The Familiar
I was still having trouble understanding everything about my role. Asher had explained it to me, but it was a lot of information for a kid to take in. Even though the basic facts were clear, there were still a lot of unanswered questions about all this, questions that kept me from sleep. Now that years have passed and I have had time to reflect on what happened, I have a much more nuanced understanding of the phenomena that had led to those circumstances, and for the sake of the reader I will explain clearly:
One year before the First Battle of Salem, Donovan Trackwell made contact with the Dementors. He was a recently graduated prodigious student of Hogwarts, and had taken a keen interest in forbidden subjects usually reserved for the Department of Mysteries. He had theorized that the Limbo Mist and the Dementors were both manifestations of Limbo, a world between life and death, and that through their power, a wizard could become immortal. Trackwell promised the Dementors a wealth of souls to feed upon, and in return, they told him the secrets of the Limbo. He learned that phoenixes, magical creatures which can resurrect themselves upon death, had the power to anchor themselves to the world of the living, thus returning their souls to new bodies. With this power, Darkanoss could similarly anchor himself to life, and all he needed were a few ingredients: a piece of his own soul, and the feather of a phoenix.
Wands are often built with phoenix feathers at their core. But to take a feather from the core of a wand was not sufficient: Darkanoss needed a feather taken directly from the body of a phoenix, one that was fresh and untainted. Phoenixes are incredibly rare and scarce; they typically live in very remote regions, and do not regularly associate themselves with humans. But Darkanoss was intelligent, resourceful, and determined. He studied migration patterns, historical sightings, and ultimately found a nest deep within a cave in Saudi Arabia. He stole the feathers of the phoenix within, and then sacrificed a piece of his soul to create the Phoenix Stone. This stone, through the Ritual of the Blind, would anchor his soul and the souls of his Death Eaters to the living world. They could be resurrected over and over, as long as there was someone there to perform the ritual on the stone. This process took five months. It had happened before, on December 14, just before the Second Battle. And it would happen again.
But there was one thing Darkanoss hadn’t foreseen. The Arabian phoenix, which he had taken the feather from to create the Phoenix Stone, just happened to be the magical familiar of a little witch girl from Salem. Magical familiars exist from birth, and share a soul with a particular witch or wizard, even if a whole world separates them. Some wizards never meet their magical familiars. Those who do are capable of performing a spell called Atovius Familiarus. Each Atovius Familiarus spell is unique, and depends on both the caster and their familiar. It can only be performed when the caster and their familiar are close to each other. The spell, like a Patronus, is a reflection of the caster’s soul. It is their spirit made manifest, a powerful display of the brightest lights of their heart.
No one knows why this particular phoenix happened to be the familiar of that particular girl. Some say it was a coincidence, but I have learned not to believe in coincidences. It was fate. Just as the prophecy foretold, Emma West’s soul was the one thorn in Darkanoss’s plans. He gave away part of his soul to the Phoenix Stone, and thus unwittingly gave away that part of his soul to Emma. As long as Emma was alive, Darkanoss would be unable to kill her; his spells would rebound, or implode, destroying his body. But his soul was anchored by the stone, so he wouldn’t truly die. Moreover, his Death Eaters did not have such a weakness. While their souls were anchored by the Phoenix Stone, they had not given away a piece of themselves the way that Darkanoss had. Thus, when the First Battle of Salem occurred, Karen Blair cast the Killing Curse on Emma, ending her life. It would seem then that all hope was lost.
But something strange happened. Somehow, Emma’s soul didn’t die that day. It had attached itself to the soul of another – to my soul. Maybe it was because of my Patronus. Maybe something happened in that last moment before she died. Or maybe it was a connection that had unknowingly existed since we were born. But no matter the cause, Emma was now a part of me. Our souls were one. Because of this, I inherited the powers that she had. Darkanoss could not kill me. When we first fought each other at the university stadium, he realized the truth. The prophecy revealed it to the rest of us after the Second Battle. With Emma’s soul inside of me, I could destroy the Phoenix Stone. But I had to find a way to awaken that soul, to wield it with my magic.
That was why I had to find the phoenix. If I could find Emma’s familiar, I could use the Atovius Familiarus spell, the one that personified Emma’s spirit. It would be capable of destroying the stone. But we had to do it fast. Every day we lost was a day closer to Darkanoss’s return. We still had no idea where Nick Varennikov was. If we waited too long, he would perform the Ritual of the Blind, and it would happen all over again. This was our only shot, and we were running out of time.
* * *
The date was March 23, 2012. It was about a week after my thirteenth birthday, and two weeks after I had gone with Asher to speak to the muggle and wizard officials about my role in defeating Darkanoss. More than three months had passed since the Second Battle of Salem, which meant that we only had two months left to end things before they could begin again. While the Aurors scoured the area around Salem for any signs of Nick Varennikov, I was sent to find the phoenix that would allow me to destroy the Phoenix Stone once and for all.
I was standing on the front porch of my house wearing a black winter coat and heavy-duty cargo pants. Mom and Dad stood to either side of me, while Peter and Silas sat on the steps. It wasn’t often that they came over to my place, what with it being so difficult to wizards to travel through Salem under the omnipresent watch of the government. But today was a special occasion.
A man apparated into my front yard. He was an Auror, one I’d seen around town a few times before, with a flat face and graying hair. He walked over to the porch, and I stood upright, my limbs tensing.
“Are you ready?” he asked plainly, barely moving the muscles on his face.
I gulped and nodded. “Uh... yeah. I am.”
“Good. The journey will be brief, but that’s no excuse to not be prepared.”
I looked at Mom and Dad, and then at my friends. Peter and Silas stood up, and Peter put a reassuring hand on my shoulder. “You’ll be okay, man. Don’t worry.”
I smiled and nodded. Silas also patted my shoulder, and Mom and Dad gave me hugs.
“Be careful,” Mom said in my ear.
I just nodded. Then I walked over to the Auror, who took me by the arm.
“Tell us what Arabia is like when you get back,” said Silas.
“If you find a genie, wish for Halo 4,” Peter added half-jokingly.
I smiled at both of them, filled with love and respect for the friends and comrades I cared so much about. They personified the normalcy that I was desperate to have back. I couldn’t wait for this to finally be over, for the day to come when Salem was how it used to be. I wanted to kick back and pull an all-nighter with these guys eating Doritos and playing video games. Strangely enough, in that moment, that was my sole motive to end the Phoenix War. It seems mundane now, even silly, but that was the truth.
The Auror twisted his heel. The faces of my family and friends vanished in a blur of curving lights, and I was being pulled through space yet again. It was farther and deeper than I’d ever been pulled before. I felt as though I could sense the whole world curving, turning inward upon itself. Thousands of miles passed in a fraction of a second. I didn’t know at the time just how difficult and dangerous it was to apparate so far, nor how much of a toll it took on the talented Auror who apparated me. Under normal circumstances, a trip this far would have been accomplished by other means, such as the Floo Network. But the Aurors didn’t want to risk me being in too many locations, so they cut to the most drastic option.
With a loud crack, the apparition ended. I was incredibly dizzy, and when the Auror let go of my arm, it took every once of motor control I had to not immediately fall over and throw up. My feet slid over a loose substance I realized was sand. I regained my balance by leaning heavily back, nearly colliding with the Auror in the process. When the dark landscape around me stopped spinning, I focused my eyes and took in my surroundings.
We were in a desert. It had been daytime when I left Salem, but it was now the middle of the night, and there was a perfect starry sky overhead. The landscape was flat and featureless, with the exception of a derelict metal fence to my right that ran to the horizon, and what looked like a steppe or plateau to my left. Aside from the fence, there were no signs of civilization. I stared around expecting to see something, but we were in the dead center of nowhere.
“Ah! You’ve arrived! Splendid!”
I turned in the direction of the sudden voice. A short man with a curly black beard was approaching us. Like me, he was wearing thick clothes fit for hiking, and was also carrying a big backpack. His head was partially balding, revealing tannish-red skin that turned purple in the starlight. When he reached our position, he eagerly grabbed my hand and shook it rigorously.
“You are Alan, yes? Welcome! Welcome to Tuwaiq! My name is Faraj. I am a magizoologist.”
Faraj had a thick Arabic accent, but it didn’t make him particularly hard to understand. I liked him pretty quickly. I had learned to have a greater appreciation for people after what I’d been through, and he seemed like a nice and amicable person. He was a nice change of pace from the stiff tension that had befallen Salem over the past few months. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Faraj.”
“Just Faraj!” he insisted. “I see you’re dressed appropriately. That’s good! Ah, how exciting this is! We are going on an adventure, you and I!”
I looked at the Auror. “Um... thank you for bringing me here.”
He returned a stone-cold gaze, and nodded. “Find the phoenix as soon as you can. I will be back in three hours.” Then he disapparated, throwing a cloud of dust and sand into the air as he left.
Faraj waved away the dust and shook his head. “Aurors. Always so serious.” He looked at me, and flashed a wide grin. “Now then, Alan. Let’s go!”
Without any other explanation, Faraj took off with brisk pace in the direction of the nearby plateau. With a start, I hurriedly followed behind him, my hiking boots crunching on the sand and rocks.
There is a phrase I’ve heard before, and one I think fittingly describes the scene I saw around me as I hiked: “magnificent desolation.” Even though we were far from civilization, I couldn’t help but feel as though the wide, empty desert on all sides of me was strangely beautiful. There were no lights anywhere but those which came from above, in the sky home to millions of distant stars. The Milky Way was sprawled across the center, in perfect alignment with the cliffs of the plateau, two shapes running parallel to each other. After all the horrible things I’d been through, there was something deeply calming about the serenity and openness of this place. Here, there were no Death Eaters. There was no war. I felt as though I could forget about it all. It had been so long since I’d left Salem, and I didn’t realize how much I’d needed it.
As we walked, I struck up a conversation with Faraj. “You say you’re a... magizoologist?”
“Yes!” he said pleasantly.
“What’s that?”
“A wizard who studies magical creatures. We travel around the world and observe magical creatures in their natural habitats. From the Billywigs of Australia to the Runespoors of Burkina Faso, we make sure that they are safe, while studying them and developing a better understanding of their nature.”
It sounded like just about the coolest job in the world to me. Faraj no doubt noticed my awed expression, because his ever-present grin grew even wider. “You’re interested in magizoology, Alan?”
“I mean, I didn’t even know that was a thing.” I knew that magical creatures existed, and some part of me must have known that people studied them, but to actually learn of this occupation was a different story.
“There aren’t very many of us anymore. It’s a dying occupation, sadly. Magical creatures all around the world have had their habitats threatened or destroyed by muggles. Ever since the Statute of Secrecy was broken, it’s gotten even worse. Poaching and killing of magical animals is pretty common now.”
I was mortified by this knowledge. “That’s terrible!”
Faraj smiled weakly at me. “I wish there were more people like you who felt that way. This world is filled with such beautiful creatures... yet they are so fleeting. Many things are like that.”
He fell silent on that remark. I pondered his words, gazing up at the stars above.
“Enough sad talk, though!” Faraj went back to his usual grin. “You want to know more about the phoenix, yes?”
“Yes!” I said eagerly.
“He is a proud Arabian breed. Arabian phoenixes are quite rare, and their existence was once disputed. They are quite different from their relatives in other countries.”
“How are they different?”
“Well, for one thing, they make their nests in underground caves rather than mountaintops. It is also thought that their magical potential is much greater. A wand forged with the feathers of an Arabian phoenix would be very powerful, though such a thing has never been attempted. Until recently, Spark had never been touched by human hands.”
“Spark?”
“Ah, that’s the nickname we’ve given this particular phoenix. In Arabic, we call him Shahara.”
“How long have you known about him?”
“There have been reports of him for centuries, but we never confirmed his existence until a few months ago. It took even longer to locate his nest. The thought that this ‘Darkanoss’ was able to find him before we did it truly stunning. He must be quite the skilled tracker.”
The sight of the left half of Darkanoss’s face flashed through my mind. I didn’t want to think about him, so I quickly changed the subject. “Do you only study phoenixes?”
“Me? Nah. There’s not many magizoologists who specialize in just one species. Most of us work around the world with a lot of different creatures. It just so happens this one lives in my homeland, although we are far away from my actual home. I grew up in Jeddah, more than eight hundred miles from here. There is a great wizarding school in Iraq – that is where I learned magic as a child.”
My mind quickly jumped to a new question. “You said that you keep magical creatures safe. If their habitats are being destroyed, what do you do to keep them protected?”
“Have you heard of Newt Scamander?”
I nodded. “He was the author of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, right?”
“Yes. He was a major pioneer of our field. He made a habit of keeping certain magical creatures in his magical satchel, which contained environments suited to each of them. We magizoologists now carry satchels of our own as standard procedure, to shelter magical animals either temporarily or permanently.” He laughed, “I guess you could call them our own personal animal sanctuaries.”
I was flabbergasted. “Do you have yours with you?!”
“No. Left it at home today. I have no intention of capturing Spark, after all.”
Faraj must have noticed the disappointed look on my face. He gave me a friendly pat on the back. “Tell you what. You look me up when this is all over, and I’ll show you the inside of my satchel. Deal?”
I smiled. “Deal.”
Our hike eventually took us closer to the side of the plateau. I didn’t notice until we were right up at the edge of the cliffside, but upon closer inspection, I saw there was a narrow opening in the wall leading to a dark interior space. Faraj took out his wand and lit it up, illuminating the jagged cave entrance. “Here it is. Ah, what a truly exciting day this is! I have waited a long time to meet our dear Spark.”
“Will he be okay with us... going in?” I asked awkwardly. “It’s his home, isn’t it?”
“Don’t worry. Phoenixes are distrusting and solitary creatures, but they aren’t usually harmful. Besides, we have insurance.”
“What insurance?”
“You.” Faraj looked at me. “Spark is your familiar, Alan. He will recognize your soul. I’m sure he has been waiting for this day for a long time.”
* * *
The cave interior was dark and narrow. Faraj trekked forward with trained confidence, but I was having a harder time. I tripped over my own feet more than once. Sometimes we went through passages so narrow that I worried we’d get stuck. The deeper we got, the colder the air felt. I could hear nothing but the sounds of our hands and feet as they clambered against the rocky walls and floors. The noises echoed deep into the cavern, reverberating in the darkness.
“Are you sure he’s here?” I asked after a few minutes. I spoke in a whisper, as if afraid to disturb whatever lived within this cave.
“He’s here,” Faraj affirmed. “His nest is deep, but we will find him.”
The narrow cave passage opened up a few minutes later, revealing a chamber about wide enough for us to stretch our arms to either side. As we kept walking in silence, I found my mind drifting back to Salem. I wondered how close the Aurors were to finding Nick and the Phoenix Stone. I thought about Mom and Dad and Clea. I thought about Silas and Peter and Jared and Zoe. I knew that the Death Eaters weren’t back yet, but I still worried about them. We had all grown closer in the past few months since the last battle; I was even getting along with Jared for the most part. We kept close tabs on each other to make sure we were all okay. I liked being away from Salem, but I didn’t like being away from them.
I wasn’t looking where I was going, and suddenly tripped. Faraj whirled around at the sound, and reached out to me. “Alan!”
It was too late. I felt my stomach rise into my chest as everything went dark, and I realized I was falling. Cold air rushed through my hair as I plummeted downward down the deep pit I had accidentally slipped into. It took my mind a fraction of a second to realize what was happening, and a second or two longer for me to unsheathe my wand. I was scared to disapparate, not knowing where in the world I’d end up. I could teleport into the wall for all I knew. So instead, I pointed my wand in the direction I thought to be down, and yelled as loud as I could. “Molliare!”
I collided with something soft and fluffy, like a giant pillow. It broke my fall. My heart was still throbbing in my chest with fright. A moment later, I slid off the side of the invisible cushion and onto the hard cave floor. I sat there for several moments, breathing heavily and trying to recover from the shock of the fall.
When I finally got ahold of myself, I stood up and walked back to the spot where I had fallen. I lit up my wand and pointed it upward, but no matter how bright I made the light, I couldn’t see the top. I had no idea how far I’d fallen, but there was no sign of Faraj’s light, so it had to be pretty far.
So now I was lost in a cave. Great. Just what I needed.
I turned the light of my wand in the other direction, down the passage I had landed in. It was wider than the one Faraj and I had been walking in. There was no way back up, so the only thing I could do was head down that way, and pray that the paths reconnected. The last thing I wanted was to end up lost in a cave in the Middle East while the Death Eaters destroyed my home on the other side of the world.
The cave was totally silent. The deeper I went, the more I worried that I had gotten lost. Would I even be able to find my way back to the chamber where I’d fallen? I wasn’t sure. I tried not to let panic set in. You’ve been through worse than this, I told myself. You can handle it. But that just invited another voice into my head, a voice that had gotten louder and louder ever since the First Battle of Salem. A voice of self-doubt. You’re going to fail them all. They’re all going to die and it will be your fault. You won’t find the phoenix. You won’t destroy the stone. You’re not a hero. You’re not Harry Potter.
I was so lost in my thoughts that I almost didn’t notice the writing on the walls.
I recoiled when I saw it. The words carved into the stone were written in a language I didn’t know. They were all over the place, scrawled everywhere like ancient petroglyphs. I wondered if they were incantations, or perhaps some ancient story. Maybe the phoenix wrote them, thought an irrational part of my mind. But more than the questions, I was struck with a sudden sense of déjà vu. I deeply felt as though I had been here before, or at the very least, I had seen these words before.
I forced myself to move deeper. The further I got, the narrower the passage became, and the stronger the déjà vu became. Something began to stir in my chest, a strange feeling like I was being pulled deeper into the cave. My body moved on its own. I squeezed through incredibly narrow holes and gaps, but kept going, not looking back. By this time, I’d begun to feel something in the air. It was getting warmer, and before long it was almost hot, like the air of summertime. I could feel the warmth at the core of this place.
Then I stepped through one last hole, and entered a chamber.
The room was enormous, with a ceiling stretching dozens of meters above me, a perfect dome made of solid gold. The great chamber glowed with light from an unknown source, like there was a fire burning somewhere that I could see, one made from invisible magic in the air. At the center of the chamber was a mound of golden rocks that towered high like a mountaintop.
At the top of the mound was a dug pit, and inside of the pit was the most magnificent bird I had ever seen. It was scarlet and gold, with a long feathered tail and a crest upon its head. It was about the size of an eagle, but more beautiful and elegant than any eagle in the world. It had black eyes that shimmered in the light of my wand. I quietly marveled at the sight as it stretched its red wings proudly, the outstretched red feathers burning bright like a great crimson flame.
It was a phoenix.
Cautiously, I walked closer to the mound, wondering if the phoenix would react in any way to my approach. It lowered its wings and eyed me knowingly, but made no move to back away or attack. It remained still as I nervously began to ascend the mound of rocks. The closer I got, the more mesmerized I was by the sight of the creature. I mused that I had never before seen beauty in all my life until I laid eyes upon that thing. It was nature’s flame, hidden away from mankind.
Within moments, I was right in front of the phoenix. At that point, my mind didn’t know what to do, but my body did. Some force inside of me compelled me to reach out. The phoenix made no move to stop me. My fingers touched the top of its head. It was soothingly warm. The bird closed its eyes, and I took the liberty to stroke down the side of its crest and neck.
I felt something in that moment that’s difficult to describe. When I looked at that phoenix, I felt like I was looking at myself. I had been told that we shared a soul, but only then did I truly believe it. It was an intuition deeper than words. It was like I was completing myself, connecting with a part of me that had been out of place for a long time. All of the doubt and worry that had plagued me as I entered the cave suddenly burned away. I couldn’t help but smile.
The phoenix suddenly jumped up onto my arm. Its claws clutched my wrist tightly. It wasn’t too heavy, despite its size. I found myself unconsciously raising my wand, bringing it up to the phoenix’s beak. It didn’t turn away. It leaned forward slowly, and touched its beak against the tip of the wand.
The room erupted with flames. The sudden intense heat made my hair stand on end. A torrent of flames surrounded us in a great spiral, burning down the sides of the phoenix’s mound and up the side of the golden dome. I stared at the phoenix, who looked back at me, our eyes staring deep into each other. It made a chirping sound, and tilted its head at me.
I had found my magical familiar.
* * *
It took a little while to find my way out of the cave, but it wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be. I felt like I knew where to go. I was being guided without words through the darkness. The phoenix remained on my arm the whole way. I was still awed at the fact that I was carrying a real live phoenix, and it was hard to hide my excitement. Faraj had revealed to me an as-of-yet unknown fascination I had for magical creatures, and seeing one in person for the first time was beyond unbelievable, to say nothing of the fact that it was my familiar.
About ten minutes later, I ascended a low slope and found my way into a long hallway-like chamber, where I ran into Faraj.
“Alan!” he exclaimed, staring from me to the phoenix with a mixture of relief and amazement. “Thank goodness, you’re okay. And you found Spark! Splendid!”
I smiled at the phoenix, which seemed to smile back at me. Even though he made no expressions, I felt as though I could sense Spark’s emotions. He was deeply happy to have met me, and I felt the same.
“Ahlaan, Shahara!” Faraj excitedly moved closer to observe Spark, who made no move to stop him. “Such a fascinating specimen! He’s even more beautiful than I imagined.”
“So this is the phoenix that Darkanoss used to create the Phoenix Stone?”
Spark seemed to shutter in resentment at the mention of that name. Faraj nodded. “If he bonded to you so quickly, then there is no doubt he is your familiar. He must be the one.”
I gazed at Spark again. My thoughts returned to the mission ahead of me. Now that I had the familiar, I needed to destroy the Phoenix Stone at all costs. I had to prevent Darkanoss’s followers from returning. We had two months left to find Nick Varennikov – find him, and the stone. As long as we could stop him before he performed the Ritual of the Blind, then maybe this wouldn’t all be for nothing.
About twenty minutes later, Faraj, Spark, and I had left the cave and were back outside under the starlight. We traversed the long distance across the desert back to our rendezvous point, where the Auror who had taken me here was already waiting. As we approached him, Faraj gave me a hearty pat on the arm.
“It’s been a pleasure, Alan! You know, you would make a great magizoologist.”
“I would?”
“Of course! You’ve got the passion for the job, and that’s really all you need. Maybe think about it when you’re choosing a career for the future, eh?”
There was something reassuring about the idea that there was a future for me at all. At the time, all I could think about was the Death Eaters, and Darkanoss, and the Phoenix Stone, and the fear I had of losing all my friends and family. The future was a luxury that I hadn’t had for a long time. But when Faraj talked about me becoming a magizoologist, I admittedly held back a smile. Maybe it would all be okay after all.
“We’re wasting time,” said the Auror impatiently. “Let’s go.”
He held out his arm to me. I smiled one last time at Faraj, and then took the Auror’s arm, with Spark the phoenix clinging his talons on my other arm.
“There’s something my mother used to tell me,” said Faraj. “Thiq biqalbiki. It means ‘trust your heart.’ That phoenix is your heart, Alan. Trust in him.”
I nodded. “I will. Thank you, Faraj. For everything.”
He waved modestly. “Let’s meet again someday, eh?”
“Yeah. Let’s.”
The Auror twisted his heel. It was at that moment that I heard someone cry out from nearby.
“Tempus Lapsus!”
Something happened. Something that wasn’t supposed to happen. I was pulled into the tight tunnel, but I lost my grip on the Auror’s arm. The usual tight squeeze through space turned into a terrible spin. I felt my body being curved and stretched. I didn’t understand what I was experiencing. I could faintly sense my limbs and torso, but they were all in the wrong place. The usual sense of time and space that I possessed was displaced. I was going somewhere else, somewhere far from my destination.
I apparated, and instantly fell to my knees. There was nothing around me but mist. I gasped and coughed, my stomach tightening from the journey. I was almost certain I’d throw up this time, but thankfully I held it in. I looked around, trying to get a sense of where I was, but I was disoriented.
Then I looked at the sky.
It was dark. There were silver-gold clouds overhead, covering everything. They were snowing, little soot-like flakes falling everywhere around me. My unfocused eyes turned them into blurs of silver. The clouds arched into a wide dome, one that stretched far out in every direction.
“Alan!”
I perceived someone running toward me. It was Peter. He dove to his knees and helped me up, then hugged me an instant later. He held me tighter than he usually would, pushing his head into my chest.
“Peter?” I was so disoriented and sick that it was hard to speak. “What... what’s going on?”
A few people appeared behind him. It was my parents, and Silas, and Jared and Zoe. There were more people with them. I recognized the younger girl, Eliza Medley, who had helped us destroy the Soul Vortex. A pair of Aurors was also with them, but I didn’t see Silas’s dad.
“Thank God!” Mom got on her knees and hugged me too. “I was so worried about you!”
“What do you mean?” I stared around, taking in everything once again. I could tell where we were now. This was Marble Road. I could see Shichang nearby, closed and abandoned. I was back in Salem. But something was wrong. The clouds. The snow. Something was different.
The others exchanged glances, then looked back at me. “Sweetie, there’s no easy way to tell you this...”
“The Death Eaters are here,” said Dad. “They attacked six hours ago.”
“Six hours?!” I exclaimed. “But that’s... that’s impossible! I’ve only been gone for three hours. Besides, how could they have come back? It hasn’t been five months yet!”
They all went quiet again. Peter looked at the ground. I stared at them. “Guys...?”
“It has been five months, Alan,” said Silas. “Today is May 14.”
I felt as though I must have misheard him.
“You’ve been missing for two months,” said Peter, his expression filled with worry.
“That can’t be...” I shook my head slowly. “That means...”
“The Third Battle of Salem has already begun,” said Dad solemnly. “Darkanoss has returned.”