England 31st October. Halloween.
Remus Lupin was running away from an old warlock, when he had asked for any information about Harry Potter. In the two months that Remus had taken the task to find and locate Harry Potter, him running away had been a common occurrence. It seemed that nobody wanted to share any information about Harry, even if he was not in the country anymore.
Remus had first visited Privet Drive, and interviewed the entire neighborhood.
Remus shivered, as he thought about it. He had first rang at the door where Harry would have stayed. The way that Petunia Dursley responded was a clear hatred for wizards and other 'freaks'.
According to Mrs. next door neighbor, the Potter boy was just gone. "It's better if he stays away" had Mrs number 8 said, as Remus had asked her. According to her, the Dursley's were "the very last people I would want to raise a child. Any good sensible person would not place a child there."
So now Remus was strolling through the small area of Godric's Hollow. He stopped at the edge of the town and returned to the town center. It was made of light Grey stones with a memorial made of black stones. For muggles the stone was carved with names, fallen in the second world war. Remus knew better. The memorial would change shape, if a witch or wizard would visit. So as Remus watched the memorial change shape, he noticed that he was watched by the old caretaker of the cemetery where James and Lily lay. With a wave of his hand, the old caretaker invited Remus in his house, near the cemetery.
'Could do with a break'. Remus though, and slowly made his way to the open door.
"Welcome son, please sit down." said the old man. Remus believed that the man was a member of the church, as he saw a small statue of Jesus Christ. As Remus sat down, the old man placed a cup of earl Grey tea in front of Remus and sat down in the chair in front of him.
"My son, you seem to be very depressed, what is it that has you hanging your head?" Asked the man. "Well sir.""Please, I may be a priest, but call me Eric. It's my name that my parents have given me." Said Eric the priest.
Remus smiled a bit. "Very well, Eric. Several years ago, I lost three people who lived here on this very night. I was consumed with fear, betrayal and sadness, that I never looked at the clues that were spread out." "My poor son. please, pray tell who those poor souls are, so we may ask their spirits for guidance. What were their names?"
"James, Lily and Harry Potter." Said R emus, before he looked at the priest. The priest's eyes were as large as saucers. "You, you are one of them?" "One of what, father? Asked Remus, fear and concern evident in his eyes. The priest only held his finger to his mouth to keep Remus quiet. With a wave of his hand, he led Remus downstairs into the dungeon.
Remus looked his eyes out. Surrounding him were files of reports that the old priest had collected. They all had one topic in common. Wizards and witches. "You aren't as quiet as you appear to be." Said the priest as he laid down a folder down on the table and sat in the chair.
Remus followed soon, and looking at the photo's in the folder, he almost lost it. There, as clear as daylight were several photo's of witches and wizards, wearing robes, waving their wands and casting magic.
"When the fire brigade got news that there was an explosion at number 21 Godric's lane, they called me and my brothers. I was working as a paramedic in my spare time, and did some freelance investigations as a hobby. The day after the explosion, on November 1st, I hid myself with some camouflage clothes from my older brother who is a marine, and waited for the strange men to come. I was not disappointed, as I had stayed quiet for only two minutes before the first witch came giving her respect. She wore some green robes, and had her hair tied up in a bun. This is her"
The Priest gave Remus a picture, where it was clearly to see that Minerva McGonagall had visited the site and placed a bunch of white lily's and red roses on the doorstep. And then the next picture, and next and next. Hundreds of pictures were shown.
"When night fell, I made my way into the house. Although the bodies were removed, I could still see that there had been a amazing battle. Although no bullet holes were found, but I found different scorch marks. Scorch marks that have the same pattern as small scale explosions. But what really set me of was the fact that this picture" here Eric gave Remus a picture that was hidden under the table. "This picture still moves."
Remus had tried again and again to understand that a muggle knew about the wizarding world. Looking at the picture, he saw a smiling Harry being held by a smiling Lily with James holding both of them. James arms were around his wife, and whispered somethings to Lily who started to giggle. The cycle went on and on, and finally Remus had to place the picture down.
"So what are you going to do?" he asked tearfully to Eric. Eric shook his head. "I'm not going to do anything. Knowing that there are wizards and witches in the world is enough for me. We are all human aren't we?"
Remus nodded, sharing the sentiment in part. "Oh... I have one other thing. I found this in the nursery. I'll be right back" As Eric made his way over to some dark corner of the dungeon, Remus started to re-examine the photo's. There were a lot of them. Pictures of photo's, clothing, Harry's first toy broom. Remus picked up one photo and looked at it. I was a photo of a castle, but not Hogwarts. This one was shiny, almost made out of glass. Then there was a photo from a map with some points. And a photo of a location near America that was selected by a triangle.
"Eric, do you have the rest of these photo's?" asked Remus, showing him the photo with the triangle. "No. But I believe that the original is still at the house. You may want to look it out, if you can make yourself invisible" Eric gave Remus here a sly wink, and Remus knew what charm he would have to use.
"Ah, this is what I found after those magical people of yours crashed the place." Eric placed a suitcase on the table and opened it. The first things that Remus saw was a fluffy stuffed black dog, deer and wolf.
"There were Harry's, we all gave him these stuffed animals to remember us." Said Remus softly as he held out the wolf.
"Take it, my son." Said Eric, as he led Remus back upstairs. The moment that Remus wanted to place a foot in the room, a knock was heard on the door. Placing Remus behind the curtain, Eric opened the door. Remus because of his advanced hearing, could hear the conversation.
"Hello father, there is a strange bird at the cemetery. I couldn't make a clear picture, but I thought you might want to have it." "Thank you Maria, may God bless your soul."
As the door was closed, Remus appeared. Looking over the shoulder of the priest, Remus couldn't believe his eyes. "That's a phoenix" Remus whispered. "So it would seem. Take this photo to, my son. Use it after you have visited the cottage. As Remus was escorted out, the priest would turn him around. Placing his hand in a bowl of holy water, he started to speak. "May you be blessed with many fortune my son. May the lord be on your side" And he splashed Remus with some drops of Holy water.
Remus nodded and shook his hand, before he turned around and went to the cottage where Lily and James Potter had died. Never knowing that the priest would go to bed, and never wake up again.
Godric's Hollow, Godric's lane number 21.
A small shimmer in the cool October air moved with purpose to the clearly destroyed cottage at number 21 Godric's lane.
Using carefully placed, but powerful steps, Remus made his way to the cottage, and very slowly opened the door. It creaked, as would any door that faced the weather. Remus didn't noticed it as he was very soon in front of his first target. The map in the living room, with the triangle. It was located right in front the coast of Florida. Whispering a few spells, Remus removed the map from the wall, before he transfigured a piece of parchment that lay there into an exact replica, minus the triangle.
Then Remus moved up to the bedrooms. In the pictures that Eric had given him, he had noticed something. Hoping it was still there, he entered the nursery, and almost jumped with joy as he say the ward-stone that Lily had used to make the Fidelius charm.
If Remus could find out who was privy to the secret, than he could find out why Sirius Black had betrayed Harry, James and Lily. Placing the ward stone in the suitcase that he had taken from Eric, he made his way over to the graveyard of Godric's Hollow. Using the photo and the knowledge of the layout of the graveyard, Remus found quite quickly where the phoenix had been spotted.
It could not be, the phoenix had been spotted above the graves of Lily and James Potter.
Falling on his knees, Remus started to weep softly. He continued to weep softly, while around him two specters appeared. He finally saw the two specters as both of them touched his heart. "James? Lily? How?" Remus asked, but the specters didn't gave him an answer. All they did was pointing at a place on their grave. Remus looked again, and pulling his wand he muttered "Lumos" softly. A shiny golden ring lay there, covered in Runes and several English words. Taking his eyes from the ring for a moment, he saw that both the specters of James and Lily were gone.
He slowly took the ring, and started to study the runes on it. "Port key Runes and Protection runes" Remus muttered. He then read the English words. "Silence is golden?" Said Remus before he fell as if someone had placed a hook around his navel and Remus Lupin was transported from Britain, only to return several years later.