Disclaimer: all that is recognisable in this story belongs as intellectual property
to JK Rowling, and as copyright to Warner Bros. I really do not intend to make
any money out of it, I promise!
Chapter 5: Hagrid
The next morning did not dawn brightly. Storm clouds
rolled overhead, constantly threatening thunder that never came. Their first
two lessons were like that: Professors Headley and Malfoy quested endlessly to
find a reason to penalise the five, who were on best behaviour. They discovered
that, once in a very long while, it was fun to annoy these two
particular teachers by being perfect. Consequently, none of them even sneezed.
However, Headley's next class, of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw third years, lost
several hundred points off her between them.
To everyone's delight, September the first had been a
Thursday, meaning that they had only one full day of lessons before the
weekend. Their last class of the afternoon was Transfiguration, and by then the
desire to be perfect had worn off the five friends. Remus had tried to convince
the others that Sirius should not be allowed to drink coffee at lunch, but no,
they hadn't listened. Now Sirius was bouncing along the corridor, zigzagging
from side to side like a mental bunny on a jinxed broomstick. Remus could feel
himself being infected by his friend's hyperness: that was probably why he had agreed to give James and Lily a
bunny-hopping race to the classroom.
"3- 2 – 1- GO!" yelled Peter. The three of them
bunny-hopped off, Lily already in the lead. She reached the classroom first and
turned to face the boys. "Petrificus Jambicus!" she yelled, pointing her wand
at James. His legs snapped together and
he fell over. "That'll encourage you not to cheat!"
"I NEVER cheat!" James shouted from the floor, completely
incensed, just as Remus reached Lily. James fumbled for his wand, eventually
finding it in his sock.
"Rictumsempra!" He cursed Lily with the laughing curse and she
immediately doubled over, laughing angrily.
To his horror, Remus suddenly heard the tap-tapping
of McGonagall's boots. "Oh shit!" he said. "Finite Incantem!"
Nothing happened.
"Finite Incantem!" he
yelled, desperate now.
Again nothing happened.
"Oh SHIT!"
"Mr Lupin!" McGonagall
said, suddenly appearing around the corner. "Mind your – WHAT?" she had, of
course, spotted Lily and James.
"Finite Incantem," she said, more calmly. James' legs
came unstuck and Lily stopped laughing. The three students looked at her
apprehensively.
"I don't even want to
know," McGonagall said, shaking her head. "I don't want to give you detention
on your first day." With that, she swept past them into the classroom, and they
followed, dazed.
James and Lily sat down on either side of Sirius, and
Remus took his place in front of them. Professor McGonagall started on her
start of second year lecture, but all most of the class could hear were Sirius,
James and Lily.
"It was not my
fault!" Lily hissed.
"It was too! Imagine if
Headley had come along!"
Squeak, squeak, went
Sirius' chair as he walked back and forth.
"It was your idea to have
that stupid race, you stupid oaf!"
"You didn't have to curse
me!" James almost shrieked.
Squeak, squeak.
"I was getting you back
for all the things you did to me last year."
"All the things I did to
you? Lily, you dyed my hair pink for three days, for cryin' out loud!"
"You turned me into a
tortoise."
"You told the entire tower
I was gay!"
Squeak, squeak.
"Well you are. I've seen
the way you look at Sirius." By now the entire class was riveted.
"Better than the way you
look at Snape."
There was a shocked
silence, broken only by Sirius' 'squeak, squeak'.
Then everything happened
at once.
"Professor, can't we do
something interesting?" Sirius whined. McGonagall turned around just in time to
see Remus turn to Lily and James.
"Can't you two lovebirds
shut up?" he hissed angrily, which was a big mistake. Lily and James both
pointed their wands at him, saying:
"Furnunculus!"
"Petrificus Totalus!"
However, Remus was too
used to them, and he ducked, meaning both of the spells hit McGonagall. The
result would have been very funny, if they hadn't suddenly become aware of the
consequences. Little boils popped up all over McGonagall's face, making her
look like a teenager whose chronic acne had turned green, and her whole body
snapped together, causing her to fall over completely.
The
class watched in shock. Luckily, James kept his head in a crisis. "Finite
Incantem," he said clearly, and then winced as the teacher stood up. The boils
on her face didn't conceal her look of fury.
"Potter,
Evans, Lupin – where is Black?"
Everyone looked around.
Due most probably to his unfortunate hyperactivity, Sirius had made a run for
it.
"Class dismissed,"
McGonagall said stiffly, only just managing to control her voice. "You three,
stay behind. Just GO, Pettigrew!" Peter slunk out of the door after the rest of
the shell-shocked class.
"What did you think you
were doing?" McGonagall demanded loudly. "First I find you messing about before
the lesson, then you dare to fight in my class. WHY?"
None of the three
answered. They were giggling too much; the situation was ludicrous. McGonagall
gave up. "You will serve detention tonight, at the gamekeepers hut. Make sure
you tell Black. Why he thought running away would help…" She walked off,
muttering. The three looked at each other in joy. First detention of the year,
cursing McGonagall, and they still had forty-five minutes of the lesson left!
****************************
At eight o'clock that night, Remus, Lily, James and
Sirius set off out of the tower, leaving Peter to play chess with Frank
Longbottom. Frank was almost as bad as Peter was, and Peter was almost as bad
as Lily. Due to the fact that they had arrived at school late in their first
year, the four had never met Hagrid, but they had seen him from a distance, and
he looked tall enough to terrify even them. Therefore they were slightly
nervous when they reached the hut.
"Knock, then," Lily said
snippily.
"Why don't you?" James
asked.
"Because your great hefty
head is in front of me.
"Move then, lazy."
"Is that the best you can
come up with?"
"No, little Snape-lover."
"Were you upset that you
hurt your darling Professor today, Jamsie?"
"Shut up, Lily," James
muttered, and knocked on the door.
"Did he just blush?"
Sirius asked Remus delightedly.
"I think so," Remus agreed
solemnly.
"Awwwwww," they both cooed
in unison, "Lil' Jamsie's in love!"
"Wi' who?" asked a gruff
voice, miles above their heads.
They all looked up, startled. Hagrid, the gamekeeper,
towered above them, his long, wild beard and hair making him rather scary
looking. "I've heard about you four," he continued, "the tricks yeh play an'
all. Which of yeh is which?"
None of them lacked
courage. "I'm Sirius."
"I'm James."
"Remus."
"Lily."
"Well, ah knew that,"
Hagrid grinned. "Seein' as yer the on'y girl."
"What do we have to do?"
asked James.
"Yeh've to go into the
forest-"
"Really?" Sirius asked,
his eyes shining.
"Yeah. An' find me at
least eight Jarveys. Professor Kettleburn needs fer 'is class tomorra."
"Alone?" James asked, his
voice wobbling just a little bit.
"Yeh can take Fang. Ain't
nothin' in the Forest what'll hurt yeh anyway," Hagrid said reassuringly. "An'
I'll make yeh a nice cuppa fer when yeh get back."
There was nothing to do
but nod.
It was amazing that they had never been in the forest
before. They had had nearly a hundred detentions each in their first year, and
never once had anyone suggested sending them into the Forbidden Forest. As well
as that, they were usually attracted to anything they couldn't have, and 'Forbidden'
was definitely off-limits. It was probably worry for Peter that had kept them
out; not one of them doubted he would scream when he heard about this. But they
had no choice, and they'd die before showing they were scared.
Hagrid opened the door fully, and out came a barking,
crazy ball of fur, that turned out to be Hagrid's boarhound Fang. Fang was
barley more that a puppy, and he bounced straight up to Sirius, knocking him
over. Sirius laughed delightedly, and began to frolic with the dog.
"Yeh know what Jarveys
are, don' yeh?" Hagrid asked the others, who nodded. "I need at least eight,
but if it gets ter midnight, give it up
an' come back 'ere. Oh yeh, an' try an' stay on the paths. Good luck."
Lily, James and Remus began to walk. "Come on, bitch,"
James called back to Sirius, who pushed Fang off and stood up. "Oi! How am I a
bitch?" he demanded.
"Well if Fang's the boy
doggie, you must be the bitch," James explained with perfect logic. Lily and
Remus laughed.
"Shut up Jamsie-poo."
Sirius ran to catch up with them. "So what do we have to do?" his friends
groaned.
"You heard," said Remus.
"Don't roll your eyes at
me, Lily," said Sirius, without even looking at her.
"Then don't stick your
tongue out at me," Lily returned, without a glance his way.
"You did it first."
"I'm not gonna argue like
this with you, Siri."
"Oh, not good enough for
you, am I?" Sirius said, pretending to be upset. "Not as good as lover-boy
Jamsie?"
Remus cut off any response
Lily might have made. "Shhhhhhhhh!" he said loudly. "You're gonna scare off any
animals before you even get near them! Now light your wands."
"Lumos," three penitent
voices muttered.
"Now shush and listen."
They walked along the path silently, walking very
close together. Outside the forest it was twilight, but inside, the trees cut
off any light and it was hard to see more than a few paces ahead. Remus, the
Dark creatures expert, walked in front, and Sirius brought up the rear.
"Got one!" Sirius shrieked suddenly, startling them.
He stunned the unfortunate Jarvey, and Lily held out a bag that Hagrid had
given her. She looked sympathetically at the ferret-like creature, but Hagrid
had assured them that this wouldn't hurt the Jarveys.
They walked on for another twenty minutes. "I'm
bored," said Sirius.
"What a surprise,"
muttered James.
"Pardon?"
"You heard."
"Oh shut up, you're
scaring the animals."
"Those two scare the
animals anyway, Lily."
"Good point, Re."
"Then how come I'm the
only one who's caught one," demanded Sirius.
"Particularly stupid Jarvey."
"You're just jealous,
Lil."
"Oh SHUT UP!" Remus
shouted. "It's getting really dark and I personally do not want to spend the
whole night in here listening to you three bicker."
"Well we don't want to
hear you telling us off al night either, but you don't hear us complaining,"
Sirius said rebelliously, but he shut up after that. They started walking
again, and to their relief, they had soon captured three more.
"What's the time?" Sirius
whispered.
"Nearly ten o'clock."
"Bloody hell…"
They had no choice but to keep walking. This was
turning out to be one of their least favourite detentions, but they still knew
it was nothing to the Slytherin Quidditch detention, and that made them feel a
little better. By eleven o'clock they had six Jarveys. "Maybe we should turn
back now?" Remus asked.
"Frightened, little Re?"
Sirius jeered.
"I'm just thinking it took
us nearly three hours to get here." Sirius closed his mouth. The situation was
now ludicrously unfunny.
"Maybe we'll catch some
more on the way back?" James said hopefully. He absolutely hated to fail at
anything he started.
They turned around, and Sirius was now in the lead.
The location, the time of night and the thought of failure had done nothing to
quell the enthusiasm Sirius had for everything but Slytherins and Brussel
sprouts, and he bounded along the path, Fang frolicking beside him. Sirius
seemed to have found a great friend in the large dog.
Suddenly, even through the racket Sirius was making,
they heard the unmistakeable chatter of a Jarvey somewhere off to their right.
Without thought, Lily plunged into the bushes after it, and her friends
followed. The Jarvey seemed to be leading them on, for it stayed ahead of them,
dancing just out of reach of their spells, leading them further and further away
from the safety of the path.
They came to a clearing, panting from the exertion of
running through the dense undergrowth, and the Jarvey stood still in the centre
of it, as if this was all it had meant to do. Seeing it, Lily immediately
yelled 'Stupefy!" and the Jarvey keeled over. James started forward to pick it
up, but he stopped when a melodious but somehow menacing voice rang out from
the forest around them. "Who dares to attack innocent creature in this forest?"
James scurried back to his friends, valuing suddenly
the safety in numbers, but still looking bravely for the owner of the voice.
What happened next nearly frightened them all to death.
A beast, half man, half horse, stepped out from the
shadows of the trees. The moon shone down on him, making his skin glisten, and
the four looked in awe. A female followed him. They were both bare-chested and
Lily had to shove Sirius to stop him staring at the beautiful half-woman.
"What do you in this
forest? What right have you to attack this innocent, defenceless animal?" it
was the woman who spoke this time, and her voice was compelling, almost forcing
you to listen.
"We – we…" Under the harsh
looks of the two centaurs, Sirius' voice petered out.
"Yes?" the female asked
coldly.
"Hagrid sent us," Lily
said firmly. "He promised that it wouldn't hurt them." The male centaur seemed
to relax at Hagrid's name, but the woman looked even angrier.
"That is accept-"
"It is not!" the woman
interrupted. "It is true you are James Potter, Lily Evans, Remus Lupin and
Sirius Black." It wasn't a question. "Where is the fifth of your number?"
"Peter didn't get
detention. But how did you know?" asked Sirius.
"Did you see it in the
stars?" Remus asked softly.
The female gave him an
appraising look. "Yes. And you are the star gazer." The others looked at him in
surprise.
"Will I ever see the
star?" Remus asked, even more quietly.
"It is not yet written,"
the centaur answered sadly. The male centaur stepped forward and began to
speak.
"I can tell you only so
much, for it is forbidden to us to meddle in human affairs. I can say only to
beware, all of you, of those smaller in soul than yourselves, and that one day,
the lion will both save and defeat the snake. Journey home safely." With that
last cryptic message the centaurs left, leaving Remus to pick up the Jarvey.
They walked back to Hagrid's hut silently and much
more quickly than they had walked out. It was nearly one am when they reached
the hut, and they staggered inside, exhausted.
"Did you do it?" Hagrid
asked.
"Seven," James answered.
"Excelen'!" beamed Hagrid.
"I think you deserve this." He handed them each a large piece of chocolate and
a cup of tea. As they drank and ate they felt warmth spreading through them.
After some tired goodnights and an invitation from
Hagrid to come and visit on Sunday morning, they trudged back up the lawns,
through the castle and into Gryffindor Tower, up the stairs and into the boys
dormitory. As they were getting ready for bed, Lily turned to James. "Jamie,
can I sleep in your bed tonight? 'Cos the girls dorm is so far away." Lily
looked about ready to drop, like the others did.
"Sure, Lily." Sirius hid
his grin. Hearing the voices, Peter woke up. He stared at Lily and James, the
enemies who were being scarily friendly towards each other. He decided to
ignore it. "Where have you been all this time?" he asked.
Sirius grinned. "The
forest."
"AGGHHH!" Peter yelled.
Remus didn't laugh. None of them had noticed that
Remus hadn't said a word since he had seen the centaurs.