Restoration

Chapter Nine

***

There hadn't been an occasion where Albus Dumbledore needed a remembrall. He had been pacing back and forth in his office as he reached for the large marble-sized glass ball, filled with smoke. Once in turned red, he knew his doubts were confirmed.

The magical ball, known as a remembrall, glowed red when its user had forgotten something. Funny enough, it didn't have the power to tell what someone had forgotten.

Dumbledore went through his notes and papers, thinking he must've forgotten about a meeting of some sort. It puzzled him so, because his mind was quite sharp, despite his age. It wasn't until he went through his personal and secret diaries, he stumbled upon a page which he could've sworn contained non-existent information. He read his notes a few times, turning pages back and forth, then walking towards his collection of memories, searching for that particular date. He poured one of the bottles, containing his memory into the Pensieve, relieving a particular memory again. They seemed so distant and fabricated, he almost had to convince himself they happened.

He was positive someone was playing with his memories, but he wasn't to which extent the perpetrator had gone to if he damaged someone else's memories as well. Casting a protection charm over himself, and holding onto some healing minerals, his memories flooded back.

He sent for both Professor McGonagall and Professor Slughorn, as he was convinced they both had knowledge of the topic. They came inside his office momentarily, believing his discovery to be of utmost importance

"Tell me, what do you think of Miss Elara Dotson?" Dumbledore inquired.

"She seems quite intelligent for her age," McGonagall thought for a moment before replying.

"Anything else? Out of the ordinary?" Dumbledore played with the remembrall in his hands, which smoke became transparent.

"No, none that I could think of. Why are you asking?" McGonagall inquired.

"Sorry, who is Elara Dotson?" Slughorn suddenly asked from behind her, his face revealing he was struggling to recall this person.

"As I feared," Dumbledore threw the remembrall at McGonagall, "someone is making us all forget about her." As soon as Professor McGonagall's palms touched the ball, the smoke turned crimson red again.

He gave the same protection charm to both of the professors, as well as the healing minerals to keep in their pockets, but he had to struggle slightly more with Slughorn- probably because he tends to forget most of his students, which weren't his absolute favorites. Luckily they all remembered her pompous arrival that stormy night, how she knew her way about Hogwarts, and claimed to have been home-schooled for the last three years. They also remembered not knowing the first thing about her, even though they all must have taught her at some point or another in the past.

They discussed her most memorable moment they could remember - supposedly invading Draco Malfoy's mind in class, then being interrogated with the truth-telling charm. And if it weren't for Draco, she would have choked to death, as someone placed a spell on her to keep quiet, while the truth-telling charm forced her to talk about it. Elara had made an Unbreakable Vow, but she couldn't tell anyone about it. McGonagall explained the headmaster she had gifted Elara with the Shifting realities book as well as appointing Luna to help explore her subconsciousness. She didn't say a word about setting another student on fire and being sent to detention.

"Her parents never replied to my letter," Dumbledore announced as they sifted through his reports and address books. "And the listed home address seems faulty as well," he added.

"Surely it's just an administrative error, Albus," McGonagall tried to reason with him. It wasn't only incredibly rude to provide false information to the school, but dangerous as well. People who lied most definitely had secrets they needed to keep secret.