The First Obstacle
James gave a loud yawn at breakfast the following Monday morning. On top of his mountain of homework, he had been helping Sirius all weekend. Sirius strolled over and plonked himself down next to James.
"Morning Prongs," he greeted James cheerfully.
"What are you so happy about?" asked James, irritably. He was in a particularly bad mood this morning and couldn't understand why Sirius looked so pleased.
"I thought that we could go on a little expedition tonight," he said with a wink.
"What, do you mean just the two of us?" asked James, a smile creeping over his face.
"Yeah, maybe check out the Forbidden Forest. We could look for the chimaera," replied Sirius, pouring himself a glass of milk.
"Brilliant! We'd better not mention it to Peter though. He might wet his pants with excitement," said James, a huge grin plastered on his face. He was feeling much better than he had been just a few seconds ago.
"Hey, where's Remus?" asked Sirius suddenly, looking around the Great Hall.
"He must be still in bed. He was feeling pretty sick last night," said James. Sirius had no time to answer, because at that moment, hundreds of owls flew into the Hall, circling above the four House tables then zooming down to their owners to deposit letters or packages. Sirius' screech owl, Hawk dropped a letter onto the table, while James scanned the air, looking for his barn owl, Artemis.
Suddenly, a blur of brown feathers hurtled through the air towards James. It flopped onto his lap and gave a feeble hoot, before collapsing in a heap on his lap.
"Artemis!" cried James, grabbing his owl and shaking her. Sirius' jaw dropped open.
"What's happened to her?" he gaped. "Look, her feathers are all bent, and she's got scratches all over her!" At that moment, a teary-eyed Bellatrix raced over to them from the Slytherin table. She was hugging what appeared to be a dead snowy owl to her chest. James looked from Artemis to Bellatrix and her owl to Sirius.
"Come on! Let's get the two owls to Professor Lamina!" he said, his heart hammering against his chest. The three of them ran to the staff table, where Professor Lamina was chatting animatedly to Professor Livertrot, the Potions master.
"Professor! My owl just fainted!" cried Bellatrix, holding out her owl, which was covered in twigs and leaves. Professor Lamina's eyes widened.
"Excuse me, but even though some people may think it's unimportant," began James, shooting a dirty look at Bellatrix. "My owl's fainted too!" he fumed. Sirius looked on meekly, while Professor Lamina examined the two owls. After what seemed like hours, she looked up at Bellatrix and James.
"Your owls will live. It looks as if something's attacked them. In the meantime, Professor Livertrot will mix them a potion to restore their health," she said firmly. James, Sirius and Bellatrix breathed sighs of immense relief.
"Now I suggest that you three hurry off. Lessons began three minutes ago," said Professor Lamina, so the trio dashed off to their Defence Against the Dark Arts class.
James found it hard to concentrate for the rest of the day. A steady drizzle of rain fell outside, dampening his spirits. It didn't help that Severus strutted over to him with a smug expression that plainly said, 'Who's showing off now?' James wished he'd never spited Severus in the first place. At lunch time, James went to visit Artemis. Professor Lamina was exasperated.
"Potter, am I or am I not the Care of Magical Creatures teacher? Your owl will be fine. I repeat, fine."
When at last the day was over, he stomped up the steps into the Gryffindor common room, ready to start his homework.
"Goblin rebellion," he said to the portrait of a fat lady wearing a pink silk gown.
"That's right, dear!" she said with a giggle, swinging aside. James climbed through and sat down at a nearby table. Irritably, he glared at Sirius and Star, who were wrapped in each other's arms. They make me sick! he thought, furiously opening a book on Potions. But he simply couldn't concentrate, as a crowd of noisy third-years was standing by the notice-board. James leapt up; ready to tell them off for disturbing him, when he saw something that made all his angry feelings dissolve in an instant. A piece of parchment had been Spellotaped over an old Gobstones club notice. James' heart was light as he went back to his homework, and he the rain seemed to calm his feelings. Nothing mattered at the moment, as James went over the sign in his mind. Quidditch training starts on Wednesday at 6:30 pm. Be there!
James woke up and rubbed his eyes. Sunlight streamed through the open window of the dormitory and he realised that today was the day of the first obstacle. He looked past Remus, who was fast asleep, over to Sirius, who seemed calm, and was practising the Stunning spell on a bullfrog he had stolen from the Potions store cupboard.
"Morning," said James brightly. "Are you nervous?" Sirius shook his head.
"Stupefy!" he cried, aiming his wand at the frog, which immediately toppled over, an expression of shock plastered over its ugly face.
"I've got this in the bag. Snivelly's the only one that has to worry," said Severus defiantly. James grinned and wandered over to Remus' bed.
"He's been off colour all week, yet Madam Moonluck says that she doesn't know what's wrong," said James, puzzled as to what was wrong with his friend. Sirius looked over his shoulder.
"He looks so pale and peaky. Like he does a week before full moon…" he said thoughtfully. James couldn't help wondering…
"Welcome one and all!" Dumbledore boomed. Lily, Star and Bellatrix were sitting in the stands of the Quidditch pitch, which was the place where the first obstacle would take place. Lily tightened her Gryffindor scarf around her neck. The weather was beginning to get chilly as winter fast approached.
"I can't wait to find out what the first obstacle will actually be," said Bellatrix, excitedly, holding up a pair of omnioculars and scanning the pitch. Dumbledore rambled on with his speech, but it seemed that only Star was listening. Everybody else was too busy watching the four contestants prepare for their challenge. Severus was muttering curses under his breath, Sirius was practising the summoning charm, and the two girls had their eyes closed, mouthing complicated spells. Suddenly, Bellatrix began to tug on the sleeve of Lily's robes.
"Bella, what on earth is the matter?" Lily stared at her friend.
"Lily, look!" cried Bellatrix, thrusting the omnioculars into Lily's arms. Lily held them up to her eyes and tried to find what was making Bellatrix so alarmed. Just then, she saw it. Tied to a stake behind the changing rooms was the chimaera. Lily gaped at it and tapped Star on the shoulder. Star let out a shriek.
"But they can't possibly face a chimaera alone! They'll die!" she panicked. Lily calmed her down.
"Dumbledore wouldn't let that happen," she said confidently. Star nodded dumbly, still gazing down at the huge beast. By now, many other students had spotted the chimaera and were pointing at it with interest. The four contestants, however, couldn't see the chimaera and grew steadily more nervous.
"Mind if we sit down?" said a voice. Lily turned around and tried hard not to groan. Standing behind her was James, and behind him, stood Peter, trembling from head to foot and glancing down at the chimaera. Before Lily could say a thing, Star spoke for her.
"Certainly," she said, waving her hand carelessly. James and Peter shuffled past Star and Bellatrix and sat down next to Lily, just as Dumbledore finished his speech.
"Brilliant. Who's going first?" asked James, rubbing his hands together.
"It'll be Sirius, then Severus," said Bellatrix, her eyes focused on the pitch.
"Okay, Sirius, on the count of three you may walk onto the pitch and grab the golden flower!" came Dumbledore's magnified voice.
"One… two… three!"
Sirius came striding onto the pitch, only half listening to the cheers and shouts of the Gryffindors. Standing before him was the great chimaera. It looked enormous… Sirius backed away, his mind numb in shock. The chimaera pawed the ground, let out a roar, then began running straight towards Sirius. Far above him, Star let out an ear-splitting shriek. I need to calm it down, then attack… thought Sirius wildly, as the chimaera drew suddenly closer. If I pretend to transfigure myself into a dog, no one will know I'm an Animagus… he thought. He immediately began to whisper a made-up spell to himself, all the while thinking of becoming a dog.
Star slid back into her seat. "He's safe!" she said, her heart pounding against her chest. Lily grinned.
"That's an advanced spell! We haven't even learnt it in Transfiguration yet," she said. James just laughed merrily. Little did Lily know!
Meanwhile, Sirius was darting past the chimaera with the agility of a greyhound. Before him was a beautiful golden flower… He pulled it out of the ground with his sharp teeth then looked back at the confused chimaera.
In an instant, he was standing up straight and tall, his wand aimed at the chimaera's eyes.
"Conjunctivus!" he yelled, and a jet of yellow light burst from his wand tip, hitting the chimaera straight in the eye. It gave a loud screech, before trampling around the pitch, wondering why it couldn't see a thing and becoming steadily more frightened. Finally, exhausted, it collapsed in a heap and Sirius ran past it, back to the competitor's tent, the golden flower clutched in his hand. James and Star had leapt up from their seats and were shouting, "He did it, he did it!" over and over again. Lily giggled as she watched Bellatrix muttering under her breath. Everyone knew that the Bella and Sirius despised each other, but no one knew why. Amidst all the cheers and shouts, Star pointed to the judges' table.
"Look! I wonder what score they'll give him…" she eagerly looked over and watched Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall (the Transfiguration teacher) and Professor Manderlay (the horrible Muggle Studies teacher who always favoured Slytherin) have a whispered conversation. At last, Dumbledore and McGonagall held up their pieces of parchment, each sporting a large black number. Professor Manderlay was still scribbling his number down.
"9 from Dumbledore, 8 from McGonagall, that's fantastic!" said James.
"Yeah, but look what Manderlay's given him…" said Star, disappointedly, for Professor Manderlay was holding up a roughly scribbled 4.
"All up, he's got 21 out of a possible 30. That's not too bad!" James said happily.
"Look, it's Severus' turn now!" cried Lily. Bellatrix looked at her friend curiously. Lily looked paler than she had before…
Meanwhile, Severus was walking slowly out of the competitor's tent, oblivious to what he was about to face. His wand gripped tightly in his hand, he drew in a deep breath and walked onto the pitch. When he saw the chimaera, he stood in shock for a few seconds, before attempting to Stun it. James roared with laughter and Peter, not wishing to be seen as uncool, laughed with him. Lily just glared at them.
"He's trying to Stun something that big?" James choked. Lily was fuming – in fact, it was almost as if sparks were flying out of her long, red-brown hair.
"You inconsiderate jerk!" she shouted at him. James felt like hitting himself. How could I have been so stupid? I completely forgot that she was sitting right next to me…
"I-I'm sorry, Lily…" he stammered, but Lily was staring back down on the pitch.
Meanwhile, Severus was feeling queasy. What kind of spell would calm down a raging chimaera? He could think of only one solution… He had to immobilise it for a few seconds, just long enough to pluck the flower and get back to the tent.
"Immobolis carpanicus!" he shouted. He then ran faster than he had ever run before. He was past the stationary chimaera; he had plucked the flower… Suddenly, the chimaera shook itself and began tearing towards Severus. He felt numb… I'm going to die… If only I could have told Lily that I loved her… Just then, an idea hit him. There was a rock that was only a short distance away from him…
"Transfigurari, transfigurai, transfilliobus, CAT!" he shouted desperately, aiming his wand at the rock. In an instant, instead of a boulder, a small orange tabby cat was looking around, thoroughly bewildered. The confused chimaera stomped after the cat, and Severus ran as fast as he could, back to the competitor's tent, only stopping to breathe when he had run inside. Clasped in his hand was the golden flower.
The Slytherins were going utterly mad, and Lily couldn't have felt happier. The judges were holding up their scores and James quickly tallied them up.
"7, 5 and 8, wow, he's only just behind Sirius," he concluded. The rest of the day passed in a happy blur. The moment Sirius walked into the common room, a large banner sporting the Gryffindor lion was thrown over his back, and people all around him thrust tall glasses of Butterbeer at him. James happily took one and gulped it down.
"Hey, Remus isn't here… I haven't seen him in ages…" said James.
"Let's go and see if he's ok. He might need the hospital wing," suggested Sirius. James nodded and
Sirius began elbowing his way through the noisy, chattering crowd.
"Get off me! I'll be back in a minute…" he said. With great difficulty, he, James and Peter, who had joined them a few seconds ago, made their way up the staircase that led to the boys' dormitory.
"Poor Moony, I can't believe he missed Padfoot's victory," said James, shaking his head, as they reached the door.
"I know! He would have loved seeing Snivellus try and Stun that beast," sniggered Sirius, pausing happily for a moment, then turning the handle of the door.
The minute they walked in, the three boys stood frozen in horror. Remus was no longer in his bed, staring unhappily at the ceiling. In fact, he wasn't even in his bed at all.
Standing in front of them, snarling so they could see his sharp yellow teeth, was Remus the werewolf.