Atropos → george weasley

xxvi. horror stories

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twenty six

horror stories

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"I've always wanted to ride in a car!" Ernie said once they arrived at a beautiful waterfront home in Hampstead. He and Ottilie were staying with Justin's family for the night. "Your home is beautiful, Mr. and Mrs. Finch-Fletchley!"

Ottilie grimaced at the giant house. She knew that the Finch-Fletchleys were rich, but not this rich. She was just glad her mother had never invited Justin to visit Ottilie in Leeds. 

For the rest of the afternoon, the three of them watched movies. And after Justin and Ottilie did some convincing, they got Ernie to agree to watch a horror movie. They decided on The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, promising Ernie that it wasn't too scary. Justin complained a bit about being forced to watch such an old film, prompting Ottilie to throw some chocolate at his forehead, which he caught out of the air with his mouth. She had scowled at him, and he returned a wicked grin.

"Who bought the movie anyway, if not you? Thought your parents hated horror," Ottilie said to Justin as he fed the VCR into the player.

"It's Emma's."

"What? Really?" asked Ottilie.

"Yeah, she's really into cinema. Wants to go to film school. Do not mention Tarkovsky or Kurosawa to her, she can go on for hours."

Despite his protesting, Justin seemed to enjoy the film. He regularly commented about the surreal set design, the tight angles that made him feel breathless, and the painted shadows that were bizarrely artificial and uncomfortable.

Ernie, on the other hand, was terrified. Halfway through, Justin seemed to feel guilty for frightening his friend so thoroughly, so he brought in his Samoyed named Penelope. She sat with her head on Ernie's lap, and he absentmindedly petted her, blue eyes fixed to the screen.

When the movie was done, Ernie breathed a sigh of relief. "So, are the two of you saying that horror films get scarier than that?" he asked, still petting Penelope, who'd fallen asleep on his lap.

"Way scarier," said Justin. "I've seen things that I can't unsee. This is coming from someone who was paralyzed by a basilisk by looking it in the eye through a partially-decapitated ghost."

"Still, I-I don't think watching a movie about a serial killer was the best choice given what just happened," said Ernie.

Justin and Ottilie glanced at each other.

"You mean the basilisk?" asked Justin.

Ernie frowned. "No, no, not that. I'm talking about Sirius Black." The both of them stared back at him blankly. "You know—the murderer Sirius Black? The one who just broke out of Azkaban? Diagon Alley was covered in pictures of him."

Frowning, Ottilie thought back to Diagon Alley earlier that day. She dimly remembered seeing a wanted poster depicting a man with an emaciated face, manic grey eyes, and long, matted black hair. She hadn't stopped to think much about him. 

"No. Who's Sirius Black?"

"They say he murdered twelve Muggles in one go. One of his best friends with them. My parents were at Hogwarts the same time as him, say he was best friends with Harry Potter's father. He was a troublemaker, but he seemed okay, according to Dad, although Sirius was in Gryffindor too. Mum thought he and James were complete menaces."