Chapter 7
Cloaks and Boots
"Sirius, what are the ingredients for a Muting Potion?" asked Peter, who was scribbling furiously on a piece of parchment.
"Peter! Didn't you take notes on that yesterday?" Sirius replied irritably.
"I, uh, fell asleep," he answered timidly. Sirius heaved a dramatic sigh.
"If you want your average to go up, you can't fall asleep during a lesson," Lily commented.
"I know that!" he snapped.
"Oh, darn, now I can't remember!" Sirius scolded himself.
"Dragon scales, lichens, and cucumber seeds," Remus finished for him.
"Thank you, Remus," Peter said, as he scribbled the ingredients down on his parchment. James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, Lily, and her friend Ally were gathered outside on a Sunday afternoon, finishing their weekend homework. Everyone was done except Peter, of course, it always took him longer.
James sighed and laid down in the tall grass. He stared up at the cloudless sky. It was the perfect day to be outside, when cool autumn breezes blew, and the summer sun warmed your face. He looked over at each of his friends: Peter leaning up against a large willow tree, still writing things down on his parchment, Ally and Remus, who were in a deep discussion about Quidditch, and Sirius and Lily, who were laughing about something. James scowled at them. Why? He asked himself. Why do I get mad whenever he's around her?
"Done!" Peter let out a deep sigh, looking very pleased with himself.
"Let me see, Peter, I can check it over if you want," Lily offered. Peter handed her the piece of parchment with untidy scrawl all over it. She began to look it over.
"How's your eye?" James asked Sirius, who was absent-mindedly rubbing the bruise that Snape had given him a week ago.
Sirius wrinkled his nose. "A tiny bit better," he answered, "I am so lucky Dumbledore only took 15 points off Gryffindor,"
"You got off easy this time," Peter reminded him, "He said that it was a detention next time he caught you fighting,"
"Hey!" Sirius exclaimed, "What do you call it when Snape socks you in the eye?" Everyone shrugged.
"Fruit punch!" James shook his head. This was his lamest yet. Remus and Peter groaned. Lily rolled her eyes. Ally cracked up.
"See! Someone appreciates me!" Sirius said.
"No one appreciates you but the rats, Black," said a cold voice that could only belong to Malfoy. Everyone turned around and glared at him.
"Where's your buddies, Malfoy, did they abandon you?" James said in a singsong voice. He had struck a nerve. Malfoy glared at him even more, if that was possible.
"If you mean Severus and Evelyn, they are in the castle," he replied.
"No one cares, Malfoy, get lost, you slime-ball!" said Sirius.
"Fine, but I'm warning you, Black, don't mess with Evelyn, you won't get off as easy as you did with Snape. I reckon she'll give you more than a black eye," he sneered.
"Oh, I am trembling with fear!" Sirius said sarcastically, "Yeah, right, like a girl could beat me up!"
"You don't know Evelyn, Black, I'm warning you, she's trouble," he repeated.
"Thank you so much, Malfoy, for your little warning," James said, "Can you leave now?"
Malfoy turned around and marched back up to the castle, who almost looked...hurt. For a millisecond James felt guilty, but quickly pushed that thought away.
"Since when is Lucius Malfoy concerned about us?" Peter asked rhetorically. Everyone shrugged but Lily.
"He's right though," she said quietly, "there's just something about her I don't like, she is just mean to everybody. No one would dare talk back to her,"
"Oh please," James rolled his eyes.
"I'm serious, you guys! She scares me!" Lily said defensively. Snorts of laughter could be heard.
"Let's go back up to the castle," Ally suggested, changing the subject, "Dinner will be ready soon," Everybody gathered up their homework, and began walking up the big hill that Hogwarts was perched upon. They walked up to the huge wooden doors that was the entrance to the castle. James opened it and came face to face with Albus Dumbledore.
"Ah, Mr. Potter, I was just looking for you," he said. James gulped. It wasn't good when the headmaster was looking for you. He hadn't done anything, had he? Well there was that Freezing Potion he used on Snape, but how could he have found out about that?
"Yes, sir?" James asked timidly.
"I need a word with you, in my office," he hesitated, "maybe Mr. Black should come also, he is your best friend after all," Sirius shot James a surprised look. James shrugged.
"We'll meet you guys back in the common room," James told his friends. They all agreed, and walked off. James and Sirius trotted nervously behind Dumbledore. He led them through hundreds of corridors and staircases, it seemed like. James was out of breath when they finally arrived at Dumbledore's office. It was a fairly large room, with doors leading off to where he lived probably. There was all kinds of silver contraptions in the room, moving and twitching, from floor to ceiling. But the thing that interested James the most was the giant red bird that was perched on top of a gold post. It had one beady little black eye.
"That's a phoenix," Dumbledore said, following his gaze, "his name is Fawkes. Phoenix tears have healing powers, and they can fly faster than an airplane,"
"Cool, sir!" Sirius exclaimed. Dumbledore motioned for them to sit down, and they sat in two large armchairs. Dumbledore sat behind his desk. He cleared his throat, and for a while just sat there and stared at the two boys.
"James," he said gravely, "what I am about to tell you is very important, and I expect you to take it seriously," James nodded slowly. What was this about?
"You have learned, in Defense Against the Dark Arts, about Voldemort, I reckon?" James nodded a little.
"Good," he said, "Long ago, there was a student who attended Hogwarts. His name was Tom Riddle. Tom was a brilliant student. He was captain of his Quidditch team, a prefect, Head Boy, and excelled in all of his subjects. But Tom, er," he hesitated, "became a good wizard gone bad," James and Sirius raised their eyebrows.
"After Tom's last year was over at Hogwarts, he began to be interested in the Dark Arts, which is very, very powerful magic. He studied the Dark Arts and became more and more immersed in them. He put so many spells on himself and drank so many potions that eventually he became unrecognizable. Tom became a Dark Wizard, and went by the name of Voldemort. Voldemort wanted control of the world, so he began killing. Killing other wizards, killing muggles, and just about anything that stood in his way," he sighed, "Soon many people began joining him, and he had many followers. Voldemort is an evil wizard, the most evil and powerful wizard that walked this earth. It was a dark, dark, time," he finished.
"My parents told me all about him, sir," James said. Dumbledore nodded.
"As you know, Voldemort is very, very powerful. Or was. So he didn't want anyone to stand in his way. As I mentioned, he was a brilliant student, and one of the subjects he excelled in was Divination," James and Sirius looked confused. "Divination is the art of predicting the future," he explained, "And since Voldemort was so smart, he, er...could see things other people couldn't. He knew things. He could tell who would stand in his way, and--"
"Excuse me sir," James interrupted, "but, but what does this have to do with me?" Dumbledore gave him a look.
"Perhaps if you would let me finish," he suggested. James blushed, and Dumbledore cleared his throat.
"Roughly every few years, Voldemort supposedly goes and wipes out all of the wizards that stand in his way. He actually has only captured maybe three wizards in all, and those are the weaker of the bunch. Nothing has really been proven that he actually does this, but we can sometimes get our hands on Dark Arts newspapers. It's called Voldemort's Rage. But he doesn't kill them, see, he forces them to join the dark side, so he can gain more power....and-" he added, "I'm afraid, James, that you are one of those wizards,"
"WHAT?!" James stood up in anguish. Sirius gasped. "That's impossible! It can't-"
"Sit," he said sternly. Something in his voice made James sit back down and shut his mouth. Dumbledore opened one of his drawers in his desk, and took out what looked like a newspaper. He handed it over to James, who gazed at the top line, which read "The Netherworld Weekly" he figured it was a dark arts newspaper. Then he read the headline which said in bold black letters "RAGE TO HAPPEN AGAIN" James felt his face get pale. Then he saw about 5 or so pictures of wizards, which were shifting uncomfortably in their photos. James's face got paler as he saw, that one of those pictures was of himself.
"Possible victims," he murmured, which was what the caption said. James leaned back in his chair and felt dizzy. What was happening? How could this be? The most evil wizard in the world was after him. Why him? Why him? That same question swam around in his head. Then, he remembered what the sorting hat had said. You are in grave danger. James sighed and rubbed his temples, as he saw his father always do.
"James," Dumbledore said soothingly, "There is something you can do. All hope is not lost," James looked up expectantly.
"You can be careful," he said quietly. James sighed. That didn't help, he was always careful.
"And," he added, "I am going to give you these. Use them well," he handed James a box, and a long, silvery cloak. James felt the cloak. It felt like water, and looked like it too.
"An invisibility cloak," Dumbledore explained, "Open the box," James did so, and inside he found a pair of boots, silver, just like his cloak.
"These boots will make you run faster than a phoenix can fly," he explained, "you know, just in case Voldemort-"
"Attacks," Sirius finished quietly, who hadn't said a word since they were in there.
"As I said before, this happens roughly every few years. And every few years there has been a single individual who has had the power to stop Voldemort,"
"Who was it last time?" Sirius asked curiously.
"It was I," Dumbledore said. Both boys gasped.
"You?!" James exclaimed. He nodded.
"Perhaps you have heard of receiving the Order of Merlin? This how you do it," he said.
"Fortunately, Voldemort is still, er, recovering," he said, "and is probably not strong enough to do anything. But he still does have his followers, and he always sends them on missions. So, I reckon that is what he has done this time," he finished.
"You mean there can be one of his followers in this school right now?!" Sirius exploded, "How can you let that happen? I thought-"
"Sirius, shhh," said Dumbledore, "This castle is protected by more than just locks on the doors, you know," he said mysteriously. This reassured James.
"Now," Dumbledore stood up and checked his watch, "It is time for dinner, and you boys look hungry,"
"But-" James and Sirius said in unison, but Dumbledore cut them off.
"No buts! We will talk about this more later," he said sternly. James exhaled slowly. How could this be happening? What had he done to deserve this? James knew one thing for sure-he would not let Voldemort get him. Never.
Author's Note: Hey guys! Thanks for following along with my story, it means a lot to me. Hope ya liked this chapter, its one of the better ones I thought. Please be nice in your reviews, but I don't mind constructive criticism. Oh and I don't wanna hear all that crap about Voldemort being after their time or whatever, and that he wasn't defeated by Dumbledore, blah blah blah. Cuz guess what? It's my story and I can do whatever I want with it, and I don't really care if you think my facts are wrong! So there :P OK go and review the story now, ta ta!
Disclaimer: Anything or Anybody you recognize from the Harry Potter series belongs to J.K. Rowling. Everything else, except for the idea for the silver boots belongs to Mena Baines, belongs to me. I hope you don't mind, Mena!!
*~*
Cloaks and Boots
"Sirius, what are the ingredients for a Muting Potion?" asked Peter, who was scribbling furiously on a piece of parchment.
"Peter! Didn't you take notes on that yesterday?" Sirius replied irritably.
"I, uh, fell asleep," he answered timidly. Sirius heaved a dramatic sigh.
"If you want your average to go up, you can't fall asleep during a lesson," Lily commented.
"I know that!" he snapped.
"Oh, darn, now I can't remember!" Sirius scolded himself.
"Dragon scales, lichens, and cucumber seeds," Remus finished for him.
"Thank you, Remus," Peter said, as he scribbled the ingredients down on his parchment. James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, Lily, and her friend Ally were gathered outside on a Sunday afternoon, finishing their weekend homework. Everyone was done except Peter, of course, it always took him longer.
James sighed and laid down in the tall grass. He stared up at the cloudless sky. It was the perfect day to be outside, when cool autumn breezes blew, and the summer sun warmed your face. He looked over at each of his friends: Peter leaning up against a large willow tree, still writing things down on his parchment, Ally and Remus, who were in a deep discussion about Quidditch, and Sirius and Lily, who were laughing about something. James scowled at them. Why? He asked himself. Why do I get mad whenever he's around her?
"Done!" Peter let out a deep sigh, looking very pleased with himself.
"Let me see, Peter, I can check it over if you want," Lily offered. Peter handed her the piece of parchment with untidy scrawl all over it. She began to look it over.
"How's your eye?" James asked Sirius, who was absent-mindedly rubbing the bruise that Snape had given him a week ago.
Sirius wrinkled his nose. "A tiny bit better," he answered, "I am so lucky Dumbledore only took 15 points off Gryffindor,"
"You got off easy this time," Peter reminded him, "He said that it was a detention next time he caught you fighting,"
"Hey!" Sirius exclaimed, "What do you call it when Snape socks you in the eye?" Everyone shrugged.
"Fruit punch!" James shook his head. This was his lamest yet. Remus and Peter groaned. Lily rolled her eyes. Ally cracked up.
"See! Someone appreciates me!" Sirius said.
"No one appreciates you but the rats, Black," said a cold voice that could only belong to Malfoy. Everyone turned around and glared at him.
"Where's your buddies, Malfoy, did they abandon you?" James said in a singsong voice. He had struck a nerve. Malfoy glared at him even more, if that was possible.
"If you mean Severus and Evelyn, they are in the castle," he replied.
"No one cares, Malfoy, get lost, you slime-ball!" said Sirius.
"Fine, but I'm warning you, Black, don't mess with Evelyn, you won't get off as easy as you did with Snape. I reckon she'll give you more than a black eye," he sneered.
"Oh, I am trembling with fear!" Sirius said sarcastically, "Yeah, right, like a girl could beat me up!"
"You don't know Evelyn, Black, I'm warning you, she's trouble," he repeated.
"Thank you so much, Malfoy, for your little warning," James said, "Can you leave now?"
Malfoy turned around and marched back up to the castle, who almost looked...hurt. For a millisecond James felt guilty, but quickly pushed that thought away.
"Since when is Lucius Malfoy concerned about us?" Peter asked rhetorically. Everyone shrugged but Lily.
"He's right though," she said quietly, "there's just something about her I don't like, she is just mean to everybody. No one would dare talk back to her,"
"Oh please," James rolled his eyes.
"I'm serious, you guys! She scares me!" Lily said defensively. Snorts of laughter could be heard.
"Let's go back up to the castle," Ally suggested, changing the subject, "Dinner will be ready soon," Everybody gathered up their homework, and began walking up the big hill that Hogwarts was perched upon. They walked up to the huge wooden doors that was the entrance to the castle. James opened it and came face to face with Albus Dumbledore.
"Ah, Mr. Potter, I was just looking for you," he said. James gulped. It wasn't good when the headmaster was looking for you. He hadn't done anything, had he? Well there was that Freezing Potion he used on Snape, but how could he have found out about that?
"Yes, sir?" James asked timidly.
"I need a word with you, in my office," he hesitated, "maybe Mr. Black should come also, he is your best friend after all," Sirius shot James a surprised look. James shrugged.
"We'll meet you guys back in the common room," James told his friends. They all agreed, and walked off. James and Sirius trotted nervously behind Dumbledore. He led them through hundreds of corridors and staircases, it seemed like. James was out of breath when they finally arrived at Dumbledore's office. It was a fairly large room, with doors leading off to where he lived probably. There was all kinds of silver contraptions in the room, moving and twitching, from floor to ceiling. But the thing that interested James the most was the giant red bird that was perched on top of a gold post. It had one beady little black eye.
"That's a phoenix," Dumbledore said, following his gaze, "his name is Fawkes. Phoenix tears have healing powers, and they can fly faster than an airplane,"
"Cool, sir!" Sirius exclaimed. Dumbledore motioned for them to sit down, and they sat in two large armchairs. Dumbledore sat behind his desk. He cleared his throat, and for a while just sat there and stared at the two boys.
"James," he said gravely, "what I am about to tell you is very important, and I expect you to take it seriously," James nodded slowly. What was this about?
"You have learned, in Defense Against the Dark Arts, about Voldemort, I reckon?" James nodded a little.
"Good," he said, "Long ago, there was a student who attended Hogwarts. His name was Tom Riddle. Tom was a brilliant student. He was captain of his Quidditch team, a prefect, Head Boy, and excelled in all of his subjects. But Tom, er," he hesitated, "became a good wizard gone bad," James and Sirius raised their eyebrows.
"After Tom's last year was over at Hogwarts, he began to be interested in the Dark Arts, which is very, very powerful magic. He studied the Dark Arts and became more and more immersed in them. He put so many spells on himself and drank so many potions that eventually he became unrecognizable. Tom became a Dark Wizard, and went by the name of Voldemort. Voldemort wanted control of the world, so he began killing. Killing other wizards, killing muggles, and just about anything that stood in his way," he sighed, "Soon many people began joining him, and he had many followers. Voldemort is an evil wizard, the most evil and powerful wizard that walked this earth. It was a dark, dark, time," he finished.
"My parents told me all about him, sir," James said. Dumbledore nodded.
"As you know, Voldemort is very, very powerful. Or was. So he didn't want anyone to stand in his way. As I mentioned, he was a brilliant student, and one of the subjects he excelled in was Divination," James and Sirius looked confused. "Divination is the art of predicting the future," he explained, "And since Voldemort was so smart, he, er...could see things other people couldn't. He knew things. He could tell who would stand in his way, and--"
"Excuse me sir," James interrupted, "but, but what does this have to do with me?" Dumbledore gave him a look.
"Perhaps if you would let me finish," he suggested. James blushed, and Dumbledore cleared his throat.
"Roughly every few years, Voldemort supposedly goes and wipes out all of the wizards that stand in his way. He actually has only captured maybe three wizards in all, and those are the weaker of the bunch. Nothing has really been proven that he actually does this, but we can sometimes get our hands on Dark Arts newspapers. It's called Voldemort's Rage. But he doesn't kill them, see, he forces them to join the dark side, so he can gain more power....and-" he added, "I'm afraid, James, that you are one of those wizards,"
"WHAT?!" James stood up in anguish. Sirius gasped. "That's impossible! It can't-"
"Sit," he said sternly. Something in his voice made James sit back down and shut his mouth. Dumbledore opened one of his drawers in his desk, and took out what looked like a newspaper. He handed it over to James, who gazed at the top line, which read "The Netherworld Weekly" he figured it was a dark arts newspaper. Then he read the headline which said in bold black letters "RAGE TO HAPPEN AGAIN" James felt his face get pale. Then he saw about 5 or so pictures of wizards, which were shifting uncomfortably in their photos. James's face got paler as he saw, that one of those pictures was of himself.
"Possible victims," he murmured, which was what the caption said. James leaned back in his chair and felt dizzy. What was happening? How could this be? The most evil wizard in the world was after him. Why him? Why him? That same question swam around in his head. Then, he remembered what the sorting hat had said. You are in grave danger. James sighed and rubbed his temples, as he saw his father always do.
"James," Dumbledore said soothingly, "There is something you can do. All hope is not lost," James looked up expectantly.
"You can be careful," he said quietly. James sighed. That didn't help, he was always careful.
"And," he added, "I am going to give you these. Use them well," he handed James a box, and a long, silvery cloak. James felt the cloak. It felt like water, and looked like it too.
"An invisibility cloak," Dumbledore explained, "Open the box," James did so, and inside he found a pair of boots, silver, just like his cloak.
"These boots will make you run faster than a phoenix can fly," he explained, "you know, just in case Voldemort-"
"Attacks," Sirius finished quietly, who hadn't said a word since they were in there.
"As I said before, this happens roughly every few years. And every few years there has been a single individual who has had the power to stop Voldemort,"
"Who was it last time?" Sirius asked curiously.
"It was I," Dumbledore said. Both boys gasped.
"You?!" James exclaimed. He nodded.
"Perhaps you have heard of receiving the Order of Merlin? This how you do it," he said.
"Fortunately, Voldemort is still, er, recovering," he said, "and is probably not strong enough to do anything. But he still does have his followers, and he always sends them on missions. So, I reckon that is what he has done this time," he finished.
"You mean there can be one of his followers in this school right now?!" Sirius exploded, "How can you let that happen? I thought-"
"Sirius, shhh," said Dumbledore, "This castle is protected by more than just locks on the doors, you know," he said mysteriously. This reassured James.
"Now," Dumbledore stood up and checked his watch, "It is time for dinner, and you boys look hungry,"
"But-" James and Sirius said in unison, but Dumbledore cut them off.
"No buts! We will talk about this more later," he said sternly. James exhaled slowly. How could this be happening? What had he done to deserve this? James knew one thing for sure-he would not let Voldemort get him. Never.
Author's Note: Hey guys! Thanks for following along with my story, it means a lot to me. Hope ya liked this chapter, its one of the better ones I thought. Please be nice in your reviews, but I don't mind constructive criticism. Oh and I don't wanna hear all that crap about Voldemort being after their time or whatever, and that he wasn't defeated by Dumbledore, blah blah blah. Cuz guess what? It's my story and I can do whatever I want with it, and I don't really care if you think my facts are wrong! So there :P OK go and review the story now, ta ta!
Disclaimer: Anything or Anybody you recognize from the Harry Potter series belongs to J.K. Rowling. Everything else, except for the idea for the silver boots belongs to Mena Baines, belongs to me. I hope you don't mind, Mena!!
*~*
