James Potter and the Heirs Apparent
Part Four
Disclaimer: The characters you recognise, the settings, the idea and the inspiration behind this story come from JK Rowling and the magical world she has created. I have also been influenced I think, by other HP fanfiction, although I've tried to keep the plot my own.
The colour of James as a stag
. It was mentioned in Hermione's review that she thought James was white when he transformed. I have seen this written in other fics but I personally disagree. Harry's patronus in PoA is white/silver because it is a spell - when he first starts practising with Lupin his patronus has no form and is just a puff of smoke from his wand. To be an effective animagus, I would think that you had to be able to blend in like a real animal. Since there aren't any blinding white stags in nature, anyone who saw Prongs would know he wasn't a real animal, which wouldn't help him protect Remus. This is just my opinion, I don't think JK Rowling ever specified.-----------------------------------
"James!" Lily cried out, looking at James Potter breathlessly.
James, remembering her poor arm, was jolted back into reality and some degree of sense. His shock at feeling a physical connection to her had led his mind off on a worrying tangent. His encounter with Voldemort on the Hogwarts Express must have upset him more than he realised, more that he had admitted even to himself. Even if Voldemort were the reason behind his strange connection to Lily Evans, he couldn't possibly be in the school. Right now, all that was afoot was another of Peter's mistakes and a serious injury to be attended to.
He looked carefully at Lily's arm, and seeing that it was getting rapidly worse, he called out to the Potions master.
"Professor Cauldrous! Lily's been hit! I have to take her to the hospital wing."
"Very well!" Called back the Professor from under his desk. He could see them quite well from where he was crouched. "Go as quickly as you can. You should be quite safe now; you're quite near the door. - Peter Pettigrew! That makes three injured students this year from your work alone! If I have to reprimand you one more time…."
James and Lily left the rest of the class to listen to the Professor's rant as they scrambled their way out of the dungeon. James supported Lily as they hurried to see Madam Pomfrey. Lily's breathing was now laboured - the pain in her arm combined with their haste making her gasp each breath. There was no real reason, however, for James' own breathlessness, and he had an uncomfortable feeling it had too much to do with his arm, which was resting comfortably round Lily's back.
"Nearly there, " he managed to say, aware that if he wasn't careful, some of these strange feelings might show in his face.
"Good," was all she managed to say, smiling weakly. Then, on the last section of stairs they had to climb, she fainted.
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Madam Pomfrey was peacefully writing notes when the door to the infirmary was pushed open with a crash. She looked up to see James Potter stood in the doorway, struggling to walk across the room with his arms full of what looked like Lily Evans.
"Her arm, Madam Pomfrey!" He gasped. "One of… Peter's spells." Thankfully dropping Lily on the bed Madam indicated.
"Oh my," she exclaimed, seeing the burning hole in Lily's arm, which was still getting slowly larger. "What on earth did that boy do now?"
"An accident… Potions lesson… Mrs… Madam Pomfrey… Could I please explain later?" James replied, collapsing into a chair and gasping for breath.
Madam Pomfrey looked intently at him across Lily's unconscious form.
"I thought Quidditch players were supposed to be fit?" She teased, as she examined Lily's arm. She had always liked James. Given that Sirius Black was his best friend, she had seen a lot of him in the hospital wing.
"Lily's a lot heavier than a Quaffle," James protested from his chair. "Aren't you going to wake her up?"
He could see Madam Pomfrey applying something to Lily's arm.
"It may hurt a little. Its best not to wake her until afterwards." She saw him looking worried. "Don't worry," she said, gently for her. "I'll have this fixed in a jiffy!"
She then sent him away, telling him to come back in a couple of hours, when Lily would be up to receiving visitors.
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He wandered back slowly, going vaguely in the direction of the Gryffindor common room, but his mind was preoccupied. Why he felt so worried about Lily he could not fathom. She had just suffered a routine accident in a school of witchcraft and wizardry. Throughout the seven year-groups and four houses there had to be at least one similar incident per day. He had seen plenty happen to Lily or the others before, without being affected this way.
Another thing James didn't understand was that feeling, that connection, that bolt of electricity that had pulsed through him again that day. He hadn't felt anything like it since the first day of term, during the incident on the train. And it couldn't be Lily - he had been around her plenty since then. He couldn't understand it. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling… But it made him feel uncomfortable.
"Ooops!" James had been thinking so hard that he hadn't seen someone else coming down the corridor. Whoever it was, he had just walked straight into them. "I'm sorry… Oh, Headmaster! I am sorry - not that I wasn't before but-"
"- It's okay, James," Dumbledore smiled. "You look like you have more important things on your mind."
"Yes, sir. Well, no, not exactly," James said, confused. Dumbledore was waiting patiently. "No, it was just that I was taking Lily to the hospital wing. There was an accident in Potions this morning."
"Ah!" Dumbledore nodded. "And now you're worried about her."
"Well, yes, I suppose I am."
"There's nothing wrong with that, James."
James looked up at Dumbledore, and somehow came to a decision. "Professor?"
"Hmm?"
"May I ask you about that night on the train - about what happened with Voldemort?"
Dumbledore sighed, but looked him in the eye. "Yes, James. I was wondering when you would ask me that. Let's go to my office, shall we?"
Dumbledore's office was as cosy and pleasant as the last time James had seen it, but it barely registered with his mind so busy forming what he was going to say.
"What would you like to ask me, James?" Dumbledore began, sitting himself behind his desk.
James likewise sat, and, looking carefully at Dumbledore before he spoke, said;
"Why did Voldemort single me out on the train that night? Did he come looking for me?"
"Voldemort came looking for somebody, James. I do believe that. And he thinks he's found them in you."
"He said… He said I was 'the one'" James stuttered. "What did he mean?"
Dumbledore sighed. "I can only guess what Voldemort's exact meaning was," he began, "At the moment, Lord Voldemort is very powerful. Possibly the most powerful Dark Wizard our world has seen for centuries. But it was not always so. Once, Voldemort was just an adolescent boy - a student here in fact."
James started. "Lord Voldemort went to Hogwarts?"
"He wasn't Lord Voldemort then," Dumbledore replied calmly. "He has undergone many a transformation since then. But my point is, that Voldemort knows better than anyone that power can come from the most humble of sources. That potential is a more valuable commodity than any other. But that it is only valuable to you when within your grasp."
Dumbledore was silent, giving James a chance to think.
"Then you're saying… Voldemort thinks I'm a commodity worth having?"
Dumbledore shrugged his shoulders.
"It's quite possible."
"And am I?"
"James, because of who you are and what you are, you have the potential to be anything you choose."
"Even a dark wizard!" he spat out.
"Any wizard can choose to embrace dark magic, James. Any wizard. But it is completely a matter of the choices we make. I am not merely suggesting that Voldemort sees a young apprentice in you. He could be equally interested in the threat you could pose to him in the future, should you choose the opposite path to his."
"The threat I could pose?"
"A powerful wizard will always be a threat to an equally powerful wizard that is his enemy."
"Like you are to Voldemort now?"
"Lord Voldemort possesses powers I do not, but yes, that Hogwarts remains in safety in these dangerous times is testament to Voldemorts fear of opposition."
"And you're saying I could be a threat to him in the future?" James looked incredulous, but determined.
"I do not pretend to see into the future," Dumbledore replied. "But the fact that Voldemort is prepared to single you out should be enough to make you cautious. You can rest assured that if you ever have any questions about this, I am always here."
James was quite silent for a while, thinking.
"Professor, there was just one more thing I wanted to ask you about."
"Yes?"
"Lily."
Dumbledore's face lost a little of the seriousness it had been wearing up till now. "Oh?"
"Yes, it's… Well, since that night - you know." Dumbledore nodded. "I've felt a kind of connection to her. Well, I thought it had gone away but then today…"
"And what makes you so sure, that this 'feeling' has something to do with dark magic?" Dumbledore's eyes were positively twinkling now.
"Well! It's just, er, it all began at the same time - " he started to explain.
" - I would be careful, if I were you," interrupted Dumbledore. "Not to place too much emphasis on memory but to think about facts. The first time you felt anything - did you know why the train had stopped, that Voldemort was nearby?"
James thought hard. The he realised. The first time he had felt that jolt of energy was standing up in the darkness of the carriage. He had nearly fallen on Lily. But it was before he left the compartment. Before any of this had begun.
"No." He said simply.
"There are some strange events in this world, James, that even magic can't explain away." Dumbledore smiled.
James blushed, slightly abashed at what Dumbledore was suggesting.
"Sometimes unusual circumstances can make us able to see things that were invisible before."
His eyes were twinkling again, and James felt like he'd like to take himself away and hide in a giant hole.
"Oh," was all he could think to say. He rose to leave instead, offering his thanks for Dumbledore's advice.
"I would suggest that you think carefully about everything I've said today, James. Remember, it's our choices that define us - make sure yours are the right ones, and that life is for living!"
James nodded and left quickly. Some of the things Dumbledore had said were very unexpected. He felt a small tremor of fear to think that Voldemort had his evil eye upon him. But Lily… for some reason he felt relieved about her. The strange feelings he had been having were nothing to do with Lord Voldemort after all. That piece of knowledge made the feelings seem less strange and more exciting somehow. Lily. For some reason she was on his mind more than anything his future might have in store was.
Finding himself at the foot of the stairs, James considered in what direction to go.
He found his feet leading back towards the hospital wing.
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To be continued…. Please Read/Review