JAMES POTTER AND THE VANISHING PROFESSOR

JAMES POTTER AND THE VANISHING PROFESSOR: YEAR 1

by Professor Odysseus

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It was midnight on a midsummer's night. James Potter tossed and turned in his sleep.

"JAMES!" a voice rasped at him. James woke up in an instant. His best friend, Sirius Black, was outside his window on his Cleansweep 3.

"What? What?" he cried. "Go away Sirius. I'm trying to sleep!"

"Come on! Get your broom! We'll be in Zonko's in 5 minutes. Just a little birthday treat for you!"

"Sirius. Its July. My birthday's the 17th of March."

"Come on! Just for fun?" Sirius asked. "Get out your Cleansweep 5! I want to see it! Best broom, it is!"

"I'll show it to you in the morning!"

"PLEASE!?" Sirius asked.

"Okay. I'm out of joke toffee anyway!"

"Good! Meet me on the corner of the street!" Sirius said as he fluttered down to the street. James quickly dressed, then pulled out his Cleansweep 5. The Cleansweep 5 was the newest racing broom, which James had gotten for his birthday on March 17th.

James flew out of his window and joined Sirius. As they flew into downtown Hogsmeade, they landed on the shake roof of Zonko's Joke Shop. They climbed down the roof and opened the door to Zonko's. Zonko's Joke Shop was filled with all of the latest jokes such as joke toffee, which James refilled his small bag with. The joke toffee came in different kinds, such as shrinking, tongue-enlarging, burping and dancing to the songs from Snow Witch and the Seven Dwarfs.

Flying back home at about 1:00, James said goodnight to Sirius and went back to bed.

James slept until 10:00. His mother came in to wake him up.

"James! You got an owl from Hogwarts!" Mrs. Potter motioned towards the castle on the hill through James' window. "You've been accepted!"

James, who was groggy one minute ago, was suddenly wide awake. His owl, Neptune, stood hooting.

"I'll go tell Sirius-"

"Not without breakfast, James!" Mrs. Potter said.

"Oh FINE!" James said. They went downstairs and James quickly wolfed down his breakfast. He ran upstairs, got dressed and glanced at Sirius' window (Sirius lived next door) and saw that Sirius was still asleep. Jumping on his broomstick, he flew into Sirius' open window.

"HI SIRIUS!" James shouted in Sirius' ear. Sirius was so startled, he literately fell out of bed. Sirius' cat Odysseus began meowing, for James' had woken him up too.

"Wassamatter?" Sirius yelled. "James?!"

"Hi Sirius! Guess what? I've been accepted to Hogwarts!"

"Really? Cool!"

Just then, an owl raced into his room and threw down a letter and quickly flew towards the massive castle on the hill. It had the same purple seal. Sirius read for a second.

"Me too!" Sirius said with glee.

The days passed and soon, it was time to go to Diagon Alley for school supplies. Sirius and James were sitting on James' roof, looking over their lists of supplies.

Mrs. Black and Mrs. Potter apparated onto the roof.

"Time to go!" Mrs. Black said.

They all walked down to the Black's fireplace and ran through it shouting "Diagon Alley" as they went. Soon they were in Diagon Alley, a bustling street filled with shops and people. Diagon Alley was the capital of Wizard Shops.

Sirius and James looked over their lists and dragged their mothers all of the shops. After hours of shopping, they were finally done. As the mothers went up to the Leaky Cauldron for some tea, Mrs. Potter told James to go and buy something, if he wanted to.

"So. What should I buy?" James asked.

"Hey, look!" Sirius said. On the corner of Diagon Alley and Susdy Alley, there was a sign pointing to a dusty shop. "Curios" the sign said. It pointed down Sudsy Alley, which was the main shopping street for second hand stores.

"Let's go!" Sirius and James said. They walked into the shop. An old bell rang.

"Welcome to the Curiosity Shop!" said a small, pale wizard with white hair. "We're going out of business. That table is 5 galleons!"

He had 7 galleons and 4 sickles. As he rummaged through the table, his hand fell on an old, clear cloak.

"What's this?" James said.

"That?" the old wizard said. "It's an invisibility cloak! Only few made. Don't know how one turned up here"

"I'll take it!" James blurted.

"5 galleons, please!" the old wizard said. James gave him the money and he and Sirius slipped under the cloak. They were completely invisible. Tucking the cloak in the bag, They walked to the Leaky Cauldron, telling their mothers they had gotten candy and eaten it.

"Honestly, James! You have such as sweet tooth!" They all walked back through a fireplace and were now in Sirius' living room.

The month past and Sirius and James were now ready to go to Hogwarts. They're parents walked them to the train on Platform 9 and ¾."Goodbye!" said Mr. Potter.

"Have fun!" said Mr. Black.

"Owl us!" said Mrs. Black and Mrs. Potter.

The red engine pulled away from the station. Sirius and James were in the last compartment talking.

"I got a whole bag of Dungbombs from Zonko's. I can't wait for someone to try it out on!"

"Ooo! Dungbombs! I'm gonna tell a professor when we get at Hogwarts. You wouldn't want to be expelled on the first day!" said a hook nosed kid, who was walking into their compartment. "Unless I have a toffee!"

"Oh, please don't tell on us! Here. We'll give you some candy!" Sirius said in an innocent voice. James bit his sleeve to keep from laughing. James gave the hook nosed boy some toffee.

"I'm Severus. Severus Snape," the hook nosed boy said.

"Pleased to meet you!" said Sirius in his innocent voice. Snape left the compartment.

"Boy is he stupid!" Sirius said. "He actually fell for the 'pleased to meet you!' What a nerd!"

James lifted his head up and was laughing so hard, that he fell out of his seat, onto the floor, with a thud.

"The candy-" James said.

"What?" Sirius asked curiously.

"It was- burping toffee!" James laughed.

Soon, the train skidded to a stop and Sirius and James got out.

"Foller me, ferst years!" said a very large giant. "I'm Hagrid. Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts. Now, ferst years, over here!"

James and Sirius walked over to Hagrid and the first years all came into the Great Hall, where the students were already formed.

"Welcome to the Sorting!" said a man with long brown hair and a long brown beard. The hair and beard were both specked with gray. "I'm Albus Dumbledore. Now, this is my first year as headmaster, but I have been at this school as a transfiguration teacher, so I know all of the ropes. Professor Dippet was sorry he had to leave, but he wanted to retire. He's been teaching here since 1941, a total of 30 years." Dumbledore held up a plaque that said "Armando Dippet: At Hogwarts 1941-1971."

"I would like to introduce the new Transfiguration teacher. Mary McGonagall!" Dumbledore said pointing at a lady with black hair, put into a tight bun.

"It's Minerva!" she said.

"Yes, of course!" said Dumbledore. "Now, the Sorting Hat!"

On the stool was a ripped up hat. It was in very poor condition. It looked about 1000 years old.

"Gryffindor's the best! I've heard, anyway." Sirius told James. "And Slytherin's the worst."

A rip opened near the brim of the hat.

"Welcome, students, from far and wide! Come on up to me, you may stride.

Come put me on and you will see,

In which house you should be!

You might be in Gryffindor,

Yes they are very brave there.

Just ask them to a dare!

You could go to Ravenclaw,

They are clever there, yes, yes, yes.

Rowena Ravenclaw thought they were the bes'.

Or maybe you're for Hufflepuff,

They are great friends,

They'll be loyal, unless you're a fiend.

Or perhaps in Slytherin,

They are a Machiavellian bunch, of course.

They do things, without a bit of remorse.

So wherever you belong,

You'll find out after this song.

Try me on and you shall see,

Where you ought to be!"

The school burst into applause, and McGonagall began to call names.

"Abner, Jill!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!" yelled the hat.

"Black, Sirius!"

"Alright, Sirius!" James whispered, as Sirius passed on by James.

"GRYFFINDOR!" yelled the hat.

The hat passed on many more names.

"Lupin, Remus!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Lynard, Richard!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Morris, John!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Narino, Wilma!"

"RAVENCLAW

"Pettigrew, Peter!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Potter, James!"

"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat screamed. James walked over to the Gryffindor table, next to Sirius and two other boys, Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin. The names kept being called.

"Rolins, Lily!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The names passed on again.

"Snape, Severus!" said McGonagall. The greasy haired, hook nosed boy from the train stepped up to hat. Suddenly, James toffee took action. Snape put the hat on. Snape let out a loud burp. The entire school started cracking up and through parchment balls at him.

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Snoopson, Sarah!" A gigantic first year, who was about six feet tall, came up and squeezed the hat on.

"Oooh! Tight!" the hat yelled, as Snoopson, Sarah squeezed the hat on. "SLYTHERIN!"

The hat continued on through the end of the Sorting, until the sorting was over.

"I'm so happy we're in the same house!" James said, as he bit into a piece of chicken.

"Hi! I'm Remus Lupin!" said the sandy-brown haired boy.

"I'm Peter Pettigrew!" said the small boy with a squeaky voice.

"Hi!" James said. "James Potter!"

"Sirius Black!" Sirius said.

Dumbledore came back on with the announcements. "And also, I would like to warn you about a new addition to our campus. The Whomping Willow. It's a tree with an attitude. So please, stay away from it."

After the feast, James, Sirius, Peter and Remus wheeled their trunks up to the Gryffindor common room. A young, skinny lady in a pink dress stood in the picture.

"I'm the Fat Lady!" she said. Sirius gave a weird look at the skinny Fat Lady.

"You're not fat" Sirius said.

"What's your name, little boy?" she asked.

"Sirius Black!"

"Sirius, LAY OFF!" she shouted. The Gryffindor prefect came walking through the hallway.

"Password's 'Tropical Fish' everyone!" The Fat Lady's portrait flew open and all of the Gryffindors came in.

The Gryffindor common room was a huge room, with a warm fire in the hearth and squashy armchairs. There were two staircases, one leading up to the boys' dorms and one leading up to the girls' dorm. Sirius, Peter, Remus and James all went upstairs to their dorm, which was marked by a sign 'First Years.' As they opened the door, there were four four-poster beds, which James, Sirius, Remus and Peter all took, in that order. They all unpacked their trunks, then collapsed onto their beds and fell asleep at once.

The next morning, James looked at his schedule. He had Potions, then Astronomy, and Transfiguration this morning. As he pulled on his robes, he walked with Sirius and Remus to potions. It was in a dungeon, down below the school.

"Have you seen who teaches it yet?" James asked, as they walked down the stairs. He glanced back quickly. Peter Pettigrew was following them closely.

"Why does that Pettigrew guy keep following us?" James said, as he picked up the pace. "You'd think he's stalking us!" Remus and Sirius started walking fast, deep in conversation. As James ran to keep up with them, his backpack caught on a suit of armor. It split in half. He grumbled, as he picked up his books. His ink jar had shattered, but missed his books. As he carried the books in front of him, he could scarcely see. Ahead of him, there was a girl, Lily Rolins. She was holding a stack of books as well, she had came from the library. SPLAT! James and Lily crashed into one another, causing their books to fly upwards. Lily had an ink jar on top of her books. It spilled all over them.

"SORRY!" they both cried at once.

"Are you okay?" said Lily, as she gathered up her books. "Now where's my dictionary?"

"I'm fine!" James said. Lily's dictionary came crashing onto James' head.

"Sorry!" she cried again, grabbing the dictionary. "Do you know the way to the potions room?"

"I was just going there!" James said, pointing down the hall. They began walking. "Sorry about that!" James said again.

"No it's okay! It was my fault!" Lily said. "You look familiar. Are you in Gryffindor? I'm Lily Rolins, by the way!"

"I'm James Potter. And yeah. I'm in Gryffindor. We have double potions with Slytherins, right? Do you know who the teacher is?"

"Yup! There's a kid named Severus Snape in Slytherin. His dad teaches potions," Lily said. James' heart sank. If Snape's dad taught here, then he would know all about the toffee. That wasn't good.

"This is it!" James said, as he walked into the potions room.

"Where were you?" Sirius asked. James told about the book incident. Sirius started laughing. His laughs stopped as Peter Pettigrew walked into the room.

"Ask someone to come here! That Peter Pettigrew is so annoying!" Remus rasped. However, Peter sat down at their cauldron.

Sirius, Remus and James were all very talented wizards. James and Sirius being slightly better than Remus, they were all in the same class of talent. Peter, however was many levels below. He was a klutz. He knocked over the cauldron once they first started, put too many porcupine quills into the cauldron, causing it to explode.

Professor Snape kept giving Sirius and James evil eyes. Severus was laughing every time their cauldron blew up.

"Add five drops of dragon blood!" Professor Snape said. Before James could stop him, Peter started with the drops. Clumsily dropping the bottle into the potion, the potion bubbled. Peter tried to fish out the bottle, but he dropped a unicorn hair into the potion. The potion furiously bubbled, then exploded. Through the smoke, James made out a twisted blob of pewter. Peter had big blotches all over himself. As Professor Snape directed him to the hospital wing. Remus, Sirius and James, being the three most talented wizards in their year, caught up to the class quickly. Professor Snape babbled on and on.

"Now, if you produced a good potion, it will shrink this log into a twig," Professor Snape motioned to a pile of logs. He picked up a long log. "Now!" he said, smugly. "We'll try Severus!" Severus moved pushed his three friends over and smiled, as his father dipped the log in and pulled out a twig. He smiled at Severus. "Good job, Severus!" he said. "Now! Let's try Miss Rolins, Miss Rancine and Miss Johanson! Lily Rolins and her two friends Maggie Rancine and Jill Johanson shoved their cauldron towards Professor Snape. It worked. Professor Snape pulled out the twig. Severus took out a dungbomb and threw it towards James, Sirius and Remus. It bounced of the corner of the table. Sirius gave Severus a look that plainly said "Missed us! Ha!" Severus, however, looked far from disappointment. It hit Professor Snape right on his cheek.

"50 points from Gryffindor!" Professor Snape spat. "And a detention! I'll be speaking to Dumbledore about this!" Sirius, Remus and James were very miserable the entire class.

"He is sooo mean!" James rasped, when they were in the entrance hall. Lily and her friends came running up to them.

"Severus is such an idiot!" Lily said, blinking her green eyes. Her red hair was down at her shoulders. "He meant for you to get in trouble!" James assured her that it was okay and she walked away.

"I think she likes you!" Sirius said, nudging James. James turned red.

"She's just sorry because she spilled ink all over me and almost knocked me out with her dictionary!" James protested. Remus and Sirius laughed.

"We're just kidding!" Sirius said, laughing. They walked on to Transfiguration.

"Hello. I'm Professor McGonagall. Now, today, open your books. Does anyone know what anamagi is?" Lily raised her hand.

"It's a wizard who can change into an animal!" Lily answered, brushing a lock of bright red hair behind her ear.

"Good! 5 points to Gryffindor. Now, an anamagi can take anywhere from a year to five years. Then you must register." McGonagall said. She rambled on and on. After the hour and a half was over, Sirius, James and Remus, with Peter at their heels, they walked to Astronomy. Professor Dimente was very perky. In robes of yellow, with a green cloak, a red bowler and blue shoes, all in neon, he was incredibly perky.

"TONIGHT!" he said, in his high, perky voice. "Is the night of the full moon!" Remus' color drained. Dimente looked through the telescope. "AH! The planets are in alignment!"

The class took turns looking through one of the brass telescopes. "Oooh!" mocked Sirius. "The sun is bright today!" James and Remus cracked up at Sirius' imitation of Dimente. The class passed by, oh so slowly.

Lunch that day was delicious. James reached into his pocket and pulled out a small parcel.

"What is it?" Sirius and Remus asked.

"Yeah, what is it?" Peter asked, in his squeaky voice. James scowled.

"It's an exploding stink pellet!" James said. When he unwraps it, it will explode and squirt him with Fragrance of Skunk. He stuck out his wand and an owl came, picked up the parcel, and dropped it by Severus. Severus acted very snobbishly, as if he was the only one in Hogwarts who got a present. He unwrapped it, and James and Sirius saw a small green liquid squirt up and spray Severus. All of the Great Hall held their noses, and Severus ran from the Great Hall.

Severus didn't show up for afternoon classes. Rumor had it he had been in the shower for two hours, trying to rinse the smell out.

Flying passed. James impressed everyone by telling them he had a Cleansweep 5 at home. Severus, who had just come to flying, scowled at James' story, muttering "show-off!"

"Push off!" Madam Hooch said. Madam Hooch was a young lady, who was the Quidditch teacher. James went speeding upwards, high above any of the other students, although, since first years weren't allowed their own brooms, he was riding a Shooting Star, which went out of production in the 40's. Severus came climbing up next to James. They passed higher and higher, then they both jetted down in a fast dive. The wind whipped James' black hair. The rest of the class looked up from their own brooms and watched James and Severus dive. James pushed himself up against the broom, coaxing it faster and faster towards the ground. He quickly steered out of the way of a giant tree and landing on the ground softly. He looked for Severus. Severus was hanging from his robes by a branch on the tree. He was calling for help. Everyone in the class started laughing hysterically. Madam Hooch bit her lip, to refrain from laughing. "Now, that isn't funny!" Madam Hooch said between giggles. "Now, now! James, go up and free Severus!" James flew up towards the tree and sliced Severus' robes with his wand. He caught Severus, carrying him down like a baby. This only made the class laugh harder. Even Madam Hooch leaned on her broomstick to refrain from falling on the ground.

After the classes, Sirius and James walked around the Gryffindor common room, late at night.

"Where's Remus?" James asked. Sirius shrugged.

* * *"Yes, Professor Dumbledore?" Remus asked, when he was in Dumbledore's office.

"Tonight's the full moon. It's time!" Dumbledore said. Dumbledore gave Remus a cloak and they set out across the moonlit grounds. Coming to the Whomping Willow Dumbledore had warned everyone about, he took a long stick and poked a knot. The willow froze and Dumbledore and Remus crawled under it. Moving into a tunnel with a low ceiling, they came into a small house. It had a desk and chairs and a bed.

"Remus? I'll come and get you in the morning. You'll make it to your afternoon classes!" Dumbledore walked out the house and unfroze the Whomping Willow.

* * *James and Sirius finished their studies. As they walked out of the almost-empty common room, James saw Lily. He dropped a large book on his toe. He yelped with pain and limped up the stairs to the boys dorm. They soon changed into their pajamas and crawled underneath the covers. As James started to close his curtains, Sirius began to talk.

"You like her, don't you?" Sirius asked. James turned bright red.

"Who, Sirius?" James asked, as innocently as possible.

"You know you, James. LILY!" he said, chuckling.

"I do NOT!" James said, turning even redder.

"You do!" Sirius said. James didn't answer. He finished closing his curtains and fell asleep.

The next day, Remus was found. He came to afternoon classes. "I was sick!" Remus said, as James and Sirius questioned him. What had really happened to Remus was a complete secret. In fact, he had been sick. He's been sick since he was two, with an incurable disease. If the secret leaked out Remus shuddered at that thought. They went on to afternoon classes. Severus seemed madder at James than usual, probably because of the broomstick incident. Sure enough, when Severus got onto his broom, people yelled at him "Watch for the tree!" Severus framed another dungbomb incident on them in potions. Professor Snape was so mad, that before he took any points off and before he gave them a detention, he made them stay after class.

"WE'RE GOING TO THE HEADMASTER!" Professor Snape spat, his face red with hate. Sirius, Remus, James and Peter didn't think this was a proper time to argue, so they packed up their backpacks and left. They opened the door to Dumbledore's office. Dumbledore was talking to McGonagall.

"Yes. Out of a hat, Mary!"

"It's Minerva!" McGonagall said, bitterly.

"Yes, yes! Now, Mary, please get the hat ready!" Dumbledore said, shoeing her away. McGonagall stomped away, grumbling. "Next?" Dumbledore asked. Professor Snape came in, holding James, Remus, Sirius and Peter by the collars of their robes. He dropped them on the floor.

"What is-" Dumbledore began.

"THEY THROUGH ANOTHER DUNGBOMB AT ME!" Professor Snape yelled.

"You may go, Salaminch!" Dumbledore said to Professor Snape. Professor Snape stomped out of the office. A bird flew around the room.

"Did you throw it at Professor Snape?" Dumbledore asked, softly.

"No!" They all said. "Severus Snape-" Dumbledore held up his hand.

"If you didn't do it, why does Professor Snape think you did?" Dumbledore asked. They all yelled out their stories at different times, so no one could distinguish what they were saying. Dumbledore silenced them again. "James, do you want a go?"

"Yes, sir. See Severus was mad at us for embarrassing him at flying, giving him burping toffee and squirting him with Skunk Essence-" James stopped

"I have lost my hearing in this ear, temporarily. Please speak into the other one!" Dumbledore said, smiling.

"Well, anyway, Severus threw a dungbomb at the corner of our desk, where it ricocheted off of our desk and hit Professor Snape, but it came from our table, so he thought we through it!" James said. Dumbledore believed them, to their relief, and they were let off of the hook.

The months passed. Halloween passed. Besides James and Sirius getting in trouble twice a week with Filch, everything was going fine. Studies were great, James and Sirius were at the top of their class. Then something happened.

James was walking up the stairs towards the astronomy tower. He opened the door a crack, to see if Dimente was in there. He was, but he was talking to his drawer. His desk drawer was open wide, and Dimente was having a full-fledged conversation with it. How strange. James looked through the crack in the door, and saw Dimente get an excited look on his face. Then Dimente jumped into the drawer and it shut behind him.

"Professor Dimente?" James asked. James looked around the room and tried to open the desk drawer. It was stuck. He knocked on the drawer. "Professor Dimente? Can I come in?" After a few minutes, James walked away. James ran down the stairs.

"What did Dimente say?" asked Sirius.

"Never mind that!" James said. Remus walked by. "Guys! Guess what I saw Professor Dimente doing?" James told them.

"He's just going crazy!" Sirius said.

"No. He's not! You didn't see it, but he disappeared into his drawer!"

The days passed by. Then, towards Christmas, on the first or second day in December, James, Sirius and Remus (with Peter at their heels) saw Dimente muttering to his coffee mug. With another look of excitement, he bolted from the hall. "He's gonna go into his mug!" James said, as they raced out to follow him.

"Hey!" James cried. Dimente's mug was stuffed behind a suit of armor. He picked it up. It certainly looked normal. James picked up the mug and ran up to Gryffindor tower. He stuffed the mug under his bed.

The afternoon classes came and gone, until Transfiguration. James, clutching his anamagi report on a piece of parchment, sat down at his desk.

"Today, we will pick your partners for the school-wide Yule Ball. Dumbledore informs me that this is the first year that 1st, 2nd and 3rd years will be allowed. Now, we hope that you will be on your best behavior, so 1st, 2nd and 3rd years can be admitted next year. Now, to make sure that no one is left out, each girl will pick a boy's name out of the hat. That's whom they must go with!" McGonagall said. Each girl took turns coming up to McGonagall's hat and picked up a scrap of parchment. James, Sirius, Remus and Peter, and all of the other boys waited anxiously. James saw all of the girls, talking amongst themselves. They also traded slightly, when McGonagall wasn't looking, that is.

"Girls! Don't tell your partner! Just to make sure they can't play sick!" McGonagall said. Every boy's face dropped. The rest of Transfiguration wasn't as interesting. Although James got a 94% on his anamagi report, Severus kept flashing a box of dungbombs at them.

As James went walking down the hall to the bathroom, Lily came down the hall, with Maggie and Jill next to her. "I got you, Jill got Sirius and Maggie got Remus!" Lily whispered, walking by. James felt a little better, knowing that he didn't get stuck with Sarah Snoopson from Slytherin.

The weeks passed until Christmas Eve. James put on his forest green dress robes. He had told Sirius and Remus who their partners were.

"They're not that bad. At least I didn't get Sarah Snoopson" Sirius said.

At the ball, Peter found his partner. It was Sarah Snoopson, who was about three heads taller than Peter, for Peter was the smaller first year, and Sarah Snoopson was the biggest. "Eek!" Peter squeaked, as she carried him under her arm to the dance floor. Lily, Maggie and Jill were waiting for them. As Maggie, Jill, Sirius and Remus went away, Lily wiped her forehead.

"It's so hot in here!" she said, as a Japanese fan followed her around. "Mind if I go outside?" she asked, pulling on her cloak. James walked with her as they walked outside, into the snow. "Where do you live?" Lily asked, making conversation.

"Hogsmeade," James answered.

"I live in London. I've been sending owls to my sister, Petunia, but she hasn't written back yet. She's a Muggle. My whole family is. I'm the only witch." Lily said, fixing her hair, which was pilled up in an elegant bun. "I noticed Professor Dimente wasn't here!"

"I saw him talking to his coffee mug. And his drawer. He dived into both of them!" James said, without thinking.

"Really!" Lily said. "That's really weird. I wonder what he's up to!" Snow began to fall on them. As they both shuffled inside, they saw Sarah Snoopson chasing Peter around the Great Hall. Lily and James danced over to them.

"Where were you?" Sirius asked. "Wow! Cool!" He pointed to the fan that kept following Lily around.

"Attention!" she whispered. The fan stopped fanning and floated, folded. "Release!" The fan flew out of the hall. As Lily and James danced, Severus stood by them, with evil in his eyes. He took a running leap and dived on top of James. James fell to the floor and began wrestling Severus to the ground. "Watch out!" Lily cried. Lily ran over to them and tried to break it up. Too late. James and Severus hit a leg on the buffet table, causing the table to collapse on one side. All of the food and drinks slid down the table and landed on Severus, Lily and James. Now everyone was watching them fight. The DJ's record player was in the corner. Severus wrestled James, and they knocked it over, causing the records to break.

"STOP!" Dumbledore said. "Mary!"

"It's Minerva!" said McGonagall, bitterly, as she separated the two. She and Dumbledore walked out of the Great Hall, each holding one of the boys by the collar, just as Professor Snape had. They marched to Dumbledore's office.

"Mr. Potter!" said Dumbledore. "What ever possessed you to ruin the dance like this?"

"It wasn't me! I was dancing and Severus came pummeling at me! Ask Lily! We were dancing and then, he came!" James said.

"Mr. Snape?" Dumbledore said. "Tell us why the devil suddenly took over you?" Severus stood there, too lost for words. "I see," Dumbledore said. Lily and Professor Snape came busting in, both fighting to get inside the office first. They were stuck in the doorway.

"Professor Dumbledore!" Lily said at once. "It was Severus! It was his fault-"

"Albus! Don't listen to her! I saw it! Severus was attacked-" Professor Snape said.

"Salaminch! Miss Rolins! I believe you are both defending someone! Your stories don't match!" Dumbledore said. "One thing is for certain- they were both fighting. They ruined the food and the music!" James wiped some whipped cream off of his forehead. "I'll let you off easy, though," Dumbledore said. "You each get a detention and you will each lose 20 points for your house!"

"What did you DO?" James said to Severus, once they were out of earshot. Severus just smiled. "Fine," James said. He ran to catch up with Lily. "Sorry!" James said.

"It's okay. It wasn't your fault. I had fun tonight. Thanks James," Lily said. They walked her to Gryffindor Tower.

"Tropical Fish!" James said. They climbed through.

"HEY! WATCH IT WITH THAT PIE!" the Fat Lady yelled, wiping pie from her dress.

"Goodnight!" Lily said, walking up the girl's staircase.

Within an hour, Sirius, Remus and Peter were all back. Peter was red from running.

"What happened?" said Sirius, as he and Remus sat down on James' bed.

"I don't know. I was dancing and then-"

"We know that!" Sirius said. "I mean are you gonna have to pack your bags?"

"Oh no! I just got a detention and lost twenty points!"

"Man you're lucky!" Remus said, as he walked back to his bed.

"G'night!" James said, as he picked pie out from between his toes.

After Christmas, the studies became harder. Remus left for a few days during each month, because once his mother was sick, he was sick, he had his cousin's wedding, his grandmother was trampled by a Hippogriff and his dad was in a car crash.

"Boy, they're like the Kennedy's!" Sirius said, biting into a roll. "The Lupin's are jinxed!" He cleared his voice. "So to speak"

Professor Dimente was annoying them as usual by his perky attitude, but all in all, everyone liked him. That is, except James. He had been suspicious of Dimente since the drawer incident.

"Drop it, James! He probably just left his mug underneath the armor, while he went to inspect something!" Sirius said. "Shhh!" he said. Severus came walking by. James and Sirius ducked under James' invisibility cloak. They quickly threw a whole box (28) of Dungbombs on Severus. Argus Filch, the janitor came running down the hall and tripped over Sirius and James. Their cloak flew off. Filch led them to his office.

"Accio!" James whispered. His cloak came and tucked in his bag. Filch opened the drawer marked "Potter/Black." Sirius and James had a whole drawer to themselves of their troublemaking schemes that failed. As Filch started filling the detention slip, James and Sirius quickly dipped under the invisibility cloak.

"Ha Ha!" said James, in a squeaky voice. "You thought I was an ickle Firsty! Ha Ha!"

"PEEVES!" Filch called, angrily, as he ripped up the detention slip. He grabbed an old fishing net and ran out of the room. Sirius and James gave a high five and set out to Gryffindor tower.

As finals inched closer, one day in late May, James, Remus and Sirius came in James' invisibility cloak and sat down in the astronomy tower. Dimente came in, holding a leather briefcase. He opened it and began talking to it. Dimente gave another one of his excited looks and dived into his briefcase.

"GO!" James whispered. They all ran and grabbed the briefcase. Holding it open, they dived in, one by one.

Dimente was sitting in a room. He appeared to be doing paperwork. On his desk were his mug and this briefcase. All three of the things he talked to were here.

"I have finished, my lord!" Dimente called. A good-looking man came into the room.

"Good, Dimente. Send it with my owl. He'll know what to do!"

"Do you think you can get this transformation, my lord?" Dimente asked, stoking then fire. James couldn't help noticing this room looked nothing in what a briefcase is supposed to look like. There was no brown leather anywhere.

"Yes, Dimente. You have been faithful. In a few years, my plan will take action. Until then, you will stay with me, Dimente?" the handsome man asked.

"Yes, my lord!" Dimente said.

"All of this 'my lord' nonsense. Until I become Lord Voldemort with this transformation, I am still Tom Riddle. Now, there are three little boys underneath an invisibility cloak. Dimente turned and walked directly towards them. He could see through invisibility cloaks. James grabbed the cloak off of everyone, enabling them to run faster. James stuffed the cloak under his arm. They were in an elaborate palace. James would have loved to see it, if he wasn't being chased to death, that is. As they ran through, Dimente was on their tails. They had gone around in a big circle.

"Into the room we were in!" James yelled. "Quick!" They ran into the room, with Dimente's desk. Sirius dived into the coffee mug and Remus dived into the briefcase. James opened the desk drawer.

"We'll bide your time!" Dimente yelled. "Lord Voldemort will rise soon!"

"James! Wake up!" Dumbledore said.

"Professor Dumbledore?"

"Yes. Oh good, you are all up!"

"What happened?" asked Sirius and Remus.

"Dimente was a dark lord! He was with this guy named Voldemort or Tom Riddle or something! Dimente said Voldemort would rise soon!"

"How peculiar!" Dumbledore said. "Well, now that you're up, I'll send in your visitors. Peter Pettigrew and Lily Rolins came in.

"We were worried!" Lily said. She walked up to James and kissed him on the cheek. After Madam Pomfrey booted Lily and Peter out, James, Remus and Sirius began talking.

"See! She does like you!" Sirius said. James turned red.

After James, Remus and Sirius were freed from the Hospital Prison, er- we mean Hospital Wing, it was the end of the year.

"Now, the house cup!" Dumbledore cheered. "Minerva?"

McGonagall looked relieved, as she read off of a list. "In 4th, Hufflepuff with 289 points! In 3rd, with 312 is Slytherin. In 2nd is Gryffindor with 367 and the winner of the house cup is Ravenclaw with 407!"

The Ravenclaw table cheered obnoxiously loud.

"Another year at the end!" Dumbledore said. "Now, the coaches to the station to get on the Hogwarts Express is leaving in twenty minutes, so go and get your luggage and be down by the platform!"

Everyone left the Great Hall. They all boarded the Hogwarts Express, bound for King's Cross. They all chattered, until they got to Platform 9 and ¾."Goodbye, James!" said Lily. She grabbed her suitcase and wheeled it away, towards the gateway to the Muggle world. Remus saw his parents and walked over to them, waving goodbye.

At King's Cross between platforms 9 and 10, he Blacks and the Potters were waiting. "How was your year? Want to tell us about it?" Mr. Potter said.

"Oh, yes" James began.