TITLE: Double Back
DISCLAIMER: All things Harry Potter belong J K Rowling... basically, if you recognise it, it isn't mine... Please don't sic the Aurors on me, I'm just here for the fun.
AN: Apologies for the wait with this batch... had a family emergency over the December / January time, so I barely had any time to myself to get anything done... been working on this though, and have the full intention of carrying this through to the bitter end lol
In learning you will teach, and in teaching you will learn
You'll find your place beside the ones you love
Oh, and all the things you dreamed of, the visions that you saw
Well, the time is drawing near now, it's yours to claim in all
~ "Son of Man" by Phil Collins
9th September
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Highlands of Scotland
It was just after four as James casually ambled his way through the Hogwarts corridor towards the Transfiguration classroom on the ground floor.
The weekend, and Monday so far, had been a mixture of hectic news, relieving news, and waiting for the other shoe to drop. Leaving James somewhat bemused as he contemplated why he'd even said yes to Minerva's lunch time request for him to join her for the seventh year's Transfiguration lesson this afternoon.
After a long talk with Sirius after they'd torched Voldemort's diary like the others, which happened very shortly after Sirius has childishly written 'fuck off snake face' on the first page. The following talk had told him a bit more about what a 'betrothal agreement' actually meant to the pure blood traditions in the wizarding world.
Despite what he'd told his younger self, a betrothal for adult wizards and witches wasn't much like an engagement at all, it was more like a 'pre-engagement' sort of thing, a public announcement of a serious relationship was the best description he could come up with that made sense to him.
To his mind, it was a stupid tradition that didn't really make sense at all, Sirius had even agreed with him on that point, but it was a tradition that Amelia, and apparently Julia, seemed to want to follow. So he was happy to do it since it didn't really cost him anything to make Amelia happy with it.
Basically it was the pure-blood way of announcing they were in a serious relationship together, then an engagement would follow that at some point, then a wedding. It was ridiculous, convoluted, unnecessarily complicated, and didn't make sense to anyone with more active brain cells than a deceased rat... Just like practically everything else in the magical world as far as he was concerned.
Walking through Hogwarts now was leaving him with a rather strange feeling now that the nostalgia had worn off. It was bordering on disturbing as he walked through the corridors, catching sight of people like Lavender Brown who had been disfigured by Greyback in Voldemort's final battle, Fred Weasley and the fifty or so others that had been killed by the Death Eaters in that final attack on the castle.
It was like he was living in a castle full of ghosts, and not the ghosts that he was normally used to.
Then he would catch sight of someone like Draco Malfoy or Theodore Nott, and remember everything that they'd done over the years. After all, it would only be in around five years time that Malfoy would betray Hogwarts at it's worst and let the Death Eaters into the castle in the attempt to take over.
It was strange looking at the arrogant little shit, thinking of everyone that had been hurt and killed by his actions, and wondering if just a simple severing curse to the neck would save so many lives.
Thinking about everything Lucius Malfoy had said, maybe he should be convincing him to take Draco out of the school and send him to Durmstrang, maybe even move the entire damned family over there. It would save god knows how many lives, improve hundreds of others lives, and leave them without having to deal with Draco's bullying or bigotry, and probably save him from having to kill the little blonde shit himself.
"Ah, just on time."
James looked up from where he'd been deep in rather dark and disturbing thoughts as he'd been walking and realised that he'd arrived at Minerva's transfiguration classroom, and he'd opened the door to walk in without even realising it.
"Professor Potter has graciously agreed to join us for the second half of this afternoon's lesson, one that normally I would have to focus on from my own perspective. Thankfully however, today you will have the pleasure of hearing about the Animagus transformation both from mine, and from Professor Potter's perspective."
James nodded at that, idly noting it was a Gryffindor and Slytherin seventh year class that he'd been invited to join as he closed the classroom door quietly and made his way down to the front of the class to join Minerva at the front.
"Now, every year there will be a handful of students that elect to attempt the Animagus transformation over the year as part of their NEWT coursework." Professor McGonagall explained, looking around the class to make sure everyone was paying attention. "I say attempt, as maybe less than a quarter of those who attempt to include it as part of their NEWT class actually successfully manage it, though, to clarify, not all who fail in their attempt do so due to faults of their own."
Minerva's introduction had James' attention immediately. He hadn't returned to Hogwarts for his seventh year properly like Hermione had done, so this was entirely new information for him. He'd always just assumed that stuff like Animagus transformations weren't taught in Hogwarts and it was something people just did after they'd finished school.
Looking around the class, James could easily spot the few in the class that were going to try and become Animagus' over the year, they were the ones that were hastily scribbling down everything Minerva was saying and eagerly following every word. It was surprising that more Gryffindors seemed interested than Slytherins, he'd have to actually as Minerva why that was when he got a second, just in case it was something interesting that separated the two groups of students.
"Now, as I said, those who attempt the Animagus transformation over the year do not fail, most of them anyway, through faults of their own, but by the complexity and timing of the components that make up the transformation." Minerva explained, gesturing to the chalkboard at the back of the room with her wand as she continued. "The Animagus transformation is made of three parts, potion, ritual, and practised self-transfiguration." She explained, making sure the chalk board was writing all of this down as she went along. "The potion itself is highly complicated, I would strongly recommend caution for any of you thinking of attempting this without NEWT potions experience, the potion itself takes well over a month to create, and can take up to six months in some cases." She explained, watching as a few of the students in the class looked at her in horror at that piece of news.
"Mine took nearly eight months before it was ready." James admitted, drawing the class's attention over to him.
"I remember taking at least five months over mine," Minerva explained with a curt nod to James. "The reason this potion takes so long, is a combination of factors, leading to the final night of the potion, and the timing of the first Animagus transformation, occurring on the night of a natural thunderstorm. The thunderstorm must occur within sight of where you have stored the potion, moving the potion around in an attempt to locate a storm disturbs the ingredients and renders it inert." She explained, spotting a few students who had already thought of trying that way of working around it. "If you miss the thunderstorm, or have incorrectly brewed the potion, disturbed it in any way, or made any mistakes in the ritual to that point, you will have to start again, from the beginning."
"And that's back to the first step of keeping a mandrake leaf in your mouth for an entire lunar month, it's not nice." James grinned, shaking his head with a face of disgust when the class looked at him. "No, seriously, those things taste bloody horrible."
"Quite," Minerva said dryly, favouring James with a small quirk of her lips.
"Professor, is that why only a few people ever try it?" One of the Gryffindor students asked, raising their hand and speaking up when Minerva nodded to her.
"Perhaps," Minerva admitted. "It is a long and arduous process, a process which many feel they are unable or unwilling to commit to for the possibility of a minor benefit the Animagus form allows. There are others that do not like to put so much time and effort into magic, where the final steps are left up to nature and chance, removing control entirely from their grasp." She explained with a small nod. "I have found that many witches and wizards are not comfortable letting things out of their control for whatever reasons they have, allowing something else like a thunderstorm to dictate the time table and where you must stay for the duration of the ritual, is something many are not entirely happy with."
"It's the early mornings really," James interrupted with a small smirk as he looked over at the Gryffindor girl in question. "Six months of waking up before dawn so you're ready to do the incantations as the sun rises?" He explained with a grimace. "Imagine doing that for months, only to find out you cocked up the potion and have to start all over again?" He explained with a look of horror on his face.
"Yes," Minerva nodded, frowning over at James with tight lips over his language. "Another reason is perhaps the fact that many witches and wizards do not wish to confront the traits that the Animagus transformation reveals to them. Once revealed, it is not something you can simply put back in a box and deny, there are Animagus' out there who hide their ability purely out of shame due to what the animal in question says about their true nature."
"True nature?" One of the Slytherins asked, not even bothering with the common courtesy of raising their hand.
"The animal revealed in the Animagus transformation is based on your innermost traits, if reveals the core of your personality, the real you so to speak. I imagine many of you would not be comfortable revealing such hidden depths to your acquaintances, let alone to perfect strangers who could understand what that animal says about you."
"I knew someone who turned into a rat," James admitted, drawing attention over to him again. "Should have told you everything you'd need to know about them right?" He explained with a shrug, seriously not knowing how his dad, Sirius and Remus hadn't figured out Pettigrew was a traitor from that. "Peter Pettigrew." He said aloud when he saw the questioning look on Minerva's face, drawing gasps of shock from around the room from the people who recognised the name from Sirius Black's trial.
"Might I assume that Mr Black is also a successful Animagus then?" Minerva asked with a wry smile at acquiring this piece of knowledge.
"A big black dog. Loyal, playful, likes to lick himself." James explained with a grin. "Might be why you two don't get along, you know, cats and dogs?" He explained with a snort of laughter when Minerva rolled her eyes while the class laughed at his comment.
"Indeed," Minerva commented, shaking her head in amusement that three of her students had apparently mastered such a difficult aspect of Transfiguration without her knowing about it. "Perhaps, if you would be so kind Professor Potter?" She asked, gesturing for him to transform so the class could see what they were talking about.
James shrugged at that, stepping away from Minerva's desk and shimmering with golden fur for a second before his form blurred and shifted down into the large lion that was left standing in front of Minerva, causing more than a few gasps to emerge from the students around the room.
"As you can all see, and I'm sure many of you already knew, Professor Potter's Animagus form is that of a lion. Panthera Leo for those of you that would like the filidae classification for further research." Minerva explained, walking around to stand next to the rather large lion that was now taking centre stage in her classroom. "Now, if you look closely, there are unique traits that carry over from the wizard or witch to their animal form. In the case of Professor Potter, we see his rather distinctive messy black hair as part of the mane, along with several scars underneath the short fur that I can only assume Professor Potter has in his natural form." She explained dryly, frowning as she wondered how her favourite student had managed to get scarred like that. "I had actually expected to see brown eyes, as the eyes of an Animagus very often retain the same colour and human intelligence of the witch or wizard, though in this case, you can see that Professor Potter's lion's eyes are actually an emerald green instead of his natural brown. Quite distinctive in their own right, and rather surprising I will admit." She explained with a thoughtful frown as she looked around the room, ignoring the wince and huff the lion made during her explanation.
"Now, what does this animal say about Professor Potter's personality?" Minerva asked, looking around the room.
"He's an apex predator! And powerful!" One of the Gryffindor students said loudly.
"Certainly." Minerva nodded in agreement. "I'm sure everyone who witnessed his duel against You-Know-Who to protect the school would agree with that?" She asked rhetorically. "Most certainly a born leader."
"He's a Gryffindor," One of the Slytherins said, drawing laughter from around the room and a loud roar of agreement from the lion in question.
"Not precisely what I was expecting, but yes, Professor Potter was a proud Gryffindor for seven years and embodied many of the traits of our fine house." Minerva explained with a wry smile as she thought about it.
"Lions are pack creatures, I mean, they're social animals, not loners like other big cats." A Gryffindor boy announced.
"Quite correct," Minerva nodded over. "Lions are social animals. They create packs of their own choosing, families if you will, bonds that last throughout their lives. Very often lions will create packs of their own, with other lions joining them through their lives, forming bonds of protection and loyalty with each other, to protect the pride as a whole, and help the weaker members in the pride survive."
"So Professor Potter would be as protective as a lion is as well then?" One of the Gryffindors asked.
"Of his friends, his pride shall we say, indeed. Fiercely so I would say. And as a Professor that taught him for seven years, I can attest to this attribute personally." Minerva explained with a small smile down at the lion. "If I were to sum up these traits then, I would say Professor Potter's protective nature, alongside his pack or pride nature as it were, with his predator instincts, are shown rather well in this form." She explained, making sure the class knew what she meant now by these traits being visible in the animal form of the wizard.
"Very well, thank you Professor Potter, you may return to your natural shape now." She said, stepping back to give James some space as he yawned loudly before blurring and standing upright again and rolling his shoulders. "As I'm sure you can all appreciate, Professor Potter's Animagus form is rather more distinctive than my own, having him here gives me the unique opportunity to discuss the differing traits of an Animagus without having to transform myself."
"Big cat," James said with a grin, indicating to himself. "Little cat." He said, pointing to Minerva and causing a small burst of laughter from the students. "Jokes aside, as fancy as the lion is, it's a pretty useless Animagus form for anything other than intimidation or physical combat if I'm without my wand." He admitted with a grimace. "Professor McGonagall's house-cat form is much more subtle, she can go unnoticed around practically anywhere in the world, even wandering Hogwarts corridors, and you wouldn't give a cat a second thought." He explained, noting how quite a few of the Slytherins in the class were surprised they hadn't thought of that before. "Unfortunately for me, a lion stands out a bit, whether it wants to or not, drawing all sorts of attention I'd rather avoid if I could get away with it."
"Indeed," Minerva gave a nod of acknowledgement to James for that. "I can assume then that a lion was not your expected form then?" She asked curiously.
"I was actually hoping for an owl, maybe another bird like a kestrel or a hawk, something like that." James admitted with a wry smile.
"A bird?" One of the Gryffindors asked, his incredulous voice showing the surprise that was visible on many of the Gryffindors faces at being told that someone would chose another animal over a lion if they could.
"Definitely," James admitted, leaning back on Minerva's desk and ignoring the frown and curious glance she sent his way. "Being able to fly whenever you want, free and under your own power? You could escape from anything up there, just being able to be yourself, no expectations, no responsibilities, just being able to fly and be true to yourself."
He could see more than a few of the students were contemplating that as he spoke and could easily spot the Quidditch players in the classroom nodding along as he spoke about flying.
"I really did hope to be an owl actually, just a common barn owl. Nothing special, just an everyday owl that could blend in and never be noticed." He explained with a smile. "That would have been nice." He said with a small smile, missing the curious look Minerva gave him as he got lost in thought about it.
"Well, now that you are all familiar with the process and pitfalls of the Animagus transformation, and how long the process can be. I expect to see anyone wishing to partake in the transformation as part of their NEWT year to have a secondary project as well that they can submit in the all too often case that timing and weather aside, the transformation is unsuccessful." Minerva explained, drawing groans from a few students around the room.
"Those of you that are intent on pursuing the Animagus transformation and feel that they can keep up with the work involved, may come to see me over this week in my office to discuss the further details involved." Minerva paused, looking around the room. "Let me be clear here. Pursuing an Animagus transformation is very risky, over many many years of teaching I have seen students stuck in half transformed states, with tails and paws that had to be removed by a long stay in St Mungo's. This is not a subject to enter into half heartedly or jokingly, any misstep can have serious and dangerous consequences. Is that understood?" She demanded, looking around the room to make sure everyone was taking her seriously.
"She's not kidding," James piped up again from his resting seat against Minerva's desk. "There's an animagus around that's a water beetle, seriously, you want to be stuck for the rest of your life as a beetle or a bug of some sort, maybe a mouse? With the amount of cats as familiars in the castle, you'd vanish into one of their stomachs and it'd just be another missing persons case that the Aurors would never solve." He explained, noting a few disturbed looks on the students around the room. "If you're going to do it, stick with a master like Professor McGonagall, that way if you do end up with a poodle's tail, an elephants nose, or a snake's tongue, she can help you fix it before anyone else sees it." He explained with a laugh, seeing some relieved faces on students thanking him for lightening the mood.
"I'm sure Professor Potter will also happily answer any questions you have for him regarding the process if at any point I am unavailable." Minerva explained. "With that said, we shall start discussing the transformation steps and the three main areas, starting with the potion." She explained, flicking her wand to the blackboard where 'potion, ritual, and self-transfiguration' were still written and ready to be discussed. "As Professor Potter mentioned earlier, the first step in the transformation requires a desiccated mandrake leaf..."
Defence Office
Hogwarts
It was later that evening, as James was lazily going over one of the first year curriculum books, when he heard the floo flare up from the other room.
"James?"
"Through here, come on through." He called out in reply, recognising Amelia's voice instantly and not bothering to move from where he was casually leaning back in his chair with his feet up on his desk as he read through the seventh year curriculum he was now expected to teach for their last NEWT year.
It only took a few moments for the floo to flare again before Amelia came through from the living area and into the office, practically collapsing into one of the spare chairs the moment she saw it.
"Bad day?" James asked, raising an eyebrow as he closed the curriculum book and idly tossed it on his desk next to his boots with a thump.
"You have no idea." Amelia groused, pulling her hand down her face in a tired and worn expression of frustration. "We brought in the loyalty contracts today, the entire Ministry had to sign them. Every floor, every member of The Ministry."
"Owch, even I'd need a drink after a day like that." James grimaced, not even wanting to contemplate how much work that would be.
"Ninety seven resignations." Amelia explained bluntly. "Ninety seven. The Minister hit the roof when he heard about it." She groused with a wince at how bad things at The Ministry really were. "It's a fifty fifty toss up how many of them were actually Death Eaters or simply pure blood bigots though, but either way..." She trailed off with a frustrated sigh.
"I'd say I'm surprised but..." James trailed off with a shrug, knowing full well how many blood bigots and idiots there were at The Ministry. "Shacklebolt? Dawlish?"
"Both resigned, along with Hestia Jones from my department and Sturgis Podmore from legal." Amelia admitted, glancing at James to see what he knew. "Dawlish and twelve more Aurors were fired after refusing to sign the contracts. I checked their records afterwards, pure blood bigots, every last one of them."
"I knew Hestia Jones was one of Dumbledore's little sycophants, Sturgis Podmore rings a bell but it's not a name that jumps out at me." James admitted. "Honestly I'm not surprised they resigned though, Dumbledore's probably got something on them. They all know that he'd rather keep them in his pocket than let them have their own lives. Fodder for his little army. Resigning was the only option they really had."
"They both claimed to be working for Dumbledore." Amelia confirmed, nodding along with James' musings.
"Probably where I know the name from then, he was another one of Dumbledore's lackeys spying on The Ministry and passing stories back to him." James explained with a shrug. "I didn't know Hestia was working for you though, I'd have warned you otherwise. I knew she was in with Dumbledore but she was actually a decent person from what I remember of her, but he always did manage to sucker in decent people into doing his dirty work for him." He explained with a sigh before smirking and chuckling to himself.
"What?" Amelia frowned, looking over with a half-hearted glare. This wasn't anything to laugh about as far as she was concerned, and she couldn't see anything funny about what she'd just told him.
"Nothing," James smirked, waving the thought away. "It's just... in my fifth year, Minister Fudge was so hell bent on believing Dumbledore was trying to take over The Ministry and kept saying that Dumbledore had spies and infiltrators everywhere." He explained with a grin. "We didn't believe him back then, but then The Ministry was just as bad as Voldemort was by that point with their propaganda, trying to paint me and Dumbledore as the bad guys trying to take over." He said with a shrug. "It just made me laugh to realise that Fudge had actually been right all along, Dumbledore HAD been infiltrating The Ministry, he must have found out about some of his spies somehow." He explained with a chuckle as he leaned back in his chair, grinning thoughtfully at the fact that Fudge actually had been right about something all along.
"I would assume so," Amelia mused thoughtfully. "Dolores Umbridge was another name you'd like to hear was fired I assume?"
"Do tell?" James grinned over eagerly.
"She refused to sign the contract but expected to keep her position regardless." Amelia explained with a small smile. "My Aurors escorted her out of The Ministry just before lunch. I won't lie to you, watching her being physically removed from The Ministry was quite the sight. I don't think my Aurors have received that much applause for doing their jobs in all my years at The Ministry." She explained with a wry laugh.
"Probably not," James chuckled in agreement. "Wish I'd been there, that would have been a patronus worthy memory." He explained with a grin. "Anyone else?"
"Malfilda Hopkirk from the Improper Use of Magic Offices?" Amelia asked.
"Pure blood bigot, she ended up working for the Muggle-Born Registration Commission under Umbridge." James clarified. "Did it happily, didn't even complain about what she was doing. She's been sending out threats and expulsion notices to muggle-borns and half bloods for years now, happily knowing they couldn't trace pure bloods who were doing exactly the same thing." He explained. "Good riddance, I'd have booted her arse out the door myself if I'd been there."
"Ah," Amelia nodded. "She refused to sign the contract, but left on her own without being fired." She explained, wondering if Hopkirk had been the same woman that had caused James problems with his under age magic notifications in his youth.
James just shrugged at that, having expected the witch to have been fired like Umbridge anyway. It didn't particularly make a difference to him either way, she was hardly a major player in the things that were coming.
"Thirty four were arrested, refusing to sign and then being found to believe in Pure Blood Supremacy and demanding to keep their jobs as their right as a pure bloods." Amelia explained with a grimace at just how deep the pure blood bigotry of the Death Eaters had managed to infect The Ministry. "Eleven of those were from the floo regulations department, including the Department Head Duncan McLaggen."
"That's no surprise," James snorted, shaking his head at that. "McLaggen, I know that name." He mused aloud. "Cormac McLaggen's dad?" He asked, looking to Amelia who just shrugged to say she didn't know either way. "Anyway, it's pretty obvious he was a Pure Blood sycophant whoever he was, and if he's the McLaggen I'm thinking of, I'm not surprised in the least." He muttered when Amelia looked at him with a curious glance. "Every time Voldemort attacks somewhere, the floo is just mysteriously down or blocked somehow to prevent people from escaping? He uses anti-apparition jinxes to stop people from apparating away, but he'd need Death Eaters in the floo department to stop it there as well."
"I hadn't... I hadn't actually realised that." Amelia frowned, grimacing when she realised how blatantly obvious it was.
"They're all gone now then?" James asked curiously.
"There'll be a story in The Prophet tomorrow about it, the details of the new contract, along with the news about a hiring surge at The Ministry." Amelia admitted with a nod. "I'll be heading over to the academy tomorrow to see how many recruits are ready for active service, and authorise another two dozen places at the academy to replace the Aurors I've lost."
"That'll help," James nodded, hoping that there was actually enough decent Aurors to fill the ranks now.
"Dirk Cresswell has been promoted up to Senior Undersecretary. I'll be taking him down to the Daily Prophet tomorrow for an interview, we'll be talking about the new Ministry hard line against blood bigotry there." Amelia explained.
"Cresswell?" James paused, rubbing his stubble thoughtfully as he pondered over the name. "The name rings a bell somewhere..." He muttered to himself, dredging through his memories.
"Muggle-born, one of the very few at The Ministry. He was working in the Goblin Liaison Office. Not surprisingly, his boss was one of the bigots without a mark that refused to sign the new contract. He was offered head of department as well, but I managed to convince him to take on the Senior Undersecretary position instead." Amelia said with a smile. "I'm hoping he can help me get somewhere with the goblins, maybe even broker a deal to get us into Lestrange's vault."
"A muggle-born Senior Undersecretary?" James asked in surprise. "That's new." He mused aloud, knowing full well that in his previous time that no muggle-born would ever have been promoted that high at The Ministry. "I'm sure I know that name from somewhere." He muttered thoughtfully.
"You can check through your pensieve when you get chance." Amelia nodded. "He signed the new contract happily enough, so I know he's not hiding any allegiance to either Voldemort or Dumbledore."
"It'll come to me, it's just bugging me that I know the name but can't place it." James admitted with a frown.
"It's going to be a hectic week, I hope you don't mind me floo'ing in here now and again to get away from it all?" Amelia asked.
"You're welcome any time you want," James shrugged with a smile over to her. "If I'm not here, help yourself to anything you need. The piece and quiet here is actually a nice break away from the rest of the castle."
"And away from Sirius," Amelia admitted with a laugh, drawing a grin of agreement from James as well. "Speaking of the old dog, have you spoken to him much?"
"Over the weekend," James admitted. "He's still angry about Remus, I can't really blame him for that." He explained with a thoughtful tilt of his head. "He went back to Grimmauld Place apparently, started destroying the place with blasting curses and god knows what else."
"He's got anger issues still, after being kept in Azkaban for so long I'd expected as much." Amelia sighed.
"Yeah," James nodded back. "Between Azkaban, learning about Dumbledore, and then all this with Remus, I can't really blame him for needing to get some anger out like that."
"I suppose not," Amelia frowned thoughtfully. "It might be worth speaking to him about seeing a mind healer, it would certainly help him come to terms with everything that's happened."
"I was actually thinking the same," James admitted. "I saw one for a few months after... well, after." He shrugged. "I'll mention it to him the next time I see him."
"I'll stay out of his hair then, though I was thinking about offering him a return place in the department." Amelia said thoughtfully. "With Shacklebolt gone, I could use someone of his calibre to back me up out there."
"Probably not a good idea at the moment," James sighed, ruffling his hair in annoyance. "Wait until he's settled down, if he's still interested then, then..." He trailed off with a shrug.
"Very well," Amelia sighed, slumping down a bit in her chair. "I don't suppose Minerva would mind if I spent the night here?" She asked with a small smirk up at James.
"Well, I wouldn't recommend the chair," James grinned back. "But there's a great bed through there that's even more comfortable than anything I remember."
"I shall just have to put up with the Gryffindor trappings," Amelia joked over with a smirk. "Maybe spruce the place up a little, some yellow to match the gold, tone down some of these scarlets?"
"Don't you dare," James laughed, swinging his legs off of his desk and moving over to her, offering her his arms to help her up out of the comfortable chair she'd sunk into. "As for Minerva, I won't tell her if you don't." He said with a grin as he flicked his wand over to the office door, locking it securely before happily escorting Amelia through to the bedroom area of the living suite where they could relax.
Wed 11th of September
Hogwarts
Scotland
It was just after dinner time at Hogwarts as James idly lent against the archway leading through into the school library.
He'd had a pretty busy day, not least because he'd had two NEWT year double periods to teach back to back, sixth years just before lunch, and then seventh years just after lunch.
The NEWT classes were basically going to be him starting from scratch, and he'd actually entertained the idea of tossing them both together so he could have a combined class for a four hour period instead.
Whoever had been their teacher the previous year had been so inept that it would have been laughable if it wasn't down to him now to get them all through their NEWTs. Which meant going over silent casting, again for the seventh years, and then onto point casting and the advanced magics.
The Patronus was high on his list of charms he was going to get both classes up to scratch on, that way if the worst did happen and the Dementors went to Voldemort again, there'd be at least a few dozen more wizards and witches around that could help deal with the problem.
He'd been frustrated enough that he'd taken his evening meal in his office tonight, thankful for the house elves that had brought up a healthy portion of steak and ale pie, mashed potatoes and gravy, along with a large helping of treacle tart for dessert.
Sitting at his office desk aimlessly while he tried to figure out exactly what he was trying to teach the kids was a nightmare, so his attention had wandered up to the Marauders Map on the wall where he'd idly spent ten minutes or so looking for Peter Pettigrew there.
While he hadn't found Pettigrew, he had noticed something in the library that had caught his attention, which had led to him venturing out from his office for a bit and coming down to watch the group in question with his own eyes.
Leaning against the library arch he raised a lone eyebrow over to Madame Pince when she looked at him before she returned to the book she was reading, obviously she had not been expecting to see another member of the faculty down in the library on an evening.
What had his attention was the small group nestled on a table over by the charms collection of books, where Harry, Hermione, Neville, Susan and Daphne were currently all sharing a table and chatting in hushed whispers while they worked.
It was amusing to watch, both heart warming and nostalgic at the same time. Seeing his younger self making friends like this was fantastic. He wasn't worried about fitting in or being the weird kid like he'd been in his first week at Hogwarts.
Neville seemed to have slotted into the group just fine as well, while he was sat on one side of the table with Harry, the three girls were on the other side of the table and appeared to be chatting happily as well. Indicating that introducing Hermione to the group as well had been successful and she wouldn't be the aloof and alone girl in her first year that 'his' Hermione had been before he and Ron had made friends with her.
It was weird knowing that through their first year at Hogwarts, Hermione must have suffered through her twelfth birthday alone. With no friends in Gryffindor to be with her or celebrate with, and away from her parents, she must have just ignored the day altogether. He knew Hermione didn't even have an owl, so she wouldn't have even had a letter or present from her parents on her birthday.
Frowning at that point, James quickly calculated the dates in his head. Hermione's birthday was on the nineteenth, which would be next Thursday. That didn't leave him much time at all to figure out a present for her and make her first birthday at Hogwarts something special.
He was broken out of his musings as Madame Pince hushed loudly, glaring over at the table of five after Susan had giggled at something a bit too loudly.
Quickly patting himself down he grabbed a scrap of parchment from his pocket before idly walking over to the group of five, noticing that Daphne was the first one to spot his approach and notify the other four that he was here.
Holding his finger to his lips he sat down at the desk next to his younger self, taking his quill from him for a second with a wink before writing out "Muffliato" on the parchment he'd found. "Muff-LEE-ah-toe" he pronounced quietly, making sure Harry was paying attention and noticing that Hermione was watching with an excited look on her face. "Point at the desk, no wand movements."
"What's it do?" Harry asked, looking up at his older self as Hermione took the parchment and read the incantation aloud to herself to memorise it.
"Muffles the sound around you for about ten feet from the area you point at, so nobody can listen in on your conversations. Pretty handy for quiet talking in the library don't you think?" James asked with a grin over to Hermione as he brought his wand out, flicked it towards the desk and smiled in satisfaction when the aqua blue light shot out from his wand. "It'll last about two hours. Enjoy." He said with a grin as he pushed his chair back, standing up with a wink to his younger self before he made his way out of the library, happily ignoring the glare Madame Pince gave him as he walked away from the group.
"Does it work?" Hermione asked in a whisper as she watched Professor Potter walk away.
"Don't know?" Harry replied, bringing his voice up to normal speaking levels. "Hello? Madame Pince?" He asked aloud, watching as Madame Pince paid absolutely no attention to their table whatsoever.
"I'd say so." Neville said with a small laugh.
"Almost certainly," Daphne nodded in agreement when she noticed Madame Pince wasn't even glancing in their direction no matter how much they talked. "Definitely a useful charm to learn." She admitted, leaning over to look at the parchment Hermione still had, copying down the charm name and pronunciation from where Professor Potter had written in down so she could practice it herself.
"Definitely handy," Susan confirmed, copying Daphne and making a note of it herself.
"It's not one of the ones in the charms book, not for first years anyway." Hermione frowned, glaring down at the parchment in question. "I've read the first year books already, I don't remember seeing this one in there anywhere." She said accusingly, looking down at the parchment in front of her.
"Could be one of his own charms," Daphne pointed out thoughtfully.
"Probably," Neville nodded in agreement. "Merlin knows what sort of spells your dad must know." He said with a grin over to Harry.
"It could be one from the upper years," Susan commented with a thoughtful glance down at where she'd written down the charm.
"He did already start teaching you and Harry second and third year spells." Daphne nodded with a bit of a jealous expression on her face.
"WHAT?" Hermione practically screeched at that revelation, causing all four at the table to duck back to their books in panic, waiting for Madame Pince to start shouting at them for Hermione's raised voice.
After a few seconds, Harry was the first one brave enough to look up from his book and over to Madame Pince, who was still happily reading and showing no indication that she'd heard Hermione's shout at all.
"Wow, must be a really powerful charm to silence that shout." Harry muttered with a grin over at Hermione's flushed and embarrassed face.
"Practice casting it, that way we can all use it when we're studying." Daphne pointed out, doing her best not to laugh at Hermione's flushed red face.
"What do you mean that you're already being taught third year spells?" Hermione demanded in a whisper over to Harry.
"My dad started teaching us this stuff already," Harry pointed out. "There's no rules against studying ahead of what you know right?"
"But... but, you're supposed to learn along with the classes, that's what the professors would want?" Hermione frowned over.
"The professors expect you to learn on your own as well," Daphne pointed out. "That's why we have the books of our own and not just have them in class, to read and practice ahead at our own speeds, not just learn in class and practice afterwards."
"You... you've really been learning third year spells already?" Hermione whispered, a touch of awe in her face as she looked at Harry.
"Me too," Susan interrupted with a bashful smile.
"Can... would you... um... I'd really like it if..." Hermione stammered out.
"They're already teaching me," Daphne nodded, stepping in to give the poor girl a break. "Harry says they got upto Glacius already."
"Whoa," Neville breathed out, looking at Harry in awe.
"We should find an abandoned classroom somewhere, then Harry and Susan could teach us without everyone else butting in and wanting to join in." Daphne mused thoughtfully.
"Can... um, do you mind..."
"Of course Neville," Harry grinned, happy to help Neville any way he could. "You're coming no matter what, I need another boy there otherwise I'd be outnumbered."
"You're still outnumbered." Daphne pointed out with a wry smile of her own, indicating that there were three girls and only two boys in their group.
"Oh," Harry frowned, realising that Daphne was right. "Do you think it'd be easy to find an abandoned classroom?"
"Definitely, there's loads of them that aren't used anymore." Daphne nodded back. "Come on, we can find one now and get started." She said with a grin, closing her charms book and sliding it back into her bag.
"Alright," Harry shrugged, happy to go with the flow and help out his friends with things his older self had taught him if they needed it.
Having friends and 'almost family' was still a pretty new experience for Harry, but it was an experience that he was thoroughly enjoying so far.
Outside of the Hogwarts Library, James was happily grinning to himself as he wandered the corridor and headed outside onto the grounds, his hands thrust in his jeans pockets as he walked, idly amused at how he'd taught Hermione Muffliato when she'd been so vehemently against using the spell originally in his time at Hogwarts.
It was a little thing and a petty thing, but it made him laugh when he remembered getting slapped on the arm by Hermione for even mentioning the spell in their sixth year at Hogwarts. Compared to her eager and excited face when he'd written down the spell just now, it was definitely something to laugh at in his book.
With everything else that was going on, with Dumbledore and Voldemort, Sirius and Remus, he was going to take his little amusements where he could get them.
"Profess'r,"
James looked up with an incredulous expression at the mixture of the voice and the words spoken. He'd never imagined Hagrid calling him 'Professor', not in a million years. It didn't sound right at all, and Hagrid's nervous voice made the forced title sound even worse.
"Hagrid?" James asked, looking down the path towards Hagrid's hut where Hagrid was waiting outside before heading off in that direction. "Hagrid, why did you call me Professor?"
"'T's yer title ain't it?" Hagrid answered a bit shiftily as James came and stood in front of him.
"Never to you," James shook his head with a chuckle. "What's wrong Hagrid?" He asked, knowing the half-giant all too well after all these years. "Come on, I can see you're worried about something."
"Aye, nev'r could 'ide anythin' from ye," Hagrid admitted with a sigh. "Been tryin' to think of 'ow to say I'm sorry. Ye know, for... for what I did... with... with young Harry."
"Ha..." James started to ask, cocking his head to the side curiously as he tried to figure out what Hagrid meant before the realisation slammed into him like a bludger.
"'Eard all about it after your barny with Professor Dumbledore and You-Know-Who, Professor McGonagall, she tol' me all about it aft'rwards, explained wha' 'ad happened." Hagrid explained.
"Hagrid, I don't blame you, not for any of it." James said firmly.
"But... but I stole 'Arry from you!" Hagrid exclaimed, the tears falling from his dark eyes freely as he made his confession. "If it weren't for me followin' Profess'r Dumbledore, then Harry would have been with Sirius Black just like he was s'posed to be."
"Hagrid," James said firmly, causing Hagrid to look down at him in surprise. "I don't blame you. I'm not mad at you. Not for that, not for anything." He explained, making sure he was smiling up at the half-giant. "It wasn't your fault." He said firmly, making sure that Hagrid was listening to him. "None of it was. I don't blame you any more than I blame Minerva."
"But... but ye..." Hagrid stammered out, wiping his nose on a handkerchief that could have doubled as a flag in some places.
"Hagrid, really, no one blames you for any of it." James said reassuringly, reaching over and holding Hagrid's arm reassuringly. "Is that why I haven't seen you the last week, you've been avoiding me?"
"I thought... I reckoned you'd be mad at me aft'r..." Hagrid started, but trailed off and simply pulled James tight into a bone crushing hug. "You really don' blame me?"
"Not... at... all..." James huffed out, trying to speak and keep his lungs full at the same time as Hagrid practically crushed his face into his bushy and wiry beard. "Neither... does Minerva... or... Sirius."
"Oh Sirius Black, I'd... I reckon I'd forgotten all about that." Hagrid said quickly, releasing James and spinning around to walk around the side of his hut.
"Forgotten about what?" James asked, catching his breath back after Hagrid released him. "What are you doing?" He asked, watching as Hagrid carried out a rather large and oddly wrapped present in his arms.
It wasn't until Hagrid was in front of him that he realised it wasn't a wrapped present at all, but an old and stitched together fabric cover that was wrapped over something.
"Sirius Black lent this to me that... the night I took 'Arry." Hagrid admitted, pulling off the fabric to expose the motorbike underneath. "Reckon it's only right I give it back. Think yeh could find 'im and pass it on from me?"
"Of course," James breathed out, staring down at the oh so familiar nineteen fifty nine Triumph Bonneville bike. "You've taken great care of her." He admitted, looking over the polished bike and cleaned leather seats.
If he was honest, the bike was looking better now than he ever remembered it looking in his life.
In his time, after the war and while he's still been dating Ginny, fixing up the motorbike had been a guilty pleasure of his. He'd spent hours on the weekend's with Arthur in the old Weasley shed as they muddled through books and slowly brought the bike back to working condition.
It was never the same afterwards though, it'd worked as a motorbike and it flew, but it was never as stable and solid as it had been for Sirius or Hagrid.
"Ye... ye'll take it back to 'im then?" Hagrid asked hopefully.
"Of course," James grinned up. "I'd completely forgotten about this old thing." He said with a laugh as he ran his fingers over the leather seat. "I'm sure he'll be thankful you kept it looking so good after all these years."
"T'was the least I could do, aft'r... ye know." Hagrid shrugged awkwardly, bundling the fabric up in his hands. "I'd been... I mean, before I knew about ye, I was putting some old photos together for young Harry."
"I think he'd like that Hagrid," James grinned up, thinking of the photo album Hagrid had giving him of his parents when he was in his first year at Hogwarts. "I think he'd like that a lot." He said with a firm nod.
"Ye really think so?" Hagrid boomed, beaming down at James.
"I really do," James nodded up. "I'm sure you've got plenty of stories to tell him of what his... we got up to back in out Hogwarts days." He said quickly to cover up his slip.
"Aye, reckon I do at that," Hagrid laughed loudly at that thought. "Al'right, I'll finish it up and get 'im to come down for a spot of tea or somethin'."
"Perfect," James grinned over. "Actually, you'll know... unicorn herds? Are there any others around? Aside from in the forest?"
"Not 'round 'ere," Hagrid shook his head thoughtfully. "Big 'erd over in wales though, biggest one in the country. Find 'em more over in Europe right? South'o France, Italy an' Greece. They prefer the warmer weather ya know?"
"Albania?" James asked curiously as he idly climbed on the motorbike and used it as a comfortable seat.
"Aye, down that way'd be right for 'em, Bulgaria's got a big 'erd too, anyw'ere down there's where you'd find 'em." Hagrid nodded over.
"Thanks, might be worth keeping an eye on the heard in Wales," James mused thoughtfully, idly wondering where Voldemort would target now that he'd removed him from Hogwarts. "Now, I was going to stay here tonight, but..." He trailed off, stroking the handlebars of the bike happily. "I think I should take this back to Sirius, don't you?"
"I reckon he'd like that." Hagrid laughed back, his booming laugh echoing around the Hogwarts grounds as James pointed his wand to the ignition and started the engine with a roar that rattled the trees of the Forbidden Forest closest to Hagrid's hut. "Blimey James, never knew you knew how to ride this thing?"
"Better than a Hippogriff," James laughed as he revved the engine, oblivious to Hagrid's returning laugh. "I'll tell Sirius to stop by and say thanks some time." He explained in a loud voice.
"I'd... I reckon I'd like that." Hagrid shouted back.
Giving Hagrid one last nod and a cheeky grin, James revved the engine loudly one last time before accelerating at speed, loudly driving down the Hogwarts grounds with a whoop of joy as he flipped on the thrusters before the bike blasted into the skies over the Forbidden Forest, leaving a trail of fire on the grass behind it while James' laughter echoed behind him as he flew off south towards Potter Manor.
