Chapter 3: Feasting and First Years
Author's Note: First off, I did not create Harry Potter and his world. Also, this chapter is shorter and probably ends in a kind of weird spot. But that's because I cleaved my original chapter basically in half. Honestly I got bogged down editing and also realized (you've been warned) that this part is sometimes slow. I just had to include a somewhat detailed sorting though, my obsession with naming new characters and adding details dictated as much. So please read, review, enjoy or any combination thereof. And it will get a bit more action-oriented soon!
James watched, along with every other Hogwarts student present, as the first years filed onto a small dais in the middle of the hall, in front of the Staff Table. Catching a glimpse of a wet patch on the back of one of the young boys robes James couldn't help but wonder if he had peed in his pants or if he had sat in a wet boat for the journey across the lake. Either way, the kid looked terrified of a hat on a stool just like all his fellow 11-year-olds, none of which appeared to have a wet backside as well. One small blonde girl however seemed to have already lost her hat and was compulsively smoothing her hair self-consciously as a result. James exchanged an amused smirk with Freddy over the fact that the first years were again wearing hats, because soon enough they would realize what a nuisance they really were. They were always falling off, blowing away outside on the grounds, getting hit with misplaced spells so that they had burn marks in them or simply getting lost. Pointed witch's hats were one of the biggest wastes of time, Galleons and material he had ever seen.
Professor Longbottom had placed the stool and the venerable hat in the center of the dais and was preparing to soon read off the moderately long scroll in his hand. As the hat began to sing its usual clever song James was struck by a wistful feeling, there were no more Potter/Weasley's to sort, now that Lily, Hugo and Roxanne were second years. Hugo was his very youngest cousin, at several months younger than both Roxy and Lily. Something inside him was a bit disappointed by this because while he had such a big family already, it could have been even bigger. His father, through tragic circumstances, didn't have any siblings and his Uncle Charlie was married to his work on dragons and therefore had no family of his own. James was moderately consoled however after imagining the level of sheer havoc that would have rained down on Gryffindor house at the mere presence of even more Potter/Weasley's. Perhaps it was high time (sad as it was to admit) that the family gave this generation of Hogwarts teachers a breather by not introducing any new blood.
And so this year's Sorting Ceremony began with a girl named as Aiton, Scarlett (who eventually became a Ravenclaw). During the Sorting James and his friends routinely liked to pay attention to the first years as they took their turn and sometimes they even made random comments amongst themselves. Astor, Magnus quickly became the first new Slytherin and Freddy voiced the opinion that Magnus was one of the most pretentious names he'd ever heard. The Gryffindors were then cheered when Barclay, Thomas joined their ranks. James had met young Thomas before, as his older sister Piper was a friend of Al's and his older brother Ethan hung with Lily. He thought that the tiny brown-haired Thomas was a great kid, very exuberant and very funny and he gave the lad the thumbs up as he walked past to receive congratulations from his siblings. Two people after the youngest Barclay (a pair of female Hufflepuffs) he got his first dorm mates. They were a set of dark-eyed twins named Almanzo and Evrard Cochrane and they looked positively identical. Because he was staring avidly at the duo until they reached the Gryffindor table (as to try and discover a noticeable physical difference between them) James almost missed the name of the next one sorted, a skinny lad introduced as Davies, Castor.
While young Castor sat on the stool beneath the hat, James Potter's eyes raked over the crowd of Ravenclaws sitting at the table on their immediate left. Finally, with Trevor's help, he located the one person in the world whom he hadn't really expected to want to see at the moment. And yet, he couldn't help but stare interestedly at the witch as her important family moment unfolded. Antila was gazing up at the dais with an understandable interest and so James divided his attention between the two siblings. He noticed even from afar that there was a clear family resemblance present in the shape of their noses and in the chestnut color of their hair. The hat was taking forever with Castor and James watched as Antila began to become uneasy and start to fidget with her Head Girl's badge, doing anything possible not to watch her brother be sorted any longer. Even the students who found the sorting tiresome and who were attempting to carry on whispered conversations with their friends noticed the delay. Finally, the hat shouted Ravenclaw and Castor Davies (with a small frown) walked steadily towards the appropriate table. He appeared too troubled by the hat's decision to even be self-conscious that everyone was staring at him. Immediately, his older sister beckoned forcefully at him with her finger and he reluctantly went to her side. As the sorting continued, the two Davies' began whispering back and forth and James had a hunch that the she was demanding to know what the hat had said. Castor however quickly became annoyed, brushed her off and went to sit with a lad by the name of Rory Chickering, the first Ravenclaw boy sorted this evening. The eldest Potter watched from afar delighted as Antila thus began sporting an ugly look on her face, (similar to the one she had adopted with him on the train) ultimately making Castor his new favorite person.
The Sorting dredged on for a few more names before Henley, Pascal approached the stool with an uncharacteristically confident gleam for a first year in his olive green eyes. This was Jonah's baby brother and James had very much forgotten it was now his time to attend Hogwarts. The older Henley sibling had mentioned nothing on the train and James inwardly wondered where Pascal had sat for the ride over from London. "Ooohhh Jo-nah! You didn't remind us Cal was starting this term," cooed Rigel and she reached over and swatted him on the arm.
Jonah shrugged unapologetically. "It didn't really come up," he remarked and he watched as his kid brother smiled casually under the Sorting Hat's scrutiny. The bookworm was without his usual reading material for meal times, as James supposed the sorting of one's own family member and a feast were his only exceptions to the norm. "Boy's a freak," Jonah murmured almost admiringly to the group, "He is so confident it'll be Ravenclaw or Gryffindor that he isn't even a bit afraid." The group of 5th years themselves waited with baited breath, but they need not have worried, half a minute later Pascal jogged happily up the aisle to the Gryffindor table and high-fived with the other new boys. He then came sauntering over to shake hands with his older brother and his friends.
It was alarming to realize how outgoing Pascal was compared to his sibling; Jonah was always much more serious and subtle. "Congrats Cal," exulted Freddy and he shook the boy's hand jubilantly, thinking automatically that he would be an ideal ally to help prank Jonah this term.
Pascal smiled widely, "Thank you Freddy, thanks everyone. I told you I'd get in here Jo-nah," he teased the older boy and Jonah hemmed to himself. "By the way Heath, I met your sister and I think we'll get along quite well, after she gets into Gryffindor that is," the lad predicted.
Heather smiled and agreed "Yes, I'm sure you will be great friends. Did you meet her on the train? Was she nervous? I had strict instructions from her to leave her alone so she could find someone to bond with." The group knew this sounded like Fiona; the eleven-year-old was into doing things her own way as much as possible.
The exuberant Henley nodded, "Yes we were serendipitously in the same compartment and both vaguely recognized each other from hanging around you sorry lot. So we got to talking and we have concluded that we are much more fun than our too nice older siblings. Oh, and you needn't worry, she wasn't terribly nervous. Definitely my kind of girl," he said proudly.
Heather and Jonah exchanged an affronted look, as if under the opinion that it was impossible to ever be too nice. James and Trevor both sniggered aloud as they were yet again reminded of how rewarding it was to listen to Cal get his brother's goat. "Yes, well ok, well done Pas. It certainly seems like you've got some new friends. Go enjoy the feast over there with them then, but just be sure and write mum and dad when you get upstairs later," advised Jonah and he actually looked pretty happy despite having just been insulted. The relief of having a younger sibling in the same house as you was something James understood as well. It was something you could share with them forever.
"Oh don't get all 'big brother' on me Jo-nah I'll handle it," Pascal replied, amusedly rolling his eyes, "Well it seems like my brother is sending me off…so later then! By the way, I can't wait for the food. Do they usually serve cherry pie? That's my favorite dessert. Oh! And also by the way, you all see that kid over there?" He pointed covertly at a tall blonde boy near one end of the dais. "That fellow's name is Cael Shinnock. He's a real sport. A bit quiet maybe and, as he's admitted an American to boot, but a real sport none the less. Look for him to go Gryffindor and complete our boys dorm," Pascal prophesied and then he walked away with a cheerful wink.
Talking to Pascal had taken up the sorting of two girls who had walked off as a Ravenclaw and a Slytherin respectively. James and his friends returned their attention back to the ceremony in time to see a tall girl with straight black hair that Professor Longbottom had named as Meath, Olivia getting her brain picked. She waited patiently, listening to the old hat, before it yelled Gryffindor and made her the first new female in the house of lions. Calmly, Olivia stood up with a placid grin and handed off the hat to the next girl, a brunette named Munroe, Teagan, who appeared to be an acquaintance. Teagan made it back-to-back for Gryffindor and airily floated over to join Olivia at the table. Three people later, a boy named Quark, Aiden became a Ravenclaw and he heard quite a few sniggers (several of which came from Fred) over his odd last name but seemed to take it in stride. Next was Fiona Ramsden, and as she took her place on the stool Heather crossed all her fingers and firmly shut her eyes muttering "Please Merlin, please be Gryffindor." James placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder and soon enough, the group was 2 for 2 on sibling sortings. He knew that Heather was majorly relieved. Her parents and gotten enough of a shock sending their oldest child off to a magical school in the middle of nowhere and now they were sending the other daughter off too. As Heather explained it, her mum and dad had always fretted over Fiona more. She was a spontaneous, willful child that had been kicked out of three primary schools over the years, all for what had probably been acts of accidental magic, but even without them she'd never exactly been an innocent little princess.
Heather received a few congratulatory pats and high fives and Fiona waved briefly at her sister before sliding onto the bench beside Pascal Henley. Soon after Fiona, the name Shinnock, Caelum was yelled and Pascal's new chum awkwardly straddled the low sitting stool. His long, gangly legs were unusual for 11 years old and he practically had to bend his knees up to his chin to fit properly. James and seemingly everyone else in the Hall alertly became interested in where this young sapling would end up, as he had the obvious physical makings of a future Quidditch Keeper. The curious Potter would have also sworn he could almost hear the amusement of the Sorting Hat as wriggled atop the awkward youth's head. Cael took only a matter of seconds to sort however, and as the hat finally settled…he became a Gryffindor, freeing himself from the cramped stool and sending him over to the far left of the Hall.
With the Ceremony now winding down there were only seven students left on the dais, including the potential pants-wetter. James soon discovered his name was Wainwright, Phillip and watched the shaking boy become a Hufflepuff. After him, the Sorting concluded with one more Gryffindor girl (a Warwick, Zora) and Slytherin boy by the name of Zabini, Procyon. James eyed up the Slytherin table during that final sorting, looking for the young Blaise Zabini junior and his best pal Scorpius Malfoy. He found them in time to witness Procyon become a Slytherin as well, so capping off, as far as he could tell, a great day for sibling sortings. Incidentally, the eldest Potter didn't really give Scorpius Malfoy much thought normally but as he watched him clap young Procyon on the back, he tried to see why Al was fond of him. He looked nice enough, so James supposed it didn't really matter that he couldn't see the real draw in having a Slytherin pal himself. Scorp was just Albus's school friend that he played chess or did homework with sometimes. James never actually expected Scorpius Malfoy to come over the Potter Mansion during the summer holidays or to drop by for Christmas tea and he didn't think Al really expected it either.
The very thought of Scorpius truly bonding with Albus, and Rose in particular, would probably drive his Uncle Ron a bit crazy, let alone the fact that James was pretty sure the young Slytherin ogled Rose every chance he got. He was confident that it was a nightmare waiting to happen, that is, if Rose ever wised up to the Slytherin's feelings and also became interested. James considered how he would feel about his bookish cousin dating the bleach blonde pure-blood. He supposed he could be a bit overprotective of his female cousins and his sister at times given, for starters, the incident with Dominique on his first ever journey on the Hogwarts Express. But mostly he tended to wait until they "needed" his help. He came to the conclusion that, if Rose needed defending it would be Albus and perhaps Hugo's jurisdiction to handle it as her best friend and her younger brother. Besides, Rose had a reputation in the family for being the dumper and not the dumped party, which she had picked up from Dom. Yea, thought James confidently, Rose could definitely handle her own relationships.
Headmaster Flitwick had risen to say a few words, but James didn't really hear them because he was still thinking about a possible Rose and Scorpius relationship. Before he knew it the food had thankfully appeared and he, Trevor and Freddy set about loading their golden plates several layers high, the sweets they had eaten earlier were apparently only a memory. Chicken legs, steak and kidney pie, bangers and mash, roast beef with gravy, corn, Shepherd's pie, spiral ham, crescent biscuits with butter and much more crowded James's and the other guys plates over the course of the meal. Ginny Potter always said that he, Trev and Freddy ate like garbage disposals just like his Uncle Ron and that when James's friends came over the house during the summer, it was all she could manage to keep them fed. All three girls were clucking at them in disgust and Jonah simply looked dumbfounded, as usual commenting that he couldn't believe he shared a room with such carnivorous jungle animals. Keira was working her way through a modest portion of the roast beef with brown gravy and had coupled it with the sensible sides of garlic mashed potatoes and roasted asparagus stalks. Unlike her male Gryffindor teammates, she preferred a dinner that made sense. She thought about this with an air of superiority as she watched Fred mix cranberries into his sweet potatoes. Rigel nibbled at a serving of steak and kidney pie and a buttered roll and every one of her friends knew that it would last her awhile, as she typically ate uber-slowly.
Heather was having chicken, although it lay largely untouched because she kept sneaking glances down the table at her sister, who was still sitting with the other first years. "Heath, the runts are fine," mumbled Trevor his mouthful, causing a bite of sausage to fall out of his mouth and onto the table. He quickly stabbed at it with his fork and put it back in before he resumed power eating what was on his plate.
The muggleborn scowled at him but made another attempt to focus on her food before saying, "Wouldn't it be great Jonah? If my sister and your brother could really hit it off? At least then my mother won't pester me with quite so many letters about how her baby girl is adjusting. I could really do without those letters."
Jonah's pale green eyes zeroed in on Pascal and Fiona as they sat next to Cael Shinnock and across from Olivia, Teagan and the twins. Tommy Barclay and Zora Warwick were also nearby and Jonah found it amusing how they were all clustered together. Some of them would look around the hall between bites of food in total awe of their surroundings. But at least they were talking to each other as well, noticeably laughing and smiling here and there. "Trust me Heather, Fiona is definitely walking away from this feast with some friends," he said knowingly. For one, Pascal wasn't the type to change his mind about things like that.
Freddy, who had spent the whole meal so far non-verbal, actually paused his eating to say, "Two of a kind Ram. She and Cal look like two of a kind. They're probably plotting world domination as we speak." After deciding they were right, Heather reached for her fork and began eating with gusto.
Soon enough, the desserts replaced the main courses and the Gryffindor 5th years did not slow down much. The food at Hogwarts was good on a daily basis, but the opening feast was always a cut above and they intended to get in (even just a bit of) all their favorites. Pascal Henley could soon be seen further down the table serving onto his plate two large pieces of cherry pie and adding to it some broken up bits of Chocolate Frog. James immediately got in on the act by helping himself to a big hunk of chocolate gateau and block of rocky road ice cream. He then smothered it with whipped cream, nuts, coconut shavings and a few cherries before digging in. Freddy also made an extreme sundae, but instead he used double chocolate chip ice cream and instead of cake, brownies. Trevor wolfed down three of his favorite fudgy walnut brownies before he settling into a more human pace, also eating two pieces of blueberry pie, one piece of apple and a couple of mini chocolate éclairs. Heather and Keira both had a couple of treacle tarts and Rigel decided on a strawberry trifle. James also enjoyed treacle tart, because his mother made it all the time in order to make his father happy. He usually bypassed the Hogwarts version on feast days though, because he hated to compare it to his mum's. Jonah, citing his relentless sweet tooth, ate more dessert than he'd had dinner, dividing his plate between an extra sweet raspberry and peach pie topped with a squirt of whipped cream and half the portion of chocolate gateau James had left nearby.
A happy silence reigned over this section of the feast, until Trevor said (this time with a mouth clear of potential debris), "You two super-prefects haven't even told us the password to get into the common room yet you know." The annoying Keeper grinned into his pie as everyone noted that he did have point.
"Merlin, you're such a ball-buster Wood! Give us a break," James growled at his mate and then, basically proving Trevor's point about his slacking, looked across at Heather and frowned as he tried to remember what he'd read in his letter months ago.
"Its murco rubius" supplied Heather instantly and James snapped his fingers and nodded in agreement. Why hadn't he remembered that? Probably you because you don't know what it means, he mused.
"Oh, ruby sword is it?" asked Albus (citing the Latin to English translation) as he came striding over with Rose. They squeezed onto the bench on either side of James and greeted everyone cheerfully.
"No, its murco rubius you dolt!" chided James, indignant that Al apparently knew more Latin than he did, "Try ruby sword with the Fat Lady and she'll keep you out in the corridor all night." The younger Potter rolled his eyes and made a face, indicating he did not find his brother amusing. James and everyone else knew full well he was only translating it for fun.
"You're a beast Fred," interjected Rose, promptly disgusted as she almost trailed her sleeve into her cousin's pile of cream puffs, they were stacked in a pyramid formation next to his plate. She did steal one from him however, and when he went to protest, she quelled him with a look of steely determination. Upon seeing that his brother wisely had a few of his favorite cookies wrapped up in a napkin (probably for a pre-breakfast snack), James mimicked him by grabbing two brownies, an éclair and a few oatmeal raisin of his own. Suddenly he looked like a genius, as the food disappeared and Freddy and Trevor got caught with empty forks half-way to their mouths. The stocky Weasley quickly got over the shocking disappearance of his apple cobbler ala mode however, as he grabbed at his pile of cream puffs in relief. Because they were on the table instead of his plate, the delectable pastries had remained behind. "Gross," Rose reiterated as her eyebrows threatened to disappear into the enchanted ceiling.
"Unbelievable James," said Albus taking note of what his brother had managed to grab for later, "Mum is spot on about you and food. I mean don't tell me you could possibly still be hungry after all that…" Before the older Potter could manage a retort, Headmaster Flitwick stood for some closings remarks. A few announcements about Quidditch sign-ups (which made James feel a bit queasy), a quick reminder of the ever-present ban on Weasley products (which always fell on deaf ears) and a notice on the importance of not dueling in the halls between classes, and they were dismissed to their dormitories.
"C'mon James, I suppose we have to be good prefects now and help out the first years," sighed Heather, dutifully rising from the bench.
"Yea go be good prefects…and don't forget the password," teased Trevor and he swiped one of his best mate's cookies and munched it happily. James shot him a stony look.
"Well good night James. Good night all," said Albus also rising, "Say James, maybe when you take that there napkin full of snacks with you, the first years will get the impression that you're a starved, homeless guy who hasn't eaten in three days. Which probably won't help your prefect cred," he added as a last jest.
"Tut Albus Severus that's not nice!" scolded Rose as she made to leave with him, "Excuse him James, as he seems to have forgotten that he's also in possession of some extra cookies. You know Albie… the house elves might be coaxed into bringing you a glass of milk for those in the tower, but I don't think they'll tuck you in and read you a bedtime story as well." Everyone laughed as Albus adopted a wounded look at the clever Weasley's quick jab, but then he gamely recovered with a pained smile. The two cousins then left to catch up with their friends, still bickering a bit (Al trying to defend his sweets hoarding as 'wasting not') , after thanking them once more for revealing that all important password. Heather and James (who indignantly left the extra desserts behind with Fred), reluctantly dashed off to help the first years find Gryffindor Tower while the others got to make their way up to the seventh floor at a more leisurely pace.
As it turned out their initial prefect duties didn't prove to be too taxing that evening, despite snagging the group that included all of the young Gryffindor first years because they had wished to remain together. Apparently some serious bonding had indeed occurred over the space of the evening's festivities. The other Gryffindor prefects had thus, either given up on their duty or had gone off to help out some stragglers from the other houses after Thomas Barclay, Fiona Ramsden and Pascal Henley had insisted James and Heather be the ones to guide them up to Gryffindor Tower. Because all three of these 11-year-olds knew both James and Heather, they were quite cooperative and had quickly convinced their fellow new Gryffindors to also be cool. The young group was clearly excited, but they tried to keep their questions in check, for the most part, as to not be an annoyance.
"Do the staircases really move? Teagan Munroe finally asked a bit incredulously as they plodded along. James nodded kindly in reply and, on a whim, decided to teach them a shortcut through a large silk tapestry because he was already inexplicably fond of this little group (and not just because of his friends' younger siblings being in it).
"But how do they expect us to keep all the changes in mind and not be late for our lessons?" interjected one of the Cochrane twins, a bit annoyed.
"Well the professors don't really care," began James frankly, "They sort of expect you to get used to it," and he led them through an invisible wall shortcut on the 4th floor.
"Well? So, do you really get used to it?" prompted the other twin.
"Believe it or not you do," reassured Heather as she directed them past a corridor crowded with gothic-looking portraits.
"Now," said James as he friendlily draped an arm across both the twin boys shoulders, "You're going to have to be good chaps and tell me how to tell you two apart!" They looked at each other and smiled knowingly.
"Well you see," explained the one named Almanzo, "I've got some freckles here on my temple that look sort of like a crescent moon and Ev doesn't," He gestured vaguely in the area of his head and James squinted in the flickering torchlight, gamely trying to make out the markings the boy was referring to. He pretty much failed. "But you can't really see them from far off, so that's no good right?" the first year continued, pretty much reading James's mind. The older boy mused to himself that up close it was so easy either.
"Right," took over Evrard enthusiastically, "So a better judge is, that my wand arm is my left and Manzo's is his right. But that still isn't a fool proof sign. And so… if that fails, he'll be wearing glasses sometimes… and also our parents say my ears are bigger and pointier," he offered helpfully. James attempted to store in this information as the pale duo with the deep coal colored eyes and hair (even darker than his own) looked at him expectantly.
"I think I can work with that. Otherwise, we're going to name tags," the prefect Potter joked and he next steered the group up a trick staircase that had a built in jelly legs jinx in the fifth step. It was worth the risk though, as it left them two long corridors from the entrance to Gryffindor Tower and thus James was confident they would beat everyone else to it.
"Cael already has it down! Telling them apart I mean. Don't you Cael?" piped up Pascal from the back of the pack, where he was strolling leisurely along and absorbing every nook and cranny of the castle that they passed.
"Do you?" Olivia Meath asked and she looked interestedly at the lanky boy. As he nodded and reddened a little under her gaze and it led James to believe that; he either found her to be attractive, that he was a bit shy, or perhaps a bit of both.
"Go on then prove it," said Fiona Ramsden encouragingly, "You close your eyes and we'll switch them around a bit. Then you have to open your eyes, point to each one and say his name." Heather stopped walking and looked disbelievingly at her younger sister for daring to put the kid on the spot like this, she had just met him and goading him into this would come off as really mean if he screwed up.
"Alright," Caelum responded quietly, and with a small shrug he shut his eyes firmly so that they could mix up the two Cochranes.
James (who was taking their strange, sudden pit-stop in stride) stood with Cael, their backs facing the group as an extra way to avoid cheating, while Heather switched the two boys back and forth a couple of times. When everyone had decided that it was safe for him to look again, the unassuming 11-year-old opened his eyes, turned around and carefully scrutinized the duo from several feet away. The young American's concentration was deep, despite the surface triviality of the dare, and his tiny brown eyes darted over each of them as they stood side by side sporting near-matching smiles. Heather exchanged an amused glance with James during this brief interlude and she was pretty sure he had his own guess, but knew that he wasn't going to say anything because it would detract from the kid's moment. Finally young Mr. Shinnock extended one of his long tanned arms and pointed to each twin and said his name. And he was indeed right, much to the surprise of some of the group.
"He cheated," said Teagan pessimistically, although she was hard pressed to figure out how.
"He didn't," insisted Zora Warwick quietly, speaking for the first time because she noticed Cael start blushing uncontrollably.
"Nice eye mate," piped up Tommy cheerfully and he seemed duly impressed.
"I told you he had it down," said Pascal proudly and the twins grinned at him happily. James figured they were pleased because it was high time someone could manage to keep them straight right off the bat.
"You really didn't peek?" Olivia prompted him, and he shook his head no. "Well then I think that's neat," she continued, "It's going to take me ages," and she smiled at him sincerely.
James was suddenly reminded of why first years were a chore. They all had to get their two Knuts in over this.
"There was no cheating I watched him like a hawk the whole time," the older boy assured them cheerfully and he gestured the group further down the candle lit corridor. They were losing all the time advantage his shortcuts had amassed, not that it mater or anything…really.
"I guess not," Teagan considered, shooting an apologetic look toward Cael. Heather led the way and as they reached the end of the corridor, she made a quick right and ushered the new students into one last hallway.
"Home sweet home kiddies," James said as they approached a portrait of a fat lady in a pink silk dress.
"But where's the entrance?" asked Zora confused and she peered at the wall in front of them searching for a door. In her humble opinion, James Potter seemed a bit goofy; maybe he had gotten them lost on purpose for a lark.
"Where indeed?" echoed James, actually enjoying this experience certainly more than he'd thought he would. Apparently, introducing young Gryffindors to some of the secrets of Hogwarts felt strangely rewarding. He quirked an eyebrow at the youngsters and said aloud, "Murco rubius," while Heather rolled her eyes at him.
"Always so dramatic dear," responded the Fat Lady, causing the first years to gape and jump in surprise, before the portrait swung away from the wall to reveal a round door. The two prefects allowed the curious first years to lead the way through it, so that their first look at the common room was kind of unimpeded. As James climbed through last, he heard the rumble of students descending upon the corridor in the distance and he smirked with satisfaction, the Marauders would have been proud of his knowledge of the castle.
The mischievous Potter adored the old map that had been brought to him courtesy of Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs. It was, to him, an ingenious legacy to have left behind for generations of curious, troublesome youth to discover. He had even found, in their honor, his own secret passages that the four friends had never discovered for themselves…or perhaps never could have. The castle had sustained quite a bit of damage during the battle that had ended the Second Wizarding War and during the repairs, someone had apparently given Hogwarts a few new secrets for the fun of the youth to come. Of course this was just a hunch of his, based on the fact that some of his secret passages seemed newer and less… well… dangerous looking.
It saddened him sometimes though when he remembered that the Marauders were all dead, because in his mind, and through the map, they seemed so alive. Harry had told him the tragic story of their demise just this past summer, after many times putting it off with the excuse that he and Al weren't quite old enough to hear it. Quite frankly, it had crushed James a bit to discover that his beloved quartet of rascals had been broken and betrayed by one of their own. Albus had also been grieved by their father's recounting of history (it involved their grandparents deaths after all), but because he wasn't as attached to the lifestyle of pranking and exploring as James was he had been less scarred by the knowledge. He hadn't really put the Marauders on the same pedestal his older brother had. James's namesakes and Teddy's father Remus had all died brave and true, and he was proud to know this, but it couldn't manage to completely erase Peter's crimes from his thoughts. He could never imagine why any man, a Gryffindor especially, would sell his friends out to their deaths. In his eyes Freddy, Trevor, Jonah and himself were the "new" Marauders and he knew that he could never do anything less than have the backs of those guys until the day he died.
During one particular boys-only campout on the Potter property this past summer the quartet had discussed the Marauder's at length, after James had informed them of Harry's tale. Trevor and Freddy had been properly appalled to discover the whole story, whereas Jonah's pessimistic side had immediately kicked in to the effect that he had claimed that he actually wasn't a bit surprised to hear it. He had then, to justify himself, cited how war always turned people's relationships into a something they could have never expected in normal times. The others supposed this was true; Jonah was after all the one who actually paid attention in History of Magic class. He had also persisted to mention, that so flawed was human nature, that perhaps the Marauder's hadn't been as perfect a group as they'd thought they were in all those years leading up to the tragedy of the Potters. This statement had certainly come off as less of a stretch, for the boys had all recognized that Wormtail came off as a bit of a useless, needy duffer. Their proof came from both interactions with the map's built-in writings and from watching old Pensieve compatible memories Harry had found of Remus Lupin's in his home after his death. The former 'Chosen One' had quietly recovered them for Teddy, so that young orphan might be able to someday see his father at some of his happiest moments. Yes, it had always been plain to see that the dumpy, desperate Pettigrew had been the lowest on the quartet's totem pole, so really maybe it was no wonder he had snapped under the pressure of a huge wizarding war. Not that Peter hadn't been a coward as well the boys knew, your friends undervaluing you wasn't a reason to give them up to be murdered by a ruthless, evil wizard. When it came to their friendship in the present, they truly had a much better balance going than their predecessors. They each thought they brought their own skills/characteristics to the group and their healthy respect for one another projected them as near equals amongst not only themselves, but the girls as well. Hopefully, they would never be tested by a war, but they remained positive that their bond would withstand at least the normal ups and downs of life for many years to come.
In the common room the first years scurried around inspecting everything, from the fireplace to the comfy armchairs and sofas. James Potter was actually amazed at their boundless enthusiasm, until he reminded himself that they were probably on some sort of massive sugar high. Pascal after all, had eaten at least half of a cherry pie all by himself. As he watched them, James found himself trying to remember his first night in this castle, how it had felt for him to see this room for the first time. It was hard however to go back even just the 4 years, and the 15-year-old sifted through a haze of many memories he associated with first year until he found the right ones. He remembered how everything, from the common room to the Great Hall to the dormitories to the castle itself, had simply felt big. Not big in an overwhelming sort of way, but big in an important and spacious kind of way… almost as if he was in a place that transcended time, a place that was a world within itself. Hogwarts had appeared big to 11-year-old James Potter, but he, amazingly enough, had also felt like everything that was here was also his in some small way. It was his common room, his dormitory, his four poster bed, his school; it was where he was included and where he belonged. And right now, in some corny little recess of his brain, James hoped that this group of first years felt like they belonged here at Hogwarts too, that they felt at home in the castle and especially in Gryffindor Tower.