Chapter Eleven: Initiation

It wasn't until mid October that Teddy finally came to talk to James about what they had discussed at the World Cup. By this time, James had all but given up on him and Teddy sharing more than a few passing words in the Common Room each morning, and was convinced that Teddy had been lying to him just to get his hopes up.

However, on this mid-October day, Teddy finally came to speak to James; just not quite in the way that James had imagined this conversation going when it finally happened.

"Hey James," Teddy had said, "You remember when I asked you if you wanted to join our group right?" James had nodded, dumbfounded before Teddy had continued "Great, well meet me in the Common Room tonight at midnight. And, bring those kids you hang around with…Jerome and Andy."

James hadn't had even the slightest idea as to why Teddy had wanted to speak to the three of them at midnight, but if it was going to get him into Teddy's 'gang' of pranksters than he would do it without a second thought.

Jeremey had not taken much persuasion to come along, as he was always eager to do anything exciting and adventurous. Andrew on the other hand, had taken some persuading.

"What on earth does he want to see us at that ungodly hour for James?" Andrew had asked, clearly skeptical of Teddy's motives, which James found appalling. Teddy would never do anything to try and hurt him, or get him in trouble.

"It's probably just tradition or something." James said dismissively, waving Andrew's complaints aside without much thought. "Hey by the way, you can come too Zach." James said, as their fourth dorm-mate entered the Dormitory.

"Come where?" Zach asked, looking at James as though he had just sprouted a second head. Admittedly, he had just walked into the middle of their conversation, and couldn't be expected to know what they were talking about.

So James explained to Zach (as he had just explained to Andrew and Jeremey) how Teddy, who was practically James' brother, had told them to meet him in the Common Room at midnight in order to join his band of pranksters.

Unlike Jeremey and Andrew, Zach did not show the slightest of interests in the whole thing. "Nah, I'm good." He said to the general shock of everyone in the room. "To be honest the whole thing sounds like a bloody cult or something." To which the other three simply stared at him for a moment, before shaking their heads in disappointment.

"Your choice Zach." Jeremey said from where he lay on his bed, facing upwards at the ceiling of the Dormitory like it was the most fascinating thing he had ever seen. "But you're missing out."

Zach merely shrugged and didn't say very much for the rest of the time that they discussed the meeting. He didn't try to talk them out of it, but nor did he attempt to get involved in any way. Even when Andrew tried to get him to explain what he had meant, the other boy just lay there in silence, leafing through the pages of his book.

In the end, more because he wanted to avoid looking like a square than anything else, Zach agreed to go along with James and Jeremey, at which point Zach spoke for the first time since he'd fallen silent nearly an hour before. "Great, I'll have the Dorm all to myself starting tomorrow." A comment which, for the life of them, none of the other boys could understand the meaning of.

Finally, the time came for the trio to meet Teddy in the Common Room and find out whether this whole thing had been worth all the attention that they had lavished over it. James, of course, was of the opinion that something insanely wicked was going to happen that night, but Andrew was starting to think that they may have gotten overly excited by something that probably wasn't all that important.

When they entered the Common Room, expecting to see Teddy waiting for them, the boys were surprised to see that the Common Room was entirely deserted. "You're sure he said midnight James?" Jeremey asked.

"Oh no, silly me, he actually said 7:30. Of course I'm sure!" James shot back, had Teddy abandoned him again? Was this whole thing just another cruel joke to get James' hopes up and then dash them once again?

"So, you actually showed?" the voice came echoing from behind them, causing all three young boys to jump in surprise. As the three spun around, only James began to feel any sense of relief. The other two boys, who had never met Teddy before, were both still fumbling for their wands.

"Shit! I always forget which pocket it's in!" Andrew muttered before finally drawing his wand out of his back pocket. Jeremey, on the other hand, was forced to give up a moment later saying "Dammit, I left my wand on the dresser again!"

Jeremey had become a menace amongst teachers for always forgetting to bring his wand to class. Some people, James and Andrew included, were starting to think that Jeremey was doing it on purpose so that he could leave class for a few minutes to go and get it. But, apparently, he really was just that clueless.

"Relax guys." James said, "This is Teddy, and I doubt that you could have jinxed him if you tried Andrew."

Reluctantly, Andrew lowered his wand, whereas Jeremey stood there sheepishly for a moment before muttering "It's not my fault I keep forgetting it." He then proceeded to kick the ground in frustration as though to add emphasis the point.

"Great, well then if you little kids are done shitting yourselves, we can get on to business shall we." A second student said, as he stepped out of the shadows that Teddy had just emerged from. James was pretty sure it was Jay, whom he had met on the train, but he wasn't sure.

Jeremey and Andrew both flinched in the face of Teddy's tall and muscular friend, who looked as though he probably ate First Years like them for breakfast. However, both boys managed to compose themselves well enough, and Andrew shot back at Jay "Yea, cause you'd know all about that, wouldn't you?"

Not the best of comeback lines, but considering the circumstances, James was impressed that Andrew had been able to speak. Apparently, so was Teddy, who said "This one shows some promise in a few years."

Shaking his head, Teddy continued "Well, before you guys can become true Gryffindors, you have to go through you initiation ritual. And next year, when Jay and I aren't around anymore, you guys will have to help initiate all of the new First Years."

James had not been expecting any kind of initiation, but he reluctantly nodded. Hopefully, with some luck, it wouldn't be anything particularly difficult or challenging…or dangerous. Unfortunately, as he would soon find out, luck was not on their side that night.

"Last week, Filtch confiscated some items of a rather…sensitive nature, from me." Teddy began, speaking as though he was well accustomed to doling out such tasks. "So your charge is to break into his office and steal them back. Do this, and you'll be full Gryffindors."

At this, one of the many older students gathered around the Common Room stepped forward and said "Look Teddy, I know this is tradition and all, but I really can't let you do this. I'm a Prefect you know."

There was a general hissing and shouts of "Snake!" and "Traitor!" from around the room as the boy spoke up. Teddy, on the other hand shook his head saying "You're kidding me right Nick? I never thought I'd live to see the day where Nicholas Hayden was a teacher's pet!"

Nicholas turned red at this point, before saying "I'm just trying to do my job Teddy." But already he was far less sure of himself than he had already been when he had first interrupted.

"Well then go up and go to sleep." Teddy said flippantly, "You can't stop what you didn't see happen!" he pointed out, sounding obscenely confident in himself.

For a moment, Nicholas just stood there, as though grappling with a moral dilemma that he could not solve. Finally, he sighed and trudged up the stairs to the Boy's Dormitories, clearly feeling defeated and dejected.

"Great." Teddy said, "Well now that we've gotten that over with, you lot should get to it. You've only got a couple of hours before Filtch stops patrolling the corridors."

The boys had been silently making their way towards Filtch's Office for nearly twenty minutes before Andrew finally spoke. "He was right you know…Zach when he told us that his whole thing was a bad idea."

The other two looked at him as though he had said something horribly offensive, the torchlight flickering on their features as they walked. "What are you talking about Andrew?" Jeremey asked. "You always have to go through your initiation before you get accepted into any kind of group. That's just how it works."

James was of similar mind, but he didn't say so, he just nodded and continued walking. The corridors, familiar enough by day, were an immensely confusing labyrinth of tunnels and false doors at night. And the fact that they had to be as quiet as possible was not helping matters at all.

It was only after they had been wandering the corridors for some time that James remembered the Map, the Marauder's Map! How on earth had he not thought of it for so long? It would have made finding his way around the Castle so much easier during the first few weeks, not to mention making this 'initiation' a thousand times easier.

Thankfully, the pockets of James' robes were full of useless junk that he had forgotten to remove from them, and amongst them was the scrap of parchment that was the Marauder's Map. "Guys, come over here!" James said, pulling the other two underneath a flickering torch so that they could read the map better.

"Erm James, is now really the time to be doing your Transfiguration Homework?" Jeremey asked when he saw the blank sheets of Parchment. "Yea, what's up James?" Andrew asked.

Flashing a grin at the two as he drew his wand, James said "I'll show you what's up, watch! I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good!" flourishing his wand down at the Map as he said the last words.

Jeremey and Andrew's looks of confusion immediately morphed into shock and awe as the Map began to blossom on the parchment. "Holy Hippogriff!" Jeremey exclaimed, "What in Merlin's name is that?"

Grinning proudly James said "This is the Marauder's Map. My grandfather made it! I nicked it from my dad right before I left for Hogwarts! It shows the entire Castle, all the passageways, and where everyone in it is…look!" he said, pointing at the trio of dots that were basically the only ones not in one of the Four House Dormitories. They were labeled J. Potter, J. Hall, and A. Knight.

"Dear god, that's us!" Andrew exclaimed, walking in a small circle around the other two and watching awestruck as the dot mimicked his actions. Jeremey seemed to be in a similar state of shock, scanning the map and muttering "How is something like this even possible?"

Laughing at the other two's astonishment, James said "Well, if you two are done drooling over this thing, I suggest that we use it to get to Filtch's Office before anyone catches us.

With the Marauder's Map guiding their way, it only took the boys a matter of minutes to reach Filtch's Office which, to their immense surprise, they found unlocked. The room was small dark and crooked, just like the man who lived there. The whole place smelled of cats, and there was a small leak coming in from one of the pipes on the ceiling.

"I suppose he reckons no one would be mad enough to want to break in here." Andrew said, to which the other two nodded, and resumed looking for whatever of Teddy's was in there. It didn't take very long to find it.

"Here it is!" James said, immediately recognizing the small polished box as Teddy's. Though he burned to know what was inside it, he knew that the box was enchanted not to open for anyone but Teddy.

Handing the box to Andrew, he said "Let's get out of here before we're found! I've got a funny feeling that this has all been too easy!"

The other two nodded, eager to be gone as well, and the three darted from the dreary and depressing Office without a backwards glance. There could be no question of them remaining in that horrible place for any longer than they absolutely had to.

Despite Jeremey's insistences that they were home free, they quickly found that it was not going to be that simple. No sooner had they rounded the corner from Filtch's Office than they heard the ancient caretaker screeching from behind them "STUDENTS OUT OF BED! STUDENTS IN MY OFFICE!"

James immediately slammed his palm into his face and said "We forgot to close the door behind us!" The other two paled, realizing that every teacher in the School was going to be looking for them within minutes. "Run!" Jeremey exclaimed, and the three turned and sprinted towards Gryffindor Tower.

Fortunately, they did not get lost on the way back to the Tower, and they made it to the Common Room a few minutes later, panting and out of breath, but otherwise very proud of their adventure.

"Hey Teddy." James gasped as they collapsed onto the couch in the center of the Common Room, James sitting, Andrew lying down, and Jeremey leaning against the top from behind. "We found your stuff."