A Story about four very different people who become the very best of friends.
This is the story of James, Sirius, Remus and Peter, later known as, Moony,
Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs.
Chapter One – The First Day
It was a crisp September 1st when James Potter awoke in his bed in number 36
Rainers Way. It took James a few seconds to remember the significance of this
day. To everybody else James was just a normal eleven year old excited about
his first day at secondary school but James was no ordinary boy. James was a
wizard and it was to be his first day at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and
Wizardry. Although it was assumed that James would go to Hogwarts (after all
both his parents did) it was still a relief when James saw the letter attached
to the leg of an unfamiliar owl (owls are a wizards preferred use of contact
between themselves and other wizards).
Dear Mr Potter
I am pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of
Witchcraft and Wizardry.
James had reread this sentence so many times over the summer holidays that the parchment was beginning to fall apart, yet every
time he read it he expected it to say something different. Now that the day had
finally arrived when he would be going to Hogwarts James, all of a sudden, felt
nervous. What if no one liked him? What if he didn't like the school? He had
been so excited about being accepted, that he never thought that maybe he
wouldn't like it there. After all, it meant being away from his mum and dad for
a whole year. He had never been away from his parents for longer then a weekend
and even then he was only staying at his grandparent's house. James looked at
his clock on his bedside cabinet, it read 5.50am. He rolled onto his back and
faced his bedroom ceiling. All around him were posters of his favourite
Quidditch team, Puddlemere United. Pictures of the players zoomed around inside
their posters on their broomsticks, waving and winking at James as they flew by.
He must have stayed like that for over an hour because the next time he looked
at the clock it read 7.00am.
James decided to get up and get washed and dressed for the day. Once dressed,
he walked over to the mirror on the wall and stared at his reflection. He was
thin and quite small for his age with untidy dark hair that stuck up at the back
no matter whathe did to it. He had a thin face too with hazel eyes on which
he wore a pair of glasses. "Well I suppose that'll do" he muttered to himself.
"You look fine dear" said the mirror as he walked out of his bedroom and into
the hall. James walked slowly down the stairs and into the kitchen. There he
found his father sitting at the table, in his jet black suit reading the Daily
Prophet and his mother cooking breakfast while listing to the wireless. This
rather familiar sight comforted James. James's father worked at the Ministry of
Magic in the Magical Law Enforcement department. He was also a member of the
Wizengamot and a highly respected member of the wizarding community. James was
very proud of his dad. Whenever anyone discovered he was the son of Harold
Potter, they would tell him that he was a very lucky boy. James glowed whenever
his father was praised in his presence. Ever since James could remember he
wanted to be just like his dad. Anyone looking at Harold Potter could see where
his son got his looks from. Harold was a man of average height with a thin face
and a thin body. He too had dark hair which, although tidier then James's, was
not completely tame. His eyes were bright blue but unlike his son, he did not
need to wear glasses. When James got to the door, his father stole a look up
from his newspaper and saw his son standing in the kitchen doorway.
"Look Daisy, its one of Hogwarts newest recruits!" he cried
James's mother turned away from the cooker and looked at her son. Daisy Potter
was a very attractive lady with beautiful blonde curly hair that fell to her
shoulders. She had hazel eyes and boasted a lovely figure. James loved his
mother very much and would miss her most when he went to Hogwarts.
Morning dear, how are you today?"
"Fine" lied James
"Well sit down and I'll bring you your breakfast."
Mrs Potter handed James a large plate of bacon, eggs, sausages and toast all of
which were burnt. Mrs Potter was not the best cook. As James began to look on
his plate for something that was almost edible, Harold Potter put down his
newspaper and eyed his son curiously.
"Excited about your first day at school?" he asked
"Yes" replied James.
"Not nervous then?"
"No" replied James rather guiltily
"Well you're doing better then I did then. On my first day, I was a nervous
wreck!"
"Really?" said James looking up from his plate.
"Of course! It's ok to be nervous you know. It's a big thing going to school
for the first time. Meeting new friends, learning new things. Its all a bit
nerve wracking but you'll settle down soon enough and then you'll feel silly
that you were worrying about it in the first place"
"That's right" added Mrs Potter, now coming to sit at the table with her husband
and son. "We all get nervous; it's nothing to be ashamed of."
It was as if a huge weight had been lifted off James's shoulders. His dad had
been worried when he went to Hogwarts too. James's thoughts were interrupted by
his father speaking again
"I've taken the morning off work so I can come with you and your mother to the
station to see you off. We will be leaving about 9.30am as we will have to take
Muggle (non-magic people) transport to Kings Cross and from what the Misuse of
Muggle Artefacts department have told me, Muggle transport isn't always the most
reliable. Make sure you are ready to leave at 9.30am James ok?"
"Ok. Sorry mum, I can't eat anymore of this" said James as he pushed his plate
away from him. Mrs Potter smiled, whipped out her wand and made the plate float
through the air and dispose its contents into the rubbish bin which immediately
burped with approval. Both Mr Potter and James laughed at the bin's love for
Mrs Potter's food.
"Well at least something likes it!" said Mr Potter as he went back to his
newspaper.
James laughed again and left the kitchen to make sure he had packed everything
on the list he received with his letter of acceptance from Professor McGonagall.
This was an unnecessary task as James knew full well that he had packed
everything on that list at least two weeks ago but just to make sure he checked
it again. James rummaged through his trunk, found the letter and started to
tick off the stuff he had already packed.
Uniform
Three sets of plain work robes (black)
One Plain pointed hat (black) for day wear
One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)
One Winter Cloak (black, silver fastenings)
Please note that all pupils clothes should carry name tags
Books
The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk
A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot
Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling
A Beginners Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore
Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander
The Dark Forces: A Guide of Self Protection by Quentin Trimble
Other Equipment
1 Wand
1 Cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)
1 set glass or crystal phials
1 telescope
1 set brass scales
Sure enough, all his spell books, robes, underwear and pictures were all in his
trunk. Next to it was his cauldron which was too big to fit into his trunk.
James then looked at the last sentence on the page
Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad
James longed for a pet of his own. He had neither an owl a rat nor a toad, his
mother would never let him have a pet in the house (Mrs Potter was very house
proud). Just as he had finished checking and re checking the list, he heard his
mother's voice call him. "James? James? Could you come downstairs please?"
He looked over at his clock; surely it wasn't 9.30am already? He was right, it
wasn't.
He hurried down the stairs and found his mother and father grinning as he
entered the kitchen. "Is everything ok?" he asked.
James's mum looked at him then at her husband. "Well! Are you going to give it
to him then?
Mr Potter beamed at his son "Me and your mother thought, with you being so far
away, that you might like to have your own owl." With this Mr Potter went out
into the garden and a few seconds later brought in a cage. In it sat the most
beautiful owl James had ever seen. It was a tawny owl with golden feathers all
over its body except on its face which was pure white. James stepped forward
and took the cage from his father and admired this truly beautiful creature.
"Do you like her?" asked Mrs Potter rather anxiously.
"I love her! Thank you so much!" replied James happily
"We haven't named her. We thought you would want to do that" said Mr Potter
still beaming.
"I think I will call her, Willow."
Willow hooted with what sounded like appreciation. "That settles it then,
Willow it is" said Mr Potter.
James spent the remainder of his time admiring his new owl in his bedroom. The
more he looked at her, the more beautiful she became. It wasn't until Mr Potter
knocked on James's door and told him that it was time for them to go, that James
began to think about his first day at school again. He slammed his trunk shut
and Mr Potter took out his wand and muttered Locomotive trunk which lifted
James's trunk and made it float down the stairs. James carried Willow down the
stairs and had one last look around his house before he left. He was going to
miss this house but Hogwarts was his home now, so he picked up Willow's cage and
followed his parents out of the front door.
The trip to Kings Cross was quite uneventful except for the strange looks James
got carrying Willow. He could understand the curiosity of the Muggles. It must
seem strange for them to see a boy of eleven carrying an owl around in broad
daylight. Although James and his parents were wizards, the Potters lived in the
Muggle world. This was not unusual. There were not many purely wizarding
communities anymore. Hogsmeade was the only total wizarding village left.
Muggles tended to out number wizards and witches by quite a margin. Years ago,
many witches and wizards had to marry Muggles to avoid dying out. This meant
that wizards and muggles had to live together. The wizarding community, however
were very conscious of keeping their world a secret and would try to blend in
with the Muggles way of life as best they could. James had always known he came
from a family of wizards, (a pureblood family as it is sometimes called in the
Wizarding world) yet he was very familiar with Muggles. His parents chose to
send him to a Muggle primary school so that he would appreciate Muggles for whom
they were and not believe him to be above them like some wizards did. When he
and his parents arrived at Kings Cross, they had to find the entrance onto
Platform 9 ¾. James did not know where this gateway was and was busy looking
for signs telling him where the platform was, when his parents stopped in front
of a wall in between Platforms 9 and 10. Although James knew about the
wizarding world, he did not know everything about it. He did not know how he
was going to get onto Platform 9 ¾ (the platform the train to Hogwarts left
from). He looked at his parents rather blankly. "This is entrance onto
Platform 9 ¾" his mother replied to his confused expression. "You walk in
between platforms 9 and 10 and that takes you onto the platform for the train to
Hogwarts. James laughed. This was a solid wall. He had seen wizards apparate
and disaparate. He had even seen his own father's head in the kitchen fire, but
surely this wasn't going to work!
"But this wall is solid. How can I walk through a solid wall?"
Mr Potter smiled. "Things are not always what they seem!" and with this he
took his son's arm, looked around to make sure there were no Muggles near by and
walked with him towards the wall. At any second, James expected to hit his head
on the brick wall but instead he walked straight through it. The next thing
James knew he was standing on Platform 9 ¾ with all the other Hogwarts students
and their families milling around him and a scarlet train reading 'Hogwarts
Express' straight in front of him.
"Impressive isn't it?" said his mother who had just appeared at his side.
Impressive wasn't the word. James looked around him in total awe. This was
going to be the beginning of a great adventure.