Chapter 8: - Curfews and games
After Lily assured Miriam, Alice and Frank that she was feeling loads better the four friends headed back up to Gryffindor tower,
"Where have you four been?" yelled the extremely angry voice of Amanda Hugh- Genghis as they climbed through the portrait hole. "The first year's curfew started fifteen minuets ago!!!" Lily didn't understand why Amanda was being so angry last night they had been over an hour late and Amanda hadn't said anything. Amanda continued her rant for over half an hour loud enough for everyone in the common room to hear, even students that had gone to their dormitories had came back down to watch the show.
It turned out that James and Sirius had informed Amanda that the girls had been out past curfew the previous night and after discovering that they weren't in the common room tonight Amanda, who was a stickler for rules had become very angry indeed.
"Are you four some how exempt from the rules that are set down for your own safety?" Amanda asked practically screaming, her voice growing horse "Are members of the ancient family of Artemis some how above rules" at this Miriam tried to protest but Amanda shot her down
"You have only been here a few days so I don't expect you to be fully aware of all the schools rules but Dumbledore himself expressed that curfews where to be kept" Amanda finished by saying that all the first years would now have to be in the common room immediately after the evening meal and that she herself would be escorting them from the Great hall to Gryffindor tower. Gideon and Richard tried to protest saying that it wasn't within Amanda's prefect powers to change the starting times of the curfews but this just made Amanda even angrier and she moved all the years curfews forward an hour.
It was safe to say that no one in Gryffindor tower was very happy that night, all the other years blamed Lily, Miriam, Alice and Frank for the mental breakdown of Amanda, whereas only the first years remembered that the people who had started it all was sitting at the very back of the common room doubled over in silent laughter: James Potter and Sirius Black.
"Why did you do it?" Lily said angrily before Miriam could open her mouth, has they moved over to the table where James, Sirius, Remus and Peter where sitting.
"Why?" James said trying to keep a straight face "Because we could!" he burst out laughing
"We never meant it to go this far though" Sirius said smiling and wiping a tear from his eye "and we never meant to get you involved Frank, sorry"
"We only wanted to show you three a lesson" James said finally pulling himself together
"A lesson!" Miriam said her jaw clenched "What for?"
"For spoiling our little bit of fun with Snivellus Snape" Sirius said smiling
"Well congratulations boys" Lily said raising her voice "you've got exactly what you wanted plus a lot more, the new curfew rules apply to you as well!"
James and Sirius's faces dropped they obviously hadn't though of that and Lily, Miriam and Alice headed off to the girls dormitory feeling a little bit better for having wiped the smug smiles of James and Sirius's faces.
The next day was Saturday and Amanda was being very strict with the first years now, while all the other years where allowed to sleep in Amanda made it her personal task to make sure that the first years despised each other as much as possible. She woke them all very early telling them to be washed, changed and in the common room in ten minuets. She even woke the boys has Gideon and Richard had refuse point blank to help her on her self- destructive and demoralizing campaign. At seven thirty she walked the first years over to the Library where she instructed them to start on their homework. They did this for over an hour before she trooped them off to the Great Hall for breakfast and it didn't take much for Amy and Dymphna to agree with Lily, Miriam and Alice that James and Sirius were to be blamed for the worsening of their lives at Hogwarts.
That Afternoon during Lunch Frank and the girls sat apart from James, Sirius, Remus and Peter. Lily, Miriam and Alice told Frank what they had seen the night they where in the Owlery and what Miriam had heard at the start of the flying lesson, it took all of Lunch to tell him has they didn't want Amy or Dymphna to hear, mainly because they didn't want to get Amy and Dymphna or themselves into any trouble.
Amanda had decided to give the First years the afternoon off, they had spent the morning back in the Library doing their homework, but as she left them in the entrance hall she told them that she'd be very angry if they hadn't finished the essay by that evening. And so it was that while the whole school was free to roam the grounds has much as they wanted Lily, Alice, Amy, Dymphna and Frank where found to be sitting in the shade of the tree by the lake, finishing their essay for Potions. Their position under the tree served as a duel purpose, not only did it provide much needed shade on such a warm September afternoon but it gave the best view of the grounds,
"Hay" Miriam said running over to them, after lunch Miriam had gone to find her older Brothers to find out as much information as she could about anything that would throw some light onto what they had seen two nights ago "Tad's told me that the large willow tree is called a Whomping Willow, apparently it's a native species of brazil. He also said that it's a new addition to the grounds because it wasn't here last year!"
"So who ever planted it" Frank said leaning in close so that Amy and Dymphna couldn't hear "Must have planted it for a reason?"
"That's the best part!" Miriam said enthusiastically trying to keep her voice low "Tad said the trees sort of alive, it's aware of its surroundings"
"So that's why it sways around like that, especially when their playing Tag" Alice said indicating a group of fourth and fifth years grouped near the tree. Several of the older students had started a game when they had discovered that the huge willow tree could move. Lily discovered that it was in fact devised by Miriam's other brother Jedidiah and his partner in crime Ludovic Bagman. The game was named 'Tag' but Lily really though it should be renamed Dodge.
Tag players consisted entirely of boys (Lily liked to think that none of the female students were stupid enough to play) the object of the game was to touch the large gnarled trunk of the tree but has the large flexible branches could twist and bend in all directions the truck was impossible to reach. Madam Pomfrey was kept extremely busy by the participants of the game; there was a constant flow of students heading up to the Hospital wing with cuts, bumps and bruisers, but more and more students wanted to play.
"But why would anyone want to plant such a violent tree in the middle of a schools ground?" Frank asked,
"Well firstly it isn't an anyone" Lily said, they all looked at her as though she'd gone insane "well it's obvious who planted it or at least had it planted, it had to be Dumbledore" They all agreed on that point after all he had been seen coming out of it,
"So the main thing we have to find out is what's it being used for" Miriam said looking back at the willow and the boys still playing their game "It's obvious that it's not in use now!"
"What makes you say that?" Frank asked her looking a little surprised
"That's easy to tell" Miriam said nonchalantly "The grounds would be crawling with teachers trying to keep them away from it" again they all agreed that point too,
"I say we head back to the Owlery again tonight and see if anyone comes out to use it" Miriam said as though it was the best idea in the entire world, Lily, Frank and Alice still remembering the ear bashing that they had received last night from Amanda and the new curfew enforcements began to object in unison to Miriam's idea but their protests where cut short by a sickening scream behind them.
