Disclaimer: You all should know by now that i own nothing. J.K Rowling owns it. well not my plot and i swear i have one!
Chapter 6
A Serious Riddle
Hermione and I excused ourselves from lunch as soon as possible without attracting too much attention and with my mum that isn't as easy as it sounds. Today it was especially hard, because I was too excited about what Hermione had figured out to eat. My lack of appetite worried my mum to the point where she wouldn't let me go until I had managed to eat at least a sandwich.
But I managed it, eventually.
"Okay Mione. Spill! What did you figure out?" I said flopping on my bed.
"Well." Said Hermione taking a breath and sitting down on her bed facing me before continuing. " You know the part where it says, 'To the one serious won.' I was thinking that it might be a play on words and it says a bit down, 'I am serious.' Then it says, 'Though prankster, I may be.'"
"But that can't be!"
"But think, Ginny, he lived in this house."
"True, but that doesn't mean its his. It could be Moody's for all we know."
"And Moody would let something that's valuable enough to have a riddle on it out of his sight."
"Well, no, but my point is so many people have been in this house over the last few months that it could be anybody's."
"Ginny, think about this logically and read it again." Hermione handed me a copy of the riddle as she said this.
"Okay, you win this time." I sighed as I handed it back to her a few moments later. I picked up the box along with the piece of parchment that I had been working on earlier, grabbed mynew self inking quill and went back to the library. Hermione obviously had the same idea, because she came down a few seconds later with her piece of parchment andquill in hand.
She shut the door and sat down, this time in the armchair while I stretched out on the couch with my copy of the riddle in front of me.
Why couldn't Sirius have just left me a letter with instructions on it? Better yet just tell Remus about this.
Even though I grumbled about figuring out the riddle, it was kind of fun in an almost twisted way and it was smart since it takes a while to figure out riddles, especially if you don't know the person who wrote the riddle. Thanks to Hermione though we now knew who wrote the riddle, or we think we know.
Pushing and Pulling does no good – it opens some other way than pushing and pulling maybe?
The key lies in letters – letters somehow make this thing open…
Hmmm… wait a minute.. What if it opens by tapping certain letters like the entry from the Leaky Cauldron to Diagon Alley?
With this thought I dashed upstairs to get my wand but stopped suddenly about halfway up the stairs. What if this worked and opening a box like this was considered underage magic? What if the box contained dark stuff? Deciding that I shouldn't worry and that it couldn't be underage magic, I continued up the stairs and into my room at a slower pace. Moments later I was back in the library answering Helen's question of, "What was that all about?"
"Well, the key lies in letters." I said showing her my wand.
She frowned but nodded; "Somehow I don't think that's right."
I raised an eyebrow at this but I understood where she was coming from. Somehow, sometimes you just know when it's the right thing to do; this was obviously not one of those times for Hermione. But I had to try.
Taking a deep breath, I tapped out S-I-R-I-U-S on the line that said, 'I am serious.' I paused to see if anything would happen, but nothing did. So I tapped out B-L-A-C-K on the next line. For a few seconds nothing happened and just as I was about to admit that it didn't work, a voice came from the box. To my amazement (though it shouldn't have since Hermione told me whom she thought the box was from) the voice sounded like Sirius! Barking laugh and all!
"So you've figured out who this box is from? Too bad you haven't figured out how to open it! (At this point, the voice barked a short laugh) That's right this isn't how to open it. Have fun." Here it broke off with a loud, "Ouch! Wadidja do that for Moony? I could've just lost some important brain cells."
"Right. You have important brain cells. That's a funny one." Said another voice. With that sounds of a scuffle and an occasional 'Ooof' came out for a few seconds then it was silent again.
I looked at Hermione and burst out laughing. She joined in.
It took us quite a bit to settle down, but when we finally did the calm didn't last for long. Smart ol' me had to bring it back up.
"I guess you were right Hermione, but if 'Moony' was in on this it can't be booby trapped that bad."
For some reason, my comment was hilarious, because we both ended up laughing again. After we had once again calmed down, we went back to work on the riddle.
The key lies in letters,
Read over and over,
On the third time, a charm,
No need to fear. – Clever Sirius! But it won't work I already know that this isn't Ron's box. The fact that he can't see is still there. (A/n: for all you slow people first letter of the last three lines)
Read over and over,
On the third time, a charm, - maybe on the third time of reading it a clue or something.
No need to fear,
This box is harmless – obvious meaning
"I think I know how to open it." Hermione said quietly.
"What?" I asked I hadn't exactly heard her. All I had heard was think and open it.
"I think I know how to open it." Hermione repeated a bit louder.
"Okay, so how?"
"Well, I think you just have to read it three times. You've already read it twice."
"That's a bit easy. Don't you think Hermione?"
"It is a bit easy, but I don't think this is the last riddle we have to solve to open the box though."
"I guess it can't hurt to try." I sighed and read the riddle aloud again. There was a soft noise like a wind chime and the box began to get a bit warm in my hands. Turning it over quickly, I realized that the top had changed a bit so that it looked like a lock box instead of a normal box that can't open.
"Well, Hermione, you were right, but we've got a slight problem." I said.
"What's the problem? I can't see one."
I rolled my eyes at her rather lame joke and said, "The box now has a lid but the lid is locked."
"Drat. I wish we were of age. This underage law is really annoying."
"We could get some one else to do the honors." Hermione looked thoughtful so I took the hint that she was thinking and shut up.
"Do you have a bobby pin, paper clip or a small screwdriver that will fit in the key hole?" Hermione frowned as I shook my head. "Okay, let's go look in my trunk for one. If not then we'll ask Remus to do the honors.
Ten minutes of searching through Hermione's neat, but book filled trunk left us with no bobby pin, paper clip or screwdriver and a huge mess on Hermione's bed.
"Okay, that's it. I guess we'll go see if Remus will do the honors." Hermione sighed as she got up from kneeling in front of her trunk.
"How are we going to get Remus to open this? I mean, it's not like we can just walk up to him and say, 'Hey Remus! Hermione and I found an invisible box that only I can see and we'd like you to open the lock for us.'" I said sarcastically.
"No, but you can say that you found it. I couldn't have found it if I can't see it!" Hermione laughed as I glared at her. "Let's go find him and get this over with."
I picked up the box with a sigh and walked out the door. Without thinking I walked up the stairs to the next floor where Remus' room was. After knocking on the door several times and not receiving an answer, I walked down the two flights of stairs to see if he was in the living room, library, or kitchen. Walking through the empty living room and into the kitchen, I found Hermione asking mum if she knew where Remus was. Mum said that she thought he was in the study cleaning it or in the attic with Buckbeak. He'd been in the attic a lot lately, well more specifically since Sirius died. Hermione thanked my mum and walked off towards the study. I quickly caught up to her receiving an odd look from my mum.
Hermionetried the door to the study. It was locked.
"Remus? Are you in there?" she asked knocking on the door.
"Who is it?" came a gruff voice from the other side of the door. It sounded like Remus but a bit huskier.
"It's Helen and Jenny. We need to ask you a question." I called out.
"All right. Just a second."
A few moments later the door to the study opened to reveal Remus sitting on the floor with a box in front of him. The box seemed to be full of pictures, but there were a few other things in there like a teddy bear and a furry book.
"Sorry, just going through some of Sirius' old school things that I found while cleaning in here." He explained gesturing to the box.
"Umm Hermioneand I have a favor to ask of you." I said shifting the box slightly in my arms.
"I thought you had a question." He said raising one eyebrow.
"Well… It's actually more of a favor than a question."
"Okay, shoot then."
"I guess I should start from the beginning." Receiving a nod from Hermione, I continued. "I found a gold box in my wardrobe this morning. The box had a riddle for us to solve to open it. We figured out the riddle, but it also has a lock on it. We couldn't find any bobby pins, paper clips or small screwdrivers so we thought we'd ask you to open it for us."
"Okay, that's not too hard." Said Remus pulling out his. "Where's the box?"
"That's where this gets interesting." Said Hermione looking at me once more.
Why do I have to explain all this? Hermione is perfectly capable of telling him.
"Well, you see, the thing is, as far as we can tell, only I can see the box. I mean, Hermione can't, Ron can't, Mum can't and obviously you can't since it's in my arms right now."
"Well that is a bit of a predicament, isn't it?" said Remus with an interesting look on his face. He had one eyebrow raised, but one side of his nose was all scrunched up. " So that's why you're holding your arms like that. Wondered about that. I think if you can point my wandin the right direction then I can open it just be careful."
"Thanks Remus." I said as I aimed his wand at the box. "Okay, it's good."
"Alohamora," (sp?) Said Remus and the box once again said something that boxes don't normally say, in Sirius' voice.
"So you've finally cracked the first riddle. Yes, I said first riddle. So yes that means there is another one to solve, just to make sure you are really a friend and to make sure you lot are working together on this little beauty."
"What beauty? I don't see anything." Said another voice sounding like Remus.
"Shut up, Moony!" said Sirius' voice. "Now where was I? Ah yes! Another riddle!" At this a sheet of parchment appeared with some writing on it, but the box didn't give us time to read it before it continued. "Now, since you've got your riddle. I should probably have Moony here tell you how to put the answer in so you can open the lock."
"Finally! Ouch! Gosh no need to hit the instruction guy, Padfoot! Anyway, when and if you figure out the riddle just use someone's wand to tap the lock. It'll unfold to reveal buttons with letters on them. Just hit the buttons to spell out the password, phrase or whatever mister smarty pants here has come up with. OW! Darn you, Padfoot! How am I supposed to tell them the rest with a headache?"
"Fine, then. I'll tell them, you bloody…"
"Don't say it!"
"Fine! All I was gonna say was…"
"Don't say it!"
"Fine. Moony here was going to mention that you only had 24 hours to figure out the riddle then all your hard work goes down the drain and the riddles change, so it won't be easy to redo all your work. Toodles!"
"Honestly Padfoot! Can't you think of something better to say than 'Toodles!'? What kind of person says 'Toodles?"
"Fine! Have fun then! Doubt anyone would but Hermione or Remus, but have fun anyway!"
The box finally shut up and Remus started cracking up. Hermione and I had been laughing at Sirius' and Remus' argument but we had shut up when we heard that we only had 24 hours to figure out the riddle.
"Remus, would you shut up? We only have 24 hours to figure out the riddle." Said Hermione. I gave her a look that said, Whoa, she just told a former teacher to shut up! Hermione caught this and glared at me.
"So!" said Remus like a little kid, not noticing my look or Hermione's glare. "It's not like it's going to be that hard. After all, Sirius made it up!"
"But that also means that if we get it wrong we'll probably be sporting pink hair for at least a week." I pointed out. After all, Sirius was a Marauder.
"Good point! But you forget that I was there."
"Do you know what the answer is, then?" Hermione asked.
"No." Said Remus.
"Well, then that's not much help then is it?"
To this Remus shook his head biting his lip to keep from laughing. I rolled my eyes and grabbed the piece of parchment.
'What begins with an 's'
and ends with an 's'
is black
has existed for a year,
while the other is thought gone,
to the grave,
or worse.' I read aloud.
"Okay, so it's not Sirius." Said Remus. Hermione and I agreed with him. Sirius fit the first part but not the last.
"This last part is a bit hard." Said Hermione. "Has existed for a year, While the other is thought gone, To the grave, Or worse."
Silence reigned once again as Hermione, Remus and I thought about the riddle. Occasionally, Remus would mutter something like, 'Not Sirius, Not Padfoot, but who?'
Okay existed for a year while the other is thought gone to the grave or worse. Sirius was still alive, but everyone else thought he had been kissed by the dementors . Then I met him here. Suddenly it clicked, the pieces fell in place, i had an eipiphany, or whatever.
"Guys, I think I got it!" I said really excited.
"Okay, out with it then." Said Hermione.
"It's Snuffles!" I said. Remus and Hermione looked at me kind of odd. "It makes sense. Sirius hid near Hogsmeade for a long time as a dog. What did he ask us to call him when we wrote?"
Hermione thought this over while Remus started grinning.
"Did you already knew this?" I asked Remus.
Remus nodded grinning until I punched him in the arm. "Ow! That really hurts."
"Yea, it comes from having so many brothers. Now why didn't you tell us if you knew?"
"Because I promised Padfoot that I wouldn't tell and he kind of jinxed the box so that if I told the password then something would happen to me. Sirius didn't say what but I gathered that I wouldn't like it one bit."
"Remus can we borrow your wand then?" asked Hermione.
"Sure." He said as he handed it to me.
Taking a deep breathe I tapped the lock and it unfolded to reveal a keypad like it had explained.
"Here goes nothing." I said as I started to type. S-N-U-F-F-L-E-S. Nothing happened.
"Well, you aren't jinxed so maybe it worked." Said Hermione.
I frowned and looked closer at the box. It didn't appear any different, but I tried the lock anyway. To my amazement, it was unlocked. Hurriedly pulling it off, I opened the lid and looked in. (A/n: if I was really evil I'd put a cliffie.)
"What's in the box?" asked Remus.
I tipped the box over and out fell about eight envelopes. One was labled 'Moony', so I handed it to Remus. Looking through the rest, I found that there was ones labled for Hermione, Harry, Ron, Fred and George, Mum, Dumbledore, and I. Wordlessly, Hermione grabbed hers and tore it open. Following her lead, I grabbed mine and went to go sit in the armchair to read it.
Dear Ginny,
Since you are reading this I am either unable to return or dead. Great way to start a letter I know, but it must be said sometime. If you wish to believe I am not dead, Fred and George might be able to help you with your search. (Who wouldn't want to look for me, though?)
All the letters have charms on them so that only the person who it's addressed to can read it. So don't bother trying to read anyone else's letter. What did you expect from a Marauder? Me to let you read other people's mail?
If I am right, (which I usually am) Fred and George will be working on a new project and will give you some of the finished product and the antidote. Okay more than some, but I know they'll read you that part of their letter.
I want you to use this 'product' of theirs to cause mayhem worthy of the Marauders in Grimwauld Place, sock and underwear raids, things disappearing, itching powder in underwear, you name it.
Don't leave outHarry just because he's your one true love. (I'm glad this is a letter otherwise I'd be running for my life) You got that right, Sirius. I thought blushing and cracking up at the same time. I knew I was probably getting looks from Remus and Hermione, so I looked over and noticed that they were doing the same thing. Wonder what their letter's say?
Don't leave out Remus because he's your friend either. Especially don't leave Remus and Harry out because they're not part of your family. (This will help keep suspiscion off of you in the long run.) Don't 'forget' to include Fred and George in these pranks just because they helped make them possible either. I am trusting you to cause some Marauder Mayhem for me.
The second 'job' I have for you is to get Remus and Tonks together. I know Moony won't admit that he likes her and still thinks he's not good enough for anyone, but somehow I know you can get them together. The other part of the job is to get Ron and Hermione together. (If you haven't already. Oh! IncludeHarry in this job wink ) I don't care really how you get them together just do it whether you lock them in a room together or send them anonymous love notes, I don't bloody well care! Just get them together. Just if you decide to lock Remus and Tonks in a room together don't do it around a full moon, unless you want Moony to kill you. But use your imagination, and brainstorm with Harry, I'm sure he'll have some ideas. (If you don't have enough of your own. That revenge on Fred and George when you were nine was sweet.)
Third thing; secret room and passages. Yup! I said secret room and passages. Use these to your benefit, to eveyone's amusement, embarassment or for pranks. The letter for your mum contains the information on which rooms I was going to have people stay in. This house is quite big and we haven't quite used half the rooms because they weren't clean, but they are now if you haven't noticed.
When your mum tells you which room is yours, go over to the bed and sit facing the wall at the head of the bed. The password is 'Harry' just whisper it to the wall. To change the password say the old password then say, 'abeo' followed by the new password The door of the room is charmed to move to where ever the bed touches the wall. It doesn't matter if you decide to get a new bed, it will still work.
Now for the passageway! The password is a bit odd. It's 'Holy crap'. This is because I hit my head on the shelf while trying to change the password. The wardrobe contains the entrance. Open the wardrobe and on your right there should be a lever that looks like a small pole to hang clothes on. Push it. Then say the password. Changing the password, is the same as changing the password for the room. (Change it toHarry if you want and no I didn't hit my head because it was oversized!)
I think that's it.
Snuffles
P.S – No matter what you say, I still believe that you andHarry are perfect for each other.
I wonder what 'product' Fred and George are going to give me? They won't know what hit them! Mwhahahaha! I'd better deliver the rest of the letters. I thought putting my letter into my pocket and grabbing the others. Remus and Hermione were still reading their letters, so I left to go deliver Mum's, Harry's, Ron's, Dumbledore's and Fred and George's letters.