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The Mystery Below - Chapter 6

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Chapter 6
It's a mystery



Merry laughed with delight and they both walked along the corridor. For Pippin this was the first time visiting the principle. For Merry it was not. He had found himself in trouble before and ended up here more than once. The principle was staring at them as they entered as if he had waited for them, and maybe it was the moving stairs that had given it away.
"Meriadoc, what can I do for you today?" the principle said with a calm voice.
"What happened to Haddock?" Merry straightened his back while Pippin tried to hide behind the other boy, even though there was only half a feet difference in length.
"He had a meeting. Sherlock should have told you."
"He did, before he left the classroom after irritating Watson."
"Again." Calculus sighed and leaned back in his chair.
"What's going on here, Calculus? A kid is missing, Tintin is gone again and Haddock have been summoned for a meeting? You can't expect this to be going unnoticed."
"Meriadoc, we are doing all we can. The missing boy does not have anything to do with Haddock's meeting and Tintin is just back in the hospital wing."
Merry got quiet and the principal leaned forward and stared at him with concern.
"We are doing everything we can, Meriadoc, and you should not try to research any further." Merry was close to objecting, but the old man raised his hand. "You and Peregrin should not go visit Tintin, he needs rest. Leave this disappearance to Hogwarts alone."
Merry couldn't help but smile. "I understand."
He turned and walked to the exit, followed by the young boy who seemed utterly confused. The boy didn't even get a chance to look at the office that he had heard so much about for the conversation was so intense and then ended so quickly. He pulled Merry in the arm as they now were walking through the corridor.
"Mr. Bran- Merry, what was that about?" he asked.
"We are going to the hospital wing."
"But the principal told us not to..."
"That's just for the record. The way he said it made it obvious that he wanted us to visit Tintin."
The little boy didn't get the situation and tried his hardest to understand, but for him it had sounded as if the principal really didn't want them to poke around in this. But Merry seemed sure as he was sneaking through the hallways and up the stairs so Pippin tagged along, all the way to the hospital wing. Only one bed was occupied and that was probably Tintin. They walked up to him and the boy in the bed glanced at them.
"What can I do for you?" he asked.
"I heard you are trying to figure out where the boy has gone?" Merry asked with joy.
"I don't really know you, Meriadoc, but I guess that's none of your business."
"If I told you that Calculus himself thought I should go talk to you?"
"Then I say it may be a little bit of your business. But who is that?" Tintin pointed towards Pippin who again tried to hide behind Merry.
This time Merry pushed the boy in front of him and put his hands to his shoulders. "This is Pippin, my sidekick."
Pippin couldn't help but grin at the comment. It was a dream coming true!
"You don't look sick." Merry then said, changing the subject to Pippins disappointment.
"I'm not. I fainted and Haddock found me passed out. I've been ordered not to leave this room for 48 hours." Tintin complained.
"Why did you faint?" for Merry it sounded as if it had something to do with the disappearance of the boy, but he was soon to be disappointed.
"Yesterday I drank swelling solution, didn't eat well and didn't sleep much. My body didn't like me running around so... I fainted. I had only gotten to the staircase when I fainted. It was such anticlimax!"
Merry couldn't help but laugh, followed by Pippin who giggled slightly. Tintin soon couldn't help but see the funny parts of his words and joined them. As the laughter died, Tintin tried to tell the other two what he knew, but as he summed it up he didn't really know much.
"Then do you know about Haddock's meeting?" Pippin asked and surprised them both, for he had not said much up to this point.
"Kind of. He waited here until I had woken up. He told me to stay out of it all and then he told me that he was meeting with someone from the Ministry of Magic. I don't know what it was about, but he didn't seem nervous or anything so I didn't bother him with more questions. He worried so much for me."
Neither Merry nor Pippin dared to ask anymore question at that point and said they would try to check out the flight of stairs during dinner and would visit Tintin if they found out something, otherwise they would meet after the 48 hours had passed. They left him alone to rest, but it was too hard on Tintin to be lying in bed when he had so much to do. A boy was missing, and Tintin could be the key to his finding, but he was put in bed. He was lucky that Merry and Pippin had came to him, and he made sure he would remember to thank the principle later.
"I thought I told you to sleep." not even ten minutes had passed since the two boys had left and Haddock had returned. He wore a coat that was still moist, revealing that he had rushed there first thing since he came back to the school. Why he was wet when he had travelled with floo powder Tintin had no idea.
"Can't you get me out of here soon?" Tintin pledged as the man sat down at the end of the bed.
"I'm more pleased if you will stay here and rest than if you risk your life when I'm not around."
"Then you should come too!"
"No, I can't help you this time." Haddock seemed pained and it made Tintin even more curious what was going on.
"Haddock, this is not like you. You should tell me if something is troubling you." Tintin pulled the cover aside and moved closer to the man.
"Tintin, you have been very special ever since I first met you. You helped me to stop drinking and you made me see that I was actually a man." Haddock looked like he was in even more pained and Tintin helplessly sat by his side. "Whenever I was in trouble, you were there to help me and I've always done my best to be able to help you as well. I'm old enough to be your dad, yet you are the best friend I have ever had. I would trust you with my life. But that means that I also would do anything to protect you. This time I can not let you bother about neither my worries nor the ones that concern the school. If I can't be by your side to help you I don't want you to be even close to any kind of danger, Tintin."
"But Haddock..." Tintin put his hand on the man's shoulder in an effort to comfort him. Haddock turned to the boy and smiled at him. It was a sad smile and Tintin knew that this time he could not do anything about it. Tintin had a short moment of realization as the difference in their age was very clear in this moment. Tintin was young and didn't bother about risks, as for Haddock always worried about Tintin and his safety.
"I know I can't stop you from doing what your instincts tells you, but now you know what's going on inside my head." the man smiled but still looked very sad.
Haddock stayed with Tintin, simply just sitting by the end of his bed as Tintin snuck back in bed. It was still during the day, but the man's dark voice as he spoke of memories of former adventures was like a bed time story and soon Tintin fell fast asleep.
Merry and Pippin had been forced back to their houses, but had decided to meet by the stairs before dinner. Pippin was thrilled and as he was sitting in the Gryffindor common room he could barely relax. Another kid from second year tried to ask him to come play chess, but he declined and just kept waiting for dinner. Hours flew by for the boy and as soon as they were allowed to go for dinner he rushed to the grand staircase and by the bottom he was almost jumping as Merry came down the stairs. Merry laughed at the sight, something that in an instant made the boy very concious of himself. He was actually unaware of the jumping and excitement.
"Somewhere around here they said. I'll ask the portraits and you can check the surroundings." Merry ordered and Pippin did as he was told.
He could still not believe that Merry was actually hanging out with him. Just earlier this morning he was glad that he had recognised Merry without all his gear, now he actually could hang out with him? He didn't understand it, but neither did he comment it. Pippin walked around the flight of stairs and looked around. He tried to look as if he was waiting for someone, as he didn't want someone to tell him to go the Great Hall. He looked around and tried to find something out of the ordinary, but nothing was odd. For a second he did think he saw something in the shadows behind the stairs, but soon he saw the ghost Gaddafi passing and came to the conclusion that was what he had seen in the shadows.
Soon he returned to find Merry who was now chatting along with some other students from the same house. Pippin didn't really recognise them and didn't dare walk up to Merry and waited for him on the other side of the stairs. People passed by between them between the stairs and the Great Hall. Pippin waited until he realised; he wasn't even in the same house as Merry. He was in Ravenclaw and Pippin in Gryffindor. Even if he was waiting they wouldn't be sitting by the same table. Pippin turned around and walked with his head low to the Great Hall.
Candles floating in the air above, the teachers by their table and all the students who were chatting by their houses tables. Pippin sat down at the Gryffindor table next to some girl. She was a blond beauty with her golden hair flowing down her back. Pippin didn't know who she was and neither did he care. The girl didn't even notice him sitting down next to her, for she was leaning forward and was turned to the side. She was sitting on the left side of James T. Kirk, right by his side.
He was looking as mighty and handsome as always, and kept chatting along with the girls. Kirk loved the attention and the girls loved to give it to him. Sometimes he did get irritated though, for he didn't get to hang out with any guys. He used to have friends, but during the years they had been exchanged to all these girls. This dinner was a perfect example for when he actually would like quiet dinner instead of having a group of giggling girls around him.
When the girls had all finished their food, Kirk was searching for an excuse and as he was looking around he could see that pitch black hair over at the Ravenclaw table and came up with a small plan. Kirk turned back towards the girls. He touched the girl to his left on her shoulder and her face flushed red instantly.
"Girls, I'll have to attend some Prefect business now." the girls looked disappointed, but Kirk smiled even bigger in a try to make up for it. "I'll see you after practice, okay?"
"Kirk, when will the curfew be back to normal?" it was the blonde with the flushed face who spoke. "We want to watch you practice!"
"Maybe you can catch a glimpse of me through some window, Eowyn?" Kirk smiled towards her and she seemed to get even redder.
The girls giggled and chatted as they left Kirk alone by the table. He looked at them as they left and was relieved. They were good girls, but sometimes they were a little bit too much for him. As he was staring after them he also realised that he didn't have to go to Spock. He thought that it was the perfect excuse, but was actually disappointed at this moment. Not often did he get to chat with Spock, so even though he didn't have to prove it to the girls, Kirk went over to Spock. He passed the Hufflepuff table and went down the Ravenclaw table until he was right by the boy and sat down beside him, without even saying hi.
"What are you up to?" Kirk said as he leaned forward.
Spock kept eating his dinner and did his best to ignore the blonde. Not only didn't he want to be disturbed, but the question was ridiculous anyone could see that Spock was eating!
"Come on, talk to me. I had to get away from the girls." Kirk said and didn't feel that bad for it wasn't a fully fledged lie.
"Kirk, you have to stop using me as an excuse."
"But I don't want to break their cute little hearts."
"You know very well they would only feel sad, no hearts would break.
"It's a figure of speech."
"I know that very well." but Kirk could hear in Spock's voice that the half Veela hadn't caught that it indeed was a figure of speech. Sometimes the boy was too logical for his own good.
"Of course you do..." Kirk smiled with a sarcastic tone in his voice as he spoke.
"I do, I'm not stupid." Spock said as his eyes were wandering the Great Hall. They stopped at Kirk and looked a little bit upset. "Wait, Kirk, the girls were already outside the hall when you came over." he didn't really make it sound like a question, but yet he was waiting for an answer as if it had been one.
"Maybe I didn't use you as an excuse to get away from the girls. Maybe the girls were the excuse so I could come talk to you." Kirk smiled that charming smile that all the girls liked so well.
What happened next was something that Kirk didn't really expect. He was smiling and it was quiet between the boys as if they were in their own little bubble. All the sounds from the crowd around felt so distant. Maybe it was that they had eye contact for the first time in months? Maybe it was the way that Spock was at a loss for words? Maybe there was more than one reason that Spock suddenly blushed. As soon as he could feel the heat on his cheeks he turned his head away. He shoved one last bite of his food into his mouth before he stood up, still chewing, and then hurried down the two tables and out of the hall. Kirk hadn't really had time to react for he didn't really understand what had just happened. He just sat at the Ravenclaw table for some thoughtful moments before he left the seat and walked out of the hall.
Around the tables rumours began in an instant. They were worst at the Ravenclaw table, because people claimed they had heard their conversation.
"Apparently Kirk stole Spock's secret girlfriend!"
"I thought I heard Kirk say something about Spock being half Veela."
"Maybe Kirk doesn't like half bloods?"
"Kirk shouldn't be a prefect when he's bullying students like that."
Nasty rumours spread throughout the room and soon half the school thought that Kirk was either a half blood hater or he was an even bigger player than everybody thought. But little did people know that Kirk's own mother was a squib with only one magical parent. In Kirk's family muggles were treated the same way as wizards and witches.
Pippin didn't understand any of the chatter he heard. On one hand he had a huge gap on his right side, for that was where Kirk and the girls had been before, and on the other hand he didn't have any friends near him now and just tried to listen to the other as they talked. He didn't hear much, but couldn't figure out why Kirk who was such a cool guy would ever treat anyone badly. Pippin didn't really have time for any more than thinking that far since Merry marched between the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor tables. He walked up to Pippin the second he found the little guy by the table and tugged his arm.
"Why the hell did you leave?" Merry yelled, but as some of the students turned their heads he lowered his voice. "When you disappeared I thought you had been kidnapped or something! I thought you would wait for me!"
"But you were chatting with your friends and I thought you were going to eat together so I thought I should go eat first and then tell you." he spoke so fast that it was hard hearing what he said, but apparently Merry did for he smiled with relief.
"Don't bother with stuff like that. You are my sidekick now, right?" Merry sat down beside Pippin and leaned backwards and used the table as support.
"Why do you care so much when we just met this morning?" the question didn't sound as Pippin had wanted it to. Now he sounded ungrateful, but the truth was that he only wanted to know the truth behind this.
"Why?" Merry took some seconds to think. "I guess I've been in need of a sidekick, and you are the perfect one. I would be a fool to let you go." but that wasn't the whole truth. Merry also felt as if Pippin was a little brother or something and had this urge to take care for him as well as he was extremely proud that he was a fan and wanted to make him happy by treating him specially.
Pippin had to accept this for Merry didn't give him any seconds to answer. Merry started asking him about what he had found, and as both Merry and Pippin hadn't actually found anything they had nothing to go on. The portraits had been acting stupid, pretending they didn't know. It was obvious that the teachers had told them not to speak. The both boys decided to leave Tintin alone until he could leave the hospital wing.
I haven't had time to proofread this chapter or anything so I'll just put it up like this. I just couldn't go to bed without posting it! Will fix it as soon as I can.



This is the sixth chapter of the "book" I wrote for NaNoWriMo. It took me 29 days to finish it. This means that it is pretty pushed and don't expect it to be amazing or anything... But I tried my best! I'll upload one chapter a day until I run out (which will be the 24th of December). When I'm done I'll probably keep writing shorter stories, because this was super fun!

I have to apologise in advance for any weird grammar and such (English is not my native language). Even more I have to apologise for the risk of a lot of OOC... I tried my best though. It's not always that easy.

Please tell me what you think!
© 2011 - 2024 WolframD
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