The Farland Files

How To Befriend Ghosts And Singing Hats

Charlie smiled at the man with the slightly greasy hair. "Are you here to see mom?"

Sneering deeply, dark eyes seemed to dismiss the boy, sliding up to meet where Uncle Remus had come to the door. "Lupin. I came to give you your batch of wolfsbane for the next six months, not meet the celebrity."

"Severus, please-"

The man's eyes glinted dangerously, shoving the potions at Charlie's uncle. "I have work to do. I'll be back in six months."

Charlie watched the man disappear once a good distance from the Manor. He looked up at his uncle, eyes wide and questioning. "He doesn't like me much..." Before the man could respond to that, he looked back to the place the man had been. "Who was he?"

"That was Severus Snape, your mother's childhood best friend, the schoolyard rival of your father... and your sister's godfather." Lupin's eyes were sad, just like how all the adults got when his younger sister was mentioned. "He's- well- he's always thought that Helena didn't die that day, but with no proof and the years passing by without any sign that she's alive... He and your mom had a pretty big fight when you were young about it and now he only comes around to drop off my potions."

That sounded sad, waiting for someone who wouldn't ever show up...

His uncle guided him inside, closing the door. "Come on Charlie, Siri will be back soon, and you should get your room cleaned by then or your mom won't let him take you for ice cream."

Nodding, Charlie ran for his room, but as he did he promised himself not to get mad at Snape even if the man was mean to him-

Because grieving didn't make him a bad person, it just made it harder for him to be happy.

Lena made sure to set aside plenty of time to get to King's Cross, rising earlier than the rest of the kids and getting out her trunk from where she'd hid it, leaving a note for Matron before starting down the streets of London.

The hazy morning was slow to get up, the sun cresting the buildings just as she got to the train station, warming her skin for only a second before she was ducking inside. Glad that the Herbology Professor had given her a detailed explanation on how to get to the magical platform, Lena looked around the empty Platform 9 ¾ and sat down on a bench, pulling out Jack's notebook.

Bound with nice black leather, she'd found that though the book was only half full, it was marked up with little tips and tricks about the inner workings of the Wizarding World as well as spells that were not commonly taught. She was fascinated with the writing, but as the very first page had been about 'the trace' and how it worked, she hadn't been in an area magical enough to actually be able to practice any of the spells from the thick textbooks that Jack had recommended she read before going to Hogwarts.

Though now, alone in the magical train station...

Drawing her wand from the wrist holster she'd gotten from a small shop in the alley not long after Jack's note had recommended it for ease of access and defense, she pointed it at a mouse that she saw moving around a nearby pillar looking for food crumbs.

Transfiguration- according to the stilted handwriting that hurt her heart to look at- was all about visualization, seeing one thing literally become the next. But the writing had warned (several times) that nothing transfigured was permanent.

So she focused on the rat and imagined Matron's fluffy feather pillow in every detail she could, before muttering the spell in the notebook. " Commutationem. " The latin word that Jack had written meaning 'exchange' slipped off her tongue, a rush of warmth moving down her arm and she grinned as the rat disappeared only to be replaced by a fluffy pillow.