Chapter 2: The Importance of Being on Time
The next thing any of them knew, the door to their room slammed open.
"G'day, mates. Time to get up. You missed breaky, but I didn't want youz to miss our next exciting Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson. Better hurry! I was just about to rock up there myself, but I figured you four could use a look-in."
"You know, Ben," said Sirius, "I thought that rooming with an Australian would be interesting, but sometimes I don't understand the words that are coming out of your mouth! I always thought that you Aussies spoke the same language as us."
All the boys, including Moony, who had returned at dawn, were hastily, if sleepily, putting their robes on and gathering their books.
As they rushed to their class, Peter spoke up for the first time that morning, "What's the idea of starting the day with Defense Against Dark Arts? As if the material isn't hard enough, we have to deal with a professor who hates all Gryffindors, and a group of Slytherins who are hardly what I would call morning people!! It's the worst way to start the week."
"You know what's an even worse way to start the week?" said Moony.
"What, Remus?" said James.
"By being late for Defense Against Dark Arts class!!"
And with that, all five started to run. They skidded to a halt outside the room, but it was too late. The door was already closed. Sirius swore under his breath as James slowly opened the door.
A greasy looking man in his mid-fifties stood at the back of the room projecting images from his wand to the front of the room. He was demanding the student identify the dark creatures he was showing within three seconds when the door opened, shedding light into the dark classroom.
"Ahh, I see the Gryffindor boys have finally decided to grace us with their presence," the professor said with his nasty smile.
"Professor Snape! We were just…" Ben began.
"Arriving late for my class. I am well aware of that, my young convict."
Ben flushed at the mention of his country's heritage, but managed to hold his tongue with a strength of will the others didn't know he possessed.
"Five minutes…Five students…Since I'm feeling generous, I think that 25 points from Gryffindor will suffice."
"But…" James started.
"If you object, I could easily make it 50."
They quietly took their seats with this threat, trying not to look at the very amused group of Slytherins sitting across from them.
"I would have thought that I hardly needed to remind you how important this class is in these troubled times." Snape sounded almost emotional as he moved to the front of the class. "You know you are all safe here in this castle, but you do not spend 365 days a year here. Nor will you attend this school forever. You will need to know how to defend yourselves in the real world, outside the microcosm that is Hogwarts, against a darkness more powerful than any of us have ever encountered. As unrealistic as it may seem, some of you may become powerful wizards of note," Snape looked at the Slytherins when he said this, "and He-Who-Must- Not-Be-Named, as so many of you insist on calling him, may search you out. How will you defend yourselves if you are not prepared?"
There was an unnatural silence in the room. Hogwarts teachers rarely spoke of the turmoil going on outside the school because of Lord Voldemort's reign of terror.
"Professor Snape, sir?" A Slytherin with greasy hair and the same hooked nose as the teacher raised his hand.
"What is it Mr. Snape?" the teacher responded irritably. It always amazed the other students how formal Brutalis Snape and his son Severus were with each other.
"Sir, has something happened? Have there been new attacks?"
James couldn't help but notice that more than a few of the Slytherins looked intrigued rather than frightened by this prospect.
"Well, I suppose you will hear of it soon enough. The Daily Prophet will be back in publication in a few hours as it is. Yes, there has been another attack. Three Muggles were tortured and killed, as was an Auror who sensed the problem, but didn't realize the magnitude of the danger. Four more deaths at Lord Voldemort's hand."
Most of the class gasped at Snape's use of the name. Even the Slytherins looked upset at the thought that an Auror had been killed. They were supposed to be untouchable. They were the ones hunting the Dark Lord.
James felt the same stunned anger that he always felt with the news of an attack. He glanced at Lily, who looked like she was about to cry, but he couldn't catch her eye to try and reassure her. Sirius hadn't moved from the moment Snape had said the word "Auror." Sirius's father was an Auror and had not been home for more than two days in a row since he was put upon to track down Voldemort and his follower. Peter wore his typically terrified look, but there was something in his eyes that James couldn't identify. It was almost calculating. But that wasn't possible. Peter was not the brightest wand in box, but he wasn't a bad person. Sometimes, though, James couldn't shake a terrible feeling about him. Remus looked almost too tired to be distraught. The weekend was, as always, terrible for him. His friends had tried to make it better, but Remus' time as a werewolf always exhausted him. Still, he looked even more weary after the news than he had before. He ran one hand through his sandy- colored hair, disheveling it further. Both Snapes looked visibly upset. It was well known that even though Professor Snape was the head of the house that had turned out many of Voldemort's known supporters, he hated everything to do with the Dark Lord. And by extension, his son must also hate him, because Brutalis expected nothing less of Severus than to be a younger version of him.
"We must not dwell on this. What is done is done. We must prepare for the future. And that means continuing on with this lesson. Today I am going to teach you a very useful spell, Revelium Cachus. This spell will reveal hidden things to you, but most importantly, it will give you some idea of the location of a person you choose to find. And before any of you ask, through the use of Dark Magic, you can permanently counteract this spell, so of course He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named cannot be found this way. In fact, I caution you to be highly suspicious of anyone who you cannot find with this spell. There are different ways to show where your target is, but I will demonstrate the easiest."
Snape turned and pointed his wand at the wall and said in a clear voice, "Revelium Cachus Dumbledore." A spark shot out of his wand and a clear image, much like a Muggle movie, came to life on the wall. It was the head and shoulders of the Headmaster, clearly sitting in his office studying something in his hand and looking very upset. Snape seemed to realize this was not a moment the Headmaster might want to the students to see and quickly said, "Nox," and the image was gone.
"As you can see, the spell is ended the same way you extinguish a wand light. In fact, they are fairly similar spells, only in this spell the light is projected, rather than contained. I would like you all to split up into pairs. One half of the class will go out in the hallway and stand in front of a portrait. The other half will use the spell to tell me what portrait their partner is standing in front of."
Sirius had his hand on James' arm before Lily could even turn around and look at him. She looked angry, but turned and came up to Remus, gave him her prettiest smile, and asked him to be her partner. He was only too happy to oblige, sending a sly look in James' direction. Peter paired up with a shy girl named Caroline Weasley, who blushed whenever anybody talked to her, which made her look to be the same shade of red as her hair.
They began working on the assignment, each student still in the classroom trying to project the image of their partner on the wall. Lily and James had no problem finding Remus and Sirius, standing in front of two portraits out in the hall. Sirius was imitating everything the elderly witch in his painting was doing, right down to the rude jesters she made when she noticed that he was mocking her.
"Professor Snape?" Caroline asked timidly, "I can't seem to find Peter. I think I'm doing the spell right."
"I am certain that you are NOT doing it right Miss Weasley. Try again. This should not be that difficult."
Snape seemed to be ignoring the fact that half of the Slytherins were unable to find their partners as well.
They switched after a few minutes, and the group of castors went to stand in the hall now. James chose a portrait of a knight in dented armor who was trying to get his chest plate off, but who seemed to be stuck.
"Lose your battle, Sir Knight?" James said.
"Oh, sod off!" the knight responded just before falling over backwards from the weight of his armor.
Lily giggled a little at this interchange, from her stance across the hall. James was pleased to see she was acknowledging him at least. He smiled tentatively at her, and she smiled back.
"Will you have lunch with me today?" He asked.
"You mean, with you and the boys??" She seemed to still be a little angry with him.
"No, just me and you. The weather is still holding, so let's have a picnic."
Lily just smiled and said, "Maybe."
When class was ended, the boys headed back to their dorm to get all the books they had forgotten in their haste that morning.
Remus seemed a little more put out than usual after a weekend as a wild creature.
"What's wrong," Ben asked, noticing this.
Remus didn't answer, but Sirius spoke up.
"Oh, he's just off because he couldn't get the spell to work. He tried and he tried, but no Lily."
"You must just be tired, Mo…Remus," Peter corrected, "You're normally excellent in that class. Even Snape doesn't hate you as much as he hates the rest of us."
Remus still said nothing, and James couldn't help but wonder if it really was Remus' fault that he couldn't do the spell. But that was stupid. Why would Lily have to protect herself from being found?
"You must just be tired, Remus," James said in a tone that allowed no argument.
The next thing any of them knew, the door to their room slammed open.
"G'day, mates. Time to get up. You missed breaky, but I didn't want youz to miss our next exciting Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson. Better hurry! I was just about to rock up there myself, but I figured you four could use a look-in."
"You know, Ben," said Sirius, "I thought that rooming with an Australian would be interesting, but sometimes I don't understand the words that are coming out of your mouth! I always thought that you Aussies spoke the same language as us."
All the boys, including Moony, who had returned at dawn, were hastily, if sleepily, putting their robes on and gathering their books.
As they rushed to their class, Peter spoke up for the first time that morning, "What's the idea of starting the day with Defense Against Dark Arts? As if the material isn't hard enough, we have to deal with a professor who hates all Gryffindors, and a group of Slytherins who are hardly what I would call morning people!! It's the worst way to start the week."
"You know what's an even worse way to start the week?" said Moony.
"What, Remus?" said James.
"By being late for Defense Against Dark Arts class!!"
And with that, all five started to run. They skidded to a halt outside the room, but it was too late. The door was already closed. Sirius swore under his breath as James slowly opened the door.
A greasy looking man in his mid-fifties stood at the back of the room projecting images from his wand to the front of the room. He was demanding the student identify the dark creatures he was showing within three seconds when the door opened, shedding light into the dark classroom.
"Ahh, I see the Gryffindor boys have finally decided to grace us with their presence," the professor said with his nasty smile.
"Professor Snape! We were just…" Ben began.
"Arriving late for my class. I am well aware of that, my young convict."
Ben flushed at the mention of his country's heritage, but managed to hold his tongue with a strength of will the others didn't know he possessed.
"Five minutes…Five students…Since I'm feeling generous, I think that 25 points from Gryffindor will suffice."
"But…" James started.
"If you object, I could easily make it 50."
They quietly took their seats with this threat, trying not to look at the very amused group of Slytherins sitting across from them.
"I would have thought that I hardly needed to remind you how important this class is in these troubled times." Snape sounded almost emotional as he moved to the front of the class. "You know you are all safe here in this castle, but you do not spend 365 days a year here. Nor will you attend this school forever. You will need to know how to defend yourselves in the real world, outside the microcosm that is Hogwarts, against a darkness more powerful than any of us have ever encountered. As unrealistic as it may seem, some of you may become powerful wizards of note," Snape looked at the Slytherins when he said this, "and He-Who-Must- Not-Be-Named, as so many of you insist on calling him, may search you out. How will you defend yourselves if you are not prepared?"
There was an unnatural silence in the room. Hogwarts teachers rarely spoke of the turmoil going on outside the school because of Lord Voldemort's reign of terror.
"Professor Snape, sir?" A Slytherin with greasy hair and the same hooked nose as the teacher raised his hand.
"What is it Mr. Snape?" the teacher responded irritably. It always amazed the other students how formal Brutalis Snape and his son Severus were with each other.
"Sir, has something happened? Have there been new attacks?"
James couldn't help but notice that more than a few of the Slytherins looked intrigued rather than frightened by this prospect.
"Well, I suppose you will hear of it soon enough. The Daily Prophet will be back in publication in a few hours as it is. Yes, there has been another attack. Three Muggles were tortured and killed, as was an Auror who sensed the problem, but didn't realize the magnitude of the danger. Four more deaths at Lord Voldemort's hand."
Most of the class gasped at Snape's use of the name. Even the Slytherins looked upset at the thought that an Auror had been killed. They were supposed to be untouchable. They were the ones hunting the Dark Lord.
James felt the same stunned anger that he always felt with the news of an attack. He glanced at Lily, who looked like she was about to cry, but he couldn't catch her eye to try and reassure her. Sirius hadn't moved from the moment Snape had said the word "Auror." Sirius's father was an Auror and had not been home for more than two days in a row since he was put upon to track down Voldemort and his follower. Peter wore his typically terrified look, but there was something in his eyes that James couldn't identify. It was almost calculating. But that wasn't possible. Peter was not the brightest wand in box, but he wasn't a bad person. Sometimes, though, James couldn't shake a terrible feeling about him. Remus looked almost too tired to be distraught. The weekend was, as always, terrible for him. His friends had tried to make it better, but Remus' time as a werewolf always exhausted him. Still, he looked even more weary after the news than he had before. He ran one hand through his sandy- colored hair, disheveling it further. Both Snapes looked visibly upset. It was well known that even though Professor Snape was the head of the house that had turned out many of Voldemort's known supporters, he hated everything to do with the Dark Lord. And by extension, his son must also hate him, because Brutalis expected nothing less of Severus than to be a younger version of him.
"We must not dwell on this. What is done is done. We must prepare for the future. And that means continuing on with this lesson. Today I am going to teach you a very useful spell, Revelium Cachus. This spell will reveal hidden things to you, but most importantly, it will give you some idea of the location of a person you choose to find. And before any of you ask, through the use of Dark Magic, you can permanently counteract this spell, so of course He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named cannot be found this way. In fact, I caution you to be highly suspicious of anyone who you cannot find with this spell. There are different ways to show where your target is, but I will demonstrate the easiest."
Snape turned and pointed his wand at the wall and said in a clear voice, "Revelium Cachus Dumbledore." A spark shot out of his wand and a clear image, much like a Muggle movie, came to life on the wall. It was the head and shoulders of the Headmaster, clearly sitting in his office studying something in his hand and looking very upset. Snape seemed to realize this was not a moment the Headmaster might want to the students to see and quickly said, "Nox," and the image was gone.
"As you can see, the spell is ended the same way you extinguish a wand light. In fact, they are fairly similar spells, only in this spell the light is projected, rather than contained. I would like you all to split up into pairs. One half of the class will go out in the hallway and stand in front of a portrait. The other half will use the spell to tell me what portrait their partner is standing in front of."
Sirius had his hand on James' arm before Lily could even turn around and look at him. She looked angry, but turned and came up to Remus, gave him her prettiest smile, and asked him to be her partner. He was only too happy to oblige, sending a sly look in James' direction. Peter paired up with a shy girl named Caroline Weasley, who blushed whenever anybody talked to her, which made her look to be the same shade of red as her hair.
They began working on the assignment, each student still in the classroom trying to project the image of their partner on the wall. Lily and James had no problem finding Remus and Sirius, standing in front of two portraits out in the hall. Sirius was imitating everything the elderly witch in his painting was doing, right down to the rude jesters she made when she noticed that he was mocking her.
"Professor Snape?" Caroline asked timidly, "I can't seem to find Peter. I think I'm doing the spell right."
"I am certain that you are NOT doing it right Miss Weasley. Try again. This should not be that difficult."
Snape seemed to be ignoring the fact that half of the Slytherins were unable to find their partners as well.
They switched after a few minutes, and the group of castors went to stand in the hall now. James chose a portrait of a knight in dented armor who was trying to get his chest plate off, but who seemed to be stuck.
"Lose your battle, Sir Knight?" James said.
"Oh, sod off!" the knight responded just before falling over backwards from the weight of his armor.
Lily giggled a little at this interchange, from her stance across the hall. James was pleased to see she was acknowledging him at least. He smiled tentatively at her, and she smiled back.
"Will you have lunch with me today?" He asked.
"You mean, with you and the boys??" She seemed to still be a little angry with him.
"No, just me and you. The weather is still holding, so let's have a picnic."
Lily just smiled and said, "Maybe."
When class was ended, the boys headed back to their dorm to get all the books they had forgotten in their haste that morning.
Remus seemed a little more put out than usual after a weekend as a wild creature.
"What's wrong," Ben asked, noticing this.
Remus didn't answer, but Sirius spoke up.
"Oh, he's just off because he couldn't get the spell to work. He tried and he tried, but no Lily."
"You must just be tired, Mo…Remus," Peter corrected, "You're normally excellent in that class. Even Snape doesn't hate you as much as he hates the rest of us."
Remus still said nothing, and James couldn't help but wonder if it really was Remus' fault that he couldn't do the spell. But that was stupid. Why would Lily have to protect herself from being found?
"You must just be tired, Remus," James said in a tone that allowed no argument.
