"Are you sure that you know where we're going?" asked Harry to Remus. They had been wandering around in the desert for the past three hours and still haven't found the place Remus spoke of.
"Yes, I'm sure. I've been to this place before. We just have to look for a muggle road with a sign that says 'No Service next 35 miles' on it. It's a deserted road. They wanted to construct some buildings there about 25 years ago, but never came around to it for some reason," replied Remus.
"And we can't apparate there, because..." began Harry.
"Because they have anti-apparition wards and anti-tracking charms. They don't want the Ministry to find out about them, after all," replied Remus.
"Then why can't we just use a tracking charm to find out where this muggle road is?" questioned Harry. He was very sure that Remus somehow ended up getting himself lost. He wouldn't even be surprised if the road was in the opposite direction they were going:
"Location Charms don't work that way. A spell is used on the location to 'name' it or assign a variable to it. When you use it, you say the assigned variable to find it. For personal objects at home, you can set another modifier to make it only apply to your objects, and not everyones. The modifiers take a part of yourself, so everybody has a unique one," replied Remus. Harry sighed. He didn't need that much of an explanation. No wonder Remus did good in school. "This muggle road is around here somewhere." Remus was convinced of that. Harry wasn't.
It was then that a muggle with a canteen, and a backpack came into their line of vision. He was holding a laptop computer, and was typing into the thing. "Maybe we should ask him directions to that road," said Harry.
"We don't need directions," replied Remus. "I already told you that I know where we're going." Remus then figured that it wouldn't hurt to ask the man where it was. At least it would make Harry feel better. "Ok, Harry. I'll go and ask him if he knows. Stay right there."
"Hello, mister. Do you happen to know where the deserted street is?" questioned Remus. The man kept on typing into the laptop, but Remus caught a glance at the screen. It was information about the desert they were currently in.
"Hello, sir. Do you know where that street is?" asked Remus again. The man typed more information into his computer about a prarie dog nearby. He made no sign that he realized Remus was there until he spoke.
"Sir, I am currently doing important research. If I don't finish this project, I'll be fired. I can't be burned into ashes! That might even end up happening if I quit! I need to keep my job!" replied the weird guy. Remus rolled his eyes. Didn't the guy know that getting fired was...well when the employer decided to kick you out of work. Apparently he didn't.
The guy, however, froze at that moment. He stared, shocked to the core, at absolutely nothing. The only thing in front was him was the desert. He then screamed, ran the other direction, and yelled out a 'He's coming to get me! No! Please spare me, I'm not worth your time!' Remus looked very confused, but that guy was weird.
"No luck there, Harry. That guy is insane. He's even more insane then Daniel, and that's saying something," said Remus.
"Who's Daniel?" asked Harry, curious. He never heard that name before.
"He's one of my old friends, Harry. It's a long story," said Remus.
A little while later, still lost in the desert, Harry started thinking. His father had an owl at school. Did his mom or the other Marauders have anything?
"Remus, can I ask you a question?" said Harry. Remus nodded in favor. "Well, you mentioned Shadow and Whiskers earlier. Did anybody else I know have pets there? What other types of antics did you get up to at school?" He questioned Remus, because these were his parents. He wanted to know what they were up to at school. Remus was his last link.
"I thought you might ask that sooner or later. Your mother had a cat that she owned since she was nine. She had green eyes and a white coat. There were little light brown marks on her legs that looked like socks though. She named the feline Arctic, and this is the very weird part of the story. Arctic had a liking for Professor Snape. Not a rivalry liking, but an actual like. She usually purred by his legs when he walked by, and he always told your mother to make the 'dumb muggle animal get off of him'. She always stalked him around the halls when she wasn't with your mother. It was her way of showing affection, but why she did it to him, I don't know," explained Remus. Harry laughed at that. He could almost see a cat stalking Snape, and Snape wanting it to stop.
"That is very weird, Remus. However, did you or Si...Sirius have a pet there?" questioned Harry. Tears almost fell at the mention of Sirius. Harry missed him a lot, and he knew Remus felt the same way. Life, however, had to move on. It had to move on, and continue its set path. No amount of brooding would ever bring Sirius back. He was gone from this world.
"Yeah. If you must know the truth, Sirius and I both had pets. Sirius, thanks to his parents, had an eagle owl. He never liked the owl as it acted too arrogant for his taste. I guess that can happen when your parents that you hate pick it out for you. Sirius eventually warmed up to the guy, and liked it ever since. It, however, had a habit of attacking a certain professor at school, which is probably why Sirius warmed up to it. He was always after Professor Reich," explained Remus.
"Who's Professor Reich?" asked Harry.
"Professor Reich was our Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher back then," explained Remus. "He was terrible. He hated me, because of my condition, and only because of my condition. Our lesson on werewolves was very biased, and he kept on staring at me when he did it. He was also biased, and unfair. It wasn't to the extent of Professor Snape, but it was there. Luckily, we only had to deal with him until the end of fourth year. He, unfortunately, was murdered. Nobody knows who did it, but people say that it was Death Eaters. We did, after all, go to school when Voldemort was still starting to gain power for himself," explained Remus.
"And what about you?" asked Harry.
"Ah, I was the odd one. I did have a pet, but it wasn't an owl, cat, or rat. My pet, to Padfoot's approval, was a dog. My parents thought it would be a good idea to have one during my transformations. It was a good thought, but it didn't work. The only thing the dog did was run out of the whomping willow and back into the castle as soon as it saw the werewolf. That thing was scared of almost everything. If I remember right, that was how Sirius and James came up with the animagi idea," explained Remus. "Either way, can I ask you a question now?"
"Go ahead, Remus."
"It's about your uncle. I know he wasn't the nicest, but doesn't killing you seem extreme. People just don't do that without a final spark of some kind," explained Remus.
"Well, I didn't do anything to spark it. I guess it's possible that he was under the imperius. Either that, or something happened while I was gone, and they blamed me on it. It's all very weird," replied Harry.
"True, but I'm sure The Order will investigate it later, so we'll know for sure. It has to be something, though."
After wandering around for another hour, Harry heard something. He stopped in his tracks, and listened for it again. It was a hissing noise, clearing hissing for help. Harry looked around, trying to pinpoint the voice. It was then that he noticed a hole with a rock pushed over it. He had to help.
"Listen, Remus. There's a snake trapped under there. I'm going to save it, okay?" asked Harry. Remus nodded, though he was a bit nervous. He read a muggle fable like that where the snake almost bit his rescuer afterwards.
"Just be careful, Harry," replied Remus. He then tried to reassure himself. Harry was a parselmouth, and muggles wrote that fable. Harry would be fine. Besides, it's not like the snake was muttering Voldemort under his breath...or it might be. Remus had no way of knowing. He wasn't a parselmouth.
"I'm going to get you out of there," hissed Harry in parselmouth.
"Thank you. I need some fresh air and food," hissed the snake back. Harry then put his hands on the boulder and shoved it away from the hole. The snake slid out.
It was a black snake, but it wasn't completely black. It had silver stripes along its back, and silver eyes that seemed to pierce through your very soul. "Thank you, young speaker. Who might you be?" hissed the snake. "I am Arsenic."
"I'm Harry. You're welcome. I'm just doing my duty to the snakes," hissed Harry back at the snake. The snake nodded.
"Can you get me a home?" questioned Arsenic. "I don't like living out here too much. It's very hot, too hot for my taste. Can you take me in? If you can't, maybe you can at least find me a home with another nice human."
"I would take you in, as I like you very much. However, a beloved familiar of mine died in order to save me. I'm still getting over her death. I do, however, know somebody else who would love to own a snake. Tell me, Arsenic, what kind of snake are you?" questioned Harry in parselmouth.
"I am sorry about your familiar. However, we snakes have a belief about death. It isn't truly death, as we still live on within each other. My dad died a few weeks ago, and he lives on in me. I can sometimes feel his presence when I concentrate enough. I am a silver sonoran. I'm glad that you can find me a home. Do you think that you can visit me sometimes, though?" questioned Arsenic in a hiss.
"I will if your new owner allows me to," hissed back Harry. "Thank you for your insight about death. My father died when I was one, perhaps he lives within me. Anyway, we have to get back to my friend now. His name is Remus or Moony. Whichever one you prefer to call him."
"Moony, then. Bring me to him," hissed back Arsenic.
"Do you happen to know where a certain muggle road is?" asked Harry. Arsenic nodded and Harry sighed in relief.
It turned out that Remus did end up making a wrong turn when they ran into the oasis. The good news, however, was that they found Arsenic, or they would be even more lost than before. The three travellers then faced the 'No Service Next 35 miles' sign, and looked at Remus.
"So, what do we do now?" questioned Harry. Remus took out some floo powder and tossed it on the ground near the sign. He then took out his wand, tapped the sign three times, then said a spell. The sign sunk into the ground, revealing stairs leading downward.
"We go inside," replied Remus. "Come on, everybody."
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Next Chapter:
Shopping, Burials, and odd events.
