The Runes Cast Outtake

Author’s Notes:

My usual disclaimers: I don't own anything you recognize but for Stella Barrone. I make no money, and no infringements of any sort are intended nor implied. No money (I wish!) and no claims to be doing anything but borrowing J. K. Rowling's creations, by her kindness and generosity, to play with for a while. :~)

This is a scene outtake from "The Potion Master's Easter Holiday", the one where, after Stella does Remus' Tarot reading, she does his Runes cast, up in Dumbledore's office. As is plainly seen, the original intent of this scene was to foreshadow the plotline-to-come with Stella's Divinatory skills. However, at the time, my betas both agreed that it dragged, and that it caused the entire chapter to drag, uncecessarily so... and, thus, it was cut. I did finish the scene, but a hard disk crash a few years back caused the loss of the tail end of this scene, and I've never bothered to try to reconstruct it. (Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know: One should ALWAYS back up anything important. None of these stories are any longer important enough to bother backing up.) Please enjoy the scene!

The Runes Cast Outtake
Sitting back down at his desk, Albus Dumbledore took out his wand and waved it over the desktop, and the entire Tarot layout, cloth and all, levitated up and moved over to settle gently on the floor. Albus handed the velvet bag across the desk to Estelle, and she took it.

Estelle pulled her chair closer to the desk, and she instructed Remus to do the same. She poured the Runes out of the bag, and handled them, looking carefully at each one, before putting them all back into the bag. She held the bag closed and shook them about rather thoroughly.

Turning to Remus, she said, "Now, Remus, I want you to concentrate... really concentrate... on the same questions you did downstairs in the dungeon with the tarot... And ask your questions."

Remus' brow furrowed. Slowly, he asked, "What does the future hold for my career, and especially what does the future hold for this current position as DADA instructor here?"

Estelle asked Remus to reach into the bag and pull out eight Runes, one by one, while he continued to concentrate on the question. As he pulled them out, she laid them on the wood surface of the desk, in exactly the same order as she did the tarot cards. Once all eight Runes were in place, in the same pattern as the Tarot cards had been, she closed up the bag, and she studies them in silence. Severus and Remus both noticed that Albus was doing the same thing. Albus' brow was deeply creased; Estelle's was similarly creased, and she was frowning, too. Finally, Estelle looked up and spoke to Remus, completely ignoring the presence of the other two wizards.

"This first Rune is Raidho, and it indicates your present position in your career. Raidho indicates a... 'journey of the soul', if you wish. It is a Rune that has meaning for discussion, communication... and logical, ordered thought processes. It tells us that your mind is intrinsically logical in it's working, although you prefer to discuss things out, if at all possible -- and preferably quietly. You pay particular attention to all of the non-verbal methods of communication, as well -- body language, facial expressions, etc. In fact, you may often "know" things much like a dog "knows" peoples' intentions and ideas."

She saw Remus start, and turn pale, but she continued after briefly thinking, 'I wonder what that was all about?'.

"Because of other Runes laid out here, it also suggests that you are confronted with some sort of dilemma... perhaps a moral one... nothing quite so concrete as, say, which methods to use for teaching a particular lesson, or which color robes to wear today... but more like a soul-searching moral or ethical dilemma. You are clearly of two minds about this... dilemma. There is a warning for you to pay close attention to what face you turn to people, to the public."

When she looked up, Estelle saw three pairs of eyes -- liquidy caramel brown ones, hard and flinty black ones, and sharp and piercing blue ones -- all staring at her, seemingly transfixed. This unnerved her, and she hastily looked back down.

"This Rune," she said, pointing to the second, "is Sowilo, a Rune of great power... and it refers to whatever opposes you in your current teaching position. It tells us that, whatever opposes you at this point is something which you can meet, something which you are currently worrying about too much."

Estelle saw the look of relief on Remus' face, and she saw a similar relaxing of Severus' face, too. But she noticed that Albus still looked concerned, and preoccupied, staring at the Runes. So, Albus knows what I haven't yet said... Just then, the old Headmaster looked up into her eyes, plainly asking if she was going to say the as yet unspoken.

Clearing her throat, she said warningly, "But... Remus... Sowilo can also mean that, although you desire more than anything else to be completely in charge of your life, you may not be... It also may mean either increased health... or problems with your health. The Eihwaz here," and she indicated the third Rune, "is Reversed... I'll get to that in a moment, but, you should know that it affects Sowilo, and means that that probably means that you may... or may not... meet a crucial challenge well. It also means that you are more likely not to be so fully in charge of your own affairs as you would like to be. And that your health suffers... perhaps you grow ill... I'm not sure what that might pertain to..."

She looked up at Remus and asked, "Do you know what sort of health problems you might experience?"

He looked back at her stonily. "No." He spoke that one word shortly and heavily.

Realizing that he was not going to discuss anything further with her, she moved on... "All right, then... we come to the Eihwaz, in the position referring to your deepest, unconscious wishes. Eihwaz is a Rune of Self, what your own self-journy is, what your life is. It can mean either change or trouble... or gradual development, steady progress. Upright, it means that whatever you're dealing with, you're doing it right ... and that you're moving along in the right direction. But -- Reversed, as it is here -- it means that you're traveling away from whatever you're supposed to be doing. And, it also may mean sudden change, which is not necessarily bad, but... Well, sudden change with respects to one's job can mean a change of jobs -- good or bad for you -- but it would certainly imply that you might not be teaching here for much longer! It's entirely possible, of course, that you are offered a far more lucrative position elsewhere... or a job you like better, for example."

Estelle tried her best to put a happier spin on things. She saw, however, that Remus looked about as glum as she'd ever seen a man look... and that Severus and Albus weren't all that far behind.

She continued hastily, saying, "This Rune, Hagalaz, concerns the actuality of the matters of you and you job here. It is a Rune of Limitation. It deals with forces that are outside your sphere of control, Remus, and it's usually an elemental disruption, which could be either good or bad. You now... like the tides, the rising and setting of sun and moon daily... things like that... Things that are definitely not anything which you can ever hope to change."

She looked up at a sharp intake of breath. Was it Remus... or Severus? Why? What did I say? She found Severus and Remus locking gazes. A swift glance at the Headmaster revealed nothing; he was busy staring at her! Estelle continued haltingly.

"Hagalaz also implies that you might be considering taking great risks, Remus, and, if you are, then consider yourself very clearly warned not to push ahead with those... Do not push ahead; Do not begin something new! Instead, ride out the coming storm! Haglalz is explosive in this particular cast."

Estelle looked up into Remus' eyes, filled with worry... and something... something else... something she could not identify.

"Do you understand me, Remus? I cannot say enough to make you understand how important it is to you to mind me on this..." She spoke very soberly.

Remus made a sort of choking noise in his troat, and he nodded to her mutely.

Pointing to the fifth Rune, Estelle said, "This... Tiwaz... is reversed. It refers to your innermost feelings about all of this. These feelings may be so deeply submerged that you are only partially -- or perhaps, even not at all -- conscious of them. Tiwaz is a Rune of motivation & strength of will, a Rune of victory. But, it's Reversed meaning means a lack of fidelity, a lack of love & friendship. It can also mean be a reference to things being at their lowest, kind of like 'things being the darkest before dawn'. Tiwaz may also mean that, given a particular challenge at this time, yoy may very well say 'the hell with it', and walk away form it, rather than fighting it. Oh, yes... Tiwaz Reversed may also be a Rune of Miscommunication."

Remus looked like he was going to be quite ill. Estelle felt sorry for him, and she offered to forego the rest of this casting, and trying for a better casting on another day. After watching him look at his Headmaster, who inclined his head ever so marginally, Remus looked at Severus briefly, and then looked back at Estelle.

Raising his chin and clenching his jaw, Remus tersely said, "No! Finish it. Please. Please, Estelle."

She looked into his light eyes, thinking to herself how beautiful a color they were, for a very long while, trying to gauge his resolve. Finding nothing indicating that he was doing this out of any sort of peer pressure, she looked back at the Runes on the desktop.

"This Rune, Manaz Reversed, indicates what will happen to you in the next few months, concerning your position here. It is a Rune of Interdependence, and Reversed, it indicates that no help from any other human being will be forthcoming, during the rest of the period that this casting covers -- that would be the next several months. It also means that enemies are actively working against you. It can also point to a way of life that's alien to you, and/or that, at times, you are your own worst enemy, Remus."

Never, in her entire life, had Estelle ever seen so dismal a Rune casting... following so dreadful a Tarot reading... She was profoundly disturbed. She couldn't decide id she ought to stop, now... or if she ought to finish it. Might as well finish, now... she thought to herself. Perhaps... maybe I ought to have... softened this all? ... But, then, it's likely that they would have known what I was doing... and there'd be no point to that...

"This next Rune is an indicator of what you stand to gain by all of this -- the near future as it is portended here. This is Perdhro Reversed. It is a Rune of Mystery, a Rune of Hidden Secrets, and of things you don't wish to share with the world. Reversed as it is, you should not expect too much happy. We all have skeletons in our closet... and yours will most definitely be shown to the public, and probably through the betrayal of someone you trusted not to expose them. Ah... it also can indicate Financial Disappointment or Sexual problems. Um... not romantic issues; I mean actual, physical problems -- such as err... dysfunction."

Estelle reddened as she said those last words.

A short, sharp bark of laughter escaped from Remus, who had obviously not realized that it was forthcoming. A hand flew to his mouth, and his eyes looked shocked, as if to say, 'Did I make that sound?'... His face was so pale that there was almost no color left in it.

Estelle suspected that the man might have been having some sort of... hysterical reaction. She looked at Headmaster Dumbledore uncertainly.

Dumbledore solemnly said one word. "Continue."

Estelle shakily said, "Um... This Rune... Remus... This Rune, Othila, refers to whether or not you will, ultimately, realize your professional or career 'dreams'... the 'big picture', as it were... Thank heavens it's Upright, and not Reversed! Um... It, uh, signifies... It's a Rune of Posessions, and it signifies you're finally receiving money long delayed. When paired with Sowilo, as it is here, in this casting..." and she pointed to the second Rune, "... it speaks of a very hard worker finding the fruition of all their hard work finally 'paying off' -- or someone who has been consumed with an idea finally finding that that very idea does in fact lead to monetary gains. Um, it also tells us of your finally receiving help from other people -- or ... or from... old friends of yours."

TBC? ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

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