The Basement.
The temperature dropped significantly when they got to the bottom of the basement. They could see their breaths coming out in small puffs of white.
“This is so much creepier than it should be.” Remus said.
“Of course the fucking basement is creepy.” Sirius said. “It’s like super close to hell and all that.”
“Then what about train stations? Aren’t they deeper? Why aren’t they haunted?” Remus asked.
“Maybe the people scare them away? I don’t know, Remus, don’t ask me things I don’t know.” Sirius said.
“How am I supposed to know what you know and don’t know unless I ask?” Remus crossed his arms.
“Touché”
They come to a halt at the bottom of the stairs. They set up a little circle near the stairs so that they don’t have to go further into the darkness of the basement. Plus, being near the stairs means that they could just run up them if something scares them that much.
“Soooooo, what should we use here?” James asked.
“I’m thinking, the Estes Method.” Peter said, setting up the camera so it faced them all.
“Oh. I think you should be the method-er,” James said, digging in his backpack for the soundproof headphones. “Explain the method for our dearest viewers, Peter.”
“The Estes Method is where one person sits with a blindfold on and headphones so that they can’t hear or see the other people around them. And in the headphones a spirit box will play, so the person who’s blindfolded has to say what they hear. Is that right?” Peter said.
“Spot on, Pettigrew.” Sirius called from the opposite side of the basement.
Peter put on the blindfold, and then the headphones. He sat tense for a few seconds before relaxing into whatever was playing in the headphones.
“Hello.” Peter said.
The other four looked at each other.
“Are we welcome in this basement?” Remus asked.
After a gruelling minute, Peter answered, “no.”
“Why?” from James.
“Bad.”
“What’s bad?” Sirius asked.
“Energy. Spirits. Drowning.”
“Drowning?” James whispered.
“Cave. Bad.”
Sirius looked pale. He looked at James, who nodded.
“What’s your name?” Sirius asked.
“Reg- Bathsheba”
“I think that’s enough, Remus, get Peter to get out.” Sirius said. Remus reached towards Peter.
“He’s mine.” Peter immediately threw the headphone off his head, and took the blindfold off. He was breathing heavily. “That thing said my name. I’ve never been more scared.”
“Need some holy water, Pete?’ James asked, trying to get Peter to calm down slightly.
“Yes. bucketfuls.” Peter replied.
Above them, even footsteps walked around. Everyone looked at each other to see if they were hearing the same thing. It looked like they were. Peter ran to the camera and saw that it was luckily still recording.
The footsteps continued until they heard a creak from the door. James screamed and ran to Sirius and hugged him. Remus rolled his eyes and went up the steps.
“It was literally just the house moving. Breezes and all that.” Remus called down to them.
“How do you explain the footsteps then, huh?” James yelled at him.
“I don’t.”
“Isn’t that just wonderful?” Sirius replied.
Remus came back down the stairs and helped Peter collect their things so that they could leave the basement. James put away the headphones and spirit box.
They walked up the stairs and into the living room together. James sat on the closest sofa.
Sirius screamed. “James, you just sat on a rat! Like a big one. Like it was so big. Get up!”
James got to his feet and started screaming too, about sitting on a rat. Then Pete started screaming at them to not insult the rat. Then Remus started screaming at them to stop screaming.
“SHUT UP.” Pandora yelled, her voice somehow carried above their voices, like magic.
They stood in silence, staring at Pandora, who just pointed to the corner.
“I saw something move over there. I don’t know what it was. It certainly wasn’t a spirit.” She said seriously.
“Oh,” was all Remus said.
James started laughing hysterically and Sirius joined him. They weren’t quite sure why they were laughing, but it was better than being completely afraid of what Pandora saw.
Remus stood next to Pandora and together they stared at James and Sirius until they stopped laughing.
“I think that concludes our investigation,” Peter said quietly, holding the camera.
“I think it does too, Pete.” Remus said.