Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, not me.
Chapter 9
Harry was sitting on the desk with his head resting on his hand. History of Magic was probably the most boring subject ever created. Professor Binns was droning on about something or other; Harry wasn't really listening. He glanced at the people around him; some had glazed looks on their faces and others were nodding off. Some things never change, Harry thought with a slight smile. He looked at his mother, who, after the incident the night before hadn't talked to him at all that day. She was taking down notes, yawning occasionally. James hadn't spoken to him as well.
Harry looked away and stared blankly at Binns, trying his best to listen. After all, Hermione wasn't here to copy notes from.
"… and so, after his failed attempt to train trolls for the ballet, he became known as Barnabas the Barmy." Binns said in his usual monotone.
Harry had a sudden image of a tapestry where a man was being clubbed by trolls, and a blank stretch of wall opposite it. He felt a jolt go through his body. Of course! The Room of Requirement! How could he have forgotten? He had used it plenty of times in his fifth year he and his friends had organized an illegal Defense Against the Dark Arts group. It may well be his only chance, his only hope of ever going back.
The room would provide whoever sought it with what they needed, and what Harry needed at the moment was a means for time travel. He could leave for the future that night! He had to tell Dumbledore.
Feeling excited, Harry couldn't wait for the class to end and break to start. But then a thought entered his mind. If he left that night, he would miss his only chance to see his father transform into a stag. I'll just tell Dumbledore tomorrow and leave then, he thought. No way was he missing this once-in-a-lifetime chance to see the Marauders in action.
It was 10 p.m. and all was quiet in the dormitory. Just then, James sat up slowly from his bed and looked around. Quietly, he got up and walked to Harry's bed, sliding the hangings open carefully to avoid making a sound. Harry's eyes were closed and his breathing slow and even. James closed the hangings again then stepped toward the other beds.
"He's asleep," he whispered, "Let's go."
Sirius and Peter sprang up immediately and got out of bed, still fully dressed. James reached under his pillow and pulled out his Invisibility Cloak. Then, he eased the dormitory door open silently went out, Sirius and Peter right behind him.
The moment the door closed with a soft click, Harry opened his eyes and sat up. He listened until he couldn't hear any footsteps outside the door anymore then opened his hangings. He got out of bed and opened the trunk Dumbledore had given him and took out the telescope he used for Astronomy. He then walked over to the window where the Whomping Willow could be seen in the distance. Harry adjusted the magnification of the telescope and pressed it to his eye, looking in the direction of the extremely violent tree. He could see the area around the tree as though he were merely ten feet away. He waited patiently.
A few minutes later, the Willow started thrashing its branches. Three figures suddenly appeared out of nowhere, out of the reach of the branches. Harry trained the telescope at his father and his friends. James was folding up the cloak and placing it carefully on the ground. Peter disappeared, and though Harry couldn't see where he had gone to, knew that he had transformed into a rat to touch the knot at the base of the Whomping Willow. Sure enough, moments later, the tree froze.
Harry's eyes widened as his father and Sirius transformed at the same time, one into a great stag and the other into a big, black dog. Harry burned the memory into his head and watched with excitement as the two went through the concealed trap door beneath the Willow and disappeared from view. Harry smiled. He finally saw what his father looked like after he transformed in the flesh. The stag James had changed into was the very image of Harry's own Patronus. Harry put down the telescope and waited for the Marauders to come out again. The full moon bathed the grounds in a soft, silver light.
Suddenly, Harry's eyes caught some movement in the grounds below. Somebody was walking toward the Whomping Willow. Harry grabbed his telescope again and jammed it into his eye. The figure below was a girl, walking apprehensively toward the dangerous tree, her hands clenched at her sides. A girl with long red hair that glinted in the moonlight. Harry gasped. It was Lily! She obviously had no idea what kind of danger she was in. Going near the Whomping Willow was a risk in itself. But the biggest danger was that soon, the trapdoor would open, and a fully-grown werewolf would emerge. Feeling panic, Harry did the only thing he could think of. He dropped the telescope, grabbed his wand and sprinted out of the dormitory at full speed.
A/N: I didn't write a thing during the weekend so please forgive me for updating only now. Stay tuned, the next chapter is coming out soon!