RUDE AWAKENINGS
CHAPTER ONE
It was the start of Lily's final year at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. Lily Evans was a bright sixteen-year-old girl, who had been getting very good marks in her classes, and she was tipped to pass all her N.E.W.Ts by Professor Levine, the head of Gryffindor house.
Lily was tall and slender, and she had a mane of dark red hair that cascaded down her shoulders. Her eyes were large and bright green like huge emeralds. She was beautiful, so beautiful in fact that Lily had attracted the eye of the James Potter, a boy in her year at school. They had become quite close before the end of last term, and Lily couldn't wait to see him again.
"Lily!"
A shrill voice came from behind her; Lily whipped round to see her best friend Hillary Kibble running towards her, her black robes billowing as she ran.
"Wait there!" she said as she made her way through the crowded platform at Hogsmeade station. Hilary eventually came puffing towards her. Lily could not help laughing as Hillary bent over trying to catch her breath.
" I see exercise was not on your list of 'things to do' this summer?"
"That's not funny." Then, abruptly changing the subject, "Did you have a good summer Lily?" Hillary was struggling with her trunk. "I went to stay with my aunt in Sweden - it was brilliant!"
Lily smiled at her friend. If only she could get away from her overbearing sister for the summer. Now that would be brilliant.
"That's nice," she eventually said.
Lily was becoming a very accomplished young witch, and she had a flair for performing Charms. Lily was a Muggle born. Her family was so proud of her. That is unless you were Petunia.
Petunia was Lily's sister, and she was a bully! She made Lily's life so miserable that she hated going home for the holidays. Now Petunia had a boyfriend called Vernon who was just as unbearable. This summer had been the worst yet. Just the other night, Vernon was visiting Petunia when Lily came in with all her books for Hogwarts. She had intended to put them in her trunk, but on seeing Petunia and Vernon she had thought better of it. She turned to go back upstairs, when she heard Petunia's voice from behind her.
"Where do you think you're going, freak?" Petunia grinned sneakily at Vernon. "Come here!" she growled.
Lily rolled her eyes skyward and turned to walk towards where they were sitting.
"What do you want Petunia?" she asked.
Vernon looked at her with extreme disapproval from behind Petunia. He wasn't brave enough to challenge her directly in case she turned him into a warty toad or something.
"What have you got there?" She made a grab for the books. "Let me see - they had better not be from my room?"
Lily showed her the books: The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 6; A History of Magic; One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi and Magical Drafts and Potions.
"I don't think these belong to you, do they Petunia?" she said sounding braver than she felt.
Petunia glared at her.
"We'll see!"
Before Lily had chance to realise what was happening, Petunia had grabbed the books, and threw them all on the open fire that was aglow in the large fireplace. Lily screamed in horror.
"NO!"
But it was too late she couldn't save the precious books. Vernon was holding her back. If only she had her wand, but it was upstairs hidden away. Poor Lily crumpled on the living room floor and sobbed.
"Why? Why did you do that?"
"Because I could!"
Just at that moment Lily's mother came through the front door; she had been out shopping with her husband.
"What on earth has happened here?" her mother asked, surveying the scene. Spotting Lily's crumpled form on the living room floor, she ran over to comfort her.
"What's wrong dear?" her mother brushed away the tears affectionately from her face.
"Oh mum, I'm so sorry, but it wasn't my fault." Her mother looked puzzled.
"What do you mean?" Mrs. Evans was helping her off the floor, cuddling her. "Come on dear, now calm yourself."
So Lily told her mother what had happened. Petunia and Vernon looked shiftily at each other. Now she was for it, Petunia thought to herself.
"Don't worry Lily, they're only books, they can be replaced." Mrs. Evans was now glaring at Petunia and Vernon. Turning to Lily she said, "We will have to go back to Diagon Alley tomorrow and get you some more."
Lily was shocked she knew her mum and dad had very little money spare.
"B-But!" She started to stutter a protestation, but her mum dismissed it and turned to the two culprits looking on.
"Now then you two, this is what I propose we do. You and Vernon will put together for the new books and replace the ones you destroyed. Is that clear?" Vernon's jaw dropped and he began spluttering, but no words came. Petunia stared in disbelief at her mother.
"Good. I'm glad that's agreed," said Mrs Evans and she went to put the shopping away.
Lily went back upstairs, leaving Petunia and Vernon to work out between them, which of them should pay the most towards the new books. But all that seemed a lifetime ago. All that didn't matter now, for she was back at Hogwarts, back with her friends and people whom she adored more than anything.
They made their way to the carriages that would take them up to the castle. Hillary was twittering in Lily's ear about all the things she'd done in Sweden when James came towards them. He was tall and slim with untidy dark hair, his eyes peered through round glasses and he smiled broadly as he approached the two girls.
"Hello you two!"
He winked at Lily, who blushed immediately
"Hello James," she gushed. "Did you have a nice summer?" James smiled at her.
"Yes thanks Lily, and you?"
At this moment Hillary joined in the conversation about how she had learned some new spells from a book her aunt had given her.
"There's one for making your enemy's teeth enlarge!" she exclaimed in delight.
"Really Hilary?" a voice sneered behind them. "I'm sure Professor Levine would love to know that." They all turned round to see Severus Snape. He was a tall serious looking boy with long, greasy black hair, which looked like it hadn't been washed in six months. He had a sallow complexion, and a long, hooked nose. He spoke to them in a pompous manner.
He flashed a look of sheer glee at the thought of poor Hillary getting into trouble. Snape never missed an opportunity to try and get Potter and his friends in trouble, or even better: expelled.
"Shut up Snape! You make me sick with your constant jibes." James moved forcefully towards him. "Get lost! Or I'll try that spell out on you!" James seized his wand from within his robes, and pointed it at the unsuspecting boy. "Well?" James threatened. Snape walked off snarling
"I'll get you for that Potter!"
The trio fell about laughing.
"Come on," said Hillary, still chuckling, "We'd better get into this carriage before it goes without us".
In no time at all they were making their way through the enormous Entrance Hall and taking their seats in the Great Hall to watch the first years get sorted into their houses: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. The Headmaster, Professor Dumbledore, was tall, slim and had twinkling blue eyes that peered over half moon glasses, perched on his long, hooked nose. Dumbledore's hair was very long and silver; his beard was as long as his hair, but he tucked that in his belt around his middle. Dumbledore stood and gave a small speech from his position on the staff table.
"I have a couple of announcements to make!" He surveyed the upturned faces holding on to his every word. "As most of you will know we have a new Potions Master." He gestured to his left. "Professor Griswold has retired now, so I would like to introduce you to Professor Wadsworth!"
Everyone clapped as Professor Wadsworth rose slightly from her chair and nodded. She gave a slight smile at the students, which only succeeded in looking like a grimace. Professor Wadsworth was a small dumpy woman with a stern looking face, and she wore horn-rimmed glasses that made her look even scarier.
"Now for my second announcement." He nodded towards the back of the hall, and a sea of heads followed his gaze. "Mr Vim, the school caretaker, informs me that a number of students were caught entering the Forbidden Forrest last term. I must stress again, that NO student is allowed in the Forrest." The first years looked horrified! "May I add that you can only enter if closely supervised by a member of staff. Thank you." Dumbledore raised his arms upwards. "Let the feast begin!"
At this point the tables in the Great Hall became fully laden with all sorts of food imaginable. The whole Hall came to life as the students started to chat about what they had been doing over the summer. At the Slytherin table a quiet, dark-haired youth turned to Severus and said, "What have you been doing this summer, Severus?"
Snape looked at the youth as if he was something he'd just trod in, and said, "Collecting various ingredients for my potions." Severus raised an eyebrow. "What about you Wilkes?"
His question was asked with no interest whatsoever, but Wilkes replied.
"Oh I just stayed home, reading up on my spells." He slid along the bench to be nearer. Full of excitement he then said, "I have memorised a few more now."
Severus replied, "Really?" And he carried on eating. Nothing more passed between the two boys.
*
After the feast, the prefects stood up, and directed all the first years to their dormitories.
James rose from his seat, and said, "Can all the first year Gryffindors please follow me."
The first years, looking apprehensive, got to their feet and followed James out of the Great Hall, up the large stone staircase, and down the long dark corridor that led them to the Gryffindor common room. They came to a halt at the large portrait of a fat lady dressed in pink. James then said, "Snails trails!"
The picture swung aside to reveal a hole where James climbed through, and everyone clambered through the hole after him. They emerged in a large room with a huge fireplace, with a roaring fire burning in the grate. Around the room were old lumpy armchairs with a few large tables for study. At the back of the room was a staircase that led up towards the girls' and boys' dormitories.
"Boys' to the left, and Girls' to the right."
James instructed them on where everything was and at what time their first lesson was the next day. Then he left the dorm.
"Where are you off to, Potter?"
A voice came from behind him. He thought at first it was 'Sneaky Severus', but as he turned round he saw a boy the same age as him with long, dark hair, and a big grin.
"Sirius!"
James ran up to his friend and patted him on the back affectionately. "Where have you been? I didn't see you in the Great Hall."
"I had to speak to Hagrid about something and it took longer than I anticipated." He gave James a look, as if he didn't want to go into too much detail, but James knew his friend well enough not to push the subject.
"Have you seen Remus? I haven't seen him since we were in the Great Hall."
Sirius looked perplexed, as if he was trying to remember where he had last seen Remus.
"I don't know James, I think he went off with the new Potions teacher after the feast?"
"And you haven't seen him since?" James enquired.
Sirius shook his head. "Why? Do you think something's wrong?" He looked worried.
"C'mon let's go and find him."
James grabbed Sirius' arm, and dragged him in the direction of the dungeon where the Potions class was held. They moved quietly along the darkly lit corridors; the last thing they wanted was to get caught out of the dormitory so late at night. At last they reached the spiral staircase that led them down to the dungeon and they waited outside the closed door to see if they could hear anything coming from inside. Sirius put his ear to the keyhole, and as he did so lost his balance and his head thumped against the door with a loud Thud! Almost immediately the door flung open, and the two friends were face to face with Professor Wadsworth.
"And what, may I ask, are you two doing?"
She spoke in a voice much larger than herself. The boys were about to explain, when another voice came from inside the classroom.
"Who is it Margaret?" the voice inquired.
She replied, "It's two Gryffindor boys, Headmaster."
James and Sirius looked at each other. What on earth was going on? they wondered. They didn't have long to find out as Dumbledore came to the door. He beckoned them in.
"James, Sirius," he greeted them like old friends. "Had a good summer I hope?"
The boys said they had, and asked Dumbledore about Remus.
"Ah yes, well that's a bit of a long story, and you may rest assured I shall tell it to you. But for now, I think it's time you went back to your dormitory, and got some sleep."
"But sir!" They exclaimed. "Where is Remus?"
Dumbledore could see that he was not going to get away with any excuses, so he sat the boys down at a couple of nearby desks.
"All right, don't panic. Remus is quite all right and he should be back in his dormitory by now and fast asleep. You remember the secret that Remus carries with him, don't you?"
The boys looked earnest, and nodded their heads.
"Well, we have been trying to come up with a potion that will help him during the time of the full moon, something that will help to quell the urge to change into a werewolf."
The boys remained silent in their seats as Dumbledore carried on. "Professor Wadsworth has been sent here to deal with this problem, as she has had some success with lycanthropes in East Germany. I asked for her to come and help, as a favour, and she kindly agreed. So, we have given Remus his first dose, and we just have to wait now. It's trial and error I'm afraid, but we won't give up." He gave a little smile, told the boys to go back and keep an eye on Remus, and not to tell a soul what was going on. They promised, and got up and left the room.
*
The two boys discussed what had happened while they walked back to Gryffindor tower.
"Do you think that Professor Wadsworth can help Remus, James?" Sirius looked concerned. The three of them had been very close since the first year at Hogwarts. They were also great friends with another Gryffindor boy, Peter Pettigrew, who was at that moment, asleep in his dormitory.
James dismissed Sirius' worried look, and said, "If she couldn't help him, Dumbledore wouldn't have hired her. I'm sure of that."
"Snails trails!" Sirius said, as they stood in front of the portrait of the fat lady. The picture swung forward, to reveal once more the hole that led into the Gryffindor Common Room. Sitting by the fire in her dressing gown and pyjamas was Lily Evans. Her face was lit up by the glow of the fire and she didn't look too pleased.
"Where have you two been?" She stood upright, her hands placed firmly on her hips. "We've only been back a few hours and you two are hell bent on losing Gryffindor house points!" she accused. "Oh yes and that's another thing. Is Remus with you? Because he's not here either! You are so lucky that nobody saw you wandering about after bedtime!" Then as an afterthought she said, "No one did find you wandering about.Did they?"
Sirius looked at Lily with his mouth opening and closing, but nothing coming out because he couldn't get a word in edgeways. James raised his hands and told Lily to be quiet while he explained to her the events of the evening.
"Do you think that she will be able to find the right blend of ingredients to suit him?" Lily asked. The boys just shrugged their shoulders, with a vague expression on their faces.
James tried to reassure her: "We can only hope."
But his words didn't create much comfort. The three of them stared into the flames of the fire for what seemed like hours, when Lily broke the silence:
"Come on you two, we'd better get to bed, we have a double Potions class in the morning and we will be too tired to do anything if we don't get enough sleep."
She was right of course, so the three of them rose from their chairs, and climbed the stairs to their dormitories. James flopped onto his four- poster bed next to Sirius, yawned loudly and said, as he removed his glasses, "Night Padfoot."
Sirius smiled dreamily and said, "Night Prongs."
And with that, they fell into a deep sleep. They slept so soundly that they never heard the scraping about on the floorboards or the scurrying of tiny feet heading down the drainpipe. No they heard none of that. They dreamt about dark passageways, and strange snakes slithering in between their bedclothes and hovering off the rims of the four-poster beds; strange dreams that visibly disturbed them in their sleep.
*
Gryffindor tower came to life early the next day. All the first years were busily gathering their books for the day and organising themselves to go down to breakfast. James, Lily, Sirius and Peter were no different. As they trooped down the stairs to the common room, Remus came in through the portrait hole. He looked tired and pale. He saw them coming towards him and gave a weak smile in greeting.
"How are you?" they chorused.
He told them he was fine, but the potion was not as successful as they had hoped and another formula would have to be tried in a few days. Still talking, they all went down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Sitting at the Slytherin table was Snape with his cronies Lestrange and Avery. Snape leered at James from across the table. He hated James Potter more than anything. He hated the fact that James was a better wizard than he could ever be. In short, he was jealous.
"What's he staring at?" said Lily eying the glares coming from the Slytherin table.
"Oh just ignore him Lily, I do," said James. So they ate their breakfast and went down to the dungeon for their first lesson with Professor Wadsworth.
Peter was not looking forward to it, as Potions was his worst subject. The fact that they now had a new teacher did not help his nerves much.
Peter was a quiet, twitchy, nervous boy, who found it hard to make friends, and he always seemed to get things wrong in lessons. But James Sirius and Remus looked after him. Lily, who was good at studying, also helped him with his homework, so he felt really lucky to be with such good friends.
In the Potions classroom, the Gryffindors and Slytherins all took out their cauldrons, scales, pestles and mortars and set them out carefully on the old oak tables in front of them.
"Quiet please all of you, while I take the register. Please respond clearly when you hear your name," Professor Wadsworth's voice cut through the room like a knife - all sat perfectly still. The only sound that could be heard was her commanding voice and each response, 'Here' or 'Present'. Professor Wadsworth closed the register, opened the drawer in her desk and placed it neatly inside, then closed the drawer and looked at the sea of eager faces ahead of her. She took a deep breath, collected her thoughts, and then announced:
"Today we are going to make up a wit sharpening potion."
Everyone started to gather up the ingredients needed. Peter was looking worried, moving things around and lifting things off the table. He was starting to panic.
"What's the matter, Boy?" Professor Wadsworth bellowed across the classroom. Peter stood looking scared out of his wits. He spoke quietly with his head lowered and his feet shuffling nervously.
"I have got no Armadillo Bile Professor, it's gone!" He was fretfully searching the table as he spoke. "I had it this morning, but something must have happened to it since breakfast!"
Professor Wadsworth looked pained, as if the realisation that this was the start of things to come had just hit her squarely between the eyes.
"Snape, share some of your Armadillo Bile with Pettigrew here!" she barked.
Snape looked horrified and argued that he didn't have enough, but she was insistent. Reluctantly, he made his way to where Peter was sitting, and tossed the Armadillo Bile into the mortar bowl. Peter looked up at Severus.
"Thanks," he whispered.
The rest of the lesson went on without any further interruptions, much to the relief of Peter Pettigrew, who hated drawing attention to himself. * After lunch, the next lesson was Charms. Lily loved this lesson more than any other and sat and listened as the class was instructed to 'pronounce the words clearly.' 'Accio!' they all chorused.
"No, no!" cried Professor Dewdrop in a squeaky voice as cushions came flying across the classroom from every direction. "Not yet, wait until you are told!" she advised.
Later that evening James was reading by the fire in the Gryffindor common room when Lily came to sit next to him. He looked up from his book and smiled at her, closing the book as he did so. Lily returned his smile and asked him in a hushed tone, "Are the Marauders meeting tonight?"
James looked taken aback. He stood up, grabbed her by the arm and led her out of earshot of the other students.
"Come with me!" he hissed through clenched teeth. He led her briskly to an unused classroom, and shut the door behind them. Lily was not expecting what happened next. James turned to her, grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her vigorously. He shouted at her as she started to cry in fear:
"WHO TOLD YOU? TELL ME NOW?"
All she could do was sob. "No one! I followed you all to the disused turret room last term and thought I could help!"
"Well you CAN'T!" he fumed.
He paced the floor of the classroom, trying to work something out. How could he stop this girl interfering in something that she knew nothing about? He really needed to think.
"Stop that noise!" he yelled at her. She sat at a desk, sniffing, trying to rummage for a handkerchief to blow her nose without success.
CHAPTER ONE
It was the start of Lily's final year at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. Lily Evans was a bright sixteen-year-old girl, who had been getting very good marks in her classes, and she was tipped to pass all her N.E.W.Ts by Professor Levine, the head of Gryffindor house.
Lily was tall and slender, and she had a mane of dark red hair that cascaded down her shoulders. Her eyes were large and bright green like huge emeralds. She was beautiful, so beautiful in fact that Lily had attracted the eye of the James Potter, a boy in her year at school. They had become quite close before the end of last term, and Lily couldn't wait to see him again.
"Lily!"
A shrill voice came from behind her; Lily whipped round to see her best friend Hillary Kibble running towards her, her black robes billowing as she ran.
"Wait there!" she said as she made her way through the crowded platform at Hogsmeade station. Hilary eventually came puffing towards her. Lily could not help laughing as Hillary bent over trying to catch her breath.
" I see exercise was not on your list of 'things to do' this summer?"
"That's not funny." Then, abruptly changing the subject, "Did you have a good summer Lily?" Hillary was struggling with her trunk. "I went to stay with my aunt in Sweden - it was brilliant!"
Lily smiled at her friend. If only she could get away from her overbearing sister for the summer. Now that would be brilliant.
"That's nice," she eventually said.
Lily was becoming a very accomplished young witch, and she had a flair for performing Charms. Lily was a Muggle born. Her family was so proud of her. That is unless you were Petunia.
Petunia was Lily's sister, and she was a bully! She made Lily's life so miserable that she hated going home for the holidays. Now Petunia had a boyfriend called Vernon who was just as unbearable. This summer had been the worst yet. Just the other night, Vernon was visiting Petunia when Lily came in with all her books for Hogwarts. She had intended to put them in her trunk, but on seeing Petunia and Vernon she had thought better of it. She turned to go back upstairs, when she heard Petunia's voice from behind her.
"Where do you think you're going, freak?" Petunia grinned sneakily at Vernon. "Come here!" she growled.
Lily rolled her eyes skyward and turned to walk towards where they were sitting.
"What do you want Petunia?" she asked.
Vernon looked at her with extreme disapproval from behind Petunia. He wasn't brave enough to challenge her directly in case she turned him into a warty toad or something.
"What have you got there?" She made a grab for the books. "Let me see - they had better not be from my room?"
Lily showed her the books: The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 6; A History of Magic; One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi and Magical Drafts and Potions.
"I don't think these belong to you, do they Petunia?" she said sounding braver than she felt.
Petunia glared at her.
"We'll see!"
Before Lily had chance to realise what was happening, Petunia had grabbed the books, and threw them all on the open fire that was aglow in the large fireplace. Lily screamed in horror.
"NO!"
But it was too late she couldn't save the precious books. Vernon was holding her back. If only she had her wand, but it was upstairs hidden away. Poor Lily crumpled on the living room floor and sobbed.
"Why? Why did you do that?"
"Because I could!"
Just at that moment Lily's mother came through the front door; she had been out shopping with her husband.
"What on earth has happened here?" her mother asked, surveying the scene. Spotting Lily's crumpled form on the living room floor, she ran over to comfort her.
"What's wrong dear?" her mother brushed away the tears affectionately from her face.
"Oh mum, I'm so sorry, but it wasn't my fault." Her mother looked puzzled.
"What do you mean?" Mrs. Evans was helping her off the floor, cuddling her. "Come on dear, now calm yourself."
So Lily told her mother what had happened. Petunia and Vernon looked shiftily at each other. Now she was for it, Petunia thought to herself.
"Don't worry Lily, they're only books, they can be replaced." Mrs. Evans was now glaring at Petunia and Vernon. Turning to Lily she said, "We will have to go back to Diagon Alley tomorrow and get you some more."
Lily was shocked she knew her mum and dad had very little money spare.
"B-But!" She started to stutter a protestation, but her mum dismissed it and turned to the two culprits looking on.
"Now then you two, this is what I propose we do. You and Vernon will put together for the new books and replace the ones you destroyed. Is that clear?" Vernon's jaw dropped and he began spluttering, but no words came. Petunia stared in disbelief at her mother.
"Good. I'm glad that's agreed," said Mrs Evans and she went to put the shopping away.
Lily went back upstairs, leaving Petunia and Vernon to work out between them, which of them should pay the most towards the new books. But all that seemed a lifetime ago. All that didn't matter now, for she was back at Hogwarts, back with her friends and people whom she adored more than anything.
They made their way to the carriages that would take them up to the castle. Hillary was twittering in Lily's ear about all the things she'd done in Sweden when James came towards them. He was tall and slim with untidy dark hair, his eyes peered through round glasses and he smiled broadly as he approached the two girls.
"Hello you two!"
He winked at Lily, who blushed immediately
"Hello James," she gushed. "Did you have a nice summer?" James smiled at her.
"Yes thanks Lily, and you?"
At this moment Hillary joined in the conversation about how she had learned some new spells from a book her aunt had given her.
"There's one for making your enemy's teeth enlarge!" she exclaimed in delight.
"Really Hilary?" a voice sneered behind them. "I'm sure Professor Levine would love to know that." They all turned round to see Severus Snape. He was a tall serious looking boy with long, greasy black hair, which looked like it hadn't been washed in six months. He had a sallow complexion, and a long, hooked nose. He spoke to them in a pompous manner.
He flashed a look of sheer glee at the thought of poor Hillary getting into trouble. Snape never missed an opportunity to try and get Potter and his friends in trouble, or even better: expelled.
"Shut up Snape! You make me sick with your constant jibes." James moved forcefully towards him. "Get lost! Or I'll try that spell out on you!" James seized his wand from within his robes, and pointed it at the unsuspecting boy. "Well?" James threatened. Snape walked off snarling
"I'll get you for that Potter!"
The trio fell about laughing.
"Come on," said Hillary, still chuckling, "We'd better get into this carriage before it goes without us".
In no time at all they were making their way through the enormous Entrance Hall and taking their seats in the Great Hall to watch the first years get sorted into their houses: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. The Headmaster, Professor Dumbledore, was tall, slim and had twinkling blue eyes that peered over half moon glasses, perched on his long, hooked nose. Dumbledore's hair was very long and silver; his beard was as long as his hair, but he tucked that in his belt around his middle. Dumbledore stood and gave a small speech from his position on the staff table.
"I have a couple of announcements to make!" He surveyed the upturned faces holding on to his every word. "As most of you will know we have a new Potions Master." He gestured to his left. "Professor Griswold has retired now, so I would like to introduce you to Professor Wadsworth!"
Everyone clapped as Professor Wadsworth rose slightly from her chair and nodded. She gave a slight smile at the students, which only succeeded in looking like a grimace. Professor Wadsworth was a small dumpy woman with a stern looking face, and she wore horn-rimmed glasses that made her look even scarier.
"Now for my second announcement." He nodded towards the back of the hall, and a sea of heads followed his gaze. "Mr Vim, the school caretaker, informs me that a number of students were caught entering the Forbidden Forrest last term. I must stress again, that NO student is allowed in the Forrest." The first years looked horrified! "May I add that you can only enter if closely supervised by a member of staff. Thank you." Dumbledore raised his arms upwards. "Let the feast begin!"
At this point the tables in the Great Hall became fully laden with all sorts of food imaginable. The whole Hall came to life as the students started to chat about what they had been doing over the summer. At the Slytherin table a quiet, dark-haired youth turned to Severus and said, "What have you been doing this summer, Severus?"
Snape looked at the youth as if he was something he'd just trod in, and said, "Collecting various ingredients for my potions." Severus raised an eyebrow. "What about you Wilkes?"
His question was asked with no interest whatsoever, but Wilkes replied.
"Oh I just stayed home, reading up on my spells." He slid along the bench to be nearer. Full of excitement he then said, "I have memorised a few more now."
Severus replied, "Really?" And he carried on eating. Nothing more passed between the two boys.
*
After the feast, the prefects stood up, and directed all the first years to their dormitories.
James rose from his seat, and said, "Can all the first year Gryffindors please follow me."
The first years, looking apprehensive, got to their feet and followed James out of the Great Hall, up the large stone staircase, and down the long dark corridor that led them to the Gryffindor common room. They came to a halt at the large portrait of a fat lady dressed in pink. James then said, "Snails trails!"
The picture swung aside to reveal a hole where James climbed through, and everyone clambered through the hole after him. They emerged in a large room with a huge fireplace, with a roaring fire burning in the grate. Around the room were old lumpy armchairs with a few large tables for study. At the back of the room was a staircase that led up towards the girls' and boys' dormitories.
"Boys' to the left, and Girls' to the right."
James instructed them on where everything was and at what time their first lesson was the next day. Then he left the dorm.
"Where are you off to, Potter?"
A voice came from behind him. He thought at first it was 'Sneaky Severus', but as he turned round he saw a boy the same age as him with long, dark hair, and a big grin.
"Sirius!"
James ran up to his friend and patted him on the back affectionately. "Where have you been? I didn't see you in the Great Hall."
"I had to speak to Hagrid about something and it took longer than I anticipated." He gave James a look, as if he didn't want to go into too much detail, but James knew his friend well enough not to push the subject.
"Have you seen Remus? I haven't seen him since we were in the Great Hall."
Sirius looked perplexed, as if he was trying to remember where he had last seen Remus.
"I don't know James, I think he went off with the new Potions teacher after the feast?"
"And you haven't seen him since?" James enquired.
Sirius shook his head. "Why? Do you think something's wrong?" He looked worried.
"C'mon let's go and find him."
James grabbed Sirius' arm, and dragged him in the direction of the dungeon where the Potions class was held. They moved quietly along the darkly lit corridors; the last thing they wanted was to get caught out of the dormitory so late at night. At last they reached the spiral staircase that led them down to the dungeon and they waited outside the closed door to see if they could hear anything coming from inside. Sirius put his ear to the keyhole, and as he did so lost his balance and his head thumped against the door with a loud Thud! Almost immediately the door flung open, and the two friends were face to face with Professor Wadsworth.
"And what, may I ask, are you two doing?"
She spoke in a voice much larger than herself. The boys were about to explain, when another voice came from inside the classroom.
"Who is it Margaret?" the voice inquired.
She replied, "It's two Gryffindor boys, Headmaster."
James and Sirius looked at each other. What on earth was going on? they wondered. They didn't have long to find out as Dumbledore came to the door. He beckoned them in.
"James, Sirius," he greeted them like old friends. "Had a good summer I hope?"
The boys said they had, and asked Dumbledore about Remus.
"Ah yes, well that's a bit of a long story, and you may rest assured I shall tell it to you. But for now, I think it's time you went back to your dormitory, and got some sleep."
"But sir!" They exclaimed. "Where is Remus?"
Dumbledore could see that he was not going to get away with any excuses, so he sat the boys down at a couple of nearby desks.
"All right, don't panic. Remus is quite all right and he should be back in his dormitory by now and fast asleep. You remember the secret that Remus carries with him, don't you?"
The boys looked earnest, and nodded their heads.
"Well, we have been trying to come up with a potion that will help him during the time of the full moon, something that will help to quell the urge to change into a werewolf."
The boys remained silent in their seats as Dumbledore carried on. "Professor Wadsworth has been sent here to deal with this problem, as she has had some success with lycanthropes in East Germany. I asked for her to come and help, as a favour, and she kindly agreed. So, we have given Remus his first dose, and we just have to wait now. It's trial and error I'm afraid, but we won't give up." He gave a little smile, told the boys to go back and keep an eye on Remus, and not to tell a soul what was going on. They promised, and got up and left the room.
*
The two boys discussed what had happened while they walked back to Gryffindor tower.
"Do you think that Professor Wadsworth can help Remus, James?" Sirius looked concerned. The three of them had been very close since the first year at Hogwarts. They were also great friends with another Gryffindor boy, Peter Pettigrew, who was at that moment, asleep in his dormitory.
James dismissed Sirius' worried look, and said, "If she couldn't help him, Dumbledore wouldn't have hired her. I'm sure of that."
"Snails trails!" Sirius said, as they stood in front of the portrait of the fat lady. The picture swung forward, to reveal once more the hole that led into the Gryffindor Common Room. Sitting by the fire in her dressing gown and pyjamas was Lily Evans. Her face was lit up by the glow of the fire and she didn't look too pleased.
"Where have you two been?" She stood upright, her hands placed firmly on her hips. "We've only been back a few hours and you two are hell bent on losing Gryffindor house points!" she accused. "Oh yes and that's another thing. Is Remus with you? Because he's not here either! You are so lucky that nobody saw you wandering about after bedtime!" Then as an afterthought she said, "No one did find you wandering about.Did they?"
Sirius looked at Lily with his mouth opening and closing, but nothing coming out because he couldn't get a word in edgeways. James raised his hands and told Lily to be quiet while he explained to her the events of the evening.
"Do you think that she will be able to find the right blend of ingredients to suit him?" Lily asked. The boys just shrugged their shoulders, with a vague expression on their faces.
James tried to reassure her: "We can only hope."
But his words didn't create much comfort. The three of them stared into the flames of the fire for what seemed like hours, when Lily broke the silence:
"Come on you two, we'd better get to bed, we have a double Potions class in the morning and we will be too tired to do anything if we don't get enough sleep."
She was right of course, so the three of them rose from their chairs, and climbed the stairs to their dormitories. James flopped onto his four- poster bed next to Sirius, yawned loudly and said, as he removed his glasses, "Night Padfoot."
Sirius smiled dreamily and said, "Night Prongs."
And with that, they fell into a deep sleep. They slept so soundly that they never heard the scraping about on the floorboards or the scurrying of tiny feet heading down the drainpipe. No they heard none of that. They dreamt about dark passageways, and strange snakes slithering in between their bedclothes and hovering off the rims of the four-poster beds; strange dreams that visibly disturbed them in their sleep.
*
Gryffindor tower came to life early the next day. All the first years were busily gathering their books for the day and organising themselves to go down to breakfast. James, Lily, Sirius and Peter were no different. As they trooped down the stairs to the common room, Remus came in through the portrait hole. He looked tired and pale. He saw them coming towards him and gave a weak smile in greeting.
"How are you?" they chorused.
He told them he was fine, but the potion was not as successful as they had hoped and another formula would have to be tried in a few days. Still talking, they all went down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Sitting at the Slytherin table was Snape with his cronies Lestrange and Avery. Snape leered at James from across the table. He hated James Potter more than anything. He hated the fact that James was a better wizard than he could ever be. In short, he was jealous.
"What's he staring at?" said Lily eying the glares coming from the Slytherin table.
"Oh just ignore him Lily, I do," said James. So they ate their breakfast and went down to the dungeon for their first lesson with Professor Wadsworth.
Peter was not looking forward to it, as Potions was his worst subject. The fact that they now had a new teacher did not help his nerves much.
Peter was a quiet, twitchy, nervous boy, who found it hard to make friends, and he always seemed to get things wrong in lessons. But James Sirius and Remus looked after him. Lily, who was good at studying, also helped him with his homework, so he felt really lucky to be with such good friends.
In the Potions classroom, the Gryffindors and Slytherins all took out their cauldrons, scales, pestles and mortars and set them out carefully on the old oak tables in front of them.
"Quiet please all of you, while I take the register. Please respond clearly when you hear your name," Professor Wadsworth's voice cut through the room like a knife - all sat perfectly still. The only sound that could be heard was her commanding voice and each response, 'Here' or 'Present'. Professor Wadsworth closed the register, opened the drawer in her desk and placed it neatly inside, then closed the drawer and looked at the sea of eager faces ahead of her. She took a deep breath, collected her thoughts, and then announced:
"Today we are going to make up a wit sharpening potion."
Everyone started to gather up the ingredients needed. Peter was looking worried, moving things around and lifting things off the table. He was starting to panic.
"What's the matter, Boy?" Professor Wadsworth bellowed across the classroom. Peter stood looking scared out of his wits. He spoke quietly with his head lowered and his feet shuffling nervously.
"I have got no Armadillo Bile Professor, it's gone!" He was fretfully searching the table as he spoke. "I had it this morning, but something must have happened to it since breakfast!"
Professor Wadsworth looked pained, as if the realisation that this was the start of things to come had just hit her squarely between the eyes.
"Snape, share some of your Armadillo Bile with Pettigrew here!" she barked.
Snape looked horrified and argued that he didn't have enough, but she was insistent. Reluctantly, he made his way to where Peter was sitting, and tossed the Armadillo Bile into the mortar bowl. Peter looked up at Severus.
"Thanks," he whispered.
The rest of the lesson went on without any further interruptions, much to the relief of Peter Pettigrew, who hated drawing attention to himself. * After lunch, the next lesson was Charms. Lily loved this lesson more than any other and sat and listened as the class was instructed to 'pronounce the words clearly.' 'Accio!' they all chorused.
"No, no!" cried Professor Dewdrop in a squeaky voice as cushions came flying across the classroom from every direction. "Not yet, wait until you are told!" she advised.
Later that evening James was reading by the fire in the Gryffindor common room when Lily came to sit next to him. He looked up from his book and smiled at her, closing the book as he did so. Lily returned his smile and asked him in a hushed tone, "Are the Marauders meeting tonight?"
James looked taken aback. He stood up, grabbed her by the arm and led her out of earshot of the other students.
"Come with me!" he hissed through clenched teeth. He led her briskly to an unused classroom, and shut the door behind them. Lily was not expecting what happened next. James turned to her, grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her vigorously. He shouted at her as she started to cry in fear:
"WHO TOLD YOU? TELL ME NOW?"
All she could do was sob. "No one! I followed you all to the disused turret room last term and thought I could help!"
"Well you CAN'T!" he fumed.
He paced the floor of the classroom, trying to work something out. How could he stop this girl interfering in something that she knew nothing about? He really needed to think.
"Stop that noise!" he yelled at her. She sat at a desk, sniffing, trying to rummage for a handkerchief to blow her nose without success.