Chapter 9 - The Whomping Willow
As much as he knew he was going to miss his parents (and especially Cara) over the holidays, James decided to stay at Hogwarts over the holidays. The chance to explore the castle and make use of an empty common room was too good to miss. He was very much in the minority though, Peter said his mum wanted him to come home straight away, and Remus said he'd like to stay, but his mother was ill and he needed to take the chance to visit while he could. Sirius however was thinking along the same lines as James. He knew there was fun to be had in a near deserted castle.
James woke up on the first day of the Christmas holidays and went down to the common room. Around him people where bustling around, making sure they had everything they needed before they got on the Hogwarts Express. James and Sirius sauntered down to breakfast taking their time, they were in no rush. They accompanied James and Remus to the front door to say goodbye, "Say hi to your parents for me Peter," James called "I hope your mum gets better soon." Sirius told Remus. "What? Oh, er yeah, thanks. 'Bye." Called Remus. James wasn't the only one who found that response odd. Sirius was looking very puzzled indeed. They waved them off as they got into carriages and watched amazed as they moved off of their own accord, bumping and swaying, one after the other, as though pulled by invisible horses. This very unusual sight quickly made the mystery of Remus' strange response disappear from their heads.
James and Sirius passed the first part of the holidays sitting in the almost deserted common room by day, playing gobstones and exploding snap (and occasionally doing some homework, they might as well have it one when term started) and every evening, when everyone had gone to bed they'd sneak out under James' invisibility cloak to explore the castle. By Christmas Eve, they knew about all the main corridors and rooms, they even knew a few secret ones. "We'll have to tell Remus and Peter when they get back." James said at the end of one particularly fruitful tour of the castle, involving a picture of a one eyed old crone with a hunched back. That one led right out of the castle, it seemed to go on forever and came out in what looked like a cellar. Sirius reckoned it was Honeydukes, the sweet shop in Hogsmeade. James had to take his word for it, because he'd never been to Hogsmeade. Sirius hadn't either, but he said his brothers had told him about it.
Christmas day dawned bright and clear. James opened the curtains and looked out at the grounds. It had snowed that night, and the sun was reflecting off the blanket of white that seemed to cover everything. Even the forbidden forest looked beautiful. He chucked a pillow at Sirius
"Oi, sleepyhead, wake up, you've got presents to unwrap." Sirius got up almost immediately, it seemed the idea of presents was enough to stop him wanting the extra 10 minutes he normally begged for every morning. James laughed at the delighted expression on his face as he looked at his pile of presents and turned his attention to his own little heap.
He had some really great presents; his mum and dad sent him a new, red jumper and a copy of the Daily Prophet newspaper, with information about Puddlemere United's last match. Cara had sent him a box of sweets. James smiled to himself; she'd made them herself. The note said "Come home soon, I miss you big brother." James felt the familiar ache in his stomach; he missed her too. He'd be seeing her soon. He made a mental note to write her a thank you letter very soon and send it with Selene. Maybe that would make her miss him less. There was a bag of dungbombs from Sirius, an ever-bashing boomerang from Remus and a screaming yoyo from Peter. It was a pretty good Christmas, there wasn't much more he could have asked for.
The castle looked beautiful, icicles hung from banisters and the suits of armour around the hall had taken to singing Christmas carols in a tinny sort of tenor. Unfortunately they only knew about half the words. Peeves, the school poltergeist took great pleasure in hiding inside the armour, filling in the gaps with rather rude lyrics of his own invention. James and Sirius found this especially funny. Even better was when the caretaker, an ancient and unpleasantly smelly man called Apollyon Pringle, could be seen clattering around trying to extract him.
Christmas dinner was just amazing. The hall was decorated with 12 Christmas trees decked with real fairies and tiny golden owls, all hooting softly. The sky in the ceiling of the Great Hall was bright and clear, and dry snow was falling gently. When the dinner appeared there was several turkeys, plates of potatoes, vegetables, stuffing and loads of other nice things besides. Christmas pudding followed this almost immediately. All the way through dinner, James heard the occasional loud explosion of a wizard cracker. He himself came away with a pack of exploding snap cards and a clown hat.
After dinner, James and Sirius decided to join in a snowball fight with a couple of the second year Hufflepuffs that had hung around. It was very vicious and James was soaked to the skin within about 10 minutes. It didn't help that someone had put some sort of charm on a couple of the snowballs making them into something like bludgers. They were rocketing around, hitting anyone they could reach. James was more than slightly puzzled by this, as he didn't think anyone present was capable of a charm this complicated. The second year boys, Davey Gudgeon and Cassius Tete were very nice, but not at all bright. He knew it hadn't been Sirius, because he wasn't that good at charms and that was quite a difficult, and he certainly hadn't done it. He looked around, searching for Snape or a mischievous teacher (he thought Professor Mechante was more than likely). He glanced over at the castle and then did a double take. He spotted a pair of brilliant green eyes, a head of deep red hair and a huge grin. 'Lily.' He muttered under his breath, grinning to himself.
He was so deep in thought that he didn't realise that Sirius was trying to get his attention. He was shouting loudly at him from a little way off, and when he realised that didn't work, he made a particularly large, icy snowball and hurled it at the back of James' head.
"Hey, what was that for?" James demanded, angrily rubbing the back of his head. It had hurt. "Look at those twits." Sirius replied, with a snort of laughter, indicating Davey and Cassius.
They were wandering around the Whomping Willow, ducking and crawling below the furiously flailing branches. The Willow was a very recent addition to the Hogwarts ground, the Herbology professor had told them that she was still learning about it. It was an extremely violent tree, and disliked anyone coming anywhere near it. A new game had become rapidly popular among the students, to try and get close enough to touch the trunk. It was very dangerous and incredibly stupid, and James couldn't understand what everyone saw in it. Davey and Cassius seemed to be enjoying themselves though.
All of a sudden, James heard a strangled cry from over by the tree. Davey was lying on the floor, unconscious, with blood all over his face. Sirius' normally rosy cheeks went suddenly pale.
"Go and get Dumbledore," James told him, "Ill get him to the hospital wing." He slapped Cassius round the face (he was more than a little hysterical) and ordered him to get Davey's legs. It was an awkward job, but between them they managed to haul him up to the infirmary quite quickly, Cassius whimpering softly. Dumbledore met them there, looking worried.
"What was he doing?" He demanded of James, who looked to be the only one capable of answering. James told him quickly about the game and about how they had got bored with the snowball fight and decided to try and break the record set by a Slytherin 1st year the previous week. He told him about his and Sirius' part in the incident and Dumbledore looked satisfied.
"Very well Mr. Potter, kindly take Mr. Black to Gryffindor tower and procure him a hot chocolate," his eyes twinkled, he must have known about James' occasional trips to the kitchens for food "I have found that nothing works as well on shock as a hot chocolate and an early night. I think Mr. Tete will need to spend some time here with his friend; he doesn't look at all well. Oh, and 20 points will be given to Gryffindor for your presence of mind."
James was also feeling a bit shocked, so after he'd put Sirius into a chair by the fire and called for someone to watch him, he set off, rather shakily to the kitchens, under the cover of his fantastic cloak returning as quickly as he could with two steaming mugs of hot chocolate and pockets bulging with cream cakes that the house elves had not been able to resist plying him with. He hurried through the portrait hole and plonked himself in the comfy chair next to his unusually quiet and pale best friend and tried to sooth his shattered nerves.
For a while, neither of them spoke. James was reluctant to try and make Sirius talk if he didn't want to, but after a while he spoke or his own accord,
"You know, when I was little, my mum was always telling me to stop or I'd put my eye out. I always thought it was just a threat to stop me playing with the meat cleaver or flying through the forest on my dad's broom." James rolled his eyes "I never thought it could actually happen." He looked rather worried, quite unlike his normal carefree self, "Don't worry Sirius, Davey'll be fine, Madame Pomfrey is wonderful, remember the time she managed to get rid of all those boils Peter got when he accidentally stood on Snape's foot?" Sirius managed a chuckle at the memory of Peter's curse (and the jelly legs curse Sirius had put on Snape in retaliation; he's wobbled about the whole day until one of the 4th years took pity on him and performed the counter curse).
A week later, when everyone had returned from his or her Christmas holidays, Dumbledore stood up at dinner with an unusually grave expression on his face,
"It has recently come to my attention that some of the pupils in this school have become involved in a rather dangerous game that involves tormenting a certain Whomping willow." A few younger pupils shifted in their seats uneasily. "Due to the fact that young Davey Gudgeon almost lost on eye on Christmas day playing that particular game, I must insist that everyone stays away from that tree from now on, or there will be penalties."
The room broke into excited chatter. Most didn't know whether they were worried about Davey's accident or upset that they would no longer be able to play their new game again. Sirius and Peter both looked very relieved at the pronouncement, but Remus, he noticed in surprise, looked unaccountably guilty.
As much as he knew he was going to miss his parents (and especially Cara) over the holidays, James decided to stay at Hogwarts over the holidays. The chance to explore the castle and make use of an empty common room was too good to miss. He was very much in the minority though, Peter said his mum wanted him to come home straight away, and Remus said he'd like to stay, but his mother was ill and he needed to take the chance to visit while he could. Sirius however was thinking along the same lines as James. He knew there was fun to be had in a near deserted castle.
James woke up on the first day of the Christmas holidays and went down to the common room. Around him people where bustling around, making sure they had everything they needed before they got on the Hogwarts Express. James and Sirius sauntered down to breakfast taking their time, they were in no rush. They accompanied James and Remus to the front door to say goodbye, "Say hi to your parents for me Peter," James called "I hope your mum gets better soon." Sirius told Remus. "What? Oh, er yeah, thanks. 'Bye." Called Remus. James wasn't the only one who found that response odd. Sirius was looking very puzzled indeed. They waved them off as they got into carriages and watched amazed as they moved off of their own accord, bumping and swaying, one after the other, as though pulled by invisible horses. This very unusual sight quickly made the mystery of Remus' strange response disappear from their heads.
James and Sirius passed the first part of the holidays sitting in the almost deserted common room by day, playing gobstones and exploding snap (and occasionally doing some homework, they might as well have it one when term started) and every evening, when everyone had gone to bed they'd sneak out under James' invisibility cloak to explore the castle. By Christmas Eve, they knew about all the main corridors and rooms, they even knew a few secret ones. "We'll have to tell Remus and Peter when they get back." James said at the end of one particularly fruitful tour of the castle, involving a picture of a one eyed old crone with a hunched back. That one led right out of the castle, it seemed to go on forever and came out in what looked like a cellar. Sirius reckoned it was Honeydukes, the sweet shop in Hogsmeade. James had to take his word for it, because he'd never been to Hogsmeade. Sirius hadn't either, but he said his brothers had told him about it.
Christmas day dawned bright and clear. James opened the curtains and looked out at the grounds. It had snowed that night, and the sun was reflecting off the blanket of white that seemed to cover everything. Even the forbidden forest looked beautiful. He chucked a pillow at Sirius
"Oi, sleepyhead, wake up, you've got presents to unwrap." Sirius got up almost immediately, it seemed the idea of presents was enough to stop him wanting the extra 10 minutes he normally begged for every morning. James laughed at the delighted expression on his face as he looked at his pile of presents and turned his attention to his own little heap.
He had some really great presents; his mum and dad sent him a new, red jumper and a copy of the Daily Prophet newspaper, with information about Puddlemere United's last match. Cara had sent him a box of sweets. James smiled to himself; she'd made them herself. The note said "Come home soon, I miss you big brother." James felt the familiar ache in his stomach; he missed her too. He'd be seeing her soon. He made a mental note to write her a thank you letter very soon and send it with Selene. Maybe that would make her miss him less. There was a bag of dungbombs from Sirius, an ever-bashing boomerang from Remus and a screaming yoyo from Peter. It was a pretty good Christmas, there wasn't much more he could have asked for.
The castle looked beautiful, icicles hung from banisters and the suits of armour around the hall had taken to singing Christmas carols in a tinny sort of tenor. Unfortunately they only knew about half the words. Peeves, the school poltergeist took great pleasure in hiding inside the armour, filling in the gaps with rather rude lyrics of his own invention. James and Sirius found this especially funny. Even better was when the caretaker, an ancient and unpleasantly smelly man called Apollyon Pringle, could be seen clattering around trying to extract him.
Christmas dinner was just amazing. The hall was decorated with 12 Christmas trees decked with real fairies and tiny golden owls, all hooting softly. The sky in the ceiling of the Great Hall was bright and clear, and dry snow was falling gently. When the dinner appeared there was several turkeys, plates of potatoes, vegetables, stuffing and loads of other nice things besides. Christmas pudding followed this almost immediately. All the way through dinner, James heard the occasional loud explosion of a wizard cracker. He himself came away with a pack of exploding snap cards and a clown hat.
After dinner, James and Sirius decided to join in a snowball fight with a couple of the second year Hufflepuffs that had hung around. It was very vicious and James was soaked to the skin within about 10 minutes. It didn't help that someone had put some sort of charm on a couple of the snowballs making them into something like bludgers. They were rocketing around, hitting anyone they could reach. James was more than slightly puzzled by this, as he didn't think anyone present was capable of a charm this complicated. The second year boys, Davey Gudgeon and Cassius Tete were very nice, but not at all bright. He knew it hadn't been Sirius, because he wasn't that good at charms and that was quite a difficult, and he certainly hadn't done it. He looked around, searching for Snape or a mischievous teacher (he thought Professor Mechante was more than likely). He glanced over at the castle and then did a double take. He spotted a pair of brilliant green eyes, a head of deep red hair and a huge grin. 'Lily.' He muttered under his breath, grinning to himself.
He was so deep in thought that he didn't realise that Sirius was trying to get his attention. He was shouting loudly at him from a little way off, and when he realised that didn't work, he made a particularly large, icy snowball and hurled it at the back of James' head.
"Hey, what was that for?" James demanded, angrily rubbing the back of his head. It had hurt. "Look at those twits." Sirius replied, with a snort of laughter, indicating Davey and Cassius.
They were wandering around the Whomping Willow, ducking and crawling below the furiously flailing branches. The Willow was a very recent addition to the Hogwarts ground, the Herbology professor had told them that she was still learning about it. It was an extremely violent tree, and disliked anyone coming anywhere near it. A new game had become rapidly popular among the students, to try and get close enough to touch the trunk. It was very dangerous and incredibly stupid, and James couldn't understand what everyone saw in it. Davey and Cassius seemed to be enjoying themselves though.
All of a sudden, James heard a strangled cry from over by the tree. Davey was lying on the floor, unconscious, with blood all over his face. Sirius' normally rosy cheeks went suddenly pale.
"Go and get Dumbledore," James told him, "Ill get him to the hospital wing." He slapped Cassius round the face (he was more than a little hysterical) and ordered him to get Davey's legs. It was an awkward job, but between them they managed to haul him up to the infirmary quite quickly, Cassius whimpering softly. Dumbledore met them there, looking worried.
"What was he doing?" He demanded of James, who looked to be the only one capable of answering. James told him quickly about the game and about how they had got bored with the snowball fight and decided to try and break the record set by a Slytherin 1st year the previous week. He told him about his and Sirius' part in the incident and Dumbledore looked satisfied.
"Very well Mr. Potter, kindly take Mr. Black to Gryffindor tower and procure him a hot chocolate," his eyes twinkled, he must have known about James' occasional trips to the kitchens for food "I have found that nothing works as well on shock as a hot chocolate and an early night. I think Mr. Tete will need to spend some time here with his friend; he doesn't look at all well. Oh, and 20 points will be given to Gryffindor for your presence of mind."
James was also feeling a bit shocked, so after he'd put Sirius into a chair by the fire and called for someone to watch him, he set off, rather shakily to the kitchens, under the cover of his fantastic cloak returning as quickly as he could with two steaming mugs of hot chocolate and pockets bulging with cream cakes that the house elves had not been able to resist plying him with. He hurried through the portrait hole and plonked himself in the comfy chair next to his unusually quiet and pale best friend and tried to sooth his shattered nerves.
For a while, neither of them spoke. James was reluctant to try and make Sirius talk if he didn't want to, but after a while he spoke or his own accord,
"You know, when I was little, my mum was always telling me to stop or I'd put my eye out. I always thought it was just a threat to stop me playing with the meat cleaver or flying through the forest on my dad's broom." James rolled his eyes "I never thought it could actually happen." He looked rather worried, quite unlike his normal carefree self, "Don't worry Sirius, Davey'll be fine, Madame Pomfrey is wonderful, remember the time she managed to get rid of all those boils Peter got when he accidentally stood on Snape's foot?" Sirius managed a chuckle at the memory of Peter's curse (and the jelly legs curse Sirius had put on Snape in retaliation; he's wobbled about the whole day until one of the 4th years took pity on him and performed the counter curse).
A week later, when everyone had returned from his or her Christmas holidays, Dumbledore stood up at dinner with an unusually grave expression on his face,
"It has recently come to my attention that some of the pupils in this school have become involved in a rather dangerous game that involves tormenting a certain Whomping willow." A few younger pupils shifted in their seats uneasily. "Due to the fact that young Davey Gudgeon almost lost on eye on Christmas day playing that particular game, I must insist that everyone stays away from that tree from now on, or there will be penalties."
The room broke into excited chatter. Most didn't know whether they were worried about Davey's accident or upset that they would no longer be able to play their new game again. Sirius and Peter both looked very relieved at the pronouncement, but Remus, he noticed in surprise, looked unaccountably guilty.