Part Fourteen
The five of them arrived back at the Shrieking Shack just as the sun was rising. Expecting Remus's transformation to be as intense as the last one, they were surprised when this was accomplished with about as much fuss as when the others had detransformed.
James- Remus, what happened? You're calmer.
Remus- I don't know. All I know was that when I was a wolf I did not feel the gnawing hunger for blood that I usually do. Even when the little girl came towards me, I did not feel the need to attack.
James- Wow! Lily, your animagus form must calm everyone who comes into contact with you in that form. Well, at least those with good intentions. The look on the face of Marcus Malfoy when you appeared in front of him was unbelievable.
Lily- I know. I didn't even feel afraid. All I knew was that I needed to protect Dora.
Sirius (Softly)- It's true then.
James- What is?
Sirius- When the three of you went back into the forest, I took one last look at the house. Something about the little girl seemed familiar. That's when I saw it.
Others- What?!
Sirius- Andy's face appeared at the window for just a moment.
Remus- Are you sure, Sirius?
Sirius- Yes, I'm absolutely certain. I may not have seen her for nearly three years but I would never forget what she looks like.
Lily (looks confused)- Who's Andy?
Sirius- My cousin Andromeda. She married a Muggle-born by the name of Edward (I know they call him Ted but when I looked up Nymphadora it said her father's name was Edward so it must just be what everyone calls him). When that happened her name was blasted off of the family tree and my parents never spoke of her again. The last I saw of her was three years ago on Dora's birthday. She told me that she and her family were going into hiding because Bellatrix wanted to get rid of the "stain on our family's good name".
James- What was Dora doing in the Forest then?
Sirius- I don't know.
Lily- Do you think the Death Eaters knew who she was?
Sirius- I don't know but I don't think so. Bella is a favorite of Voldemort. Marcus might want to curry favor by bringing Dora to her if he knew who she was.
James- It was good that you were there to protect her, Lily. Andy is a good person.
Remus- That is the purpose of a Pegasus. They are there to protect the innocent. Once they bond with a maiden, that bond is there forever. You know, it's strange, I've never heard of anyone taking the animagus form of something that is immortal before.
James- Neither have I and we did extensive research on the subject when we wanted to become one.
Sirius- Enough of the serious stuff, can we get back to the book, or is everyone too tired?
Others- No, we're fine.
James- I'll read. This chapter is called Chapter 3.
Lily- Oh, good. That means Harry will have safe transportation wherever he is going.
Sirius- (under his breath) Well, safe is relative.
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Sirius- Just shrink it down to a manageable size.
Lily- He's already in enough trouble, don't make it worse!
End of paragraph 1
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James- Okay, calm down, Harry. Panic won't help the situation.
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Sirius- Okay, that does sound pretty bad.
James/Lily- Not helping, Sirius.
End of paragraph 2
James- That's a good sign. It might mean that they decided to let him off with a warning, this time. After all, it was an accident. Underage wizards have them all the time when they are stressed or upset.
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Lily- Of course they would.
Marauders- What are friends for?
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James- That's true.
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Lily- My good sense must have rubbed off on you, James.
Remus/Sirius- (Burst out laughing at the look on James's face)
James- (glares at Remus/Sirius)
End of paragraph 4
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Sirius- Spoken like a true Marauder.
Lily- You guys have never been expelled before.
James- No, but we've come close, and the point is that we think that if we are already in trouble for something, we might as well do it right.
Lily- Idiots.
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Lily- You have an Invisibility Cloak?
James- (blushes) Yeah.
Lily- Boy, that explains a lot of things.
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Sirius- Harry, if you haven't heard from the Ministry before now, they are letting you off. They always get hold of you right away.
Lily- Do you speak from experience?
Sirius- (looks down) Yeah, last year I did something really stupid and before I even processed what I had done, the Ministry was there.
Lily- What did you do?
Sirius- Well, I... uh... I...
Remus- Please, Lily drop it. He's been punished enough.
Lily- Okay.
End of paragraph 5
Lily- That would be hard to explain. Guys, we need to stop for a moment. I need to go to the castle for something.
Sirius- What? (gets a hard jab in his ribs from James) Oh.
James- I'll take you there, Lily, we don't want to take any chances, of there being Death Eaters on the grounds.
With that they left the Shrieking Shack.
Sirius- Remus, I am really sorry about that so-called "prank." I let my hatred for Snape get a hold of me and overcome my common sense.
Remus- You mean you have some? It's okay, Sirius, I forgave you after your trial. I could see how the approval that shown in your parents eyes hurt.
Sirius- Thanks.
Lily and James came back from the castle and they all sat down to read again.
Harmony climbed into Sirius's lap, as though she thought that soon he would need her calming influence.
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Lily- Don't just stand there, Harry, find your Invisibility Cloak and get under it.
Marauders- That's right.
Harry speaks
James- Hey, Sirius, that sounds like you.
Sirius- Maybe. I might be checking on him to make sure he's okay.
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All- Ouch!
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Remus- Why does that thing only show up when you call it by accident?
Others- (shrug)
Lily- I don't care. It nearly killed my son.
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Stan speaks
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Stan speaks
Harry speaks
Stan speaks
Lily- Oh, I don't know. Perhaps because you almost killed him?
James- (put an arm around her)
Harry speaks
Sirius- Well, if I was on the run, and that was me he saw, I would hardly stay around to be caught, would I?
Remus- The only people who know that you are an illegal animagus, are the people in this room and Peter.
Sirius- That's true. (But the people in this room aren't the people I'm worried about)
Stan speaks
Harry speaks
Remus- Don't tell him that, Harry, he might think you've seen the Grim and refuse to help you.
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Lily- That would be good, if he knows who Harry is, he won't hesitate to help him out.
Stan speaks
Harry speaks
James- If the Ministry of Magic wanted to find you it would.
Sirius- It hasn't found me.
Remus- Good point.
Stan speaks
Harry speaks first sentence
Lily- So Frank and Alice must have gotten married.
James- How do you know that Frank married Alice?
Lily- I know that they have fancied each other very much for years.
Sirius- How do you know?
Lily- Women know these things.
End of Harry speaks
Stan speaks
Harry speaks
Stan speaks
Lily- Go for the whole thing, Harry, you sound like you're really thin.
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Lily- Slugs, ewwww.
Marauders- (laugh)
Stan speaks
Remus- The Knight Bus sounds comfy; beds and armchairs.
Sirius- Just wait until it gets going, it won't seem so comfy then.
Lily- How do you know?
Sirius- I took the Knight Bus to James's when I ran away from home.
Lily- Oh.
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Stan speaks
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James- Hey, don't make fun of our son, it's not his fault that he doesn't know much about our world.
Stan speaks
Ernie speaks
Harry speaks
Remus- The same reason that they don't see owls, I suppose.
Lily- And why is that?
Remus- I don't know, I'm not a Muggle.
Stan speaks
Lily- That is true for some Muggles, but not for all.
Ernie speaks
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Remus- A good thing,too, otherwise there would be a lot of explaining to be done to the Muggle authorities and the Knight Bus might be discontinued.
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Stan speaks second sentence
Lily- Poor woman.
End of Stan speaks
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Remus- More than likely, the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad, would be there by now and will have fixed things.
Others- (nod)
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Harry speaks
Remus- Sirius, you must have done something really bad.
Sirius- I know, but what?
James- I have a bad feeling that we are about to find out.
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Stan speaks
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Stan speaks
Lily- He probably would if his relatives wouldn't go ballistic!
Sirius- (was getting scared, what had he done?)
Article Title
Article first paragraph
Sirius- Of course I am, they wouldn't know about my special abilities.
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James- What, they made that ignorant git the Minister of Magic? No wonder Padfoot is still loose.
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Article third paragraph
Fudge speaks
Lily- That's true, everyone would think that he was mad.
Sirius- Fudge doesn't seem like he's changed much.
End of article
Sirius- What?! Oh, that is going too far. I would never kill anyone, unless they were Death Eaters!
Lily- Calm down, Sirius, we know that you didn't do it.
James- There is no way that you committed those murders.
Remus- Yeah, you must have been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Sirius- Thanks, guys.
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Sirius- Hey, I resent the implication!
James- (trying to lighten the mood) Oooh, implication, big word, Sirius. Please tell me that you are not becoming like Remus.
Remus- Hey!
Lily- (laughs at their antics)
Stan speaks
Harry speaks
Sirius- I wouldn't know how! Even Avada Kadavra only kills one person at a time!
Lily- How would you know?
Sirius- I came across several references when we were looking up how to become animagi.
Lily- Oh.
Stan speaks
Sirius- Well, that will tell you right there, that I didn't do it. I would never kill anyone in front of witnesses and in broad daylight. That would be stupid.
Remus- Hmmm. (No one is that stupid, or are they?)
Ernie speaks
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Stan speaks
James- I think they got you mixed up with your brother, Sirius.
Sirius- I would think so. I would never join forces with a snake like Voldemort.
Harry speaks
Lily- Now, Harry, if you don't want to get yourself noticed, don't say his name when you know you are one of the few people in the world who do.
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Stan speaks
Harry speaks
Stan speaks
Harry speaks
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All- (laugh nervously)
Stan speaks
Sirius- Yeah, right.
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Sirius- I know what happened!
Others- What?!
Sirius- I found out who betrayed you to Voldemort and killed them.
James- But, even you wouldn't do it on a street full of Muggles.
Sirius- You guys know what happens when I lose my temper, I don't consider the consequences and act without thinking.
Others- ...
End of Stan speaks next paragraph
Harry speaks
Stan speaks third sentence
All- (stunned)
Remus- Why did you laugh?
Sirius- (slowly as if grasping at straws) Maybe the wizard got away and I just realized that I killed a bunch of Muggles without getting the one I really wanted.
End of Stan speaks
Ernie speaks
Sirius- Ern's right. If I did indeed kill twelve Muggles I would deserve Azkaban even if it was an accident.
Stan speaks
Ernie speaks
Stan speaks third sentence
James- That reminds me, how did you do it, Sirius, and why?
Sirius- I don't know. Perhaps my being an animagus has something to do with it, and I don't know why. Maybe we'll see if we read more of the book.
End of Stan speaks
All- (shudder)
Lily- Promise me you will be careful, Sirius.
Sirius- I will. But hopefully this will never happen. If you never die than I won't be convicted of the murder of your betrayer.
Others- True.
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Ernie speaks
All- Us, too.
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Stan speaks
Sirius- Harry, you're making too much of this.
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Lily- Of course not, Harry, if they locked up every kid who did underage magic, there would be no one to go to Hogwarts.
Others- True.
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Sirius- Hey! Why would Hagrid be put in Azkaban?
James- I don't know. Do you think it might have something to do with why he was expelled?
Remus- Maybe. They never talk about what happened that year.
End of paragraph 31
All- That's right.
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Remus- Gee, I wonder why.
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Stan speaks
Harry speaks
Stan speaks
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Harry speaks
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Harry speaks
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Lily- This can't be good.
Harmony- (purred reassuringly)
James- (put an arm around her shoulders)
Fudge speaks
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Remus- Why would Fudge be up at this hour of the morning?
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Stan speaks
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Fudge speaks
Stan speaks
Lily- That man needs to get a life.
Others- Agreed.
Fudge speaks
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Tom speaks
Fudge speaks
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Stan speaks
Sirius- Oh, I don't know, maybe because he didn't want you to know who he was.
Fudge speaks
Lily- Not very polite, is he?
James- He tried to be polite and they didn't get the hint.
Harry speaks
Stan speaks
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Fudge speaks
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James- It will be all right, Harry, you'll see. (I hope)
Fudge speaks
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James- I must have given it to Dumbledore before I died, so that he could give it to Harry if anything happened to me.
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Fudge speaks
Sirius- (tightly) You started to think what?
Others- (look at him strangely)
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Fudge speaks
Lily- See, Harry, there is nothing to be afraid of.
James- Something about this doesn't make sense.
Remus- I know, Harry didn't even get a warning. What's going on?
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Fudge speaks
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Harry speaks
Fudge speaks
Lily- Doubtful, if my sister couldn't stand me, I don't think she would feel any different about my son.
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Fudge speaks first sentence third comma
Sirius- That man eats too much.
Remus- Says the man who ate more than all the other people in Gryffindor at the last Quidditch party.
Sirius- Hey, I was hungry, I just got done playing Quidditch.
James- So did I and I didn't eat as much as you.
Remus- I wouldn't talk, James, you came in a close second.
James- ...
End of Fudge speaks
Harry speaks
James- (shocked) He's letting you off, Harry, don't ask for punishment.
Lily- He's keeping himself honest, James.
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Fudge speaks
Harry speaks
Fudge speaks
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Harry speaks
Sirius- Hey, I got lots of "official warnings". Nothing ever came from them, except the one I got about a certain prank. (he added softly)
Lily- What prank?
Remus- Never mind.
James- There is something strange going on here. Fudge is not telling the whole truth.
Others- (nod)
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Fudge speaks
Harry speaks
Fudge speaks
Remus- Yep, there's something going wrong, all right. (And I have a terrible suspicion that I know what it is about)
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Lily- He's right, that doesn't happen very often.
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Fudge speaks
Harry speaks
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Remus- I thought so. (He suddenly realized that he had spoken the words aloud.)
Sirius- What do you mean, Remus?
Remus- I mean, that I think that the reason the Minister is so worried about Harry, is because of you. Now, don't get me wrong (as Sirius went to interrupt), I don't believe a word of it, but if they believe that you're a Death Eater, then they would assume you were out of Azkaban to kill Harry.
Sirius- Oh. If you look at it like that, I guess I could understand why they might think that.
Others- (nod, and pat Sirius on the back to show their support)
Fudge speaks second sentence
Sirius- Not if I had anything to say about it.
Fudge speaks third sentence first pause
James- What do you call letting someone escape? No offense, Sirius.
Sirius- None taken.
End of Fudge speaks
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Fudge speaks
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James- Somehow, I don't think this idea will turn out any better than the last one.
Others- (nod sadly)
Harry speaks
Fudge speaks
Harry speaks
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Fudge speaks
Harry speaks
Fudge speaks
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Tom speaks
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Harry speaks
Sirius- What an owl!
James- That's amazing, she seems to know where Harry will be or what he will do before he does.
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Tom speaks
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Lily- That's always something to celebrate.
Others- (laugh and agree)
Harry speaks
End of chapter
James- Well, that was the end of the chapter. Who wants to read next?
Sirius- I will!