The Unknown

Chapter 37: Hardest Memory

Fenrir and Jörmungandr quickly noticed a pattern occurring when they went into each memory. Those closest to the ground floor, where the boys started, were memories that were specific to Hogwarts and Dahlia's friends that she found there. They ran up the stairs and thankfully the stairs didn't move like they did in the real world, but they did, however, run into a werewolf, a Basilisk and a swarm of pixies which they knew they had to avoid as these were simple obstacles Dahlia's mind created in order to keep them out of her memories. With each floor they went up, the danger seemed to be worse and Jörmungandr voiced his opinion that maybe the creatures that Dahlia's mind created were not only trying to stop them from entering her memories, but were, in a way, trying to protect Dahlia. Trying to scare them away or push them out so they couldn't get to her and bring her home.

They reached the seventh floor rather quickly, hoping that being on the top floor would lead them to Dahlia at a young age and it did, but not in the way they expected. They entered the first door and saw...

A five-year-old Dahlia, with her long dark hair and overgrown dirty old clothes which just reflected how she looked with dirt on her hands and face. Her hair looked like it hadn't been brushed in days. She was stood over the stove in the spotless modern-day kitchen that looked surgically clean. Dahlia was preparing eggs and bacon when a five-year-old Dudley threw his toy car at her, making her drop the pan which she was holding, the food going all over the floor while the pan burned her arm. Dahlia screamed.

"That little shit," Jörmungandr said as he glared at the young boy.

Vernon then came into the room and saw the mess Dahlia had made and said, "so you think you can make a mess, do you? Think you can waste our good food, do you?"

"I'm sorry, uncle Vernon. I'm sorry," Dahlia said close to tears as she moved further away from him.

Vernon's fists clenched as he stepped closer to her and said, "I think a day locked in your room without food should teach you discipline, freak".

Dahlia eyes went wide, already not having food the day before because of a spout of accidental magic. She tried to make a run for it, but Vernon grabbed her tightly from the waist and hauled her up and began to walk to the cupboard. She kicked and screamed but knew it wouldn't make a difference, it never did.

"Petunia," Vernon shouted, and she appeared and opened the cupboard.

"Her room?" Fenrir spat, knowing the cave was bad but at least he had room to move, his sister couldn't even stand in that cupboard properly.

Jörmungandr shook his head and said, "forget about leaving Midgard after we get her out. They'll pay before we leave. Do you think papa knows?"

Fenrir said, "no. He didn't know anything about what happened to her at Hogwarts, I doubt she would have told him how she was treated even before she went to Hogwarts".

Dahlia fought but was eventually put into the cupboard and it was locked from the outside with the shutter closed. The brothers could now only see the door, everything else around them faded as Dahlia couldn't see what was happening outside of the door. Fenrir approached the cupboard door and opened it.

Dahlia was crying silently, not being able to stop while she clung to a purple blanket that was dirty and had holes in. It had 'Dahlia' inscribed on the corner with a stitching of a dahlia flower which was clearly the only thing that belonged to Dahlia as everything else was dirty rags for blankets, cleaning supplies and a few metal toy figurines that were usually given to boys. She lied down and held the blanket close and whimpered "I'll be a good girl, I promise I'll be a good girl".