THE BEST OF ME
Chapter 6: THE 12 MYSTERIES OF HOGWARTS, MYSTERY NO. 1...
—The Buried Bodies —
Under
The Large Willow Tree
Note: I used google translate on this language, sorry if the translation is wrong, but I tried my best.
Previously:
Friends...
She let go of his hand and Bill gave him some soup. He looked up at the young girl who was staring at him with an emotion that he couldn't tell, but there's one emotion that he can recognize. Adoration. He was confuse, why is she feeling that?
However, before he could process anytging, Bill started chatting about quidditch and how England will win the World Cup this year. He got distracted when the redhead told a joke about one of their country's quidditch player and he couldn't help, but laugh along.
Friends, he stared at Tonks when she wasn't looking and a small smile made its way on his face.'They are my friends...'
His eyes sparkled with tears, but he didn't let them fall. He bowed down his head and begun eating,'Why does it sounds right...his friends.'
"..."
Remus raised an eyebrow at the girl's wand, "Do you always keep your wand in your pocket even in bed?" He questioned the girl and she responded back with a shrug.
"Constant Vigilance." She smiled, "Is what a paranoid man told me once."
Remus didn't expected Tonks and Bill to tag along with him, he was planning on going to Hagrid's hut this morning, so he could play with Skips; however, he had crossed path with the redhead in the hallway. When the Weasley had asked him where he was going, Remus told him that he was gonna visit Hagrid. After that Bill happily joined him without his consent and Remus could only pinched his nose with his thumb and pointing finger in ire, don't get him wrong, he likes the boy, but his worried about his reaction when he see Skips.
However, the redhead meeting wasn't the only thing he should worried about. His next problem literally bumped into him. Remus looked down to see Tonks sitting on the ground, he quickly helped her out and apologized, for bumping into her. Although, the young girl waved off his apology and she apologized instead. Before he knew it, the three of them were now walking on the path that leads to Hagrid's home.
He was worried, but he felt at ease when the three of them had striked up a conversation about Hogsmeade. He was laughing at a joke that the young Hufflepuff said, when he felt something pushed him to the ground and he found himself staring up at the sky.
Then, he felt something scaly nuzzling in his neck. Using his arms, he pushed himself up to stare at the black dragon who was staring at him with excitement in his eyes.
"Hello to you too, Skips." Placing both his hands at the side of the dragon,—that has no spikes—he lifted it up at the same height as his face and he laughed when the dragon begun licking him.
"Hey, that tickles!" He laughed.
...well, he was (maybe) having to much fun with his dragon friend, that he had almost forgotten the hooded girl and redhead who was both staring at him with shock.
Although, a certain someone reminded him their existence, "You have a dragon!"
His head shot up, snapping itself to the excited and shock faces of his friends. Bill was staring at the dragon with wide eyes while Tonks straight up walk towards them. Remus felt the dragon in his arms growling a little at the girl who was now in front of them.
Both the dragon and her locked eyes, but Tonks quickly look away and show her hands. "I'm not armed, see..." She softly said, reaching out her hand at the dragon, only to stop when it was a good inch away from Skips' snout.
Hesitant at first, the Hungarian Horntail slowly craned his neck up to sniff the girl's hand and Remus saw the curiosity in the baby dragon's eyes at Tonks' outstretched palm. The young werewolf stared at her, she was still not looking at the dragon, it seems, before turning his gaze back to Skips. Finally, much to his astonishment, the baby black dragon slowly passionately rubs his snout at the Hufflepuff girl's hand.
Remus Lupin watched in amazement, as the baby black dragon released a satisfied soft croon when Tonks scratched at a part behind the creature's right horn.
"How did you do that?" He asked dumbfounded at the sight before him and the girl chuckled in response.
Slowly, Remus stood up,—carefully he might add—as the girl petted one of the dragon's spikes. He gaped at her, so again, he asked with an amused twinkle in his eyes, "How did you do that?"
The girl just shrugged at his question with a grin, "I always had a soft spot for dangerous creatures."
He felt something shock him and it left him a tingling feeling in his spine.
Huh? Wha-what was that? Unconsciously, he took a look behind his shoulder, but he saw nothing was there. Is there something that he should look for? Did, he imagine it, or did someone shock him behind his back with some kind of lightning spell or stunning hex.
However, he was brought back to reality when there was a loud snort and followed by, "That's why you're weird, Tonks."
He sighed with enjoyment, as he watches Tonks turning around to face the redhead boy who had taken the part to look at the girl weirdly.
"Oh, by the way, cool dragon, Remus." He playfully winked at him, oblivious to Nymphadora Tonks' glare and the young werewolf felt himself choke from holding in his laughter when the Hufflepuff girl gave him a twitching smile.
"I'll take that, as a compliment, Weasley."
Ignoring, the threat in her voice, Bill smiles at her and Remus ears picked up at the sound of large footsteps. He saw the redhead turned to the right and both him plus Tonks, turned to the direction that the boy was looking at.
There stood a giant familiar man and Remus grinned, "Good morning, Hagrid." He greeted him and the huge man returned his greeting, "Hel'o to you, Remus." He gave the young werewolf a small waved of his hand before turning to the other two.
He nods, "Good mornin' to you too, ms. Tonks and mr. Weasley."
"Mornin', Hagrid."/ "Good day, mate." Tonks and Bill stated at the same time
"Fine mornin'." Hagrid smiled at them while petting Skips, "Nice for you guys to visi' me, ey..."
Remus grinned, releasing his hold on the dragon, for him to run freely. "Likewise, Hagrid." He replied, "Came here to play with this adorable creature here."
He scratched the baby dragon's head and the dragon purred in response. Hagrid nodded approvingly, "The lil' creature really misses you, Remus." Hagrid stated and his expression switched to a thoughtful one, "I though' that you lil' kids are heading towards the large Willow tree when I saw you guys."
At his statement, Tonks' eyes flashed with interest, "What about the Willow tree, Hagrid?" She questioned and Remus could see the large grin on her face.
The giant thought for a moment, "Rumors had been spreadin' around and that Willow tree is one of it—anyway, better get going." He exclaimed while gently grabbing the baby Hungarian Horntail with his large hands. "Hope to see you guys again."
The three of them bid the giant man goodbye and Remus gave one last scratch to Skips before Hagrid went back to his humble hut.
When Hagrid was gone, the young werewolf quickly turned to the Hufflepuff girl who was besides him. "All right, what are you planning, Nymphadora?" The end of his lips curved up, as he pointed a agog finger at her.
Oh, he knew something was bound to happen when Nymphadora Tonks get that twinkle in her eyes. This proved his thought when the girl playfully pursed her lips, "Why do you think that, Remus?" She replied, not clearly disgusted at the part of his sentence earlier when he addressed her by her first name, "I'm not planning anything."
Remus sighed, "Sure you are, Nymphadora." He grinned, slipping his hands in his pockets, as he turned around and started walking back towards the castle. He heard his two companions following him and they were now besides him. One looking plainly calm with a smile on his face and the other one has a excited glint on her face while maintaining a passive look.
"..."
"The what and what of Hogwarts?" Bill questioned trough his chewing and Remus could only shook his head disapprovingly at the boy's table manner. "Swallow first before speaking, Williams." He scolded him, hitting the shorter boy's shoulder with a book that he was reading.
The young werewolf shakes his head again in amusement at the Weasley before turning back to the Hufflepuff girl who made her way to their table. He quirked an eyebrow at her, but there was a pleased smile, painted on his face. He was right, the girl was up to something, but he didn't expected this.
Tonks placed her hands on her hips in a sassy way, as she announce again, "The twelve mysteries of Hogwarts."
She leaned down, the hands on her hips were now placed on their table to balance herself, "I heard it from the older years." She explained, grinning, "And I want to investigate it."
Remus recalled what Hagrid had said earlier and he begun to wonder if that was connected to what she was talking about, "Don't tell me, the rumour Hagrid was talking about is one of those?" To say, he was bemused at this and he saw Tonks nodding, confirming his thought.
"Yup, Hogwarts Mystery number one, The Buried Bodies Under The Large Willow Tree." She exclaimed and Remus look thoughtful for a moment.
"If there was really bodies there, shouldn't it be considered rude to dig up there bones?" He argued, not wanting to disturb the dead's peace. Tonks' smile enlarge and Remus quirked an eyebrow at her, "You had it plan out, don't you?" He asked the girl who nodded in response.
"Yup," Tonks answered, "I knew you wouldn't like the idea of disturbing one's resting place, Remus, so, for your sake, I did a little research." She clapped both of her hands in a cheerful way and Bill who was across from Remus, listened in closely. It looks like the Weasley is intrigued at what the Hufflepuff girl was gonna say and the same thing can be said to the young werewolf.
She pulled out her wand, "I found two spells that can help us in our noble quest."
Well, this really hits him. He's getting interested at this two spells that Tonks will mention, "Anagquid Krymmos and Vleponmoria." She shared boldly, the names of the spells and both of Remus' eyebrows rose in shock when he heard it. Is she insane!? He checked her one more time before confirming his thoughts, 'Yup, she's insane.'
"Isn't that way to advanced, I don't think those two spells aren't in our curriculum." He speculated, recalling all the spells that every grade will learn. Well, he really likes to read, anyway...back to reality.
Tonks grinned, "I know, that's why we can practice—" She was cut off by Bill who pointed his fork at her and spoke, "Wouldn't we get into trouble?" He chimed in and the Hufflepuff girl shook her head, "No." She simply answered while rolling her eyes to the right, "Because we aren't learning any dark magic or illegal spells."
With out hesitation, she finally asked the awaited question, "So are you guys in?"
"Sounds fun, so I'm game." Bill declared; then, turned to Remus, waiting for his answer. "How about you, mate?"
Tonks turned to the young werewolf, she too is waiting for his answer and Remus turned away from her gaze. Whenever, he looks at her eyes, he couldn't seem to say deny any of her requests that's why whenever she would request something from him, he would always averted her gaze, to think for a moment. The energetic girl has a weird tempting aura that you couldn't say no to.
He thought for a moment and felt himself sweating a little bit at his two friends' gazes. Does he has other things to do? There will be an upcoming quiz in Potions and he really needs to study since that subject isn't his strong suit. However, it looks like he has time so—"Fine, I'm in."
He crossed his arms, directing his stare at Tonks, "When will we start?"
"Are you sure this is the best spot to practice the spells, Nymphadora?"
"Yup." She uttered out with a smile before frowning and glaring at him, "And don't call me Nymphadora."
Remus watched her face contorted into disgust and he couldn't help, but smile nonetheless. They were in a secluded place that was near the grasslands, all three of them had brought everything they need and now both him and Bill are now seated, as Tonks begun explaining what the two spells about.
"Anagquid Krymmos, is a charm that helps the caster identifying what is hidden. It's more different to the spell in transfiguration that force the object to return/reveal its' original form, because this spell reveals to you the thing that is hiding." She red out loud from the book she was holding, "And then we have Vleponmoria, a spell that let you see what happened in the place or object. It's a spell that helps you watch a memory that happened with the place or object."
After her explanation, Tonks brought out a bitten apple and a wooden box. "Will be practicing on this," She held the two objects up, "The Anagquid Krymmos charm for the box and the Vleponmoria charm for the bitten apple." She pointed at each object, "The incantation for the charm is actually their name and the wave of the wand is slow and precise."
Bill raised an eyebrow, "If this went wrong in many places, I'll be huntin' you, Tonks."
"Seems fair." The young girl shrugged, as she begun explaining the instructions for casting the two spells.
"..."
"It isn't working, Tonks!" Bill complained, he got tired at his fifth try of the charm; after that the redhead begun poking the wooden box with his wand.
Tonks growled angrily in response, "Maybe you're not trying hard enough." She narrowed her eyes at the wooden box in her hand, as she desperately tried and tried again. They had been doing this for three hours now, attempting to cast the spells and getting tired along the way.
Remus was glad that they hadn't gotten hurt yet, for trying this spells without an adult to help them. Finally, Bill gave up, "Why can't we just dig the dirt up to find out, if the mystery is true or not!" He shouted and the young werewolf frown at him, "Disturbing the dead is rude, besides whether, if there's a body or not, would you rather dig all day." Remus pointed out making the redhead huff in response.
Rolling his eyes, he turned back to the wooden box. He begun reviewing their progress, Tonks had failed casting Vleponmoria for ten times now and twenty times now for Anagquid Krymmos; then, there is bill who stop casting both Vleponmoria and Anagquid Krymmos in his fifteenth tries. Looking up, Remus begun adding up his trials and errors. He had failed on casting Vleponmoria for eighteen tries and this had been his nineteenth try for casting Anagquid Krymmos.
Sighing, his eyes narrowed into a look of concentration. Don't get him wrong, he isn't that really excited, for finding out if the mystery is fake or not. He really wants to master this spell and yes, he is having a quite a bit of fun.
"Anagquid Krymmos." He stated with firmness in his voice, as he waved his wand and pointed it at the wooden box.
He was expecting it to fail, but to his surprise a hologram appeared on the box and it begun to take shape. He watched;the hologram glitching for a second before it cleared and an image of a small ball appeared.
He heard gasps around him, but he was at awe, to pay attention to them. However—"Hey, Tonks." He called out, "Was there really an object inside the box?"
The awe expression of the young girl turned into a wicked grin, "You did it, Remus!" She cheered, tackling him a little roughly to hug him. "As, expected for the best student in Charms!"
He stood still, the girl's arms still wrapped around him, as she bit her bottom lip a little bit to keep all her excitement in. When will she let go—"Oh, for your question, Remus," Tonks let go of her embrace—the warmth he felt earlier suddenly left him—and she took the wooden box from his hand. She opened it and inside was indeed a small ball.
"Woah..." Bill croaked out, he turned to Remus and playfully slapped his back, "Great job, man!"
Remus nodded and turned to Tonks, "Will this do?"
The girl thinks for a second before answering, "Yup." She chirped, "Anagquid Krymmos, I think is just enough. I just wanted to use Vleponmoria just to found out how did the object or body got there." She shrugged, "But, I'm already satisfied on finding out, if their is a body or not, so it will do."
A smile appeared on her face, "Let's go."
They staggered their feet down the path that leads to Hagrid's before turning to the left. "The Willow tree is just around the corner..." Tonks muttered, leading the group into a more forest area and Remus glanced at the trees. All of them were in different shapes, colors and sizes; however, there was one tree that stood out from the rest.
The three of them walked towards it, "Welcome to the rumoured, Willow Tree." The young Hufflepuff girl announced and Bill whistled in amazement at the large tree. "This thing is huge." The redhead muttered out and all of them begun climbing up the small hill that is where the Willow tree stood.
Once they were in front of the large tree, Remus begun walking around it, tracing his fingers on the bark. Then, he stopped when he felt his fingers felt something rough and he examined it. On the tree there was a carving; he didn't straight off recognized the words written on it and he squinted his eyes to further inspect it.
That's when he recognized it, it was Welsh! He mentally smacked himself for his stupidity, how did he not recognized his own homeland language.
Sighing, he begun reading it quietly,
I chi fy annwyl,
rhoddaf y goeden hon i chi.
Yr Helyg hwn sy'n cynrychioli ein cariad, gadewch iddo dyfu'n rhydd.
Felly, hyd yn oed os ydym yn pylu.
Bydd ein cariad yma yn aros.
Oherwydd nad yw hyn yn hwyl fawr eto.
Wait...this was a couple's—He was dragged out of his thoughts when Tonks begun calling him, "Remus, come on, cast the spell."
He shook his head, starting to think if the mystery was true. Sighing, he pulled out his wand and he turned his head down to the ground. He hesitated for a moment and he look at the corner of his eyes to see Bill giving him a thumbs up and Tonks flashing him a encouraging smile.
The young werewolf closed his eyes, focusing a bit of his magic in casting this spell. "Anagquid Kyrmmos." He chanted and with the flick of his wand. He pointed the small glow at the end of his wand to the ground and slowly a hologram started to form. It blurred a little bit and Remus pumped a little bit more of his magic on the spell.
"It's working!"
"We can finally see if the mystery is really true."
He heard his friends speaking, but he didn't paid no mind to them, as he begun to focus more. The hologram took form of an image and finally it cleared. Remus pulled back his wand and returned it back to his pocket. He took a small step backwards, as he observe what's in front of him.
Their appeared what it looks like a small rusty old chest. In the middle was a gem and he saw another Welsh writing written on the box. "Hey, Remus do you know what it says?" He heard Bill asking him and he nodded in reply.
"To my dearest love, Samson
Here lies my last gift for you.
I've waited three years for your return.
But, my time is up, for that I'm sorry.
Under this Willow tree that we love,
I hope we can reunite once more again.
Your love, Amaira."
When he finished reading, he heard a sniff and a sigh. He look behind him to see Bill crying a little bit and Tonks wiping a single tear on her eyelids with her finger. "I'm not a romantic, but that was pretty sweet." She smiled and the redhead besides him nodded happily.
Remus softly grinned, "Didn't you hope on finding bodies, Nymphadora." He teased, only to receive a scoff from her.
"Not now, Remus." She seethed and he raised both of his hands, "Okay, okay." He laughed and he looked up to see the sky turning a hue of orange. "It looks like, dinner will be serving, come on let's go." He beckoned them with the wave of his hand and the two quickly followed him back to the castle.
When they made it in the hall; just in time for dinner, he turned his head to Tonks before both him and Bill returned to their respective house table.
"Hogwarts mystery number one is officially solved." He grinned, "See you later, Tonks."
She nods back, "See you later too. Remus."
With that, the three if them went to their table and begun to eat. Going mystery hunting made him hungry a lot and he was happy that the elves who were in the kitchen added his favourite dish.
However, he has to admit...that was fun.