Enchanted by freckles - short stories

Story 30 - Return

Richard Jackdaw's point of view:

Strange kids, I thought to myself as I returned to the Scottish Highlands in the autumn, recalling a conversation with six students who went in search of the Unicorn Waterfall.

Should I really go back to the castle sometime? After all, if it really was 1909 already, I hadn't been to Hogwarts for almost 100 years.

I thought. Me and the headmaster at the time hadn't exactly parted on good terms, but he, and presumably all the other teachers except Professor Binns, were dead by now anyway.

It didn't seem like the worst idea, so I set off and floated through the forest, towards the castle.

It was already very late, and there were no more students on the school grounds. Where was I going to go now? I had the whole night ahead of me. Sometimes I imagined sleeping, but as a ghost it was not possible for me to really sleep.

Sleep and freshly baked cherry pie were actually the only things I missed about my mortal life.

Many other ghosts complained day in and day out how terrible it was to be dead. And even though I could imagine better things, I was actually quite content with it.

Only once did I wish to be human again, but that was many years ago.

In 1811, I met an 18-year-old seventh-grade girl at Hogwarts. Beatrice was her name.

I met her when she was looking for plants in the forbidden forest. We got along well and really spent a lot of time together. It was really wonderful.

Every day we spent together, the bond between us grew stronger. And yet, our joy was always dampened. I was not even able to take her hand or hug her. She cried over and over again because we couldn't get close, even though we liked each other so much. And when she cried, I couldn't even comfort her properly.

One day she asked me how I had managed to become a ghost. I didn't know myself, and told her my story, even though I assumed that she would now avoid me.

But she didn't avoid me. Quite the opposite. She wanted me to accompany her to the castle, which I did for her sake. Together we sat in the Hufflepuff common room for many nights, telling each other the funniest stories and laughing together.

Somehow we got over the fact that we couldn't be physically close, even though we both contorted so much for touch.

This went on for almost a whole year. Then, just before she finished school, she told me that she had been diagnosed with a disease. A disease that could not be cured and would be end deadly.

She cried. And again I could not comfort her. I couldn't be there for her. Not as much as I wanted to.

Beatrice asked me to find out how to become a ghost so that if she was going to die anyway, we could at least spend eternity together.

I started asking the other ghosts. After all, I couldn't touch books. Beatrice took over that part. But I asked all the ghosts at Hogwarts, but no ghost had a real answer. The only thing I had in common with all the ghosts was that we were all unhappy in our lives. None of us were ready to die. There were some who had committed suicide, but even with these ghosts, it was nothing more than an act of despair.

I told Beatrice of my findings. She looked sicker by the day. I felt so sorry that she had to suffer so.

One evening, after I had been kicked out by the nurse, floated back to the hospital wing to check on her, there was an open letter on her bedside table. "R.J. meet me where we first met."