Lysander Scamander: The Hall of Voices

2: Crazy Charlie

I followed Riley closely until we rounded a corner and she skidded to an abrupt halt.

"What?" she gasped. I stopped beside her. She stared at the wall in front of us, gawking in shock. She frantically touched the wall, "It- it was- was right here!" she said in a panicked voice. She looked back at me with a panicked looked, "I'm not lying! The corridor was right here!"

I nodded and tried not to make her think anything bad about herself, "It's late. Why don't we go to bed and try to figure this out tomorrow. Is that okay?"

Riley's shoulders stiffened. She whirled around at me, and I watched her eyes flare with anger, "I'm not crazy!"

She spun on her heel and stormed down the corridor. I stood there gaping for a moment before turning around to the watchful eyes of Lorcan, Rebecca, Lily, Alice, Frankie, and Hugo.

"Woah." Frankie said. He jabbed his thumb to point behind him, "I have to get home. Al will start to wonder what's keeping me." he turned to his sister and wrapped her in a hug, "I'll see for Christmas, Ally bear."

Alice nodded into his shoulder, "See you, then."

Frankie pulled back and walked away. I looked at the other four and protested, "I never said she was crazy!"

Lorcan sighed, "Maybe not directly, but she probably put your thoughts together. Then read it wrong."

I looked at the ground. I hadn't said she was crazy. She always jumped to conclusions like this, but I was sure she'd be okay in the morning. I walked back to my common room with Alice at my tail. Thunking out the passcode, I hopped down the steps two at a time and made my way to my dorm.

I tore off my costume and pulled my pajamas on. Laying my head against the pillows, I stared up at the ceiling. It was slightly illuminated by a dim light thanks to one of my dormmates having a fear of the dark.

Could I have thought she was crazy? Riley would never do anything crazy, and she was one of the smartest people I knew. But when I saw her staring frantically at a wall and screaming profusely that there was a corridor where she saw me dead, I can't deny that a very similar thought flashed across my mind.

"Did you see yourself?" a voice whispered in the dark.

I jerked my head up and looked around. At the foot of my bed, I saw the boy that slept in the bed directly mirroring mine. He had shaggy brown hair, curling up in multiple spots. I couldn't put a name to his face, as I'd never noticed him before.

"Who are you?" I asked.

He smiled a crooked smile, "Charlie Holden." Charlie approached the side of my bed, "So did you?"

I looked at him and shook my head, "There wasn't a corridor. Riley was probably just a little tired."

Charlie let out a huge yawn as he nodded, "Well, Lysander, I wouldn't jump to conclusions if I were you. Riley seems rather intuitive on her own."

Charlie climbed into his bed and immediately fell asleep. I lay my head back down on my pillow. If only I could know what Riley was so paranoid about. I didn't think she was crazy, either. She was probably just really tired.

I woke up the next morning at nine o'clock. I saw Charlie sitting on the edge of his bed, legs swinging back and forth, bumping against his bedframe. He looked in my direction.

"Well, look who's finally up!" he exclaimed. Jumping to his feet, he approached the side of my bed, "I was waiting for you to wake up because I wanted to find out a bit more about what Riley saw."

I rubbed my eyes, "Why don't you ask Riley?"

Charlie laughed, "Well, I'd love to! But I don't know where to find her."

I nodded, "Alright. It's nine in the morning on a Saturday. She'll be in the library by now."

"Oh, no. I know where she should normally be, I just don't where she is." Charlie told me, "I assumed that since you're her best friend, you'd know a little about what she saw."

I held up my hand, "I'm sorry, Charlie. Can we rewind to what you said before?"

Charlie looked at me a bit shocked, "About you being her best friend?"

"No, the thing about not knowing-" I started to explain.

"Oh! Yeah, I don't know where she is. She wasn't in the library. I looked in the Great Hall. Not there either. I even found the room she sleeps in. Wasn't there either."

I shot to my feet, nearly knocking Charlie to the floor.

"You don't think she's-"

He shook his head a bit harshly, "No. Hogwarts is huge. She could be anywhere."

I nodded, but something was growing in the pit of my stomach. I felt like it was my fault. If only I'd not thought less of her. I'd wanted to believe her when she came into the Great Hall screaming, but so much evidence was pointed against the fact.

Charlie and I walked through the corridors, searching frantically for Riley when we ran into Lorcan and Rebecca.

"Have either of you seen Riley lately?" I asked.

Lorcan stared at me in blank confusion, "She's not in her usual spots?"

Charlie shrugged, "Nope. I've checked twice now."

Lorcan stared at Charlie vacantly before looking back to me, "Who's he?"

I sighed, "Charlie Holden." I looked down at Charlie, "Charlie, my brother Lorcan and his girlfriend, Rebecca." Charlie held up his hand to wave. I looked back at Lorcan, "So you haven't seen Riley?"

"No. I would have assumed she was with you."

Lysander shrank against a nearby wall, "Where the hell could she be?"

I looked about the corridor, worriedly, when I started feeling queasy and my head started spinning.