Searching the star

Chapter 6

At Hogwarts, the professors were all busy, recovering the ruins of the castle. Many of them were still traumatized of the war. Minerva McGonagall, now the official head mistress, was happy to see that the students seemed to be mostly doing well and emotionally stable. That was the only reason she had written them a letter, to come to Hogwarts.

When she made sure, that everyone went home she continued her duties. That was until she heard someone running to her office.

"Professor McGonagall, please come to the infirmary. Now!"

She opened the door. It was Ron Weasley.

"What happened Mr. Weasley?"

"No time to explain. Come with me."

She followed her student to the infirmary wing. There was a girl laying unconsciously on the bed. Harry and Hermione were treating her to fix her broken bones. According to Madame Pomfrey she had been bitten by Ladon. A creature even Professor McGonagall has only heard about in mythologies and never thought it existed. Her veins started to become green and it was spreading quickly from the spot where she was bitten.

"Dear children, I know you are very worried about this girl and everything, but you need to get back to your homes. The Hogwarts express will come soon to the Hogsmeade station. We will handle the rest. Thank you for taking care of her."

Professor McGonagall said while thinking, why it's always these three, when something happens.

The trio looked worried but realized their situation and apparated away.

In the meantime, Madame Pomfrey has already completed the antidote for the girl and poured it directly into the wound. The green colouring seemed to go back immediately, and her tense body relaxed a bit. By closer examination, the girl had a silver coloured parka which was torn apart and a silver diadem. Assuming from her Height she seemed to be around six- or seventeen. It was only clear that she wasn't a Hogwarts student.

"Madame Pomfrey, have you heard anything from the three who it is or where they did find her?"

"They only mentioned that they have found her on the grass at the Black Lake, professor. They didn't know either, who she is."

"Thank you. Let me know when she regains consciousness. I will do my research to find out what is happening."

So, Professor McGonagall left the infirmary and went back to her office.

The only evidence to finding out her identity, was to learn about Ladon. The last time she has heard the name of the creature, was when she was still a student and had care of magical creatures. It was mentioned that he is the origin of every dragon in existence.

She took the key to go to the restricted area of the library and searched one book after another to find any additional information about Ladon.

After hours of research she finally found out. The dragon had hundred heads, and, in the ancient times, it protected the tree of the golden apple in the garden of the Hesperides. Actually, there is no written evidence that it has existed, but the story has been passed down orally. But one sentence caught all of her attention.

Those ancient creatures, which have been created by a supernatural being, even in the wizarding world are considered to be immortal. Therefore, it is to believe, that they are still alive in a different dimension, the wizards today don't know the existence of.

This would mean, that the girl knows the path to the ancient world. The professor sighed. It was a great discovery, but what it meant for her was, that yet another chain of trouble was going to occur. Her only hope was, that the golden trio wouldn't get too much involved in this matter, since they were professionals to summon trouble. On the other hand, she knew it was too late to keep them away from this topic, because they were the first ones to find her. On the other hand, she knew that those three were extremely talented to solve problems, like they did with the horcruxes, during the war.

Now that she knew, more about the topic the only thing that was left to do, was to check if the wounded girl was a witch. Again, she went to the infirmary to do a blood test.

When she got there, madame Pomfrey had already taken a blood sample and did the tests. The tests showed that she was indeed a witch. It didn't show however, if she was a half blood or a pure blood.

The Professor moved towards the girl and started to look, if she had anything to prove her identity. When she took her diadem away for a closer look, the next thing she felt was a cold metal at her throat.

The girl was standing right beside her, and it was a bronze dagger that was lightly pressing against McGonagall's skin. Aside from her aggressive behaviour, the girl was obviously confused, and her eyes scanned every corner of the room. Her chest pounded. Finally, she caught her breath.

"Where am I? Who are thee?"

McGonagall shoved the blade slowly from her throat aside and answered in a calm voice.

"You, my dear, are in a safe place. We have treated your wounds. This is Hogwarts. The school for witchcraft and wizardry, and I am professor McGonagall, the head mistress."

She blinked a few times and stared at the professor unbelievably.

"And why I am even here?"

"That is a question we wanted to ask you. But since you don't seem to know about it, I'm going to make it clear for you. You are a witch."

She stared at the professor again for a while and spoke again.

"I'm a what?"

"You heard me correct. You are a witch. What is your name, young woman?"

The girl lowered her head and looked down to the floor. With a cracking voice she whispered:

"I do not know."

McGonagall noticed that she was in despair.

"Don't worry, my child. You are safe here. Nothing can harm you. And we do know lots of methods to recover one's memory."

She said to cheer her up.

"But now we must get you to accustomed to the wizarding world."

With that the professor handed the girl her tiara back and started walking out of the infirmary. The girl took it carefully and inspected it. Then she realized the engraving on the inside of the tiara. It said: ἀντί Ζοέ. For Zoe.

"Sir, I know my name. My name is Zoe."

Professor McGonagall stopped and turned around.

"That is great! Welcome Zoe, to Hogwarts. Now follow me, you need to learn a lot until school starts."

Zoe put up a smile on her face. She still doesn't remember anything, what has happened and who she is. Whoever that gave her the tiara, must have been someone very important in her life. But at least she knows her name now, and she knew that she could trust the head mistress. It felt like the right instinct for her.

Hello there:) I hope you are doing well (Covid is really frightening). I think the most of you were waiting to see Zoe back again, so here it is. I think the next chapter will be about Zoe again. Another note: While I'm writing this, I'm listening all the time to the soundtrack of the deathly hallows part 1. Especially the one I linked above is my favourite. And doesn't it fit with Zoe, who has amnesia?

Again, I would be very happy if I can hear about your thoughts of the story in the comment section. See you in the next chapter.