The Spark of Fate

Chapter 1

Professor Fig arrived at the Ministry where he was met by George. As they shook hands George called out, "Eleazar! It is good to see you". He looked around at the hoard of people rushing past and leant in close, he whispered, "I have the information you asked for but we should probably discuss matters somewhere a little more private" Fig responded, "I think you might be right, I haven't seen the Ministry this busy in a long time. It seems the news of Ranroks rebellion has everyone concerned". George showed Fig to his office, he sat down in his chair and took out a key, he opened the bottom draw of his desk and handed Fig three pieces of parchment. "I had to evade, certain rules, to access the records you requested however I do question why they were being hidden so cautiously by the Ministry" Fig looked at George his face full of concern. George continued, "As you can see there are only three names connected to the ancient magic Miriam wrote about."

The first sheet of parchment showed details of a previous Hogwarts Professor; Percival Rackham. Fig turned to sit down in the chair behind him, following the rather distorted writing with his finger he suddenly noticed something, he stroked his chin and said, "Theres a date of birth here for 1420 but there's no mention of the date he died. I wonder why that is?" George replied, "How strange", "Indeed" Fig said as he looked at the second piece of parchment. He read aloud, "Sophie Hawkins, a girl of only 16 years of age. She's currently a student at Beuxbatons Academy" George asked, "Isn't Beuxbatons Academy in the South of France?" Fig replied, "It is". He then looked at the last piece of parchment and swiftly stood up from his chair, "This can't be..." George leant forward on his desk, "What is it Eleazar?" Fig glanced at George and then back at the parchment, "Jackson Sallow he's a student at Hogwarts. I've taught him for nearly seven years now. This is good news indeed he always has been an exceptional student of mine and I believe he will be more than willing to help".

Fig was filled with a sudden rush of relief at the prospect of having found two potential candidates to help him get the answers he needed from his wife's research. Fig reached out to shake hands with George, "Thank you. I will need to prepare for my trip to France and get an owl to their headteacher right away" George stood up from his chair and shook Figs hand, "Of course Eleazar. I'm glad to be have been able to help. I only wish I could have responded to Miriam before she passed, she always was a wise woman" Fig smiled as they both walked to leave the office, "Indeed she was".

After arriving back at Hogwarts Professor Fig wasted no time in searching the Castle for Jackson Sallow. He eventually found him sitting on the flying class lawn with a group of his friends. "Ah, there you are" Jackson looked up at him with a face full of surprise desperately trying to think if he had done something wrong to be confronted by a teacher, "Yes Professor?" Fig crossed his hands behind his back and asked, "I wondered if you could join me in my office, there's something I would like to discuss with you" Jackson glanced at his group of friends all of them had the same look of confusion, he handed his broom to his friend James and stood up, "Of course Sir". As they went to walk away Jackson turned to look back at his group of friends once more, they chuckled as he shrugged his shoulders as if to say he has no idea what is going on.

Once they reached his office Jackson watched as Professor Fig closed the door behind them becoming ever more concerned as to what he was about to discuss with him, "Is everything alright Professor?" to which Fig replied, "Unfortunately not no, I assume you're aware of the Goblin rebellion currently taking place outside of Hogwarts?" Jackson still looking confused, "Yes Sir...but why would that have anything to do with me?" Fig grabbed a box from under his desk and said, "If you wouldn't mind humouring me for a moment there's something I would like you to take a look at" he handed Jackson the container George had sent him. Jackson frowned his eyes scanning the container, he asked, "What is it?" Fig replied,"My wife Miriam sent this container to a friend of ours at the Ministry. She had been researching a rare..." Jackson interrupted him, "What's that glow?" Fig answered, "Glow? I don't see any glow". Jackson took hold of the container with both hands, the glow he was seeing got brighter, it followed the pattern of the swirling symbol and suddenly opened revealing an usual looking key. Jackson went to reach for the key but Professor Fig quickly walked towards him and took hold of the container, in awe of what had just happened he uttered, "Fascinating. It's a key, but a key for what I wonder" Jackson looked at Fig awaiting an explanation to what had just happened, "....I believe you hold a rare ability, an ability that allows you to wield an ancient magic that hasn't been seen in the wizarding world for centuries". Jackson stood with a blank gaze as Fig continued to explain, "Miriam had been researching the existence of ancient magic and her research showed symbols matching exactly to the one on the container" Jackson asked with a slight proudness in his voice, "I can see, Magic?" to which Fig replied, "I know this might be a lot for me to ask of you but I need you're help in discovering what lies behind the key you have uncovered" Jackson now understanding why Fig was being so mysterious earlier replied, "Of course Sir. What do you need me to do?". Fig started pacing his office, "I'm going to need some time to examine the key, once I know more I will let you know" Jackson nodded, "Yes Professor". As he went to leave Fig stopped him and said, "There is one more thing you should know. A student is being transferred to Hogwarts that is also believed to hold the same ability as you. I've requested their arrival as soon as they can and once they get here I would like to introduce you to them as you will need to work together on this matter" he replied, "Of course Sir, I look forward to hearing from you". As he walked out of Figs classroom Jackson shook his in head in disbelief about what he had just learned and whispered to himself, "What on earth just happened? I can see magic? Sebastian's not going to believe this".