CHAPTER THREE ~Professor Wood~
The first thing Sirius noticed when he woke up the next morning was that he was lying on the floor, next to his bed, his blankets tangled around both him and the curtain. Sirius started thrashing around, the blanket seemed to be holding him down - "James!" Sirius cried threateningly. James answered between loud peels of laughter. "I'm - sorry. Here let - me help you." James muttered the counter curse and Sirius became untangled. "Sorry, the little voices inside my head told me to tangle you in blankets, then you started thrashing around and fell off the bed. It was quite funny, actually," James grinned. "Come on. We'll be late for breakfast," Sirius replied, noticing no one else was in the dormitory. Sirius dressed and raced James down the stairs.
Peter and Remus were already at breakfast when James and Sirius galloped into the Great Hall, James calling "I won" as soon as he sat down. Sirius joined them after a few seconds. James ran a hand through his hair, glancing at Lily quickly, who was giving him a warning look. The four marauders gobbled down breakfast in record time and then made their way to their first class of the term, and first class ever with Professor Wood. "Come on, settle down," called Professor Wood, as everyone filed inside. The Professor seemed to walk with a calm confidence that many people lacked, his head held high. Everyone took their seats and James ended up being next to Sirius, Remus and Peter in front of him. "All right ladies and gentlemen, as you probably know I'm Professor Wood. Unfortunately Professor Applegate couldn't be here this year and you're stuck with me." Professor Wood grinned as a few of the girls giggled. "Before we start I'm going to lay down a few ground rules - no, don't groan - they're not going to be THAT bad." The class stared at him. "Well," he said nervously "first, there will be no talking whilst I am, otherwise points will be deducted and I'm sure you don't want to break your winning streak Gryffindor's." The Gryffindor's cheered, but quieted after Professor Wood waved a hand and continued. "I expect any homework that is set to be completed and handed in by the due date." Professor Wood said a few more rules and then asked the students to put away their books and get out their wands. "Because when I was a lad like yourselves.oops sorry ladies.my favourite teacher, Prof-." He paused. "My third year teacher made lessons fun, by turning them into practical learning environments." Professor Wood glanced at James's table and smiled at them, seemingly lost in memories. He shook his head, ran a hand through his black hair and began the lesson. "Today we'll be learning the Patronus Charm. We will only be spending one lesson on this, though, because I don't expect many people to be able to get it at all." By the end of the lesson only a few people could even get a silver mist to come from their wands. Professor Wood told them not to worry, because even he wasn't able to do it properly. "That was an interesting lesson." James said, once they were out the door and on their way to charms, their next class. "The teacher's pretty cool, too, isn't he?" "Yeah," agreed Sirius, "he reminds me of you though." Sirius grinned suddenly and ran a hand mockingly through his hair. "If you get me." James mock glared at Sirius but ended up laughing at the resemblance. Charms was rather boring. It was one of James's worst subjects. Lily was better than him at it, and she seemed to enjoy showing him up when she got the charm for fire on her first go and he got it on the second. So did Sirius, then Remus got it; Peter was the last one to complete the task in the whole class. As the four marauders walked to the courtyard for the break Runzel and Rin caught up with them, both grinning like maniacs. "Hello," they chorused. Runzel turned to Remus, "Will you go out with Alula?" "She likes you," Rin added. Remus's mouth hung open. James and Sirius looked at him slyly. Peter gaped. "Go you," James said. "You sly dog," Sirius added; James coughed. Remus was still staring at the Riddle's as though they'd grown extra heads. "Funny joke, ha ha." He finally croaked. The twins looked hurt. "We're serious!" Rin protested. "Well, actually, that isn't true." Runzel said. "He's Sirius." She pointed to Sirius. "No, but seriously," Rin said, glaring at Runzel who was grinning, "we're not joking." "I'll think about it." Remus said after a moment as he shifted nervously. "What is there to think about?" James and Sirius protested loudly. Rin and Runzel rolled their eyes. "He only said that so you guys wouldn't tease him." Rin pointed out. "And," Runzel added, "he probably wants to tell her in person." Both Runzel and Rin walked away. Nothing much else happened during the break. Professor Wood could be seen walking around talking to people every now and then. He didn't talk to James, Sirius, Remus or Peter though, until they approached him. Remus wanted to congratulate him on his interesting lesson. "I was wondering, sir, whether you'd be able to help me produce a proper Patronus." "I can do that, not yet though. We'll wait until a bit later once I've become settled in." The Professor replied. Professor Wood and James simultaneously ran a hand through their hair, sending Sirius and Peter into a fit of giggles. Professor Wood smiled, nodded at the three he hadn't talked to, and left. "That's really freaky, you know." Remus said as they made their way to History of Magic. "What?" Asked James. "You and Wood, it's freaky." Remus shuddered jokingly.
Lying in bed that night, James couldn't sleep. He was busy thinking about the day. Remus and Alula was now an item, as were Sirius and Jacqueline, which was a surprise. But that wasn't the reason James couldn't sleep. He hadn't told his friends yet, but at the library during lunch he'd found just what they needed to become animagi. Now, all he needed was the book. Maybe he could get permission? Surely one of his teacher's would grant it. He could tell McGonagall he wanted to do extra research for transfiguration... "JAMES!" The aforementioned boy awoke with a start. "Let me sleep," he moaned and pulled his pillow over his head, stifling a large yawn. "Come on," the same voice said. "Breakfast is over and we have Potions, then Double Defence." Remus sighed, exasperated. James felt hands wrap around his forearms and he was pulled off the bed, landing on a heap in the floor. His glasses were placed on his nose and Remus's face swam into view. "What time did you get to sleep last night?" He asked curiously. "I'm not sure." James said. He dressed quickly, leaving the room in a mess, and grabbed his already packed schoolbag and ran all the way to the dungeons with Remus. "You're late!" Ms Jamieson snarled as they took their seats about 20 seconds after the bell rang. Snape sniggered. "5 points from Gryffindor... each, and be thankful it's not more." Jamieson snapped impatiently and continued with the lesson. They were making 'Illusionary' Potions. These allowed the drinker to make minor illusionary changes to their appearance. It could, for example, make a birthmark or scar blend in with the persons skin. It was rather interesting, even with the Potion's mistress breathing down James's neck for most of the lesson. Wood greeted them kindly as they entered his classroom after break. He looked extremely tired, even worse than Remus after the full moon. "Welcome, class. You may put your books away. Just bring your wands, we'll be going outside this lesson." There was a flurry of noise as people stood, pulling their wands out and following Wood out the door. As they walked, the Professor spoke. "This lesson could double as a COMC lesson, but I decided to get this over with as your current COMC Professor refuses to do anything with these creatures. I'm not sure why, he just doesn't seem to like them." "What are they?" Snape asked rudely. "Excuse me, sir or Professor Wood, would have done." Wood said, rather coldly, truth be told. "Excuse me, SIR, but what are these creatures." Snape repeated, dragging out the 'sir'. "They're Thestrals." Wood stopped the class at the Forbidden Forest. "I want you all to promise me something: you wont do anything stupid or rash that would attract something's attention." The class nodded, even the Slytherin's. Professor Wood sounded so sincere his voice brooked no argument. The aforementioned man nodded once, ran a hand through his hair; turned and headed into the forest. James, Sirius, Remus, Peter and the whole class stayed totally silent. Wood, who had disappeared behind some tree's reemerged looking confused. "Aren't you coming?" "What?" Snape protested. "You can't take us in there!" "Do not tell me how to teach my class, Mr. Snape. I assure you all that you'll be perfectly safe with me around." He said sharply. Wood beckoned the class to follow with one hand, and James found himself walking forward with the rest of the class. Snape and a few others looked startled as they started to walk, almost as though they were being forced forward against their will. "What's the matter, Snivelly?" James cooed softly behind him where Snape was. "Not scared, are you?" "Mr. Potter!" Wood said sharply and James realized that both their voices were resounding around the once silent forest. James looked down guiltily. As they got further into the forest it grew darker and James could see eyes glinting through the trees, watching the class greedily. "Pew! What's that smell?" Shrieked a Slytherin girl, Serenity Danger. "Ssh," wood said dangerously as he turned and faced the class abruptly. "Ok," he said quietly, "who knows what a Thestral is?" Rin and Runzel's were the only hands to go up, Professor Wood called upon them to explain. "It's a flying horse," Rin started. "With large wings, and you can't see them," Runzel added. "Unless you have seen death," finished Rin. "Very good, 5 points, each, to Gryffindor." The Professor said, his voice still quiet. James heard a rustling from behind the teacher, where there was some light shining in a clearing, which shone on a cow's carcass. The scary thing was, something invisible was ripping pieces off the cow. "James, can you see that?" Remus whispered. "I cant see the actual thing, but I can see it eating." Replied James as a bit of meat vanished. "Pay attention, you two." Wood said, running a hand through his hair. James followed suit. "Now, who can actually SEE the Thestrals?" Three hands went up. Runzel, Rin and Remus's. "Mr. Lupin, would you care to describe one?" Wood asked politely. Remus cleared his throat nervously. "Well, they're black with huge, shiny wings. They have eyes without a pupil, and they look like horses with their skin sticking to their bones." "5 points to Gryffindor, very good." Wood smiled. Remus beamed. "The three of you, Runzel, Rin and Remus, will be helping me to show the others where the Thestrals are." A few people were adamant that they weren't going any closer, but James jumped right in. Professor Wood showed him where the Thestral he'd chosen as his personal favourite was, and held James's hand, obviously ready to make James pet one, but the Professor's hand sparked. "Ouch!" James said loudly. He pulled his hand roughly from the Wood's and looked at it closely. There was a handprint, almost the same as his own, burned into his skin. "Oh no!" Professor Wood gasped, running a hand through his hair. He sounded almost distraught. "Someone - er - Sirius!" Wood beckoned Sirius, who was already coming, to come and help James. "Follow the path and get James to the hospital wing as quick as you can." He said urgently. The two started off. James, through the haze in his mind, vaguely heard the class packing up and following further behind. James looked down at his hand. "Hurry Sirius," he gasped, and blacked out.
*****
Hey! There's another chapter. Just so you know, this chapter is a little misleading, the handprint thing, foe example, is not what it seems. I know what Rowling said in the fifth book about James & Harry's hands, but. well, read the rest and maybe you'll find out. PLEASE R & R ALLIESKITTLEZ, MYA MCPAINE!
The first thing Sirius noticed when he woke up the next morning was that he was lying on the floor, next to his bed, his blankets tangled around both him and the curtain. Sirius started thrashing around, the blanket seemed to be holding him down - "James!" Sirius cried threateningly. James answered between loud peels of laughter. "I'm - sorry. Here let - me help you." James muttered the counter curse and Sirius became untangled. "Sorry, the little voices inside my head told me to tangle you in blankets, then you started thrashing around and fell off the bed. It was quite funny, actually," James grinned. "Come on. We'll be late for breakfast," Sirius replied, noticing no one else was in the dormitory. Sirius dressed and raced James down the stairs.
Peter and Remus were already at breakfast when James and Sirius galloped into the Great Hall, James calling "I won" as soon as he sat down. Sirius joined them after a few seconds. James ran a hand through his hair, glancing at Lily quickly, who was giving him a warning look. The four marauders gobbled down breakfast in record time and then made their way to their first class of the term, and first class ever with Professor Wood. "Come on, settle down," called Professor Wood, as everyone filed inside. The Professor seemed to walk with a calm confidence that many people lacked, his head held high. Everyone took their seats and James ended up being next to Sirius, Remus and Peter in front of him. "All right ladies and gentlemen, as you probably know I'm Professor Wood. Unfortunately Professor Applegate couldn't be here this year and you're stuck with me." Professor Wood grinned as a few of the girls giggled. "Before we start I'm going to lay down a few ground rules - no, don't groan - they're not going to be THAT bad." The class stared at him. "Well," he said nervously "first, there will be no talking whilst I am, otherwise points will be deducted and I'm sure you don't want to break your winning streak Gryffindor's." The Gryffindor's cheered, but quieted after Professor Wood waved a hand and continued. "I expect any homework that is set to be completed and handed in by the due date." Professor Wood said a few more rules and then asked the students to put away their books and get out their wands. "Because when I was a lad like yourselves.oops sorry ladies.my favourite teacher, Prof-." He paused. "My third year teacher made lessons fun, by turning them into practical learning environments." Professor Wood glanced at James's table and smiled at them, seemingly lost in memories. He shook his head, ran a hand through his black hair and began the lesson. "Today we'll be learning the Patronus Charm. We will only be spending one lesson on this, though, because I don't expect many people to be able to get it at all." By the end of the lesson only a few people could even get a silver mist to come from their wands. Professor Wood told them not to worry, because even he wasn't able to do it properly. "That was an interesting lesson." James said, once they were out the door and on their way to charms, their next class. "The teacher's pretty cool, too, isn't he?" "Yeah," agreed Sirius, "he reminds me of you though." Sirius grinned suddenly and ran a hand mockingly through his hair. "If you get me." James mock glared at Sirius but ended up laughing at the resemblance. Charms was rather boring. It was one of James's worst subjects. Lily was better than him at it, and she seemed to enjoy showing him up when she got the charm for fire on her first go and he got it on the second. So did Sirius, then Remus got it; Peter was the last one to complete the task in the whole class. As the four marauders walked to the courtyard for the break Runzel and Rin caught up with them, both grinning like maniacs. "Hello," they chorused. Runzel turned to Remus, "Will you go out with Alula?" "She likes you," Rin added. Remus's mouth hung open. James and Sirius looked at him slyly. Peter gaped. "Go you," James said. "You sly dog," Sirius added; James coughed. Remus was still staring at the Riddle's as though they'd grown extra heads. "Funny joke, ha ha." He finally croaked. The twins looked hurt. "We're serious!" Rin protested. "Well, actually, that isn't true." Runzel said. "He's Sirius." She pointed to Sirius. "No, but seriously," Rin said, glaring at Runzel who was grinning, "we're not joking." "I'll think about it." Remus said after a moment as he shifted nervously. "What is there to think about?" James and Sirius protested loudly. Rin and Runzel rolled their eyes. "He only said that so you guys wouldn't tease him." Rin pointed out. "And," Runzel added, "he probably wants to tell her in person." Both Runzel and Rin walked away. Nothing much else happened during the break. Professor Wood could be seen walking around talking to people every now and then. He didn't talk to James, Sirius, Remus or Peter though, until they approached him. Remus wanted to congratulate him on his interesting lesson. "I was wondering, sir, whether you'd be able to help me produce a proper Patronus." "I can do that, not yet though. We'll wait until a bit later once I've become settled in." The Professor replied. Professor Wood and James simultaneously ran a hand through their hair, sending Sirius and Peter into a fit of giggles. Professor Wood smiled, nodded at the three he hadn't talked to, and left. "That's really freaky, you know." Remus said as they made their way to History of Magic. "What?" Asked James. "You and Wood, it's freaky." Remus shuddered jokingly.
Lying in bed that night, James couldn't sleep. He was busy thinking about the day. Remus and Alula was now an item, as were Sirius and Jacqueline, which was a surprise. But that wasn't the reason James couldn't sleep. He hadn't told his friends yet, but at the library during lunch he'd found just what they needed to become animagi. Now, all he needed was the book. Maybe he could get permission? Surely one of his teacher's would grant it. He could tell McGonagall he wanted to do extra research for transfiguration... "JAMES!" The aforementioned boy awoke with a start. "Let me sleep," he moaned and pulled his pillow over his head, stifling a large yawn. "Come on," the same voice said. "Breakfast is over and we have Potions, then Double Defence." Remus sighed, exasperated. James felt hands wrap around his forearms and he was pulled off the bed, landing on a heap in the floor. His glasses were placed on his nose and Remus's face swam into view. "What time did you get to sleep last night?" He asked curiously. "I'm not sure." James said. He dressed quickly, leaving the room in a mess, and grabbed his already packed schoolbag and ran all the way to the dungeons with Remus. "You're late!" Ms Jamieson snarled as they took their seats about 20 seconds after the bell rang. Snape sniggered. "5 points from Gryffindor... each, and be thankful it's not more." Jamieson snapped impatiently and continued with the lesson. They were making 'Illusionary' Potions. These allowed the drinker to make minor illusionary changes to their appearance. It could, for example, make a birthmark or scar blend in with the persons skin. It was rather interesting, even with the Potion's mistress breathing down James's neck for most of the lesson. Wood greeted them kindly as they entered his classroom after break. He looked extremely tired, even worse than Remus after the full moon. "Welcome, class. You may put your books away. Just bring your wands, we'll be going outside this lesson." There was a flurry of noise as people stood, pulling their wands out and following Wood out the door. As they walked, the Professor spoke. "This lesson could double as a COMC lesson, but I decided to get this over with as your current COMC Professor refuses to do anything with these creatures. I'm not sure why, he just doesn't seem to like them." "What are they?" Snape asked rudely. "Excuse me, sir or Professor Wood, would have done." Wood said, rather coldly, truth be told. "Excuse me, SIR, but what are these creatures." Snape repeated, dragging out the 'sir'. "They're Thestrals." Wood stopped the class at the Forbidden Forest. "I want you all to promise me something: you wont do anything stupid or rash that would attract something's attention." The class nodded, even the Slytherin's. Professor Wood sounded so sincere his voice brooked no argument. The aforementioned man nodded once, ran a hand through his hair; turned and headed into the forest. James, Sirius, Remus, Peter and the whole class stayed totally silent. Wood, who had disappeared behind some tree's reemerged looking confused. "Aren't you coming?" "What?" Snape protested. "You can't take us in there!" "Do not tell me how to teach my class, Mr. Snape. I assure you all that you'll be perfectly safe with me around." He said sharply. Wood beckoned the class to follow with one hand, and James found himself walking forward with the rest of the class. Snape and a few others looked startled as they started to walk, almost as though they were being forced forward against their will. "What's the matter, Snivelly?" James cooed softly behind him where Snape was. "Not scared, are you?" "Mr. Potter!" Wood said sharply and James realized that both their voices were resounding around the once silent forest. James looked down guiltily. As they got further into the forest it grew darker and James could see eyes glinting through the trees, watching the class greedily. "Pew! What's that smell?" Shrieked a Slytherin girl, Serenity Danger. "Ssh," wood said dangerously as he turned and faced the class abruptly. "Ok," he said quietly, "who knows what a Thestral is?" Rin and Runzel's were the only hands to go up, Professor Wood called upon them to explain. "It's a flying horse," Rin started. "With large wings, and you can't see them," Runzel added. "Unless you have seen death," finished Rin. "Very good, 5 points, each, to Gryffindor." The Professor said, his voice still quiet. James heard a rustling from behind the teacher, where there was some light shining in a clearing, which shone on a cow's carcass. The scary thing was, something invisible was ripping pieces off the cow. "James, can you see that?" Remus whispered. "I cant see the actual thing, but I can see it eating." Replied James as a bit of meat vanished. "Pay attention, you two." Wood said, running a hand through his hair. James followed suit. "Now, who can actually SEE the Thestrals?" Three hands went up. Runzel, Rin and Remus's. "Mr. Lupin, would you care to describe one?" Wood asked politely. Remus cleared his throat nervously. "Well, they're black with huge, shiny wings. They have eyes without a pupil, and they look like horses with their skin sticking to their bones." "5 points to Gryffindor, very good." Wood smiled. Remus beamed. "The three of you, Runzel, Rin and Remus, will be helping me to show the others where the Thestrals are." A few people were adamant that they weren't going any closer, but James jumped right in. Professor Wood showed him where the Thestral he'd chosen as his personal favourite was, and held James's hand, obviously ready to make James pet one, but the Professor's hand sparked. "Ouch!" James said loudly. He pulled his hand roughly from the Wood's and looked at it closely. There was a handprint, almost the same as his own, burned into his skin. "Oh no!" Professor Wood gasped, running a hand through his hair. He sounded almost distraught. "Someone - er - Sirius!" Wood beckoned Sirius, who was already coming, to come and help James. "Follow the path and get James to the hospital wing as quick as you can." He said urgently. The two started off. James, through the haze in his mind, vaguely heard the class packing up and following further behind. James looked down at his hand. "Hurry Sirius," he gasped, and blacked out.
*****
Hey! There's another chapter. Just so you know, this chapter is a little misleading, the handprint thing, foe example, is not what it seems. I know what Rowling said in the fifth book about James & Harry's hands, but. well, read the rest and maybe you'll find out. PLEASE R & R ALLIESKITTLEZ, MYA MCPAINE!
