Stranger

Chapter 5 - Goodbye

PAST

"The Boy Who Lived. Harry Potter himself."

It looked like I was the only one in the train carriage. I picked up one of the books I was fascinated about and started reading. All I wanted to do was to keep my mind busy.

"Can I join?" I saw the same girl from the Ravenclaw dorms peek through the door. I pondered before answering.
"Since you're here." I closed my book.
She happily entered the carriage, carrying something in her hand.
"I brought you a chocolate frog." She reached out, holding an interesting packaging in front of me.
"No thanks, I haven't got the appetite." I refused.
"Just try it; you don't have to eat it, " she urged me. I sighed and took the chocolate out of her hands.
"What am I supposed to do with it?" I looked at the packaging.
"Open it." She giggled.

I turned the packaging around, fumbling with the edges until it finally popped open. To my surprise, a chocolate frog sprang to life and leaped out of the box, landing with a soft thud on the floor. My eyes widened in astonishment as it began to hop around the carriage, its little legs moving with frantic energy.

Cho burst into laughter, her joy infectious, and I couldn't help but join in. The sight of the chocolate frog bounding clumsily across the floor was too amusing to resist. It jumped over my feet and ricocheted off the wall before landing in a little heap, looking just as bewildered as I felt.

"Is that some kind of a spell?" I asked.
"It's just to keep it fun. Oh, and there's a card in there." She pointed. "Let's see who you got?!"

I opened the card and turned it to Cho, hoping she would explain who it is.
"You got Salazar Slytherin!" She grabbed the card out of my hand. "I kept getting Dumbledore all the time." I smiled as she rolled her eyes.

"Who is he?" I asked.
"He was one of the four founders of Hogwarts. As you can guess, the house of Slytherin was named after him." She explained. "He could speak Parseltongue."
"Parseltongue?" I repeated.
"The ability to speak with snakes." She explained.

"They say he used to hand-pick his students so that the Slytherin house would have no Muggle-Born wizards." She looked closer at the card. "And they say that You-Know-Who is his descendent." She whispered giving the card back to me.

"You-Know-Who?" I asked.

"Do you not know of whom I speak?" Cho looked me straight in the eyes, her expression suddenly serious.

A chill ran down my spine as I recalled Dumbledore mentioning a dark wizard—the one responsible for my grandparents' deaths. My heart raced at the thought. "Why don't they call him by his name?"

"Because his name is so terrifying, it should not be spoken. He's dead. For good." Cho turned to gaze out the window, her voice barely above a whisper, as if uttering his name could summon him back.

The fear etched on her face sent a shiver through me. It wasn't just the words themselves; it was the way she spoke them, with such palpable dread, that made my stomach twist. I couldn't shake the feeling that whatever darkness this wizard had cast over the wizarding world lingered still, an invisible shadow waiting to envelop anyone who dared to mention him. Who was this wizard that made even the bravest witches tremble?