Not Just Our Story

Chapter 17: Secrets Hidden and Revealed

Harriet Potter

"Argh, Fay's right. Draco could be such a twit sometimes. I suppose she's going to give me a smug little look or perhaps a sympathetic one when I get back to my dormitory." 

I waited for Tom's reply. "Don't let Draco hear you say that."

"Why?"

"Apparently, he's... well, it's not my place to say, but... would you like to read the message he left you?"

"No thanks."

"Very well then, I'll keep his secret."

"Speaking of secrets, could you please tell me more about the Chamber of Secrets?"

"We've been through this, over and over again."

"I remember only talking about it once."

"You have no idea."

"So... you want to avoid the topic of the Chamber?"

"Yes."

"All right, new question then. How did you enchant this diary?"

"Not this again."

"What? You mean I asked you this question before?"

"Forget it. It's not important."

"Tom, I'm curious. And... judging by the way you write and your obvious irritation, I believe I forgot the number of times I presented these repetitive questions. Let me ask you something else then. How do you preserve memories?" 

"Sorry?"

"Well, since you have a magic diary and all, I'm asking you this: how do you preserve your memories? The magical way?"

"Why are you asking?"

"I want to do it myself. You see, I keep forgetting stuff---certain memories,  I mean. I tried to write down whatever happened everyday in notebooks and parchments but somehow, there are times when I get memory lapses. It all started on Halloween. I was going downstairs to the Great Hall like everyone else when I suddenly blacked out. I must've been sleepwalking or something. I don't know. Or maybe I just forgot what happened. Tom, I think I'm going mad and I have to do something. So, what can I do to preserve my memories?"

"Well, there is a way, but... it's a little advanced... you extract a thought or memory from your mind and place it in a vial. To review it, you must place it in a Pensieve, a basin that can contain memories."

"How do you extract a memory?"

"You really are curious, aren't you?"

"Well, if you can't tell me about the Chamber of Secrets, I'm willing to learn other things."

"Very well then. Let me show you how."

April 1993

Draco Malfoy

The second years had been given something to think about during the Easter holidays. We were supposed to choose new subjects for our third year, as part of our preparation for our future wizarding career. I wanted to choose Alchemy out of interest in studying it, but discovered it was only for sixth years and above. And so, with a sigh, I stuck with Divination. I also chose Care of Magical Creatures, knowing that Potter would most likely choose that, due to her love for animals.

"I choose... er..." Crabbe uttered as he scanned his list of new subjects. He glanced at mine and said, "I'll choose Care of Magical Creatures then."