Chapter 174 - – Letter from Charlus Potter Jr. (1/2)
Later that day after having delivered her gift to Severus, she made sure to put the spelled wardrobe in the fireplace and watched it burn to ashes. Making sure there was nothing left but ashes, Rowan poked the fireplace with the iron poker that had a gorgeous carved handle. Seeing only flickers of ash and glowing embers, she nodded in satisfaction, before finally retiring to her bedroom.
Within the safety of her quarters, Rowan gently opened the brown package she had retrieved from vault #113. Within she found a stack of sheets along with a letter. Carefully removing said articles, she set the stack of parchment s aside for the moment, before opening the envelope to read the written letter found inside.
”My name is Charlus Potter Jr.
And in my fourth year, I discovered a hidden journal in the archives section of the Hogwarts library. I was merely fooling around at the time, but a thin journal slipped out from its hiding spot. At first, I thought to throw it away, but in the end, my curiosity got the better of me and I peeked inside. To my utter and complete surprise, an old letter slipped out. The ink had begun to fade away, but I still could make out most of the letter. It was written by a boy by the name of Fogey Artemio.
At first, I took it as a joke, but the more I read the more I came to believe that the letter might be real. Still I laughed the entire incident off, and yet, I took the journal with me. I promptly forgot the entire incident by tossing the journal into my school trunk. It was not until that following summer that I discovered that the Ravenclaw boy that had written the letter and journal had truly passed away only three days after his graduation.
I must admit my first thought was to be rather intrigued at the idea of such a mystery. Over the years, I steadily followed the clues hidden inside and was able to discover something rather terrifying as a pattern began to emerge before my very eyes. For the fabric of fate was actively being woven. Not by magic, life or death itself, but rather by another.
I know that it sounds insane and for a time I even attempted to laugh off such a conclusion. But the more I looked the more I saw. And it is true, that the closer one stands near the truth the less one can see behind them-.” The writing trailed off as though he had to unexpectedly stop before the letter restarted up again from a different point.
”I'm now down to thirteen names on the list. Thanks to the clues offered by my old friend, Fogey. Is it strange to consider someone you've never meet an old friend? I thought so too once and yet I find that he is the only one who understands my fears and knows that which I know. I dare not trust anyone with this knowledge not out of fear, but rather I do not know if they could withstand the terrible burden of knowledge.”
The letter pauses again as the topic once more is changed.
”I'm being followed. I thought I was seeing things but I'm not. There are only seven more names left on the list, and I am that much closer to the truth. But with every step that I take, I feel the noose around my neck slowly tighten that much more with each passing day. It is simply a matter of time, but I fear that I am quickly running out of time. I can feel time as though it's slipping through my fingers like sand-.”
The final paragraphs seem to have been written in great haste at different intervals as the writing is rather untidy and worsens with each line.
”I've destroyed half of the journal. I must make him believe that it is gone. The other half, I've snuck back into its place of origin, it will be safe there-.”
”There are only five left. But I am out of time, death follows closely now.”
”I leave for Bordeaux tomorrow. I cannot risk this being found. But still, I cannot help leaving clues behind in hopes that something will emerge from this final desperate act….
Charlus Potter Jr.”