Chapter 363 - The Dreams and Realities (2/2)

”Is she always like this?” Oziyat asked Chris.

”Er . . .” Chris looked at Ginny, whose eyes were daring Chris to say anything.

”Choosing the wrong friends to trust, is just a s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e topic for her,” Luna told Oziyat.

Oziyat nodded and Ginny whirled at Luna, who just gave a small pat on her shoulder.

”Alright, to answer your question Oziyat, I think the Queen knows about Queen Wilma's son,” Chris said trying to get back to the topic at hand.

”What? Mother? Why do you think that?” Oziyat looked bewildered.

”Well, you know Rosaline was telling me about the legend of Gryffindor and Malgino, she mentioned that she thinks the Queen knows more than anybody else but she barely speaks about it and to be honest, it is possible that because of some reason Wilma's secret was passed down only to the monarchs,” Chris sighed. ”Malgino's legend was also passed down through all the Headmasters and Headmistresses of Hogwarts and nobody else knew about it.”

”But mother . . . why didn't she say anything even till now? When she is so ill and . . .” Oziyat rubbed his forehead looking frustrated. ”Does nobody trusts me with anything important?”

”It --” Ginny was about remark but stopped when she noticed the apologetic look on Chris's face.

”Oziyat, I am so sorry,” Chris touched his arm and he let out a long breath.

”I'm sorry everyone but I would like to be alone for a while,” Oziyat looked hurt more than anything. ”It's better than marching into my mother's room and demand answers, I think. Excuse me.”

”Will he be okay?” Luna asked.

”I don't know,” Chris sighed. ”And I wanted to meet the Queen but I will wait until Oziyat is okay. Meanwhile, Sol,” Chris turned to Sol. ”You know a lot about creatures. Have you read about Snallygasters? I have but I don't think I know much about them.”

As soon Chris asked the question, Sol's eyes widened and he looked around Ginny, Luna, and Colin very quickly, panicked.

”It's ok if you don't want to talk now,” Chris said promptly. ”We can talk later.”

Sol calmed down a little bit and nodded. Chris smiled at him.

”And Sol, don't worry my friends are nice.”

”But take as much as time you need, Sol,” Luna said kindly.

Looking embarrassed at Luna's words Sol stood up, ready to bolt out of the room, but stopped.

”I . . .” Sol still looked nervous but spoke looking down. ”I . . . wanted . . . to tell . . . you. . . Even . . . this time . . . I don't . . . remember . . . what happened . . . after I . . . entered the . . . fort. How . . . do you . . . remember . . . everything?”

”Wait, what?” Chris was confused. ”If you don't remember anything both times you were there then . . .”

”There must be a memory charm,” Colin asserted.

”But then how does Chris remember?” Luna asked.

”Exactly.” Chris stared at the wall, thinking. What it could be? ”Sol, what do you --”

”. . . bye.” Sol was already out of the room.

”Sorry, he just doesn't like talking to strangers or talking at all. He has a condition, he feels uncomfortable around people,” Chris explained.

”By the way, who is that boy?” Ginny asked. ”You didn't say.”

”Oh, he is Princess Rosaline's son.”

”But he is not a vampire. He doesn't have red eyes,” Colin said.

”Yeah, his father was a wizard. Don't tell anyone you know this,” Chris added.

Colin nodded in understanding.

”So, just to summarize,” Ginny straightened up and cleared her throat dramatically. ”Malgino was friends with the son of Godric Gryffindor and Vampire Queen Wilma, and they are all connected to this fort thing in the southeast part of the forest, where a Snallygaster lives and it is also under a memory charm which affects this boy Sol and not Chris.”

”And nobody apart from Sol and I had ever returned from there alive,” Chris confirmed.

”Yeah, that's probably because everybody gets eaten by the Snallygaster,” Luna said casually.

Colin and Chris looked at Luna startled.

”Great,” Ginny gave a fake amused look. ”At least, we have more information than before . . . but what are we going to do with it?”

”Ginny, now you are just being annoying,” Colin sighed. ”We are all thinking --”

”She almost died, Colin.” Ginny snapped suddenly. ”Now you know, why she is this injured. Why Leyla and that vampire boy is so worried about her. Because she was too close to dying. If not for her Thestral, she would have. She could have been eaten by that Snallygaster thing and we wouldn't have known. We would have spent an eternity looking for her and she probably would have been dead.”

Ginny's eyes looked bloodshot as she stood up. Luna and Chris both reached for her but she stormed out.

”Sorry,” Chris whispered sinking in her chair.

Luna got up and wrapped Chris into a warm hug.

”It's not your fault, Chris. You have been through a lot too. But we are strong. We will get through this together. Okay?”

Chris nodded hugging Luna back.

⟦To be continued. . .⟧