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Steps echo in the empty halls that most student used to hang out and laughs. A certain Gryffindor held his head as he stumbled away. Cold sweat drip down off his face, blonde hair a mess.
heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh
The Gryffindor snapped up at the sound. He whipped around to check but saw nothing. Frightened eyes on a face that is so used to be scared since he came to Hogwarts.
That face is Ben Copper.
He was not always like this. Like others, He arrived in Hogwarts same as anyone with mystical eyes. Awe in grandeur of Hogwarts’s magic and wizard world. What should be an eye-opening experience like those novel’s plot of migrated to fantasy world, becomes a terrible nightmare.
Ben refocuses as he continues his strive to recall the memories he lost. Ben walks these haunted corridors trying to remember what the hell happened to him. Flash of memories of student’s sneering laughs, loud echoes whisper in their memory when ben used to tiptoe these halls with fear. He concentrated to remember back when he was just cornered by a group of wizards. A separation when he, himself, does not feel like a wizard at all.
‘Why did I make them different from me?’
He remembers the time where he was pushed, then dodged the object levitated and throw by others. He found a hidden spot when they were chasing him through the hall. He escaped.
He remembered this hall.
The one he escaped through before frozen magic creeped up and trapped him. This hall is where he was frozen in icy prison. The ice creeped slowly from his foot. He remembered being scared because he wasn’t so knowledge at curses.
He remembers screaming. For help.
The group that chased him, unfortunately, found him. Then He remembers asking for help. -Begging for help.
Instead of helping a fellow wizard, they laughed at his misfortune. He was distraught. Why wouldn’t he? He actually feels like he’s going to die and never going to see his parents ever again.
It was cold.
So cold.
And he’s alone.
Far, Far away.
He was even more distraught, frightened, and confused when the group of students disappear right in front of him. Like they were never there.
He was 12.
A traumatic year to experience this in the whole new, unknown world with different culture. Hidden away.
Ben feels another flash of pain in his head as he continues to push forward with his memory.
He remembers…
He remembers recovering from the icy ordeal in hospital wing. Cold and wet and lost an entire year to the icy cage. The nightmare started when that the endless giggle never ever stopped. It always follows him everywhere.
Never escape.
He hid.
He ran.
He found many places to hide.
Library, bottom of the endless stair, the hidden passage in 4th floor, the Artefact Room, the astronomy unused tower.
If you try to find ben, you will have hard time finding him. He knows every nooks and cranny in Hogwarts by now. But he never ever found a place where it was just quiet. He even believes Madam Pomfrey that it was the cursed ice that affecting his memories.
He believes that he’s going crazy.
That beliefs destroyed when the same group of students appeared to him like the ghost of the past. Haunting memories. Except they’re different.
They’re glowing.
Their glowing blue eyes stared at past Ben as memories of the icy cold magic creeped in his back, just like before in the hall. With a haunting giggle, they spoke in harmony.
“Hey little fawn~”
He blinked.
Then the background flashed as he’s falling, he remembers looking at the night sky before crashing down to harsh ground. Now, he’s on the ground. Bruised. And craziest of all? He doesn’t know what’s going on. What he wore changed to wearing a red cloak with an illusion charm on his face.
What was going on.
He looked up and he see… his friend.
The one who threw off Merula’s antic. The one who has a reputation before they enter Hogwarts. The friend who was worse off than him. The friend who will never escape from the rumour of his own sibling during his years in Hogwarts.
Jacob’s Sibling.
For a brief moment, Jacob’s sibling also sports the same glowing haunting blue eyes. Ben feels the silver of fears within his chest before it disappears. Then their own shock mirrors their friend and bystanders together.
‘Ben?!’
‘I knew it…’
He barely remembered that he was sure, he was inside the castle. Hiding.
Not wherever he was being pointed with their wand with shock. He remembered being truly confused and afraid.
‘Now he’s going to pretend like he doesn’t remember anything again…’
How…
How many times did his memory black out? How many times did he black out and don’t remember saying this excuse? How many shitty times did he black out and attack someone?
It’s hard.
How can someone believe you when that someone remember you attacking them? Ben swears to god that he really doesn’t remember even doing a single thing.
How do you even know you’re not going crazy?
“Hey little fawn~ ”
There it is again. He’s going crazy.
He quickly turned to the source of the voice and saw another student with same glowing blue eyes. “Little fawn.~” They creep close to Ben as He lean back away from the possessed student. He can see how stretched the smile goes. It’s unnatural.
“How will you continue? Oh, how will you go?”
The too wide of a smile dropped as the glowing eyes disappeared. The previously possessed student just drop to Ben, like it was cut off from string that was holding him. He woke up, looking confuse as to why he was here in the first place. Muttering stress as an excuse while he left.
Ben remembers…
Why those memories haunt him like they do… They were the imaginary friend he seen when he was young.
But he never has imaginary friend until…
He feels like his whole life is a lie, as he try… try so hard to find the one memory with his parents. He…
He remembers his mom. Tugging him to sleep when he was just 6.
He was going to sleep but… A friend appeared.
He remembers being scare of stranger, because bless his young self, he knows he shouldn’t talk to stranger. Especially when they appear in your bedroom, sitting in the bed.
“Are… you friendly?”
Giggles, the friend speak to him with statics “Well, If I wasn’t friendly, I wouldn’t be so gentle.” They look froze before breaking into gentle smile “Would you like to hear a story?”
Young Ben was… “Would I!” excited. There was trust in place. Because if there wasn’t, then how did this friend appear before his eyes? They must have hidden like they did in his birthday surprise.
“Then listen very intently, little one.” They raise their hand to sprinkle stars out to his bedroom. Was young Ben in awe? Hell yeah. He did.
“This is magic. And you, little one, will soon be given one in later years.” Young Ben gasped. The friend giggled.
They commend the star to show the magical story. They show silhouette of wizards and witches casting colorful sparks. “There is a world beyond here. The world is blessed with great magic. Wizards and witches everywhere in this world, can do incredible things.”
Young ben was drawn to the story the friend told and play with stars.
“While they are blessed, they are, however, strike with a terrible curse.” The star turns dark red as wizards and witch’s silhouette writhe in pain as young Ben gasped with horror. The friend looks at the silhouette sad as they continue their telling.
They gesture the star to a loop with repeating animation of silhouette doing same motion.
“This curse will repeat the time of their world with no progression. They have tried everything with their incredible magic and their potions but there was no hope for them. They will be terribly cursed to repeated with their choices. There will be never end for this world until the curse is broken.” They close their hand as the star disappear in brightness, leaving only darkness.
Young ben cries “Oh no! what kind of story is that! That’s no fairy-tale.”
Glowing pair of eyes look at young ben as they threw the star up.
“But WAIT! There was one day in their loops where the stars aligned with a vision.” The star forms a shape “The vision shows of a hero coming down to the world and would break these terrible curses.” The shape came and broke the repeating motion of the silhouette.
The friend clears the shape away as they sighed “However, the journey is tough for the hero. The wise one has thought of choosing few lucky individuals to help the hero, so that they can save this magical world.”
The friend glows with the star as they twinkle around the bedroom. They started to surround the friend with the glowing ether form, glowing pair of eyes mesmerize young Ben.
“They wanted you into a role where you get to help out a hero. The role would be helping this hero’s journey.” They raise a hand toward young ben in their glowing form.
“To help the hero journey. You’ll be their companion, their helper and most important, their friend. This will be one of the gifts the world will give you. Would you like to be the companion of a hero?”
Mesmerize by the performance of the friend, hypnotics by the thought of being a companion of a hero, young Ben couldn’t help but to say “YES!! Yes! I want to be his friend. I want to save the world with them!”
The friend shushes young ben. “Now, the journey will be tough. However, you will be gift with great magic to help the hero because there will be a terrible price you would take.”
‘Oh no!’ Young Ben thought.
The friend seems to read their mind.
“Oh no indeed! This price will be huge and terrible. It will devastate the hero. You will meet a quick end. An end that will shake the world’s resident.” The friend shows sadness.
“But your price will help and give the world what they need. Tell me little one, will you still take this terrible deal?” The glowing eyes waited young Ben.
Young Ben thinks for a minute. He thought being friends with a hero is cool, but he didn’t like the other end of the part.
But he couldn’t help himself. For he was young… “yes.”
“Dear? Why are you shouting?”
Young Ben snapped away as he looks at his mom. He wanted to introduce the friend to his mother but…
“Dear? There’s no one there… Are you alright my little fawn?”
Ben snapped away from his memories as he knows, deep down that the encounter never happens. He feel like he is being written away to something he’s not.
“How did you do? Little fawn. Do you remember me?”
The imaginary friend that should have disappeared, came back.
It’s scary.
But it was the only thing that told him that he wasn’t going crazy. That he was meant to die by plan.
Ben froze as he remembers everything but one crucial factor. Which is why he walk in these hall as he rambles his brain to come up that factor. Now. What was ben trying to remember? What was so important that Ben has to go through the web of data to find that one single factors?
“do you remember why you needed to remember?”
‘Oh yea.’ Ben thoughts
He was a Gryffindor with spineless tacks. But They wouldn’t understand how the torture of the journey made him sees magic as nothing but rose-colored glass. He was meant to be with them. With one of his friends as the companion of the hero, the world bends for. He was meant to face off towards the one who deceive his friends.
As he turns to look at the important factor that stood before him. The one who comes and crash his world down as he realized that all this time, his fated death, the tragedy and tears, the hardship that made everyone to face, was nothing but amusement for them. Even him being chosen to die was for those who hated his cowardly self.
How cruel.
The one who faked at being friend towards all.
The one who deceive us all.
The blue eyes look at ben’s own brown. And Ben thought ‘That’s not even his original friend’s eyes color.’
“Well. I always thought you should have quietly gone down.” Once spoken, several facial feature changes as their house color changes to different house color on their uniform. It was horrid change as several faces comes and goes like the twisted metamorphmagus.
They never stay with one face. Like they have forgotten which was the original face. Maybe it was never the original face.
It then settling into empty face no notable feature with the first year’s grey color on the uniform. Like it was just bought as new before.
“It was supposed to be you” The cursed manifestation pointed at you. “No one liked you.” They grin with the wide smile “And even if there are, the majority won. Your fans must be sad.”
If the old ben was here, he would be scare at the impending doom. At the horror of the reality that come crashing down like the nightmare of the buried vault caving in to bury the rest of them with no way out.
Right now, Ben as his new rewritten self, want to comfort the old, frightened ben that they could do this. He was rewritten to fit the quota of not being scare at all. If he wants to, he wants to go back and redo all the of the journey, so that the tragedy won’t struck again.
He doesn’t want any of his friend to be scared as he used to do. He will protect them, like they did before.
Just like this horrid being stolen their once comforting friend, they will take them back.
“Please stay there MC I’ll save you from this game.”
For a moment, Ben saw their old friend appear in most somber expression as they tearfully laugh,
“Run Ben. You broke free.”
Ben stare at his friend change as soon as the blue orb enter their body.
The blue orbs multiple and soon encased the hall with their corrupted glowing blue being. In the middle of the horde, Ben knew it’s their friend through and through.
Just like how they broke Ben from their cursed icy prison.
He will break their energy prison.
