Paragraph 6 - 24 : The Lost Talisman

Two days later, on Wednesday, Judith had her worst morning of classes : Professor Snape at 8.30am, and Professor Binns at 10.40am. As a psychological counter-measure to this dreadful combination of magistral curses, she would every Wednesday morning carry in her pocket the first magical object she had ever received, a gift by her father. It was a little silvery box that held a tiny feather, and that feather would repeatedly write Judith's name over and over, whenever a parchment was close to it. Yet, that morning, she was unable to locate the box. She tried to remember when and where she had last carried it with her, but she wasn't sure anymore. Since time was ticking and the starting moment of her unappetising class with Professor Snape was getting closer and closer, she hurriedly went through her belongings, to no avail. When she was left with barely enough time to make it to the classroom without being late, she gave up her frantic search, and, dispirited, headed towards the dungeons. She kept thinking about her lost box all day, which deprived her of most of her focus on classes. She almost got detention from Professor Sprout after failing to notice that the teacher had asked her a question. When the studious part of this awful day came to an end, she went immediately to her dormitory to resume her search for the little box. She now had time, and she set up for a methodical investigation. She left nothing unturned. But the box was still not to be found. The only saving grace of this operation was that she had found instead a book, that happened to be another birthday gift. It was about magical creatures, but she had never had enough motivation to read it. Judith considered that this present would, for the time being, play the role of a temporary replacement for the otherwise prized magical present she had lost. She started reading the book. This made her forget the upsetting disappearance of the little box she had been fond of for ten years. The book was a good read, and she ended up going through the whole of it in one go. It also included some interesting material that might make it to some future essay in Care of Magical Creatures, or that would at least make the corresponding classes more enjoyable. But at the end of this somewhat uplifting read, reality dawned on her once more : the box was gone, and her stomach was empty.