Spiked

James dived towards the ground, his fingers closed around the struggling ball. He suddenly felt incredible exhilaration and joy. Gryffindor had won the Quidditch Cup! He flew towards where the rest of the team were. The Gryffindors were yelling and cheering, waving flags and banners. The team moved into a v-formation, James at the tip, and flew around the pitch.

McGonagall strode towards them when they landed, followed by a stream of teachers and supporters. She carried the gold Quidditch Cup in front of her. As she handed it to James, Robby and Henry lifted him up and put him on their shoulders. Then, surrounded by red-and-gold clad Gryffindors and waving the Quidditch Cup, he was carried back to the Common Room.

The celebrations went on well into the night, until Neville appeared to tell them all to get to bed or he would hand out detentions like candy. James headed up to the dorm, wearing a crown someone had made for him, and collapsed onto his bed.

When he woke his head was pounding and his mouth was dry. Wishing he hadn't tried the Firewhisky someone had offered him, he stumbled over to the window, where a gleaming jug of water sat. Pouring himself a glass, he gazed out the window.

It was a perfect day. Cloudless blue sky, sun shining, green-leafed forest. He stopped, his fingers tightening around the glass in his hand. There, on the edge of the forest, were two black-cloaked figures. It was obvious they weren't meant to be there – everything from the way they walked to their long cloaks shouted SUSPICIOUS.

He thought about going to the teachers, but he remembered last time he had, and frowned. They would just say he was imagining things and send him back to bed. He leant forwards, elbows resting on the windowsill and watched the figures. He couldn't remember where they were heading, it was somewhere very boring. He suddenly grinned, and headed quietly downstairs. Grabbing the Marauders Map from the hidden alcove where they kept it with the Invisibility Cloak, he quickly opened it and looked around for them. He quickly found them, running along the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Trevor McCoy and Lucifer Quicksilver. He looked at where they were heading. The only things in front of them were the lake and the water tanks. Nothing of importance...

Or where they? He went back up to the dorm and picked up his glass again. Every drop of liquid that those inside Hogwarts drunk came from the water tanks. He gasped, an idea popping into his head. What if Trevor McCoy and Lucifer Quicksilver were somehow changing the water, contaminating it? They had to be stopped, before they did something terrible – poisoned the school or something.

He grabbed a pair of jeans and hurriedly pulled the on, along with a hoodie and some trainers. He picked up his wand and glanced at Max. He was sleeping peacefully, but James could see how thin he still was. He couldn't ask him to put himself in danger when he had just been so ill. Nor could he get to the girls, when he was unable to get up to their dorm. No, he had to handle this alone. Grabbing his wand, he left the dormitory. He stowed the Map in his pocket and pulled out the Invisibility Cloak, throwing it over himself.

He only saw a couple of ghosts and Mrs Norris on his way down – everyone was still tucked up in bed. He rushed outside and followed McCoy and Quicksilver, his wand held tight in his hand. They were the same figures he had seen before – McCoy was small and squat, struggling to keep up with tall, thin Quicksilver.

They reached the water tanks, three huge, green metal tanks twice the height of a normal man and five times the width. A huge pipe ran from the lake, splitting to feed into the three tanks. On the other side a pipe came out of each, which disappeared into the ground. A ladder was attached to the side of each tank, and on top there was a hatch, which opened into the tank.

Quicksilver started climbing up the side of one tank. McCoy pulled out a large black sack and searched inside, before pulling out a glass flask. Inside was a blood red potion. Quicksilver started struggling with the hatch, trying to open it. James took a deep breath, and stepped forward, throwing off the cloak.

'Stop!' he said loudly. McCoy jumped in surprise, his hood falling off. His face was flabby, with bulging cheeks and small eyes. His brown hair was thin and rather tufted. He reminded James of a fat chipmunk. Quicksilver hissed in annoyance and jumped smoothly off the tank, wand out.

'What do you want, boy?' he asked. 'Before I modify your memory. You're lucky I'm merciful, otherwise you would die.'

'Get away from those tanks,' said James. 'I don't know what you're doing, but I know it isn't good. Now get away from those tanks and leave here!'

The hairs on the back of his neck prickled as he heard a high, mirthless laugh. Turning slowly, he saw four shadows step out of the Forbidden Forest. At the forefront were Dorabella and Trixor Lestrange, twin children of Bellatrix Lestrange. Both were in black cloaks, but Dorabella's was thrown back, revealing her wild blonde hair and mad face.

'Ickle baby Potter!' she cried happily. 'What a nice surprise!' she acted as if it was a family reunion, and he was her favourite nephew. James held his wand tight. He suddenly realised he was alone, way out of his depth, and the sharks were circling him.

'Why are you spiking the water?' he asked in s brave a voice as he could muster. 'Why do you want to hurt children?'

'Oh Jamesy, we have been hurting the children. We've been hurting them since the start of this year,' said Dorabella, giggling. James stared at her, speechless.

'Wait – you've been causing the Fits?' he cried.

'Is that what they're calling it?' Trixor said from under his hood. 'Yes. You see, we didn't disappear after what happened in the Tomb. We have been gathering followers, growing stronger by the day. We wanted to gain the attention of the Wizarding World. So we put this potion into the water tank every fortnight since the start of the school year. As you know, the weak, stupid children of Hogwarts have been dropping like flies. If they had had the tough upbringing we had, they would not be so soft. We wanted to leave our mark on the Wizarding World. And killing Harry Potter's firstborn son will cement that.'

'You won't kill me,' he said angrily. 'I'll defeat you and tell everyone about what had happened, and then you'll be sorry!'

'I'm not sure about your counting skills, Potty. Have you not noticed that there are six of us and just one of you? You're all alone, Potter.'

'He's not alone!' James spun around. Albus and Lily were a few metres away, scowling at the cloaked figures. 'Get away from our brother.'

'Al – Lily – get away from here!' cried James.

'Yeah, yeah, shut up James,' replied Lily, before sending a hex towards Trixor. Trixor blocked it, and they erupted into battle. James took down McCoy while he was fumbling for his stubby little wand, Stupefying him and then tying him up. Albus and Lily were firing spells at Trixor and the two shrouded figures behind, while Dorabella danced about, cackling.

James got the wind knocked out of him as he was shoved from behind. Quicksilver knelt on his chest, making it hard for James to breathe properly. His hood fell off, revealing his face. His skin was pure white, as was his hair, which was slicked back over his head. His eyes were bright red.

Quicksilver raised his wand as James struggled underneath him, but was suddenly blown off. Albus gave a distracted wave as James sat up. Quicksilver had flown about ten metres, before hitting a water tank and lying still. James jumped to his feet and ran into the fray.

They were slightly more evenly matched now, though Trixor and Dorabella were incredibly difficult to fight. The three siblings stood in a close formation, covering each other's backs. Another figure went down, knocked out by Lily. The other seemed to be losing his nerve; he was backing away slightly, going onto the defence. But Trixor and Dorabella seemed to be getting more confident, it was getting harder and harder to hold them off.

Then the final cloaked figure fell, and it was just Trixor and Dorabella. James whispered to Albus and Lily: 'Distract them.' They then started doing their most difficult and fancy spells, but Trixor and Dorabella could not be touched. Finally James got frustrated and lobbed a stick at Trixor. It knocked his hood off and distracted him, and for a second his shield and concentration fell. And in that second, Albus shot a Cutting Curse at his face. Trixor yelled out as a long cut appeared along his cheek from ear to mouth.

Dorabella shrieked in anger. 'We'll let you off this time, Potter children, but mark my words, next time you see us, you will not be so lucky. We will return, stronger than ever before. We will complete our parents' work, mark my words! Beware the Lestrange twins, Potters. Beware!' She grabbed Trixor and twisted, Apparating away.

James stared at the spot where she had been, shocked. He could hardly believe what had happened, only the four cloaked bodies proved it. He turned to his siblings, who had identical expressions on their faces.

'James – Albus – Lily Potter!' they turned to see McGonagall, Neville, Teddy and a host of other teachers hurrying towards them. 'What on earth is going on?'

James struggled to recount the story, it seemed confused and jumbled in his head. But McGonagall listened silently and seriously until he reached the end, before nodding. 'It seems we have found the cause of the Fits. Well done, all of you. This is an incredible achievement. One hundred house points and a Service to the School each. Come on now, you need to go back to school.'

A few teachers stepped forward to sort out the unconscious attackers. Teddy touched James's shoulder and led them back up to the castle. Mercifully he didn't say a word or ask questions, just walked. James felt like he was in a dream, it didn't seem real.

Max was waiting for him when he reached the Common Room, a frown on his face. 'Why didn't you take me?' he asked, a touch of anger in his voice. James shrugged wearily.

'I dunno, I didn't want to get you into danger.' Max stared at him for a long while, before grinning.

'Ah well, at least you're back,' he replied.

FINAL CHAPTER OF YEAR SIX! Next chapter up as soon as possible! Please please review and tell me your thoughts! I got barely any reviews for the last chapter