Title: Four Minus Two Equals One
Author: LilyoftheValley
Disclaimer: I am not attempting to take over either the characters from the muggle world or the characters of the wizarding world. They all belong to J.K. Rowling.
Summary: This story will follow the life of James Potter from the day he got his letter to Hogwarts, to the day he tried to ward of Voldemort the night he died. This story will also tell the story of when Sirius was accused of killing twelve people with one curse, and of the story of how Wormtail became under the power of the Dark Lord.
A/N: I hope you all enjoy my story! Any advice, compliments, etc… are appreciated. Thank you!
James Potter stood up and stretched from his position on his bed. The sun was shining brightly threw the window of house number seven, Sickle Street, and downstairs, the clattering of pots and pans could be heard. James, a tall skinny boy for eleven with untidy black hair and glasses looked around his room. It was decorated with posters of his favorite Quidditch players. Some were on brooms, some were just smiling and winking, and some were actively avoiding bludgers or searching for the golden snitch.
The game of Quidditch, unheard of to most people in the "normal" world, was a game played on broomsticks. Wizards from all over the world sought for a position on one of the international teams, and James himself hoped that he'd be one of them some day. His parents had taken them to see the Quidditch World Cup the previous year, and James couldn't remember when he had ever had so much fun.
"James! Breakfast is ready!" His mother called up the stairs. James jumped out of his bed and attempted to walk across his floor without tripping on one of the open books on the floor. He had had his mother pretty much buy every volume of the Standard Book of Spells along with books on Transfiguration, Quidditch, Herbology, Potions, and a book or two on the Defense against the Dark Arts. James was more than looking forward to his first year of Hogwarts; he was ecstatic. Having been surrounded by witches and wizards as he grew up, he was dying to get his hand not only on a wand, but a broom.
James pattered down the stairs in his boxer shorts and tee shirt and ran into the kitchen where he almost collided with his mother who was carrying a plate of pancakes to the table.
"Wow, slow down, James. There's enough to go around," she said affectionately. His mother was of medium height with long raven black hair that ended in slight girls at the tips. She had gentle blue eyes and laugh lines around her lips from her constantly smiling face. She wore thin wire glasses, as did his father. James's father was tall and skinny like his son with brown eyes and a face that was both fatherly and business like, for not only was he a father, but a Auror for the Ministry of Magic. James adored his father, thinking him to be incredibly brave in the line of work he did, but James interests still lay in the game of Quidditch.
Suddenly, there was a hoot coming from the owl that was now resting on the kitchen window. Tillia was the Potter's brown barn owl, and on this particular morning, she was delivering more than the Daily Prophet.
"Let's see," his mother said, thumbing threw the mail. "We've got the Daily Prophet, a letter from the Freemens, and…" she paused dramatically. "A letter addressed to a Mister James Potter of number seven Sickle Street. James jumped up from the table knocking its contents gently.
"Careful son," Mr. Potter said laughing as he took a napkin and swept it around the spilt coffee in the saucer that had fallen when James had hit the table.
"Is it my Hogwarts letter?" James asked excitedly.
Mrs. Potter smiled. "I don't know. Are you sure you're Mister James Potter?"
James stuck his hands on his hips and pouted. "Mum!"
She laughed. "Yes, it's your letter. Here, take it before you explode!" His mother gave him his letter and was surprised that in her son's haste to open it that he did not rip the contents.
"Dear Mister Potter," James read aloud. "We are happy to inform you that you have been excepted into the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You will meet at platform nine-and-three-quarters on the first of September. The train will leave promptly at eleven o'clock. Listed below are the required schoolbooks for first year students. Hogwarts looks forward to seeing you in the upcoming year! Sincerely, Professor Dumbledore."
James looked down the list of required items. In the way of books, there was Standard Book of Spells Grade One, Growing Your Own Green House, Dueling Defensively, The Past in my Pensieve, Boiling and Bubbling: Potions at your Fingertips, and A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration. The rest of the items consisted of a wand, a formal black robes for schooling, a winter cloak, protective gloves, a pointed hat, parchment, ink, quills, cauldron, and an animal of your choosing (limited to an owl, cat, toad, or rat). A side note was also written at the bottom of the parchment.
"Please remember," James read aloud with disappointment, "that first years will not be permitted to possess a broomstick." James slumped in his seat. Not being able to posses a broom ruined James's chance of trying to make a house team. "It's not fair," James said throwing the parchment onto the table.
"You know that they have your best interests at heart, James. You can always try out for a team next year," Mrs. Potter said soothingly. James said nothing. Instead of trying to change her son's mood, Mrs. Potter decided to change the subject. "Are there any books you need from that list?"
James glanced at the list sullenly. "Just The Past in my Pensieve."
"Ok," Mrs. Potter said as she bewitched the dishes to wash themselves. "Do you want to go to Diagon Alley to get your supplies today?"
James shrugged. "Alright." Being born into a wizarding family, his mother made frequent trips to Diagon Alley and to James, it really was nothing special. James slid out of his seat after eating a few pancakes and headed upstairs to dress. Being underage and never really having a reason to possess robes, James owned only muggle clothes, which actually made him feel out of place when he went into the wizarding world, but he got over it.
James slid down the banister back downstairs where his mother was waiting patiently for him. James and his mother stepped into the living room and Mrs. Potter removed the floo powder from its stand beside the fireplace. Mrs. Potter grabbed a handful of the green powder and stepped towards the fireplace just as Mr. Potter shouted, "Have fun, dear!" Mrs. Potter said the words "Diagon Alley," clearly and then threw the powder down at her feet.
James waited for the green flames to settle and then grabbed a handful himself. "Bye, Dad!" James stepped into the fireplace and threw the powder at his feet after saying his destination clearly. James felt himself being pulled through time only to face reality again when he suddenly shot threw the fireplace that was located in the middle of Diagon Alley. His mother was already standing brushing remnants of black soot off her dark blue robes.
She helped him up and they headed down Diagon Alley. A new bookstore, Flourish and Blots, had opened about a year ago, and it proved to be the best place to find schoolbooks. James headed towards the back looking for the schoolbook he needed while his mother headed upstairs to look around. James headed down one of the many bookshelves when he stumbled over something and fell to the floor.
The sound of someone laughing made James rise angrily to his feet. A young man with black hair that was slightly longer than normal length and black eyes that were filled with laughter was standing there pointing at James. James looked over his shoulder and saw a piece of fishing line across two of the bookshelves. James turned back to the laughing boy and was about to punch him when the boy suddenly stopped laughing and stepped back.
"Wooh, take it easy. It was only a little prank. I didn't mean any harm." James didn't say anything. "What's your name?"
"James," he said slowly.
"Sirius," the other boy said sticking out his hand. James took it and finally allotted a smile. James glanced back at the fishing wire.
"Kind of a muggle prank isn't?" James asked.
Sirius shrugged. "What else can I do? Still too young thanks to the Decree of the Restriction of Underage Wizardry."
James grinned. "Yeah, you're right."
"Shh," Sirius, said, pulling James farther back from the carefully placed wire. "Someone's coming."
"James, have you found your book yet?" James turned white recognizing his mother's voice immediately. He turned to look at Sirius who was giving him the same panicky look that James was sure was on his face, but before either of the boys could say anything, Mrs. Potter had rounded the corner and tripped over the wire between the two shelves. Neither of the boys laughed as Mrs. Potter got to her feet.
James looked beside him and was surprised to see that Sirius had disappeared. James however forgot that thought and ran over to his mother. "Are you okay, Mum?"
"Yes, I am. I wonder what I tripped on," she said turning around. She looked around and shrugged. "I must have tripped over my own two feet." James brow furrowed as he snuck a look behind his mother. The line that had been tied across the walking way was gone. Sirius appeared a few minutes later back at James's side.
"Well, hello," Mrs. Potter said in surprise. "And who might you be?"
Sirius passed James a quick wink before answering, "Sirius Black, Ma'am."
James jumped in to finish the introductions. "This is my Mum, Jamie Potter," James said to Sirius.
"It's very nice to meet you, Sirius. Tell me, will you be attending Hogwarts this year?" James waited for Sirius to answer, curious to hear his response.
Sirius nodded. "This will be my first year."
"How lovely," Mrs. Potter exclaimed. "James will be starting his first year too." James blushed at this. "Have you already completed your school shopping, Sirius?" Sirius shook his head. "Would you like to join us? That is, if it's okay with your parents." James watched confused as Sirius's face darkened at the mention of his parents, but he hid it quickly.
'They're at the Leaky Cauldron. They gave me some money to complete my shopping, so I'm sure they won't mind if I join you," Sirius said happily.
"Excellent," Mrs. Potter said smiling at the boys. "James, here's some money for your book. Why don't you show Sirius where you got your other school books and then meet me outside, okay?" James nodded, and Mrs. Potter left them alone.
"That was some quick thinking," James whistled.
Sirius bowed. "Thank you. I pride myself in my planning."
"Come on," James said heading over to the section of books on the far left of the shelf. "Let's get our books and then head over to Quality Quidditch and see if the new Cleansweep is out!"
Sirius's brow furrowed. "But first years aren't allowed to have brooms."
"So? In case some how I do end up on a house team, I want the best broom available. I just want to keep up to date."
Sirius rolled his eyes as James began throwing books into Sirius's arms. "You and everyone else."
James stopped. "What's wrong with Quidditch?"
Sirius shrugged. "Nothing. It's just not my cup of tea." James folded his arms.
"Have you ever even seen a Quidditch game?" he asked.
Sirius looked away. "Well no, not really. But a game where you try to throw a rock into a hop on brooms doesn't really fascinate me."
James clucked his tongue. "It's more than that," he exasperated. "You'll just have to see it. It can't be explained." James topped of Sirius's mountain of books, grabbed The Past in my Pensieve for himself and headed to the checkout counter.
The two boys paid for their books and headed outside to where Mrs. Potter was waiting. "Got the books you needed?" the boys nodded. "Good, now, I think we'll head for the owlry. Sirius were you going to purchase an owl?" Sirius shook his head. "Ok then, we'll make it a quick trip. Why don't you boys go to the owlry and I'll go purchase your cauldrons and I'll meet you back at the owlry. Sound good?" Sirius nodded as James looked longingly at the group of kids gathered around Quality Quidditch Supplies. James sighed and followed Sirius grudgingly towards the owlry.
They stepped inside and were instantly greeted by a very happy wizard, maybe a wizard that was a little overly happy. "Good afternoon boys, what can I do you for? We've got a great selection of owls. In the back of the store we have our strongest owls, able to lift any package you want them to carry. In the front, we've got the owls that are used to carrying single sheets of parchment, and have ultimately been used for either short or long periods of their lives. All of them are really reliable. What are you interested in?" The wizard asked stopping only to catch his breath.
James meanwhile had stood stock still listening only in a sort of petrified state, not knowing whether or not he'd be run over he tried to interrupt the store keeper. "I think I'll just look around for a little while," James said as he slowly backed away from the man, Sirius at his side.
"Whooh, I think he needs tongue twister candy or something. I didn't think he'd ever stop talking," Sirius whispered as they started walking down the aisle way, looking into cage upon cage of owls. James finally stopped in front of a nice brown owl; speckled in some areas with black dots that almost looked liked they had been delicately painted on.
James was about to turn around to ask Sirius his opinion when he came face-to-face with the storeowner again. "Oh," he said smiling. "Are you interested in this one?" he asked gesturing towards the black spotted owl. But before James could say anything he was talking again. "A very fine choice young may. Kederick is his name. He's one of our in between owls. He'll carry light packages and large parchments. Very loyal his breed is too. Hard to find a better owl. Would you like to buy him? I ought to mention he's sort of expensive, but I promise you will not be disappointed by your choice. So what'll it be?" James was just about to say that he'd take him when a big black owl flew from its cage somewhere in the back and landed on the cage of a neighboring owl. The white owl that was in the cage instantly began hooting and seconds later, the cage landing on the floor with the owl still hooting inside.
"What the—" the storekeeper exclaimed, ducking as the owl flew over his head en route to the door. The door was luckily closed, that was until it was opened not five seconds later and Mrs. Potter entered carrying two golden cauldrons.
"Ma'am!" The shopkeeper exclaimed. "Please close the door—" but it was too late. The owl took advantage of all the confusion and flew out the door and into the sky. The shopkeeper looked outside confused and then headed to the back of the store placing the still screeching white owl back on the table. He picked up a now empty cage and looked it over.
'I don't understand," he said shaking his head, "how Ghalia escaped."
"Sir?" James said cautiously. The man looked up. 'I'll take Kederick." The confusion on the man's face was replaced with a smile so quickly that you would never have known he had been upset a second before.
'That's great. Now come up here and we'll fix you right up," he said eagerly. James paid for the owl and he, Sirius, and Mrs. Potter left the store.
"Here Sirius, I bought you your cauldron," she said smiling. Sirius looked at her in surprise and reached down into his pocket to remove a few galleons, but Mrs. Potter waved him away. "No, don't be silly. Keep your money. It was nothing. Now let me see," she said looking around. "Oh yes, robes. Here we'll need to get you boys measured."
Mrs. Potter opened the door to the store and stepped inside. A kindly looking old wizard looked up from his crouched position on the floor. He looked to be almost of Irish origin for his gray beard reached his chest and his hazel eyes sparkled with mischief. Not to mention that at his full height, he was only about as tall as James.
"Aye, more Hogwarts students I presume?" he said smiling. He set a box of pinning needles on the table and walked over to them.
Mrs. Potter's normal smile widened. "Yes, it'll be their first year."
"Ah, first years, eh?" he chuckled as his eyes skimmed over the boys. He stopped dead when he caught sight of Sirius, and his smile fell. "Mr. Black, how nice to see you again." He looked around. "Here with yer family, are ya?" he asked tersely. Sirius shook his head, and the shopkeeper relaxed. The moment ended, and the shopkeeper became his normal self. "Well now, seems as if we need a few formal black robes for schooling, am I right?" James and Sirius nodded.
"Well, let me take some measurements," he clapped his hands and a piece of measuring tape and a pad of paper picked themselves up off the table. The measuring tape surrounded Sirius first taking measurement of almost every part of his body while the pencil scribbled furiously on the paper. When it was done, the measuring tape jumped to James, flipping over a piece of paper as it did so, and became taking James's measurements on a brand-new piece of paper.
When the measurements were done, the measuring tape rolled itself up and laid itself back down on the near by desk. The pad of paper flew to the shopkeeper. He read both measurements. "Hmm, doesn't seem like I got your sizes in stock. Just gimme a minute to alter a few things and then you can take your robes today!" The shopkeeper walked to the back of the room and through a door with the pad of paper following behind him. Just minutes later he reappeared carrying two black robes.
"Yes, these ought to do," he turned to Mrs. Potter. "Would you like one or two?" Mrs. Potter thought for a second.
"Hmm, you better make it three for James here. Sirius, what about you?" Sirius shrugged. "Make it the same for me too."
"Three robes a piece? Well done then." The shopkeeper removed his wand from his own unusually green robes and waved it in the air. Soon, the two robes floating in the air turned to six. With another wave the robes were wrapped up and placed at the boys feet. Mrs. Potter headed towards the man, paid for all the robes, and left.
"Thank you, Mrs. Potter," Sirius said happily.
"Your welcome, Sirius. I'm just happy that James found someone he can really get along with. Now we have one more stop. Wands. Now there is no better place than Ollivanders." She glanced at her watch. "Hmm, we're running low on time. You two will have to get your wands. I'll get the remaining items on the list. We'll grab some lunch at the Leaky Cauldron and we'll call it a day, okay?"
"Okay, Mum," James said as he opened the door to Ollivanders. Mr. Ollivander looked up the moment the bell on the door rang.
"Good afternoon!" Mr. Ollivander said grinning. Ollivander had graying hair that actually seemed to be turning white. His entire look, even though he was wearing black robes, resembled that of a mad scientist.
"Hogwarts students looking for our wands are we?" He said. "Well let me see." Mr. Ollivander looked at them. "Both right handed?" They nodded and Mr. Ollivander brought out his measuring tape and told them to stretch out their right arms. After writing a few things down he then climbed up on his ladder and picked out two boxes from the stack of wands that cluttered the shelves. He put one in front of James and the other in front of Sirius. James eagerly took his wand out of the box. Spying a chair with a broken back leg sitting in the back of the room he pointed his wand at it and cried, "Furnitio Repario!" Seconds later the chair exploded.
James put the wand gingerly back in the box. Sirius laughed and pointed his wand at the wooden chair trying to fix James mistake, but ended up leaving a large black mark on the wall.
"Nope, not quite," Mr. Ollivander said his voice sounding strained. He picked out two different wands from the shelf and set them in front of the two boys just as he had done before. James picked his up, and pointed to one of the books on the wall. "Wingardium Leviosa!" The book levitated smoothly off the shelf and landed right in front of James.
Mr. Ollivander smiled. "I think you've found your wand. Mahogany, eleven inches, and pliable. An excellent wand for transfiguration, Mr. Potter."
Sirius meanwhile was playing around with his wand. Finally Sirius pointed his wand at the globe sitting on the table and cried, "Accio globe!" The globe lifted and traveled straight to Sirius's open hand.
"Excellent," Mr. Ollivander said picking up Sirius's wand. "Nine and a half inches, willow with unicorn hair. Stiff but strong. An all purpose wand really, but I'd say its major characteristics would favor hexes and counter curses." Sirius looked at his wand in awe, as did James. This was what being a wizard was all about.
James looked back at the chair he had exploded and once again cried, "Furnitio Repario!" The chair instantly began to assemble itself piece-by-piece before it looked like a brand new chair again. Meanwhile, Sirius was levitating the other wand boxes back to the shelf.
"Very nice boys, very nice, but now I think you should pay for your wands and be on your way—" Mr. Ollivander stopped as James attempted to remove the dust from the shelves, but as he did so his spell began to combine with another one of Sirius's levitation spells and it began to create a dust storm that swept over the whole room. When it finally settled, the room was messier than it had been to begin with.
Mr. Ollivander poked his head up from underneath his desk, of which he had taken cover from the dust storm. He cleared his throat and stood up. "Umm, that'll be, uh, twelve galleons boys." Sirius and James attempted to hide their smiles while they paid six galleons a piece, but couldn't help but burst out laughing when they got outside. When they finally settled down James turned to Sirius.
"By the way, I've been meaning to ask you. Were you the one to set Ghalia loose at the owlry?" Sirius started laughing.
"Yes, that was me. I was trying to see if there was something I could do to wipe that overly cheery smile off his face. He didn't have a clue!" James joined in.
"Now that was original!" James said calming down again.
Sirius shrugged. "Hey, what can I say? Laughter is the best medicine!"