Chapter 4
The train ground to a halt and the masses of students piled off to be greeted by carriages.
"D'you think they pull themselves?" James asked Sirius curiously.
"Probably." Sirius said climbing into the nearest one.
The carriages dropped them off at a large lake, by which a huge man was standing and calling. They traipsed over to him as he told them they would be sailing across the lake in boats. "And that," The man who had introduced himself as Hagrid shouted as they sailed. "That's bin planted this year! It's called a whompin' willow!" James caught sight of some first years in the boat next to their own. They had their heads together and were pointing in awe at Hagrid.
The students stared at the tree. Sirius and James did not appear remotely interested. They were lounging about in the boat, leaving Remus and Peter to paddle. "Ouch! Something bit me!" James yelped.
"Isn't there a giant squid in there?" Sirius leant over the edge eagerly. James quickly withdrew his hand from the lake.
"Sirius, would you mind not leaning over so much because you're tipping up the boat!" Remus called.
"Wait a minute! I think I see it! Can you steer to the left a bit?" Sirius leant over further.
"But we're going to..." Remus never finished his sentence.
SPLASH
Sirius gave a lunge at the squid and the boat capsized. The four of them were immediately drenched.
"Oh well done Sirius." James gasped. The water was freezing.
"Sirius! James!" Remus panted. "I don't think Peter can swim!"
"Well you should have weighed it down on the other side rather than leaning over to have a look too!" Sirius growled at James. The pair of them swam over to where Remus was holding Peter and the side of the boat.
James heard screams from the other boats and saw Hagrid's turn round. He and Sirius grabbed the boat too.
"What d'you think yer doin'!" Hagrid yelled, picking them out of the water and throwing them back into the boat.
"The boat capsized." Peter explained nervously.
"Yer I can see that!" Hagrid said grumpily and pushed their boat over to the side where they clambered out, completely sodden.
"Now the sorting is a very important event." Said a tall witch with her hair in a very tight bun. "My name is Professor McGonnagal and I am head of Gryffindor house. I suggest you tidy yourselves up before entering the Great Hall." She eyed James, Sirius, Peter and Remus accusingly before striding into the Great Hall, the first years following her.
The ceiling of the Great Hall twinkled with stars. "Ooh!" Gasped the students upon entrance. "But where's the troll?" A small girl with red hair and green eyes asked nervously.
James noticed that there was a patched and frayed hat sitting on a four-legged stall. That must be the sorting hat his parents told him about. The hat opened its mouth and began to sing.
Many hundred years ago,
I said to you before.
Hogwarts founders walked among us,
In total they were four.
Said Gryffindor; the boldest were the ones mighty and just,
Said Ravenclaw, the cleverest, to teach them we must!
Said Hufflepuff; I'll have them all! I won't have favourites from the throng,
Said Slytherin; the ambitious ones will take over once I'm gone.
'Tis quite extraordinary I thought this year,
Firm friendships quickly fall,
We'll be replaced instead,
Young Godric said,
By a symbol of us all.
For the four were anamagi,
Distinguished just by this,
Though they needed to choose an animal,
One the students all would miss.
Young Salazar decided that a snake would be quite good,
Rowena thought an eagle would mark right where they stood.
Helga didn't seem to mind, a badger seemed alright,
And Godric chose a lion, brave enough to fight.
The Hogwarts crest, above the rest,
They left just that you see,
To rule the school just like them all,
I presume that would be me.
The hall rang with applause as the hat closed its mouth.
"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stall." Professor McGonnagal told them.
"Abercrombie Olwen."
James watched Olwen Abercrombie perch nervously on the stall, waiting for the hat's decision. "HUFFLEPUFF!" It roared after what seemed like ages.
A girl with blonde curls and dark eyes was made a Slytherin. James presumed this girl was a relative of Sirius judging by her surname. Sirius became a Gryffindor after a very long silence. The Slytherins were the only ones who didn't clap. A couple of girls in green almost fell of the bench and they stared at Sirius until he sat down.
'Evans, Lily' became a Gryffindor, as did 'Fawcett, Larisa.' Remus Lupin was pronounced a Gryffindor too, though James couldn't see what was remotely brave about him. Peter was also made a Gryffindor, after what seemed like ages.
Finally, James was called forward. 'hmmm, yes... you are a difficult one. Great courage, brains too... oh yes very much so. Ravenclaw would suit you well... You are loyal indeed too... but I think I'll put you in the house that's exactly right.' "GRYFFINDOR!"
That night, in the Gryffindor dormitory, James lay awake thinking about what Dumbledore had said to them that evening. 'For those who are adventurous and brave, the Forbidden forest this year is not out of bounds...' A great deal of muffled whispered had greeted this news. A fourth year opposite them had said the Forbidden forest had been forbidden for years. And what were all the rumours about Hagrid being in danger about? James knew from that day on that there was definitely more to Hogwarts than what met the eye.
"Potions is a complex thing... Very complex indeed. You are either a true potions maker or a lazy, sloppy dunderhead." Professor Gryllus breathed at them. Sirius and James laughed. "Potter... What did I just say?" The professor walked to the back of the classroom.
"Erm..." James scanned the dungeons.
"You're a dunderhead! You're a dunderhead!" Sirius was hissing frantically.
"You're a dunderhead?" James offered. "No wait! Sorry! I'm the dunderhead..."
"Ten points from Gryffindor Potter." Professor Gryllus glared at him. "And I expect you to pay a bit more attention in my class or risk my displeasure!"
James stuck his tongue out at Professor Gryllus's retreating back. Peter sniggered and Remus sighed. Sirius was clutching his sides with laughter.
The first potions lesson was still on Sirius's mind as they headed out to the grounds for their Care of magical creatures lesson. "Welcome students!" Professor Kettleburn shouted above the noise. "Welcome to care of magical creatures! Now this is my first year here so to be perfectly honest... I'm just as nervous as you are!" He looked around as though expecting them to laugh. He was quite a short man with glasses and long greying hair that was tied in a ponytail.
Professor Kettleburn handed each student a peculiar creature he called a 'Conata.' "They do bite!" He warned the class. James watched the greasy boy named Snape cradle a bleeding finger. He turned to Narcissa Black and began hissing angrily to her. They turned to Sirius who had placed his Conata on his shoulder. Sirius waved.
"She's not too happy with me right now is Cissy." Sirius said to James in an undertone. "Ever since I became a Gryffindor. Bet she's just jealous though." James didn't really think so somehow. He picked up his own creature with difficulty. It's chubby brown legs kicked frantically at him. It was quite cute really. A bit like a rabbit but with short ears and a very long nose.
"Ouch!" Peter's hand was dripping with blood.
Professor Kettleburn scuttled over to them. "Do be careful!" He warned at Sirius who had been the first to feed his Conata. It was nibbling greedily out of his hand.
They were introduced to several more teachers in the afternoon. Professor Flitwick in Charms, Professor McGonnagal in Transfiguration and a ghost named Professor Binns for History of magic. Then there was a new one named Professor Lavite for astronomy. She had deep blue eyes and dark hair. "How old d'you reckon she is?" Sirius asked James staring at her in awe.
"C'mon! She's like thirty!" James laughed. "Sirius! You're looking through your telescope the wrong way round again!"
Soon September was over and the cold Autumnal weather started to kick in. Leaves scattered the grounds, fog crept in and out of view and Remus left to see his sick mother again. "I swear! I'll be back for Monday." He said on Saturday afternoon as they bid him goodbye. There was one person who did not seem remotely cheerful during their first month at Hogwarts though.
"Please stop that James!" An exasperated Lily Evans snapped. Sirius, James and Peter looked up. They each had armfuls of crispy brown leaves. They looked guiltily at Lily's leaf scattered Charms book. "I'm trying to finish my homework here! Weekends may mean fun to you three but to those of us who want to pass our end of year exams they don't." Lily turned to her Blonde friend called Maria Shakklebolt and they began discussing the wand flick required to make objects move again.
"Spoil sports," James said but he was staring at the girl with green eyes. She was so stunning he dropped his armful of leaves.
SPLAT! "I'll get you Sirius!" James yelled and picked up another handful. As the sun went down they did not notice Remus and Professor McGonnagal vanish into the Whomping willow.
Professor McGonnagal left him alone inside the tree. It was a house like place. Though in his first visit here it had already been torn apart. What once had been a cosy living room now was shabby and the chairs were ripped. Dry blood still caked the ground as Remus sat down on a frayed floral chair and waited to transform.
He had been bitten four years ago. He remembered it so clearly... He and his family were having a bonfire. Remus had wandered into the forest next to their house in search of firewood. He had wandered further and further, picking up several strips of wood as he went. The trees behind him were darkening there was a menacing growl... Remus felt a sharp pain on either sides of his head; he doubled up, screaming. It was happening... He was beginning to transform. "Remember who you are!" He shouted for the last time before the wolf took over. He was sprouting hair, ears poked out of his head, his four legs fell to the ground and he howled. It was so painful to transform. It was agony beyond everything he had ever felt! He was a wolf now; the young boy who had stood nervously, waiting for the full moon to rise was gone. He knocked chairs flying as he raced around the house searching for blood. The wolf growled. It smelt blood. It smelt blood. It smelt... It came to a halt; there was no one else there. The wolf needed to bite, to scratch, anything! It was breathing fast. Heart pumping so quickly... The wolf bit itself. Warm, fresh blood oozed out of the wound, trickling down its leg. It needed more! Another bite, more blood was devoured. The wolf ignored the pain; it bit and scratched again, and again. Veins were coming gradually clearer but the wolf did not care. It was in agony, but it needed more blood, more, more...
"D'you think Remus will let us visit his mum with him one day? I can be caring to ill people!" Sirius said indignantly as James snorted.
"Yeah right! Perhaps he needs some time alone with her." James said. "Maybe she's really ill."
"We know she's really ill." Sirius said impatiently.
"You know what I mean." James said sadly.
"Do you think we should ask him?" Peter piped up. He had been attempting to finish an essay on Bubotuper pus and was crossing out his words frantically. "Does this have to be in for tomorrow?" He asked them weakly.
"Yep, 'fraid so!" Sirius said in mock concern. "Wait, what's that you're writing? Bubotuper pus? Who'd want to write about that stuff?"
"I think we should keep quiet." James decided. "If he feels like telling us then great, but don't push it. Here, copy mine." He said thrusting his essay at Peter.
When Remus returned to the Gryffindor dormitories on Sunday, his face was scratched and his arm in bandages.
"What happened to you?" James and Sirius asked him at the same time.
"Oh, I fell over on the way back." Remus said, turning away from them.
James and Sirius exchanged glances but said nothing. James appeared quite interested in the girls by the fire, chatting excitedly. Lily Evans was amongst them; she had not spoken to James since he had 'befouled her homework' with a pile of leaves. Not that she spoke to him anyway, unless they were forced to work together. James often found himself staring fixedly into those beautiful eyes. Her red hair hung gracefully round her shoulders as she stroked the white owl in her lap.
Sirius was tracing James' gaze. "Lily Evans! I never would have guessed!" Peter and Remus looked up.
"What? No! Sirius..." James turned to Peter and suddenly became very intent on explaining how to distinguish an aranea from an araneant.
"Yeah James, she really is a sight for sore eyes!" Sirius pressed on.
"Sirius!" James snapped. "She's not bad looking though is she?"
"She's ok. If you like that type." Sirius made a face.
"What d'you mean 'that type'?" James looked up but Sirius said no more on the subject.
"James! Which one has the red stomach again?" Peter was tugging on his robes.