My eyes ache, as I slowly pry them open, though they are not the only part of my body in pain. Though not as severe as the piercing in my eyes, my head is pounding, my breath shallow and my bones sore as can be. I wince, trying to stretch my limbs out, for them to crack with the slightest of movements. I'm sprawled across the ground, a ground that feels too soft to be my mother's wooden bedroom floor.
What happened?
A blinding light consumes my vision, a light that I am positive was not there when I placed my mother's strange necklace around my neck. Her room is dark, with a singular window that barely allows for sunlight to enter through the curtains covering it.
But as the light recedes, and I become able to make out my surroundings, my heart sinks to the pits of Hell. I am no longer in Rowena Ravenclaw's bedroom, but instead, the middle of a forest. It does not appear to be the forest we live in — the trees are far different, stretching higher and mightier than those in our home. Of course, alongside that is our cottage being nowhere in sight, as though I have been transported into another dimension.
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Though, I suppose I cannot be in hell. If I was in hell, there would be fire, and Satan, and people surrounding me in an equal amount of agony. No, perhaps I am elsewhere. Purgatory?
Unless I am still alive. I certainly feel alive.
But if that is the case, then where am I?
I pause, taking in my surroundings once more, before deciding to make my way in the direction of the sun. When in doubt, follow the sun, Little Bird, Salazar would often say to me, for no reason at all. I never quite understood why I would need to know this, until now.
Stumbling over my feet, I spend what feels like hours managing my breathing, attempting to keep myself as calm as possible, keep my mind from racing to the worst possible explanations for why I could be in the middle of some forest, and not home.
Could it be the necklace, I wonder to myself as I nearly trip over a tree root, sticking out from the ground. Could it have somehow teleported me out of my home and into some other part of the world? What if I am somewhere I do not even know of, a foreign country with people who do not speak my language?
A shudder runs up my spine at the concept of being alone, being stranded, being trapped, and my hand moves to clutch my mother's necklace.
Only, when my fingers meet the gold, I frown. It feels almost as though...as though it is broken. It is broken, I realize as my eyes trail down to the item strung around my neck, to find the bottom half of the circular necklace has been cut off completely.
Oh Lord above, Mother is going to kill me. If this necklace is somehow important to her, I am as dead as Helena. She was ready to rain Hell upon Helena when she discovered my sister had stolen her diadem, after all.
Maybe it is for the best that I am lost, then. Maybe I can find civilization and blend in, make a new life for myself.
I do not wish for a new life — I quite liked my old one, but I try to keep my mood optimistic. I try to keep my mind on the good, until I can figure out a way to undo what has occurred.
It does not take long before something catches my eye — a tall, stone structure hidden in the trees, only just visible through the branches that seem to extend everywhere, making moving about nearly impossible. A house, I sigh with relief, though the moment I do, my eyes grow wide. No, that is no house. That is Hogwarts castle.
