20

James barely slept the next night. It felt as if every time his eyes closed, he would see a flash of green light and hear the sounds of Rochefort's silky, menacing laugh. He resisted the temptation to get up and sit by the fire, not out of reluctance to do so, but out of fear that Lily would be there. James knew he would have a difficult time hiding what was bothering him and did not feel up to lying.

The next morning saw him exhausted as a result, but he patiently waited out Defense Against the Dark Arts the next day and lingered until the classroom was empty save for him and Madam Bones. 'I didn't mean to just take one day, Potter,' Bones said conversationally.

'I want to learn,' James said.

Bones regarded him carefully. 'What did your friends have to say on the matter?'

James swallowed. 'They're unanimous,' he said at last. 'There was some…discussion about the subject, but in the end, they were unanimous.'

Bones nodded slowly. 'They are good friends,' she said at last. 'We will need to draw as little attention to ourselves as possible. I don't think I need to tell you that Professor Dumbledore and the rest of the staff would likely not approve of what I am going to teach you.'

'I'm aware of it,' James said. 'I think you should be aware, too—not much occurs in this school without Dumbledore's knowing of it.'

'True,' Madam Bones said. 'There are only a few short weeks left before the Christmas break begins. I think it would be prudent to get at least one lesson in. Perhaps we should just add it on to the end of our non-verbal spell lessons? Or would that be too taxing?'

James shook his head. 'No,' he said at last. 'I think that would be fine.'

Bones nodded. 'Right. Off you go to class, then,' she said and she turned back to her desk.

*

'Alright, Potter?' Gideon Prewett asked as James sat at the lunch table. 'Or are you feeling particularly morose about something?'

'We have something that might cheer you up,' Fabian added with a grin. 'It has to do with—er—certain end-of-year shenanigans that we may be planning.'

Sirius perked up right away. 'What did you get?'

Gideon grinned. 'We broke into the laundry department and nicked some extra robes. It will be an important part of the plan.'

'Excellent,' Sirius grinned. 'We should probably walk through the finer points of it sometime soon. How much longer is the Potion going to take to brew, Moony?' he asked.

Remus gave Sirius a pointed glare for the use of the nickname. 'It will need to stew over the holidays,' he said at last. 'Professor Slughorn will make sure it is not tampered with. He is most interested to see if we will be able to use it successfully.'

'Well, we can't exactly show him what we're planning to do with it, can we?' Sirius asked.

'No,' James said. 'But we can just use it in front of him to show that it works.'

'That would work,' Remus said with a sigh. 'And before any of you ask, yes—Frank consented to being part of the excuse for brewing the potion. He was surprisingly excited to take part,' he added with a frown.

Sirius chuckled. 'Always new there was a mischief maker lurking in that boy somewhere,' he said happily.

'Do you think this will top last year's prank?' Peter asked.

James shrugged. 'I don't know if we can match the scale of that one—but I think this prank has the potential to drive Snape seriously mad.'

Fabian laughed. 'Oh, I can't wait to see the look on his face…pity it's still a few months away.'

James smiled faintly in spite of himself. At that moment, they were joined by Frank and Alice who sat down on the opposite side of the table. 'Everything alright, James?' Frank asked brightly. James looked up and gaze the best grin he could manage. 'What—classes not going well this morning?'

'Oh it's fine, I know all that rubbish,' James said with a wink. 'Just thinking about Christmas holiday coming up.'

'Ah,' Frank said with a slightly knowing look. 'Any plans?'

James shrugged. 'Go home, spend it with my parents.'

'Oi—isn't that Seger?' Sirius said suddenly. James looked up in time to see his familiar owl soaring down over the table where it dropped a letter neatly down into James' hand. Before he could so much as look back up, Seger had flown off and out. James looked with a slightly bashful look at Frank and Alice.

'He likes to go and eat right after he delivers,' he said as he opened the envelope.

'Who's it from?' Remus inquired.

'My Mum,' James said. In spite of himself again, he smiled—he had forgotten in all of his discussions with Sirius, Remus and Peter the previous night to even consider what his parents might think. The thought simultaneously filled him with excitement and shame; he couldn't imagine his parents ever frowning upon him for defending his own life in whatever way was possible, but he also knew they had both faced extreme danger in their own careers and never had they once used an Unforgiveable Curse. James opened the letter with apprehension.

'Dear James,

With Christmas approaching, your father and I were talking a lot about how we wanted to spend it this year. Obviously, with our house still under the Ministry's watchful eye, it won't exactly seem the same as previous years. By the same token, we don't want you to have to spend Christmas at Hogwarts again. So we would like you to come home, but we would also like to extend the invitation to your friends Sirius, Remus and Peter if they would like to come.

You can send a reply with Seger once he's finished stuffing his beak with food.

Love,

Mum'

'Wicked!' Sirius said. 'I'm so there.'

'Your parents will let you go?' Peter asked in surprise.

Sirius rolled his eyes. 'Come on, you met them, Peter. James is a marked man, there's a good chance he could be killed. The fact that it could be life threatening for me to be there will be one of my biggest selling points!'

James laughed. 'I don't know, they seemed pretty angry that you were taken.'

Sirius waved a hand dismissively. 'They were angry because of the way it looked, not because they cared about me,' he muttered. 'But that's beside the point—I'm in.'

'I'll have to check with my parents,' Remus said. 'I'd love to go.'

'Even with all the danger?' Peter asked.

Remus shrugged. 'Are we really any safer at our own homes? They know by now that we're friends of his. And James' house has Ministry protection, too.'

'Good point,' Peter said, looking slightly relieved. 'I'll ask my parents, too.'

'Wicked,' James said happily, feeling suddenly far more upbeat than he had all day long. 'What are your holiday plans, Frank?' he asked.

Frank looked at Alice with a furtive smile. 'Well, Alice and I were talking about meeting each others' families. Well—I'd meet Alice's parents, and she could meet my mother,' he said, a shadow of the ghostly Frank they had seen for much of the first and second years of school passing across his face. Alice squeezed his shoulder. 'But it should be fun!' he added, smiling again.

'It sounds great,' Remus said bracingly. 'We get one more Hogsmeade visit before the break, we should do some Christmas shopping.'

'Are you going to get something for Lily?' Frank asked idly. Alice raised her eyebrows at James who chuckled.

'Should I?' he said nonchalantly. 'She would never admit we're friends in public.'

Alice smiled. 'And in private?' she asked.

'Still no,' Sirius supplied to a laugh from Frank.

'So you're not going to get her anything?'

James shrugged. 'We'll see, I guess. What about you, Frank? Getting anything for Alice?' he asked, raising his own eyebrows in a mockingly suggestive manner.

Frank looked somewhat embarrassed. 'Of course—friends get each other gifts,' he said as Alice beamed at him. He looked threateningly at James who merely smirked and started playing with his food again.

The following Monday, Madam Bones ended their non-verbal practice session after Peter managed to perform a particularly strong Jelly-Legs Jinx on Remus without uttering a word. Even after Bones uttered 'Finite incantatem,' Remus' legs were still running about.

'Excellent work,' Madam Bones boomed. 'You are all making excellent progress. Remember to keep practicing over Christmas break,' she added as Remus headed for the door, supported by Sirius and Peter.

'Coming, James?' Sirius called.

'In a bit—just a question about homework,' James said.

Everyone in the room knew what that meant. Sirius hesitated, nodded and left with the others, the door closing softly behind them. 'Muffliato,' Bones said softly, her wand pointed at the door. 'One of your schoolmates has a gift for creating spells,' she added to clarify. 'This particular one ensures we will not be overheard.'

'Oh,' James said. 'So…where do we begin?'

Bones surveyed him carefully. 'Given that your opponent is Gilles Rochefort, I think there would be little use in teaching you the Imperius Curse at the moment. While a maniac, he has a strong mind and would therefore be extremely difficult to place under the Curse, even if it was an extremely experienced wizard or witch casting the spell.

'Likewise, the Cruciatus Curse—while somewhat disabling—would only buy you time, and requires a certain amount of uninterrupted concentration to perform. So…' she trailed off.

James nodded. 'You want to start with the Killing Curse,' he said.

'Correct,' Madam Bones went on. 'What do you know about this curse specifically?'

'It's unblockable by magic,' James said.

'By magic being the very, very important point,' Madam Bones said. 'An extremely important part of a duel is to take stock of your surroundings. Mastering the summoning charm will be extremely important, as summoning anything—a rock, a door, a chair—into the way of the spell can intercept it. That is your best defense against 'Avada Kedavara',' she said.

James swallowed. 'How does one use it?'

'It is extremely simple,' Bones said quietly. 'The Unforgiveable Curses are not complex, and they are not difficult. Any fool with a wand is able to cast it.'

James frowned. 'So why do only accomplished Dark Wizards use it?' he asked.

'It's the feeling that goes into the spell,' Bones said. 'You may often have felt that your wand is merely an extension of you, that it follows your bidding, and you can pour out your feelings—be it love of making a potion, hope of conjuring a Patronus, or anger or the need to fight when casting a stunning or disarming charm—spells require both precision of thought andof emotion.'

'So what thoughts and emotions do I need?' James asked.

Bones looked out the window. 'It is precisely that which makes the Unforgiveable Curses difficult, especially for a good person such as yourself,' she added with a small smile. 'Hatred and the desire to inflict ill will are the key ingredients.'

'Ill will,' James echoed.

'In the case of the Killing Curse—it is simply to kill,' Bones clarified. 'The old saying is that Unforgiveable Curses are absolutely useless unless you really meanthem,' she said. 'This, of course, is untrue. Even a toddler casting the curse could likely give a grown wizard a nosebleed, or a nasty cut.'

'It's possible for the curse not to work?' James asked.

Bones nodded. 'Correct again,' she said. 'If you were to try using the curse upon me right now, I doubt you would do much more than give me a bruise.'

'I would never use it on you,' James said, horrified.

'Oh I know,' Madam Bones said. 'I have never used the curses upon another human being either.'

James frowned. 'Do you mind…if I ask who taught you about the curses?' James asked.

'I was mostly self taught. But there are people within the Ministry of Magic who believe in knowing as much about these curses as possible.'

She said no more and James nodded. 'So do you think I would be able to kill Rochefort?' he asked.

'I can't answer that question, because I can't see what lies within your heart, James Potter,' she said. 'Rochefort is a terrible man. Wishing him to be dead is an altogether easy task for anyone with a brain. But being the one to snuff the life out of his eyes and cease his existence is an entirely different line of thought altogether. A good person has trouble contemplating murdering someone, even those who are most deserving of death.'

James nodded. 'So it comes down to whether I can will myself to do it or not.'

Bones looked at him carefully. 'There is no doubt in my mind, Potter, that—at the very least—you could gravely injure him. He has struck at the very center of everything you hold dear. He murdered the family of your friend Frank Longbottom, he attacked your own family, and those of the Hanson and Evans families. He murdered Artemis Bowen, he kidnapped Cristobal Mondego and Sirius Black…and none of that even touches upon the fact that he has tortured or murdered Muggles for years. That is enough incentive for most people to do great harm in a duel.'

'Do you think that duel will be soon?' James whispered.

Madam Bones hesitated. 'There are very important people trying to ensure that this confrontation never takes place, Potter. I don't think I need to tell you just how big a priority this has become. The Minister and the Headmaster are both personally involved in the situation, as are various important players in the Ministry.'

'I don't want to cause anyone any trouble,' James muttered.

'Hardly the case,' Madam Bones said. 'You have become something of an idol for many people, Potter. You have lived to tell the tale on Gilles Rochefort on several occasions—to say nothing of escaping Voldemort himself, which is unheard of.'

'And I've put everyone I know in danger as a result,' James said.

'Everyone you know is in danger regardless,' Madam Bones said. 'One way or another—war is coming. All you may have done is speed things up a little. But that's enough talk—now it's time to practice.'

James gulped as he felt a thrill of dread. 'How—how do we do that?'

'A boggart,' Madam Bones said simply. Your Killing Curse will not ultimately do it in—only the Riddikulus charm can accomplish that. However, it will succeed in stopping the Boggart's form momentarily enough.'

'How does a—what is a boggart?' James asked.

'Nasty little shape shifter,' Madam Bones said as she walked over to the chest in the corner of the room. 'Not much larger than your common house cat. However, they instantly sense the greatest fear of the person standing before it and assume its shape.'

James' eyes widened. 'So it's going to turn into Rochefort?' he asked.

'And he will act exactly as your mind expects him to act,' Bones said firmly. 'Do you feel ready for this?'

James clutched his wand in his hand and nodded.

'All I want you to do,' Madam Bones said, 'is point your wand at him—summon all the feeling you can—and cast the curse. Only once for tonight.'

James backed up a step and nodded. Madam Bones waved her wand and the chest opened. A tall wizard wearing a long black travelling cloak emerged; his long, curly brown hair swung around his face, casting his eyes in shadow, so that his one human eye remained covered in darkness. The candlelight in the room caught the whirring mechanical eye which was focused entirely now upon James. Next, the candlelight caught the glint of his teeth as Gilles Rochefort grinned down at James in a most menacing fashion.

'James Potter,' he said in a soft yet malicious tone.

'Now,' Madam Bones said.

James' mind raced—his mother being cursed, the Cruciatus curse being placed upon him, fear for his father down stairs as Death Eaters invaded the house—

'AVADA KEDAVARA!' James bellowed.

The world seemed to slow down around him. It felt as if every ounce of energy he had in his body flowed up suddenly, boiling into his head and almost causing him to lose his footing. Just as quickly as it had done that, it suddenly coursed through his body into his right arm, flowing out of his hand and into his wand which spat a massive jet of green light forward. The jet of light caught Rochefort square in the left shoulder, spinning him around on the spot.

For a second, James thought he had managed to do it—but Rochefort remained on his feet and laughed, his arm hanging at a grotesque angle from his side. 'Little baby Potter, seeking to kill me? Please,' he said, raising his own wand.

'Riddiklus,' Bone said firmly and Rochefort suddenly vanished on the spot with a loud pop.

James sank to his knees, panting. He felt physically ill. 'I didn't do it,' he muttered to himself, and he found that he was in a cold sweat.

'You did well,' Madam Bones said. 'For a first time that—that was very impressive. Are you alright?' she asked.

'Fine,' James whispered.

'That's all for tonight,' Madam Bones said.

'Will it—will it get easier?' James asked, looking up at Madam Bones. He could not recall a time in his life where he had felt worse than he did at this moment—even all of his hospital wing visits combined didn't compare.

Madam Bones scrutinized him for a long moment. 'Only if you wish it to, Potter,' she said quietly.