The Trial:

While the others had been rescuing Antonius and Max from the Ritual Caves, I had spent the night in Azkaban.

The next morning, I was to be interrogated; but the curse of silence stayed with me, and I was unable to speak.

I was left in a room for a long time. I heard people muttering things and whispering them outside the door.

Then, finally, the door opened slightly, and I heard someone saying,"yes, she was found, covered in blood, attempting to burn down the Forbidden Forest!"

"Whose blood was it?"a voice asked.

"Our tests revealed some very baffling results,"the other person answered,"we tested multiple times, but it seems to be Basilisk blood!"

"Basilisk blood!"the other person responded,"well, then let's find out what in the world has been going on!"

The person that entered the room was none other than the Head of Magical Law Enforcement himself, Harry Potter! He was followed by a short witch dressed in yellow and purple.

Mr Potter sat down in front of me. If I had not been overwhelmed by grief, and unable to speak, my reaction would have been very different; but I just sat there in misery, tears pouring down my face.

"So, we'd like to ask you some questions related to the circumstances of Kenneth Brass' murder,"Mr Potter said,"according to the auror that first arrived on the scene, you claimed 'I didn't' in response to his question concerning the scene of the crime. This is despite the fact that you were holding the wand when he found you, Brass had been dead barely one minute, and the last spell cast from your wand was the killing curse."

I was expecting him to mention Max's murder as well, but they didn't seem to know about that. I supposed he was still lying dead outside Silas' cave, undiscovered. I tried speaking again, but still my voice was silent.

"It's no use pretending you can't talk, Miss Carrow,"Mr Potter said, sternly, then he continued,"you then went on to escape from the tower room in which you were imprisoned in Hogwarts; somehow retrieved your wand, though you don't have it with you now - then absconded into the Forbidden Forest, with, we assume, a student named Antonius Parkinson. Is this correct?"

I couldn't tell him of course. I could hardly bare to think about it. Antonius would be dead now, having died a slow, horrible death alone in the darkness. I felt a fresh cascade of tears pouring down my cheeks. I wished he had not rescued me, and I had died instead - then he and Max would both still be alive.

"You have nothing to say at all,"Mr Potter went on,"if you can't speak, then you can write, can't you?"

He gave me some paper and a pen, and I tried to write 'the curse is Vocalis Silentium', but when Mr Potter tried to read it, he simply sighed and muttered,"I don't have time for games like these."

I hadn't written it in the Enchanted Runes, I'd written it in plain English, but it seemed he could not read it.

He stared at it again, then said,"unless..."he waved his wand, and I flinched instinctively.

"Finite Incantatum!"

Still I could not speak.

"You have no excuse to pretend now, Miss Carrow, if you are under any enchantment that stops your communication, it will be gone,"Mr Potter said.

But it was not gone.

"If you have nothing to say, then I must remind you that all evidence of this crime points directly to you being the perpetrator,"Mr Potter continued.

There was a knock at the door. The short witch opened it. There was whispering, then Mr Potter nodded at the witch and stood up.

The door opened fully, and Ed walked in! He was the last person I was expecting to see. Was this a dream? Well, if this was a dream, then hopefully everything else was just a horrible nightmare.

"Finite Incantatum!"Ed said, waving his wand.

He must have some special permission to use magic here...

"Ed?"I said, and I heard myself saying it.

I could speak again?

Ed left the room. Mr Potter and the witch began whispering to each other.

"I didn't kill Kenneth Brass! Silas Warren killed him!"I said.

"So, you're suddenly able to speak now that you've seen your brother,"Mr Potter said, looking at me with suspicion.

"Silas cast a spell at me that prevented me from speaking,"I said,"it was 'Vocalis Silentium' - and he's killed Antonius Parkinson in a ritual human sacrifice! He killed Max Castellanos too! If you go back to the place I was found, you'll find Max and you'll find Antonius if you can get into the cave that Silas sealed. But it's too late!"

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I burst into tears.

I didn't hear the first words he said next, but I did hear something repeated more than once,"Antonius Parkinson and Max Castellanos are both alive."

How could this be true?

I looked up,"they're alive?"I said, almost in a whisper.

"Castellanos claims that Warren did, in fact, fire the killing curse at him, but he dodged out of the way,"Mr Potter explained,"he claims he pretended to be dead, then went into the cave to stop the ritual. He is alive and well, and Parkinson is also alive. He is in St Mungo's, but he is expected to make a full recovery."

I suddenly felt I was raised from the deepest pit of despair to the highest peak of joy, and this time it was not a curse that rendered me silent!

Finally,"they're alive,"I managed to say.

"The things they claimed were so unbelievable, that they agreed to take Veritaserum,"Mr Potter went on,"you have that option too, of course."

I agreed, and afterwards was able to explain everything I knew.

"Have you caught Silas Warren?"I asked, eventually.

"He's nowhere to be found, at present,"Mr Potter responded,"he was last seen being chased by a herd of centaurs, who claim that he disappeared while they were persuing him. However, back to the subject in hand, due to the severity of the charges laid against you, you will still be put on trial; but in light of the new evidence we have, it is likely you will be free to go by the end of the day. So there is no need for you to worry. However, there is one more thing that I would like to ask. How is it that you were found covered in Basilisk blood?"

"That's because I had to kill one,"I answered.

"How did you manage to kill it without using magic?"Mr Potter asked, looking surprised.

"With a sword,"I responded,"a sword Max brought to me. We both fought it. I couldn't have done it without him. You'll probably still find the dead Basilisk lying in the Forbidden Forest, not far from standing stones, and a group of caves full of animals bones - that's where the Basilisk lived. Silas controlled it."

"So, you're telling me Silas Warren can speak Parceltongue?"Mr Potter said, looking at me skeptically.

"I know it sounds ridiculous,"I answered,"but I did just take Veritaserum in front of you, and what I'm saying is true!"

The trial happened. A real one.

Like in the interrogation, I was asked questions. Antonius was too unwell to be present as a witness, though his statement was used. Then Max was called as a witness. My heart leapt when I saw him. Hearing that he was still alive was something, but actually seeing him dispelled all of the doubts and fears that and been creeping around in the back of my mind.

Then... I was free to go. Cleared of the charge of murder - and somewhat cleared, well, no, not exactly cleared, of the charge of 'absconding from justice' (technically I was kidnapped and kept prisoner in a cave guarded by a Basilisk) which received an undecided vote at the end of the trial. So it was ruled that the school should decide what was to be done about that.

Worst case scenario, I get expelled. I'm hoping I just get detention...

My parents, siblings and Max were all waiting for me afterwards.

They all tried to share their sides of the story at the same time.

"I managed to dodge the death curse before Silas even got a chance to fire it,"Max was saying,"I knew he'd do something like that, the moment I saw him, it wasn't even a second that it missed me by, I bet it was half a second! I pretended to be dead because I knew he'd finish me off if he knew I wasn't. Then I snook in the cave while he was distracted, but got trapped in there!"

"Suddenly I got woken up by this really bright light in the dormitory!"Anita was saying.

"Cathy! Is it true you killed a Basilisk with the Sword of Gryffindor?"Lotty was interrupting.

I told the others I would like to hear their stories, one at a time, later on.

"How did Ed manage to break the enchantment that stopped me from speaking?"I asked, remembering something I hadn't been able to understand,"when he suddenly came into the interrogation room, I started to think I was dreaming."

"That was the Sivril,"Anita said.

"We asked the Sivril what would be the best thing to help you,"Lotty said,"and it said to send me or Ed in to see you. We decided it would be better if Ed went."

"I had heard that you were refusing to speak,"Ed said,"I guessed there was an enchantment. Wonder why they didn't think of that?"

"They did think of it,"I said,"but they were unable to break it - but you were. Wait a minute... did you say the Sivril said to send either Lotty or Ed specifically? No one else?"

"Yes,"Anita said.

I realised the spell Silas has used on me must not have been any ordinary spell, it had been strengthened by the same same enchantment as the one on the Foxhole Chamber and the ancient rune language. He likely wouldn't have known about Lotty and Ed being in there, even if he had worked out that I had been in there. If it hadn't been for Ed breaking the spell, I could have remained cursed by that enchantment for who knows how long...

27th August:

It has now been a year since I started writing in this diary. I'm 17 now. I will be returning to Hogwarts for my final year, this September. I'm writing this now in the field outside the garden, lying down in the long grass. Oliver has come to live at my home. He said things had gotten quite hostile after the snakes of the Forbidden Forest discovered he'd been working against Silas, and helping me instead.

He's very happy here, he says there are plenty of newts down in the village pond. Right now, he's crawling around in the grass, eating any spiders that have the audacity to come near me. I can still talk to him, but him alone, out of all snakes.

Antonius and Dominic are both living with us for the holidays. Antonius recovered from the poison after a few days, he is a lot better now. I will never forget what he did for me.

Max is going to visit us later today. He and Antonius are friends now. Jared says he's going to teach Max how to properly use a sword, in case he ever has to use the Sword of Gryffindor again.

I can hear Lotty and Anita racing each other on their broomsticks.

A strange flash of multicoloured light just came from Ed's window. He's experimenting in his room, as usual. One good thing about being in an all-magic family, is the Trace can't always tell when underage magic is happening outside of Hogwarts - or at least, parental supervision. Though there was one time when he almost accidentally blew up the house...

As for the Sivrils; we snook out at midnight under a full moon, when we were back home, during these holidays. Lotty's Sivril opened with a silver light. It takes you back into memories of important things that happened in the past - in the location that it is.

At first, we thought we were able to travel back in time, but then we discovered we were just observers. It was a memory, and we had no impact, whatsoever, on our surroundings. Already it has taken us back into the memory of knights riding on their way to battle through a small pine woods near our house; in the memory, it was part of a huge forest.

It took us into the memory of our house, when it was first being built. While digging the foundations, a Victorian builder unearthed a pot of old gold coins.

We wonder what memories it will take us into when we bring it back with us to Hogwarts.

As for Silas, we don't know what has happened to him. He is on the run. Out there. Somewhere.

Now that people know who he really is, he won't be as powerful as before. I know he is still incredibly powerful and I know he will come back to haunt us some day. I just don't know when.

I have to be prepared at all times.