Red Rum
26th December 1973
Helena Poole, a hyperactive sixteen year old Gryffindor, awoke early in the morning as usual. And, as usual, she decided to awake her roommate and best friend, Lily Evans.
Helena had come to bed very late the night before, so hadn't had a chance to speak to Lily, as she had been asleep. This meant she was surprised to find her sprawled on her stomach, with a little wooden box before her and a piece of old parchment clutched in her hand.
"Lily?" she shook her friend awake.
"Mmm? What?" Lily replied, sitting up, though still not fully awake.
"Lily, it's morning, wake up." Helena said.
Lily slowly awoke and as she did, remembered what she had read the night before. She looked at the yellowing parchment in her hand to make sure she hadn't been dreaming.
She paled as she read the parchment's through again. Helena saw her expression, and asked what was wrong.
"I was messing about with the box last night, and I found that it had a false bottom. In the new compartment there was a ring, and two pieces of parchment." Lily handed Helena the pieces of parchment, and Helena read through them, when she had finished, she paled as Lily had done.
"Oh my God Lily, this is bad." she said, "really, really bad."
"Gee Helena, thanks for the morale booster." Lily replied.
"I know I'm sorry," she said grinning, but then her face fell, "but this is really really bad."
"I know!" Lily moaned, "but it would explain all the bad things that happened yesterday. You know, the ice, the bear and the crackers."
"Yeah, but I've read about these Lily, one man had a bad luck charm and eventually he couldn't stand the bad luck hurting his friends anymore, so he killed himself!"
"Why didn't he just take it off?" Lily asked.
"Because you can't. Once it's on, it stays on." Helena said.
Lily tried to undo the clasp of the necklace, but Helena was right. She couldn't undo it. It was stuck on forever.
"D'you think they have any books in the library about it? You know, bad luck charms, and those things that are mentioned in the letter, the Danira, the Gypsies of Cephius and Auriga?" Helena asked her.
"I don't know. There could be. We'll go there after breakfast." Lily decided.
They dressed hurriedly and then rushed down to breakfast. James and Sirius were already there.
Lily and Helena bolted down their cereal in two minutes flat, and then dashed off to the library with Sirius and James looking at them as if they were mad.
They arrived at the library, and began searching the shelves for mention of bad luck charms, the Danira, the Gypsies of Cepheus and Auriga.
They pulled numerous books off the shelves and poured over them at one of the tables. Lily soon found a book that looked like it could be useful. It was entitled Medallion's, Pendant's and Other Such Magical Objects.
Lily opened it and found that it did indeed contain a section on Bad Luck Charms. She quickly flipped to page 564, and found that there were pictures of the bad luck charms. She was amazed to find that bad luck charms could be contained in almost anything, even other living organisms. On page 568, she found herself looking at a drawing of the necklace around her neck, and the ring that she had found in the box. She began to read the text that went with the pictures.
The Pendant of Red Rum
This bad luck charm is one of the most potent known to human being. It consists of a beautiful ruby set in a surround of pure gold shaped like a sun. On each of the suns rays, there is a small symbol, which many people believe to be hieroglyphics. From the primitive sightings of the charm, we know this, though we cannot begin to think what the hieroglyphics spell out. We know that the Pendant is very old, more than 1,000 years to be precise. Many of the cleverest scientists have puzzled over the name of the pendant. Why Red Rum? Many say that it is because the stone is red, but others say that it is an anagram, of what, we don't know. The last known owner of the pendant was a woman named Queen Lavinia. She was the ruler of a beautiful city in the sky named Auriga. (For more information on Auriga see Other Worlds We've Heard of But You Haven't) She died at the age of thirty, and was known to have borne one son, who to this day has disappeared. Whoever wears the necklace will find that it cannot be removed with their own hands, though it is possible to remove it using the Ring of Red Rum.
The Ring of Red Rum
The Ring of Red Rum is the only known way to be rid of the necklace. But alone, it will not remove the necklace. If you are in possession of the pendant and the ring (which I seriously doubt), here is how you should go about removing it. Firstly, you need to find the Danira, which is currently in the possession of the Gypsies of Cepheus. When you have done this, you need to use the Danira to travel to Auriga. Once in Auriga you will need to find the Supreme Power, and they will tell you whatever else you need to know.
When Lily had finished reading these pages, she let out a long breath that she had been holding in. Presently, Helena showed her what she had found out. Lily found herself reading a passage about the magical city of Auriga.
Auriga
Auriga is a magical city in the Southern sky. Its occupants are mainly female, though there are a few male inhabitants. Auriga is one of the many "other worlds" that there are. Together there are over a million "other worlds". Other known worlds are Horologium, Ophichusa, Pavol and Tucanavela. The occupants of Auriga are very powerful, perhaps the most powerful beings in the universe. No one knows how they acquired this great power, though it could be through charms, amulets and pendants passed down through many generations. To Natives of Auriga, there is only one known access to the great city. This is through the Danira. The Danira is currently in possession of the Gypsy Tribe of Cepheus, and has been since 1886. The Danira is a chalice filled with dancing blue flames. When held in a particular position, a person can travel through the flames into Auriga.
The Monarchy of Auriga
Queen Juliet 1644 – 1699
Queen Jasmine 1699 – 1777
Queen Anna 1777 – 1802
Queen Emma 1802 – 1824
Queen Sophia` 1824 – 1844
Queen Christabel 1844 – 1926
Queen Lavinia 1926 – 1927
Queen Heather 1927
The most powerful of all these Monarchs was Queen Lavinia. She was the owner of the Pendant and Ring of Red Rum, which gave her the supreme power. Unfortunately Queen Lavinia was only in reign for one year, due to her death at child birth.
"This explains everything!" Lily said.
"Does it?" Helena asked.
"Yes, of course it does." Lily said.
"How?" Helena replied.
"Well, it explains all the things mentioned in the letter," Lily said, "it explains about Auriga, the Danira and who the Gypsies of Cepheus are."
"Yeah. But what should we do next?" Helena said.
"I don't know. I'll think about it tonight, and tell you what we should do tomorrow." Lily said.
Helena nodded, and the two of them went back to the common room.
* * *
Lily was floating. She was floating above a beautiful city full of bright lights, pinks, blues and soft colours. In the centre of the city there was a golden castle with high turrets and battlements running around the edges. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. She floated down to the ground where an old lady dressed in purple crushed velvet. The old lady spoke to her.
"Custode del ciondolo, Il bambino perdonato. You must come to Auriga. Come here, to live out your destiny."
She floated off, up, up, up into the sky like a bird.
* * *
Lily woke up breathing hard. The old woman in her dream had told her what to do. She shook Helena awake and told her.
"What should we do now?" Helena whispered.
"Go to Dumbledore. Explain it all. Hopefully he'll let us go to Auriga and I'll be able to 'live out my destiny'"
* * *
"Auriga, you say? Yes, I've heard of it. In myth of course. It's quite ludicrous to think that there could actually be a place." Dumbledore said.
"But, Sir, you've seen the parchments, the ring and the necklace. Surely that's proof enough that the place does exist?" Lily said.
"Hmm. This could all be a big hoax, but I do know the Gypsy Tribe of Cepheus. Well, I say I know them. I know their Queen. The Gypsy Queen Rona. She was quite beautiful in her day." Dumbledore sighed, but Helena and Lily's giggles brought him out of his daydream.
"Where was I? Oh yes, The Gypsy Tribe of Cepheus. Yes, well, I could send you there, and you could see what the Gypsy's of Cepheus have to say about the whole business. I'll arrange a Portkey for you, at say about six o'clock tonight. Okay?"
Lily and Helena nodded, smiling.
"Do we need to pack anything?" Helena asked.
"Collect together a rucksack of clothes, make sure to pack a formal dress. From what you've told me it seems you will not be able to enter Auriga without being dressed formally. you can use your wands for food and drink." Dumbledore said.
The girls nodded and left Dumbledore's office to go and pack clothes.
The girls packed mainly summer clothes (Muggle of course), because Cepheus lay just off the Equator.
They were about to leave the common room and go and meet Dumbledore, when James and Sirius came rushing into the room through the portrait hole.
"Where are you going?" James asked.
"Um, a place called Cepheus." Lily replied.
James narrowed his eyes.
"That doesn't tell us anything. Where is Cepheus?" he said.
"Um, near Hogsmeade?" Helena said.
"Yeah, right, I've known you long enough to know when you're lying, Helena." Sirius said.
"Oh, all right! It's a place near the equator, and we're going there because of this!" Lily said, lifting the pendant out of her robes.
"What will you gain from going there?" James asked, obviously confused.
"Hopefully I'll find a way to get it off, and a way into Auriga." Lily replied.
"Auriga?" James said scratching his head, "where the hell is that?"
"A place in the sky," Helena said helpfully, "and the place where Lily will be able to "live out her destiny or something."
"You're having us on, aren't you?" James asked.
"No, we're seriously going halfway around the world, then into a city in the sky!" Lily said, "you can ask Dumbledore, he's arranged a Portkey for us."
"Okay, so you're not having us on, so does that mean we can come with you?" Sirius asked looking excited.
"Well, I suppose you could be a help." Lily said.
"But you could also be a hindrance." Helena finished Lily's sentence for her.
"Aw! Please let us come! We'll be really really good!" Sirius said making a puppy dog face.
"I suppose so, as long as Dumbledore agrees." Lily said, "but hurry up and go pack, we have to catch the Portkey in fifteen minutes."
James and Sirius ran back up the stairs and returned just seconds later, rucksacks slung over their shoulders, and dressed in Muggle summer clothes.
They hurried to Dumbledore's office and told the stone gargoyle the password, "pear drops."
They walked up the moving staircase, and found Dumbledore waiting for them. On his desk lay a mouldy doughnut with green ooze coming out of the side.
"Ah, girls, I see you have picked up Mr Potter and Mr Black on your travels."
"Um, yeah," Lily said, "is it alright if they come with us?"
"Well, I don't know. I don't really want them to miss lessons." Dumbledore replied.
"Aw, go on," said Helena, "there may be troubles ahead, and big strong men like these could really help us in the face of danger."
James and Sirius looked at her strangely, but Dumbledore thoughtfully.
"Yes, I can see your point. The boys may go with you. But, hurry come over here and each take a hold of this doughnut."
They all walked over to his desk and picked up the moulding doughnut, looking a bit repulsed. Dumbledore began to count down from ten.
"Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one!"
They felt a jerk at their bellybuttons and felt themselves being spun around up into the air.
They landed with a thump on a hard leafy floor. Standing up and brushing themselves off they looked around themselves. They were in what looked like a forest, the trees towered high above them, and beyond the trees was a beautiful blue sky with big black birds circling overhead.
They began walking, on what looked like a rough dirt track. Where to, they didn't know. They walked for about five minutes, and came to a clearing. Here they decided to sit down and assess the situation.
"I suggest we just keep on walking until we find the Gypsies, I suppose." Helena said.
They all nodded, then Lily held up her hand in a signal for everyone to be quiet.
"Shh. Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?" asked James.
"I don't know, I just heard a noise." Lily said, and shrugged, "it was probably nothing; don't worry."
They continued talking but their conversation was brought to a dramatic close when all four of them felt sharp knives pressed against their necks.
A/N I'm evil, aren't I! A cliff hanger! If you review, you get the next part even quicker!