#idkidkdik

Chapter 1

Summer of ’91

Verna Malinda was excited for summer. She had landed a job at the Red Cap summer camp, and she would be spending the summer months swimming, fishing, roasting marshmallows, kayaking, hiking, and every other camp activity imaginable. Her first year at university hadn’t been exactly relaxing, and she couldn’t wait to forget all about it and enjoy weeks of fresh air and nature. The campground was in the middle of absolutely nowhere, and the car ride there took forever, though Verna welcomed being away from the city with open arms. Verna’s dad gave her a lift and bade her farewell at the gates.

“I’ll miss you!” he called, walking back to the car.

“Dad, I already live at campus most of the year,” Verna replied, amused.

“Yes well, I miss you all the time.”

“Miss you too! Bye dad, give my love to mum!”

Mervyn Malinda waved Verna good-bye and got back to his car, driving away. Verna adjusted the backpack on her shoulder and walked in the wooden gate that read CAMP RED CAP with big letters carved into the wood.

~

The summer would start with a week of orientation for the counsellors. Verna signed up at the main house and was assigned to a cabin. All the counsellors had a designated cabin for the duration of the orientation week. After the first week they’d be assigned to a cabin with one other co-counsellor. Verna shared her cabin with four others: Rowan Khanna, Colette Belrose, Penny Haywood, and Jules Farrier. They had all already picked their bunks and were chatting amongst themselves.

“Hi, I’m Verna!” she greeted them all as she tossed her pack on the last remaining bunk. It was a top bunk which wasn’t ideal, but her dad was an extremely careful driver so it couldn’t be helped she was always late everywhere.

“Hi!” came an excited voice from one of the top bunks. A girl with long, braided blond hair jumped down from her bed. “I’m Penny, this is Colette,” she continued, pointing out each of the people in the small cabin. “That’s Rowan, and that’s Jules.”

“Thanks for introducing all of us Penny but remember to stop and breathe every now and then,” said the one called Colette, casting an amused glance at the first girl.

“Right, sorry…” Penny laughed and sat next to Rowan.

“I don’t mind,” Rowan said bashfully.

“Nice to meet you, Verna,” Jules chimed in from her bunk.

“You too, all of you,” Verna replied.

“First year?” asked Penny. Verna nodded.

“Us too,” said Jules. “All but Penny.”

“I’ve been a camper here since I was 10, this is my second year as a counsellor,” Penny explained. “It’s like a Haywood tradition to come to Camp Red Cap. My younger sister Beatrice is a camper this year.”

“I had never even heard of this place before I saw an ad in the paper a couple of months ago,” Verna said. “I wanted a job that was complete opposite of university, so here we are.”

“Oh, you’ve come to the right place!” Penny exclaimed.

“Good to know,” Verna said with a smile and got to work making her bed ready to be slept in and emptying her backpack.

~

After settling in, all the counsellors gathered at the main house for orientation. There were about 40 of them, all in their late teens to early 20s. There were only a handful of returning counsellors though, which struck Verna as rather odd. Penny didn’t think it was weird at all when she brought it up.

“Oh, students usually come work here for a summer or two but it’s not long term for most people. My family lives nearby so it’s easier for me to get here,” she just said, and then shushed Verna.

They went through basic safety protocols and rules (no smoking, no alcohol, no inappropriate behaviour, that sort of thing) and then everyone got handed a timetable and a booklet with all the rules and regulations in it. The week’s schedule was pretty straightforward. Mornings were spent learning to be a good counsellor and afternoons were devoted to mastering the activities they were expected to perform with the campers, as well as team building exercises. First half of the week they’d be all working together, and on Wednesday they’d get assigned a co-counsellor who they’d be working with for the rest of the summer.

~

The head-counsellor was called Bill, and he gave them a tour of the area after the orientation. He was excitable and seemed to really like his job which was contagious. Penny knew him from previous years.

“He’s twenty-one. He started here a couple of years ago and he has a whole slew of younger siblings who attend as campers,” she told the rest of them while they were walking towards the lake.

“And counsellors,” came a voice from behind them. A boy with red hair and freckles sharing a striking similarity to Bill the Head Counsellor waved his hand at them. “I’m Charlie. Bill’s my brother and he dragged me along to work here this summer.”

Verna and her roommates introduced themselves. Charlie shared a cabin with four other boys: Barnaby, Gael, Andre, and Diego. They were all new as well, which delighted Penny because she was able to offer tidbits of info in addition to what Bill was telling them. It turned out the camp had been built over some old ruins that were only discovered years afterwards. There was a cave nearby which led to an underground cavern full of ancient stonework. That was obviously off-limits to campers and counsellors alike. Rowan got extremely excited about the idea and resolved to get a permission to visit the cavern. Verna promised to tag along if they were allowed.

~

That night the counsellors were given free time to sit around a campfire and get to know one another. Penny had adopted Charlie’s cabin as their new friends, so the ten of them sat together. Verna tried to remember as many names as she could, but she was struggling.

“Have you guys heard the story about this place already?” asked Charlie once they were all happily eating their roasted marshmallows.

“No, we haven’t,” said Jules, looking at Penny with an expression of mock-betrayal.

“Oh, come on, it’s nothing but a silly story to keep the kids from wandering too far away…” Penny defended herself.

“Ooh, a campfire horror story!” Verna exclaimed and clapped her hands together. “Go on Charlie, we wanna hear it.”

“It’s really not even that good…” Penny muttered but it was too late.

Charlie cleared his throat and began: “In the mid-17th century, right at this very spot, there was a village called Redwood, given its name due to the forest looming right outside of it. On the surface it was just like any other village. Going on about its business like usual, far away from the hustle and bustle of the city. One day though, things took a drastic turn, when the crop turned bad over-night and the well that provided the entire town’s drinking water started making people sick. The superstitious townsfolk were convinced they had been cursed for their sins and began to give harsh punishments for the most minor offenses. There was a wise-woman living in Redwood. She had provided herbal remedies, delivered babies, and healed illnesses for decades, but now the village turned on her, claiming she was a witch and responsible for the destruction of the crop and defiling of the water. She was imprisoned, tried, and burned at the stake in the hopes that it would save the village. But the exact opposite happened. Next, the children started disappearing. The village sent a party out into the woods to find them. That’s when they came across an ancient temple with a stone altar in the middle. A child lay on it, as dead as the stone itself. She was one of the missing children and the rest were found buried around the temple. All had an expression of terror etched onto their faces.

 After digging out the corpses of the missing children, the villagers buried them in the local graveyard, and tried to move on with their lives. The horrors weren’t over yet though because the next winter was brutal. It lasted longer than normally and claimed the lives of several villagers. Right as the snow started to melt, the village pastor was found dead in the church, mutilated, and put up for display for all to see as they entered the church. His intestines bulged out of him, and his eyes were missing. This time the villagers had had enough. They called a gathering of all townsfolk and investigated the pastor’s murder. The only one without an alibi was the pastor’s own daughter. Upon further inspection, they found a spell book in her possession, as well as several other incriminating items relating to witchcraft. She was immediately arrested but she refused to speak throughout the whole trial. As they tied her to the stake to be burned, she finally opened her mouth, saying: ‘You’ll be cursed for this! This land will claim your lives and the lives of hundreds of others until the debt is paid in full!’ After that, they could hear her recite something in a language they didn’t understand before her voice was drowned out by the crackling of the flames. It’s said that the spirit of the pastor’s daughter still haunts the forest and the campsite, claiming the lives of those who wander in too deep…” Charlie finished with a flourish.

“Wow,” said Rowan, who had been so invested in the story she had burned her marshmallow.

“Like I said, it’s just a stupid story used to scare little kids,” Penny said uncharacteristically sourly.

“I think it’s a rather interesting tale,” came a voice from behind them. A girl with a short, messy bob of a hair was standing there, looking at them with one brow arched in judgement. “I’m Merula, and you should’ve asked someone who actually knows the history of this place to tell the story, not some newcomer who can barely form a sentence.”

“Hey—” Charlie started at the same time as Verna said: “Charlie did a brilliant job!”

“How would you know? You’re new here too.”

“Well, aren’t you a sunshine…” muttered Jules. Penny elbowed her in horror.

“Guys, this is Merula, she’s also a regular here like me,” she explained.

“Nothing like you, Haywood,” Merula countered, sounding disgusted at the comparison.

“Right… well… I think it’s time for bed!” Penny chimed, changing the subject. Verna had the distinct feeling that Merula was not going to let this go so easy.

~

The girls said goodnight to everyone and headed to their cabin. It was a bit of a trek in the darkness, though Penny had been smart enough to bring a flashlight.

“Merula’s just got a chip on her shoulder. She’s been here as long as me, but she’s got an obsession with being the best at everything,” Penny said, leading the group with the light. “The best thing you can do is steer clear of her and you should be fine.”

“Well, she better steer clear from me,” Verna said, still annoyed at how she had belittled Charlie.

“Trust me, I’m not gonna spend the summer being bullied at my job either,” Colette joined in, and everyone seemed to agree that if Merula caused problems, they’d do something about it. Everyone except for Penny. Verna didn’t know what exactly had gone down between those two, but she figured she was probably better off not knowing.

~

Chapter 2: Apprentice Curse-Breakers

Their first class of the year was DADA, and that made Verna extremely nervous. Rowan had made it clear they didn’t think Rakepick could be trusted. In their words, she had been shifty at best and suspicious at worst last year when she had worked with Verna. Rowan was not happy about Rakepick’s appointment as a professor and that made Verna uneasy too. She had always known Rowan had far better judgement than her, and most days Charlie and Ben agreed with that sentiment. So, after breakfast, when the Gryffindors were filing into the DADA classroom, the mood between the four friends was not over the moon. Rakepick was already in the classroom, writing something at her desk. The class went through some major decorative changes each year when a new teacher took it over. It had become routine by now. For Rakepick, the theme seemed to be artifacts of various sizes and ages, that were spread all over the room on pedestals and tables, cabinets and other surfaces.

“Cursed items,” Rowan noted, when they took their seats.

“A niffler,” Verna replied, pointing out Sickleworth, Rakepick’s niffler whom she had had an unlikely partnership with last year, while investigating the Sleepwalking curse.

That was when Professor Rakepick got up from her seat, cleared her throat and snapped her wand, closing the classroom door and making writing appear on the blackboard in front of the class.

“Welcome to Defence Against the Dark Arts,” she announced, in a tone that implied not a small amount of unimpressedness. “I realize I am your fifth instructor in as many years, and that most of your other teachers’ methods were as questionable as their characters.”

Next to Verna, Rowan balled their hands into fists. They obviously had a thing or two to say about that.

“This year, I am not only going to teach you how to defend yourselves, but how to attack the Dark Arts,” Rakepick continued. “You will receive the finest instruction from someone who has actually faced the worst the Dark Arts have to offer.”

Something about the speech did make Verna listen. She couldn’t deny being interested in learning combat spells, the more the better, because she was sure to need them. From the corner of her eye, she also saw Merula listening intently. This year was gonna be another one spent trying to beat Merula to the top of their class. DADA was pretty much the only subject where she had any chance at all. Usually, it was Rowan and Merula vying for the title, but Verna wasn’t hopeless when it came to duelling and martial magic.

“They say this position is cursed,” Rakepick was saying now. “But breaking curses is what I do best. Now let’s get started, take out your books.”

~

After a whole class spent on how to deal with Ghouls, Verna was feeling much better about DADA. Maybe Rakepick wasn’t going to be so bad. Rowan didn’t feel the same way.

“She might know what she’s talking about, but she has no teaching experience, and I still don’t trust her after the way she dealt with you last year Verna,” they were saying, a little heated. “I think you should be careful if she decides to ask something from you, or… something…”

“Don’t you think you’re maybe overreacting a little bit?” asked Charlie.

“I agree with Rowan,” Ben inserted. “I don’t like her either.”

“We’ll be careful,” Verna assured her friends. “But Dumbledore must’ve had a reason hiring her.”

“Yeah, that’s true… I don’t know, I just don’t like this…” Rowan said and slowly the conversation turned to more casual matters, such as Barnaby Lee’s new pet crup puppy. The general consensus seemed to be that it was extremely cute.

~

After the day’s classes Verna was officially introduced to one Percy Weasley in the library. She and Charlie headed there to get started on charting out how much cramming they’d have to do for their O.W.L.s, only to find Bill and Percy already there, both noses buried deep in books, a scrappy-looking rat sitting on the table next to their study-material.

“Oh, hi Verna,” Bill said with a smile. “Did you two come to actually study?” The surprise in his voice was neither flattering nor unexpected.

“We came to plan on studying,” Verna told Bill, as she and Charlie sat down.

“Well, that’s better than nothing,” Bill chuckled and then patted Percy on the shoulder. “Percy, this is Verna.”

“I know,” Percy said in a manner that seemed much too adult-like for an 11-year-old. “She gave us a rather short introduction of Gryffindor common room last night, but I haven’t had a chance to properly introduce myself, I’m Percy Weasley, future prefect, Head Boy, and Minister for Magic.”

“It’s really nice to meet you, Percy, sounds like you have your future pretty well planned out,” Verna said and emulated her tone and smile to Beatrice from the previous night, with wildly different results. It appeared Percy was not a fan of hers.

“If you let him, he’ll plan your life for you, too,” Bill said, amused.

“This is my loyal rat, Scabbers,” Percy continued.

“Loyal?” asked Charlie. “It runs off every chance it gets.”

“There’s something off about that rat, yeah…” Bill agreed.

“Ron likes him!” Percy defended his pet.

“Ron’s eight, he likes everything except for spiders,” Charlie complained. Both of the older Weasleys seemed to have such a weird aversion for poor Scabbers that Verna felt bad for it.

“I have a rat too; his name is Hamish. He actually belonged to my brother, but I’ve been taking care of it in his absence.”

This seemed to appeal to Percy, whose tone towards Verna changed a little, when he said: “That’s really kind of you, to take care of your brother’s pet.”

Verna considered this a victory.

~

Their study session was cut short, when Professor Rakepick approached their table something like thirty minutes into Verna and Charlie trying to figure out what exactly to focus most on.

“Mr. Weasley,” she started, and all three of the Weasleys replied with an immediate ‘yes?’.

Verna stifled a laugh.

“William Weasley,” Rakepick specified. “Come with me. You too Miss Malinda, we have work to do.”

Exchanging a glance with Charlie, and Rowan’s misgivings about Rakepick running on a loop in her head, Verna followed Bill and the professor out of the library.

“What is this about?” she whispered to Bill.

“No idea, I guess we’ll find out soon, though…”

 ~

Rakepick took them up to her classroom, where Merula Snyde was already sitting on one of the desks, preoccupied with changing the colour of her painted nails to pay much attention to Verna and the others entering. Verna wasn’t happy to see her. Whatever Rakepick had in mind seemed to involve Merula, and that was never good news.

“Cease your activities Miss Snyde, we have important matters to discuss,” Rakepick commanded, and Merula immediately jumped down from the desk and stood straight. Verna and Bill walked up next to her as Rakepick went on to stand beside the teacher’s desk. She was tall and had a bearing of someone accustomed to commanding respect. Verna found it quite easy to believe she was capable of handling anything that was thrown at her. That’s how I want to be, she thought briefly.

“Congratulations you three. Of all the students at Hogwarts, I’ve chosen you to be my apprentice curse-breakers. Mr Weasley for his bravery and determination, Miss Snyde for her ambition and strength, and Miss Malinda for her natural talent, and obvious connection to the cursed vaults.”

“Why is Merula here?” Verna asked without missing a beat. She was not about to compromise her chances of rescuing her brother for the sake of Merula’s ambitions. She knew by now that Merula would never sacrifice her chances of getting whatever power and knowledge the vaults could give her, not for Jacob’s sake, not for anyone’s.

“Because she is a powerful witch and you’d be a fool not to accept her help, after all, I had to save you from Mr Copper’s attack just months ago.”

Merula remained quiet but gave Verna a smug grin.

“Enough. We need each other’s help to find the next vault and end its curse before anyone gets hurt,” Rakepick said. “I’m going to train you so that you can be more of a help than a hindrance to me, starting with the Incarcerous spell. Wands out!”

 ~

The three of them spent the next three hours attempting to learn the Binding spell with Rakepick’s instruction. She was a good teacher. Strict, demanding, but very clear in the way she instructed them, not leaning on any extra flash, just taking the simplest route to the desired outcome. Unsurprisingly, Bill was the first one to nail the spell. He had two years’ worth more experience and had always been talented. When Verna finally managed to cast the spell on Merula, she felt a sense of accomplishment far greater than if they had used training dummies. The spell conjured ropes that wound tightly around Merula, trapping her arms and binding her legs together. She wobbled for a while and then stumbled to the floor with a grunt. Verna couldn’t help but grin.

“Verna, I don’t think she can breathe…” Bill interrupted her victorious train of thought.

“Oh, shit,” Verna cursed. “Finite Incantatem!” she pointed her wand towards Merula and the ropes around her unbound. “Are you alright?” she asked despite herself.

“Of course, Malinda, mind your own business,” Merula spat, looking more hurt by the audacity of Verna asking her if she was okay. She got up and dusted off her ropes, avoiding looking at any of them.

Rakepick cleared her throat and said: “This is a valuable lesson; we are a team now. A family. No matter what happens, we must protect one another. Do you understand?”

With a sideways glance at Merula, Verna nodded. She hadn’t had this good of a chance to finding any of the previous vaults. Rakepick was an accomplished curse-breaker and now it started to make sense why she had singled out Verna the previous year. Maybe she had already known she’d work here this year and need Verna’s expertise with stopping another curse roaming the halls of Hogwarts. That was something good to tell Rowan, at least, to put their mind on ease.

“And the rest of you?” asked Rakepick with impatience.

“Of course,” Bill said immediately.

Merula eyed both of them with nothing short of disgust and then said: “Fine.”

“Good, then that’s all for tonight, you can go.”

 ~

Rakepick ushered them out of her class, and the three of them were left standing in the empty, darkening corridor. Verna had no idea about the time, but she guessed it was quite late and that they most definitely had missed dinner.

“So that was kind of… strange,” Bill said, but he sounded more excited than anything.

“Finally, someone is doing something in this school,” scoffed Merula.

“And I don’t want you or your megalomania getting in the way of saving my brother,” Verna exclaimed.

“Don’t worry Malinda, you finally have capable people helping so there’s a chance you won’t fuck this up.”

“Fuck off Merula.”

The shorter girl laughed, but there was nothing humorous about the sound. “You like to pretend you’re above the rest of us with your little mission to save your brother, but let’s face it; you’re just scared to admit you like feeling special. You want what’s inside those vaults just as much as me.”

“Shut your mouth about my brother,” Verna snarled. “I’m nothing like you.”

“Of course you’re not, cause I’m not pathetic.”

Verna instinctively reached for her wand and Merula did the same, taking a threatening step closer.

“Verna, we should… probably go… now,” Bill interrupted and placed himself between the two girls. He then proceeded to practically drag her towards the Gryffindor common room by the arm.

~

“I had it under control,” Verna said once they were out of earshot.

“Maybe, but I’d rather not take either one of you to the hospital wing in several different pieces.”

“Fine, yeah, you’re right or whatever… She just gets on my nerves.”

Bill gave her a curious look Verna couldn’t quite place, and then said: “Yeah, I know. You shouldn’t let her get to you that much, it’s what she wants.”

“I know, it’s infuriating.”

“You’re gonna have to be able to work together somehow, though.”

Verna frowned. “I’m not risking my brother’s, or anyone else’s life because of some school rivalry, don’t worry.”

“Good,” Bill said and then stopped. “Is that… Ben?” he asked and pointed to an alcove not far from where they were standing. It was dark so he was partly concealed in shadows, but when he heard his name, he looked towards them.

“Oh, hi Verna, Bill…”

“What are you sitting out here for?” Verna asked and went to her friend. Ben looked rough, like he hadn’t slept.

“I wanted to be alone and there’s always someone in the common room or the dorm…”

“Oh, sorry, I can go- “

“No, actually, can I talk to you for a second, Verna… I…” he trailed off and looked at Bill apologetically.

“I’ll go on ahead, don’t stay out long though,” Bill said reassuringly. Then he walked off to the direction of the Gryffindor tower.

“What did you want to talk about?” asked Verna and sat on the bench in the alcove next to Ben.

For a moment, Ben didn’t look like he was going to answer. Verna had the sudden urge to hug him, but she didn’t move, fearing that Ben would change his mind and leave like last night. Finally, he cleared his throat and stammered: “I’m scared that someone’s gonna take control of me again, and make me do something worse, or that I already have but I just can’t remember.”

He really was in a state. Gently, Verna laid a careful hand on his shoulder.

“We’ll work this out, you don’t have to deal with all this shit on your own, Ben, I’m the reason you’re in this mess in the first place.”

“I still don’t remember what really happened before I attacked you… Do you… do you really believe me? That I was controlled?”

“I promise you that I do, please at least stop worrying about that,” Verna assured him. Ben huffed out a breath and his shoulders relaxed a bit.

“Thank you, Verna, I don’t know if I’d be as understanding if I was in your shoes…”

Verna bit her lip. It wasn’t a pleasant thing to hear, but she couldn’t exactly blame Ben. Everything had gotten so messed up last year with Rowan and Ben arguing and Verna feeling like she was losing touch with them both. They used to all be so close and now every single interaction was laced with something like doubt. An uncertainty Verna wanted so badly to get rid of.

“We should head back to the common room before Filch finds us here, c’mon,” Verna said and got up.

Ben stood to follow and they were about to head after Bill, when suddenly Ben grabbed Verna’s arm and pulled her behind him.

“Look out!” he yelled and took out his wand but before he could so much as utter an incantation, a purple light hit him and knocked him to the side. Verna looked frantically for the source of the spell, and had her wand out in seconds, but she wasn’t fast enough either. Suddenly she felt her entire body stiffen up, as she was hit with what must’ve been the full body-bind curse. As she hit the ground quite painfully, she saw a hooded figure approach them from the shadows of the corridor. Desperately she tried to move, knowing full well it was not going to work. Her breathing came in shallow gasps as she lay there, helpless to do anything. The red-clad figure walked closer and kicked Verna’s wand out of her reach, as if it would’ve been any use for her in this state anyway.

“I told you death was coming to Hogwarts, Verna Malinda,” the figure said in a voice that was impossible to place or describe. It was modified with magic. “We still need you alive, but before this year ends, one of your friends has to die…”

Verna tried to focus on getting her fingers to move, to do something, anything. Her thoughts were a flurry of desperation and anger. The hooded figure leaned over Verna. She couldn’t make out a face or anything that could be used to recognize the attacker. Verna braced herself for something worse, but nothing happened. Instead, the figure stalked off, back into the shadows.

~

Verna was still trying to force her uncooperative muscles to move, when she saw Ben move in the corner of her eye. The boy sat up and Verna lost sight of him. She heard his footsteps and a muttered spell, and then felt her body able to move again. Without a second glance at Ben, Verna shot up like a lightning bolt, chasing into the direction the hooded person had disappeared to. She had to catch them, she had to. Her ears rang and when she looked down to her wand hand, it was shaking. She wasn’t sure if it was anger, fear, or both.

“Verna, wait!” she heard Ben’s voice, and footsteps echoing after her.

Of course, there was nothing and no one to find. Verna was getting sick of this. She balled her hands into fists so hard her nails dug into her palms. How could she have let the wizard incapacitate her like that? Ben caught up to her and Verna took notice of him now that she could think a little more clearly. He seemed fine, just a little rattled.

“Verna, hey, it’s okay,” Ben tried to reassure her, but it wasn’t okay. Someone had threatened to kill one of her friends. The thought made her chest feel like it was filled with water. The ease with witch this stranger had knocked both of them out of the game made Verna feel sick all over.

“This is bullshit.”

“Verna-“

She took a deep breath. “Are you alright?” she then asked Ben.

“Yeah, you?”

Verna nodded. “Do you think that was someone we know being used against us?”