get up and begin running blindly into the darkness.

I can only see about a foot in front of me, and what I see is the stone floor. I then begin to hear footsteps running not too far ahead of me. I run faster than before, then bump into someone. We both fall to the hard ground, groaning in discomfort. I hear the boy mumbling, but it doesn't sound like Adrian.

"Who are you?" I ask while holding the light up to his face, but I only get a short and dark view of a seemingly recognizable face. Confused, I sit on the ground, trying to associate the voice with the person.

"Audrey!"

I turn around to see an orb moving quickly towards me. Once it approaches, a pair of arms wrap around me.

"Are you okay?" Lucia asks concerned while helping me up.

"I think I know who it is," I say to her firmly.

"Who?"

"Christopher Black."
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Published February 25th, 2022