Flaming Truths [#3]

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven: The Second Task

My entire life felt like a lie. If the information Elvira showed me was true, then my 'father' wasn't really my father. It was causing my head to spin. There was no way Elvira could have forged any of those documents or created the photos herself. The mix of emotions was causing me to feel sick to my stomach. I was furious that my mother would have kept something like this from me. Heartbroken over the fact that I never had time to spend with my real father. I felt relief that Desmond wasn't my real father, but that didn't take away from the anger that filled me.

I couldn't stay here anymore. I've been lied to my entire life and I had the right to know, but they never told me. I went straight up to my room and packed my things back into my small bag. I wrote a quick note to Silvius saying, Sorry I had to leave so soon. Emergency at Hogwarts. I dropped it off next to him as he was sleeping and then I walked downstairs. I wasn't ready to head back to Hogwarts yet, there was somewhere else I needed to go.

I stepped out the back door and took off down the road. Where we lived was pretty much a dead area. I had about a ten minute walk until I reached Old Salem Village. I've only been there a few times but just walking around I spotted lots of tourist who had come to see the Witch Trials Museum. This place was packed with muggle tourists around Halloween time. I knew where to go though to find the secret wizard section of this village. Stepping into an old antique shop which was dark and dusty, I smiled at the old woman behind the counter. She was a witch who was here every time I've ever came.

I spotted a couple of tourists in the corner picking up old necklaces and bottles, fascinated by them. The eeriness of this store normally turned the muggle tourist away. I walked by the old witch and went towards the back doors which lead to an old room full of books. From there I looked around to make sure there were no tourists around. I pulled at the dark black book from the top shelf and the cabinet pulled itself in, creating a pathway for me to squeeze by and step into Salem Alley.

It was half the size of Diagon Alley and looked much more similar to Knockturn Alley. It was a lot darker because it was in the shade of trees, but it had all the necessary stores. I spotted a lot of people around my age walking around, probably because of school break though but I didn't recognize any of them. The cobblestone roads were uneven but I enjoyed the dark beauty of this place. It was originally created by the witches and wizards who lived here during the Salem Witch Trials as an escape. I knew where I needed to go though, at the end of the road their was the Salem Quidditch Hall of fame. I've never been there because I've never been to a game, but knew where it was.

The building was a lot newer looking than the original shops. Behind it was an small Quidditch pitch, probably for the Fitchburg Finches to practice when they were home. How did I not notice that when I was little? Elvira mentioned seeing my biological father's picture in the Hall of Fame so I wanted to see it for myself. As I got closer, I spotted the familiar Fitchburg Finches jerseys. They must be practicing.  Was this a good or bad idea? Either way, I wanted to see for myself.

I didn't want to interrupt their practice, so I headed straight for the Hall of Fame. It was of course tiny but held a lot of pictures. My eyes scanned the wall of all the players and the pictures reenacted their most prime moves. It only showed only a quick second of their face. It was as if all the pictures were playing together in one game, they weren't even looking at me or talking to me like the ones at Hogwart's do. But that it when I spotted him. It took just a mere second to spot the man I saw in the picture. I took on the crinkled picture of him from my pocket and it was in fact him.