Chapter Ten:
Prongs
As James slowed his descent, nearing the ground, he heard a yell.
"Sirius!" He thought. It was faint, but accompanied by plenty of other strange noises coming from the forest. He quickly gathered his wand, pocketing Lestrange's also. He got a running start, leapt onto the school broom, and flew off towards the forest. Before he got there, however, he was greeted by the others.
"James! I think Sirius is in trouble!" Yelled Mary.
"Let's go!" Said James quickly. He pointed to Peter.
"Peter, my broom!" Peter quickly tossed the broom, which was actually Remus's, to him.
"Come on!" He yelled. He and Remus shot off quickly into the forest on their Thunderbolts, followed by Lily and Mary on the slower school brooms. The two raced side by side through the forest, expertly dodging trees and branches.
"It's a dragon!" Yelled Remus, pointing.
"It's Sirius!" Shouted James.
"Ferio!" They yelled in unison. The two blasts struck the dragon in the back, knocking him forward. It turned to face them. It belched a huge blue fireball at them. They parted, and it sailed between them.
James and Remus circled the beast, battering it with Ferius Spells. In a few moments, before it could do anything more, Lily and Mary arrived as well. Despite the added force, however, the beast simply ignored them and turned again to Sirius. Or to Firmus?
It reared back for another. Sirius feebly conjured another shield. He looked as if he might faint.
"Wallo!" The four shouted. The shield became thick and bright white, and the fire was easily quelled. Sirius fell backwards.
"Sirius!" Yelled Mary. She flew in behind the magical shield. Dismounting, she patted him on the face.
"Sirius! Sirius, are you okay? Wake up!" He was out cold. Another fireball struck the shield.
"Mary watch out!" The dragon leapt at them. James flew in fast and jumped onto the dragon's head. It quickly bucked him off. It rested its foot on the magical shield, and perched over the three.
"MARY!" Lily shrilly screamed. James got to his feet. Pulling out Lestrange's wand, he pointed it and his own at the dragon.
"Ablego!" Roared James. With the force of two wands, the dragon was lifted over top of them and flung back, into a tree again. He immediately felt fatigued. They were all using powerful, advanced spells against this dragon. They couldn't hold out much longer.
"Lily! Mary! Take Sirius and Firmus back to the castle and get help! I'll distract the dragon!" Said James.
"Me too!" Yelled Remus, still on his broom. He shot at it. He zoomed around it, circling tightly and avoiding its claws.
"Go!" James yelled. Lily flew down to them. "Here! My broom!" James said. He tossed his broom to Lily. She gave it to Sirius, who had regained consciousness.
He lethargically mounted it and began to levitate slowly. Mary and Lily grabbed him under the arms and they floated up.
"Mobilicorpus!" Said Lily, magicking Firmus into the air. The odd party slowly flew above the tree line, and away towards the castle. James noted in which direction they flew, because that would be the way to the castle.
"James!" Yelled Remus. The beast was now very nearly hitting Remus. James pocketed Lestrange's wand and pointed his own at the dragon. He stalled. He had...no idea what spell to use. The Ferius Spell had been having no effect. He didn't have the energy left for anything else. Remus darted past the dragon and down to James.
"Do you have any idea what to use?" Remus asked panting. The dragon turned to them.
"Think fast!" Said James. It cocked its head slightly. It crouched.
"It's going to do something..." Remus whimpered. Suddenly, it shot upward out of the forest. The two immediately crouched and looked up, expecting it to come down on them. It shot away, towards the castle.
"Sirius and the others!" Shouted James.
"Let's go!" Yelled Remus, and he flew off quickly. James was alone in the Forbidden Forest. He dashed off as fast as he could. He tripped over his Quidditch robes. In a hurry, he ripped them off and left them in a scarlet heap. Down to jeans and a white shirt, he continued to run on. When he made it out of the forest, they group was over the lake. They were moving slowly, and the dragon was approaching. From a distance he saw Remus fly near to the dragon. It swatted him away, and he fell into the lake. James saw his Thunderbolt break into pieces.
"Remus!" James yelled. He saw Remus surface. He was alright. James looked at the chase. He couldn't catch up. The dragon was going to catch them. James immediately knew what to do.
"Existo mens cervus! Existo celeritas cervus!" Suddenly James felt himself grow taller, and leaner. He could see things more clearly. His sense of hearing heightened. He bounded forth.
James ran so fast he felt constantly that he would fall forward and roll on the ground. But he didn't, rather he simply accelerated the more he went. He looked up. They had passed over the lake, and were approaching the castle. James didn't have time to go around. He planted his foot firmly on the ridge and leapt up.
Being in training to become a stag, James never thought he would feel like flying. And yet, he shot into the air like he was propelled from a cannon. He looked down as he arced and began to come down.
"Remus!" He yelled. Remus was getting out of the lake just now, right where James would be landing. Remus looked up, then arced his body back to see James. In one fluid motion he continued backward and dove into the lake.
James landed hard, stumbled slightly, then continued with his previous celerity. He came to the castle door. Looking up, Mary and Lily had flown them over the castle. The dragon followed.
"No!" He shouted. He couldn't follow them there. He raced into the castle.
He dashed across the Entrance Hall and up the steps. He stopped. His head shot back and forth between his possible routes. He quickly decided and ran towards a staircase. He bounded steps at a time, and came to the landing. Continuing fluidly, he ran up the wall, back down again, and up the next set of stairs.
He sighted a few figures.
"HELP!" He yelled. They turned around. Just students. They couldn't help. He began bounding another set of steps when it began to shift. He couldn't wait. He got up on the railing and jumped from it to another moving staircase. He slid down its railing, and into the corridor.
"HELP!" He shouted again. There was no one. He continued at his rapid pace. The sound of his feet striking hard against the stone floor reverberated loudly. He looked around him, seeing he was in the Defense against the Dark Arts corridor. He sighted a familiar window.
He pointed his wand at it.
"Expositus!" The window opened hard. James leapt straight out it. He held his hand up, and caught the upper edge of the window frame. He swung on it, his momentum carrying him upward. He kicked off the wall and leapt onto one of the castle buttresses. He gripped the invisible rungs on the side of the buttresses, which the group had discovered as a shortcut much earlier in the year, and quickly began to climb. He heard the roar of the dragon.
"HELP!" Came desperate shouts. He kept on climbing beyond the normal get-off point, higher and higher up the castle. Upon passing another floor, he saw someone. He punched straight through the window and stuck his head in.
"HELP!" He screamed. It was a professor that he didn't know. He ran to the window.
"What is it?" The professor yelled.
"There's...there's a dragon! It's chasing my friends!" He nodded vaguely, and quickly ran off. He'll go get help, thought James. He continued to climb. By the time he made it to the roof, they had all landed on it.
The dragon had them all near the ledge of the roof, with Firmus still lying unconscious, behind Sirius, Lily, and Mary. They had their wands pointed. A recently conjured shield was fading. They looked tired.
Forgetting his wand, James leapt onto the roof and dashed straight for the dragon.
"JAMES! NO!" Screamed Lily. The dragon turned to face James. James left his feet. In a move unexpected by everyone, including James, he put his head down and smashed it into the dragon's chest. More surprisingly, it was knocked onto its back, and James remained standing. He stood tall.
In that moment Lily saw James in a light she never had. He was the funniest boy she knew, a silly prankster, who, despite being a top student, seemingly took nothing seriously, even his own grades at times. Yet despite it all, he always got high marks on everything he did. It seemed that he could be silly, and yet have everything easily.
But just then, James wasn't silly at all. Instead he stood tall, ferociously defensive of his friends. His face radiated sobriety the likes of which Lily had never seen.
The dragon got up, thrashing about wildly. It stopped concentrating Firmus. It turned to James. It dove at him.
James jumped up, and again headbutted the beast. He brought his head down on its upper jaw, slamming its mouth shut with a sickening clamp. Still in the air, James kicked upward, knocking its head backward. Landing on his feet, he drew both wands again.
"Ablego!" He shouted, and the dragon was hurled off the tower. James fell to the ground.
"James!" Lily shouted. She ran to him. But the dragon didn't fall long. After a moment, it regained its composure and flew back up to the tower, perching on the side.
"Where is that professor?" James asked aloud. The dragon dove again. James grabbed Lily and leapt to one side. James over-estimated the length of the roof, however, and slid off the edge. Kicking out, he threw Lily as hard as he could, barely keeping her on the roof. He didn't fall long either, however, and landed on another nearby tower.
He landed on his feet and looked up at the tower. Surely, now, the dragon would destroy them all. But its pride saved them. The dragon jumped into the air, extending its wings to their full span and soaring over.
Releasing blue fiery breath as it dove, the dragon shot straight downward towards James. He leapt across the tower, as the dragon quickly spun and landed on its feet. The impact cracked the brick of the battlement.
Surely, thought James, someone has got to have heard! What has that professor been doing?
"GO!" He shouted to Lily on the tower above. She nodded, and gathered Firmus, and the four of them flew off in the opposite direction, and downward towards the castle entrance. The dragon finally forgot about James, and shot back towards the others.
"What does that thing want with them?" James yelled. Before the dragon could lift off, he ran forward and jumped onto its back. Reaching around its neck, he held on tightly. This was no broomstick.
It bucked left and right, trying to rid itself of James. But he held on. Still holding on, he crouched so that his feet were flat on the dragon's back. Pulling back and pushing down with his feet, he flipped the dragon around.
The dragon thrashed again so wildly that James was almost thrown off. He fell back, but held onto the tail. It whipped dangerously weighted down by James. The dragon couldn't get him off, however. It changed direction 180 degrees, now going straight up. The rapid change nearly lost James, but he simply slid down the tail, cutting his fingers on its sharp ridges.
The dragon smashed into the top of the original tower. James finally fell just as it hit the side, rolling over and landing flat on the top. James thought he might fall to his death then, but he barely gripped the edge of the tower. He heard the beast shriek loudly. There was a bang, and a hissing sound. Then,
Tff. Tpp. Clunk. Tff tpp clunk. Krupp. James could hold on no longer. His fingers slipped, and he fell. He was held up again, however, when his shirt caught an odd, jagged protrusion. It began to tear immediately. He saw Krupp come to the edge, and look down.
This is it, thought James. He's got no reason to save me. No one had to know I was here. The shirt will snap and he will allow me to fall. He will tell Dumbledore he arrived to late, and that no one could have saved me. There's no reason for him not to.
Krupp pulled his wand out, and pointed it at James.