Unanswered Questions
After a few minutes of running, Magus slowed down, deciding that he would draw less attention to himself if he walked. He looked up to see that the tree branches were blocking out the sunlight. He pulled the hood of his cloak down, smoothing his hair back out of force of habit. Then, a rustling noise made him jump.
�Who�s there?� he asked in a shaky voice.
A creature of some kind galloped out into the open, coming to a stop in front of Magus. From the waist up, he looked like a regular man, but the rest of his body seemed to be that of a horse. Magus had heard legend of creatures like this, centaurs they were called, but he�d never believed that they existed until now.
�Who are you?� Magus asked, his voice a bit calmer now. He was pretty sure centaurs were harmless.
�My name is not important, I am who the stars say I am,� the centaur said. �The question is who are you?�
�My name�s Magus,� Magus said, thinking the centaur to be rather odd.
�I did not ask your name,� the centaur said. �I asked who you were.�
�But that is who I am,� Magus said slowly.
�Are you so sure about that?� the centaur asked, looking up toward the sky. �The heavens say you are not being truthful to yourself.�
�But you can�t even see the heavens, not even the stars,� Magus said. �How do you know?�
The centaur didn�t answer this, only continued to stare at the sky. Finally, he turned to Magus and said, �Forever will the truth shine through the darkness of lies, as the stars must shine through the night. Goodbye Janus Zeal. May your truth find its light in your sky.� He galloped away.
�Wait, how did you know my name was�� Magus stopped as the centaur disappeared into the forest, then finished in a defeated sigh, �Janus Zeal.� Then he turned to continue his trek through the forest�
�and stepped right into a clearing. He threw an arm over his face and immediately moved back into the forest. Once safely in the shade of the trees, he peered out into the clearing.
For once, he was glad for his skin condition. He seemed to have stumbled onto some kind of secret meeting. There were a lot of people in black cloaks, with their faces covered by big hoods. They were all huddled in small groups, speaking in whispers and trading various potions and herbs. None of them seemed to have noticed Magus.
Then the people all went quiet and started forming themselves into a circle, leaving open spaces in some parts. Then, one person stepped forward, taking his hood off. He was a small man, who was balding and who�s remaining hair was streaked with gray. He reminded Magus of a rat.
The man stopped in the middle of the circle and raised his arms into the air, palms facing upward. A beam of green light shot down from the sky, striking the man. He was lifted up into the air for a brief moment before falling back down, landing lightly on his feet. When he looked up, his eyes were set, like a dead man�s. When he spoke, his tone was dark and emotionless, seeming not to fit him at all.
�Yes, I see that all who were here before are back,� the man said, nodding, �but I am most disappointed to see that no others have returned. Enough of that though, those who are not loyal will pay soon enough. Let us move on to the more important issue: the boy.
�That boy has caused us more trouble than what his life is worth, and it is through the work of many of my own servants that he was able to do this.� A few of the people in the circle shifted their feet uncomfortably. �I must be perfectly blunt. The person who brings me the boy, alive, will be rewarded with powers beyond your comprehension. However, kill him, and you will have me to deal with.� With this final statement, the man was engulfed in a sphere of green light for a moment, before being dropped to the ground and falling to his knees. The green light disappeared.
�Thank you Master,� the man muttered, staring up at the sky.
�Thank you Master,� the circle repeated the words and went back to their little groups, once again trading potions and herbs like nothing had happened.
�Who the hell are you?� a voice said, almost making Magus jump out of his skin. He turned to see a man with long, matted black hair, and a beard in similar condition. His black eyes had a blank look to them, a look Magus recognized as the eyes of a man who has come close to losing himself. He remembered it from his own reflection, before he had transformed completely, at which point he�d thrown out all of his mirrors.
�Magus,� Magus answered, completely thrown off by the sudden question.
�Have you completely lost your mind?� the man hissed grabbing Magus� arm. �Keep your voice down. Do you want the deatheaters to hear you?�
�What�re deatheaters?� Magus asked.
�Oh, I don�t have time for this,� the man said. �I have to go warn my godson.�
�Who�s you�re godson?� Magus asked, hoping to keep the man there long enough to figure out what was going on.
�I�I�ve said too much,� the man said, turning to leave.
�Wait!� Magus said, not having the slightest idea of what he was saying. �Listen, if there�s something you don�t want people to know, you can tell me. I�m on the run. The people up at the school, they think I work for someone named Tom Riddle, but I don�t. This might be hard to understand, but I don�t know anything about this world. I am not of this world. Now, please tell me what�s going on.�
�Okay,� the man said, holding up a hand, �I�ll tell you, only, not here. They might hear us and come to investigate. First, I need some proof that you�re an outcast.�
Magus thought for a moment than it came to him. �Do a spell,� he said. �Send a beam of light at my arm.�
The man looked at Magus like he�d gone mad, but did what he said. He pointed his wand at a spot on Magus� arm and said, �Lumos.�
A small stream of light fell onto Magus� arm, and he whimpered slightly, but kept his arm steady. He watched as a couple blisters formed. Finally, when he couldn�t stand it anymore, he pulled his arm away and the man stopped the spell.
�I have a skin condition,� Magus explained. �I can�t be exposed to light. It�s one of the reasons they suspected me. After they accused me, they turned me loose into the light and left me to run for my life.�
�Then how did you get away?� the man asked, narrowing his eyes.
�A girl up at the school helped me,� Magus said. �I believe her name was� Hermione.�
�Hmm, well, in that case, you can come with me,� the man asked. �I happen to know Hermione. I will send her a letter and she�ll tell me if you�re lying. If you are, I swear mine will be the last face you ever see.�
�All right,� Magus said, �it�s not like I can do anything else. Just, if we�re going to leave the forest, warn me first, so I can put up my hood.�
�No need for that,� the man said. �There�s a cave nearby that I�ve been staying in. It should keep us hidden from the deatheaters.�
Magus nodded and followed the man. He had no reason to trust the man other than the fact that this was his only chance of getting back to his own time in one piece. Then, he had a sudden thought.
�What year is it?� Magus asked the man.
The man stopped and whirled around. �You�re joking, right?�
�No,� Magus said, �I really don�t know.�
�It�s 1996,� the man said. �I�d tell you the exact date, but I don�t rightly know myself. It�s autumn, if that helps.�
�Hmm�� Magus thought about this for a moment. That couldn�t be possible. When Lavos had been defeated, it was 1999 and the technology was more advanced than what he had seen here so far. In fact, the technology of the year 1000 had been more advanced than it was here. What was going on?
�Here it is,� the man announced, pointing at a thin opening in the side of what seemed to be a gigantic boulder set into the ground.
�It�s nothing fancy, but it�s concealed enough,� the man said. �The entrance is a bit small, but I think you�ll fit. As for me, well, I guess there�s no point trying to keep a secret.�
The man took a deep breath and focused his eyes on the ground. Magus could only wonder what he was doing for a moment before he saw. Black fur started to sprout on the man�s skin and he fell onto his knees. Within a few minutes, he had become a very large, but very thin, dog. The dog barked and squeezed himself through the entrance.
Magus walked up the entrance, turning sideways and slipping through. It was pitch black inside the cave, but Magus, of course, didn�t mind. He heard the man�s voice echoing in the darkness.
�You might want to back up a bit. I�m going to do a spell for light, but just for part of the cave. I�ll block off your side.�
�Thank you,� Magus said, backing up against the wall. The man muttered a couple spells and was suddenly illuminated by his light spell. Magus looked down at his hands in amazement. No light shone on his skin, and there were no blisters.
�Now, I suppose I had best introduce myself,� the man said. �My name is Sirius Black. Please call me Sirius. �Mr. Black� is too formal.�
Magus was about to say something when a cold shiver down his spine made him stop and listen. He heard a faint howling sound, to low for human ears to hear. �The black wind begins to blow,� Magus whispered.
�What�� Sirius started.
�Shh!� Magus hissed, putting a finger to his lips. �There�s someone outside.�
They listened for a moment and, sure enough, the rustling of leaves soon reached their ears, along with the voices of the people who were there.
�That boy�s too well protected, none of us will be able to get to him Lucius.�
�Crabbe, don�t speak of such things. Someone is liable to hear you. Now, I have my son at the school. He keeps me updated on all new security measures that are taken there. We�ll get him. Sooner or later, we will finally capture that boy, and Master will reward us.�
The voices faded away into the distance. After a few moments of stunned silence, Sirius was the one who finally spoke.
�I have to warn Harry,� he said, pulling a piece of parchment and a quill from his pocket. �I�ll write that note to Hermione while I�m at it.� He wrote for about ten minutes than held the paper out in his hand and said a spell. The paper disappeared from his hand in a puff of light blue smoke.
�Little trick I picked up,� Sirius said. �It sends a letter to the nearest wizard post office to be delivered.�
�Right,� Magus said, having no idea what Sirius was talking about.
�How did you know that they were out there?� Sirius asked.
�I don�t know,� Magus said. �I can just sense these things.�
�Hmm�� Sirius didn�t pursue the subject. �I suppose I should continue my story. If you truly don�t know about deatheaters, you probably haven�t heard of me either.�
He went on to tell Magus the story of how he had come to be where he was. He told about the Potters dying and how everyone thought that he was responsible. He told of his escape from Azkaban and finally finding his godson. And, of course, he didn�t leave out the fact that the Ministry was still after him.
When Sirius finished, they stood in silence for a moment. Then, Magus finally spoke. �I suppose I should tell my story too, though you probably won�t believe me. I hardly believe it myself.
�The truth is I come from the year 605 A.D. I really don�t know why, but somebody set me up. They gave me a gate key, which opens time gates. I must have run into one, because I was sent here. I can get back, if I can find a gate. Do you know of any time gates around here?�
�Time gates?� Sirius said. �There are no time gates here. If there were, they would�ve been found by now. Long distance time travel is physically and magically impossible.�
�But it�s true!� Magus said, panicked. �You have to believe me!�
�Hmm,� Sirius looked down for a moment. �Well, wherever you�re from, it doesn�t matter. What matters is that you get back there as quickly as possible. It won�t take them long to realize that you�re not really dead, and, if they think you�re working for Voldemort, that�s Tom Riddle�s name now by the way, they won�t waste time trying to find you. I know Dumbledore, if he thinks you�re a deatheater, it�ll take quite a bit to change his mind.
�You may stay here until it gets dark. Then I�ll lead you to the edge of the forest. I can�t go any farther than that. I have to stay here to look out for my godson. For now, I�m going back out to listen for new information. You may do as you like.�
Magus nodded. �I understand, and I thank you. If you don�t mind, I�m just going to stay here and sleep. I�ll need to be ready to run tonight.�
�Okay, I�ll be back at dusk,� Sirius said. He extinguished his wand�s light, plunging his side of the cave into darkness. Magus heard a shuffle of feet and saw the shadow of a dog slip out the opening of the cave.
Magus sighed and lay down on the ground, folding his arms over his chest. The ground was cold and damp, but he didn�t mind. At home, he slept on a stone bed, so this was a walk in the park.
And, for the first time in centuries, he slept.
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Author's note: The Crabbe in this chapter is Vincint Crabbe's father, in case anyone's confused.
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