Chapter 5 - The first target
The next day James awoke to the sound of rather noisy, excited chatter from the other boys in his dormitory. He now knew that Sirius had a brother, Regulus who was younger than he was. He was 8 (just like Cara) but he and he had three, large black dogs. His favourite Quidditch team was the Chudley Cannons and he liked causing trouble. About Remus he still knew very little. He was a bit of a mystery.
They dressed and followed the crowd making their way downstairs to the Great Hall for breakfast. James concentrated on the walls, suits of armour, doors and paintings, he needed to learn where everything was, he didn't want to get lost, especially if he was going to be able to cause trouble. He mentioned this to the others, who were in complete agreement (except maybe for Peter, who looked petrified at the very thought). Sirius and Remus, however seemed to be up for causing as much chaos as possible, and as luck would have it, their first target presented itself that morning at breakfast, in the form of a Slytherin named Severus Snape. It was the same Slytherin, in fact who had tried to curse Remus on the train the previous day.
As they ate breakfast at the Gryffindor table, eagerly anticipating the start of lessons, a group of 1st year Slytherin boys came in. In the lead was the slimy looking boy, quite tall for his age and skinny, with a curtain of greasy black hair and a distinctly large, hooked nose. He shot a disdainful look at the Gryffindor table before settling himself down on the Slytherin table. Remus leaned towards Sirius and James and hissed "Did you see that?" "Yeah," James whispered, "but what should we do about it?" "I dunno, suppose we'll have to think of something." Replied Sirius in an undertone. Snape was looking over at them, suspiciously. Sirius smiled innocently at him. "Better be careful, though," said Peter, he sounded terrified "I've heard he knows more curses than most of the 6th years, and we don't know any magic yet." "Speak for yourself" snorted Sirius, "I know a few useful little spells myself, and some of them are a bit dodgy, my father taught me." "I know a really good one!" Exclaimed Remus suddenly. It was a bit weird for Remus to be so emphatic that the others agreed at once, without even knowing what they were agreeing to.
First lesson that day was potions, and very luckily for Remus, it was with the Slytherins. James was very interested to see what Remus would do. Sirius was beside himself with glee at the thought of the very first practical joke. Peter, on the other hand looked absolutely petrified. He was muttering under his breath and James kept hearing little snatches of it, things like "Expelled, first day, dangerous." And so on. James flashed him a grin and put a hand on his shoulder reassuringly, although he was privately thinking that he should go and find himself some other friends if he didn't like what they were doing. James was very pleased with his new found friends, they'd been at school one night and already they were plotting together to cause trouble, he couldn't imagine a better group of friends (with the exception of Peter, who, lets face it, was a bit of a wet blanket).
They sat down with their brand new cauldrons near to the back of the room in what was plainly the Gryffindor side of the room, as all the Slytherin students had seated themselves together at the other side. Remus seemed to be making sure he had a clear view of Snape. James tore his attention away from Remus and Snape, he didn't want to look too suspicious, and focused it at the teacher at the front. She was a tall woman, with dark hair, a button nose and eyes so brown they were almost black. She would have been quite good looking if the look on her face didn't suggest that the class were all insects under a rock or something. "Good morning class, I am Professor Mechante. I am responsible for teaching you the art of Potion making. In this class you will learn how to make sleeping potions, poisons, antidotes and many other things besides. However, first things first, the register." She called the register, looking up after every name to see their face, surveying them thoughtfully, as though assessing their potential. Most didn't meet her gaze; she did look slightly alarming. Peter looked at the desk and even whimpered when she look over at him. James, on the other hand met her eyes almost defiantly. For a split second he thought he saw a flicker of approval flash across her eyes, but it disappeared so suddenly that James decided he must have imagined it.
Professor Mechante set them to work on a simple cure for boils. They were in pairs, James was working with Peter, which was perhaps lucky, because Peter seemed to go to pieces at the thought of making a potion and always wanted to add the wrong thing at the wrong time. Fortunately James found it fairly easy and he was managing to keep Peter right and keep half an eye on what was going on in the rest of the room. They were sat behind Remus and Sirius and that meant they had a good view of the action. Remus seemed to be waiting for something, Sirius was elbowing him to make him hurry up, and Remus hissed back 'not yet'. Then, someone at the front of the room melted their cauldron, and while Professor Mechante hurried to them, and everyone around them climbed onto chairs to escape being covered with boils (like the poor girl at the front who'd obviously made a mistake with her potion) Remus pointed his wand at Snape and muttered 'waddiwassi'. All of a sudden, the horned slug that Snape had just added to his potion shot out of the cauldron and straight up his huge crooked nose!
James thought his ribs were going to explode with silent laughter as he heard Snape's yelp of pain. He tried to look innocent and was looking all around the room for the culprit just like everyone else. His eyes fell on Lily, who was grinning at him. 'She knows' he thought, 'how on earth could she know'. He caught Remus' eye, he was looking very smug through his innocent expression and as for Sirius, no one could have looked more delighted. Remus kicked him under the table; he did look quite suspicious. Professor Mechante sent Snape and the girl with the boils off to the Hospital wing and then scanned the room in search of the culprit. James, expecting her to have a go at the class for disrupting their first lesson, tried to force his face into an innocently curious expression. Then, most surprisingly, she smiled at the class. Maybe he'd imagined it, but he thought that her gaze had rested on him a little longer than the others. She set them some homework, to read up on potions for healing skin disorders, and dismissed them, still smiling slightly. "It would seem," said James, incredulously on the way out "that our teacher had a sense of humour." They set off for their next class.
The next day James awoke to the sound of rather noisy, excited chatter from the other boys in his dormitory. He now knew that Sirius had a brother, Regulus who was younger than he was. He was 8 (just like Cara) but he and he had three, large black dogs. His favourite Quidditch team was the Chudley Cannons and he liked causing trouble. About Remus he still knew very little. He was a bit of a mystery.
They dressed and followed the crowd making their way downstairs to the Great Hall for breakfast. James concentrated on the walls, suits of armour, doors and paintings, he needed to learn where everything was, he didn't want to get lost, especially if he was going to be able to cause trouble. He mentioned this to the others, who were in complete agreement (except maybe for Peter, who looked petrified at the very thought). Sirius and Remus, however seemed to be up for causing as much chaos as possible, and as luck would have it, their first target presented itself that morning at breakfast, in the form of a Slytherin named Severus Snape. It was the same Slytherin, in fact who had tried to curse Remus on the train the previous day.
As they ate breakfast at the Gryffindor table, eagerly anticipating the start of lessons, a group of 1st year Slytherin boys came in. In the lead was the slimy looking boy, quite tall for his age and skinny, with a curtain of greasy black hair and a distinctly large, hooked nose. He shot a disdainful look at the Gryffindor table before settling himself down on the Slytherin table. Remus leaned towards Sirius and James and hissed "Did you see that?" "Yeah," James whispered, "but what should we do about it?" "I dunno, suppose we'll have to think of something." Replied Sirius in an undertone. Snape was looking over at them, suspiciously. Sirius smiled innocently at him. "Better be careful, though," said Peter, he sounded terrified "I've heard he knows more curses than most of the 6th years, and we don't know any magic yet." "Speak for yourself" snorted Sirius, "I know a few useful little spells myself, and some of them are a bit dodgy, my father taught me." "I know a really good one!" Exclaimed Remus suddenly. It was a bit weird for Remus to be so emphatic that the others agreed at once, without even knowing what they were agreeing to.
First lesson that day was potions, and very luckily for Remus, it was with the Slytherins. James was very interested to see what Remus would do. Sirius was beside himself with glee at the thought of the very first practical joke. Peter, on the other hand looked absolutely petrified. He was muttering under his breath and James kept hearing little snatches of it, things like "Expelled, first day, dangerous." And so on. James flashed him a grin and put a hand on his shoulder reassuringly, although he was privately thinking that he should go and find himself some other friends if he didn't like what they were doing. James was very pleased with his new found friends, they'd been at school one night and already they were plotting together to cause trouble, he couldn't imagine a better group of friends (with the exception of Peter, who, lets face it, was a bit of a wet blanket).
They sat down with their brand new cauldrons near to the back of the room in what was plainly the Gryffindor side of the room, as all the Slytherin students had seated themselves together at the other side. Remus seemed to be making sure he had a clear view of Snape. James tore his attention away from Remus and Snape, he didn't want to look too suspicious, and focused it at the teacher at the front. She was a tall woman, with dark hair, a button nose and eyes so brown they were almost black. She would have been quite good looking if the look on her face didn't suggest that the class were all insects under a rock or something. "Good morning class, I am Professor Mechante. I am responsible for teaching you the art of Potion making. In this class you will learn how to make sleeping potions, poisons, antidotes and many other things besides. However, first things first, the register." She called the register, looking up after every name to see their face, surveying them thoughtfully, as though assessing their potential. Most didn't meet her gaze; she did look slightly alarming. Peter looked at the desk and even whimpered when she look over at him. James, on the other hand met her eyes almost defiantly. For a split second he thought he saw a flicker of approval flash across her eyes, but it disappeared so suddenly that James decided he must have imagined it.
Professor Mechante set them to work on a simple cure for boils. They were in pairs, James was working with Peter, which was perhaps lucky, because Peter seemed to go to pieces at the thought of making a potion and always wanted to add the wrong thing at the wrong time. Fortunately James found it fairly easy and he was managing to keep Peter right and keep half an eye on what was going on in the rest of the room. They were sat behind Remus and Sirius and that meant they had a good view of the action. Remus seemed to be waiting for something, Sirius was elbowing him to make him hurry up, and Remus hissed back 'not yet'. Then, someone at the front of the room melted their cauldron, and while Professor Mechante hurried to them, and everyone around them climbed onto chairs to escape being covered with boils (like the poor girl at the front who'd obviously made a mistake with her potion) Remus pointed his wand at Snape and muttered 'waddiwassi'. All of a sudden, the horned slug that Snape had just added to his potion shot out of the cauldron and straight up his huge crooked nose!
James thought his ribs were going to explode with silent laughter as he heard Snape's yelp of pain. He tried to look innocent and was looking all around the room for the culprit just like everyone else. His eyes fell on Lily, who was grinning at him. 'She knows' he thought, 'how on earth could she know'. He caught Remus' eye, he was looking very smug through his innocent expression and as for Sirius, no one could have looked more delighted. Remus kicked him under the table; he did look quite suspicious. Professor Mechante sent Snape and the girl with the boils off to the Hospital wing and then scanned the room in search of the culprit. James, expecting her to have a go at the class for disrupting their first lesson, tried to force his face into an innocently curious expression. Then, most surprisingly, she smiled at the class. Maybe he'd imagined it, but he thought that her gaze had rested on him a little longer than the others. She set them some homework, to read up on potions for healing skin disorders, and dismissed them, still smiling slightly. "It would seem," said James, incredulously on the way out "that our teacher had a sense of humour." They set off for their next class.