A Very Interesting Year
Chapter One: A Rather Uninteresting BeginningJames stared blankly at the blackboard. History of magic was the most pointless, most boring, irritating of all the classes. Even Potions was better than this. And worst of all, Sirius was skiving off again, so James had no one to talk to. James wished he could skip his classes, but doing so could loose him his spot on the Quidditch team.
James looked behind him. "Even Moony can't pay attention to Binns."
It was true, Remus was face-down on the table in front of him, growling once in a snore.
James stuck his hand under his robes and brought out a small mirror. After a few moments, his reflection became hazy.
"Come on Padfoot"...James hoped as the mirror cleared again. It showed a piece of parchment with Sirius's curving pen.
James read it silently. 'Sorry, can't come to the mirror right now, do try again later, Prongsie!'
"Falling in love with yourself, eh Potter?" Snape whispered hissingly.James hastily shoved the mirror into his pocket and gave a rather nasty glare to the Slytherin prefect in front of him.
"Later Snape...Later"Snape shot James a mocking sneer the two Slytherin girls seated beside him giggled. None of this could even slow Binns' lecture on 'tenth century warlocks and the invention of stone golems'. Finally, ages later, class ended.
"Remus… Re-mus." James waved his hand in front of Remus's face. After a few seconds and no progress, James tried a less-subtle approach."Oh, hello Wren! Moony here is just-." Remus sat straight up, then finding that he and James were the only ones left in the room."Honestly James! Please don't scare me like that.." he paused, "and do not call me Moony in class.."
"As if someone were listening," dismissed James.
"They could be, and if someone found out," he looked James in the eye.
"All right, all right," James grumbled. "Come on Remus, we only have about half an hour to eat before," James sneered, "Potions"
" 'Lo, Sirius! …You missed an incredibly interestinglecture on wizardring duels today," James smiled as he sat across from his friend.
"..Really now.. are you sure it wasn't on… the 'creating of the stone golem enchantment'?" Sirius grinned.
"So, you were there? …You DIDN'T take my---" James lowered his voice. "..cloak?"
Sirius rolled his eyes.
"God forbid! To use the cloak of the great James Harold Potter," Remus mocked.
"..Why, Dear Prongsie, I do believe that I have indeed found a safer route to the destination we seek. "
James's face glowed with glee.
"Ah! I told you it would be there!" James stood up from the table.
"Quiet down, Jim, you're scaring the first years." Remus said as he grabbed James and pulled him back into his seat.
"Today, we will be making a hovering potion, it will most definitely be on your O.W.L.S test, it is a very complicated draught and if not done correctly, it can be very poisonous." Professor Malfoy grimaced solemnly. " And since you have been warned, I expect you to know that you will not be visiting the hospital wing in this period," his grimace became a twisted smirk.
Sirius raised his eyebrows and stared into his cauldron, then at James.
James had already started stirring in his unicorn hair. Sirius looked at Remus, who was copying the instructions with his Copy-Quill.
" What's the matter, Padfoot?" said James smiling. He knew that Potions was Sirius's worst subject. He also knew Sirius wouldn't ask for help.
"Nothin' James, I got it.." And with that he begrudgingly started adding his ingredients.
"..That's an interesting colored hovering potion you have there, Black," said Malfoy as he leaned over Sirius's cauldron.
"..I think it's more of an.. assortment of colors, Professor," said a Gryffindor girl beside him. Most of the entire room was looking over at Sirius by this time.
"..Can't figure out what I did wrong," mumbled Sirius as he checked over his list for the umpteenth time.
"..Well, Black.. Hovering Draughts can be any color from..well… black to.. dark brown, I'm sure you've nothing to worry about.." he filled Sirius's goblet for him.
Sirius looked at him.
"If you have so much confidence in me, why don't you try it Professor?"
"Why, you have to have confidence in yourself, Black. Confidence is the key to everything." Sirius sighed and took the cup.
"Cheers," he drained the cup. He sighed relief, as nothing seemed to happen.
After about five minutes, everyone gave up on Sirius keeling over and went about by testing their own potions.
"That's a relief, eh, Prongsie?" Sirius smiled. James's eyes grew wide.
"Uh, Sirius, your hair's turning green!" Sirius felt his head fearfully.
"No!…Mirror! Mirror!" he turned to a nearby Hufflepuff girl. "Give me a mirror, woman!" The girl of course handed Sirius her compact as if it were a dire situation, Sirius, after all, had requested it. Sirius popped it open and saw that his hair was its normal black smoothness. He exhaled and then glared at James.
"That was cruel, Prongs, very cruel." Just then Sirius found himself hovering off of his stool.
"Hey, Professor! It worked…This means I don't fail, right?" Malfoy looked up.
Sirius stood up and tried to walk over to Malfoy's desk, and did so, just hovering about two feet off of the ground.
"..Well.. You are hovering, Mr. Black.. That's well enough, I suppose."
Sirius punched the air.
"Can I drink the antidote now, Professor?"
"Be my guest, Black," Malfoy gestured toward a vial on his desk and continued his reading. Sirius let the silvery liquid drip into his mouth and waited for the effects.
Five minutes before class ended, Sirius was still hovering ominously like one of the castle's many Ghosts.
".. Well, apparently your toad was not fresh enough, Black," Malfoy gave Sirius a look of pity. "Don't worry. .I'm sure it'll wear off after a while, a few days at the most."
The Marauders sat in their usual spots for dinner that night, all but Sirius, who was still having hovering problems.
"So, what are tonight's plans?" smiled Sirius as he again tried to sit.
" I can't go out tonight, massive Astronomy scroll," sighed Remus.
"Aww, come on Moony! James and Peter can come, right?"
Peter shook his mousy head.
"Sorry Sirius, I need to work on my Transfiguration."
"James?" pouted Sirius.
".. Sirius, I have Quidditch practice.." James paused. "You have Quidditch practice, you dimwit!"
Sirius blinked,
"I'm on the Quidditch team?"
James hit his own forehead,
"YES, you're a beater!"
Sirius cocked his head sideways,
"..How come I don't know this?"
"Did you have to make me practice until 2 am, James?" whined Sirius when they entered the boys dormitories, everyone else was sleeping peacefully.
"..You needed the practice. You needed the practice really, really, badly."
Sirius looked indignant.
"…I can play! I'm just a bit rusty.."
James glared at Sirius.
"You didn't practice all break," James pointed out.
"Well, some us have active social lives," Sirius sneered. James plopped onto his bed and left the curtains open.
"'Night Black."
"G'night Prongs.." Sirius climbed into bed, or tried to. He was still hovering a good foot above the mattress.
BAM!
James shot up in his bed.
"Oww…"
James recognized Sirius's voice and looked over to his bed.
"Sirius?" James blinked trying to get his eyes to focus in the dark. "Are you..okay?"
Sirius pulled back his curtains and rubbed his head.
"… I got slammed.. damn hovering.. stupid bed.." Sirius shut his curtains and lay back down.
James listened to Sirius's inaudible mumblings for some time before they faded into light snoring.
"Wake UP James!" Remus shook him violently.
James's eyes fluttered open dazedly.
"..Hmm..?"
"WE HAVE A CHARMS EXAM IN TWENTY MINUTES!"
James leaped from his bed and began darting all around the room for his clothes.
"Where's my wand?" James patted his robe pockets.
"Sirius, where's my-" Sirius was sitting on his bed, still in his nightclothes.
"It's Saturday, Jim," he yawned. James looked over to a smirking Remus.
"Well, don't just stand there James, get ready. We're going to Hogsmeade today."
"Come on, if we wear our Hogwarts robes, they're going to knowwe're from Hogwarts. And since no one else from Hogwarts will be there, they'll know we snuck out," Remus explained.
"Yeah, umm, you guys?" Peter squeaked.
"…Yes Wormy," Sirius replied without really paying attention.
".. What if some one sees we're gone?.. I'll just stay here and cover for you," Peter offered. As if expecting it, James nodded without a word to him.
"So, invisibility cloak?" James suggested.
"I don't think we'll need it," remarked Sirius, "Besides, we'd have no place to put it when we got there."
Remus nodded his head,
"No, we can't risk being caught with the cloak."
"One thing left to decide then. Which way to go?" James inquired.
"Well, the easiest ones to use Filch knows about," Remus stated, hands behind his back, as if he were Sherlock Holmes. "The one behind the horse tapestry near Hufflepuff tower, for instance."
"'Course, that makes it all the more entertaining, eh Prongs?" Sirius grinned.
"Yeah, if there was no risk involved, than the prize isn't as sweet."
Remus rolled his eyes. "Well, in that case, James, you two can just use the one in Ravenclaw Tower."
"The one in the Common room?" Peter asked.
He was ignored as Remus continued.
"Well, we could take the one through the Witch's hump.
"Which would land us in the basement of Honeydukes, not the best place to be without an Invisibility cloak," Sirius stated. Remus nodded.
"Exactly, that's why I think we should just take the one through the mirror on the fourth floor, it should put us right behind Zonko's."
"Then after a little business there, we can go to Honeydukes, and take that exit back," James concluded. "We need to be back soon, Quidditch practice."
The four walked into the empty common room.
"Honestly, Jim, Quidditch is seriously cutting into our 'us' time!" Sirius complained. James blinked at the peculiar statement before replying.
"Please don't tell me you've forgotten that you're on the team already." Sirius smirked.
"No, I know I'm on the team.. I'm just not going to practice," he replied as he stalked out of the portrait hole.
"So, exactly what do we need?" James asked his companions upon entering the joke shop.
Sirius pulled a crumpled list out of his pocket.
"..Wow.. we're pretty much out of everything from Acid pops to.. everything else."
"We'd better get started then," Remus suggested.
"Hello boys," called the owner from behind the counter.
"Bongo," nodded James as he passed him.
"Looking for something inparticular, Master Black?" he asked Sirius.
"Restocking, is all.. and you know we know our way around well enough," Sirius replied. Bongo nodded.
"As I know it's not a Hogsmeade weekend."
"Too few and far between, Bongo," Remus sighed as he picked up an odd little trinket.
"That's are rare item, that, Master Lupin. Just got it in," Bongo smiled with pride.
"Really now," Remus turned it in his fingers. It looked almost like a Rememberall, but smaller. "What's it do?"
"Why.. it.." Bongo paused. "I'm not one hundred percent on that, I'm afraid. I think it alerts the owner of.. bad food or something," he scratched his head. "'Course, knowing me, I'm, probably dreadful wrong," he added as an afterthought.
Remus looked up at him through gray eyes. "Why would you order something if you had no idea what it did?"
Bongo fidgeted. "..You're too smart for your own good, Lupin…mine at least."
"That's our Remus!" Sirius smiled as he and James plopped an armful of various items on the counter.
"So, how'd you really get it, Bongo?" Remus asked with his rarely seen malicious smirk.
" Some odd traveler dropped it.. white beard, thought it was Dumbledore at first, without his glasses. I waited to see if he'd come back, never did. I figured I could get a few Galleons out of it."
"Well, nice little trinket, I'll give you two Galleons for it," Remus offered.
Bongo scratched his head as if calculating.
"You got yourself a ...somethin' Master Lupin," he finally agreed.
After paying, the three made their way to Honeydukes.
" ..James and I loaded down with dungbombs and exploding Knuts and all Moony has is a little glass trinket," Sirius shook his head. "When will you learn?" he asked rhetorically.
"Method three?" Remus asked James as they neared the door to Honeydukes.
"Yeah, but let's first get Wormtail some Whizbees, he'll go loony if we don't. Wait for me to say 'Keep the change' and proceed with said plan.
Sirius and James entered the shop noisily, to attract all attention to themselves. A bit after, Remus slipped in unnoticed. The store was virtually empty, luckily.
"Hello ma'am," greeted James with a smile. The woman looked out from behind her book. She seemed happy to see such kind young men.
"Well, hello, sirs. Might I help you with something?"
"Yes please," smiled Sirius. "We'd like a medium bag of Fizzing Whizbees, if you don't mind."
"No trouble at all. That'll be.. sixteen Sickles." She handed James the bag as he handed her a Galleon. She went to hand him his change.
"Keep the change," James said.
There was a large crashing from the back aisle.
The woman quickly started over to the aisle.
James and Sirius ran into the basement and lifted the trap door back to Hogwarts.
They leapt in just as Remus was entering the door. He too jumped in and shut the door behind him.
"That was a bit close, James," panted Remus.
"Well, we aren't caught, are we?" James pointed out.
"Not yet, anyway," grinned Sirius. "We still have to get back into the castle."
The trio resurfaced from the one-eyed witch statue. Since James and Sirius were loaded with freshly bought Zonko's products, they didn't dare risk being caught. They entered a passage under an orange and green tapestry and emerged right across from the Fat Lady.
"Out again, little mongrels?" she seemed rather annoyed.
"My dear portrait, how many times must we apologize?" Sirius pouted.
"Yes, we told you that the dungbomb was meant for Mrs. Norris, slight miss-calculations, we are dreadfully sorry." James pleaded.
"Just say the password, before I decide to tell McGonagall where you've been..Again ."
"Fickle fairy," Remus mumbled and the portrait swung open.
Peter jumped up from the couch.
"Finally!.. McGonagall was just here! I told her you three were at the Quidditch field! I-I..didn't know what else to say! If you hurry, you can still beat her, if you take a broom."
James groaned. "..Sirius! Stash the stuff, Remus, get my invisibility cloak.," he said as he ran into the dormitories.
It was a good thing James's dad had given him that cloak. Also a good thing Sirius had gotten a Thunderbolt broom for Christmas the year before. It was not however, a good thing they only had one of each. It wasn't very comfortable to have three people on a single broom under a single cloak..
"There she is!" Remus pointed out, "She's almost there!"
They half-crashed onto the field and Remus shoved the cloak behind him and leaned against the stands. James sped to the broom closet and grabbed his broom as Sirius unlocked the quaffle and a bludger and flew into the air.
McGonagall entered the field to see James tossing the quaffle around to himself and Sirius fending off the Bludger. She smiled.
"It's great to see you two so dedicated to the team!" she screamed up at them. James landed at hearing this.
"Oh, hello Professor! It's never to soon to start practicing." He grinned cheesily. Now Sirius landed.
"Hello Professor! Lovely weather for practice, yes?" he too grinned.
"Yes, it is. But, where's the rest of the team?"
"Well, they practiced hard last night, I figured they'd want the day off, is all," James explained.
"Indeed. Still, you," she saw Remus, "three, better clear off. Ravenclaw has the field booked for today."
"Yes, Professor," James answered.
Sirius's eyes grew wide and he jumped behind McGonagall and smashed a bludger away from her head.
"Nice block, Black." McGonagall said indifferently as she left the field.
"She's the only woman I ever knew who could nearly be clocked by a bludger and not even flinch," Sirius commented as he stowed his broom.
It was almost midnight before everyone cleared the common room.
"So, tonight's the night, eh?.. The final step to becoming Animagus." Sirius said quietly when the four were alone in the common room.
"Do you guys really want to try this?" Remus asked, " I mean, you can already change into your forms, so what if ya have to drink a potion to do it?"
"Come on Moony, of course we wanna go through with it. We can't turn back now," James grinned slightly.
None of them were acting as they usually would. Sirius seemed quiet and thoughtful, James was edgy and fidgety. Remus seemed worried for his friends, though for once he tried no to show it. Strangely enough, Peter seemed anxious to get it done.
"What, are we going to wait until morning?" Peter asked after a moment of silence.
"He's right, Jim," sighed Sirius, "Let's go."
They had to make a complicated plan to get out of Hogwarts castle and onto the grounds. Remus was the quietest and wariest, so he would go ahead, without the cloak. James and Sirius had to go get the potion they stowed on the second floor behind a portrait of Merlin. Peter would be the look out. He'd have the map with him. James and Sirius gave Remus one of their mirrors.
"Do not use it unless you have to.. it gives off a lot of light in the dark," James warned. Peter looked at Sirius.
"So, I'm supposed to stay in the main corridor until I see Remus is out, then watch out for people walking near you guys, and distract them. Why do I have to be the distraction?" grumbled Peter.
"Because, you take some potion and you'll be more likely to get away than the rest of us, Wormtail. A rat's less noticeable then a big black dog or a stag," explained Sirius.
"Just remember, the Marauders' Map hasn't got all the bugs out of it, most of the Professor's locations are accurate, just, keep an ear open in case," added James.
"Why couldn't we just get two Invisibility cloaks," asked Peter as he and Remus walked out the portrait hole.
Luck was with them that night. None of them ran into a Professor, and the closest call happened to be Peeves running into Remus.
"Loony Lupin!" Peeves grinned as Remus entered the Entrance Hall.
"Quiet Peeves," warned Remus.
"What'll loony Lupin do if Peeves ignores him and wakes the castle?"
"Loony'll call the Baron," he growled.
"And he'll listen to you?" snickered Peeves.
"The Baron and I have a lot in common, and I know what you said about him the other day, so that may help," Remus smirked evilly. Peeves sighed and flew through the ceiling with a whoosh.
Soon the Marauders' were standing outside the lake, under the new moon, adding final touches to the potion.
"Aragorn, wake up," Legolas shook the human's shoulder lightly.
"Huh," Aragorn blinked his eyes into focus. "What's the matter, Legolas?" He asked sleepily.
"Galadriel, showed Frodo and Sam something in her mirror, I think it may be important for us to see, too," he explained.
"You're not making a lot of sense, Legolas…Surely you know that a mirror will show you your reflection?"
Legolas hit his forehead.
"Nevermind that, I'll show you. Let's wake Boromir."
Soon the three were gathered around the silver mirror.
"What now?" Boromir asked.
"Just… stare at it," Legolas urged.
The humans thought him crazy, but they stared anyway. The mirror showed nothing but the reflection of the sky.
"Come on, Legolas, I don't think-" Boromir started.
"Shh, look! "Legolas pointed. The water started to ripple and the sky was unclear. When the water slowed again, a towering castle was looming in the dark.
"That doesn't look like a Dark Lord stronghold," Aragorn whispered.
Gandalf appeared behind them from the shadows.
"What are you three doing?" His voiced boomed.
The three jumped.
"Oh, just.." Aragorn started.
Gandalf pushed him aside and peered into the mirror.
"..Great!.. You three are not supposed to use this!"
The Ring on his hand glowed fire red. His hand went to splash the water from the mirror.
"Don't touch the--," Legolas started. Splash. "..Water…"
The entire mirror distorted and a black spiraling mass swirled around the four of them. The pressure was so high, they couldn't remain conscious. The delicate fabric of matter and time had been ripped at the seams…..