Harry was staring at his golden plate, watching the brown viscous gravy bleed into the mound of creamy mashed potato stacked on his plate. The smells of a well made meal floated in the room like some divine perfume although they were so well known that Harry took them for granted, with the possible exception of the summer months at the Dursley residence where he would look back and treasure each memory of Hogwarts.
In the background Ron and Hermione were having a bickering session; Harry had given up on listening on these some time ago. They no longer had any purpose; along with most sixth year Gryffindors he realised it was only affection. Within 6 months the pair would be an official item, even though they wouldn't admit it yet.
Harry wasn't really paying too much attention to anything, it was registering but he was actively absorbing his surroundings. If anything he was bored. He wasn't going to waste anymore time panicking about the future, no matter how soon that may be.
Yet despite his apathy with the immediate environment he couldn't deny a subtle surprise when the surroundings changed around him. The smell of meat and gravy was promptly replaced with the salty, dusty odour of yellowed parchment and books long forgotten or ignored. The gentle chatter of the Great Hall interspersed with protests from either Ron or Hermione was replaced with the eerie silence of the library.
It had been such a long time since Harry and James were not either asleep or in the same place when they switched it came as quite a shock to the system. Instead of the mound of gradually dissolving mash he was looking down at a pile of books Hermione would be proud of and the current user of these literary aids was sat in the chair opposite him.
Lily Evans' red hair totally obscured her face, but that shade of auburn was unique in the school, or at least the members of the school Harry had bumped into. If she was aware she had company she wasn't giving anything away, after staring at her pulling her fingers through her hair while writing a paragraph on a piece of parchment hurriedly Harry decided to make a move.
"Lily?" He asked tentatively, his future mother made no effort to make eye contact. After a while she finally replied.
"James, just go away. You're not exactly helping your cause at this moment in time." She sounded truly fed up, as if she could no longer be bothered making the effort. It was quite obvious that she still hadn't forgiven James for the incident in the potions lab. Harry was torn between making an easy escape at this moment in time, pretending to be his dad or to come clean.
Seeing that he had already let slip nearly every major event he should probably been quiet about he decided to go for the latter, he was starting to lose track of lies and half-truths and if this experience had taught them anything it was probably that honesty was the best policy…even if it meant telling someone they only had 5 years to live. Actually, if Harry had his time again that wouldn't be his ideal plan, but circumstances conspired against him and resulting in him having little lea-way to pick and choose his facts.
"Sorry, wrong one" he said in an overly saccharine voice. His attempt at being laid back would probably almost certainly fail. Luckily for Harry it seemed that Lily had at least a minimal amount of maternal instinct, either that or she just preferred him to James. In fairness it was probably the latter.
She looked up, her skin pale and eyes dark. She had obviously been in the library since it opened, and there was a good chance she was working throughout the night too. Yet as soon as the identical green eyes locked she smiled, not a dazzling smile but one which was genuine all the same.
"Sorry, James was here and I just needed time to think without him in the frame. You OK?" She said with her voice husky from the obvious tiredness.
"Yeah, just wondered what you were up to. That's all." Harry said, wondering how he could break the awkward silence. It wasn't the most eloquent thing ever but it was a start. After all him and Lily had only know each other for about a month now.
"Oh, this lot" she said, gesturing to the pile of books covering ever spare inch of the desk, "it's a replacement essay for Gander to make up for them fools. 'Uses of polyjuice and its effects.'"
Harry couldn't help but laugh, getting him some unwanted glares from the librarian behind the desk. "Yeah, us 3 have personal experience in that one." But despite Lily's protests he refused to say more, even though he did help her with this essay to the point even Hermione would be proud of it, right down to it being bang on the word limit. Lily wasn't going to give Gander any more ammo. Thanks to James the professor had plenty to see her through the rest of Lily's school days. She would have to tread carefully now, James blew her chance for her.
"Come on Lily, I think we had better be going" Harry said as Lily finished writing her name at the top of the sheet of paper. The ink was still glistening as she put the used books back on the trolley and put her quills and parchment into her bag.
Now the pair had detention, for some reason which she never made clear Professor Gander had a seeming attack of the conscious and moved the detention. It was meant to be the day after the incident nine till midnight but it got moved. Maybe she realised that midnight was too late for a detention, maybe she had a date. Everyone decided not to push their luck and ask her. Anyway, 3 hours on a Saturday morning suited Lily better; at least it wouldn't affect her lessons the next day. On Monday when she had astronomy late at night at least they always had the next morning off, doing a detention and then having 9am Transfiguration was not favourable to Lily.
It didn't take long for the pair to get to the dungeons, where the rest of the detainees were located. The atmosphere was oddly tense. From what Harry had heard this was not a unique experience for the marauders and heaven knows that Harry and Ron had been in their fair share of detentions.
The group stood in silence, James and Sirius leaning against the walls, one foot on the stone leaning back totally relaxed but in silence. Peter was sitting on the floor, his knees right under his chin in a position which really couldn't be comfortable. Harry felt no sympathy. If he had his way he's kick the small boys ankles further towards the wall yet in the name of avoiding awkward questions he would say nothing. Remus was sitting on the stairs, book resting on his knee and his head resting on his hands. He wore an expression of pure boredom across his face; obviously the novelty of these situations had worn off. Lily and Hermione looked agitated, almost panicky; they were still getting accustomed to this. Harry and Ron didn't really care; it wasn't like they could get owls sent to their parents.
Still no one dared break the silence, and it seemed like forever until Professor Gander's high heeled black leather boots could be heard echoing down the corridor. James and Sirius immediately stood up straight, almost as if they were scared of getting caught scuffing the walls although this almost certainly wasn't the case. Maybe James was trying to impress his future wife, a thought which both warmed and terrified Harry in equal dosage.
Gander stood at the top of the stair almost ominously looking down on her temporary prisoners; she was wearing a thick black travelling cape with hood which was up over her head - a style which would never be one of Harry's favourites after the events in the graveyard during fourth year. At the Dursley's Harry even threw out the black hoodie he had inherited from his obese cousin as it reminded him too much of the deatheater robes.
"Ah, yes, of course. You may go in the lab. You will sit one per desk and start copying the line 'I am not better than the rest of the class' onto parchment. I will check that no charms have been used. I expect at least 100 lines by the time I get back in 10 minutes." She promptly turned around with military precision and left the teens to themselves.
"Result" Sirius chuckled while throwing himself down at a desk by the window, "100 lines, well practice makes perfect. I guess that's the first couple of minutes occupied." Sirius started writing at an alarming speed. Either he knew one hell of a charm which Gander didn't or he had relived this situation so many times he had developed quite the talent for lines.
Harry resigned himself to his fate and started copying out the line in the same way he had at primary school. He was surprised that he too had finished all 100 well within the allocated time and while Hermione and Lily seemed to continue all the boys stopped at precisely their century. Ron and Harry started talking, as did the four marauders but it wasn't long until the familiar clippie sound of wooden heels on stone floor were heard down the corridor and everyone in the room snapped back to their papers in total silence.
Gander entered the room and stood directly in front of her class staring at the rows of no-gooders. She took a deep breath and started a monologue.
"Now Miss Evans has completed some work for me, all about the polyjuice potion." She smiled a twisted contorted grin which sent shivers down the back of Harry's spine as if someone was tracing his backbone with a particularly long nail.
"It's a very interesting potion, I am sure you will agree." The group started looking towards each other, this was less like a detention and more like an extension class. The basic format for a detention in Hogwarts was either to clean up mess equal to that you have caused or for the teachers to waste your time in the same way you have wasted theirs. This fell under neither category. Harry shook off his doubts, a lot of things changed in a quarter of a century; maybe this was one of those things.
"The ability to look like anyone you desire, just one hair, one nail, one teardrop. That's all you need. Isn't that right Mr Potter?" Harry and James both nodded their heads uncertainly. To Harry it was almost as if she knew their antics, but that was impossible, they hadn't even happened yet.
She was scaring him now; the creepiness of Gander was even starting to outweigh the scariness of Snape or the strictness of McGonagall. She actually looked taller and thinner than she did at the beginning of the class, more imposing.
"The only problem is you need to top it up," Gander continued, an evil glint coming into her eye. Harry fingered his wand edgily by his side. It wouldn't be the first time a teacher had been out to get him.
"Of course it lacks originality" Gander continued, her face growing deathly pale, she turned her back on the group. Harry took that as a good sign, surely no one posing a threat would leave themselves open to attack, "it's been used countless times in the past. Individuals pretending to be people they are not. Maybe even an auror if someone wanted to totally evade detection and suspicion."
Gander walked to the bored and started to write something although she was totally blocking it, "Yes, polyjuice. It serves its purpose and that's all I'm after these days. Just need to sort out one little problem, and hopefully I will get some enjoyment out of my task."
Gander walked away from the board, and there, in the same was as they had been 4 years ago were the words "I am Lord Voldemort" burned into the blackboard.
Ey up kids, sorry about the delay. Hope you liked the chapter :)
I am going to explain the delay away, firstly my uni timetable is horrendous. Today we had 9-6 without so much as a lunch break. I was less than amused, and it is not even a one off.
Secondly I am a Guide (Girl Scout) leader and have been doing quite a bit with my packs. My first pack is for disabled girls so we need transport. Unfortunatly Nottingham City Council have increased the cost of this by 50 from £400 to £600, a price we just cannot afford. Then my other pack on Monday nights lost all their equipment and their meeting place after the church hall we meet in got arsoned twice in the same night, there is literally nothing left but four external walls - not even a roof. That really upset me, why are people so selfish? Whatever you try and do for the community there is always someone out to ruin it. Seriously though, everyone should try being a youth leader. I get so much out of it and most importantly it's fun.
Anyways, lets finish on a little bit of sarcasm. This was sent to me by a friend, it's directed to the citizens of the USA. It's highly tongue in cheek, please don't take it seriously. :)
In the light of your failure to elect a proper President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective today. Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchial duties over all states, commonwealths and other territories. Except Utah, which she does not fancy. Your new prime minister (The Right Honourable Tony Blair, MP for the 97.85 of you who have until now been unaware that there is a world outside your borders) will appoint a minister for America without the need for further elections. Congress and the Senate will be disbanded. A questionnaire will be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed. To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:
1. You should look up "revocation" in the Oxford English Dictionary. Then look up "aluminium". Check the pronunciation guide. You will be amazed at just how wrongly you have been pronouncing it. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'favour' and 'neighbour', skipping the letter 'U' is nothing more than laziness on your part. Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters.You will end your love affair with the letter 'Z' (pronounced 'zed' not 'zee') and the suffix "ize" will be replaced by the suffix "ise". You will learn that the suffix 'burgh is pronounced 'burra' e.g. Edinburgh. You are welcome to respell Pittsburgh as 'Pittsberg' if you can't cope with correct pronunciation.
Generally, you should raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. Look up "vocabulary". Using the same twenty seven words interspersed with filler noises such as "like" and "you know" is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication. Look up "interspersed". There will be no more 'bleeps' in the Jerry Springer show. If you're not old enough to cope with bad language then you shouldn't have chat shows. When you learn to develop your vocabulary then you won't have to use bad language as often.
2. There is no such thing as "US English". We will let Microsoft know on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take account of the reinstated letter 'u' and the elimination of "-ize".
3. You should learn to distinguish the English and Australian accents. It really isn't that hard. English accents are not limited to Cockney, upper-class twit or Mancunian (Daphne in Frasier).
You will also have to learn how to understand regional accents - Scottish dramas such as "Taggart" will no longer be broadcast with subtitles. While we're talking about regions, you must learn that there is no such place as Devonshire in England. The name of the county is "Devon". If you persist in calling it Devonshire, all American States will become "shires" e.g. Texasshire, Floridashire, Louisianashire.
4. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as the good guys. Hollywood will be required to cast English actors to play English characters.
British sit-coms such as "Men Behaving Badly" or "Red Dwarf" will not be re-cast and watered down for a wishy-washy American audience who can't cope with the humour of occasional political incorrectness.
5. You should relearn your original national anthem, "God Save The Queen", but only after fully carrying out task 1. We would not want you to get confused and give up half way through.
6. You should stop playing American "football". There is only one kind of football. What you refer to as American "football" is not a very good game. The 2.15 of you who are aware that there is a world outside your borders may have noticed that no one else plays "American" football. You will no longer be allowed to play it, and should instead play proper football. Initially, it would be best if you played with the girls. It is a difficult game.
Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which is similar to American "football", but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like nancies). We are hoping to get together at least a US rugby sevens side by 2005.
You should stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the 'World Series' for a game which is not played outside of America. Since only 2.15 of you are aware that there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable. Instead of baseball, you will be allowed to play a girls' game called "rounders" which is baseball without fancy team strip, oversized gloves, collector cards or hotdogs.
7. You should declare war on Quebec and France, using nuclear weapons if they give you any merde. The 97.85 of you who were not aware that there is a world outside your borders should count yourselves lucky. The Russians have never been the bad guys. "Merde" is French for "".
You will no longer be allowed to own or carry guns. You will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous in public than a vegetable peeler. Because we don't believe you are sensible enough to handle potentially dangerous items, you will require a permit if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.
8. July 4th is no longer a public holiday. November 2nd will be a new national holiday, but only in England. It will be called "Indecisive Day".
9. All American cars are hereby banned. They are crp and it is for your own good. When we show you German cars, you will understand what we mean. All road intersections will be replaced with roundabouts. You will start driving on the left with immediate effect. At the same time, you will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion tables. Roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.
10. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French fries are not real chips. Fries aren't even French, they are Belgian though 97.85 of you (including the guy who discovered fries while in Europe) are not aware of a country called Belgium. Those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called "crisps". Real chips are thick cut and fried in animal fat. The traditional accompaniment to chips is beer which should be served warm and flat.
Waitresses will be trained to be more aggressive with customers.
11. As a sign of penance 5 grams of sea salt per cup will be added to all tea made within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, this quantity to be doubled for tea made within the city of Boston itself.
12. The cold tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all, it is lager. From November 1st only proper British Bitter will be referred to as "beer", and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as "Lager". The substances formerly known as "American Beer" will henceforth be referred to as "Near-Frozen Knat's Urine", with the exception of the product of the American Budweiser company whose product will be referred to as "Weak Near-Frozen Knat's Urine". This will allow true Budweiser (as manufactured for the last 1000 years in Pilsen, Czech Republic) to be sold without risk of confusion.
13. From December 1st the UK will harmonise petrol (or "Gasoline" as you will be permitted to keep calling it until April 1st 2005) prices with the former USA. The UK will harmonise its prices to those of the former USA and the Former USA will, in return, adopt UK petrol prices (roughly $6/US gallon - get used to it).
14. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you're not adult enough to be independent. Guns should only be handled by adults. If you're not adult enough to sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist then you're not grown up enough to handle a gun.
15. Please tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us crazy.
Tax collectors from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all revenues due (backdated to 1776).
Thank you for your cooperation.
PLEASE READ AND REVIEW MY STORIES. CHEERS
