Chapter 2: Punishment?


The four friends met at the Hogsmeade Station three minutes later. There had been no sign of Peter, according to Lily. This was a good sign, according to Sirius.

"Now, all we need is to watch for Snape and his slimy boulder cronies and we'll be all set," Remus said.

"As if we need to watch for a bunch of weak, mindless dimwits like them," Sirius snorted.

A hulking figure overshadowed him. "Weak, mindless dimwits, huh?" Rosier said threateningly. He cracked his enormous knuckles.

"Yeah, I reckon so," Sirius said casually. "Why? Feeling touchy-feely today, Rosier? Are all Slytherins into brotherly love and defending their fellow ignoramuses' pride?"

Rosier growled, lunging at Sirius. Sirius swerved to the right, causing Rosier to slam right into Cassiopeia Black.

"Ouch! Who did—Rosier! Such uncivil manners! You are in the fourth year, I presume? This is the first day back, but such disrespectful character must be rightly corrected. A point from Slytherin," Cassiopeia said severely.

Rosier reddened. Sirius knew for a fact that he had a crush on Cas, and it was double humiliation to be told off by her, a prefect three years older, and have a point deducted from his House when classes didn't even start yet. He skulked off, but not before hearing Sirius's last word.

"A fourth year! Are you not ashamed of your discourteous behavior? You, who should uphold the pride and dignity of a respected student of this school? How dare you!" Sirius deadpanned in an award-winning imitation of his sister. A good number of spectators laughed, and Rosier glared at him before disappearing into the throng.

"Such uncivil manners!" Lily recited in a high-pitched voice.

"Rightly corrected? Sounds like an oxymoron," James cracked up.

"She should've taken more points from Slytherin," Remus said. "Too bad your sister's unbiased, Sirius."

"Who cares?" Sirius said. "Just beating the snot out of a Slytherin without an effort is rewarding enough."

"But that's what we always do, Sirius," James reminded.

"Uh-huh. We never got Rosier. Just a bunch of nincompoops like Snape," Sirius pointed out. "Though they are in the same year," he said thoughtfully.

"Exactly. We should attack Lestrange next," Remus said in a low voice. A gang of Slytherins was only a few feet away.

"We're better off with a bunch of tricks, though." Sirius peered into the distance. "The carriages are coming," he announced.

"Right. Off to school, then," James said before his voice was drowned in the midst of cheerful chatter and the sound of invisible hooves against the muddy ground.

*****

The four of them squeezed into one carriage, Sirius with his usual antics ("Why don't you sit on Jamie's lap, Lil?") Lily with a short temper ("Ouch! Okay, okay, I was just joking. Girls.") and Remus and James deciding not to pursue any leads on banter.

Rain fell softly from the dark sky, enough to make them slightly wet, but not enough to overturn the boats in which Hagrid and the first years traveled in the lake. They reached the castle without the usual pushing and yelling to get through the door first. Overall (much to Sirius's disappointment), it was a fairly peaceful first night back.

As they climbed up the steps to the front entrance, Professor McGonagall's stern face swam into view. Her arms were crossed and there was a furious expression on her face. Something, obviously, was very wrong.

"Uh-oh…She's got that look on her face," James whispered.

"What look?" Remus asked.

"You know, the look she gave us when we rigged the whole Forbidden Forest with Dungbombs and sent all the animals onto the school grounds. The look that sentenced us to our sixty-ninth detention in two weeks. The look—"

"Okay, okay, I get the point."

"We're in the danger zone…" Sirius said with bated breath.

"D'you think Snape told on us?" Lily wondered aloud.

Sirius shook his head. "Can't be. If it was, then Ridgewood would be the one waiting for us on the front steps, ready to take a hundred points from Gryffindor and give us fifty detentions in one day."

"Or send us to Dumbledore," Lily added.

"Or expel us," said James.

"Here comes McGonagall," Remus said bracingly.

Professor McGonagall came down the last few steps to meet them, a majorly peeved look on her face, her lips the thinnest of the thin. "Black, Potter, Lupin and Evans. In my office. Now."

Shrugging to one another and ignoring the curious faces of their fellow classmates, the four friends sauntered into the entrance hall and followed Professor McGonagall to her office.

The same sight that greeted them from their last detention last year met their eyes. The fire in the fireplace cracked cheerfully as they entered, completely contrasting to the tension in the air. Professor McGonagall seated herself behind her desk and clasped her hands together. She seemed to be restraining herself from exploding at them.

"A very reliable source has told me about your…conflict with three Slytherins. Snape, Avery and Nott, correct?"

"Er—yes, Professor," James said.

"Yes. I know that you four have little self-control, and even less self-discipline, and after the last three years, we saw there was only a slight improvement of your actions. But this is getting out of hand. You must understand the consequences you have to face with every prank or fight of which you are responsible. Most of all, your detentions seem to have no effect whatsoever on you. Except, of course, encourage you to cook up more trouble."

Don' beat around the bush, Sirius thought.

Get to the point! Lily's inner voice screamed.

Why don't you just tell us what our punishment is? James pondered.

Who told on us? Remus asked himself.

"I cannot fail to say that I am very, very disappointed in you. However, what you did was still before school, so I convinced Professor Ridgewood that there was no need to deduct House points." The four grinned at this.

"But…"

All four groaned inwardly. Here it comes…

"Detention cannot discipline you. Potter, Black, for your punishments, I am banning you two from all future Quidditch matches until your behavior improves. I will assign a temporary Seeker and Beater for this year."

James' and Sirius's mouths dropped open almost imperceptibly. "But, Professor—"

Professor McGonagall held up a hand. "No buts. Actually, it was Professor Ridgewood's idea that I gave you this particular punishment, and I find it very suitable."

A look of intense hatred overcame their faces. Ridgewood was Slytherin's Head of House, and was one of the top ten people that James and Sirius hated. He was right there on the number one spot with Snape.

"Lupin, I expected better of you. You are usually the peacemaker whenever Pettigrew isn't around. I didn't want to do this, but if you cannot follow the rules of the school, I will not hesitate to announce to the school that you are a werewolf."

Remus was shocked. "Professor, Dumble—the Headmaster told me that he s-swore secrecy on my behalf that n-no one, n-not a single person on the staff would—would tell a soul of what I am," he sputtered.

A sad, distant look reflected in McGonagall's eyes. "I'm sorry," she said sincerely. "But there is nothing else we could do. No other way to make you observe the rules."

"I can't believe this," Remus muttered. He clenched his fists to his sides. "Do you know what'll happen to me?" he whispered. "What the others will say if they find out?"

Professor McGonagall's eyes looked slightly watery. She looked sympathetic at the same time angry at Remus, yet the sympathy won over. "Nobody would know, Lupin, if you will not permit it. The only result depends on your actions."

Her eyes hardened, and she looked at Lily. "I had a particularly difficult time thinking of a punishment for you. Detention is useless. Suspension will not faze you. I decided that the only way to straighten your attitude was your academics. Your punishment—" she narrowed her eyes, "—is to be expelled and transferred to a Muggle school, if you break even a single rule this year. No buts, Miss Evans," she warned, for Lily had opened her mouth to protest.

"That is all. You may go down to the Feast."

Numb with the impact of their punishment, the four slowly made their way to the door. None of them could find the will to speak. Remus, however, wanted to know who informed the teachers of what they did. At first, the idea of the Slytherins being tattletales was laughable. But, if they knew what the outcome would be, then maybe it was Snape who did it. Then again…

Remus spun around. "Er, Professor? Can I ask you something?"

Professor McGonagall was just heading to the door herself. "Yes, Lupin. But do hurry, the Sorting must be over. The Headmaster is expecting us."

"Well, if you don't mind my asking, who--who exactly told you of—of what we did?" Remus said almost timidly.

There was a strange look on Professor McGonagall's face. It wasn't sadness…pity, maybe? Remus couldn't be too sure. "If you really want to know…You deserve to, I suppose. It was Peter Pettigrew."

Sirius's eyes flashed, James was shaking his head, Lily looked horrified, and Remus had a disbelieving expression on his face.

"But, it can't be Peter, Professor," James said.

"Why can't it be, Potter?"

"Well, for one, he's our friend, and—and he…" James trailed off. "It's just…hard to believe that he'll do something like this."

"Whatever the reason, I believe that Pettigrew acted for the best. You might think he had betrayed you in some way, but someday you'll thank him for making you better students. Now please, go down to the Feast." She gestured at the door, but none of them moved. Sighing, she swept past them and left the room.

When she had gone, the four burst out of the room with different reactions.

"Can you believe what that—that telltale coward did?" Sirius said angrily, his voice shaking with rage.

James looked doubtful. "I don't know, Sirius, maybe the Slytherins threatened him to tell on us. You know how scared he is of them…"

Lily, like Sirius, wasn't taking it very well. "Honestly, James, you are so naïve," she snapped. "People betray their friends everyday. Unless you're on your toes all the time, you'll end up with nothing."

"Well, what about you?" James shot back. "Just hours ago you were saying that we should give him a chance."

"I would've forgiven him too, James," Remus said quietly. "But when it comes to my punishment, I can't ever think of forgetting what he did to us."

"He cost you your position at Quidditch, Jamie," Sirius argued. "Face it. That idiot is a back-stabbing traitor who doesn't even have the guts to tell us to our face that he abhors us."

"Abhors us? That's a little over the edge, Sirius," James said.

"Uh-huh. Just think about what he did, and it'll dawn on you that you don't need a worthless git for a friend. Especially when you have other, better ones," Sirius said, glowering.

Remus sighed. "Let's just go and eat dinner, then have a good sleep, okay you guys? We'll settle this in the morning." He started walking down the long corridor, and the others fell into step behind him.

"I can't go to sleep in the dormitory with him on the bed right beside mine," Sirius bristled. "If only you were a boy, Lil…"

Lily stopped. "Don't sweat it. I am not sleeping in a boys' dormitory." She seemed to be thinking about something. "Besides, isn't that against the rules?"

Sirius looked at James. "See? If Peter didn't tell on us, we wouldn't have to scrutinize every move we make. We wouldn't be having this conversation now, and we wouldn't be walking down this very corridor talking behind his back. We wouldn't—"

"Oh, just shut up, Sirius," Lily said. "We'll clobber him, or hex him, or turn him into a cockroach and step on him. Tomorrow. I can't deal with this tonight."

"I thought you act best with angry adrenaline," Remus stated. "What's with the super-calm facade?"

Lily looked up at the ceiling, as if willing her friends to act normally and think straight. "There's a distinct difference between super-calm and tired. Look it up." With that, she entered the Great Hall, unaware of (or at least ignoring) the whispers that followed her, in the case of the Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws; and the catcalls and insults thrown at her from the Slytherin table.

Professor McGonagall was watching the door with beady eyes. She averted her gaze once Remus, James and Sirius entered and resumed her conversation with Professor Gilchrist, the Astronomy teacher. Professor Gilchrist laughed as Professor McGonagall told her something, and the teachers sitting near them smiled. McGonagall herself settled for a thin smile, which, normally, translated that she was amused.

Sirius eyed the High Table with contempt. "Wonder what's so funny up there. I mean, you wouldn't know that she just practically threatened to ruin our lives five minutes ago," he said bitterly.

"Don't worry Sirius, all we have to do is to be like everyone else and stay out of trouble for the school year." Remus sat down on a seat next to Lily.

"Yeah, right. That'll be fun," Sirius said sarcastically.

They looked back at the High Table, this time at Professor Ridgewood. He was arguing with the Headmaster about something. Dumbledore looked calm and started reasoning with Ridgewood. He abruptly ended the conversation with a dismissive wave of his hand. Ridgewood had the look of loathing on his face that he usually gave to James or Sirius in particular. The other Gryffindors received a less harsh glare.

"Shouldn't Ridgewood be ecstatic that we've been sentenced the biggest punishments in our lives?" Lily muttered to them.

James took the seat next to Sirius. As he plopped onto his chair, he noticed the person opposite him. "Peter?"

Peter looked up, and his eyes darted to Sirius's angry face.

"You!" Sirius snarled. He made to lunge at Peter's neck and choke him, but Lily held him back.

"Sirius! We'll deal with this later," she hissed, pulling him back by his robes, but all the same, she shot Peter a scathing glare. Peter cringed and moved his chair backward.

James glanced anxiously at the High Table. Nobody seemed to have noticed anything. "Sirius, just forget about this for one night. Maybe we'll plot ways to embarrass Snape later in the dormitory."

Sirius gave Peter the look of death. If looks could kill, James thought, then Peter would drop dead this very second.

"It'll be useless anyway," Sirius said loudly. "Because of Peter, we can't have any more fun this year."

Peter pretended to be totally enthralled with a conversation about life as a prefect with Arthur Weasley. He ignored Sirius, but there was a look of fear in his eyes that betrayed him.

All through the Feast, not one of them could find anything to say, unless it had something to do with the words 'Peter,' 'punishment,' and 'betrayal.' By the time the desserts disappeared, the four friends could only think of one logical solution to end their misery.

After Dumbledore said his after-Feast speech and the students had trickled out of the Great Hall, Sirius led the group up to the High Table where the teachers still sat chatting energetically. Professor Ridgewood looked up as they approached, and his lips curled into an ugly sneer. "Potter, Black, Lupin and Evans. The Headmaster specifically told the students that it is time to get back to the dormitories."

"Yeah, we've been informed all right, but I don't remember a school rule in Hogwarts, A History that states that when the Headmaster specifically tells us to get back to our dormitories, we will be reprimanded by a professor." Sirius said offhandedly. James stepped on his foot. "Ow! What'd you do that for?" Sirius said furiously.

"Don't push it," James hissed back. He bent his head slightly in Dumbledore's direction.

Professor McGonagall wasn't as suspicious. "Who do you want to talk to, you four?" she asked kindly.

"Professor Dumbledore," James said at once.

Professor McGonagall raised her eyebrows. Professor Kettleburn chuckled. The other teachers avoided looking at each other, it seemed that if they did, they would burst out laughing.

"Somebody call me?" Dumbledore said mildly. His eyes fell on the four friends.

"Um, yes, Professor," Lily said nervously. The only times she had talked to the Headmaster were when the four of them were in serious trouble. She only hoped he wasn't going to get mad at them. "See, we think that—"

"Professor, it's not fair," Sirius burst out. "I mean, why do we have to lose our positions at Quidditch—"

"Don't you know what'll happen to me if everyone finds out about what I am?" Remus said angrily.

"What about my parents?" Lily interjected. "Do you know what they'll say when I have to go to a Muggle school? I'll have to repeat the last three grades! You wouldn't know what it's like to be the only teenager in a classroom full of eleven-year-olds!"

All non-Muggles that were present (which accounted to everybody else in the room) looked blankly at Lily after this outburst. Dumbledore, on the other hand, didn't look confused at all. His blue eyes twinkled, the way they always did when he was amused.

"And what about your complaint, Mr. Potter? Is there anything you want to tell me?" he said quietly.

James's eyes dropped to the floor. "Uh, not much," he mumbled. "Just that I'll lose the family heirloom that my dad promised he'd give me when I won the Quidditch Cup this year."

"What! You don't mean your dad's Invisib—" Sirius started in a revolted voice, but Lily stepped on his other foot (the one James didn't stomp on). "Ouch! What is with you people and flattening my feet?!" He clutched his throbbing foot in his hands, hopping around on the spot.

"You people?" James said with raised eyebrows.

"Lovers," Sirius muttered vaguely. Both Lily and James stepped on his already injured feet. "OUCH!" Sirius shut his mouth and edged away from his friends, swearing under his breath. Professor Altrow of Arithmancy let out a laugh. Like rapidly spreading fire, the other professors started chortling and giggling. Dumbledore himself was chuckling merrily.

"They've gone mad," James observed.

"What's so hilarious about you two treading on Sirius's feet?" Remus asked, dumbfounded.

"Maybe it's our magnetic personalities," answered Lily sarcastically. She elbowed James. "You should become a clown, Jamie, you'd look good with a big red nose and a frilly polka-dotted costume with big shoes."

"Well, if you were the one with that costume, then Snape would be overjoyed. He needs a partner," James retorted.

Lily whacked the side of James's head. "Ow! First Sirius, now me. Girls are just so vicious," James said with gritted teeth.

"And there'll be more of that if you don't stop with your wiseass remarks," Lily replied, going back to observing their insane teachers.

"WHAT"S SO FUNNY?" Sirius yelled at the top of his lungs.

His question was pointless; they only laughed harder. "I give up, I'm going to bed," Remus said resignedly, just as Sirius was shouting, "My Quidditch career is at stake here, and all you lot can do is snigger like a bunch of crazed lun—?!"

"Yes, Mr. Black, I think that is enough," Dumbledore stepped in. He wasn't chuckling anymore, but his eyes were still sparkling. He gestured for the teachers to stop, and the laughter died away instantly. The only one who didn't laugh at all was Professor Ridgewood, who had his arms crossed and was wearing a frown.

"Er—Sorry Professor," Sirius mumbled.

"Apology accepted. Now, Mr. Black, and you three," he added, eyeing Lily, James and Remus. "We have heard—"

"From Peter Pettigrew, in fact," Sirius interrupted.

Dumbledore stared at him inquisitively, but didn't comment. "Indeed, it was Mr. Pettigrew that was responsible, yet he was only concerned for you four, in case you had other ideas. To continue, Peter told us about your four-to-three duel with Mr. Snape and his friends—"

"Actually, sir, it was a one-sided duel," James corrected automatically.

This time Dumbledore stared intently at him. "I had guessed so, considering your record. And your cleverness, yes, that must not be overlooked…"

The four just stared back at him, wondering where this was going.

"But what about our sentences?" Sirius complained. "That's injustice, clause five of paragraph two of page seven of chapter nine: Underage Wizards' Rights in the International Wizards' Constitution clearly states that no man or woman, Muggle or wizard, should give excessive orders against any child's will. Clause seven of paragraph nine says that no full-grown Muggle or wizard should stand in the way of an underage wizard's career. A whole page is devoted to Muggle-born witches and wizards' connection to the wizarding world, and nobody but their parents could decide which lifestyle would be better for them—"

"Whoa. Since when did you memorize the whole Constitution?" James asked in an amazed tone.

"I can be diligent when I want to. When it comes to my rights, I will do what I have to do to be treated justly and—"

"Blah, blah, blah," Remus said, rolling his eyes and eliciting a laugh from Sirius.

"Impressive, Mr. Black. Yes, all your statements were correct, there were several cases in the past century concerning those very subjects…"

"Then why are you doing this to us, if you know it's wrong?" Sirius asked shrewdly.

The amusement in Dumbledore's eyes didn't fade. "Well, when we heard of your most recent attempt to cause trouble was successful, we were stumped to think of a suitable punishment—"

"That's why you decided to break the law?" Sirius interjected.

"No, Mr. Black. Professor McGonagall told me that it would be quite amusing to see your reactions when you were told of the worst possible consequences to your behavior…" The other teachers started to chuckle again.

"What do you mean by that?" Remus asked suspiciously.

"The staff agreed that it was a good idea to give you a taste of your own medicine," Dumbledore said with a smile. "I will not deny that your reactions were indeed entertaining, as Professor McGonagall kindly recounted to us. I myself had no idea how good her acting abilities are."

"You mean-you mean this is just a big joke?" Lily asked, dismayed. The staff howled with laughter.

"Partly it was Professor Ridgewood's idea, he was the one who thought of your punishments, though he seemed a bit disappointed…" He glanced around. Professor Ridgewood had left. "I guess he didn't want to watch us deliver the punch line."

"Punch line?" James said, open-mouthed.

"It's good to finally get back at you," said Professor McGonagall.

"Wait a minute…" Remus trailed off.

"You tricked us!" Sirius said angrily. The staff laughed again. "Yeah, yeah, that was really funny," he muttered. Even his friends were smiling. Though he had to admit, it was the first time that their teachers had tricked them. Without realizing it, he started to laugh too.

"But you will have detention," Professor McGonagall warned. "Clean all the bleachers in the Quidditch field. Without magic," she added.

The four groaned. His friends behind him, Sirius stepped up to ask their Head of House a question. "Professor M., why do we have to clean the bleachers? It's not even Quidditch season yet," he pointed out shrewdly.

"Yeah," James said, nodding. Maybe there was a way out of this.

Professor McGonagall smiled. "You might be glad for it, Black. Sibyll Trelawney has predicted that the first Quidditch match, more specifically, Gryffindor versus Slytherin, will be disrupted due to a thunderstorm—"

"But Quidditch matches can't be called off just because of that," Sirius argued.

Professor McGonagall's nostrils flared. "Yes, well, you know Professor Trelawney. Sometimes she's a little…out there." The four friends grinned to one another. "And she said that lightning would be flitting through the sky every few minutes at that time—most irregular. If she's wrong, then I guess we'll just be thankful that we didn't have to have a match in those conditions. I believe your probability in catching the Snitch first is better in good weather, Potter?" she asked him.

"Well, who would say they could see better through rain, anyway?" Sirius said without thinking.

Professor McGonagall leveled him with a glare. "I might remind you, Black, that you direct the Bludgers in every direction, whether or not it is an opponent or a teammate that you hit. Your detention will be Wednesday next week, at 8:00 p.m. No magic, Black," she reminded. "Is that clear?"

Sirius crossed his fingers behind his back. "Sure thing, Professor. Quidditch field at eight o'clock, no magic. Scout's honor," he added, holding up his other hand as if to pledge something. "We'll go back to the dormitories now."

They hurried out of the Hall. "So, tell me, what are you planning?" James asked him.

"What gives you the idea that I was going to plan something?" Sirius said.

"Because you wouldn't say scout's honor and cross your fingers behind your back for nothing. Good enough?" James answered with a smirk.

"Yeah, well, I'm not a scout anyway, so I don't have to keep that promise," Sirius replied.

"I know that, but what are we going to do next Wednesday?" Lily asked impatiently.

"Don't worry about it," Sirius said with an evil smile. "We're going to do something to get back to the teachers…"