A New Year at Hogwarts

The train chugged unsteadily on its tracks, sending it into a new fit of shuddering with each turn of the wheels. James potter had his face pushed right up against the window so that the thousands of lights illuminating the castle glimmered through the condensation magically, not that Hogwarts could be any more magical than it already was.

The front edge of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry was lined with winged boars and impassive statues framed by sky-piercing turrets, giving an intimidating appearance for those new to the school, but after four years of familiarizing himself with each and every flawless expression of the figures, James found that the adrenalin did not kick in nearly so much, yet it was still there a little. It was there when he squinted out at that little window on the far left where he knew the dueling room awaited his presence, and it was there when he looked around at his friends sat with him in their snug compartment, and when he thought of the fun they were going to have this year.

Remus Lupin was passionately devouring 'The Standard Book of Spells – Grade 5'. His gingerbread colored hair curled loosely in front of his eyes, blotting out some of the words and causing him to have to keep re-reading the same line.

'Hey, Lupin, look at this.'

Remus kept his eyes on the words, still trying to follow that same dastardly sentence.

'Oi freckles. '

No answer.

'Remus!'

Remus' head snapped up and his narrowed eyes met the wide, bright grin of Sirius Black. His long black hair was stuck out at angles you wouldn't even imagine possible, bearing the resemblance of a cheap and wind-battered mahogany broomstick, and the newly applied static made it drift upwards as if he were underwater.

'You're doing it wrong you know.' Remus said, fighting to keep a straight face. He watched Sirius' wand glowing a dark and curious purple.

'I know I am you daft toad. But it's so much cooler like this.' Sirius grinned as a chunk of hair lifted into a perfect right-angle.

'G-g-guys, what happens if a teacher comes? You know what happened to that last kid who mispronounced his s-spells and started making new ones.' Peter Pettigrew's two front teeth protruded when he spoke, causing his words to burr and splutter in a most irritating way. Sirius suppressed the urge to shoot a spell at him.

'Oh live a little Wormy,' He teased. 'It's called having fun, you should try it sometime.'

Peter looked down at his chubby hands in his lap and shrunk into himself a little bit more. The three boys he called his friends had really only adopted him into their group out of pity, and because he had happened to ask in such a polite way that they couldn't have refused, so he supposed that he should be grateful and abide by their words; but within another 5 minutes James' hair had started to crackle and lift too and the idea of getting expelled popped into Peter's head once again.

'Isn't this dangerous? We'll get c-caught for sure.'

'Oh for the love of Merlin Peter, we're only having a bit of a laugh' James chuckled; looking like someone had exploded a potion in his face. Peter seemed as if he would object, but Remus gave him a silencing look that proceeded into a wide smile.

'Which spell are you using?' He asked, pulling out his wand eagerly.

'It's a spell for-'

'Idiocy,' a man's deep throaty voice interrupted Sirius and both boys hair flopped dramatically at a flick of the man's wand. Their heads shot up and they stared at the man who was leaning against the door frame. 'Spells are to be tested, mastered and sculpted only by those with enough sense in their heads to consider safety. You boys obviously do not own enough sense to have worked this out.' The man's gaze seemed to shoot from head to head, loitering on Remus' with notable hesitation before his eyes passed to meet James'.

'It wasn't doing any harm.' James argued, a familiar determinedness entering his eyes.

'That's what you thought,' the man said, igniting his own wand with a small purple light. The boys shared an awed and bewildered look. 'But this particular spell, magnified to the correct intensity, would blow a hole in the side of this train. Do you understand the seriousness of that?' The severe expression did not suit the boyish, stubbled face of the gentleman, who made stern eye contact with the four students. He looked out beneath a halo of coal-black hair, and if you looked hard enough you could glimpse the kind humor that crinkled the edges of his burnished auburn eyes. With the four students, looking out beneath a halo of coal-black hair, but lingering on each of their faces for just enough time for the boys to glimpse the kind humor that crinkled the edges of his burnished auburn eyes.

'A-are you going to send us to Mr. Dumbledore, sir?' Peter had to hold one hand over the other to stop himself from shaking.

'No, I don't believe I will.' The man said. 'If I have made myself clear,' He paused and the boys nodded on cue, 'then I see no need to. And besides,' the man said as he edged towards the door, 'if I reported you then I suppose you could have just as well reported me for discovering the nastier version of that spell in my youth.' James and Sirius were sharing sneaky sideways grins at having gotten away with their mischief whilst Remus looked on at the man with new-found respect. As the stranger turned to leave he added, 'I hope to see you all in my Defense against the Dark-Arts class, if half the students share your enthusiasm and creativity, I think I shall have a wonderful year here at Hogwarts.' And with that he left.

Each of the boys turned to each other with their jaws hanging open and excitement in their eyes, even Peter who seemed to have calmed down somewhat.

'Did you hear that?' James beamed. 'He's our new dark-arts teacher!'

'And he let us get away with that' Peter chipped in.

Remus laughed. 'He even said he liked our enthusiasm.'

Sirius' eyes were alight as he spoke: 'This year is going to be a good year.'

D: whoop whoop! It's finally up! :D

A: hope you enjoyed the first chapter ;)

D: Auri wrote this chapter, so mine is up next :3

A: Yup, please review kindly :)

D+A: Thanks for reading :D