WHEN TIME STANDS STILL
Disclaimer: I don't own HP or the related insignia, et cetera, et cetera.
kateydidnt: I guess I didn't explain too clearly there. I meant the prank where Sirius tricked Snape into going after Lupin. Snape said he was sixteen then, so I'm guessing it was sixth year.
SilverKnight7: Knaht uoy for gniweiver!
Epiphanys-Curse: Thanks. It's nice to be appreciated.
Indiangurl: One Patronus lesson coming up! As for the other, it's an interesting idea.
Amandinka: Glad you like it. I'll try to get the next chapter up sooner.
gaul1: Thanks!
Vicous Pixie: Thanks for taking the trouble ;) Now I know what you like; I'll keep that in mind.
LittleEar BigEar's sis: Thanks for reading and reviewing!
petites sorcieres: Thanks! Nice to know you like it.
Savi2070: Thanks for all the ideas. Some of them do coincide with mine, but I'm not going to tell you which!
Peeves: Cheers!
Nitte iz: I'm not going to answer that. It would give too much away.
penny: She'd have a lot to say... but say it to whom, that's the question.
ping*pong5: Thanks a lot! Wow, I'm thrilled at all the compliments ;)
Moni: Thanks. I'll try to.
MY LIL' Angel: Thanks. I'll update as soon as I can.
PrincessSkywalkerOrgana: That's a pretty good guess, but she's actually names after one of the Pythias (is that the right plural?) of Delphi.
Space Density: Here's the update!
violet-angel07: They'll start pretty soon. Thanks for the suggestions.
Marauders-Lover: I will, and thanks for reviewing.
storm101: Hey, it was the least I could do, considering you took the trouble to review. I hope you like this chapter too.
star estrella: Thanks, I will.
And Happy New Year, everyone. Let's hope for a nice, peaceful 2004.
CHAPTER 6: Stags and Sneaking Suspicions
James and Sirius alternated their time between plotting mischief for the upcoming Potions class and glaring at Thomson. They were waiting in the Defense classroom for Professor Williamson.
Ten minutes after the bell, their DADA teacher rushed in breathlessly, with his hat awry and his papers stuffed anyhow into one of his books.
"Terribly sorry," he said, as he dumped the mess in his arms onto his desk and began to flip through the pages of his register. "I was with Professor Dumbledore... I completely forgot about the class... now, where were we?"
He found the page with their class's details on it.
"Ah, yes, I told about the Patronus charm. And I believe I said we would attempt the spell today... Very well, then. I shall perform it first. Please watch closely."
He moved his desk out of the way with a wave of his wand. Then he lifted his hand, cleared his throat, and said, "Expecto Patronum!"
A silver unicorn burst from the tip of his wand. It looked around at the class, lowered its head once, and dissipated into mist.
"Now, remember," Professor Williamson said, "the spell is easy if you are happy. You must think of the happiest memory you can. It would be difficult if a Dementor were here, but under the circumstances you ought to manage quite nicely."
Sirius leaned over to James.
"Piece of cake," he whispered. "I'll just think of that time we turned Snivelly's hair orange and his robes green, remember?"
James snorted with laughter.
"What about the time we bewitched that suit of armour to chase him around the Great Hall? Remember, it didn't let him sit down for forty minutes."
"Yeah," Sirius chortled. "And -" Catching Professor Williamson's eye, he cut himself short and straightened up.
"Thank you for your attention, Mr Black," he said. "For your information, I was just telling the class that we would do this in alphabetical order. You first."
Sirius grinned cockily, stood up, and strolled to the front of the class.
He cast around for a happy memory, and decided on the moment he had been sorted into Gryffindor.
"Expecto Patronum!" he said, lifting his wand. "Expecto Patronum! EXPECTO PATRONUM!"
A silvery cloud shot from the end of his wand and vanished.
"Very good, Mr Black," Professor Williamson said with a smile. "Remarkable, for a first attempt. Next, please... Miss Bones."
Miss Bones could not produce anything, nor could Mr Cadwick, Mr Cust or Miss Davies. Professor Williamson did not seem unduly worried by this, only nodding and saying that practice was needed.
Lily, like Sirius, made a wisp of silver smoke that vanished as soon as it emerged from her wand.
When Lupin's turn came, Harry noted, with a sense of shock, that he could not perform the spell. He had always assumed that his former professor had been very good at Defense.
But maybe it had something to do with being a werewolf... he might not have too many happy memories yet... that was probably it... Lost in his thoughts, Harry started guiltily when Professor Williamson called, "Mr Potter!"
He opened his mouth to apologize, remembered that he didn't call himself 'Mr Potter' here, and shut it again. He watched James walk confidently to the front of the class, not noticing the sharp glance Remus cast in his direction.
James twirled his wand between two fingers, one eye on Lily. As Sirius had said, piece of cake. Maybe he really would impress her this time.
He decided to think about the last Quidditch match they had won against Slytherin. Trying to relive the exultation of the moment when he felt the Snitch fluttering in his hand, he raised his wand.
"Expecto Patronum - EXPECTO PATRONUM!"
Silver mist erupted from his wandtip. For a moment it hovered and swirled, looking like it would solidify. Then it vanished.
"Excellent!" Professor Williamson said, sounding delighted. "The best so far, Mr Potter. Excellent!"
James went back to his seat, smirking. Professor Williams consulted his register.
"The next is... Mr Smith, please."
A boy with curly dark hair moved to the front. After James, the class waited with an air of expectation, but he could not perform the spell.
"Oh," Professor Williamson said, adding to the general feeling of anti- climax. "Oh, well, not to worry, Mr Smith, not to worry. Many people cannot perform the spell the first time they try. I myself could not. To proceed, now... well, it appears we have only one person more - Mr Thomson!"
Harry gripped his wand tightly and went to the front. Sirius and James, who had tilted their chairs together, grinned unpleasantly at him. Lily gave him an encouraging smile as he passed her.
"Now, Mr Thomson, just take it easy. Think of something happy."
Harry raised his wand and concentrated on defeating Slytherin at Quidditch.
"Expecto Patronum!"
His silver stag erupted from the end of his wand. It stood looking at him for an instant, then it turned to face James and Sirius, who had suddenly stopped grinning. It turned back to Harry, and then it was gone.
There was a moment of stunned silence, which was broken by a clatter as James and Sirius lost their balance and fell in a heap on the floor.
*~*
"I told you," Sirius hissed triumphantly to the other Marauders, as they lounged under a tree during Break. "I told you he looked exactly like Prongs. And his Patronus is Prongs! Mark my words, something is not right."
"Sirius," Remus said for what seemed like the hundredth time, "you don't know that it was Prongs. It was a stag."
"Rubbish! I've seen Prongs transform too often to make a mistake. And the Patronus looked straight at me. It was Prongs, I tell you!"
Peter turned to James.
"What do you think?"
"Never having seen my own Animagus form, Wormtail, I couldn't tell you," he said. "But Sirius must be right."
"What!" Remus protested. "This is bad enough without you backing him up!"
"Come off it, Moony," James said. "Don't tell me you haven't noticed anything unusual about this Thomson character."
Remus frowned.
"Now that you mention it..."
Sirius leaned forward eagerly.
"Yes?"
"He knew Nick... on his first day... knew him well enough to call him 'Nick'... and only Gryffindors do that... And, today, when Williamson called you, Prongs, he started. And he almost answered. I don't think he knows I noticed."
"But you know what?" Peter said. "He hates me."
"Don't be ridiculous, Wormtail," Sirius snapped. "You've not even had a class with him yet."
"No, but I saw it when he came up to the dormitory last night. And again at breakfast this morning. He hates me, Padfoot."
"That's odd," Remus said slowly. "Why should he hate you? It's Prongs and Padfoot who've been bullying him - or attempting to bully him. I've noticed that he holds his own against you two quite nicely."
He sighed.
"I'm off now. I'll see you tonight at the Willow. And don't do anything foolish."
He got up and walked off towards the Hospital Wing.
"Prongs," Sirius said as soon as he was out of earshot, "I have an idea. If we want to know what's going on in Thomson's head, there's one person who can help us."
James grinned.
"Professor Xeno."
Disclaimer: I don't own HP or the related insignia, et cetera, et cetera.
kateydidnt: I guess I didn't explain too clearly there. I meant the prank where Sirius tricked Snape into going after Lupin. Snape said he was sixteen then, so I'm guessing it was sixth year.
SilverKnight7: Knaht uoy for gniweiver!
Epiphanys-Curse: Thanks. It's nice to be appreciated.
Indiangurl: One Patronus lesson coming up! As for the other, it's an interesting idea.
Amandinka: Glad you like it. I'll try to get the next chapter up sooner.
gaul1: Thanks!
Vicous Pixie: Thanks for taking the trouble ;) Now I know what you like; I'll keep that in mind.
LittleEar BigEar's sis: Thanks for reading and reviewing!
petites sorcieres: Thanks! Nice to know you like it.
Savi2070: Thanks for all the ideas. Some of them do coincide with mine, but I'm not going to tell you which!
Peeves: Cheers!
Nitte iz: I'm not going to answer that. It would give too much away.
penny: She'd have a lot to say... but say it to whom, that's the question.
ping*pong5: Thanks a lot! Wow, I'm thrilled at all the compliments ;)
Moni: Thanks. I'll try to.
MY LIL' Angel: Thanks. I'll update as soon as I can.
PrincessSkywalkerOrgana: That's a pretty good guess, but she's actually names after one of the Pythias (is that the right plural?) of Delphi.
Space Density: Here's the update!
violet-angel07: They'll start pretty soon. Thanks for the suggestions.
Marauders-Lover: I will, and thanks for reviewing.
storm101: Hey, it was the least I could do, considering you took the trouble to review. I hope you like this chapter too.
star estrella: Thanks, I will.
And Happy New Year, everyone. Let's hope for a nice, peaceful 2004.
CHAPTER 6: Stags and Sneaking Suspicions
James and Sirius alternated their time between plotting mischief for the upcoming Potions class and glaring at Thomson. They were waiting in the Defense classroom for Professor Williamson.
Ten minutes after the bell, their DADA teacher rushed in breathlessly, with his hat awry and his papers stuffed anyhow into one of his books.
"Terribly sorry," he said, as he dumped the mess in his arms onto his desk and began to flip through the pages of his register. "I was with Professor Dumbledore... I completely forgot about the class... now, where were we?"
He found the page with their class's details on it.
"Ah, yes, I told about the Patronus charm. And I believe I said we would attempt the spell today... Very well, then. I shall perform it first. Please watch closely."
He moved his desk out of the way with a wave of his wand. Then he lifted his hand, cleared his throat, and said, "Expecto Patronum!"
A silver unicorn burst from the tip of his wand. It looked around at the class, lowered its head once, and dissipated into mist.
"Now, remember," Professor Williamson said, "the spell is easy if you are happy. You must think of the happiest memory you can. It would be difficult if a Dementor were here, but under the circumstances you ought to manage quite nicely."
Sirius leaned over to James.
"Piece of cake," he whispered. "I'll just think of that time we turned Snivelly's hair orange and his robes green, remember?"
James snorted with laughter.
"What about the time we bewitched that suit of armour to chase him around the Great Hall? Remember, it didn't let him sit down for forty minutes."
"Yeah," Sirius chortled. "And -" Catching Professor Williamson's eye, he cut himself short and straightened up.
"Thank you for your attention, Mr Black," he said. "For your information, I was just telling the class that we would do this in alphabetical order. You first."
Sirius grinned cockily, stood up, and strolled to the front of the class.
He cast around for a happy memory, and decided on the moment he had been sorted into Gryffindor.
"Expecto Patronum!" he said, lifting his wand. "Expecto Patronum! EXPECTO PATRONUM!"
A silvery cloud shot from the end of his wand and vanished.
"Very good, Mr Black," Professor Williamson said with a smile. "Remarkable, for a first attempt. Next, please... Miss Bones."
Miss Bones could not produce anything, nor could Mr Cadwick, Mr Cust or Miss Davies. Professor Williamson did not seem unduly worried by this, only nodding and saying that practice was needed.
Lily, like Sirius, made a wisp of silver smoke that vanished as soon as it emerged from her wand.
When Lupin's turn came, Harry noted, with a sense of shock, that he could not perform the spell. He had always assumed that his former professor had been very good at Defense.
But maybe it had something to do with being a werewolf... he might not have too many happy memories yet... that was probably it... Lost in his thoughts, Harry started guiltily when Professor Williamson called, "Mr Potter!"
He opened his mouth to apologize, remembered that he didn't call himself 'Mr Potter' here, and shut it again. He watched James walk confidently to the front of the class, not noticing the sharp glance Remus cast in his direction.
James twirled his wand between two fingers, one eye on Lily. As Sirius had said, piece of cake. Maybe he really would impress her this time.
He decided to think about the last Quidditch match they had won against Slytherin. Trying to relive the exultation of the moment when he felt the Snitch fluttering in his hand, he raised his wand.
"Expecto Patronum - EXPECTO PATRONUM!"
Silver mist erupted from his wandtip. For a moment it hovered and swirled, looking like it would solidify. Then it vanished.
"Excellent!" Professor Williamson said, sounding delighted. "The best so far, Mr Potter. Excellent!"
James went back to his seat, smirking. Professor Williams consulted his register.
"The next is... Mr Smith, please."
A boy with curly dark hair moved to the front. After James, the class waited with an air of expectation, but he could not perform the spell.
"Oh," Professor Williamson said, adding to the general feeling of anti- climax. "Oh, well, not to worry, Mr Smith, not to worry. Many people cannot perform the spell the first time they try. I myself could not. To proceed, now... well, it appears we have only one person more - Mr Thomson!"
Harry gripped his wand tightly and went to the front. Sirius and James, who had tilted their chairs together, grinned unpleasantly at him. Lily gave him an encouraging smile as he passed her.
"Now, Mr Thomson, just take it easy. Think of something happy."
Harry raised his wand and concentrated on defeating Slytherin at Quidditch.
"Expecto Patronum!"
His silver stag erupted from the end of his wand. It stood looking at him for an instant, then it turned to face James and Sirius, who had suddenly stopped grinning. It turned back to Harry, and then it was gone.
There was a moment of stunned silence, which was broken by a clatter as James and Sirius lost their balance and fell in a heap on the floor.
*~*
"I told you," Sirius hissed triumphantly to the other Marauders, as they lounged under a tree during Break. "I told you he looked exactly like Prongs. And his Patronus is Prongs! Mark my words, something is not right."
"Sirius," Remus said for what seemed like the hundredth time, "you don't know that it was Prongs. It was a stag."
"Rubbish! I've seen Prongs transform too often to make a mistake. And the Patronus looked straight at me. It was Prongs, I tell you!"
Peter turned to James.
"What do you think?"
"Never having seen my own Animagus form, Wormtail, I couldn't tell you," he said. "But Sirius must be right."
"What!" Remus protested. "This is bad enough without you backing him up!"
"Come off it, Moony," James said. "Don't tell me you haven't noticed anything unusual about this Thomson character."
Remus frowned.
"Now that you mention it..."
Sirius leaned forward eagerly.
"Yes?"
"He knew Nick... on his first day... knew him well enough to call him 'Nick'... and only Gryffindors do that... And, today, when Williamson called you, Prongs, he started. And he almost answered. I don't think he knows I noticed."
"But you know what?" Peter said. "He hates me."
"Don't be ridiculous, Wormtail," Sirius snapped. "You've not even had a class with him yet."
"No, but I saw it when he came up to the dormitory last night. And again at breakfast this morning. He hates me, Padfoot."
"That's odd," Remus said slowly. "Why should he hate you? It's Prongs and Padfoot who've been bullying him - or attempting to bully him. I've noticed that he holds his own against you two quite nicely."
He sighed.
"I'm off now. I'll see you tonight at the Willow. And don't do anything foolish."
He got up and walked off towards the Hospital Wing.
"Prongs," Sirius said as soon as he was out of earshot, "I have an idea. If we want to know what's going on in Thomson's head, there's one person who can help us."
James grinned.
"Professor Xeno."