“W-Who’s there?” he asked, while squinting his eyes to try and peer into the distance.
A black shadow whizzed past him, throwing him onto the ground. It whirled itself back around and lunged itself toward Remus, clawing at his flesh. Remus struggled, ignoring the pain.
“WHY D-DO I F-FEEL THE P-P” ARGHHH!!!!!” The shadow was thrown off of him. A screech of delight erupting from its putrid essence. “”THE PAIN!” he finished, grabbing his face and examining his blood on his hands. “It was my fault. I killed myself.” A flashback fueled him of saying so.
“Well, there has been something the Dark Lord has wanted us to do, but we were going to do it later, once we had some more things ” cleared up...but we could do it now. Drink this.” The Death Eater held out a small flask which held a dark orange liquid inside.
“Will it bring Molly back to life?”
“Of course!” With Remus’ memory, he really would have believed anything at the moment.
He drained the flask and dropped it onto the floor.
“What is this?!” Remus asked, clasping his throat.
“You will find out all in due time....” The Death Eater strode off to the dark corner of the room, watching Remus’ movement.
“Avada Kedavra!” A stream of green light erupted from the Death Eaters wand, hitting Remus square in the chest.
A shrill howl was heard right before the creature fell to the floor, cold and tormented.
“NO!” A voice in the distance bellowed out, sending another shadow lunging toward him. It clawed him viciously while momentarily screeching in a high pitched tone. “YOU ” WILL ” NOT ” BLAME ” YOURSELF!”
A vague figure emerged out of the fog. A woman figure . . . bathed in white silk with dark brown velveteen hair blowing in the slender air.
“Mum?” Remus questioned, taking a step closer while slightly cocking his head to the side in dismay.
“Stop!” she shouted, throwing her hand in front of herself. “No closer, you’re fine there.”
“Mum, I’m not a werewolf anymore! Why would you even care? You’re already dead!” Remus spoke, taking a few steps closer.
“REMUS JOHN LUPIN! STOP IT! DON’T COME ANY CLOSER! PLEASE!”
“Mum, why do you hate me?” he asked, stepping quite a bit closer.
“NO REMUS, I TOLD YOU NOT TO COME ANY CLO”” She never finished what she was going to say, a blinding light burst through her ghostly body. Tranquil, yet elegantly, she was sucked into the wall.
“Mum?!” Remus shouted, throwing himself against the wall.
“I told you. Don’t come closer.”
Dumbledore stepped through the portrait only to find Hermione sitting casually in the chair, with her legs thrown over the armrest.
“Thank you, boys,” he said, standing up from the seat while casting Hermione’s wand at his side.
“Alfonso,” Dumbledore said smoothly with a twinkle in his eye.
“Call me Fredrick,” he said with an innocent smile spread across his face.
“I knew I’d see you again...”
“Ah, yes. All those years ago with me at this old dump. I’ve finally come back to get what I want.”
“And what’s that?” Dumbledore said ever so calmly.
“The Stones...”
Remus struggled his way through the darkness and clung to the wall, making sure not to stumble. There had been no more light whatsoever, but in the midst of it all a distant and white light up ahead began to faintly emerge from the fog. He began to jolt into an abrasive run toward it. Noticing its authenticity in this underground world, he ventured a guess as to what it was.
“Mum,” he said sullenly.
“Son, you can’t stop running. You have to face it!” His mother had been sitting in a chair placed in the center of the room with the light streaming off of her.
“Face what?! Mum, you don’t get it do you?! I’m a werewolf, and I just ca””
“No, you’re not. When you were killed, the werewolf form of you died. But, there was a poison in the liquid you drank. The spell isn’t the thing that killed you. The drink is. You killed yourself.”
“Mum, I barely remember anything! I don’t remember Harry, Molly, Arthur...ANYONE!”
His mother just looked at him with a weak smile on her face. “What did you just say?” she replied whimsically.
“I don’t remember anyone!!”
“And who don’t you remember?” she asked dumbly.
“Harry, Moll””
Remus cut himself off as he realized what his mum had been getting at. “But Mum, how do I remember everyone...? Everything?”
“Now that you’re dead, you regained your memory. It’s quite a confusing process actually. It’d take days to explain it all. Trying to sum it up is even hard.”
“Well, try then,” Remus exclaimed, throwing out a hand.
He stood there in silence, waiting for his mother to reply to his vague statement.
“Well.... In your situation, you died without having . . . any recollection whatsoever. Your case is an odd one. See, when a wizard dies, especially a wizard of your stature, their ghostly form becomes invulnerable.”
“That’s simple information! Everyone knows that when you’re a ghost you can’t die again!”
“Yes, but in your case, you had lost all your memory. When you regain your life in the second life, you become invulnerable, like I said before, and you will regain everything that you had previously known.”
“But that makes no sense! It’s like they made that rule for me!”
“I’m telling you, it’s a complicated reason.” His mother stood up from her chair and flicked her finger at the walls of the room. Green fire erupted from the floor sending Remus in shock.
“Now leave!” his mother yelled while pointing her finger to the door.
Remus was hesitant.
“NOW!”
“Remus rushed out of the room and left this world underneath.
“And why would you want the Stones?” Dumbledore asked peacefully.
“Why wouldn’t I? It gives the person total control over both worlds.”
“But they’re your Stones.”
“I guess that means I should rightfully have them then, doesn’t it?” Fredrick took a step closer and examined the peaceful headmaster. “Getting fragile during your old age aren’t you? Wouldn’t want to end your life early now, would you?”
Dumbledore gave a slight chuckle. “Fredrick, just like when you were in fifth year. Always had a quick wit, but never a good thinker.” Dumbledore sent a quick spell at Fredrick’s bodily form. The ghost of Alfonso was thrown out of Hermione’s body and was thrown across the room. “Leave! Now . . . .” Dumbledore shouted, although still calm.
Fredrick’s ghost shifted forward, and stared at the threesome.
“Boys, get him,” Fredrick’s ghost cringed while tossing his hand toward Dumbledore.
“Dehypricortal!” Dumbledore hissed while waving his wand in the air. Both Harry and Ron suddenly stopped dead in their tracks. Their eyes seemed to glaze over and were covered with a misty blue essence. They came back to their senses, rubbing their heads in confusion.
Fredrick’s eyes widened in shock. “No one can do that except me!”
“Leave,” Dumbledore whispered through his teeth, calmly.
Fredrick took one quick look behind him and sunk into the walls, leaving nothing but his fatal attempt behind.
“Sir, where are we?” Harry questioned groggily while wondering whether or not he had been dreaming this whole time.
“Don’t worry about it, Harry. You’re safe now,” Dumbledore replied, placing his wand in his robe pocket. “Now get to bed before sunrise so you can at least get a little sleep in before morning.”
Molly gripped the side of her bed sheet, trying to overcome the painful emotional roller coaster she had boarded long ago. With her husband now dead, and one of her dear friends dead, she had been alone. Who else was there to keep her company with Ron at Hogwarts? Tears ran down her face and seeped into the silken cloth.
“Molly, we have news on Remus’ death,” the first Healer stated while looking through his notes on a floating clipboard.
“Remus’ death could change the course of wizard-kind forever,” the second Healer finished.
“W-What is i-it?” Molly asked while wiping away her tears.
The Healers closed the curtain around Molly’s stall and sat down on a cushioned armchair.
“Molly, Remus’ death, as you know, was out of the ordinary. The toxin in that fluid that Remus drank had been one of the strongest toxins of its kind. We have been trying to get this toxin into our hands ever since it was discovered seventy-five years ago. Now that we have it, we can use it to create a cure for that certain toxin. Although, it may take years to perfect, it’s worth it. Your friend may have saved the life of millions.”
“Millions?” Molly questioned while wiping away her tears with the bed cloth.
“Yes, millions.”