Chapter 9
If the Headmaster had thought that Sara would be happy about this he as clearly wrong.
"I hope the Headmaster updated his will because it looks like Ms. Gibbs would like to rend him limb from limb." Snape muttered to McGonagall who snorted softly.
Sara got to her feet a muscle in her cheek twitching in the only outward show of ire she allowed herself.
"Thank you for that Headmaster." Everyone could hear the faint irritation in her words.
"I know all of you have questions, that said I'll answer the obvious and insulting ones first." She said with a glance directly at Malfoy.
"My mother did not cheat on James Potter, they were not in a relationship at the time my mother met started dating and married my father. My parents were married for a year and eight months and divorced amicably just before I was a year old they realized that they were not meant to be. My mother went back to James potter and was married to him and my father went back to the woman he loved my aunt Shannon." Sara paused to let them digest this.
"My aunt Shannon and my mum turned out to be sisters my aunt had been taken from the hospital where she was born and had been looking for her real family since she was eighteen just as my mother had been looking for her."
Cries drowned the hall as everyone shouted their opinion on this.
"How do we know this is true?" Shouted a nameless seventh year Slytherin.
"How could someone steal a baby from a hospital?" shouted a distressed Hufflepuff.
Sara raised her wand ignoring the flinches of others in the room and said.
"I swear on my magic that everything I have said about my family is nothing but the truth." There was a flash of light and a deep gong sound and Sara lifted her wand and performed a simple lumos spell.
"Now to answer the second question it happens sometimes in the muggle world a very mentally sick woman would get it into her head that she should be pregnant and have a child regardless of the fact that she doesn't have a husband or a boyfriend or whatever and will pretend that she is pregnant and volunteer at the maternity ward of a hospital find a child that would be about the age of her made up baby and take the baby. Or a nurse would steal a child and sell it to fake adoption agency and pocket the money while the child is never seen by their biological parents and his adopted parents are usually played for fools thinking that the adoption was legitimate."
There was disgust on everyone's faces in the wizarding world children are revered and it was considered a capital crime to abuse or kidnap any child.
"Ok going on, the gist of it is that I am James Potters blood- adopted daughter I have now taken my birth name Sara Kelly Gibbs and Harry and I are going to finally live with my dad when we aren't in school like we were supposed to."
"So you're a mudblood?!" Malfoy said with malicious glee. there was a roar of outrage from the other three houses and the professors and even some from Slytherin.
Everyone looked at Sara to see her reaction but surprisingly she was smiling.
"Actually Malfoy you're wrong Harry and I are pure bloods both lily potter and My dad are descended from pureblood squibs on both their maternal and paternal lines."
"And with that Mr. Malfoy fifty points from Slytherin and detention with Filtch for a week." McGonagall said coldly.
Malfoy looked like someone had struck him and the other snakes glared.
"Why weren't you with him before." Asked a Ravenclaw trying to diffuse the tension.
"The Wills were ignored when Mum and James died."
"Who would be stupid enough to do that?" Asked a boy Sara recognized as Warrington.
"I dunno maybe you should ask Dumbledore he was the executor of the will."
Sara said and left in the ensuing silence outside the door to the Great Hall she heard a roar of outrage from the students.
Snape was impressed.
"That was a masterful Slytherin move, she is your daughter Lils." He thought sadly he and the other teachers did nothing to stop the students all of them feeling Dumbledore had earned the students ire. Snape pondered his situation: He had begun cultivation of his Greasy Git act in school, after Lucious Malfoy had begun trying to recruit him for the Death Eaters. He had in fact become friends with the Marauders and had been a Marauder himself hidden from all even Wormtail whom he had not trusted after he had seen the smaller boy in an conversation with Bellatrix and Rudolphous. James had seemingly brushed off his concerns.
"You fool James, if only you had listened to mine and Lily's concerns then maybe you two and Sirius would be here." He thought as he watched Harry Hermione Fred George and Neville leave the Great Hall.
"You would be proud of them James, Lily, so very proud I'm just sorry I have to treat them the way I do but maybe with Remus I can help them into Marauder greatness he did say they had potential." He smiled internally he would make sure their animagus journals and vials of the revealing potion made it into their hands soon.
James and Sirius kept their prank journals and Severus was pretty sure that Harry and Sara had them now if they had read the wills James had stored all of them in his vaults, Remus had the journals detailing the whereabouts of all the secret passages which were self updating thanks to Hogwarts being mostly sentient and how to add more rooms to the Marauders map. Peter hadn't left any journals as he was too lazy to write anything down.
Severus had been the mystery Marauder Shadow, it had been the game of the school to discover who he was but no one had even come close it had allowed him to spy on the Death eater children and eventually spy on Voldemort himself.
Gryffindor Tower.
"That was awesome Sara!" Fred and George chorused.
Sara smiled as she looked up from her computer.
"Thanks guys, I'm still not happy with Dumbledore maybe this way he'll stop broadcasting peoples news in a setting not of their choosing." They all nodded.
"So why are we here?" Fred asked.
"Let me ask you two something, ever heard of the Marauders?" Fred and Georges faces lit up and George pulled something from his pocket.
"Have we heard of the Marauders they're our heroes next to Uncles Gideon and Fabian." George said "This is the secret to our success." In his hand was what looked like a spare bit of old parchment.
Before Fred or George could do anything Harry took out his wand touched the parchment and said.
"I solemnly swear I am up to no good." He said and writing appeared on the parchment.
"Messrs Moony, Wormtail Shadow, Padfoot and Prongs are proud to present the Marauders map." Neville read.
"How did you know how to work it?" Fred demanded.
"My dad was one of the people who made it he was Prongs." Harry said calmly. Fred and George stared at him opened mouthed.
"Do you know who the others are?" They asked eagerly.
"The only one we don't know is Shadow they only refer to him as his Marauder name." Sara said shrugging.
"So guys why am I here?" Neville asked he watched as Hermione began setting up a muggle plastic rat cage. He frowned at the spells being cast on it and watched as Ron put the sleeping Scabbers into it.
"There now we can talk privately." Ron said.
"What do you mean Ron?" Fred asked.
"Because we think that Scabbers is really Peter Pettigrew otherwise known as Wormtail traitor of Lily and James Potter." There was a stunned silence and Fred and George looked a bit green at the thought of one of their heroes had betrayed their friends parents.
"I put silencing charms and an unbreakable charm on the cage so he can't transform and he can't hear what is discussed I also found a charm that makes it so that if someone is talking he only hears things about the weather school work and such.
Everyone was impressed by Hermione's spell work they all settled back down and Sara looked at Neville.
"You're here Nev because we think that you and the twins will make great additions to our group the New Marauders." Fred and George looked like they had just been offered the crown jewels. Neville looked uncertain.
"But everyone knows I'm almost a squi…" He trailed off at the furious looks.
"You are not a squib, all you need is confidence." Neville shook his head.
"It's a struggle to do even the most simplest of spells." He took out his wand and said Lumos and the light flickered on and off like a dying light bulb.
"Neville who's wand is that?" George asked sounding serious for once.
"It's my dads my Gran never took me to get my own because she said I should be proud to use his, I guess she thought it would make me more like him instead of a disappointment." Neville mumbled.
"Well that's your problem you're using a wand not suited to you." At Nevilles confused look Harry elaborated.
"Mr. Olivander said that the wand chooses the wizard if you get a wand that hasn't chosen you doing magic is really hard and can be dangerous."
"So that's why I'm having so much trouble?" Neville asked and the others nodded.
At first Neville was hurt, that his Gran would deliberately hold him back then he was angry and at last drained.
"Don't worry Neville we'll get you a new wand this up coming Hogsmeade weekend." Sara said confidently.
"So we're all in on being the New Marauders?" Harry asked grinning.
"AYE!" came the chorus back and everyone laughed.
"Ok before everyone gets back one last thing we need to train." They all looked at Sara.
"For what?" Ron asked.
"Dad put me through the training he went through in Marine Boot Camp and I have to say it did a lot of good."
"And you want us to go through this too?" Hermione asked warily.
"Yes."
"You're mental you are." Ron exclaimed.
"Why when you could have the upper hand in a duel against a Death Eater using hand to hand combat, knife combat, or a gun?"
They all thought this over it did make sense. Slowly they nodded.
"Alright I'm in." Neville said
"Us too!" Chimed the twins.
"I suppose." Ron
"Ok." Harry.
"Ok, but who is going to teach us to shoot?" Hermione asked nervously.
"Oh not me dad will do that if you get the chance to visit over the summer." Sara said smiling. Hermione nodded in relief.
"Ok so we're all for it then better get to bed sounds like the others are coming now." And with that the New Marauders headed to bed just as the portrait entrance was opened.
The next morning.
Sara was up before the sun and she cast a silencing charm on the beds of her dorm mates leaving Hermione's bed un- silenced. Sara was dressed in PT clothes and had some for Hermione Harry and Ron she resized some to fit Neville and Fred and George.
Grabbing her friends covers she ripped them off grabbed the mattress and dumped it and her friend on the floor (she didn't want to hurt Hermione just startle her).
With a screech like a scalded cat Hermione leapt up from the floor.
"What was that for!" she shrieked.
"You have to get up and now you are clean up and put those on and meet me in the common room." Sara said simply pointing to the pile of clothes on her bed before grabbing the ones for the boys and leaving. As she closed the door she heard the thump of a shoe hitting where her head would be and mutters of "crazy Marines daughter" among other more unflattering things.
"And she thinks she has no aim." Sara thought smugly.
First she went to Fred and Georges dorm ready for more retaliatory efforts from them once she dumped them she threw up a protego around herself and the other beds and hit the deck. It was a good thing she had too because the boys fired off some good hexes and jinxes before they even opened their eyes.
"What was that for eh?" George snapped glaring.
"Its time to get up put these on and meet me in the common room." She said handing them the clothes. They growled at her but did as told.
Finally they all assembled in the common room the others glaring at her Sara made them do as many push ups and sit ups as they could before they went out to go running.
Sara was a harsh taskmaster just as her dad had been though she did praise them after they were done as he had and walking (in her friends case limping) back to the common room to shower and change.
"What in the world is wrong with you guys?" Lee Jordan asked as he sat beside Fred and George.
"Our little military brat over there she says we need training."
"It'll get easier in time." Sara said covering her mouthful of eggs.
"Oh yea how?" George asked a little crossly.
"you'll build up endurance and stamina and be able to fight longer than anyone." Sara said grabbing some fruit.
They grumbled but over the next few weeks they noticed changes within themselves just as everyone else did.
Fred and George having always been stocky were now taller with broad shoulders and deep muscular chests their arms were far more powerful than before and it made them even more dangerous on the quidditch pitch.
Harry and Ron had both always been lean but now they had the wiry muscle to back up their lanky builds.
Neville was the most surprising change though he had lost all his baby fat and had become even taller than the twins both of whom had topped out a six foot two. His shoulders were even broader and his chest was deeper and more muscular, he had also lost the clumsiness that had plagued him. Many of the girls had suddenly found the boys in the group extremely attractive though Harry seemed to only have eyes (albeit discreetly) for Hermione and the others didn't really seem to care.
Hermione and Sara were tall and slender. Sara was taller at five eleven and Hermione at five nine.
All of them had blossomed in magical strength as well having nearly set things on fire they were now on a strict magical training regime as well as their physical workout.
Gryffindor Tower just past midnight.
"Heiress! Heiress awaken quickly!" Came a frantic voice inside Sara's head and she moaned softly as she sat up shoving her hair from her face. Closing her eyes she focused on Hogwarts.
"What is it?" she asked tiredly.
"Heiress there is someone who needs your help and quickly! Fly Heiress the young Ravenclaw will die if you tarry." Sara was out of bed in a flash feeling as though someone had shoved a Pepper-up potion down her throat. The window to the girls dorm opened as she threw her warmest cloak on grabbed her wand, and she leapt up onto the sill and out into empty air. Changing into a night raptor form she gained altitude and was pulled like a piece of metal attracted to a magnet to a little alcove nestled into the castle wall on the side facing the quidditch pitch.
She spotted a head of blonde hair and pulled up shortly dropping from the air into her human form she rolled to her feet and saw two dementors closing in on her location fast.
She summoned her fox and had it guard them as she turned to deal with the small figure hunched under a thin blanket. Visions of Harry's eleventh birthday flitted through her head and she winced as she gently touched the too thin shoulder beneath the blanket.
"Please be ok… don't let me have gotten here too late!" she thought and sighed in relief when the little figure stirred.
"Hello, you're Sara Gibbs." The girl said softly shivering in the cold.
"yup, I am what's your name?" Sara asked as she helped the girl to her feet. She realized that the girl didn't have anything but knickers on beneath the blanket and wondered about that as she handed over her cloak and cast a warming charm on the fabric.
"Thank you, my names Luna but many call me Loony." Sara's eyes narrowed, she had a strong suspicion that this girl was being bullied and didn't like it.
"Come on lets get you inside it's freezing out here." The two girls made their way inside and up to Gryffindor Tower where the Fat Lady was waiting for them.
"Password?" she asked.
"Mischief Managed." Sara replied using the New Marauder password. The Fat Lady whose name was Agnes nodded and opened. Gently pulling Luna into the room she sat the girl down before the fire and stoked it so that it burned brightly.
Going up to her dormitory she found a pair of sweat pants a t-shirt and a sweatshirt and cast light warming charms on all of them.
"Here." she said handing the clothes to Luna and turned to give the girl some privacy.
"I'm decent." She heard Luna say and sat back on the couch motioning Luna to join her.
"So why were you outside without any clothes?" Luna fidgeted a bit before replying.
"The nargles took my clothes and the germumblies locked me out of Ravenclaw. Whenever I touch the knocker it starts babbling and I can't get in, so I have to either wait for someone to open the door for me or go in with a group of others." Sara's eyes narrowed and she clenched her teeth, someone was making Luna's life hell here at Hogwarts and it pissed Sara off. No one in Gryffindor had ever taken her or Harry's clothes or locked them out of the tower when they had messed up or when people had believed them to be the Heirs of Slytherin (which ironically they are).
"Luna tell me the truth have people in Ravenclaw been harassing you?" Luna hesitated she knew if she told anyone it might get worse.
"I'll take your hesitation as a yes, ok stay here a minute." Sara stood and went to the portrait hole to speak to Agnes.
Coming back she sat again and regarded Luna for a moment. What she saw pissed her off Luna was too thin, and Sara knew the way she sat tensed and poised to run if Sara proved to be a threat.
"I talked to Agnes and you now have special access to Gryffindor Tower the password is "Mischief Managed". Don't tell it to anyone ok?" Luna nodded biting her lip.
"Thank you, you're so nice." Luna said softly and Sara rubbed her nose sheepishly.
"Well get some sleep we have classes tomorrow."
Then next morning.
Sara stood outside of seventh year prefect Marisol Reynolds door. She knocked and waited.
"Hey Sara what's going on?" It was still early so pretty much everyone was still asleep.
"Head Lioness Marisol I must request a meeting of the Gryffindor lionesses." Marisol's kind face went grave and she nodded. An hour later al the Gryffindor girls sat in the common room having sent all the boys down to breakfast.
The girls all noticed Luna within their midst but said nothing about the little Raven all of them figuring correctly that she had something to do with the meeting.
"Alright everyone settle down, now Lioness Sara what is the purpose of this gathering?" Marisol asked formally. Within each House were traditions started by the Founders to help keep inter –House politics just that inter-House and it helped to deal with problems with other houses.
"The reason for this meeting Head Lioness Marisol is that last night I was summoned from my bed to find Raven Luna outside in the cold and in danger of dementors." There was a shocked and outraged silence then one of the more motherly lioness' gave Luna a hug, Luna looked startled but accepted the gesture.
"And why were you out in the cold Raven Luna?" Marisol asked gently.
Luna glanced at Sara who had a gentle but faintly stern look on her face as though to say "tell them, but don't use those creatures from the night before."
"My dorm mates and some of the older girls take my things, they don't like me because I think differently than they do." Growls formed in the throats of the older years and the little firsties looked at their elders with wide eyes. Their second night at Hogwarts had been a lioness only meeting where their elders had told them all of the traditions and behaviors expected of them. Though Gryffindor was largely known as the party house they still followed certain decorum and rules laid out by Godric Gryffindor himself.
"Why were you summoned Lioness Sara? Why not a teacher?" Sara looked at all of them and said.
"I'll tell you but this doesn't leave the common room…"
Great Hall.
Minerva was nervous all of her male lion cubs had walked into the Great Hall with slightly nervous looks on their faces and none of her female lion cubs had come down yet. There was only one thing that could make all of her male cubs nervous and that was a group of irate female lionesses.
"It seems to me that you've lost some of your cubs Minerva." Serverus said glancing at the Gryffindor table.
"I don' know whats goin on boyo I just hope whoever incurred the wrath of my lasses is no' stupid enough to run the lasses of Gryffindor often relish the hunt." Or so it was said since a Hunt hadn't been issued since before even Dumbledores time. The doors to the Great Hall burst open as the enchanted ceiling turned from a beautiful periwinkle blue with white puffy clouds to storm grey with black angry clouds.
" Ah Shite." Minerva thought as her girls walked into the Hall. Their faces were hard and cold even the cute little firsties and seconds were looking as though they were going to rip someone's head off and their eyes were all trained on the Ravenclaw table.
Minerva stood she could see that the girls were in the correct formation firsties in the middle radiating outward to the older years. She also saw Marisol didn't have the golden stitching on her robe indicating that she had handed over the Head Lionessship to someone else, she noticed the wink of gold on Sara Gibbs uniform and nodded to herself.
"Head Lioness Marisol, what is the meaning for this gathering?" she asked keeping her brogue under control.
"Forgive us Pride Leader McGonagall, but this matter is of great importance and could not be ignored as it involves the safety of a student, and also I must indicate that I am no longer Head Lioness I have given the title and duties over to someone better able to give the position the time and dedication it deserves." Minerva inclined her head and looked toward Sara.
"I take it Lioness Sara that you are now Head Lioness?"
"Yes Pride Leader."
"Then kindly inform us as to why the rest of the Lionesses in our Pride look like they are going to attack the Ravenclaws." They heard one of the Gryffindor boys snicker.
"Glad it isn't us those girls are scary." One boy muttered to his friend.
"I was woken last night by my owl Shadowwing, he wouldn't leave me alone until I followed him. I did and we went outside where I found young Raven Luna Lovegood asleep in the cold under a thin blanket with two dementors closing in on her location." There were gasps and even the Slytherins looked outraged.
"And why was Raven Luna outside in the cold?" Minerva figured that young miss Lovegood couldn't have been out there of her own free will the girl wasn't stupid and her girls wouldn't have reacted this way.
"She had been locked out of Ravenclaw Tower and also her clothes had been taken so that she was not able to attend meals resulting in her borderline malnourished state." Sara's voice was hard and cold as her eyes flickered to the faces of the female Ravenclaws and a few of the males that squirmed guiltily in their seats.
"What do you intend to do Head Lioness Sara?" Professor Flitwick asked gravely speaking u for the first time.
"I would like to offer my advice for punishment for those who have committed the crimes Conspiracy Leader Flitwick."
"Please do." Flitwick said his voice hard and cold with disappointment and anger for those of his House.
"I believe that those who have wronged Raven Luna should not be able to get into Ravenclaw Tower unless let in by a Prefect or the Head Girl as she is a Ravenclaw this year, also they should be for a month Cast Out of Ravenclaw." Gasps were heard around the room but everyone looking at Sara could see that she was deadly serious.
"They may eat at the Ravenclaw table and sleep in the Tower but for one month they will be Ravenclaw in name only they will not be able to win or lose points for the House and they will also serve detention with whomever you wish."
One of the girls who had started looking guilty shot to her feet, she was a year mate of Luna and had been one of the ones tormenting her.
"YOU CAN'T DO THAT!" She shouted red faced and furious.
"No she cant she does not have the authority but I assure you Raven Janet I DO." Flitwicks voice caused shudders to run down everyones spines, no one had ever seen the normally cheerful wizard this angry before.
"But…but…" She stuttered looking as though she were about to faint. "It's just Loony Lovegood sir, no one cares about her."
The expression on all of the Professors faces made Janet shrink in on herself.
"Hogwarts would you please be so kind as to reveal the other co conspirators against Luna?"
"Certainly Heiress." The sentient castle replied and their was a flash of light as all of Luna's female year mates were dumped to the floor, three older girls and two boys along with them.
"It seems Hogwarts doesn't agree with you Raven Janet." Flitwick said dryly.
"We will continue this discussion in my office." Dumbledores voice was heavy with disappointment it was even worse than being shouted at.
"Aye Dumbledore we will." Flitwick fixed the disgraced kids with a hard stare.
"I must say that in all my years as both a Ravenclaw and Head of Ravenclaw House I have never been more ashamed of a group of my students than I am of you all." The group flinched and stood when he did waiting to be led out of the Hall.
The Gryffindor girls parted and they growled as the disgraced walked between them and out into the Entrance Hall.
When walking between about a hundred girls of various ages growl at you with looks of disgust and disdain was pretty nerve wracking.
A/N Hi guys sorry I took so long you see this chapter is 4,632 words long lol that's alot so here it is hope you like it! Next up is parents week. Happy reading!