James Potter and the Iniquitous Incursion

"James, is it scary? Is it true they feed us rats?"

James, a dark haired 12 year-old boy laughed, "No Rose," he smiled at his younger cousin, a petit girl with flaming hair and brown eyes like his own, "Hogwarts is a school of magic, not a school of torture." He shrugged, "you'll be fine. Just relax."

"What about the sorting?" Albus, James' younger brother inquired in a mousy voice. "I heard that they leave you in the dungeons with a troll and only let you out once its dead"

"Yeah, well I heard that they make you send spells at an innocent Piplup until it can't move its wings" Lily boasted to the smaller boy.

James chuckled at his younger brother and cousin. "Nice try you guys" he winked, teasingly.

"Just tell us, James," Rose begged.

"Please?" Albus asked, joining Rose in the question

James was the oldest in the extended family, and had therefore already been to Hogwarts. At first it was nerve racking, especially the sorting, which was traditionally kept a secret from all entering first-years. "Sorry guys that would ruin the fun" he laughed.

"Ah! Getoffme!" someone mumbled from outside the compartment. "I know… I'm going" the masculine voice mumbled. Suddenly the compartment door swung open to reveal Scorpius and his hated gang.

"Get out of here Malfoy" James stuttered. Both the Malfoys and the Potters were powerful families, but they were also enemies.

"I don't think I will, Potter" Scorpius spat, earning a hesitant giggle from both of his big-bodied minions. Suddenly, he tossed a small object into the compartment, laughing and watching with amused eyes.

"What's that?" Rose yelled pointing at the moving ball that was now at their feet.

"Ha-ha, suckers!" Scorpius laughed, slithering away from the compartment, followed by his two bulky followers.

"Catch it!" Rose shrieked the moment the door slammed, while hopping onto the long chair-like benches "Get it away!"

"It's alive!" Albus yelled, stomping on the ground.

"STOP! We don't want to hurt it!"

"Bu--" before Rose could finish protesting the lights flickered off, immersing the train in darkness.

"What the--" Albus exclaimed aloud but, was quickly silenced by a booming voice over the intercom

"You have no reason to panic. I am a dark wizard, and I currently have control over this train. Nobody will be harmed, our stay will be brief." The air suddenly felt cold, panic and mayhem washed over the train. The taste of fear lingered in their mouths, only to be drowned out by the sweet smell of chaos as the students slowly realised the immense danger the walls were coated with, something unfamiliar to most of the young wizards.

"James, I'm scared," Rose cried

"Move!"

"I can't see!"

"Shove over you big brute!" The three familiar but unwelcome voices came ringing into the compartment. Scorpius, Vincent and Timothy all scurried into the safe house, tainting the air with mischief.

"Get out of here, Malfoy" James exclaimed in an assertive but offended tone.

"You heard him, Potter," Scorpius said, even though he could not be seen they could almost hear the smirk in his voice. "He's a dark-wizard, with control of the train, bring back any memories?"

Timothy and Vincent laughed, admiring Malfoy like a light in the never-ending blackness. "Yeah Potter," they giggled in union.

James shivered, remembering the darkness of almost 2 decades ago. He hadn't been born then but the stories never grew old. It was a time of darkness, when the dark-wizards had almost taken over the entire wizarding world. James father, the famous Harry Potter, saved them but, the memories of the time still gave shivers.

'James," the small voice of the youngest Potter rang in their ears. "Do you have your wand?"

James smiled at Albus' cheek. "Why yes, yes I do," he announced in his best James Bond voice, trying to add some humour to the very un-humorous environment. "Lumos!" the compartment sudden lit up, and the startling light blinded them.

Worry suddenly filled the air, thicker than smoke, as they remembered the danger that filled them. James felt the small ball-like moving creature touch his leg and his mental light-switch flickered on. "Are you guys up for a little adventure?"

Turns out that the ball-like creature was actually a Piplup. A creature trained to find warmth of the soul, or as like James pointed out, happiness. They figured whoever was causing this mayhem was bound to be happy about it, and by following the Piplup, they thought they could find the evil wizards, and stop this mayhem. The only problem was, they were playing on the borderline. And if one person tripped, the whole world would come crashing down.

"Scorpius, Albus and I will go and follow the Piplup and Rose, Vincent and Timothy can stay here," James announced, proudly and confidently.

"No!"

"What?"

"NOTFAIR JAMES!" Rose bellowed. "WHY ME? WHY CAN'T THE ANNOYING ONE STAY WITH YOU?"

"Shh" James and the others whispered

"We don't want the whole train to hear!" Albus said, while covering Rose's mouth.

"It's not fair," she whispered back, breaking of her mouth guard, "I want to come too!"

"Fine." James sulked, giving in to the charisma and innocence of his younger cousin. "Just don't expect me to save you"

"Yes!" she cheered.

So, there they were, sneaking through the hallways following a scurrying Piplup. "Come 'ere boy" Vincent whistled in a quiet, but high-pitched voice. "Not too far ahead, that's right"

The mellow breathing of the group got louder as they travelled farther along the train. "How long is this place?" Rose asked, anxiously.

"I told you, you should have stayed behind" James replied, impatiently.

"I think I see something!" Scorpius announced.

The group peered ahead, searching for something, anything to hint that they were nearing the unforgivable wizards. They were still unaware of a plan to rid themselves of the pests but a lion raged inside of them, silencing the fear.

"Do you hear something, sir?" an unknown feminine voice asked.

"LUMOS!" the heavy voice from the intercom bellowed, startling the group of pre-teens and breaking their walls of defence,

"RUN!" James shouted, above the confusion.

"Petrify!" the male and female voices yelled together, causing the now-lit compartment to freeze.

Each of the students was frozen in an action-filled pose, each in flight. James' arm was clutching Rose's shoulder. Scorpius, Vincent and Timothy were all in a running stance, one leg in mid air, the other ready to bolt off the ground. Albus, on the other hand was clutching his chest, as if he was feeling his heart. His face was flushed and his face held a look of pure joy, as if he had just won a medal, unlike his friends in the room.

The man, who they could now see was wearing a white mask, dark cloak and had a slender but tall figure was staring at the boy in shock, a look of pure hatred and evil written on his face. The woman, seamed to care less about the boy. She was happily skipping around the room, with her long black hair bouncing behind her. A cloak also hid her shorter and stumped figure but unlike the man, she did not wear a mask. Instead, a mesmerizing veil, an even creepier attribute, hid her face.

"We caught the Potters, we caught the Potters," she chanted.

"QUIET!" the man shouted, taking his eyes off Albus' pose and pointing his unusually long wand at the woman.

"AHH!" Albus yelled, doing the impossible and tearing himself from the spell. He quickly ran towards the evil wizards.

As fast as night and day the dark wizards disappeared, realizing the shocking danger of the young boy. The spells were suddenly lifted from the others, and curiously they glances at Albus, unsure of what to feel or think.

"How did you do that?"

TO BE CONTINUED…