JAMES POTTER AND THE DARK LORD: YEAR 3
by Professor Odysseus
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James Potter and his friend Sirius Black were sitting on James' bed, reading an issue of "Which Broomstick?"
"Hey look!" Sirius said, pointing to a picture of a man riding a golden broomstick. It read in small letters "Nimbus 1000."
"Wow!" James said. "A new Nimbus!" James looked at his Cleansweep 5, which is, or WAS the best broom. Apparently the Nimbus 1000 was better. James looked at the man, who was flying around. As the caption said "Auto-Brake" the man stopped short. He had a large smile and was showing a look that basically said "I'm Cool!"
An hour later, they were in Diagon Alley. Mrs. Potter and Mrs. Black were having drinks at the Leaky Cauldron, while James and Sirius did their shopping. As they bought their books, they saw the Apothecary. "We'd better go and get stuff for- well, you know!" James nodded. Their friend Remus Lupin, they had found out last December, that he was a werewolf. Instead of ignoring him, they were making an animagi potion to turn into animals, since werewolves can not give animals the disease. After buying their school stuff, they walked to Quality Quidditch Supplies. The Nimbus 1000 was in the window. James emptied his money pouch. "Not enough!" he groaned. He counted his remaining galleons, sickles and knuts. Nope. Not enough. "But maybe" he said, slyly. He grabbed Sirius and they ran to Gringotts. He gave the goblin the key. They took the Gringotts car, which was like a golf cart that ran on a mine car track. Zipping through the underground vaults, the lights suddenly flickered and went out.
"Mr. Goblin, sir?" asked James in a weak voice. He pulled out his wand. "Lumos," he said. A small light was coming the end of his wand. He shined it on the goblin. The goblin was lying in the tunnel, dead. James and Sirius screamed and bolted down the passage. Why they did that, is an unknown fact. Soon, the tunnel was deserted.
"S-Sirius?" James said. "Where are we?" Sirius said nothing.
"HELP!" cried a familiar voice. It was Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew.
"Something happened!" Peter squeaked. "Our goblins suddenly dropped dead! I met Remus on my way here!" All of their wands were lit.
"Hey!" James said. "Look!" They walked through a vault, that the door was ajar. They hid behind a pile of gold. In the middle of the room was a cauldron, about 10 feet in diameter. Their old Astronomy Professor, Professor Dimente, was stirring the cauldron. He had quit his job after their first year to join a Dark Lord. This gave James, Sirius, Peter and Remus a scare. He continued stirring the cauldron. A snake was slithering around the vault. A face. A face came out of the cauldron. Was it a human face? No. Quite the contrary. It was a disgusting face, all white, with yellow eyes and two slits for its nose. He rose out of the cauldron and sat down on a pile of gold, which automatically turned into a golden chair. Dimente fell to his knees and bowed, lying down on the ground.
"Anything I can do, My Lord!" Dimente said.
"Glad that you remembered that I am no longer Tom Riddle, but Lord VOLDEMORT!" the thing bellowed.
"Yes, My Lord!" Dimente answered.
"Good!" Voldemort answered. "Now, there are some of your former students! Why don't you say hello?"
James, Sirius, Remus and Peter all jumped and sprinted as fast as they could towards the tunnel that led upwards. Peter tripped over something. He screamed as he saw it was a dead goblin, the one that had driven James. They continued to run, each tripping over at least three goblins. It seemed all was lost, when they got to the mouth of the tunnel. Expecting to see the white marble lobby of Gringotts, all there was, was a bunch of dirt. They couldn't even see over the top. They all tried at the same time, but their magic was just too weak to move a grain of dirt. It must have been highly magic-proof.
"HELP!" they all cried. Nothing happened. They screamed until they were hoarse. It was getting quite cold in the tunnel now; it was getting late. They tried to stay awake, but it got too late. They all fell asleep on the cold, dirt floor. James awoke. The tunnel was still pitch-black. He assumed it was morning. His robes were covered with the fine brown dirt. So were Sirius, Remus and Peter's. They were starving, since they hadn't eaten anything for 24 hours. Suddenly, there was a loud bang. The dirt pile suddenly collapsed. A bunch of wizards, wearing yellow robes and pointed yellow hats marked in red writing that said "FIRE." They pulled Remus, Sirius, James and Peter out of the hole. They walked into the marble lobby of Gringotts, which was covered in dirt and people. Reporters came in from every angle.
"Hello, I'm from Wizard Network News-"
"I'm from Witch Weekly, could you-"
"From the Daily Prophet. Could you tell me-"
"HI! This is The Bewitching Hour! You're on Live at 5-" Finally, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter made it through the crowd, back to their parents. Once they were outside, a skull with a snake coming out of its mouth hovered about Gringotts. They talked all the way back to Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley shopping bags in hand. Their entire story was in the Daily Prophet, the following morning.
Cave in at the Gringotts
Diagon Alley- Two days ago, Hogwarts third years, Sirius Black, James Potter, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew all went inside Gringotts. Then, the lights suddenly blacked out and their goblin dropped dead. The four boys claim to have seen a dark lord, being born in one of the vaults. Once they got to the tunnel entrance, it had caved in. The boys stayed there for almost 24 hours, before being rescued by the Diagon Alley Magical Fire Department. All four boys declined interviews.
After getting over that entire thing, which took a while, James and Sirius waited by the train depot in Hogsmeade, waiting for the Hogwarts Express to arrive. The Hogwarts Chariots arrived to drive the students up to the castle on the hill. Remus and Peter both were among the first to get off the train. As they loaded their trunks into a chariot, Lily Rolins came running up to James.
"James!" she cried. "I just heard! Did you really get trapped in Gringotts?" James nodded.
"We were stuck there for almost a day!" James said, shivering at the thought.
"He's lying, of course!" said a voice. It was Severus Snape, James' archenemy.
"I am not!" James said. Severus put his face right in front of James. Turning away, he mumbled "Liar!" underneath his breath.
James picked himself up into the chariot and they drove to Hogwarts castle. They walked up into the Great Hall, where the Sorting was about to begin. All of the first year students got sorted into one of the four houses; Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor and Slytherin. James, Remus, Sirius, Peter and Lily all were in Gryffindor. Severus was in Slytherin.
"Hello!" Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster, said. "Welcome to the Sorting Ceremony!" He explained about the separate houses. He waited until McGonagall put the Sorting Hat on a stool. The Sorting Hat was a really frayed hat. A rip near its brim opened up as a mouth. It burst into song.
"Oh, I once was a brand new hat,
I didn't have a care,
Another hat found me,
And put me on a dare!
Then Gryffindor found me,
And put me on his hair.
Then, the founders of this really great school,
Needed one to sort their young wizards,
They put some brains in me, then I could sort!
I watched the first years, come up from the port!
Perhaps Gryffindor,
They're so brave there,
Or Hufflepuff,
Where they really, truly care,
Or Ravenclaw,
Where they are really brainy,
Maybe Slytherin,
Where they aren't dainty!
I've done this for a while, I am a real pro,
I'm the Sorting Hat,
To tell you where to go!"
The school burst into applause. As the students walked up, one by one, as Professor McGonagall called their names, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter helped themselves to food. At last the Sorting was done. Once everyone was stuffed with the delicious Hogwarts food, Dumbledore began making announcements.
"I want everyone to remember that the forest is forbidden to all students and the village of Hogsmeade is to students under their third year. Also, I would like to introduce our brand-new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher! Professor Banks!" Dumbledore motioned to a blonde haired man with bright blue eyes. He smiled and sat down. Dumbledore continued with the announcements, until he dismissed them. James, Sirius, Remus and Peter all carried their trunks up. On their way up, James saw Severus, surrounding by his friends, Bill Rosier and Greg Wilkes and Nick Lestrange. They were also carrying their trunks up to their dorms. As James opened the door, now marked "3rd Years" he saw the gigantic, 6 foot diameter, self-stirring cauldron, which was stirring through the summer. It was an animagi potion. James added a dragon's horn, a drop of bat blood and a pinch of oregano (for flavor.) Since it was late when they finished unpacking, they went straight to bed.
The next morning, James gathered up his books went off to his first class; potions. With Professor Salaminch Snape. Professor Snape was Severus' dad, who hated James about as much as Severus did. Sirius, Remus and Peter were still pilling their books into their backpacks when James left.
"Hi Lily!" James said, catching up with her.
"Hi James!" she cried, running up to him. She hugged him.
"You're stuck with potions?" James said. "Yeah, I know. We have to take it! What are your new classes this year?"
"Arithmancy and Divination!" she said.
"I'm doing Arithmancy and Muggle Studies!" he said, happily. They walked into the potions dungeon. Professor Snape was looking as grouchy as ever and he acted it too. As James walked in with Lily, Severus' face slouched and gave James a dirty look. Potions was as bad as ever, Severus stuck a dungbomb in James' cauldron, causing it to explode, spilling the red hot potion all over. Everyone took refuge on their desks, as Professor Snape zapped the potion, causing it to retreat. As everyone lowered themselves. Professor Snape took 50 points from Gryffindor for stupidity. After the class, they headed to Defense Against the Dark Arts. Professor Banks' class was very fun. They had a large maze, in which Professor Banks was above them on his broom. The maze all types of different dark creatures in it, just to see what they knew. He congratulated James, Sirius and Lily for being the only people to be able to complete the maze. Banks was by far everyone's favorite teacher, except for a group of the Slytherins, who always disagreed with everyone.
One day, James, Sirius and Peter were mixing their potion; they were about half done. The door suddenly opened. Professor Banks was standing there. James, Sirius and Peter suddenly had a look of horror on their face. Professor Banks walked into the room. He mumbled something as he circled around the cauldron. "Animagi?" he asked. "You know, I am a teacher, so I'm really supposed confiscate it" His eyes lit up. "But, I did the same thing when I was a kid. I know you wouldn't believe this, but-" He suddenly turned into a beautiful lion. As Banks threw his mane back, he quickly transformed back. James, Sirius and Peter looked at him in awe. "Good luck!" he said, brushing himself off. "And I won't tell anyone, don't worry." He walked out of the room.
"He is so cool!" Sirius said. Remus came walking into the room.
"So, what up?" Remus asked. They told him about Professor Banks. "COOL!" Remus said. They walked out to the common room.
Suddenly, Rob Tanner, the Quidditch captain came into the common room. "Hey, James!" he said. "I'm so glad I found you!"
"Hi Rob!" James said. Rob was the Quidditch captain and the seeker on the Gryffindor House Quidditch team. James played keeper.
"Practice!" Rob said. James quickly grabbed his Cleansweep 5 and ran down to the Quidditch field. Rob was in the center of the Gryffindor Locker Room.
"Hi! I'm Rob Tanner!" Rob said. James only a few people. There was him, Rob, the beater Sue Gregory and the chaser Jonathan Miller. "Now!" Rob said. "Here's our official player list for the school year of 1973-1974!" Rob cleared his throat. "Seeker: Rob Tanner. Beaters: Sue Gregory and Taylor Hitchcock!" A fourth year with dark hair and dark brown eyes stood up. "Chasers: Jonathan Miller, Dave Charleston and Liz Desson!" A boy with light brown hair stood up, followed by a girl with long black hair. They all grabbed their brooms and blasted off into the sky. Jonathan, Dave and Liz tried to get the Quaffle passed him, as Sue darted in front of James, hitting a bludger away from James. Her blonde hair, which was long last year, was now cut into a shoulder-length bob, was strewn upon her face. Dark soon fell. Rob called them back to the ground and dismissed them.
James walked up to his dorm. Once he was in there, he noticed his watch was missing. He began searching for it, but then there was a knock on the door. He opened it, just sticking his head out. Taylor Hitchcock stood there.
"You dropped your watch!" Taylor said, giving it to James. James grabbed it with the hand that was free, for he was holding three books. The stack started to wobble.
"Thanks!" he said. The books fell.
"Let me help-" Taylor said. His eyes fell on the cauldron. "What's that?" He walked in towards the cauldron. He looked at the list marked "Animagi Potion."
"WOW!" Taylor said in awe. "An animagi potion?" James nodded. "Oh, that is SO COOL!" Taylor said. Taylor's watch beeped. "Gotta run!" he said, darting out of the dorm.
The weeks passed until December 2nd, when it was time for the first Quidditch game. The days got colder, homework loads got heavier and Quidditch practices got tougher. Rob kept working them harder, harder, harder James was also working on the animagi potion with Remus and Sirius.
"Okay!" Rob said. "Today is our first game! Now" Rob lectured on and on until Madam Hooch, the Quidditch teacher, blew her whistle. They mounted their brooms and flew off. It began getting windy, James was glad he only had a little area to cover and that was the goals. The wind was pounding so hard, James couldn't see anything. He could barely hear the voice of Sam Jordan, a kid in Hufflepuff, who always did the commentary. The wind whistled in his ears. Sue quickly came flying over to him, knocking a bludger out of the way. Her hair was sticking straight back. The snow was pounding on James, along with hail the size of bludgers, plus, in the blinding weather, Sue and Taylor kept hitting the hail by accident.
Soon, it became dark. "Lumos" James said. His illuminated wand showed him no fans were in the stands. Due to the weather and the night, James supposed. They played on through the night. James was frozen and he just sat at the goal on his broom; no chasers had come near him. The next thing he saw was the sun rising. The weather was worse, now the hail that was coming down in stones about eight inches in diameter. Suddenly, he faintly heard a whistle. Rob had caught the snitch. As James flew down, he realized he was numb with cold. No one said anything as they walked back to the locker rooms. Everyone was tired and cold. Sue and Taylor and small icicles in their hair and Rob's fingers were sticking out, as if still wrapped around the snitch. No one talked, not a single word. Instead of leaving, they all just went to sleep on the floor. No one seemed to want to go out into the cold again, or maybe they were too tired. James awoke hours later. He was alone in the room, except Taylor was lifting himself off of the floor.
"Good-morning!" Taylor said.
"Good-morning," James said. They walked out into the storm. It was about the same as it was last night. They ran to keep the wind from pushing them backwards. They were once again cold when they made it to the castle. Happy to be in the warmth of the castle, James and Taylor both went up to James' dorm. James showed him the potion.
"Yeah. I already saw it. This is SO COOL!" Taylor said. "Can I be an animagi too?" he asked, excitedly. James, Sirius and Peter had a quick conference.
"Sure!" James said, as they broke up the huddle. He told him about Remus. Taylor nodded. He didn't seem to be scared of Remus in the least, which was a huge relief.
The animagi potion was about half done as the Christmas Holidays inched closer. James quickly added more newt eyes, as he ran off to potions.
"JAMES!" Lily said, running up to him. James turned around. "Would you like to go with me to the Christmas Dance?"
"Sure!" James said, as they both ran to potions.
"20 points from Gryffindor!" Professor Snape snarled. "For being late. Now get in your seats!" James and Lily quickly sat down at their seats. Potions was as bad as usual, Professor Snape looking to take points off Gryffindor at any little thing that happened. Everyone was happy to get out.
After their classes, James, Sirius, Peter and Taylor began mixing the potion. Professor Banks stopped in now and again to assist them and give them tips.
They worked at every spare moment, until it was Christmas Eve. On Christmas Eve was the Yule Ball, which was for only fourth years and up. James had to go this year, like he did last year, because he was on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Every year at the Yule Ball, the Quidditch pictures were taken. James was going with Sue Gregory, since he needed a date in fourth year or above to be admitted to the dance. The food was delicious, as it always was at Hogwarts.
"Hi!" Taylor said. He was with Liz Desson, the Gryffindor chaser.
"Potion well!" James muttered to Taylor, as James and Sue passed by.
After the Yule Ball, which lasted until midnight, James went to sleep. Waking up the next morning, James awoke and tended to the potion. Once everyone was awake, they opened their presents. James opened a long parcel. In his hand, he held the Nimbus 1000. Peter, Remus and Sirius screamed with delight.
"You got a NIMBUS 1000!" Sirius said. James flew laps around the room. This broom was in a completely different league than his Cleansweep 5. It was painted gold with silver lettering "NIMBUS 1000" Opening the window, James flew out and flew figure-eights in the air. They spent most of the day trying out James' new Nimbus 1000.
At 5:00, James, Sirius, Peter and Remus all began getting dressed for the Christmas Day Dance. By 6:00, Sirius, Peter and Remus went to meet their dates in the Great Hall. James waited in the common room. Lily looked beautiful in sweeping white robes. James took her arm and they walked down to the Great Hall.
They saw Sirius, Peter and Remus as they began dancing on the dance floor. At 8:00, dinner was served. James and Lily began eating their steaks. They were deep in conversation. As Lily kissed James, the lights suddenly went out. A large screeching was heard. Someone screamed. Voices were heard, wondering why the lights went out. A spotlight shone on the staff table. It was a man. It was Professor Dimente. He kicked a dish onto the floor.
"GREETINGS, ALL!" he bellowed. "May I introduce, my master!" He dissapparated and apparated onto the floor. The thing, the thing James had seen at Gringotts. He had about 20 wizards behind him. More people screamed.
Voldemort began showing off his strength. The table James and Lily were sitting at suddenly exploded. "QUICK!" James whispered at Lily. With the lights pitch black, except for the spotlight on Voldemort, it wasn't hard. James was running clutching Lily's hand, with Lily running behind him. Suddenly he tripped. He heard Lily scream. He saw a shadow, which was her arm and he pulled. He fell backwards, Lily on top of him. They ran and darted at the open doors. James and Lily ran into the Entrance Hall, with Sirius, Remus and Peter at their heels. The puddle of Lily's elaborate robes were gone, he assumed she had gotten caught on something and it had torn when James pulled it. He didn't ask questions, though. They ran all the way to Gryffindor tower. James said the password and they bolted inside. The fourth years and older were finishing up their feast in the common room.
"Hi!" Taylor said, munching on food.
"Quick!" James yelled. "There's a- a dark lord or something in the Great Hall. We just came from there!" Within instants, the happy common room began shrieking with terror. They all ran out the portrait hole. "NO!" James called after them. "Don't go! Stay in here-" Too late. Everyone was gone.
They followed Sirius, Remus and Peter, as they ran to the Great Hall. The entire school was in there, the first, second and third year's robes were in rags and everyone had a look of despair on their face. The teachers were running around, trying to comfort the students, who were sitting on the floor. As they walked in, the tables were turned upside-down, the china broken. Food and sauce was splattered on the marble floor and the beautiful decorations were ripped and torn, the Christmas trees were on their sides, the beautiful ornaments that had been hanging on it, now were shattered on the floor. Dumbledore's long hair was sticking out and he had turned white. As did the other professors. The large picture window was shattered. The Great Hall was silent, as James stepped over the glass, which cracked under his feet. Everyone was white and just sat there, spellbound by Voldemort's intrusion. The cold winter wind was coming through the broken window, causing the Great Hall to become cold.
Through the entire night, everyone sat, not wanting to go asleep. They just sat, staring, not saying a word. They just sat in the freezing Great Hall, staring, staring
The next morning, mostly everyone in the school had left until the end of the Christmas holiday.
Mrs. Potter served a roast. "James! We're so glad that you decided to come home!" Mr. Potter began pilling corn onto his plate.
"Yeah! Why did you want to come home anyway?" he asked. James smile evaporated and the color dropped from his face. He tried to speak, but no words came out. He tried to change the subject.
"Thanks for that Nimbus 1000!" he said. Mr. & Mrs. Potter smiled.
"Glad you liked it!" Mr. Potter said. "Yeah, I saw the copy of "Which Broomstick" and I knew you'd like it!"
After the Christmas Holidays, James returned to school. Everyone still seemed to be in shock about what had happened a week and a half ago. And that was Voldemort. The night everyone came back, they all gathered at their tables in the Great Hall.
"Welcome back!" Dumbledore said. He told everyone what had happened the night Voldemort had arrived. It should have lifted up everyone's spirits, that no one had died and all, but no one knew the entire story, and it actually filled them with more fear.
James climbed into bed. He couldn't go to sleep for a few hours. When he finally did go to sleep he was awoken not long after. Sirius looked tired, he had obviously couldn't fall asleep either. Remus and Peter looked tired too.
As they slowly walked to potions, James saw Lily. She was walking even slower than they were, and was being half dragged by her sleepy friends.
As they finally made it to the dungeon, potions were about to begin. They sat down. James lay his head on his desk and almost fell asleep. Then Severus pegged him with something. He awoke and grabbed a piece of parchment. He began sketching out the school. As potions ended, he rejoiced and stuffed the parchment in his jacket.
As they settled in the dorm after classes, James pulled out the map. Sirius, Peter and Remus crowded around him.
"Guys, this is a map of the school! With every secret passage in the school!" James said. "Now, we need to pick a name. Just use the name that we call ourselves when we've transformed into animals. The all stated them and James wrote in sweeping letters:
Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs
Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief Makers
Are proud to present
THE MAURAUDER'S MAP
James began to make a map of the whole school. It wasn't that hard, since James and Sirius knew the school so well from sneaking out. James began to make the part of the school everyone knows about and he also made the four passages that Filch knew about. He made the one to the Shrieking Shack in Hogsmeade, which had the Whomping Willow planted over it. He also made the passage from the One Eyed Witch passage to the Honeydukes cellar.
"I know one!" Sirius said. "It's behind a mirror on the fourth floor!" James quickly sketched it in.
"Now!" James said, a sly smile coming to his face. "A dose of magic! Now, you need a sort of password to turn it on, and one to turn it off!" He waved his wand, clearing the map. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good!" he said. The ink spread and the map showed. "Mischief Managed!" he said. The ink disappeared. James turned the map on again.
"And!" Remus said. "Little dots saying where everyone is, so you can't get caught!" Remus waved his wand and little dots appeared, showing Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, James Potter and Sirius Black dots all crowded around in the dorm.
"And!" Peter said. "The passwords to get in to the passages!" He took out his wand and flicked it. Nothing happened. James tried, and "Dissendium" popped up near the one-eyed witch.
Soon, the map was done. James had it hidden under his bed. They continued brewing the potion.
James was walking down the hall one day. Professor Banks stopped him. "James!" he said. "I wanted to tell you; I found some stuff out for your animagi potion!" Professor Banks told him and gave him a small box.
"I tricked Salaminch into giving me this!" Professor Banks said, peevishly. James thanked him and ran to the dorm, showing everyone what Professor Banks had given him. Everyone applauded, as they all put the ingredients.
"What would we do without him?" Taylor asked. The cauldron began to stir.
Soon, it was April. They kept tending to the potion everyday. Since finals were coming up, they studied in shifts. James and Taylor were on the first shift, since they had Quidditch practices. They had the graveyard shift. It was strange; none of Taylor's fellow fourth years noticed he was never there at night.
"Rob said he wanted us to meet him tomorrow!" Taylor said, adding some giant's toenails to the potion. James had to help him lift the big toes' nails. James was constantly putting in bat's wings.
Soon, their shift was over. They went to sleep. Waking up, James saw Sirius and Peter, tending to the cauldron.
James opened his books and began memorizing the terms of ingredients for a sleeping potion.
Between studying, tending to the potion, homework and Quidditch, James and Taylor found absolutely no time to do anything else. Sirius and Peter had very little time, although they had no Quidditch practices.
Soon, it was the night before finals. James began pacing around, book in his hands. The common room was packed with students, all clutching gigantic stacks of books. The potion in their bedroom lay forgotten, still stirring. It was well past midnight before the common room started showing any sign of emptying. The wind whistled. James, Taylor, Sirius, Peter and Remus were in the common room, studying everything they would need to know for finals. Suddenly, Dumbledore's voice came over the PA system. It sounded slightly strangled. "ATTENTION ALL STUDENTS! QUICKLY COME TO THE GREAT HALL. DO NOT LEAVE UNTIL THE HEAD OF YOUR HOUSE TELLS YOU TO! DO NOT TAKE ANYTHING! HURRY!"
McGonagall came running in. "Okay! Gryffindors! Follow me!" All of the Gryffindors followed her down the corridors until they came to the Great Hall. Everyone sat down at their tables.
"Good!" Dumbledore said, his voice still strangled. "Glad you're here! If you remember Voldemort, from Christmas time. Rumors are that he has been spotted nearby-"
Suddenly, the ceiling shattered. Pieces of plaster littered the floor. Everyone started screaming, for what they saw A high-pitched, cold laugh suddenly was heard. Voldemort came down, with the twenty wizards and Dimente following him. Suddenly, a lot of people began to run. From the Gryffindor table, James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, Taylor and Lily bolted from the Great Hall. The rest of the students were rooted to the spot. They all ran to Gryffindor tower.
"Wait here!" James said. He raced up the boy's staircase. Coming to the top dorm, which was occupied by the seventh years, it had a wrap-around balcony.
"James!" Lily cried. She came up after him. It was silent. Then, something broke the silence. James heard the screaming from the Great Hall, as James and Lily walked around the balcony. He saw a flash of green light shine from the windows of the Great Hall, then more screaming.
Suddenly, there was a grotesque cracking sound and Gryffindor tower began to lean. It was over on its side. James could see Sirius and Remus and Peter looking up at them from the common room. Lily and James both screamed as they hung from the side of the balcony, the ground, floors below. There was a flash of light, as Voldemort came up, floating next to them. He laughed evilly.
"HELP!" Lily shrieked, as the wood railing began to crack. She moved her legs back and forth, as she saw the ground many feet below. James pulled himself onto the new top of the balcony (the side, actually, since everything was tilted 90 degrees) and reached through, and he grabbed Lily's hand. Voldemort's evil laughter stopped, as he waved his wand. The balcony began splintering more. James gave an almighty tug and he and Lily ran in the sideways door. How they managed to get down a staircase that was on its side, they shall never know, but soon, they were in the common room. They ran up to Sirius, Remus, Peter and Taylor.
"It's Voldemort!" James yelled. They all screamed as they heard more of that grotesque cracking sound. The lights in the common room began to flicker, then gone. The lights were out, except for the small fire that was still burning in the fireplace. There was a sound of wood skidding on wood. It was the legs of the handsome armchairs skidding across the hardwood floor. Then, the lights came back on. It wasn't the lamps, the fire had gotten bigger. They all screamed as they saw the horrifying truth. An armchair had caught on fire. It was rapidly spreading from chair to chair. Now onto the wood floor. Everyone ran to the other side of the common room. Before they could even think of putting it out, there was another cracking sound. The common room gave a jolt and turned upside down.
Squatting on the ceiling, they ran around, avoiding the burning armchairs that were crashing onto the ceiling. Another crack. The floor dropped out from under them. They were falling, falling
James saw the window for an instant. The starry sky was passing by them like they were in an airplane and zooming by it. Everyone screamed. No one present knew what was worse, the fire or the falling.
"We're not gonna make it!" Taylor screamed. The tower began to tilt in mid-air. James saw something pitch black.
"THE LAKE!" he screamed. "We're going to drop in the lake!" There was a splash, as Gryffindor tower smashed into the lake. Through the open windows, the starry sky disappeared and then water began splashing in. Everyone screamed. The lake was really deep. They were still sinking. James tried to scream but water filled his mouth. The fires were put out instantly. James motioned towards the window, as they began swimming out through the window. James was almost out of air. He felt a swarming in his brain. His life passed before him more than once. He lifted his head out of the water and gasped for air, doggie paddling. Lily, Sirius, Peter, Remus and Taylor stuck their heads out of the water as well. They began swimming to shore. Suddenly, Voldemort appeared. He didn't seem in the least bit upset. In fact, he seemed happy! He waved his wand and colossal waves, about thirty feet began crashing down on him. They all screamed and James saw the professors and the students ran out, looked at the place where Gryffindor tower had stood. They saw the waves and Voldemort and James, Lily, Taylor, Sirius, Peter and Remus. They began screaming as James, Lily, Taylor, Sirius, Peter and Remus were knocked down by a wave, bigger than the rest; it was about fifty feet. James tried to scream, but he was hoarse from screaming. Lily and Remus grabbed onto a door marked "2nd Years." They were safely to shore. Peter, Sirius, Taylor and James were still trying to stay afloat in the storm. James was separated by a wave from Peter, Sirius and Taylor. There was a sharp pain in his leg. It had been broken by a door, which was floating below him. He grabbed onto the door and tried to scream for help. He was knocked by another wave, still clutching on the door. He grabbed onto the doorknob and hoisted himself up onto the door. The waves continued crashing on him and he cried again and again for help. The entire lake seemed empty, he couldn't see anything. He heard faint words "Advara Kedavara!" A flash of green light came, but it reflected off of the wave and crashed onto Dimente. Dimente screamed and crashed onto the ground. He was dead. Dumbledore came up to Voldemort. Dumbledore raised his wand and a huge amount of wind came and blew Voldemort and the twenty wizards away, over the walls. Dumbledore waved his wand and the storm settled down. Dumbledore waved his wand and James flew out of the lake, onto the bank. He saw Lily, Sirius, Remus and Peter all sitting on the bank huddled under blankets. James tried to stand up, but he couldn't. Madam Pomfrey came rushing through the crowd and mended his leg. He joined the others under the blankets.
"Wait!" James said hoarsely. "Where's Taylor?" Everyone gave a look around. Dumbledore cleared his throat. James spun around and saw Dumbledore dragging Taylor's limp body out of the lake. James sat there, too dazed to say anything. Everyone began walking back into the Great Hall. James walked like a zombie. He had no feeling and no control over what he was doing. Everyone stood, since the ceiling, the windows and splinters of the tables were on the floor. James saw an empty chair at the staff table. He realized who was missing. It was Professor Banks. Dumbledore said something, which was followed by "Go back to your common rooms!" James walked up to Dumbledore.
"Er- Professor?" James croaked.
"Yes James?" Dumbledore asked.
"Where's Professor Banks?" James said. Dumbledore turned white.
"Didn't you hear my speech?" Dumbledore asked. James shook his head. "I'm sure you saw the green light from Gryffindor tower!" James nodded. "Well, see, Professor Banks tried to stop Voldemort from moving up to Gryffindor tower, to attack you guys! But, Voldemort killed-" James turned green.
"He killed Professor Banks?" James asked. Dumbledore nodded.
"He died a hero's death, James. He tried to stop Voldemort from getting you, but he failed. It was horrible!" James walked without feeling and without knowing where he was going. The Fat Lady was in a picture across the hall, gabbing about how she left her portrait just in time. He portrait, and the wall that it was on was gone. Dumbledore came running up.
"SORRY!" he said. He zapped up the tower from the lake. It squeezed itself out like a giant wash cloth and placed itself neatly back where it stood. The Fat Lady ran back to her portrait, letting people in. James came to his dorm, seeing the cauldron with the animagi potion tipped over. It had dripped out. James kicked the cauldron out of anger and stubbed his toe.
At the end of the year feast, James was very upset, about the loss of Taylor and Professor Banks. As was the other Gryffindors. After Dumbledore gave his annual speech, they all walked to the train, James felt numb, as he helped Peter and Remus and Lily board the train. He kissed Lily goodbye and he and Sirius began walking back to their homes in Hogsmeade, wondering if they'd be safe until the next year.