Harry Potter: 19 Years Later

Chapter 37: Another Strange Occurrence

"Where do you think he went?" Scorpius asked Rose. They'd been walking and talking for a few minutes now. 

"Oh, I know exactly where he went," Rose said determinedly. Albus always went to Hagrid's for help whenever he didn't want to talk to his friends.

When Rose and Scorpius arrived at Hagrid's, they saw Albus slumped over on a tree stump outside of the hut. He had his head in his hands and he kept running his fingers through his messy hair. Whenever he did that, something was terribly wrong. He must have found out about Holly. Rose knew her cousin like the back of her hand. 

"Al, there you are!" Scorpius said, relieved, then rushed over to his best friend. Albus didn't even glance up.

"Here I am," Albus replied glumly. His voice was strained, like he was holding back tears.

Rose walked over to Albus and put her hand on his shoulder. "I know this is a stupid question, but are you alright?"

This time, Albus's head snapped upwards and he glared at Rose. His green eyes always made his gaze even more intense. "You were right, Rose. She really did start the fire."

Rose gulped. She was afraid of her speculation becoming true. But how in Merlin did Holly start that fire? If it was magically, then it would have taken great skill to master a nonverbal spell like that. Even Rose couldn't have done that.

"How do you know she did it?" Scorpius asked.

"Because," Albus said. "She explained what she remembered before she collapsed. She said that she wasn't feeling well while her and Rose were in the Great Hall, and that when she fell to her knees and was about to black out, she noticed the torches on the ceiling. For some reason, she was interested in the fire."

"So she saw the fire, then moments later the fire in the kitchens and the Hufflepuff common room started," Rose concluded. "That's too big of a coincidence."

"Wait, you talked to Holly?" Scorpius asked.

"Yeah, she's in there resting. She dozed off so they made me leave," Albus said, gesturing behind him at Hagrid's hut.

"That's unfortunate," Rose replied. "I really wanted to see her and see if she was okay."

Albus sighed. "Look, she's fine. She just needs rest."

Rose was really worried about Holly. It seemed that there was always something up with her. Why was that? 

Suddenly, there was a commotion in the distance. Students were together walking along the trail, most likely walking back to Hogwarts. 

"I guess the fire is over," Scorpius said. "Shall we go back?"

Rose glanced at the sky and saw that the sun was about to set. Her stomach rumbled. The fire had interrupted everyone's dinner, so maybe McGonagall would let all the students go back and finish eating. Then again, the Great Hall might be off limits. Maybe Hugo would let her look in his stash of junk food before bed. 

It was a long walk back to the school. The whole time, Albus hung his head down, also sniffling from his head cold. Rose felt sorry for her cousin.

Everyone was ordered to go to their house common rooms for the night, even though it wasn't even seven o'clock yet. Rose was suddenly hit with a wave of exhaustion and wanted nothing more than to crawl in her bed. So, she kissed Scorpius goodnight and started up the stairs to the girls' dormitories. Before she went to her room, she stopped by Albus's room, where he was slumped over on his bed with his head in his hands, again. Rose knew he needed a hug, so she did just that.

Albus jumped, startled by Rose's touch. "What are you doing?"

"She's going to be fine," Rose whispered reassuringly, then rubbed Albus's hair teasingly.

Surprisingly, Albus cracked a smile. Then he frowned again. "That's what we all said last time; that she was going to be okay. But look at her now, Rose!"

He had a point. Holly may have beaten her cancer, but she had some other unknown problem now. Rose knew her best friend was strong and that this would surely pass. 

"She's going to pull through. Holly is the strongest person I know," Rose explained, smiling. 

Albus sighed and put his head back in his head, then let out what sounded like a pained sob. Was he really crying? Rose knew Albus was emotional, but crying is something he rarely did unless it was about important. Holly was important to him.

All Rose did was let Albus cry, knowing reassuring words wouldn't get through to him at this point. Albus was sick and stressed and overwhelmed all at the same time, so it was amazing that he didn't crack earlier. Rose realized that her three best friends were all strong people. Holly has been through hell, Albus has been and is going through what he thinks is hell, and Scorpius went through hell after the coma when they were all in the hospital. She wished she could be that strong. 

While Rose was lost in her thoughts whilst rubbing Albus's back comfortingly, she didn't notice that things in the room were slowly levitating towards the ceiling. She did notice when she felt her hair lift up in the air. At first, she thought it was static, but her hair was literally standing up by itself. Then she noticed everything in the room was slowly rising toward the ceiling, even the bed they were sitting on. What was going on?

Albus hadn't noticed anything yet and was still crying.

"Albus!" Rose exclaimed, getting his attention. His head snapped up and his eyes widened when he realized what was happening. Their heads were about to hit the ceiling. 

"Who's doing this?" Albus yelled, then Rose looked at Albus's face. He was sickly pale and his eyes were green. Not his normal eye color green, but an almost glowing green. His hands were clenched so tightly that his hands were almost blue. 

"I think you are," Rose's voice was shaky with fear. Before hers and Albus's head could bump into the ceiling, she threw her arms in the air and pushed against the ceiling. Thankfully whatever the mysterious force was in the room wasn't strong.

"There's no way..." Albus muttered, staring at his hands. Then he quickly un-clenched them, and everything began falling to the floor. The bed was the last to fall, and Rose screamed when they fell several feet and crashed onto the floor. Luckily, the mattress broke the fall. The wooden bedposts and frame snapped. Albus had flipped off the bed and fell to the floor.

The ruckus was probably enough to startle their entire area of the castle. The door to the room flew open and several students crowded around the doorway, taking in the scene. Albus and Scorpius's room was destroyed. Scorpius shoved through the crowd and his eyes widened when he saw the room. 

"What the bloody hell..." He muttered, then rushed over to Rose and Albus. "What happened?!"

Rose was shaking. "I-I don't know. Albus..." She glanced down at the floor at Albus, who wasn't moving. He was unconscious.

Someone ran to get help and shortly Madame Carmine arrived to tend to Albus. She looked exhausted and confused.

"Why is everyone falling ill today?" She asked no one in particular, checking Albus's pulse.

Rose wanted to know the same thing. She really didn't know what the heck was going on anymore.

~ ~ ~

Well, that's chapter 37! I bet you're wondering the same thing Rose is. What the heck is going on?

Find out in a few more chapters ;)

Don't forget to vote and comment what you thought! Thanks for reading!