Elise blinked her green eyes with a slight grimace. She had woken up to an overly bright white room – the same room that she had occupied for the past few weeks or so. The kind doctor, Elise shook her head slowly, she had meant Healer. That’s right. Wizard doctors were called Healers; and she, Elise Hawkins, is (rather was) a budding witch-in-training.
Apparently she had been caught in a bad memory charm that left her quite not herself, and was quickly transferred to St. Mungo’s, the wizarding hospital. She had woken up with a start and had freaked about strange people in robes pointing sticks at her (wands they were called). After being treated for almost a year, Elise was going to go back to school although she was being held back a year. The problem she now faced though was that she absolutely had no recollection of her first year at Hogwarts or any of the people she met.
A light knock echoed in the quiet room. Elise straightened herself and said, “Come in.”
The Healer, a middle-aged woman with dark brown hair, stepped in with bird stand and a small treasure chest. Elise raised her eyebrows in confusion before letting out a squeak of surprise at the bluish-black blur heading her way. With her eyes shut tight Elise didn’t see the blur stopping just above her head.
“Oh come now Ms. Hawkins,” the Healer laughed as she placed the bird stand next to the bed and then placed the chest item onto her patient’s lap. “That’s your pet; although we don’t know his name yet. Do you remember what you called him?”
The large raven instantly landed on the stand and tucked his head under his wing. Elise stiffened but shook her head, “No. Sorry, I don’t know his name.”
She turned her attention to the chest on her lap, “What’s this supposed to be?”
The Healer only smiled, and produced a wand from her pocket before handing it over to Elise, “We’re going to teach you a spell today. I’m sure you’ve already learned it, but because of your memory loss we’re going to try and teach you all over again. Sound good?”
Elise could only nod as she held onto her wand. Her eyes were completely trained on the Healer, waiting for her to begin the lesson. “All right then, what spell am I going to ‘learn’ today, Healer Evans?”
“The unlocking charm, Ms. Hawkins,” Healer Evans started as she pulled her own wand from her pocket. “You say, Alohomora, and the lock is opened.”
Healer Evans had her wand pointed at the small lock on the treasure chest, and once she had said the incantation there was a clicking noise before the lock became larger. “You see? Once you unlock it a larger and more difficult lock with appear.”
“Okay. I get it,” Elise responded as she turned the chest back to her person. “… I think. Is there maximum number of locks here or…?”
“Yes, there is actually. It’s one hundred. Now, are there any more questions you have before I let you get to it?”
Elise returned her attention back to her caretaker, “Yeah. What’s supposed to be my goal? Like… seventy or something? And does that bird have to stay here?”
“Seventy?!” Healer Evans let out a laugh and patted Elise on the arm, “No, no. Children your age usually reach five to ten before collapsing from magical exhaustion. The older and more experience people get the higher they can open the locks. Now, just letting you know… everyone gets the first lock open so don’t get discouraged if you can’t open the second one right away. And yes, the bird will have to stay. He’s your pet after all.”
“Fine,” Elise huffed as she waved good-bye to the Healer.
She let out a sigh before looking at her wand and the small pirate chest before her. Wasn’t there supposed to be some over the top wand movement? Elise shook her head from her preconceived thoughts, and then pointed the tip of her wand at the small lock; apparently it had reset itself right after the Healer left.
“Here goes nothing,” Elise said, “Alohomora!”
To her delight she was able to hear the clicking sound that indicated that it actually worked. After bracing herself for disappointment, Elise tried for the second lock.
“Alohomora!”
Just like the Healer said the lock remained unopened. Elise bit her lip to stop herself from letting out a disappointed sound. She knew that the lock wasn’t going to open on her first try, but Elise couldn’t help getting a bit too hopeful.
For the next hour Elise pointed her wand at the lock and tried as best as she could to open it. After a string of curses and threats, Elise jabbed her wand at the chest and almost yelled out the incantation, “Alohomora!”
Click! Elise glared triumphantly at the chest before leaning back onto her hospital bed. For a few minutes Elise did nothing but stared at the ceiling. She wanted some time to herself before trying again. A few knocks reached her ears before Healer Evans came in again.
“How goes the spell? How many have you unlocked?” She asked as she threw few diagnostic spells on Elise, and then recording it on the clipboard she was holding. “Oh, and have you remembered anything yet?”
“I just finished unlocking the second one,” Elise grinned before her expression changed to something bitter, “And no – I haven’t remembered anything.”
Healer Evans looked up from the clipboard at Elise’s changed tone, “I see. Well… No worries dear. Now you say you unlocked the second one already? That’s great! Let’s have you keep trying until the end of the week before moving to another spell.”
“All right, sure,” Elise mumbled and waved half-heartedly as Healer Evans left her room.
And so the week passed with Elise becoming frustrated with the locks most of the time; she had even thrown the item across the room in a fit of anger and frustration. Healer Evans was back at her side with a smile on her face, “So Ms. Hawkins, what level did you manage to get today?”
“Seven,” Elise said with pride.
“Ooh! Magic number seven? That’s a good place to end at for your age.” Elise’s smile only grew wider at the compliment. “Right! The next spell we’re going to learn…”
