Awakening of Madness
Disclaimer : HP characters are not mine, they are JK Rowling's property… but I'll keep hoping that she might give them to me, though. XD Plot is mine, as well as OC.
Though not new in fanfiction world, I'm new in HP fanfiction… I haven't read much more than one or two HP fanfics for now, so I don't really know what has been done and what hasn't… so if you find that this fanfic looks like one you have already read… it's just that I can't imagine something original, and that someone had the idea before me, unknown to poor little me :'( … I hope you'll like it though XD
BIG THANKS TO THYLA FOR BETA-READING!!! *WOOT*
Summary: The rise of the Dark Arts and Voldemort, seen by 16-year-old Marauders…
***
Chapter 1
"Hurry, hurry!"
Quick footsteps banged on the stone floor of the corridor, followed by the irregular rhythm of a heated breathing.
"I can't believe we're late for the very first day!"
The wooden door of the classroom slammed open, and twenty heads snapped up to eye at the latecomers. The young girls bowed apologetically, panting; the shorter one squeaked breathlessly through the heavy curtain of deep red hair falling over her flushed face.
"I'm sorry Professor Flitwick!!! We were…"
"Alright, alright, sit down, Miss Evans. You too, Miss Jones", the small teacher cut her short with his high-pitched voice.
Still blushing because of her own impoliteness, Lily nervously tucked a long lock behind her ear and sat at a free table set back from the blackboard, hugging her books to her chest. Her friend, looking somehow blasé, dropped casually on a nearby chair, flipped her long braided hair behind her shoulder and threw a bright smile at the four boys sitting at the last row. In answer, they smiled back and gave her the thumbs-up.
As Professor Flitwick was explaining the basis of Stuffing Spells – the first row was already starting to look disgusted – a neatly folded piece of paper bounced and poked into Lily's thick hair. Both annoyed and curious, she grabbed the note and unfolded it.
Hey EvansAre you intending to compete for the title of Latest Student of Hogwarts? Just keep in mind that the four of us already are rather ahead of you. By the way, how went your OWLs?
Potter.
Lily gritted her teeth in annoyance. How dare he?! That boy was probably the most annoying guy around Hogwarts. Grabbing a quill in her bag, she tore another bit of paper and furiously scribbled a few words.
I wouldn't have been late if some dumb guy hadn't stashed Megane's wand on top of the fireplace. My OWLs went well if you must know. I got 'Outstanding' in Potions and Transfiguration.
Evans.
With a curt flip of her wand, she made the message fly through the classroom straight into James's face as soon as Flitwick had turned to the blackboard. Rubbing his nose where the paper had hit him, James flashed a smile at Lily, who pretended not to notice. Grinning, he straightened his glasses and started reading.
The lesson went well, only interrupted when Remus, as James teased him, missed his Stuffing Spell and instead jinxed Sirius, giving him the giggles. The latter was laughing uncontrollably, and Professor Flitwick had no choice but send him to the hospital wing, fearing Sirius might strain his zygomatic muscles. Laughter being contagious, both Sirius and Remus were sniggering as the prefect took his friend to Mrs Pomfrey.
Finally the bell rang, heralding the end of the class; Lily gathered her things in her bag and joined Megane out in the corridor.
"Well," the tall, thin girl said, "maybe it wasn't a bad thing to miss the beginning of the lesson. At least we skipped Flitwick's usual welcome-and-work-hard speech."
Lily grinned.
"Did your wand work alright? I wouldn't've been surprised if Potter had jinxed it."
"Oh no. He wouldn't do such a thing!" Megane laughed, waving her hand.
"Oh yes he would!" Lily sneered with distaste. Megane grinned widely, carelessly brushing her long braid behind her shoulder. She was a pale blond-haired, fair-skinned and a blue, wide-eyed girl, which made her look like some naïve fairy or nymph; but curiously her physique was in utter contradiction with her character.
As Lily wasn't speaking, Megane pouted.
"Look, he isn't as bad as you think. He's been acting rather kindly since our OWLs, hasn't he?"
"Well, if you're calling kind hiding your wand in the Gryffindor communal room, yes, I guess that – "
"Oh c'mon Lily! You ought to admit that he has been obviously trying his harde– Oh, hello Sirius!" Megane waved as Sirius walked past them in the corridor. Sirius grinned back at her, joining the conversation.
"You don't seem to be in such a bad condition," Lily pointed out. Sirius scratched his head uncomfortably and confessed sheepishly: "Actually, Mrs Pomfrey thought I was only putting on an act, pretending I had the giggles. Well, she was right…"
Megane laughed whole-heartedly. Unlike Lily, she was very friendly with Sirius, James, Remus and Peter, mainly because she was part of the Gryffindor Quidditch team as Keeper and consequently spent hours training with James. Babbling about their summer holidays. They finally reached the dungeon where the Potion class took place. All the Gryffindor sixth-years were gathered in the small threshold, waiting for the door to open. Some were chatting about the new Defence against the Dark Arts teacher, some other were rambling about their OLWs, and all in all the conversations were rather lively.
"Have you heard about that wizard who delivered that crazed speech at the Wizengamot?"
"You're talking about that madman who wanted to reform the whole Ministry of Magic?"
"Yeah, scary."
Lily, Megane and Sirius prickled their ears, and the boy let out a sigh. "They're talking about that stuff again?"
Lily frowned quizzically.
"What are you talking about?"
"Haven't you been reading the news?" Megane asked briskly. "They were talking about it in the Daily Prophet a few days ago."
Lily shook her head. "I've been trying to get some copies of the Daily Prophet, but you know, my parents are Muggles and I'm not as well-informed as you may be…" Megane shrugged.
"A weird wizard came to the Wizengamot to expose his insight of so-called necessary reforms in the Ministry of Magic. A madman, if you want my opinion. He was talking about giving more freedom to the research about Dark Arts, encouraging the use of magic to repress Muggles in what he called 'wizard-owned areas'… Scary, I tell you."
"But it was just plain insanity, right?" Lily frowned. "I mean, the Wizengamot isn't blind nor stupid…"
"Actually, though most of the members were sceptical, it appeared that some seemed to rather agree with what that man said. Though, of course, they said that it was a bit rash… Just politically correct, you see."
"It wouldn't have had a great impact coming from anyone," Sirius added, "but in fact that wizard is a distinguished expert in Dark Arts. Head Boy when he was in Hogwarts, came out with best marks. You can picture it, I guess; the kind of wizard who is listened to when he talks."
"I see," Lily said, deep in thought. "Well, as long as no one allows him to hunt Muggles, I guess it's alright, isn't it? The Wizengamot doesn't agree with him, right?"
Sirius nodded, and grinned. "Nothing to worry about, I think; it just stirred ill-feelings in the magic world."
As Sirius grinned wider, an arm wound around his neck and half-strangled him.
"POTTER!" Lily choked with rage. "Will you stop strangling Sirius?!"
James laughed.
"Hey, don't get angry like that, Evans, you're gonna have wrinkles all over your lovely face!"
Leaving a fuming Lily and a grinning Megane behind, James dragged Sirius away.
"She called you Sirius," he stated with a crestfallen look. Sirius scratched his hair.
"Well, you see, actually my name IS Sirius…"
James shot him a nasty glare.
"You know what I mean, Padfoot! She calls you Sirius, and she keeps calling me Potter, not James."
He sighed with a mimic of defeat. "What I wouldn't give to have your heartbreaker smile and your good-looks, Sirius…"
The both of them sniggered.
"Seriously, Prongs, when are you going to stop chasing after her?"
But James was saved the need to answer as the dungeon door grated open. A heavy, sickening smell of burnt grease and chemicals welcomed the students, who took place around the steaming cauldrons.
***
"CAREFUL, JONES!!!"
James's voice echoed through the Quidditch pitch. Eyes flashing to him, Megane spotted the Bludger rushing at her and swiftly dived toward the ground, maneuvering skillfully so as not to fall off her broom. The wind made her braid flap behind her like a flag as she hedgehopped along the terracing, smiling widely at Remus, Peter and Lily who had come to attend to the Quidditch training. The Captain, however, didn't seem so pleased with her.
"Jones, keep concentrated, for the sake of it!!! I can't believe that two months of holidays could soften someone that much! What kind of a Keeper are you, if you can't even spot a Bludger?!"
Megane stuck her tongue out at the tall, blonde-haired guy – she was used to Jim's fits of anger. They never lasted for long, anyway. Besides, she knew she was the best Keeper he could find in the Gryffindor house. James and Sirius, flying a bit further, were grinning like mad at their friends, and James winked at her – soon shooting a glance at Lily's petite form, trying to decipher if his flirting with Megane had any kind of effect on the red-haired girl. He, though, was a bit disappointed as she was looking at her friend and not at him. Executing a looping, Megane landed on the terracing near Lily, who was wrapped tightly in her robe to shut the cold breeze away.
"Lily, want to have a fly?", she asked, pointing her broom. "This new broom is just pure bliss!! You should try it out!"
"WHAT THE HELL?!" Jim's voice dripped with anger.
Megane turned round, convinced that she was the cause of Jim's mood – but Lily and Remus had jumped up and were staring at something down on the pitch.
A dozen figures were stepping on the sand of the pitch, all dressed in the Slytherin green and silver colors. Immediately, the whole Gryffindor team aggregated and landed in front of the newcomers, blocking them from getting any further.
"Where d'you think you're goin-" But the Captain's voice was drowned by a roar of Sirius's.
"Bellatrix, what the FUCK are you doing here?!" A small chuckle answered to the pure hatred emanating from his words.
From where she was, Lily had to prickle her ears carefully to catch what was said down there – but she didn't need binoculars to recognize the slender girl leading the Slytherin Quidditch team. With the self-confidence of one used to being obeyed to the letter, Bellatrix Black waved her hand lazily, brushing aside her cousin's question. Smiling slyly, she pointed at a few students waiting behind the team.
"We're making try-outs for our new Chaser." Her voice was forceful and deep, matching her good-looks but cold features. Actually, she and Sirius looked amazingly alike – more than Bellatrix and her own sister Narcissa. Both the cousins had thick, black hair, and unfathomable dark eyes, while Narcissa was blonde and pale-eyed. Moving with the feline grace of a panther, Bellatrix grabbed her broom and walked past the Gryffindors carelessly, her chin defying and her eyes gleaming scornfully.
Lily blinked from the terracing. She couldn't hear what was said down below, but she was pretty sure that the presence of the Black girl was no good. Worshipped by most of the Slytherin students, Bellatrix was known to be the kind of girl who succeeded in pretty much everything she did. Beater and Captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team, prefect and achieving top marks at her OWLs, she had also collected trivial titles as 'Most Pretty Girl of Hogwarts' or 'Sexiest 5th Year Student' – and no doubt that she would get the Quidditch pitch today if she had decided she would. Lily watched with interest as James grabbed Bellatrix's wrist angrily, trying to stop her; the latter pulled back roughly, eyes flashing, and mounted on her broom, followed by the other Slytherin players.
Seven green figures took off in the transparent air, quickly followed by seven red ones – no one could have told whether they were going to fight or ignore the other team. Eyeing at their enemies, the players of each team resumed their training.
Lily sit back on the step moodily – the game was looking awkward, the Gryffindor players had obviously lost all their enthusiasm for that first training of the season. The Slytherins, however, seemed to enjoy themselves immensely. Bellatrix was shouting orders at one of the applying Chasers, and dodged carelessly a Bludger aiming at her. Shrugging, Lily looked back at the Gryffindors – and green eyes met hazel ones – James's, which widened suddenly in horror.
"LILY, CAREFUL!"
There was a terrible CRACK, a pain shooting through her arm, and all went black.
***
Lily's eyes fluttered open… Awww… everything was fuzzy and confused, she couldn't recall what had happened, and neither could she distinguish the face bent over her. She heard herself moaning slightly, though she hadn't meant to.
"Evans, you all right?!"
The voice was a familiar one, and sounded truly worried. Lily managed to force the words out:
"Yeah, I'm… I'm fine…" Her own voice sounded furred, a bit weird. Blinking, she finally managed to get a sight of who was bent in front of her and trying to wake her up – Potter… POTTER?!
Anger – and maybe something else – flooded through her veins as she tried to sit up; but everything was spinning dizzily around her and she had to give up. Her head banged back against the wooden floor of the terracing – well, it would have if James's hadn't cushioned her head with his hand. Lily could feel her cheeks warming up lightly, and she frowned in annoyance (more at herself than at James).
"What happened-?!"
James frowned too, looking thoroughly pissed off.
"You got hit by a Bludger and passed out…"
"Because of that insane bitch!"
Lily blinked at Sirius's intervention.
"Fuck off, Sirius. I didn't mean to do that." Bellatrix's cold voice rang with unconcealed disdain. She was leaning casually against the guardrail, her arms crossed over her chest, and looking down at Lily with obvious disgust. For the first time of her life, Lily felt a wave of burning hatred rush through her – a very different sensation from the annoyance Potter awoke in her.
"Anyway, why was that Mudblood here?" Bellatrix dropped.
CLACK. Air wheezed as Megane had slapped Bellatrix as hard as she could. Disbelief gleamed in Bellatrix's eyes as she rubbed her flushed cheek, but soon her usual defying glare slipped back into place.
"You'll pay for that. Beware of that you're doing, Jones… and that'll count for you too, Evans… Things are changing… And I fear that you little Mudbloods and Half-bloods might soon not be able to parade as proudly as you do now."
And with those words, she turned on her heels and left the Quidditch pitch, fuming, followed by the remaining Slytherin players. Lily blinked in amazement.
"Wh-what did she mean?"
***
James dropped near his friends on the bench of the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. His hair was dripping wet from the shower he'd just had, and he was feeling hungry like hell. It was a few minutes after usual dinner time ; the food, however, hadn't appeared in the empty plates yet. For what seemed like hours, he stared fixedly at the dishes, but it was useless. Sirius, who was sitting in front of him, shot a nasty glare at Dumbledore.
"Why hasn't he started dinner yet?"
James shook his head.
"No idea, mate, but he'd better do it soon, because I'm starving."
"By the way, how is Lily?"
James sighed.
"Don't speak about it, mate… I really thought she was going to kill me on the spot when I carried her to the hospital wing as though everything was my fault!" His grin faltered, and he looked rather depressed. "I don't know what's wrong with that girl." James shrugged, and Sirius had a wavering grin.
"Don't worry, I'm sure she was upset at Bellatrix, not at you."
But they didn't get a chance to debate the point as Dumbledore coughed lightly to gather the attention of the students. Remus, Peter, Sirius and James turned round to glance at the Headmaster, and were quite surprised to find an unknown figure standing near the tall man. Sirius poked Remus's elbow and whispered :
"New Defence against the Dark Arts teacher, d'you reckon?"
Remus's eyebrows arched quizzically, indicating that he hadn't a clue. The newcomer, however, looked like any teacher but a Defence against the Dark Arts teacher; it happened to be a short, petite woman, with small glasses hiding soft, large blue-grey eyes, and incredibly long, smooth hair falling past her butt. Frail and pale, she looked like a single gust of wind would have been able to blow her up – but that feeling was oddly contradicted by the resolute look in her eyes and the firm hold she had on her wand. Anyway, their musings were cut short as Dumbledore spoke in his usual cool, fatherly tone.
"Young people, students of Hogwarts, I would like you all to give the warmest welcome to your new Defence against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Emera Dumbledore."
***
To be continued…
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Author's notes: Ok, people, I hope you enjoyed this!!
Since it's first chappie, not much action… I had to introduce my characters ^^ … But much more is to happen in the next chapters! Ahahahah… Bella being the baddie ;D … and James chasing after Lily!
Sorry if this isn't really good… I'm not much of a good writer…
Tell me what you think about it… *eyes at you* Click on the review button… you know you want it…