Oh my God

Oh my God! No, it isn't a mirage. Part 12 is actually here! *Watches as many people {especially the seraphim} faint with shock. This part is dedicated to the seraphim, for being so patient, and to gumdrop, for being a superlative beta-reader and just a great person all in all.

James gasped. The Ring was on his finger, glinting in the sunlight and glowing strangely. But his hand wasn't burnt. This meant, he realised, with a funny jolt, that he must be an Heir to one of the Hogwarts Four – Gryffindor, probably, as both his parents had been in the same house. A strange sensation was welling up inside him. An Heir? Him? He suddenly felt very nauseous.

He looked up into the sky, where the column of bright white light had been just a few moments before, but now all he saw were various cloud forms and a number of tired-looking post owls swooping towards the Great Hall. He was just wondering whether he ought to go to Dumbledore and tell him about the Ring when he noticed something that made his heart leap into his throat.

There was one owl flying alone, quite apart from its fellow birds, in a different direction to the Great Hall, moving swiftly across the front of the castle. There was nothing particularly unusual about that; many owls delivered to individuals in their dormitories or offices. Except that the owl was jet black. James didn't even stop to think. Although he was almost sure that this owl was heading towards Gryffindor Tower, it didn't seem to be rising. He had the Cloak in his pocket. He summoned his Jet Force, covered himself in the Cloak, and rose up into the air, after the owl.

James had only ridden on his Jet Force once before, in the first Quidditch training session of the new term. But its performance in relation to the Lightspeed was incredible. It turned at James' lightest touch, and seemed to read his mind and instincts. At the practice, Ben Coates hadn't said anything – he had just grinned broadly at James, which had been enough. Now, James was hovering the broom just off the ground. It was humming slightly, as though it knew that it was creeping up on something, and the importance for it to remain quiet. James followed the black owl around the face of the castle. It was clearly not heading for Gryffindor Tower, as that was high above it, and it still showed no signs of ascending. He followed it around to an exposed part of the castle he had never seen. It swooped suddenly, and James found himself in what seemed like a large stone tunnel, running vertically, floating downwards. Eventually, the owl came to a standstill, because there was a large circular window blocking its way. James hovered down slowly and looked through the glass. It was a large, circular room, with a number of comfortable blue armchairs and a fireplace in the corner. It looked exactly like the Gryffindor common room, except that everything was decorated blue instead of scarlet. The Ravenclaw common room. James laughed quietly as he realised he had found another common room without meaning to. Shame it wasn't Slytherin …

He watched as the owl tapped on the window. A rather pretty girl of about James' age came to the window and unhooked the catch. The owl swept in – the girl looked bemused to see that it was black – dropped its letter, and soared back out of the window, past James. James lowered himself into the common room just before the girl reached back up and closed the window. He landed, and stood up. The Ravenclaw common room really was very similar to the Gryffindor one, although it had many pictures on the walls of famous witches and wizards. The Gryffindor walls consisted mainly of embarrassing photographs, one of these being a picture of Lily and Remus curled up together that James had taken last year. The most frequent pictures on the walls in here, however, were of a very beautiful young witch, who James recognised as Rowena Ravenclaw. Her pictures, he was almost sure (although he couldn't definitely tell), were winking at him.

He turned back, and noticed the letter that the owl had been carrying. It was addressed simply to "Mak". James wondered why Voldemort would send a letter to Jason, but was interrupted in his thoughts as the pretty girl picked up the letter, sighed, and walked over to a door in the far corner of the room.

James followed her, just managing to get through the door without being knocked out. She walked up a number of staircases until she came to a door marked "Third year boys". She knocked lightly, and someone inside the room muttered 'Come in!' The girl entered, and James followed, seating himself on a window ledge, still hidden under the Invisibility Cloak. There were five boys in the room. One was Jason, but the rest, his fellow Ravenclaws, James knew only by sight.

'Hi, Lis,' one of them said, jumping off his bed. 'What can we do you for?' He seemed unperturbed at her being inside the boys' dormitory.

'Hi Mark,' the girl whose name, James decided, was most probably Lisa, replied. 'Is Jason here? Oh, there you are, Jas. You've had a letter.'

'What?' said Jason. 'Who from?'

'Dunno,' said Lisa. 'An owl dropped it in just now. Here.' she passed him the letter. 'I'll see you guys later. Bye.' She smiled around at them and then left the room. Mark was still staring at where she had been seconds before, almost transfixed. James grinned from under the Cloak.

'What does it say, Jas?' one of his other friends asked.

'I'll open it later,' said Jason. 'So, what were you saying about the next Quidditch game?' James had been considering leaving at that point, but realised suddenly that the window next to him was closed and the door had been shut. He was trapped.

'Oh, Jake told me to tell you to get your arse in gear for the game against Hufflepuff.'

'Cheerful tactics,' Jason replied. 'I don't think he was pleased with the Gryffindor result, somehow.'

'He looked ready to murder you afterwards,' said Mark, grinning. 'Although I think he'd have done better murdering Potter …' The other boys laughed.

'Jake's worried,' said one of the two boys James didn't know the names of. 'That there might be someone better than him here, that's all it is.'

'James is good,' said Jason thoughtfully. 'I just hope he stays on his old Lightspeed. That gives us half a chance at least.' Under the Cloak, James had to work hard to stop himself laughing.

'Ah well,' said Mark. 'You don't have to play him until next year now. Jack? Didn't you say you were going to try out for the team?'

'I was,' said Jack. 'As a Beater. But Smith – gentleman that he is – told me in no uncertain terms that I couldn't hit a white elephant on a black background. The epitome of encouragement,' he added, whilst his friends laughed.

'Quite,' said Jason. 'Anyways, lets see what we have here.' He had pulled out the envelope and started unfolding it. James held his breath. Jason quickly read the letter, and turned pale.

'Oh God,' he said, shaking. 'Oh no. Oh shit!' He threw the letter to the floor, breathing hard.

'Jas?' said Mark. 'What's wrong?'

'It's nothing,' said Jason, though it looked like completely the opposite. 'I think – I just need to be alone for a while.'

'C'mon, you three,' said Jack pointedly to his friends. 'We'll see you in a bit, Jas.' And the four Ravenclaws sidled out of the room, looking concerned. Jason scrunched the letter up in his hand and muttered something incoherently. James stepped down from the ledge.

'He's after the Jade Ring,' he said evenly. Jason jumped.

'What the hell?' he looked around feverishly. 'Who's there?'

'You invisible friend,' said James, casually removing the Cloak. 'Hello, Jason.'

'James? Don't sneak up on me like that. What the hell are you doing here? How did you get here?' James pulled out his broom. Jason's jaw dropped. 'You git. And I was just saying I hoped you didn't get a new broom.'

'That's not the point,' said James calmly. 'Voldemort – he's after the Jade Ring.'

'How do you know about the Ring?'

'Because,' said James simply. 'I'm the Heir of Gryffindor.' He pulled out his finger and showed Jason the ring. Jason gasped audibly, but he wasn't the only one. Lisa was at the door.

'Sorry,' she said, hastily. 'I didn't realise I was interrupting …'

'It's all right, Lisa,' said James courteously. 'Come in.' Lisa stepped in the room, and closed the door. She looked at James, blushing slightly, and seemed to see him properly.

'Hold on,' she said. 'You're a Gryffindor. How did you get in here?'

'That's not important. I had to see what was in that letter Voldemort sent.' Lisa gasped.

'What?' said James, looking at her.

'You said – you said You-Know-Who's name.' she said faintly.

'So I did.' He shrugged. 'Oh well,' said James, turning to Jason. 'Jas, do you know anything about this?' He showed Jason the ring. Lisa gasped again.

'The Jade Ring,' she said faintly. 'But then, you're the – you're a –'

'James Potter, Heir of Gryffindor, at your service,' he said chivalrously, bowing. 'Yes, I'm an Heir. But how do you know about the Ring?'

'My parents always talk about it. They won't tell me what it does, but they've been searching for it for years.'

'Same here,' said Jason. 'My parents just told me that only Heirs can wear the Ring. Voldemort's after it, apparently.'

'Any idea why?' James asked. Jason and Lisa shook their heads. 'Damn,' said James, putting his dragon-hide gloves back on. 'Oh well, nothing more to be learned here. If anything happens, tell me, OK?' Jason and Lisa nodded.

'Right,' said James, mounting his broomstick. 'I'll see you later.' He flung open the window, clapped Jason on the back, and then soared out into the early January morning.

So Voldemort thought Jason might have the Ring, James thought, that was interesting. Was he bluffing? It was possible that he didn't know who had the Ring. If he'd used Veritaserum, he would have no need to send a message to Jason. Maybe he was narrowing down the possible recipients. Remus was one, because his mother would have been the last known holder of the Ring. Jason's parents were researching its properties. Lisa would be likely to receive an owl within a few days, he thought, as he swept through the Gryffindor common room windows. How wrong Voldemort was.

'It's my way of defying convention,' he said cheerfully to Matthew and David, who laughed as he flew through the windows and landed smoothly. 'Doors. Pfft!' They grinned, and James walked over to the door that led to the stairs.

'Hi Jamesy,' said Sirius, when James entered. He, Remus, Frank and Peter were playing what looked like a very volatile game of Exploding Snap.

'What's up, Jay?' said Frank, whilst the pack of cards exploded right next to him, singing his eyebrows.

'I've got something interesting to show you,' he said. 'Remus, where's the Jade Ring?'

'Oh, I put it in my drawer,' Remus replied. 'It was starting to hurt my hand.'

'Hmm … I wonder why that was,' said Peter, looking genuinely perplexed.

'Simple,' said James, his eyes flashing. 'The Ring's very powerful. The more powerful you are, the longer you can wear it.'

'That makes sense,' said Remus, checking his drawer again. 'That's why I could wear it for about a week, but not much longer. Now where is it?' He checked under the bed.

'It's not there,' said James softly. It wasn't a question.

'What the –' Remus straightened up and turned to face him. 'What do you mean?'

'It's not there,' James repeated, sliding one of the gloves off his hand.

'Then where is it?' said Remus, annoyed. James slipped off his other glove. He gripped his hand tightly, and thrust it out towards the open window. An incredibly bright burst of opaline white light shot from the Ring, and soared out of the window. Except that it didn't disappear. Remus and James watched, transfixed, as it headed for the Forbidden Forest. It struck a tree, which immediately burst into flames.

'Shit,' said James, still staring out of the window. He grabbed his broom. 'Back in a sec.' He flew out of the dormitory, with Remus, Sirius, Frank, Lily and Peter all staring at him from the window.

'Bloody hell,' said Remus faintly.

*

James could see that the fire wasn't particularly strong, but he had to put it out before half of the forest went up in smoke. The thick smell of smoke met his senses. It intermingled with the fresh smell of the forest in early winter, and served to make James rather dizzy. But he kept his mind clear. Somehow – he didn't know how – he knew how to put out this fire. Letting go of his broom, he clenched his fist again and raised his arm. He pointed the Jade Ring at the fire. Another beam of dazzling white light shot out of the Ring. As James was wondering how many different things this Ring did, the light shot towards the flames. With a loud hissing, the light extinguished the flames. Relieved, James swung around, gripped his broom, and shot off back towards the castle.

*

'Did he just –?' said Lily weakly, inside the Gryffindor dorm. She shook her head. 'What just happened?'

'He's an Heir,' said Remus slowly. 'The Heir of Gryffindor –'

'Bloody hell,' said Sirius. 'He must be powerful, shooting, well – fire and water – out of that thing.'

'Powerful is right,' said Remus. 'No wonder he could do the Imperius curse. And magic without a wand.' They all stood back as James swept into the room, his face pale.

'This isn't good,' he said simply.

'What isn't?' said Frank.

'This – power. It's too much. I can't handle it. Look what's happened to me in the last few days. The Imperius curse – the magic without a wand – and now the Ring – what am I supposed to do? I could have easily set you on fire just then, without meaning to.' The others just stared at him.

'I'm going back to my dorm,' said Lily quietly after a few minutes. She left without a word. Frank, Peter and Sirius quickly followed her.

Remus said nothing. He walked over to the window, and glanced out of it. He started to speak slowly.

'I remember when mum told me about her being an Heir,' he said pensively. 'Didn't believe her at first. But she showed me this thing you can use to trace your heritage. The Ring.' He turned away from the window, and looked James straight in the eye.

'If you place the Ring on your left index finger and say an incantation, it shows your descendent. Here, give it to me.' James, feeling slightly dizzy still, passed Remus the Ring. Remus took it, his pale eyes glittering in the light that was still glowing from it. He braced himself, and placed the Ring over his finger. The familiar beam of bright white light shot forth, and Remus turned to James, wearing a perplexed expression.

'Any idea why it keeps doing that?' he asked. James shrugged. Remus turned back to the Ring, and softly muttered 'Progenies.' All of a sudden, the Ring started glowing a vivid bright green. Even the golden band of the Ring had changed colour. James stared, amazed, as a small figure began to rise out of the Ring. It was a small yet beautiful woman, and she looked no less than a shadow, with a misty and indistinct outline. She grew slightly larger, and her torso became visible. She was dressed in long, silky robes, which appeared green because of the light of the Ring.

'Wrong,' she said softly. 'This is wrong. You are wrong…' She shook her head sadly and the vision instantaneously disappeared. The Jade Ring dropped from Remus' finger to the floor, no longer glowing. James stared, but Remus looked perfectly nonchalant, as though he'd just been talking on the telephone.

'That's the third time I've done that,' he said, straightening his collar. 'And all three times Helga Hufflepuff has appeared saying, "This is wrong". Haven't got a clue what she means.' James nodded.

'You're definitely Hufflepuff, then. Can I try?'

'Sure.' He bent down, picked the Ring from the floor, and handed it to James. James slipped it over his finger, and muttered 'Progenies', as Remus had done.

A fierce blast of bright green light shot from the Ring and threw James back against the wall, hard. He hit it with a sickening crunch, and stared, dumbfounded, at the Ring. There was no ghostly apparition there, but it was glowing more brightly than it had at any point before. Remus stared.

'James?' he said, breathlessly. 'Are you all right?' James winced, clutching his leg.

'Yeah,' he said, gritting his teeth. 'I think I might have sprained it. What the hell happened?' Remus shrugged, looking just as confused as James.

'I've no idea. You said the incantation … and there was just that flash of green light…'

Come on,' said James, leaning down to take the Ring. 'Let's go to the hospital wing. I need to get my leg sorted out.' He rested his weight on it for a moment and turned a faint green colour. Remus nodded, and the two of them left the dormitory

*

'How did this happen, Potter?' Madam Pomfrey urged. James sighed.

'I fell down the stairs, miss,' he replied. 'What's wrong with it, anyway?'

'It's broken, of course,' Madam Pomfrey replied tersely. James felt himself go green.

'Broken?' he said, as though sure Madam Pomfrey wasn't quite all there.

'Yes, Potter, broken. But – see here – your bones have been twisted out of shape. It's a very rare and a very painful injury. I'll have to straighten them.' She showed James what looked like a detailed x-ray. He looked at it, and noticed with a sickening jolt that his right leg had been twisted so that it faced forwards at the top and backwards at the bottom.

'Why straighten them?' James asked.

'You don't want to walk around with twisted legs, Potter. You wouldn't be able to. Are you absolutely sure you weren't cursed?'

'Yes,' James replied, wondering whether this was true or not. 'I fell. Why?'

'Falling down stairs would not usually result in twisted bones,' muttered Madam Pomfrey, looking disbelieving. James could tell from her sceptical look that she clearly thought his broken leg was the result of a duel with another student. She nodded again, and checked her watch.

'You'll have to spend the afternoon and night in here, Potter,' she said simply. 'Untwisting bones is not a simple process. And it's incredibly painful. Would you like an anaesthetic?'

'No,' James replied. 'No point. Only lessens the pain for a short time. Might as well get it over and done with. When are you giving me the potion? Now?' Madam Pomfrey shook her head.

'As it takes approximately fifteen minutes to start working after you swallow it, I thought I'd give it to you shortly before you go to sleep. Now, I know Mr Lupin has gone to get you some food. Only he, Mr Black, Mr Pettigrew and Miss Evans may visit you, however. I do not need the ward invaded by distressed students. I'll be in my office if you need anything, Potter.' She strode off, muttering something about fighting teenagers. James laughed quietly, but suddenly winced at the pain in his leg. It made him nauseous just looking at it. His kneecap was now gingerly placed on the side of his leg. He summoned one of the books that Madam Pomfrey kept in the library for general use – The dos and don'ts of human Transfiguration. He glanced down at the first chapter. Human to Bird Transfiguration. He grinned at the picture of a man who had obviously attempted to transform into Phoenix, with gratuitous amounts of gold and scarlet plumage protruding from his rear end. There was also a very clever page that depicted a very skilled witch transforming into an Abraxan winged horse and back again. The book explained that though the winged horse was not strictly a bird, its ability to fly led to its inclusion in this field of Transfiguration. James was just reading a section on how Uric the Oddball had once tried to turn his manservant into an Augurey for the purposes of listening to its cry, when a voice interrupted him.

'And there was me thinking you were mischievous, Mr Potter,' said Lily slyly, entering the hospital wing. 'I just –' She was suddenly cut off as James pulled back the covers and showed her his maimed leg. She recoiled sharply.

'Oh James,' she said, horrified. 'What happened?'

'Twisted leg,' James replied, with a wry smile. 'Not nice.'

'I can imagine,' Lily replied sincerely, looking repulsed at the kneecap on the side of his leg. 'Are you sure you're all right? Do you want me to get you anything?' James smiled.

'Ah, you truly are an angel,' he said, 'but I've already sent one of my servants off to the kitchens.'

'Ooh,' came a new voice from the corner. 'Does that mean I get to wear a posh black uniform with "JP" emblazoned on the front?'

'No, it means you get to do my homework for me.' He grinned at Remus, who had just entered carrying a platter of assorted savouries. 'Thank you very much.'

'My pleasure, your liege,' Remus replied, bowing deeply. 'OK, Lily?'

'Yes. Have you seen what he's done to his leg?' Remus nodded sombrely. There were a few minutes uncomfortable silence.

'Come on,' said James after a few minutes, pulling a pack of cards from his pocket. 'Let's have a game of Exploding Snap.'

*

'We're definitely going in tonight, with you or without,' said Sirius simply.

'Come off it,' said Remus, from the corner. 'That's the worst plan since the Head of the Drear Island McClivert clan turned to his family and said, "I know, let's Transfigure them old Macboons into big, murderous hairy creatures".' (a/n You need to have read FBAWTFT) Peter laughed, but Sirius looked obstinate.

'Don't be showing off your knowledge of Dark Creatures to me,' he said, in a way, which implied that, knowledge was pestilence. 'Look, we need to. We desperately need that –' He pulled out a small piece of parchment from his robes, '– Chimaera saliva …' He looked around to Remus and James, who were gaping at him open-mouthed.

'What?' Remus asked faintly.

'Chimaera saliva,' Sirius repeated. 'That's what it says here.'

'Sirius,' James asked slowly. 'Do you have any idea what a Chimaera is?'

'Kind of bird or something, isn't it?' Sirius said reassuringly. 'What's the problem?' James exchanged a worried glance with Remus.

'This is bad,' Remus said, voicing precisely what James was thinking.

'How are we going to get that?' James asked, ignoring Sirius' blank look.

'Am I missing something?' Sirius asked. James reached over and picked up one of the books he had been reading – Lethal Hybrids. He skipped over the chapter on dragon hybrids, and came to the chapter he needed – Greek hybrids.

'Let's see … Manticore … no … Skrewt … no … Basilisk … no, thank God … here we are … Chimaera. Read that, Sirius.' Sirius took the book, and quickly skimmed over the page James had found.

'Shit,' he said simply, after he had finished.

'I don't know if that's the colloquial term, but it's essentially correct,' said Remus. 'That's a very interesting type of bird, I must say.' Sirius glared at the note of sarcasm in his voice. 'I doubt there's even one in the Forest,' Remus added.

'There is,' said James. 'Loughran told us that weeks ago. You might not have been listening – he was talking about werewolves at the same time. He said that long ago, a whole colony of Chimaeras and Manticores lived in the Forest. To do with a Greek student, apparently. Anyway, there's apparently just one left of each.'

'How cheerful,' said Peter, voicing his first opinion.

*

'Good luck,' James whispered, as Sirius, Remus and Peter slowly left the hospital wing. They nodded, and slowly departed. James sighed, and rested his head back against the pillow. He had taken the potion a few moments ago. Might as well try and get to sleep…

James was in another place he did not recognise. He looked around. He could see a very pretty girl standing next to a boy who looked exactly like himself. The girl was laughing, and smiling, whilst the boy next to her spoke. James looked questioningly at the two of them. 'Can you see me?' he wondered aloud. The vision suddenly changed.

James was back at Hogwarts, entering an unfamiliar room. A large, ornate mirror stood in front of him. He noticed Remus in front of it. Not the Remus he knew, but a taller, slimmer, older Remus. He was staring at the mirror, transfixed.

'No werewolf,' he said hoarsely. 'A full moon. No werewolf …' James lifted his eyes. He spotted an inscription along the top of the mirror: Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi. He looked at it for a few minutes, and saw the hidden meaning: I show not your face but your hearts desire. He looked back at the mirror. It was still there … but Remus was gone. James stepped up to the mirror, and looked inside it, into a pair of bright green eyes …

'James,' the mirror said. 'James.' He looked again, and noticed a small figure, with red hair and green eyes. 'James … James! JAMES!!'

James suddenly woke with a start. Lily was standing over him, looking concerned. He tried to remember the contents of his dream, but they were blurred, and slipping away from him.

'Lily?' he said, managing to locate his glasses successfully. 'What's wrong?'

'James,' she said breathlessly. 'I heard a scream.'

'Where from?'

'The Forest,' Lily replied. James felt an invisible hand smother his heart.

'Oh God,' he said, getting up. A blinding pain in his legs suddenly threw him back. 'Argh! Lily,' he said urgently. 'Do you know any painkilling spells?' Lily shook her head. 'Never mind. Here, pass me that wand.'

'What?' said Lily, as though James was insane. 'What are you going to do?' James looked at her intently from behind his glasses.

'I've got to go in there,' he said simply. Lily gasped.

'James! You can't!'

'I can and I will. The others could be in danger!' Lily looked at him for a few moments.

'I'm coming with you,' she said simply.

'I know.'

*

'James … are you sure about this?' James winced as he put weight on his leg. He was pale and shaking, but that wasn't important.

'Yes,' he said, mounting his broom. 'Come on,' he added, almost biting through his lip in pain. 'Jump on.' Lily did so, and the two of them swept off in the direction of the Forbidden Forest, the Jade Ring shining ominously on James' right hand

*

'Where can they be?' James asked for the eighteenth time. 'Are you sure you heard a scream?'

'Positive,' said Lily, shaking slightly. It was very cold in the Forest at night, and Lily was travelling on the back of a moving broomstick.

'Here,' said James, passing her his cloak. 'Have that. We need to go lower. Hold on.' He bent low against the handle of his Jet Force and guided it slowly downwards.

The Forest was deadly quiet. There was a quiet rustling, from the light wind passing over the tops of the trees, but other than that, all was silent. The pine scent of the trees caught in James' head intermingled with the delicate coconut fragrance of Lily's hair.

'Have you been washing that in coconut milk?' he asked, amazed. Lily grinned.

'None of your business. Come on.' She jumped off the broom.

'I don't think I can, with this,' he said, motioning to his twisted leg. 'You go, and I'll glide along behind you.' Lily nodded, and pulled out her wand. She muttered 'Lumos!' and the dark coppice in which they were standing was suddenly illuminated. There was still a faint rustling and clicking sound, which made James start.

'Oh God,' he whispered. 'Avoid that clicking, Lily.'

'Why?'

'Long story,' he said. 'You needn't know the gory details, just avoid the clicking.'

Being back in the Forest was not particularly settling for James, far from it. But if there was a chance that Sirius, Remus or Peter were hurt in any way, they had to find them quickly. It didn't help, obviously, that his leg was broken. He kept it dangled loosely over the edge of his broom whilst Lily led the way forward. As they ventured further in, it got gradually quieter and quieter. James was under the impression that they were heading away from the Acromantulas (Remus had looked up the name in his Dark Creatures book), as the clicking had long stopped. There was a soft humming coming from somewhere, but it was too indistinct for James to determine what it was.

He and Lily carried on, further and further into the deep, dark forest. She started to shiver again, but James had an idea it was nothing to do with the freezing cold.

'Are you all right?' he asked, gliding down and placing an arm over her shoulder.

'Yes,' she said, sounding completely the opposite. 'Can you hear that humming?' James nodded. 'What is it?' James shrugged, and suddenly drew back. A bush next to them had just shaken slightly. He heard what sounded like hooves travelling across the ground near them. He was about to say 'Get back' to Lily, when a creature emerged into the clearing.

James recognised it immediately. It had the head, arms and torso of a human being, joined to the pale body of a palomino horse. It didn't look very old – indeed, the head looked no older than James and Lily themselves. It came into the clearing looking slightly bemused.

'Hello?' it squeaked slowly. 'Who's there?' James lit his wand light, and the tiny Centaur started. 'A human!' it said excitedly.

'Yes, hello,' said James politely. 'What's your name?'

'Er …' it looked like hard work. 'Firenze,' it decided, after a few minutes.

'Tell me, Firenze,' James said. 'Have you seen any other humans around here recently?' Firenze suddenly shook his head.

'The adults say I can't tell things to humans,' he said obstinately. 'Humans are not to be trusted.' He suddenly gasped, and looked closer at James, peering shrewdly into his face. 'It's –' he said faintly. 'You.' He finished. 'You're the one who came for the chest.' He threw back his head importantly, and looked to the heavens. 'When Mercury and Pluto are in direct alignment to the sun, then …' He suddenly lowered his head and looked at the two of them.

'Then what?' James urged.

'I forgot the rest,' said Firenze sheepishly. 'I was practising…' James gave Lily a sidelong glance. She was smiling affectionately at Firenze. 'There was something about a chest, and a beast … except I forget what …' James grinned.

'Never mind, Firenze,' he said. 'So, did you see any humans?'

'I did see some humans,' said Firenze, screwing up his face as though trying to remember something. 'They were heading for the Manticore cave.' He said this as though it was perfectly plausible for humans to go hunting for Manticores. 'Over there,' he said, pointing towards a path that curved off to the left. James wasted no time.

'Thanks Firenze,' he said hurriedly, and immediately he headed for the path, Lily close behind…

*

'Did Firenze – by any chance – mention how far away this cave was?' Lily asked between breaths. James shook his head.

'It can't be much further.' They had been travelling for at least an hour, through the thick black undergrowth. Their combined wand lights were the only things that allowed them to see, and even then they had limited vision, as the Forest was so dense.

'Hey, what was that?' Lily asked nervously all of a sudden.

'What?'

'I just heard a kind of – moaning. Probably nothing. I – Oh God. James. There it is.' She pointed forwards, and James, following her gaze, saw that she was right. The thick black cave lay just ahead of them. There was moss growing on the outside, and it looked as though no one had ventured in there for years. James approached the entrance, hovering just a few feet off the ground. Lily followed him, slightly more reluctant.

'Blimey, it's dark in here,' said Lily quietly, when the two of them were successfully inside the cave. James suddenly noticed, with a jolt of horror, that there were a number of bones spattered across the cave floor. He exchanged a nervous glance with Lily.

'Wands out, I think,' he said, muttering 'Nox'. Lily followed suit, and the two friends continued, the only light coming from Lily's over bright green eyes.

'This is a long tunnel,' Lily remarked quietly to James, after about ten minutes of walking.

'Damn right,' James replied. 'I wonder who lives in here?' His voice echoed ominously off the walls, and he could tell by the way Lily was shaking that she had no real desire to be in here. 'Do you want to go back?' he asked. Lily shook her head.

'Not until we find the others,' she said, gritting her teeth. They kept on walking along the long, winding path. James was reminded strongly of the passage to Hogsmeade, except that this path had a slightly stronger scent, one that smelled like a mix of moss and human blood. James' leg was still bothering him. Now that the potion was taking effect, the pain was almost inhuman. He had to bite his lip to stop himself from screaming. He couldn't keep it up for long, however.

'James!' said Lily urgently. 'Are you all right? Lumos! Oh my God …' She lifted her wand to James' face, and saw, with revulsion, that he had bitten through his lip in pain. There was blood flowing freely from his mouth, and it was slowly staining his robes. Lily was panicking, but James merely held a hand up to his mouth. It glowed again softly with an orange luminescence, and the bleeding stopped. He was able to speak, though he felt like there was a large hook through his lip.

'Come …on,' he said quietly. Lily, still looking worried, followed, though she looked rather unenthusiastic. James walked forward a few paces, limping on his leg, and then very cleverly tripped over a large, solid object.

His pain was so great that he didn't think screaming would help in the slightest. He straightened up, and lit his wand to see what it was he had tripped over. It was a very large, ornate, gold-rimmed chest. It looked as though it was made of oak, and also looked as if it had been there a very, very long time. He heard Lily gasp behind him.

'What's in it?' she asked.

'Ice cream?' James suggested. 'He bent lower, trying with all his might not to shout out, and noticed that there was a small golden catch on the chest. He flicked it back, and thrust the chest open. Copious amounts of dust and haze were thrown into their faces. Something was positively glowing inside the chest. James bent lower, saw what it was, and gasped audibly.

He didn't notice a red eye behind him open lazily.

Finito. That's the end of this chapter, unfortunately. Hopefully the next won't take as long as this did. You may not, unfortunately, understand all of the references in this part if you have no access to Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them by Newt Scamander. I can't be bothered with the thanks section – that's exclusive to BTTF. Suffice to say, I love everyone who has reviewed this within the last … month or so. Thanks very much.

Ciao