Hogwarts Mystery One-Shots

Cold Night

It was dark.

The moon was shimmering on the water surface.

The great lake got wrapped in bright shining lights.

It could have been such a beautiful view, if it wasn't that particular day.

The day were Jacob disappeared.

The day eight years ago.

MC sat alone on the ground near the black lake. Her thoughts drifted away. Her eyes were fixed upon the reflection from the moon. Eight years ago, her brother disappeared and she wasn't capable to find him. She felt responsible for everything that happened to her brother and what was happening to her friends and this school right now. Her friends were in great danger and she knew it. She knew that it was all her fault. MC couldn't help herself. A tear ran down her cheek.

"Where are you Jacob?" She whispered to herself. "Please, I need your help."

Suddenly, she heard a crackle behind her. But she wasn't able to see far. MC caught her wand from her pocket and whispered "Lumos!" Then a burst of light came from the tip of her wand and wrapped her surroundings in bright blue-ish light. But even with this, she couldn't recognize someone or somewhat.

"Who is there?" She tried to scream, but her voice sounded weaker than she expected it.

MC tried to concentrate.

"Come out! Or I'll hurt you... I promise!"

MC's wand still pointed at the direction where the cracking noise came from. And then a cloaked figure walked towards her. MC needed her time to recognize the person, but when she did, she felt relieved.

"No need to hurt me, Miss MC." Professor Rakepick said calmly.

MC lowered her wand. Her heart was still beating fast.

"I'm sorry, Professor... I thought you were someone else."

Professor Rakepick nodded. She knew that MC expected her to be the red cloaked figure.

"I understand."

"So what are you doing here, Professor Rakepick?" MC was curious about the appearance from her Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher. After all it wasn't the red cloaked figure or something other dangerous.

"Miss Haywood and Mr. Weasley came to me. They were worried, because they couldn't find you in the whole castle. I think all your friends were searching for you. And it's late at night, so I decided to look for you in the Hogwarts grounds." She explained.

"I'm sorry that you had trouble because of me, Professor. But I just needed some time for me. To, you know, think about some stuff... And I know that I am not allowed to be outside the dorm at this time. So if you like to give me detention or deduct some housepoints... I can live with it." MC's voice was cold. And her hands were shaking a bit. She hadn't recognized how cold it was outside. And even now, she didn't care. She just wanted to be alone.

"I don't want to do anything of this, Miss MC. But I think it's the best if you accompany me inside the castle. Your friends are worried." Professor Rakepick walked a few steps towards MC.

"What if I don't want to see them..." A new tear rolled down her face.

"And why don't you want to see them?"

MC's mind was racing. Should she tell everything to her Professor?! It wasn't a clever idea to her. Well, Professor Rakepick saved her life more than once, but now? It was just too personal to tell her or to tell whomever. And MC knew, that if she started telling her, she couldn't stop it. All her words would come out of her mouth like a waterfall and she couldn't control her feelings anymore. It was hard not to cry in front of others, especially in front of her friends. They were amazing, but they were to worried about her. They are even now worried. And MC couldn't stand their compassionate looks. She sat down back on the place where she sat minutes ago. She hoped that when she ignored Professor Rakepick, she would just go an leave her alone, but to her astonishment, Professor Rakepick sat down right next to her.

"You can trust me, MC. I won't tell anyone."

Professor Rakepicks blue eyes were fixed upon the face from MC. MC didn't dare to move or to breathe. Her eyes laid on the moon reflection again. She had to think about it. To think about the offer to tell someone what was inside her mind. How she was feeling right now and how hard it was to keep everything in control. But on the other side. Could she trust Rakepick? Everyone warned her, because she could be dangerous. But something in MC's mind said, that it was okay to trust her.

"I... I just-" MC stopped. She broke her gaze from the reflection and looked up to Professor Rakepick.

"It's okay. I promise!"

MC just looked in the eyes from Professor Rakepick. She didn't know how to start this.

"You know, MC. It's hard for me to admit it, but I am really proud of you, you know... I really see myself in you when I was your age. And I can understand you, that you want to be alone. But I promise you, that's not good for you. I know it! After I lost an old friend of mine, I did the same. I locked myself up and I didn't want to speak about it and it was horrible..."

Professor Rakepick stopped. MC opened her mouth and started to speak in a whisper. Her voice fainted again.

"I... I am scared... That's why I don't want to see my friends... I am scared that they get hurt or worse, because of me! I just wanted to find my brother somehow and now everything just went upside down. I really don't know what to do!" Tears were streaming down her face.

Professor Rakepick laid her hand on her students shoulder.

"I... I didn't want anything of that happened! I don't want to play hide and seek with the red cloaked figure. I just want to see my brother! I am scared.. What if... What if he's dead or worse. Maybe it's right that he worked for He Who Must Not Be Named. But I can't believe it's true.. I just can't... Every time when I get into a vault with my friends I am scared that I'll find the body from my brother or that something happen to my friends. I just don't know how to handle it."

MC stopped. She could barely speak. Her voice was trembling and more tears were streaming down her face.

"It's okay, MC. Let me help you, okay? But you have to entrust your feelings to your friends! It's important. You don't need to hide all your feelings, just because you think that it'll make you week. That's not true! Trust me."

Professor Rakepick reached inside her pocket and pulled out a handkerchief.

"Here"

"Thank you, Professor!"

Several minutes elapsed.

"And now, let us go into the castle, okay? Your friends are waiting for you in my classroom." Professor Rakepick stood up and helped MC to do the same. Together they walked to the DADA classroom where all of MC's friends were waiting.

After Professor Rakepick opened the door, Penny and Charlie came sprinting towards MC and hugged her.

"MC! We were so worried! We searched the whole castle and nearly got detention from Filch!" Penny was exhausted. "Bill, Ben, Rowan and Tonks helped us, but Snape caught them. But how are you, MC? Where were you? And what-"

"Penny, let MC breathe." Charlie interrupted and smiled a little towards MC. But she didn't smile back.

"I am sorry... I... I just needed time on my own. But I know, that I need to tell you everything. And that I can show my feelings in front of you."

Charlie nodded and was patting MC's back.

"It's alright, MC! To be honest, you didn't hide your feelings in front of us. We know you have tried, but we always knew when you were sad. And it's okay. That doesn't make a worst person of you. We love you the way you are!"

MC was so happy to hear Charlies kind words. And this time, the tear that was streaming down her face wasn't because of sadness...