Three Little Words

Three Little Words

Lusitania Castle

Sitnalta Island

2nd September

His black shoulder-length hair was shifting with the breeze while he was running to the Dolphin common room. Jeremy had decided to follow Cynthia's advice. He would write Artio a letter, declaring his love and asking her to forgive him for being such a stupid boy. Artio's best friend, Cynthia Tropelt had told him some true things that evening, and he didn't want to miss one second until the letter was being carried by an owl.

Inside the castle, it was colder than outside, where Cynthia was basking in the wonderful summer sunset, until the sun vanished in the dark blue tone of the Atlantic Ocean. She had made him realize that he had been narrow-minded with Artio. She hadn't had the chance to choose where she wanted to stay: at Lusitania or at Hogwarts. After her parents' divorce, she was almost forced to fly to her father's house, in London.

Jeremy wrote the password to the Dolphin common room on the wall between two portraits, with his wand. Sunny Day. He passed through the wall and found himself in his common room, where some students were talking.

"So, what did she tell you?" he heard a voice behind him. He turned to face Walter Calysto, whom he had left in the Great Hall when he had gone to the fields with Cynthia.

"I will write Artio a letter!" he exclaimed, not replying to his friend's question.

"Then she changed your mind," Walter concluded, following Jeremy to their dormitory.

"If you put it that way, then, yes, she did."

He was now near his bed, his head and hands inside his box, from which he took many things, throwing them out. Clothes, books, class parchments, everything flying in several directions while Walter tried to dodge the flying objects.

"What are you looking for?" he asked when the History of Magic book hit him on his chest.

Jeremy turned with a quill in his hand and some parchment rolls, showing them triumphantly. His mind was full with ideas of effects that he would cast on that letter. It had to be special, wonderful; both of them would remember it forever. To enchant it the way he wanted, however, there were many things to be done.

"But what the hell are you going to do with three meters of parchment?" Walter asked.

"I will write a magic letter. Will you help me?"

"Yes," Walter said, "if I can."

"I want to enchant the letter with several spells. Do you know someone who can teach me how to perform this kind of spell?" Jeremy asked.

"But who the hell would know those spells? They're not taught in classes, I can assure you. It's not something you'd need to know everyday."

"I know. But there must be someone who knows these funny spells..."

"Who are you thinking about?" Walter asked.

"Um, remember the tricks we experimented with when we went to Laxus to buy our school stuff? There were some people who knew trick spells and funny effects."

"Yes, I remember. There was a girl and two boys, right?" Jeremy nodded. "I think they were fourth years, but don't know which House they are in," Walter added.

"They must be either Seagull or Octopus."

"But by this time they won't be in the Great Hall. And we don't know where their common rooms are," Walter remembered.

"Do you know any fourth year of our House?" Jeremy asked. "I mean, a fourth year who might help us."

"Not really," Walter replied, thinking about the fourth year people he knew. "Wait," he said, "the prefect. There is a fourth year prefect. Prefects are made to help students," he smiled.

"Great! I think the fourth year prefect is a girl... Francesca something," Jeremy didn't know her last name. He went to the common room, followed by Walter.

In a corner of the room he found her blonde head; she was writing at a desk. Jeremy walked in her direction, "Hello," he began.

She turned to Jeremy and looked directly into his black eyes.

"Hi," she said, "may I help you?"

"I hope so," he said. He explained briefly what he needed and she did know the group of the trick spellers indeed. They were two Octopus boys and a Crab girl.

"But we can't go to their common room tonight, it's late. They might still be awake but I, as prefect, cannot let you break the school rules. You'll have to wait until tomorrow to talk to them."

"Tomorrow?" Jeremy looked terrified, "I have to send the letter tonight, before I go to sleep so it will arrive at Hogwarts in three days. I can't wait that long! Can't you help me?"

Francesca shook her head no, and said that she was sorry, but she couldn't help.

"What if you send them an owl?" Walter suggested. "We can still go to the Great Hall, it's before ten o'clock. I know that no one usually leaves their common room at this time, but if you ask them-"

"Yes!" Jeremy exclaimed, opening his black eyes wide, some hope in his look.

"Well, that's no rule infringement," the prefect said. "Wait a second."

She went to the girl's dormitory and soon was back with a fur ball in her arms. As she approached, they noticed it was a small owl, with white and gray feathers and two small yellow eyes.

"She's small but I think she can go to the Octopus common room windows," Francesca said while she wrapped a small bit of parchment and wrote a quick note.

Simao,

Please go to the Great Hall. A friend of mine needs your help. Bring Pedro.

Franscesca Timpsy

Jeremy was looking over her shoulder as she wrote the note. The prefect tied the note to the owl's leg, and after letting it go out through the window, she murmured, "Let's go down to the Great Hall. Then we just have to wait, I'm sure he'll get there soon."

***

Just after they sat down at the Dolphin table, a tall, brown haired boy appeared in the doorway. He saw Francesca and walked quickly to her.

"What happened?" he asked with a concerned expression, bringing the fur ball in his arms. "I couldn't bring Pedro, he isn't in the common room yet, I didn't see him after dinner."

"Hi," she greeted getting her owl, "it's nothing, don't worry. He just needs to know some spells to enchant a letter in a special way. I thought you could help him," she said pointing at Jeremy, "Jeremy Craig, first year," he nodded with her introduction, "Simao Cevada, fourth year."

"I know some spells, it depends what he wants to do with the letter," Simao said. "What are you thinking about?"

"Well," Jeremy began, "it's a letter for my girlfriend, who is at Hogwarts. I thought-" he trailed off.

"It's a long journey for an owl. It'll take almost two days to arrive," Simao remembered.

"I know," Jeremy said, "Cynthia, her best friend, has been exchanging letters with her and she told me. That's why I couldn't wait until tomorrow," he said looking at Francesca, who nodded in agreement.

Simao smiled, the first years' love stories weren't very common, but this one looked like a serious thing, telling from Jeremy's expression when he was thinking about the girl.

"What do you want me to teach you?" the fourth year asked Jeremy.

"I have a few ideas. First, I'd like to put some words with different writing styles, and colors, and sizes-"

"I guessed as much. What words are those?" Simao asked. He did know what Jeremy would write, since it was going to be sent to his girlfriend, but he asked him just to see his ashamed face.

Jeremy looked down and blushed. He looked at the fourth year and finally said, "Normal stuff... okay, I'll tell you. But don't laugh at me. I'll write 'I love you'."

Francesca smiled, "why would we laugh, it's a serious thing, isn't it?" she asked rhetorically. Jeremy nodded.

"Well, then... I can do it; I'm used to those kind of spells. What else?"

"I would like to add a song to the parchment, which would start to sing when Artio unrolled it."

"Artio, huh? What does she look like?"

"Yes," Jeremy looked at the ceiling. How was she... she was a goddess, the goddess responsible for his life. "She's a normal build, blue eyes and blonde hair, a bit longer than shoulder-length..."

"Wow, she's really a goddess," Simao commented, waking Jeremy up from his dream. He smiled; she was really his goddess, his girl!

"The music," Simao remembered, "I don't know how to cast music spells, I tried to learn but it never worked. My friend Maria knows how to do it, though."

"Oh, okay," Jeremy said. "Where's she?"

"She's probably in her common room. She's a Crab. We can't go there but Francesca can send her an owl."

Francesca nodded and wrote a quick note to Maria, sending the small owl from one of the Great Hall windows. When she came back, Jeremy had already explained that he also wanted all the colors of the rainbow on the words, which should also dance through the parchment and resize themselves instantly. There should also be an animated picture that he had found in a book in the library, but he did know how to do that one. And perfume, the letter should smell like a rose.

"You really thought of everything," Simao commented, "and she must be really special. I don't know anyone who would do all these things to a simple letter! Where do you have the parchment, so we can get started?"

"I left it up in my dormitory. I don't think you can go there," Jeremy said. Francesca nodded, he was right; she couldn't let him enter their common room although she knew that he was a good guy. But those were school rules, and she was a prefect.

"I am always breaking school rules, so I wouldn't care," he commented, "but since your prefect status could be at stake, I won't go. And we have to wait for Maria, she knows about the song and the perfume spells."

"Then I'll go there and bring the parchment here so that you can cast the spells," Jeremy said.

"No," Simao advised. "It's better for us to go to an empty classroom where no one can disturb us," he recommended.

"Okay," Jeremy said. Simao told him about a room on the third floor where there were some chairs. He and Francesca would meet them there when Maria arrived in the Great Hall.

***

When Jeremy and Walter arrived at the dark common room with the big parchment roll and the book from where he would copy the image effect, the other three students were already there. Maria introduced herself, and Jeremy doubted that she was really a fourth year. She was a tiny girl, with black eyes and curly purple-black hair. She looked more like a second year from by her size.

"Simao has already told me your idea," she said. "It's perfect. I'd like to receive a letter like that, it is so romantic!"

"Perhaps one day," Simao joked. She pounded his arm without hurting him.

"So, let's do it?" Simao asked, "It's almost ten o'clock and we should return to our common rooms by that time. Unroll the parchment, let us get started."

Walter helped Jeremy unroll the parchment, which was very big: about three meters square. Simao and Maria looked terrified because it was bigger than they were expecting. However, they didn't refuse to do the job.

"Totutamanho I love you," he said gesturing with his wand. All over the parchment the three words appeared in different sizes, getting bigger and smaller by themselves.

"Difletras I love you," he continued, and the font of the expressions started to change to different styles, old and modern font types, curly or straight letters.

The parchment was full with the repetition of the expression, now changing size and font, but Simao kept enchanting it, "Iriscores I love you," the expressions gained colors and started to change color by themselves.

"What else do you want?" he asked.

"The movement all over the parchment," Jeremy remembered.

"Oh yes, I forgot that one," he said, "Baila I love you." The expressions started to move and turn on the parchment, mixing and passing through the letters of others. The central expression, however, didn't have all the effects. It was bigger than the others, without resizing and the only thing that changed was its color; it was static in the middle of the parchment, too, as Jeremy had asked Simao.

"My spell is done," Simao said, "like it?"

"It's great," Jeremy commented, paralyzed with the effect of the colors, the fonts, the sizes and the movement.

Jeremy himself read the spell from the book he had brought. In the parchment appeared the image of two small owls, flying to each other and kissing. It was sweet, Maria commented.

"I'll cast my spells now," Maria said, "first the song."

She mumbled something that no one understood and it started to sing a romantic music that was very well known in the wizarding community. It was just like Jeremy had thought, he had said.

"Cheirrosa," she cast the second spell and immediately the smell of fresh roses came from the parchment.

"Thank you all," Jeremy said, "I hope I can do a favor for you sometime."

"You're welcome," Simao said.

"You just did this for us: I never thought we could produce this magnificent letter! We have to go to our common rooms; there are only two minutes until Mrs. Hoogendyke starts her rounds around the castle."

"You're right. I still have to go get an owl to carry this."

***

Jeremy finished writing the letters that he had also thought about. Walter kept telling him that it was past ten, and that it would be dangerous to get back to their dormitory. If Mrs. Hoogendyke, the caretaker, caught them, they could get detention.

Jeremy knew it but he had to send the letters first.

He raised his arm to the ceiling. That way, he would get an owl to bring his letter to wherever he wanted. The owls were trained and when a person needed one of the Academy ones, they just went there and raised their arm.

Instantly a big gray owl flew down to his hand and he asked Walter to put his arm horizontally, so that he could call more owls. The parchment was too big, although a spell had been cast to make it look smaller. And it was too heavy for one owl, so Jeremy raised his hand four more times, so that he would tie the parchment roll to the bigger ones.

Walter asked him to tie the parchment to the owls quickly because he was covered with feathers.

Jeremy tied the first letter to an owl and whispered it "Artio Sperios, Hogwarts." It immediately flew from the window in the ceiling and vanished from their vision. He tied the big parchment to three owls and told them the same, and after two minutes he did the same with the fifth owl.

They should arrive in that order, Artio should read the three letters in the sameorder that he had sent the owls.

When they were returning to their dormitory, Walter heard footsteps in a corridor and started to run to avoid Mrs. Hoogendyke. However, Jeremy caught his arm and whispered, "Calm down. Walk normally. If she sees us, I know what to say."

"Do you?" he asked.

"I do," Jeremy calmed him.

He should really know what to say because as soon as they turned the corner of the corridor, they heard Mrs. Hoogendyke.

"What are you doing out of your common rooms? It turned ten o'clock some time ago!" she tried to look severe but her sweet heart didn't let her work as caretaker as that person should.

"We know, Mrs. Hoogendyke," Jeremy said, "I just went to the owlery. I don't have my own owl and my mother is sick, so I went down there to send her a letter."

"Oh, then you have a good excuse," she said, smiling. And then with what should seem like an evil expression, "but if you didn't, you'd know what detention is!"

"We're sorry," Walter added.

"Okay, let's get back to your common room. I'll go with you..."

***

Almost two days later...

Cho Chang was looking outside at the fields when a gray owl splashed in the window. She woke up from her dream and called Artio Sperios, a girl that had come from a school in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. She had been helping the girl by tutoring her; she had to have extra lessons because, at her age, she was a fourth year at Hogwarts, while at Lusitania, she would just be getting started with magic.

"Hey," Cho called, "Artio, owl for you."

"One more?" she asked, surprised. She had woken up in the middle of the night because there was an owl from her best friend, Cynthia, knocking on her bedroom window.

"Yes. And this one seems to be enchanted!" Cho grinned. She untied the letter from the owl's leg and tried to read it. No way, it was enchanted with some spell so that only Artio could see the words. "Hum!" Cho continued, smelling the air, "It has perfume!"

Artio stood up from the chair, putting the book on the desk. She had been reading her book about Transfiguration, which she had had in the afternoon: she had lost five points from Ravenclaw because she was asked how to turn a feather into a quill and she didn't know how. The basic answer was in the very first page of her book.

"Show it to me," she asked, "It's mine!" she grinned.

Cho gave her the letter and while Artio unfolded it, Cho kept looking over her shoulder.

"Hey!" Artio said, meaning that she should not be spying on her letter. Cho grinned and went away, not stopping to look at her.

It was a letter from Jeremy, finally he had written to her!

To the sweetest girl on the face of Earth

Dear Artio,

I've thought about us both day and night, my eyes tend to close during classes, when I finally have time to sleep because the subject doesn't have any interest.

I think I'll ask Professor Shayra to let me found a new class, Deep Study about Artio Sperios.

Artio smiled, he was always so funny!

I can't think about anything except you.

I was stupid when Cynthia told me you were gone and I was angry with both of us. One hour ago, after dinner, she asked me to talk; we went to the fields and sat down on the grass.

She explained to me that you had no chance, one more time she told me the same thing, the truth.

I could have told you that I thought it'd be good for me to write this letter but I won't tell you that, just because it isn't the truth. It was Cynthia who told me to send you an owl; then I agreed and here it is.

I just want to tell you one thing.

Artio heard a great noise behind her, but since she hadn't finished reading Jeremy's letter, she didn't turn her head and so she didn't see three owls, who were carrying a great roll of a yellowed parchment.

The only thing I want to tell you is the most important one.

She stood looking at that letter, not understanding anything. The letter simply ended with those words. The last sentence was 'The only thing I want to tell you is the most important one'. Was Jeremy crazy? She looked at Cho, who was rolling her eyes and grinning, then laughing out loud as if she had been enchanted with a laughing curse.

Then she turned her head, to see what Cho had been laughing about.

The three owls were carrying a big parchment roll; it was so heavy that three owls were needed to carry it.

Artio understood that was the continuation of Jeremy's letter.

As she opened it, the parchment was more than three meters square, she could read "I love you!!" in every shape, size, color and font. The font was changing, as the color of each word, and its size. In truth there was a central sentence in the middle of the parchment, 'I LOVE YOU!' and many other sentences, dancing over the yellowed parchment, changing its colors and singing music, which could be only heard 'I love you' thousands of times. There were also two weird owls, one pink and one green, dancing and kissing and flying all over the scenario.

Artio was laughing with happiness, she had never received a love letter like this one! Cho joined her and hugged her, and they both grinned.

"Do you see," said Cho, almost inaudibly because of the singing from the enchanted parchment. "He loves you too!"

After that happy moment, and when they were both calmer (all the other girls became interested, wishing that the same happened to them; some boys did steal the idea to surprise their girls some days later), Artio noticed there was one more owl waiting to leave its letter.

I love you!

I will love you forever, you are my girl, and I am your boy.

The distance between us won't break what I feel.

I will always understand everything you do, certainly you have some reason to do that and not do other things.

I'm sorry for the pain I caused you, I know how you felt, not having any news from me; I felt the same way.

Take care.

Yours, with Love,

Jeremy

P.S. can you feed the five owls I sent you? They're from the Academy and I don't want them to arrive here almost dead.

Artio couldn't believe that Jeremy had done such a thing; it was, and would be, the most original love letter she had ever received (in fact it was the only love declaration she had received since she was born). And, yes, she'd feed those owls, which had brightened her day.