Emerson Wilmore was an exemplary Ravenclaw student, known for her unwavering dedication to academics and an unyielding moral compass. However, things took a twisted and deviated turn in her life after her boyfriend, Cedric Diggory, was murdered by L...
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When the final bell rang for the day, Emerson was missing for almost twelve hours.
Mattheo didn't hear the sound. He stood in an abandoned corridor beneath the fourth floor, his hand pressed against the wall as though the castle itself might yield an answer beneath his palm. Behind him, an old storage chamber gaped open, its contents scattered across the floor after the search they finished minutes earlier.
There was nothing. It was always fucking nothing.
His breathing was far too fast for someone who did little more than cross a corridor, but exhaustion stopped behaving like exhaustion hours ago. His body was running on fear, rage and the increasingly unbearable knowledge that every minute he spent opening another empty door was another minute Emerson remained wherever somebody put her.
"We haven't checked properly," He announced quietly, almost to himself but the three around him heard every single word.
Theo did not move and neither did Olivia, who stood near the doorway with her arms wrapped tightly around herself. Her Ravenclaw tie disappeared sometime during the afternoon, and loose strands of blonde hair clung to her pale face. Enzo stood beside her, unusually silent.
Mattheo dragged his wand slowly across the stone. His knuckles were split from striking a stone archway several hours earlier after another failed tracking charm. Enzo politely tried to heal it, but he refused because standing there while he performed the spell would have meant wasting thirty seconds.
"Revelio."
Nothing happened.
He tried again, his voice even more insistent.
"Specialis Revelio."
The spell washed harmlessly across the wall, revealing nothing except the faint dust caught in the grooves between the stones.
Mattheo lowered his wand, noticing that his hand was trembling again. He began the morning able to hide it, keeping his fingers curled around the compass or tucked into his robes whenever the shaking became noticeable. Now the tremor came whenever he remained still for too long.
"Mattheo," Enzo sighed.
"Don't."
"I'm only saying—,"
"I know what you're fucking saying."
His voice was loud and cold enough that a pair of younger Ravenclaws approaching from the staircase immediately stopped, jumping in panic at the coldness.
On any other normal day, Enzo would have made some remark about Mattheo terrorising younger children merely by existing but he said nothing. He barely joked all day and it was completely unlike him. He didn't complain about the dust in the air that would affect his pores, or make a single inappropriate comment about the professors helping them. He simply kept moving behind Mattheo with Theo and Olivia, his usual brightness stripped away.
