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May your life be full of happiness, and free of strange caves. Unless you're a caver, in which case, may it have lots of caves!
Italics are dreams; bold italics are people reading something that is written down aloud.
Previously: Alice and Rose put their minds to work on the strange writing on the cave wall
As Rose explained her discovery to Alice, the others dreamed.
At ten years old, Lysander was fluent in three languages and could make himself understood in four more. At the moment, he was trying to learn some Japanese, although he and the camp worker were mostly making conversation through a mixture of French, Chinese and English.
Rolf came to find him, then rolled his eyes. "I should have known," he muttered indulgently. Although Lorcan was as enthused about the magical creatures they went around the world to study as his parents, Lysander was more often to be found helping the local people who assisted them, and talking to them. One-on-one, his son could talk the hind leg off a donkey, though Rolf had never understood that expression. Why would talking make a donkey lose its leg?
Lysander wasn't quite so talkative in large groups, especially not when there was someone else to talk. His parents had brought him up to be a good listener, and it was rare that he'd interrupt someone to say his piece.
One thing he wasn't so good with, was packing up his tent. Lorcan was only too happy to do it all, which was why Lysander could easily vanish off and 'help' (or rather, talk to) someone else.
"Go help your brother, Lysander," Rolf ordered, nodding politely to the Muggle man. He didn't know any Japanese, and they'd yet to invent a Charm to make you understand other languages, which would have made his job much easier.
"You can't just leave Lorcan to do the work," Rolf told his son. "It's your mess too."
"But he wants to," Lysander complained.
"Wants to? Or will." Rolf sighed. "You know Lorcan. You know he won't refuse to do anything, and he'll do it with a smile. That doesn't mean that he should have to do everything."
Rolf watched Lysander, knowing he'd said this hundreds of times before. Then he had an idea. Lysander loved his brother, and during the few times they'd managed to attend schools, which were rarely in England, he'd inevitably ended up in fights to defend him. Lorcan, like Luna, was different, in a way that was noticeable even to wizards, who were used to being unusual. He'd rarely take offence, and was entirely oblivious to strange looks cast his way. Lysander, however, was not blind to this, and took care to prevent any strange looks, and fight back when offence had been meant, no matter whether it had registered.
Rolf wondered how much Lorcan did notice, and how much Lysander knew that Lorcan noticed. They were twins, after all, even if they weren't identical, and they shared a link despite their differences. So Rolf appealed to Lysander's protectiveness.
"Sandy," he began, crouching down to look his son in the eye. Lysander looked so much like Luna, but he was more like Rolf in character. He was more practical even than Rolf, the more practical of the couple. "There'll always be people who try to take advantage of Lorcan. You know that. Do you want to be one of those people, or do you want to stop those people from doing that?"
"Stop them," Lysander replied indignantly. "I'd never let anyone hurt Lorcan."
"But if you do the same, it might encourage people to do so."
"Oh." Lysander frowned. "I never saw it like that."
"I know you didn't. And that's alright, but you won't let it happen again, will you?"
"Of course not, Dad," Lysander promised, and in three months he'd attend Hogwarts with that promise still fresh in his mind. Now, however, the conversation took a turn which it hadn't done in real life.
"And you can't do that if you're weak," Rolf pointed out. "You need to eat and drink, to keep up your strength. Take some from the box. They won't mind."
"I can't do that!" Lysander replied, horrified. "Besides, I'd be taking it from Lorcan then. How would that be better?"
Rolf frowned, disconcerted. "Of course, it wouldn't. But you could take some extra for you both."
"No way. Rose and Al are almost my family anyway. And we won't get far without the others."
In his brother's dream, Lorcan was now being helped with a tent; in reality, he lay next to him, also dreaming.
They should have been asleep. It was nearly midnight, and long past a ten-year old's bedtime. But it was New Year's Eve, and though they'd been sent to bed, or rather to tent, hours ago, Lorcan and Lysander were still awake, waiting to see in the New Year.
"I can't wait for this year," Lorcan reflected happily. "We get to start Hogwarts!"
They didn't always get excited over the same things, but this time was an exception. Lysander nodded. "It'll be so great. All those people!"
One of the downsides of their lifestyle, in Lysander's mind, was that it didn't let them meet many people. People from lots of different countries, yes. New people very often, or for long enough to talk to them, no. There was one or two baggage handlers with the group, but they'd stay for the duration of the expedition, often up to a year.
"But no new animals," Lorcan sighed. "And we won't get to go to so many new places."
"Hogwarts is a new place," Lysander pointed out. "And we'll learn new spells, and how to make Potions."
Luna made all the potions for their group, but the twins were forbidden to help. They were too young to be playing with such volatile substances, according to their parents.
"We get wands, too!" Lorcan remembered.
"Wonder where from," Lysander muttered. He knew there was no chance of getting back to Ollivanders like most of their future school mates would, and their wands would end up being from a random wand maker who lived in the depths of the jungle.
"That'll be fun," Lorcan mused.
Suddenly the twins heard clapping from outside. It was their parents, who had sat up to see that midnight had come. There were no fireworks – on an uninhabited Japanese island, you wouldn't expect them.
"Happy New Year," the twins chorused to each other.
Lysander turned to look seriously at Lorcan. "Lorcan," he began. Lorcan immediately recognised the tone. It was the one his brother used when he was telling him something 'for his own good.'
Lorcan didn't mind it – he was glad Lysander cared - but he did completely ignore it.
"I want you to survive this year to see next New Year," Lysander said. "And you won't do that without food and water. You've been rationing yours – you've had practice, but the group needs you. You have jungle expertise, after all. More than me – you're actually interested in all the plants and animals around you. Take some extra from the box."
Lorcan smiled. "Trust you to suggest that. You're so protective of me. But I'm fine. I'll last. The others need it more, and it's wrong to just take it."
Lysander opened his mouth to continue to argue, but Lorcan simply said, "Night, Sandy," and rolled over.
"Hang on," Lysander complained, but his voice was suddenly replaced by another one. A female one, less well-known but still familiar.
"Wake up," Alice cried, shaking the twins out of their sleep.
"I already did watch duty," Lysander groaned, trying to roll over.
"It's not that, we've worked out the code!" Alice rushed back over to Rose, who had found a pen and was scribbling words down on a Cauldron Cake wrapper.
Kicking Albus awake on his way over, Lysander stood over the two girls, leaving Lorcan and Albus to wake the others.
"So what was the code?" he asked.
"They were normal letters," Alice explained. "But they were all turned on their side, upside down, mirror-images – so it didn't look like it made sense."
"But it does now," Rose said happily, dropping her pen. "I think I've got it all. Listen!"
As the other seven, who were now fully awake, listened, Rose recited,
"The more I am clever, the more I am good,
The more, as a rule, I am misunderstood."
"Then there's a big gap, then:
Provider, Devourer, a double-edged blade,
Man he has tamed her, accepting this trade.
Ravenously hungry, must all the time feed,
Yet drink she must not, this can kill her indeed.
What has roots as nobody sees,
Is taller than trees,
Up, up it goes
And yet never grows?
You cannot live with me, but you cannot live without
I am silent as a whisper, louder than a shout,
I am turned by the pebble, I can slice through the boulder,
I can keep you warm, I will make you colder
Voiceless but I cry,
Wingless though I flutter,
Toothless yet I bite,
Mouthless and still I mutter."
"And then there's another big gap, then it just says 'put us together in this place and you'll see what this clue was meant to be."
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