Chapter 12 - What now?
The next day at breakfast Sirius was basking in the glow of victory. The Slytherins had entered the great hall glowering, and the rest of the day was equally fun. Slytherins had lost their homework, were wearing too big, or too small cloaks that were obviously borrowed and everywhere the murmured question "can I borrow a quill" could be heard. The beauty of this trick was that no one could possibly suspect the Marauders, as they had no way of knowing the password to the Slytherin dungeons, so the Slytherins were all looking suspiciously at each other, as each believed that none but a Slytherin could have been to blame. Sirius was revelling in his success, he seemed to have conveniently forgotten that at least a share of the glory should have gone to James and Remus who had found the room in the first place, came up with most of the ideas and helped carry them out, but to Sirius it made no difference, and James and Remus decided to simply let him have his time in the sun.
Potions was especially fun, as James knew that Professor Mechante was in on their little joke, and though at the beginning of the lesson he was afraid that she would give them away, she soon dispelled that fear with a glance in his direction, a glance that contained a glimmer of a mischievous smile, mainly in the eyes, the look he thought he had seen before, but this time it was unmistakable, and it made him wonder, why did she give him the password for the common room? Was it just for them to play a practical joke? And was it chance that the very book he happened to be looking for was just there where he could easily find it. Did she know? James doubted it, no one knew that the Marauders were trying to become Animagi, though all the teachers knew about Remus, and Mechante had seen that book on transformation when James had fallen. Perhaps she had put two and two together. If she had, then that could be a problem but on the other hand she had provided them with that book and the answer to their problems. She was an enigma; there was no doubt about that.
James hadn't had chance to tell the others about what he had found out, they were surrounded by people all day, and it wasn't until after dinner that they found time to be alone, and as soon as they were all together in their circular dormitory James started to recount the story of how he'd found the book and copied down the relevant pages. Predictably, the three other boys reacted differently, Remus looked relieved but at the same time apprehensive, Sirius was overjoyed, but Peter looked downright terrified. Up until this point, James reasoned, Peter hadn't thought that this scheme had a chance of working, but now here it was, plain as day in black and white, how to become an Animagus!
When he had been copying it out James hadn't had chance to fully appreciate the difficulty of this spell, he had been too wrapped up in the actual words to concentrate on the meaning. Now, though, the full impact of the difficulty of the task in hand hit him like a brick in the stomach. This was the most difficult spell he had ever seen, the wand work was complicated, the words difficult and it would take concentration the likes of which he had never experienced. He watched all the faces fall as each person around him reached the particular part of the page where it detailed how powerfully magical one would need to be in order to perform the spell. They had known that it was never going to be easy, but this was even more difficult than even Peter had predicted. Remus took a deep breath before saying;
"You know, you don't have to do this, not for me. It's a difficult and dangerous spell, and I don't want any of you putting yourself in danger. Not for me."
"Don't be such an idiot Remus," Sirius snapped, "of course we're still going to do it, it'll just take longer than we expected, that's all." Sirius was ever the hopeful optimist, but in this case James had to agree with him.
"Yeah, don't worry about us, we can take care of ourselves." Remus gave them both a grateful smile and all eyes turned expectantly to Peter. James could tell that there was a battle going on between the two strongest elements of his own nature, his cowardice and the desire to please his friends.
"You know Peter," James said softly, "you don't have to do it just because we are if you'd rather not."
"No, no," he replied, resolutely "I want to. I want to help Remus, and I don't want to miss out on any of the fun anyway." He looked determined, if a bit pale, and James felt prouder of him at that moment than he ever had.
"So, that's decided then," Sirius piped up "how do go about choosing what we want to be then? I've always fancied being an elephant!" Remus looked a bit startled but James laughed, he knew Sirius was joking.
"Don't be an idiot Sirius, an elephant would be impossible to hide, even in the forbidden forest, and anyway, you don't get to choose what you turn into. It says so right here," James said, pointing to a point on the parchment "the animal type chooses you. It's a reflection on your personality or something like that." Sirius looked abashed, and Remus looked relieved. Goodness only knows what Sirius would have changed himself into if he had the choice.
A/N Sorry that was such a short one, I'll make it up to you later.
The next day at breakfast Sirius was basking in the glow of victory. The Slytherins had entered the great hall glowering, and the rest of the day was equally fun. Slytherins had lost their homework, were wearing too big, or too small cloaks that were obviously borrowed and everywhere the murmured question "can I borrow a quill" could be heard. The beauty of this trick was that no one could possibly suspect the Marauders, as they had no way of knowing the password to the Slytherin dungeons, so the Slytherins were all looking suspiciously at each other, as each believed that none but a Slytherin could have been to blame. Sirius was revelling in his success, he seemed to have conveniently forgotten that at least a share of the glory should have gone to James and Remus who had found the room in the first place, came up with most of the ideas and helped carry them out, but to Sirius it made no difference, and James and Remus decided to simply let him have his time in the sun.
Potions was especially fun, as James knew that Professor Mechante was in on their little joke, and though at the beginning of the lesson he was afraid that she would give them away, she soon dispelled that fear with a glance in his direction, a glance that contained a glimmer of a mischievous smile, mainly in the eyes, the look he thought he had seen before, but this time it was unmistakable, and it made him wonder, why did she give him the password for the common room? Was it just for them to play a practical joke? And was it chance that the very book he happened to be looking for was just there where he could easily find it. Did she know? James doubted it, no one knew that the Marauders were trying to become Animagi, though all the teachers knew about Remus, and Mechante had seen that book on transformation when James had fallen. Perhaps she had put two and two together. If she had, then that could be a problem but on the other hand she had provided them with that book and the answer to their problems. She was an enigma; there was no doubt about that.
James hadn't had chance to tell the others about what he had found out, they were surrounded by people all day, and it wasn't until after dinner that they found time to be alone, and as soon as they were all together in their circular dormitory James started to recount the story of how he'd found the book and copied down the relevant pages. Predictably, the three other boys reacted differently, Remus looked relieved but at the same time apprehensive, Sirius was overjoyed, but Peter looked downright terrified. Up until this point, James reasoned, Peter hadn't thought that this scheme had a chance of working, but now here it was, plain as day in black and white, how to become an Animagus!
When he had been copying it out James hadn't had chance to fully appreciate the difficulty of this spell, he had been too wrapped up in the actual words to concentrate on the meaning. Now, though, the full impact of the difficulty of the task in hand hit him like a brick in the stomach. This was the most difficult spell he had ever seen, the wand work was complicated, the words difficult and it would take concentration the likes of which he had never experienced. He watched all the faces fall as each person around him reached the particular part of the page where it detailed how powerfully magical one would need to be in order to perform the spell. They had known that it was never going to be easy, but this was even more difficult than even Peter had predicted. Remus took a deep breath before saying;
"You know, you don't have to do this, not for me. It's a difficult and dangerous spell, and I don't want any of you putting yourself in danger. Not for me."
"Don't be such an idiot Remus," Sirius snapped, "of course we're still going to do it, it'll just take longer than we expected, that's all." Sirius was ever the hopeful optimist, but in this case James had to agree with him.
"Yeah, don't worry about us, we can take care of ourselves." Remus gave them both a grateful smile and all eyes turned expectantly to Peter. James could tell that there was a battle going on between the two strongest elements of his own nature, his cowardice and the desire to please his friends.
"You know Peter," James said softly, "you don't have to do it just because we are if you'd rather not."
"No, no," he replied, resolutely "I want to. I want to help Remus, and I don't want to miss out on any of the fun anyway." He looked determined, if a bit pale, and James felt prouder of him at that moment than he ever had.
"So, that's decided then," Sirius piped up "how do go about choosing what we want to be then? I've always fancied being an elephant!" Remus looked a bit startled but James laughed, he knew Sirius was joking.
"Don't be an idiot Sirius, an elephant would be impossible to hide, even in the forbidden forest, and anyway, you don't get to choose what you turn into. It says so right here," James said, pointing to a point on the parchment "the animal type chooses you. It's a reflection on your personality or something like that." Sirius looked abashed, and Remus looked relieved. Goodness only knows what Sirius would have changed himself into if he had the choice.
A/N Sorry that was such a short one, I'll make it up to you later.