Have You Ever Seen the Rain?

Got the idea to explore something different with this chapter which features none of the main cast at all. Also looks like the alerts are back so if you missed a few chapters, feel free to go back and check them out as you may find yourself missing important info. This one's a bit experimental and the first part of a two parter, so the second one will explain what Lupin and Harry got up to and what happened to them. These characters in this chapter all OC's, by the way, and won't become permanent characters in the fic, but they do play a very important part in these two chapters all the same.

Chapter Twenty: Tupelo

I.

The professor looked across at the four students, who were between the ages of eighteen and twenty in the pub, a deeply informal setting, especially given the fact that it was of all things, Christmas Day, "So, I'd like to thank you for agreeing to meet me here when the rest of the class decided to attend their other activities," he said. "Unfortunately, that can only be expected, it is Christmas after all, but I had hoped my students might show a bit more passion for such a module..."

"No offense Professor, but I think most of them are just taking it for easy As," said the girl, whose name he vaguely recalled as Tatiana Davis. She was sitting next to Scott Hendrix who was next to Kyle Waits, but beyond that there was nobody else there. His class wasn't exactly big anyway, but even so, he supposed that he had considered himself optimistic that the full twenty students would show up. "And to be honest, I'm only here because I don't have anything better to do. Perks of being an orphan."

The professor, Jacob Smith, nodded in the direction of Tatiana and He took a sip of the cider in his left hand, despite the fact that it was still far too early in the morning, and said, "Alright. Let's get down to business. The reason why I called you here is because I think I actually believe we have a good shot at finding a ghost. Today, the one day of the year, my theory might very well be proven. Ghosts are out there and they exist."

Kyle rolled his eyes as the Professor spoke. He was on his phone, bored and disinterested, having only come here because his parents were in America and he had to remain behind due to his winter exams, and all of his other flatmates had gone back home. And he also had a crush on Tatiana, but that was beside the point. His mate had just gotten a brand-new Sega Genesis, and was busy explaining all the games that he had gotten via text. In the background the bar owners were having a Christmas party of their own with their family, who were giving the students and their Professor a few odd looks as they caught snatches of their conversation. "Mr. Waits… may I direct your attention back to the matter at hand? We have been granted a special permit to investigate Brockmire Manor on the event of the owner's death as no new owner has yet been registered in the archives yet. And I believe that before the agencies come in to sweep it up, we can investigate."

"Brockmire Manor? Isn't that place meant to be haunted?"

"Exactly, Mr. Hendrix," said the Professor with a smile, talking to Scott. "Carpe Diem. Seize the day, Mr. Hendrix. Anyway. Considering this is far, far too early to be drinking alcoholic beverages, I think now would be a good time to depart, especially since time is of the essence! Come on, cough up the tips."

"I don't tip," commented Kyle. "Sorry."

"What, because you can't afford it?" The Professor said. "Cough it up. It's only a few pounds. You're not going to miss it when the student loan comes in next month."

"Fine," said Kyle, rolling his eyes. "What about you, Scotty. You tipping?"

"Not directly," he said, nervously. "I'd rather give the money to you to give to her than give it directly to than to her. I don't like talking to strangers much."

"Oh come on, she's not going to bite," Kyle said. "Coward. And you don't even have to give it to her, just leave it on the table. Have you ever been to a pub before?"

Scott shook his head and threw in the coins. "Whatever. Can we just get moving, please? We have cameras in the car already and we're going to set up everything when get there at 10."

"This was probably way too early to start drinking," mused Tatiana.

"Well, nothing else was open on Christmas Day," said The Professor, shrugging his shoulders. "This is the only place that is and that's only because I know the staff. Besides, what difference does beer in the morning make? We might need it if we actually find what we're looking for."

"Yeah, whatever, Bill Murray," Tatiana said, dryly. "Hey, because we came with you, can we get As on our next exam?"

"If only it was automatically that easy," said The Professor. "Come along. If you like, I'll even let you choose the music while we drive."

Tatiana smiled, and moved after Scott and Kyle climbed to their feet, she followed, smiling at the waitress who took the coins. She was only here because she was a member of the family that were owned the pub which was the main reason why it was open on Christmas Day, their house was far too small for the fairly large extended family and the pub seemed like the perfect place to host it. If they got any extra customers on that day, it was an added bonus. "Hey, Tatiana?" Kyle called after Scott, once they had left the pub and had made their way through the snow towards the car, finding themselves someway behind both Scott and Professor Smith.

"What?" Tatiana said, looking up at the blonde-haired teen behind her. His hair was shaggy and needed cutting, but Kyle's personal excuse for not getting it cut just yet was because he hadn't been to any of the barbers' in the area and didn't trust them with his hair, preferring instead to wait until he got the chance to go back home. Tatiana had adopted a more daring and adventurous look that almost certainly would have gotten her in trouble if they were back at school, having dyed her hair a dark blue, wearing a thick tomboyish jacket alongside gloves that had holes at the tip of her fingers despite the cold, and her jeans had been deliberately ripped around the knees. "You alright, Kyle?"

"Um, yeah. Listen, I was just wondering if you know, after this, you want to go to the movies? I hear The Nightmare Before Christmas is pretty good. Or y'know, Dazed and Confused I still on. That's amazing."

"Thanks for the offer, Kyle, but that's not my sort of thing," she said. "Sorry. Besides, I have other plans anyway. Maybe another time?"

Kyle didn't need to be a genius to tell that Tatiana was saying that just to be polite to him, and shrugged. "Yeah, sure. Sorry. Forget I asked."

Tatiana gave him a cheerful smile, and upon reaching Professor Smith's car, instantly called "Shotgun!" before either Kyle and Scott could. However, given that whilst they'd been inside, snow had already been building up on the windshield, it was clear that they weren't going anywhere soon. "Dammit. It's snowing really bad."

"That's what you get for going to university in Scotland," commented Professor Smith. "Okay. Who wants to help me clear off this snow? With luck, we still should be able to make it to the mansion."

II.

Despite Professor Smith's instructions for the students not to break into a song as the car pulled up to the back entrance to the mansion, they found themselves singing along to Bruce Springsteen's Born in the U.S.A, despite not generally liking Springsteen or being from the USA, but given that it was on the radio and their spirits needed rousing before the main event, it was something that Scott and Kyle were all too willing to do. It was only once the car drew to a halt and the music stopped did the singing die down halfway through Queen's Radio Ga Ga did the three students bail out of the car. "Thank god that's over," Tatiana said. "I hate Queen."

"If you hate Queen, why were you singing along to it?" Scott said, as they approached the boot of the car.

"Because, if Classic Rock FM is the only station that we can get in middle of nowhere Scotland, then Classic Rock FM is the only station that I can sing songs from," Tatiana said, sarcastically scolding Scott. "Alright. Wow. The place looks a lot bigger up close."

"Looks Almost like Versailles," remarked Scott. "I mean. From the pictures, at least. How rich do you reckon the owner of this place was, anyway?"

"Probably very," said Tatiana, smiling at him. "I mean, look at this place, you could get the whole university in here and you'd still have space for more room, especially if you include the grounds. So, Professor, you still haven't told me what ghost you're looking for yet."

"I did in the car," said Professor Smith. "You were too busy singing along to Queen."

"Oh. Right. Well, in that case, screw Queen even more. What's up?"

"It's a poltergeist," remarked Professor Smith. "They're tricky little buggers. Like to play games on you. We're not exactly sure who the person was when he was alive, but obviously, he must have undergone a traumatic death or else he would well, not be a poltergeist and have moved on. That's what our job in part is to do today. Find evidence that the ghost exists, and then… help him move him on."

"Assuming he exists," Kyle said. "What makes you think he wants to move on? Maybe he likes it here."

"Ghosts don't want to stay put on Earth as a general rule, Mr. Waits. They'd move on if they could. But something's keeping them here. Causing all this trouble. Can you pass me that camera?"

"Sure," said Kyle, reaching into the boot of the car to pick up the camera. "Here you go."

"Thanks," said Professor Smith, handing the camera. "Okay, let's get into the main living room, I went here yesterday so the back door should still be open. Let's see if he's home."

III.

It had taken them approximately half an hour for the group to establish the cameras around the room. These were mainly VHS Camcorders held in place by tripods, and the room was illuminated by a flickering fireplace. "Okay," said Tatiana, once they had completed the set-up, sitting down on a dusty sofa. "So, assuming we do find definitive proof that ghosts exist and we wind up making millions off of it. What are you going to do with the money? Scott?"

"Cancer research," he said, instantly, and then elaborated. "My Mum died of cancer when I was a baby. I'd put my money to that so people can help stop it from happening to somebody else."

"That's sweet," commented Tatiana. "What about you, Kyle?"

"I don't know, probably buy Manchester United or something," he said, earning a laugh from Tatiana. "Sorry. I really don't know. My parents already have a lot of money, so I get enough from them already. I don't know what I'd do with more."

"You could buy a yacht," suggested Tatiana. "Yachts are cool. Then you could go anywhere."

"I don't know how to swim," said Kyle. "What happens if I hit a rock?"

"Well don't hit a rock," said Tatiana. "Professor? What about you?"

"Further research, of course. There have been apparent sightings of several demons in Albania. This was a few years ago anyway, but I would love to travel south and investigate to see if there was any truth to that matter," he said. "So... I guess that just leaves you, Tatiana."

"I dunno," she said with a shrug. "I'd probably go and see Prince or something. Just go on endless concerts. Prince, Bowie… Yeah, that'd be cool. But anyway. What are we waiting for, Professor?"

"You'd know this if you actually paid attention in class," said Professor Smith. "There are several tell-tale signs of a Poltergeist appearance. Disappearing objects, stuff that wasn't there before. Say, like that portrait going missing."

"That's a portrait?" asked Tatiana. "That's weird. There's nothing in it. It's just blank."

"But that's impossible, there was a picture of the owner there yesterday," said Professor Smith, taking off his glasses to rub them ever so slightly to have a proper look at the portrait that he had only gestured at by hand earlier because he knew it so well. "By God. You're right. Something has definitely changed."

"So, a missing portrait," said Tatiana. "Is that one of your tell-tale signs of a poltergeist activity?"

"Usually when the painting goes, the frames go with it," clarified Professor Smith. "But here, look. The chair is still there, where our man… Solomon Lupin, sat. It's almost as if he got up and walked away."

"Maybe Solomon Lupin's the ghost?"

"No, this is just his portrait," Smith said. "The poltergeist is somewhat less physical."

"Okay," said Kyle. "Any other signs we should be looking for?"

"Loud disturbances," said Smith. "Anything that goes crash or bang and you're sure that nobody human knocked over something accidentally. Come on, have you not seen Poltergeist?"

"No, sorry," said Kyle. "I thought you said that movie was largely worthless anyway? In your first lecture."

"Admittedly, It does have its merits," said Smith. "There is also signs of physical attacks. Power created from nowhere. Electrical interferences. Scents and odors. Come on, this is all basic stuff. I'd like to think that one of you actually paid attention in my class."

Tatiana shook her head, and Kyle followed suit. Scott was brave enough to speak only after Smith's gaze lingered on him for a few seconds longer than necessary, making him feel uncomfortable, "I did, actually, Professor. I just didn't want to say anything."

"Ah. Understandable," said Professor Smith. "But you two. I must ask. If both of you aren't interested, why did you come?"

"I'm interested, it's just I zone out pretty quickly," said Tatiana. "And besides, the girl in front of me is kind of cute. But that doesn't matter… And besides, now that we've established that Solomon Lupin isn't home… he has to be somewhere, right? Why don't we start looking for him?"

"That might actually work," suggested Professor Smith. "He may not be in this room but he could be elsewhere. Okay. So, here's what we're going to do. Poltergeists are vulnerable to rock salt. If we create a circle around the immediate living room then we should have a safe spot to return to. Assuming of course he actually exists."

"If not, then we don't have to worry, right?" Tatiana said. "I sure hope we don't end up in an insane asylum for this."

"Don't worry, we won't," said Professor Smith. "If anything, We'll end up on the front page of Time Magazine."

"Oh, that makes me feel so much better," said Tatiana, rolling her eyes. "So. We sweep the house, find Lupin and see if we can find out how he was moved?"

"Are you sure someone didn't brush over his painting?" Kyle said. "They can't just move."

"Well this one did," said Professor Smith. "And we have a relatively large house to find, so I suggest we split up and cover it in two groups. Me and Kyle will head this way, and Scott will go with Tatiana. You'll take the left wing and the first floor and we'll take the right wing and the basement. You can take the top floor as well. Does that sound fair?"

"Sure," said Scott, nervously, glancing at Tatiana. "Should we bring a camcorder with us?"

"Yes," Professor Smith said. "Record anything you see and report back to me at one if there is any news, and then we can have some lunch."

"Yes sir," said Scott, and without further ado, grabbed a camera and followed Tatiana down the hall. The black-haired student didn't bring up any conversation and was merely focused on following the light that was presented in the relative daylight, zooming in on the old portraits around the house. A few seconds later he found himself jumping backwards, nearly knocking into Tatiana. "I could have sworn I saw something move in those paintings…"

"Oh come on, it's just you," said Tatiana. "No need to look so frightened. They're just paintings, Scott. Hey. It'll be okay, right? We'll find out that this is all just a waste of time and then we can go back to campus in time for tea."

"Yeah. That sounds great," said Scott, trying to act cheerful, but came across as more sarcastic. "Back to a place that's almost as deserted as here."

"I'm still trying to get used to the fact that this place is Just. So. Big," said Tatiana. "I haven't seen anything like it before. And the walls too, they look so old. Come on. Let's go upstairs first and work our way down."

"That sounds good," said Scott, following her lead, focusing the camera back the way he came. He heard something crash in the distance and jumped again, only seconds later. "Okay, that was something, right? You heard that crash?"

"I heard it," said Tatiana. "It came from the living room."

"Do you think we should check it out?"

"No," said Tatiana. "It's probably just Kyle or Professor Smith. Speaking of Kyle, can you believe him? He tried to ask me out earlier."

Scott tried not to look interested, and reminded her that the camera was rolling so that she should be careful what she said.

"He doesn't look at these anyway," said Tatiana, rolling her eyes as they reached the top of the stairs and turned into the first room, which looked to be some kind of bedroom. "I could say, screw you Kyle and nobody would care. Anyway. You know me."

"I don't, actually. We don't talk in class. You're too busy talking to Sarah."

"Well, we're talking now," commented Tatiana, shrugging her shoulders. They had now reached what could only be described as library, full from floor to ceiling with several books. She approached one and looked at the title, "Weird. Looks like this guy was a hardcore Dungeons and Dragons player. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them? What kind of a name is Newt Scamander?"

"Well, this whole building reeks of posh people," said Scott. "I wouldn't be surprised if Mr. Scamander was upper class with a name like that. Oh, and look. I think we found our missing painting."

Scott zoomed the camcorder in on the face of the man who roughly resembled Solomon Lupin, who had stumbled into another painting, belonging to that of Gregory Wren. They appeared to be painted having some sort of conversation, but obviously, couldn't move as they were frozen in place, and it was quite frankly, a painting, so its occupants couldn't really move at all, at least to Scott's knowledge. "That's impossible," commented Tatiana, as Scott moved the camcorder in on the painting. "Look. It's almost as if he got bored of his own painting and decided to drop in on someone else's. Anyway, have you seen what's in this book? It's so weird. Look. Either Dungeons and Dragons got very different since the last time I played it or this is something different, because I sure as hell don't remember reading about an Obscurial. Hey. You think Professor Smith would want this?"

"It's probably just a fantasy book," commented Scott, turning around. The grandfather clock in the corner of the room made a noise as he did so, beginning to tick. He instantly turned his attention to the clock with the camcorder, zooming in on it as it moved faster and faster. "Um, Tatiana? You know what one of the telltale signs of a Poltergeist's appearance was?"

"Something to do with objects moving when they shouldn't?" Tatiana said, raising an eyebrow. Almost immediately as she said that sentence, a few books, no more than three were thrown off the shelf towards her with violent speed. She was just far enough away to avoid them, but instantly, this alerted her to the fact that something was definitely wrong. "Jesus Christ. Hey, Kyle? Cut it out will you? That's not funny."

"For some reason, I don't think that's Kyle," said Scott, glancing across at the bookshelf. A few more books were hurled at them, one just missing Scott this time. "What the hell is up with that book?"

"What book?"

"This one," Scott said, gesturing down at the one on the floor. "It looks like it's got fangs."

"And it seems to be moving," Tatiana observed in growing horror, with the book rapidly advancing towards Tatiana, smashing its teeth together. "That's got to be a prank, right, Scott?"

"I think now might be a good time to run," said Scott, glancing behind them to the door of the library. "Um… I don't remember shutting that door."

"You've got to be kidding me, right?" Tatiana said, shoving herself violently against the door. "Dammit! Someone locked the door. Hey, Kyle! Professor! Anyone there?"

"We're trapped," Scott said, glancing across at the rest of the library and realising that there was no way out. "And I'm about to get killed by a book."

"Yeah, you're right, that's not how I imagined I'd go out at all," said Tatiana. "Remind me never to complain to a librarian again…"

"Hey," said Scott, noticing something on the wallpaper on the other side of the room. "See that gap in the decoration? Something's written under the walls. It might give us a clue on how to get out of here."

"Okay… how are we going to get over there?"

"I need you to distract the book," said Scott, glancing down at whatever the hell it was that was advancing on them, getting rapidly closer by the second. "Can you do that?"

"I don't think that'll be a problem," said Tatiana, nodding.

"Okay," said Scott. "Let's do this."

He instantly turned around and backed away, whilst Tatiana approached the bookshelf and proceeded to hurl more books at the one that was considerably more aggressive. Scott advanced, pushing his way forward, leaping over a chair, and running towards the wallpaper, which he instantly ripped off, making sense of bits of scribbled text on the wall behind before he could even move.

"What does it say?" Tatiana called, with her back to Scott, still continuing to throw more books at the monster book.

'Dear Muggles. Stay out of the water…. From, Harry Potter… Oh. And good luck with the Poltergeist…'

"What water?" Scott asked after he finished reading the text aloud, glancing around the room. It didn't take him long to work out what water this mysterious Harry Potter was talking about, because it was clear from the noise behind him, coming through even above the sound of the book, that there was a distinctive sound of water dropping down from the ceiling above. "Um. Tatiana?"

"I'm kind of busy right now," Tatiana said, having crawled onto to the chair near the Gregory Wren painting, throwing whatever she could down at the book. The camera had been placed on the floor, filming them from a distance. "What's up with the water, Scott?"

"I don't think we should touch it," said Scott, backing away from the damp spot in the corner of the room, towards the monster. As he backed away it was almost like the water that was in a puddle on the floor began to follow him, slowly and curiously, as if inspecting its new owner. "And I'm starting to think that splitting up was a bad idea…"

"Yeah," said Tatiana, leaping over the chair and across the book. As she fell, she hit the floor, brushed her hand across the book's spine by accident, and rolled over to a halt. As if struck by something, the book stopped screaming and attacking them, stopping instantly in its tracks. Brushing the dust off her arms, Tatiana climbed to her feet and glanced across at Scott, who was backing away from the water still. "Looks like I beat the book. Weird. The Monster Book of Monsters? This doesn't sound like your average fantasy fan's collection. This is way too hardcore."

"Well, we've got more problems to worry about," said Scott. "And I don't exactly want to find out what the water does when it touches me. We should get out of here."

"What about the camera?"

"We'll get it later," said Tatiana, and as she spoke, she took Scott's hand. "Come on. Let's go and find the others and get the hell out of here!"

TO BE CONTINUED….

So, that was a fun experiment to write. I was influenced a lot by Doctor Who's Blink and Waters of Mars for this, two of my favourite episodes, and wanted to write something about what would happen if some muggles found about the magical world thinking it was something along the lines of ghosts whilst finding a way to tie it into the own plot. Harry and Lupin will return next chapter, and you'll get a more concrete idea of the antagonist. If you've seen Waters of Mars and Blink then you may get a good idea of what I'm going for with this, but obviously, I'm going to be playing with your expectations a bit so it won't end up as a hundred per cent copy. And next chapter if all goes to plan (although no promises), you'll learn who's the leader of the cult.

And I tried to keep it as 1994-y as possible with the era of this chapter, so hopefully there shouldn't be any anachronisms here. If there are, feel free to let me know and I'll edit them in. I wanted to throw a Blair Witch Project reference in but sadly that film didn't come out until 1999… Hence why you get The Nightmare Before Christmas and Dazed & Confused instead. I haven't actually seen The Nightmare Before Christmas – for some reason – but Dazed & Confused is a classic.

Also, I thought I'd throw in a few fic recommendations here. For somebody that does horror a lot better than I do, check out Voice of the Nephilim's incredible Elizium for the Sleepless Souls. I'll do my best to provide fanfic recs each chapter if anyone's interest for more to read. But this author's note is already dragging on far too long, so I thought I'd end it there.