THREE: FIGHT IN THE STANDS
Professor Janilla landed on the ground with a soft bump, dropped his broomstick on the grass, and ran towards the stands. James looked up in bewilderment at a large riot erupting in the benches. Eventually, the rest of the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff team brought their brooms to the ground and stood there, confused. Chris, Terry, Warren, and Karen ran over to James, who presented the Snitch to the captain.
"What happened?" asked Warren slowly.
Karen shrugged, and reported what she saw in a rush. "I saw a Gryffindor sixth year look up at the sky, and just sort of started crying or yelling, or both, or something, and then a Slytherin, I think sixth year, ran over to him and a couple other Gryffindors, and then the Slytherin started hitting the shorter Gryffindor, then there were some more Slytherins, and then there was just a big fight all of a sudden."
James's stomach reeled. "Do you remember who did what? Exactly?"
Terry stepped foward. "I recognize them...That Slytherin was Severus Snape. And the kid who got punched, that was Pettigrew–"
"Peter Pettigrew?" cried James.
"How many Pettigrews do you think we have at Hogwarts, James?" responded Terry, annoyed.
"And the person right next to the screaming guy, what's his name, that was Sirius, Sirius Black, I believe," continued Karen for him.
James stared up again at the fight in the stands, now being broke apart by a few of the braver Professors. His heart did a triple flip. If Peter and Sirius were defending someone from Snape, someone who started yelling in agony and despair at the sky...it had to be someone who totally changed when the sky was right...someone who knew what would happen, tonight....
"Moony," he whispered painfully. He watched, feeling helpless, the riot eventually break down with the help of Professor Janilla. He had a mean grip and pulled the worst fighters apart, and Professor Sinistra of Astronomy placed clever freezing charms on whole swarms of people and separated them. At last, James spied Remus being carried off to Madame Pomfrey on a stretcher, Peter limping behind with a hand over a bruised black eye, and Sirius with fists clenched and jaw jut out. James threw off his Quidditch robes, tossed them to Chris, and ran up to the line of injured students.