CHAPTER 11

Using the Cloak

The second term went a lot faster than the first. January turned to February, which turned to March, and finally dove through April and May and slid into June. The four friends were becoming closer and closer every day. James and Sirius had caught up with their homework and no longer needed Remus's help. Yet, they always sat in front of the fire, talking about what to do the next day and pointing out pretty girls from afar. Peter still had his rat by his side every time anyone saw him, and Remus still left every month to see his mother. Sirius was growing in suspicions, though. After what had happened at the end of January, he was sure that it wasn't his mother that Remus left for.

Their friend had explained to his roommates that he'd had a bad dream, and then fainted. This still didn't explain the fear in Professor McGonagall's eyes that night, nor the claw marks that James found on his bed frame the next morning. But Sirius was sure that if the teachers thought that Remus was dangerous, they wouldn't have admitted him back into the dormitories. All of his doubts and thoughts were washed away by the continuing support that the staff gave Remus.

Sirius and James had begun to make a name for themselves, that was for sure. The Halloween prank was only the beginning. Of course, since the prank, they had never been caught, and there was never any evidence against them to get them in loads of trouble. Yet everyone knew who had done it, and the two boys could walk with their heads a little higher that summer.

Remus was still the gray-haired bookworm that followed them around, even if Sirius and James never talked down to him or poked fun at him. Actually, they were the best two friends that he had ever had and ever would have. It was Peter who worshipped these two gods, and would offer to carry their bags for them and hold doors open for them. The chubby faced boy had no name in the student body, except for "that one tubby kid who follows James Potter around," but that was enough for him. At least he had some sort of a name.

James and Sirius had shown their two friends the Invisibility Cloak in February, and Remus had laughed.

"Well, this explains a lot," he said. There always seemed to be noises at night, opening the door, bumping into the trunks, jumping on the beds. He had thought the disturbances were being caused by Peeves. But alas, it had just been Sirius and James trying to fit both of them under the cloak.

"Come with us, tonight," James offered to Remus, and held out the cloak for him to try on. Remus felt a wave of excitement and nodded. They decided that they would attempt to fit all four of them inside that night in their room. Darryl was always asleep like a baby, and so they wouldn't bother him.

The night finally came, and James shook Remus awake. Remus started and then smiled. "Is it time?"

"Yeah." James held out the cloak, and then nodded over to Sirius and Peter, who were already preparing to squeeze under it.

Sirius, being the tallest, stood in the back. James, being the second tallest, stood next to Sirius, and finally the shorter two filed together in front. Peter and Remus were the same height, but Peter's fat compensated for Remus's lack thereof, and they happily discovered that with a little readjusting, they all four could fit under the cloak. The possibilities were endless now, and they all went to sleep very content.

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The exams were nearing now, and Remus could be found studying almost every minute of the day. Sirius and James, on the other hand, proclaimed that they already knew all of it, and would refuse to open a book. Peter had all of a sudden gone from crawling after James to crawling after Remus and his books and study habits. The two of them could be found in the library almost every day, studying their eyes out.

Remus had to take a break from his studies to transform, spend a day in the hospital wing, and then make up another sob story to tell his friends. The transformations were still getting worse. There was nothing that anyone could do for him, and he knew that if he didn't go down into the Shack, he would be expelled.

Another familiar face at the library was good old Snivellus. His long hair usually hung in front of his face, and his nose was the only thing that was visible from the black strands covering his eyes and cheeks. He had note upon note from Professor Klein to give to the librarian, Madam Pince. He would then find his way to the Restricted Section, take a black and beaten book from the shelf, and find a seat somewhere by a vacant table. He then would lean into the book, so that his hooked nose was almost touching the page, and engulf whatever the reading was. Peter would sometimes look up from Remus's studying, and stare at him.

"He's sort of --- dark, isn't he?" he said once to Remus.

Remus looked toward the lone Slytherin two tables away. "Yeah, I guess," he said. "He looks sort of lonely."

"Think we should go sit with him?"

"What?"

Peter shrugged. "I dunno --- well, he seems to be getting top marks in Defense Against the Dark Arts."

Remus sighed, shut his books, and headed off for the vacant table. Snape didn't acknowledge them when they confronted him, and he didn't show any signs of knowing they were there until Remus cleared his throat.

"Um, mind if we sit with you? We're studying, too."

The hooked nose dove back from the book, and he covered the page with his hands. He looked up at Remus and Peter, and blinked.

"I'm sort of busy."

"Oh, okay, then," Peter said, starting to walk away. But Remus grabbed him by his collar and dragged him back to stand beside him.

"Well, we were wondering if we could study with you," he continued on, "since you have access to the Restricted Section, and we don't. We're sort of behind in Professor Klein's class."

Snivellus raised his eyebrow. "You're that Potter boy's friends, aren't you?"

"Well, yes, but we have names," Remus said, pointing to himself. "I'm Remus Lupin, and this is Peter Pet-"

"Nice to meet you," the boy said, sounding not very nice at all. "I'm Snivellus."

Remus stopped. He must have overheard him in the corridors one day. Peter wasn't surprised by this comment at all, and nodded. Remus shook his head at Peter, and Peter came to a halt.

"Look, I-"

"I have studying to do," Snivellus said, and he went back to his book. "Now if you can just leave, I would appreciate it."

There was a pregnant pause, then Remus said very quietly, "I've never called you by that name."

"Well, you've never stopped anyone else from saying it, have you?" Snape shot back, and dug his nose in deeper to the book. Remus, taken aback by this retort, went back to his own work.

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That night, Remus was woken again by James's disembodied voice.

"Hurry up, Lupin. We're all already in here. Get up!"

Remus rubbed his eyes, and stood up. He felt a cloak wrap around him, and all of a sudden, James, Sirius, and Peter came into view.

"Now, where do we go tonight?" James asked his friends.

"The kitchen," Sirius said, "I heard that Slughorn has his own cupboard full of sweets for midnight snacks."

"Nah, let's go down to the Quidditch pitch and practice."

"With all four of us on a broom?" Sirius retorted. "Oh, that would be interesting. I guess we could tie Lupin to the front and use Peter as an anchor."

Peter blushed red.

"How about the Whomping Willow?" James said. "Davey Gudgeon reckons he's found out how to keep it from attacking --- there's a little knot at the bottom that you-"

"That's stupid," Remus said. "No, let's not go outside. It's cold tonight."

"How about --- how about the Slytherin common room?" Sirius offered.

"Oh, yeah, sure," James said. "Because we all know the Slytherin password."

"We could wait for someone to come along who does have the password."

"No, no, no-"

"Third floor corridor?"

"No."

"Well, come on now," Sirius huffed, "Figure it out, James, because it's getting hot and cramped under this thing."

"Let me think ---" James pondered for a moment, and then said, "You guys just want to wander around for a while? Explore? Maybe we'll see something cool on the way."

"Sure, whatever," Remus said, just glad to be moving. Sirius grunted a yes, and Peter nodded.

"All right, here we go." James took a step, and landed on Remus's foot.

"Ow!"

"Shh!" Sirius hissed.

"Sorry," James apologized, and then he sighed. "Okay, this is going to be harder than we thought. All together now, put your right foot forward. One, two, three-"

"OW!" Sirius howled.

"Right foot, Peter! Right foot!" James hissed.

"Oh, sorry."

"Now all together, one, two, three ---"

They took a step forward, and they all let out a deep breath.

"Good, good," James instructed, "Now, left foot. One, two, three ---"

Another step forward.

"All right ---" James looked to the door. It seemed so far away. They had only taken two steps. How were they supposed to explore the castle at this pace? It would be the end of the term before they reached the Fat Lady.

"There's got to be a faster way," he said, looking at his three friends for inspiration.

"What if Peter and Remus got on our shoulders?" Sirius suggested.

"The cloak isn't long enough to cover us that way," James said, "not to mention that I don't think we'd get that far that way either."

"Well, we could just carry Remus. Neither one of us would be able to support Peter."

"Shut up," Peter whined.

"Hey, don't you tell me to shut up, you little rat."

"Guys, stop," James snapped, and then he looked down at Remus's head. "Any ideas, Lupin?"

"Erm --- well, we could just spread out a bit, and take shuffles-"

"Oh, come on," Sirius said, "just start walking. Go, get going, fatty." He pushed Peter, and Peter lunged forward. Remus ran to catch up with him, and the two boys in the back supporting the cloak, followed. Soon, they were at the door, and Remus's hand was on the knob.

"Well, that wasn't very difficult, now was it?" Sirius said, raising a brow at James.

Out in the corridors, there was hardly any light. The torches were burning brightly, but the sounds of the students and scurrying feet were gone, making the halls very intimidating.

"I don't like this," Peter interjected as they turned a corner into darkness, "I don't like this at all."

"Oh, quit your whining," Sirius said.

"Shut up, both of you," James said as they walked up a flight of stairs. "Does anyone know where we are?"

"I think we're heading toward that dead end." Sirius pointed to a long corridor ahead of them. "You know, the one that we saw when we went exploring after Christmas?"

"Oh, yeah --- right."

"This isn't a dead end up here," Peter piped up.

"Huh?"

"I saw a room on that wall, right there," Peter said, "when I was trying to find Wormtail one day, I was pacing up and down the hall, looking for him, when all of a sudden, I saw a door . I think it was right there --- and there was a squeak behind it. I opened it up, and it was a small closet with a cage. And Wormtail was inside it-"

"Oh, geroff," Sirius said, touching the wall. "There's nothing there."

"Must have been a different corridor," Remus said. "They all look the same."

"No, it was this one --- look! There's the painting. It was right there ---" he pointed at a brick wall. No door was there.

"Let's just turn around," James advised, and they all went back down the staircase.

"Where else can we go?" Sirius asked.

"I dunno," James said, "guess we could try to sneak a look at the exams."

"No," Remus hissed.

"What?"

"No, no --- we'll get expelled."

"The challenge is what makes it interesting," James said, and he lurched forward towards the closest door. Remus pushed him back and said, stronger now, "No. No, we can't get in trouble."

"Fine, whatever," James said, and the four friends continued down the corridor.

"Shh, did you hear that?" Sirius said, stopping suddenly.

The other three came to a halt and listened intently. Footsteps echoed through the corridor to their right. Two pairs.

"Someone's coming!" Peter squealed.

"Do you think it's Filch?" Sirius asked James, his voice amused.

"No, Filch walks slower. Sounds like a student and a teacher." James examined the beat of the approaching steps. "Yeah, definitely."

They all backed up against the wall as Professor Klein and a smaller figure came into view. They stopped outside of Klein's office, and Klein hesitated to take out his keys and open the door. The smaller figure turned sideways, and Remus gasped. There was no question about it. He could recognize that profile from anywhere.

James seemed to recognize it as well, because he whispered, "It's Snivellus!"

Snape was indeed following Professor Klein into the office.

"Come on!" James ushered them quickly through the corridor and through the door just as it shut behind them. They stood in the corner, watching the scene play out before them. Snape had taken a seat in a black chair, and Klein was lighting a candle on his desk. He then sat down opposite Snape, and folded his hands.

"I wanted to talk to you in private, Severus," he said, "because I thought that the other teachers may try to interfere in what I'm about to say to you."

"Why is that, Professor?" his low, drawling voice asked.

"Well," Klein looked around, as if looking to see if anyone was listening, and he drew in nearer. "Some of the staff here believes that the only magic is that which they can control and are not afraid of. I have seen your performance in class, and you have advanced more than any of the other students that I teach. You have been enjoying the Restricted Section, no doubt?"

"Yes, Professor."

"I know that you are still very young. But I have received word from a colleague of mine that has asked me to join him in a common cause. And I invite you --- not now, no --- you are still very young and have much to learn --- but if you would like to someday join us, I have an opportunity for a job for you when you leave Hogwarts."

"Thank you, Professor."

"I am leaving after this year to help my colleague. If you are still interested at the end of your seventh year, I will return and give you all of the information that you need to join us. Until then, I must ask you to keep your studies going. And be careful of the riffraff at this school that can lead you astray."

"Thank you, Professor."

"I will be keeping in touch, Severus. You have been an excellent student."

They shook hands, and then they extinguished the candle. The four friends under the cloak followed them out unseen. After hearing the conversation, they decided it was best if they cut their adventure short and went back to bed. Inside their room, James lay in bed thinking. He now had a reason for hating Severus Snape.