Chapter 2! The 'Monster' in the Lake!

By midday, James was beginning to feel a little lonely (he was the only person in his compartment), so he was glad when his fathers godson, seventeen year old Teddy Lupin, came to see him, along with his girlfriend, Victoire Weasley. Victoire was James' 15 year old cousin.

"Hey Jamesy!" said Teddy, cheerfully at the same time as Victoire said, "Hi there James."

"Hey Teddy, Hey Vic", he sounded slightly upset.

"What's wrong, cous?" asked Victoire, sounding concerned for her younger cousin.

"I dunno Vic. I think I miss Albus and Lily already. We would normally be playing a game or something now, before lunch," said James sadly, "I'm a bit lonely."

"Don't worry James, you'll make friends soon enough."

"Do you really think so, Vic?"

"I know so." She smiled. She had always been able to cheer up her little cousins.

"How about a game of exploding snap?" asked Teddy, getting the game out of his pocket.

James and Victoire nodded in agreement. They spent the next half hour playing and laughing every time the cards exploded on someone. James was feeling a lot happier when Teddy and Victoire decided it was time for them to patrol the train as Teddy was the Head Boy and Victoire was a prefect.

"See you soon James," said Teddy.

"Yeah, bye James," said Vic, "Will you be okay?"

"Yes, I'll be fine," smiled James, "bye."

Just then, a plump witch pushing a food trolley came up to the door of his compartment. He was feeling a bit hungry so he bought a large number of Chocolate Frogs, Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans and Pumpkin Pasties. He thought he would be able to save some for later as he bought too many to eat at once.

"Mind if I sit?" came a voice from the door.

James looked up and saw a brown haired boy who looked to be about the same age as him, "Sure! I'm James Potter! What's your name?"

"Micah Fisher," replied the boy, sitting down beside James.

James held up a chocolate frog, "Want one?" he asked with a smile.

"Yes please. I'm starving!" said Micah, laughing. "Is it a real frog?" he said in alarm when the chocolate frog jumped out of the packet.

"No! There's some sort of charm on it, I think. Hang on…Have you never had a chocolate frog?" James said in surprise.

"Nope! My parents aren't magical at all."

"You're a muggleborn?" asked James.

"I think that's what you call it." said the other boy.

"Cool! My Auntie Hermione is a muggleborn too! Anyway, what card did you get in your chocolate frog?"

"Er…Harry Potter"

James gasped. "I didn't know my dad was on the famous wizard cards! Let me see."

'Harry Potter, the saviour of the world,

both magical and muggle, is well known

for his defeat of the Dark Lord.

Harry's family was attacked by 'You Know Who'

when Harry was just one year old.

The curse bounced off Harry and the Dark Lord

Disappeared for 13 years, returning when Harry was

14 years old. When Harry was 17, he finally

defeated the Dark Lord and is now happily

married, with three children.'

"WOW" exclaimed both boys in awe.

"That's amazing. Your dad sounds so cool. Both my parents are boring old accountants" said Micah.

"Dad doesn't talk about being a hero very much. I don't think he likes the attention" replied James, "but I think it's awesome!"

They began eating the rest of James' sweets and were almost finished when Teddy and Victoire came back.

"James, I can't decide what way to have my hair," said Teddy, "what do you think?"

"Hmm…what about blue and spiky?"

Teddy's hair changed so it was blue and spiky, "I like it!" he said.

Micah, who had been watching with amazement, spoke up, "How did you do that?"

Teddy laughed, "I'm a metamorphmagus. I can change how I look whenever I want!"

"Micah, this is Teddy Lupin and Victoire Weasley," said James, "Vic's my cousin and Teddy's my Dad's god-son."

His companions all said, "Hi!" at the same time.

"You two should get changed, we're nearly there," said Victoire.

She and Teddy left the younger boys to get changed into their school robes. The pair were now very excited at the prospect of arriving at Hogwarts.

"What house d'you think you'll be in?" asked James.

"I dunno. What houses are there?" replied Micah.

"Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. I want to be in Gryffindor. Like my Dad!" said James.

"I still don't know."

The train finally stopped and the students got off. James smiled when he heard his Godfather's voice calling for first years.

"Firs' years! Firs' years over 'ere!"

"That's Hagrid. He's my Godfather." James told Micah.

"Blimey! He's got to be the biggest person I have ever seen. Ever!" replied Micah, staring at Hagrid.

"I know. He's half giant!"

The first years walked over to the lake where Hagrid was standing. There were a number of little boats floating in the water. They all got into the boats, even Hagrid, although he had a bit of trouble getting in as he was so large.

"Alrigh'' James?" called Hagrid, as the boats began to move.

"Hi Hagrid!"

James had already decided that he didn't like these boats. They looked and felt as if they were about to fall apart. And he couldn't think of a worse place to be than in a rickety old boat. Especially when what looked like a large tentacle emerged from the water, right beside him.

"AAAAAGH! MONSTER! THERE'S A MONSTER IN THE LAKE, HAGRID!" he screamed.

His outburst caused the other first years to scream. Hagrid just laughed.

"Don' be silly. It's jus' the Giant Squid. It won' hurt yeh!"

James went red with embarrassment. His Father hadn't told him about that little surprise in the lake.