Ilvermorny: Where Memory Sleeps

Aevelle’s mind spun all night.

The cracked mirror.
The vanishing message.
The strange pull in her wand.
We remember what they tried to forget.

What did it mean? Who was “we”? What had been forgotten?

By breakfast, she couldn’t hold it in any longer. She spotted Ruby and Serene at the Horned Serpent table and beelined toward them, ignoring the curious glances from students not used to inter-house mingling.

“We need to talk,” she said, voice low.

Ruby sat up straight. “Bad talk, or mystery talk?”

Serene pushed aside her oatmeal. “Let me guess—something weird happened, and it wasn’t just the moving staircases again?”

Aevelle nodded. “After classes yesterday, I found a room. I wasn’t looking for it. It felt like it wanted me to find it.”

Ruby blinked. “You found a secret room already?”

“There was a mirror,” Aevelle continued, her voice quieter now. “And on it was this message—‘We remember what they tried to forget.’ Then it vanished.”

Ruby leaned in, eyes narrowed. “Someone’s hiding something. And mirrors that write messages usually mean... an unconsumed magic. Or something sentient.”

Serene rested her chin on her fist. “Could be old enchantments. Or maybe someone left it for you to find.”

“I think it’s connected to my mom,” Aevelle said slowly. “I don’t know why. But the moment I saw the message, I felt... known. Like it was for me.”

That silenced them both.

Ruby reached into her robe and pulled out a small leather-bound notebook, already filled with scribbles and tabs. “Okay. Then we’re investigating this. Together.”

“You still remember how we used to play detective in the city?” Serene said with a small smirk.

“Same rules,” Aevelle smiled faintly. “We follow everything until it leads somewhere. No turning back.”

Ruby flipped open to a blank page and scrawled across the top: Ilvermorny Secrets – Case One.

----

That afternoon, the three girls slipped away from the main corridor during a lull between classes. Aevelle led them down the winding stairwell to the room with the cracked mirror. The door was still slightly opened.

But the message was gone.

Still, Serene stepped in first. “This room hasn’t been used in years. Look at the dust.”

Ruby wandered to a tall bookshelf in the corner, most of it covered with faded parchment and brittle spines. “These books... They’re all handwritten. No Ministry markings.”

Aevelle approached the mirror again. This time, the glass was still—but her reflection flickered for just a moment.

Not just a flicker.

A woman’s face behind hers.

She turned sharply. No one there.

Her heart raced.

“I saw something,” she whispered. “A woman. In the mirror.”

Ruby looked up. “Describe her.”

“I couldn’t... it was quick. But I think it was her.” She looked at them both. “My mother.”

A long silence followed.

Serene finally exhaled. “Okay. So... your magical mom may be haunting an old room at Ilvermorny. Or leaving magical breadcrumbs.”

Aevelle nodded. “And I think I’m meant to follow them.”

Ruby looked between them. “Then we follow it too. Together. Because if this school is hiding something—especially something about you or your family—we're going to find out what.”

Aevelle smiled. For the first time since stepping into the magical world, she didn’t feel like she was unraveling alone.

She had a team.

And the mystery was just beginning.