When John returned to the Defence against the Dark arts, he was looking confused. The rest of the class stopped what they were doing. It was filled the the sound of quills scratching on paper, students talking about werewolves, but John's return stopped all of the sound completely.
Sure enough, John saw and felt the thirty or so pairs of eyes on him when he entered.
"Err... I'm not getting punished at all. Sounds like Dumbledore's about to have a pretty stern word with Snape." said John, sitting between Hermione and Delilah who were the most curious about what had actually happened.
"Blimey John, you've got some hangers on you!" said Seamus.
John, among others burst out laughing.
"Hangers! That's- that's bloody brilliant!" said Ron in between laughs.
"Yeah, but you got Snape to lose his shit without him taking points or giving detentions! That's brilliant!" Dean said.
"Err... I don't know how though. I think I might have hit home about the professionalism thing. At least with Dumbledore." John mused.
"So you're not in trouble... and Snape is?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah. Looks that way." said John.
"What did Dumbledore say to him?" Harry asked.
"When I was leaving I overheard Snape saying some crap about dad and how I'm just like him. Dumbledore didn't like that. But I was out of earshot after that." said John.
"Why didn't you stay to listen Potter? Afraid Snape would out your dad as something you don't want to hear?" Malfoy sneered.
"No actually. I just have too much respect for the most powerful and accomplished wizard alive to eavesdrop." John replied coolly.
Malfoy scoffed at the most powerful and accomplished comment but didn't press further.
Delilah and especially Hermione would normally have not encouraged blatant disrespect of a professor, but this time was definitely different.
"Thank you John. And you too Ron." said Hermione.
"No problem. I wonder why he didn't take me to Dumbledore's office though?" Ron asked.
"Again, probably something to do with John's dad and how he's like him. He probably just sees you as an annoying student, but John as an extension of his dad who he clearly didn't like." said Delilah.
"That makes sense." said Ron.
"Maybe he'll get fired." said Harry, dreamily.
"I wouldn't want him to lose his livelihood, but it wouldn't be totally unjustified." said Hermione.
"I don't think he'll be fired. But this might just be the moment that Snape starts acting something close to fair." said Harry.
"He won't be totally fair, he'll show that stupid Slytherin bias, but maybe he'll stop bullying people." said John.
"Bias? It's not Snape's fault Gryffindors are incompetent." said Malfoy.
"Have you seen Hermione's marks?" John replied calmly.
Malfoy was shut up again.
It struck Harry how differently John reacted to Malfoy and Snape. Unless Malfoy did or said something particularly vile, John really didn't get too angry. Snape was the only person in the world who could so easily get under his skin. At least as far as he could tell.
By the end of the day, word had spread like Wildfire on how Ron and John had called Snape out and not been punished. At dinner time, they were bombarded by mostly Gryffindors, but also some Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws with questions and congratulations.
Snape swept past them, and where he would normally have ignored them, he stopped by at where John was sat alongside Ron, Hermione, Harry and Delilah. Everyone nearby went silent.
"Consider this a formal apology. I will not tolerate your more... unsavory behaviour however." Snape said shortly. His eyes were fixed on John. The loathing was still there, but it was obvious that Snape saw that he was in the wrong.
John nodded to the professor, who went on his way.
He and Ron then proceeded to enjoy the attention they got from girls who praised how 'brave' and 'selfless' they were being. Hermione rolled her eyes. It wasn't as if they'd faced a basilisk and Voldemort himself or anything. No, Snape was far harder to face, clearly.
Sure enough, John was seen taking a girl by the hand and heading out of the hall.
"Don't wait for me." he said, smirking
More surprising though, was the fact that Ron did the same.
Harry stared at Ron in wide-mouthed shock.
"Et tu Ron?" He asked no one in particular.
"They grow up so fast." Delilah said, dryly. Her eye was caught by Machado, followed by a blush, so she couldn't say too much.
Harry didn't see either Ron or John until later that night in the dorm room.
Ron was the first to arrive, with a goofy looking grin on his face and a slightly disheveled uniform.
"Lad!" Seamus called loudly upon Ron's appearance.
Ron shrugged and sat down on his bed, but the grin never left his face.
John returned a few minutes later with his hands in his pockets, looking down at the floor.
"Blimey I thought you were about to go and have some fun John, what happened?" Harry asked.
"Oh nothing. I just got to keep this." said John, pulling out a bra from his pocket.
Seamus, Dean and Neville looked at the bra as if it were the holy grail.
"John! You mean you saw her..." Neville started.
"Tits? Yep." John said nonchalantly.
"And?" Seamus asked.
"Tits are awesome. That's all I have to say on the matter." said John.
"Fuck me... you just had to go and upstage me, didn't you?" Ron asked, though he was grinning broadly at John.
"What can I say? I cannot be resisted." said John.
Harry couldn't help but wonder how much his ego would be fed by escapades like this.
"Why do you still have her bra?" Harry asked.
"She let me have it. Call it a souvenir." John replied with a cheeky looking grin on his face.
"Well try not to let the image of a girl's breasts distract you during Quidditch tomorrow." said Dean.
"Oh, don't worry about that. Hufflepuff aren't bad, but they aren't great either. I'm probably the best chaser in the school anyway, and that's not just me being an arrogant twat. Oliver, Katie and Angelina agree." said John.
"I wonder what Diggory's got planned to try and nullify you and Harry at the same time." said Seamus.
"Nothing will work. If both Hufflepuff beaters focus on Harry and John, Angelina and Katie can just do whatever they want, and they have no one protecting their chasers. We've won this. Unless their beaters perform at like... international level tomorrow." said Ron confidently.
"Speaking of Quidditch, we'll need to rest." said Harry, and with that, the boys agreed on a lights out.
The next morning absolutely did not bring good Quidditch conditions. It was raining, clouds were thick and grey, and the fog was making visibility past about fifty metres impossible.
Immediately after kickoff, Harry was struck by just how hard it was to see what he was doing. He was supposed to search for a rapid, flying ball the size of a walnut in this?
He certainly didn't know how it was possible for John to be putting on yet another prodigal performance, but sure enough, he was. Harry chalked that down to chasers having a generally easier job than seekers.
But his glasses put him at a particular disadvantage next to Cedric Diggory, who was a talented seeker in his own right anyway.
Harry decided that he'd had enough.
"Wood! I can't see a thing!" Harry said.
Wood nodded and called for a time-out.
This was the first time Harry could see the scoreboard. It was only five minutes into the game, and Gryffindor were already up by fifty, but Harry was worried about his ability to see the snitch to seal the game.
The Gryffindor team ran under their tent, trying to figure out what to do.
"I don't have a damn chance at even seeing the snitch with these on, let alone catching it!" Harry said.
"How well can you see without them?" Wood asked.
"Not well at all. I wouldn't be able to tell that it's you from here unless I heard your voice." said Harry.
Wood restrained himself from cursing, but as if on cue, Hermione appeared.
"Harry, I've had an idea! Hand me your glasses!" she said, and Harry did so.
"Impervius!" she said, tapping them with her wand.
"It'll repel water for an hour now!" she said, happily.
"Hermione... will you marry me?" John asked jokingly, causing the Gryffindor team to laugh and Hermione to blush.
"Just win!" she said.
"That we can do. Let's hit them hard!" said George, mounting his broom, leading the team back out.
Harry could vaguely hear the commentary over the storm.
"Horne has the Quaffle, he's being chased down hard by Johnson, and sure enough, Potter comes out of nowhere and steals it! He beats James and Robson and scores!" came the voice of Lee Jordan.
It seemed as if John's playing style which was normally about overpowering opposition players and wrestling the quaffle out of their hands adapted well to bad weather - he could come from a spot where no one was looking and steal the ball before they knew what was going on.
"Potter is putting on an absolute clinic on how to play chaser today!" said Lee, as the Gryffindors in the crowd roared in delight.
Harry couldn't get caught up in John's dominance - he spotted Cedric Diggory racing in one direction with a single mind, which could only mean one thing. He chased Diggory down and sure enough, saw the glint of gold ahead of him.
But something happened that distracted him for a moment completely. Lightning struck from behind the clouds, and silhouetted against them was a formation of clouds that looked exactly like... the grim?
He didn't stay distracted though, he momentarily re-acquired his target, and began to pursue it.
But before he could plan his next few moves, something very odd started to happen. The whole pitch went into silence. Had he gone deaf?
His stomach gave a lurch when he felt a horrible, familiar wave of coldness sweep through his body, and by instinct, he looked down. Dementors were on the grass of the Quidditch pitch. A hundred dementors at least.
Two of them flew straight at John, and Harry watched in horror as he fell off his broom, before Harry began to hear something in his head. The same screaming woman from earlier on the train. But now he could make out what was being said.
"No! Not my boys!"
"Stand aside you stupid girl!"
"Not my children! Take me instead!"
Harry's vision swirled into some kind of white misty substance. Why was he flying on a broom? This woman was about to be murdered, her children too! He had to stop this!
A high-pitched male voice was laughing, the woman screamed and Harry no longer heard or saw a thing.
"Lucky the ground was so soft."
"They look a bit peaky."
"Wouldn't you expect that after falling fifty feet?"
"Let's throw you off the astronomy tower and see what you look like!"
"Ughhh." Harry finally recognized the voice of John groaning as he sat up.
Harry opened his eyes and saw himself and John in beds at the hospital wing, surrounded by some of the Gryffindor team, Ron, Hermione and Delilah.
"What the hell happened?" John asked.
"The dementors. You guys fainted and fell off your brooms." said Fred.
"Fuck... please tell me we didn't lose the match." said John.
"Err..." said Angelina.
"Brilliant. What was the margin?" Harry asked.
"Only seventy points. John put in some serious work before the dementors showed up." said George, trying to cheer Harry up.
But Harry couldn't feel better. At least John had put in a big contribution to the team effort before the dementors came. He couldn't do his own job. He had for the first time, lost a Quidditch match.
Another figure came to the two beds. It was Cedric Diggory.
"Listen, guys, I'm sorry, I didn't realize what happened when I got the snitch. I tried to call it off, but-" Diggory started.
"But dementor attacks aren't covered in Quidditch rules, so technically, it was a fair win." Katie finished.
"Dont' worry about it." said Harry.
Diggory nodded and awkwardly walked off, the guilt visible on his face.
"Dumbledore looked completely furious, I've never seen him like that. He pointed his wand at you two and slowed your falls, and then shot something silver out of his wand and drove all the dementors off." said Delilah.
"And... well there's something else you should know too. After you fell, your brooms crashed into each other. And... then they hit the whomping willow. You know the whomping willow. It doesn't like being hit..." said Ron, presenting two destroyed, splintered Nimbus 2000 broomsticks.
John sighed.
"Well I was having such a good week. Should have known it wouldn't last. Oh well! Live and learn! I'm hungry." said John, who was shockingly upbeat. Katie handed him an apple, smiling at him.
Harry couldn't share John's optimism.
This was the second time he'd seen the grim, and the second time he'd nearly died. The first time, he was almost turned into paste by a bus, and the second, he'd fallen fifty feet of a broomstick.
Was he going to look over his shoulder for the beast for the rest of his life until he finally did die?
And that didn't even begin to address the elephant in the room. The dementors. Every time he thought about them, he felt humiliated. The dementors reduced him to nothing. The same went for John, and Harry had no idea how John was brushing it off like that. Or was it all an act for John?
"I do have to do something about the dementors though, they're really starting to mess with my head." John said through a mouthful of apple.
That answered that question... they clearly got to John too, but he wasn't quite as humiliated by them. He was just equally affected by them in the moment.
Returning to the busy schedule of school life a couple of days later was relieving. In spite of enduring Malfoy's impressions of dementors and swooning fits in potions lessons, it gave him other things to think about. Though the fact that Malfoy had fully recovered and now could use both arms to aid in his theatrics didn't help. Especially since he could now do it in rugby training sessions as well.
Defence against the dark arts was better though - Professor Lupin had returned.
After yet another enjoyable lesson about yet another weird and wonderful, albeit potentially dangerous creature, Lupin stopped Harry and John before they left.
"I'd like a word if you don't mind." he said.
John shrugged and he and Harry followed Lupin into his office.
"I heard about the match." he said.
"And the broomsticks. Is there any chance of making repairs?" he continued.
"No. That tree just completely splintered them." said Harry.
Lupin sighed.
"It was planted the year I arrived at Hogwarts. People would play games, trying to get as close to it as we could, but one student nearly lost an eye, so we were forbidden to go near it. Broomsticks wouldn't stand a chance." said Lupin.
"And did you hear about the dementors?" John asked with great difficulty.
"Yes. I did. Not many people have seen Albus Dumbledore so angry. I imagine they've been growing restless, frustrated and angry with Dumbledore not allowing them directly into the school grounds. They were no doubt the reason you fell? I've heard a lot about your flying skills, both of you." said Lupin.
"Yeah. I just have to ask. Are they targeting us on purpose? And if they aren't why do they affect us so badly?" Harry asked.
"I can't tell whether they are targeting you on purpose, but rest assured, their effect on you has nothing to do with weakness." said Lupin, as if reading their minds.
"Dementors are among the foulest creatures known to us. They feed on every good thought, every happy memory, until one is left with nothing but their worst experiences. They revel in decay, despair and fear. They make us relive the worst experiences of our lives, making our pain their power. The worst experiences in your lives... are more than enough to make anyone faint or fall off a broom." Lupin explained.
"When they get near me I hear things. I figured out what it is. I'm hearing Voldemort murdering my mother." John said, making no effort to hide his bitterness and hatred of the dementors.
"The same thing happens to me. Why did they show up at the match?" Harry asked.
"They're getting hungry. A Quidditch match, with everyone's emotions running high would be something of a feast to them." said Lupin.
"Azkaban must be..." Harry started.
"A real life version of hell." John finished.
Lupin nodded grimly.
"It is. It's nothing but a fortress on a small island, with impenetrable stone walls, and it's out at sea. But I know they don't need the walls. They don't need the water. The inhabitants are trapped in their own minds with no semblance of a happy thought allowed to stay in their minds. Most go completely mad within weeks." said Lupin.
"And Black managed to escape them." said Harry.
"Yes. I don't know how, especially without access to a wand." said Lupin.
"There must be ways to defend yourself against them then. I mean, you for example, you made the one on the train back off." said John.
"I did, but there was only one that night. When there are multiple dementors, it becomes so much harder..." Lupin said.
"But you still made it back off." said Harry.
"I don't pretend to be an expert in fighting dementors you know." said Lupin, who knew exactly what the two brothers were getting at.
"You're better than us." said John scoffing.
"I don't want to risk them messing up another Quidditch match." said Harry flatly.
"Well I suppose, given that they've developed something of an interest in you, perhaps I should. But we'll have to start next term. I have so much to do before the holidays. I chose a very inconvenient time to fall ill." said Lupin.
The promise of anti-dementor lessons and the fact that Gryffindor didn't have to play again for a while, combined with the fact that Ravenclaw obliterated Hufflepuff all lifted Harry's mood immeasurably.
Better still was Gryffindor third and fourth year's rugby team annihilating Slytherins, with a score of twenty-nine to five.
Harry did have to endure Malfoy's taunting regarding the dementors though, and the fact that he'd now fully recovered meant that he was doing spirited imitations of someone fainting and falling off their broom, as well as rather poor impressions of dementors which somehow amused his Slytherin cronies. Low standards for humour it seemed.
Not all of Slytherin was amused; the likes of Daphne Greengrass, Elia James and Richard Hugh, whilst not being friends of Harry or John just found the jokes to be poor jokes.
"I suppose it takes a bad joke to make nothing but bad jokes." John commented whilst Malfoy was making another theatrical dementor impression, causing Harry and Ron to snort into their pumpkin juice at breakfast.
The time passed by at what was seemingly an increased pace, and before they knew it, December was upon them, and the Christmas Hogsmeade weekend was being hotly discussed.
Ron and Hermione had decided to stay back, Ron citing his inability to deal with Percy for an extra two weeks as his reason, whilst Hermione cited her workload and the library being too useful. Of course, they just wanted to stay with their friends, and Harry, John and Delilah were grateful.
However, they (as expected) began discussing their plans for the Christmas Hogsmeade visit, Hermione pointing out that they could do their Christmas shopping there, and Ron talking about how he was looking forward to whatever Honeydukes has put on sale for Christmas.
As with last time, Harry, Delilah and John were there to wave them off to Hogsmeade. Unlike last time however, Fred and George came to them, sporting identical grins.
"Err... should we be worried about those grins?" Delilah asked.
"We noticed you're not going to Hogsmeade, and dear Ronald has of course informed us why." said George.
"Yes... so what does that have to do with you?" Harry asked suspiciously. Whenever Fred and George looked happy, mischief was sure to follow.
"Well, come with us. We think we can get you there." said Fred.
John raised an eyebrow and followed them, mostly out of intrigue. Harry and Delilah shrugged and followed as well.
Fred and George, when they were sure no staff member was anywhere to be found, pulled out what appeared to be a piece of parchment that was at least twenty years old. They handed it to John, and looked at him as if they'd given John nuclear launch codes.
"Parchment... thanks?" John said.
Fred gasped.
"Parchment! The poor boy! So ignorant!" he said.
"We have to educate them Fred. It's the only way." said George.
Fred grinned and tapped the parchment with his wand.
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." he said.
The parchment began to change. Ink filled its face, and before they knew it, writing appeared.
"Messers Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs are proud to present: The Marauders' Map." John read out.
"We owe them so much. Open it up." said George.
John did so and his eyes widened.
"That's Hogwarts!" he said.
Harry and Delilah uncharacteristically shoved their heads in between John and the map. Hogwarts? Being mapped?
And that wasn't all...
"No... that can't be-" Harry started.
"Dumbledore. In his study." said George.
"Pacing. He does that a lot for whatever reason." said Fred.
"So you're telling me that this map..." Delilah started.
"It shows everyone in Hogwarts. Where they are, where they're going." said Fred.
"Where'd you get it?" John asked.
"Nicked it in first year, from Filch's office. When we were young, innocent and wide-eyed." Fred said.
"More innocent anyway." said George, upon seeing the looks on the younger teens' faces.
"Now listen. If you want to get into Hogsmeade, there are seven secret passages Filch knows about four of them, one of them leads to the whomping Willow, and one of them has caved in. This is your best bet." said Fred, pointing at a particular passage.
"It leads into Honeydukes Cellar, so make sure you're not spotted when you get there." said Fred.
"Believe us when we say that it's difficult to give this to you, but we've decided that your needs are greater than ours." said George.
"One last thing. When you're done reading this thing, tap it with your wand and say : Mischief managed. Or anyone could read it." said Fred, doing as he described.
It wasn't long before Harry, Delilah and John predictably found themselves straight in Honeydukes cellar. It was full of crates and boxes, and smelled very, very strongly of sugar. Harry and Delilah had to grab John, who was clearly very tempted, and not thinking about being caught. They weren't supposed to be there.
They heard muffled voices from above.
"Bring some more Jelly slugs, they've almost cleaned us out." said one of the shopkeepers.
The youngsters stayed down as the worker came down the stairs and carried three boxes full of sweets back up to the surface.
"Let's go." said John quietly.
They climbed out of the trapdoor, which blended so perfectly with the wooden floor, that it was almost impossible to tell that it was there. John made a mental note of its general whereabouts.
They snuck up to the top, but by the time they were there, it was so crowded that no one looked twice at any of them. Honeydukes was as incredible as Ron was describing. Levitating lemon candies, chocolate everywhere, and a shelf with 'unusual tastes' with a bunch of sixth years looking at them. They included things like blood-flavoured lolipops. Maybe vampires visited Honeydukes on occasion? It was an all-wizard village after all.
They spotted Ron and Hermione and grinned, before sneaking up on them.
"D'you think Harry'd want these? John'd try anything, and Delilah would probably throw them back at my face." Ron asked, shoving a jar of cockroach cluster under Hermione's nose.
"Definitely not." said Harry.
Ron almost dropped the jar.
"Harry! John! Delilah, how..." Hermione said.
"You've learned to apparate?" Ron asked.
"Don't be ridiculous. Come on, I'll explain." said Delilah, before everything about the Marauders' map was explained.
"Those weasels! They never told me about it!" said Ron, outraged.
"They said something about our needs being greater than theirs. Mostly because we can't get to Hogsmeade. But let's be honest. They know we'd tell you about it." said Harry.
"But you can't keep it! You have to hand it in to Professor McGonagall!" Said Hermione.
Harry gawked at her.
"Are you mad? Hand in something that good?" Ron asked.
"What about Sirius Black? He could be using one of those passages on the map to get into the castle" she said.
"He can't be. There are seven passages from Hogsmeade to the castle, and Filch knows about four of them. One of the other three is caved in, another is underneath the bloody whomping willow, and the other one which we came through... well from either Hogsmeade or Hogwarts, it's impossible to spot unless you already know it's there. There's a statue of a one-eyed witch literally on top of the Hogwarts end, and there's a password too. And the Hogsmeade end is in Honeydukes cellar, which Black couldn't get to without going out in public." John reasoned.
Ron then cleared his throat and pointed to a sign which told everyone that dementors would be patrolling Hogsmeade at night.
"If Black showed up in the daytime, there are hundreds of witnesses. If he showed up at night, dementors are swarming the village." Ron said, smugly.
"But you three don't have the forms signed!" Hermione said.
"You going to report us?" a grinning John asked.
Hermione sighed.
"No." she said, finally.
"Then let's enjoy ourselves! Ron, what do we have here?" Delilah asked.
Ron happily showed them around the rest of the shops, before they all bought some. Upon walking outside though, they were immediately struck by how absurdly cold it was. The wind literally hurt their faces.
Harry looked at John and he was baffled to not see him shivering like himself and Delilah - they weren't planning on heading to Hogsmeade and so didn't have coats or jackets.
Ron and Hermione were of course prepared.
"Let's head to the three broomsticks. A butterbeer'll warm you up." said Ron.
A pub sounded like a great idea- warm building, warm food and a place to sit and relax.
They walked in to see the pub relatively crowded, but not to the level of Honeydukes.
John found a table in the corner, expecting fully to discuss things that most people shouldn't know that they were discussing, especially since he, Harry and Delilah shouldn't have even been there.
"First round's on me but I obviously can't be seen buying them. You can keep the change, I hate having random coins which I can't spend." said John, handing Ron Two galleons. Butterbeer was priced at two sickles each.
"You three have to try butterbeer obviously, but how much d'you want?" Ron asked.
"Whatever the biggest size they've got is." said John.
"They've got sizes that cater to ogres here." said Hermione.
"Alright, I'll have the biggest human sized one." said John.
"Half a pint." said Delilah.
"Pint for me." said Harry.
Ron came back five minutes later with five differently sized tankards, two gigantic ones which were no doubt for himself and John, one small one for Delilah and two pint-sized ones for Harry and Hermione.
It was the most delicious drink they'd ever had. It seemed to warm them up from the chest out, and the buttery, sugary flavour was unforgettable. It tasted something like butterscotch, but less sticky. There was a hint of alcohol in it, but John read the board and apparently, the drink only consisted of 0.5% alcohol. Negligible at best unless one were to drink at least ten pints for normal sized people, and more for larger people.
"Wow. Who invented this stuff?" John asked.
"I don't know, but I don't care if they were a man or woman, I want to marry them." said Ron, causing the others at the table to laugh.
John all of a sudden stopped laughing upon spotting something outside the nearby window.
"John? What's going on?" Hermione asked, but her question was answered when she herself looked out of the window. Hagrid was there, and he wasn't alone. He was with Professor McGonagall, Flitwick and Cornelius Fudge, the minister for magic.
"We've got to get out of here." said Harry, but it was too late. They were entering the pub. Harry, Delilah and John dove under the table.
Harry silently prayed that they were only there for a drink and a talk.
That was the reason for their presence, but the subject of their discussion would make Harry and John both regret ever coming there.