Well, here is a longer chapter for you readers! The next chapter is very long…details at the bottom.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Weasley is Our king song.
Prongs Rides Again
Chapter Twenty-One: The Unfair Punishment
Two weeks after the first DA meeting, James arrived at the Room of Requirement to find Hermione handing out gold coins to everyone. Upon inspection he found that she had cleverly enchanted the coins to reveal the date and time of the next meeting, so that everyone who was in the DA, would be aware of when to come to the Room of Requirement.
James was impressed with Hermione's skill, and proudly told her that she would've given Lily a run for her money. Hermione felt awed and respected. Being compared to his dead wife was a great honour for her. In fact, James even said that she reminded him a lot of Lily in her personality. No one had ever said something as nice as that before to Hermione.
The students had improved with their basic spell work since beginning the DA. James had been surprised by the amount of work Neville Longbottom was putting in to master every spell. He was proving to be a miracle worker. Though he still lacked confidence in his lessons, Neville shone out in the DA club, proving for once, that he was not a total klutz after all.
As the Quidditch season drew further closer, the DA club was soon put on hold, as tension between Gryffindor and Slytherin rose. With both teams working hard to outscore one another, none of the Gryffindor DA students found time to practice or go to the meetings.
As the first match drew closer, Gryffindor and Slytherin students frequently occupied the hospital wing. James found himself keeping a look out for any student that dared use magic to harm another, something that he had never taken notice of when he was younger. If anything, James was the one who was most likely to catch trouble brewing in the corridors.
His sharp hazel eyes, honed from experience as an Auror, proved an asset to hunting out potential students who were on the verge of casting a spell within the corridors. Naturally, he sent Sirius to sniff out trouble, who did not mind doing so as it got him out on his own, though he was under the condition that he didn't transform and reveal himself to the student body. It was the combined efforts of James, Sirius and McGonagall that stopped most accidents from occurring, therefore reducing the number of people who were sent to the hospital wing.
The day of the first match of the season arrived, cold but bright.
James made his way down to the entrance hall, excitement evident in the air, by the buzz of voices coming from the great hall. Searching through the hall, he sought out Harry, who was sitting at the Gryffindor table, urging his friend Ron to eat.
As the new goalkeeper, Ron was equally nervous, as he had never played before in a match, and the fact that he knew he couldn't play that well, lowered his self esteem, therefore making him feel nervous and ill to the stomach. He only hoped he played to a good standard, preventing the Slytherins from winning.
"…lousy! I can't play to save my life. What was I thinking?" Ron moaned, putting his head in his hands.
James smiled. He decided to offer some advice. "Don't be afraid. I'm sure you'll play well. I didn't eat a thing on the day of my first match, but I put my mind at ease by thinking of the team, and what contribution I could put to us winning the cup."
"Yeah, but you don't drop the Quaffle when you try to catch it." Ron grumbled.
"I was a chaser…and I did drop it…several times. I nearly lost the game, but then I managed to correct my errors." James explained.
"Lucky you. I won't be so fortunate." Ron replied, nastily.
Harry glanced at James. "You're not helping, dad."
"I can see that."
"I think you'd better leave."
James nodded. "Yeah, okay." He turned to go. "Good luck, both of you. I'll be watching."
As he walked over to the staff table, he noticed Luna Lovegood, the weird Ravenclaw slink over to the Gryffindor table and converse with Harry and Ron. James shook his head. He was looking forward to seeing a Quidditch match. He wished that he could be playing. Perhaps one day he would be. If the war ended and he was still alive, then he was considering taking up professional Quidditch.
After all he still had the body of a twenty-one year old. He would be able to have a good season before he was too old to play, but then that dream depended on how old he was when Voldemort was finally defeated. For all he knew it could be going on for another thirty years.
Pushing those thoughts out of his head James sat at the staff table and ate his breakfast, watching intently as Harry and Ron made their way out of the hall to head to the changing rooms.
James and Professor McGonagall arrived at the teachers box together, having left the hall at the same time. They decided to sit together to give each other moral support. As James was not a head of house he couldn't really take any sides, but having once been a Gryffindor, he wanted his son to succeed.
"Excited?"
"Huh?" James turned to look at McGonagall.
"Are you excited to see a match?"
"Yeah," James replied, "I haven't seen one since….1980, just before Harry was born." He sighed. "I wish I could be out there today. Is he good? Harry, I mean?"
"Your son has definitely inherited your skills James. A superb Quidditch player, and would have a career in the sport if he wished. You should be proud of him. Even without you, Harry has grown into a very capable Wizard, much like yourself."
James beamed. "He reminds me so much of Lily. He looks like me, yes, but Lily resides in his personality." He bowed his head.
"What is it, James?" McGonagall asked, seeing James bow his head in grief.
He swallowed, finding it difficult to find words. "I remember the night that I died. My last thoughts were of my wife and my son. I knew then that I would never have a chance to see this, and that Harry would grow up without know his dad. Whenever I see Harry I imagine Lily staring out of his eyes, as if she's trying to tell me something. I've held on for so long because of Harry. He's the only thing keeping me going. If Lily was here, my life would truly be complete, but she can't."
"She is here."
"How? She's gone, forever."
"Lily's memory resides in you James. Lily is alive in Harry, and her spirit burns brighter whenever you are nearby. Lily may be gone from physical form, but she remains in this world, through your own memories and that of your son. Harry is the last link to your past. Lily will always be there to guide you, James."
James smiled faintly. "I know. It's just so hard to live without her. You didn't know her as well as I got to. She was a wonderful person. Her death shouldn't have come so soon. She deserved the life that I have now. If I could do anything, I would swap places with her, so that Harry could know his mother. A child, after all, needs their mother's protection."
"And that is exactly what Harry has. Lily's sacrifice enabled him to survive the killing curse. If she was brought back that protection that lives in Harry would fade and he would be vulnerable. You died protecting both of them, but Lily sacrificed her future for her son. That is the mark of love. James, I know its difficult to comprehend, but Lily will never return to this world again. Her spirit has passed on. Yet she continues to live through your memory and through the personality that Harry has."
"You don't know how much this talk means to me. Thank you." James said.
"It was my pleasure James. It is nice to help you."
Silence fell between them. In all his life, James had never thought that McGonagall could ever help him with his grief, and yet, she had in more ways then one. As he looked out into the Quidditch Pitch he caught sight of Harry and the Gryffindor team walking onto the field. His old Transfiguration teacher was right: Lily did burn brightly in Harry. Even from afar he could tell his son was determined to win this match in anyway that was plausible to his character. Just like Lily would've been in other situations.
The captains shook hands, and in the sunlight, James could see the sparkling of a badge on the Slytherin robes. That can't be good. James thought. He wondered what they said, and he made a note of it to ask Harry later.
The whistle was blown and the match began, as the various balls (Quaffle, Bludgers and Golden Snitch) entered the game and soured off into different directions.
James' eyes followed his sons movements. He had never seen him fly and it had always been one of the things he had always wanted to do. When Harry had been born, James had wanted to teach him who to fly and play Quidditch, but it seemed that his son had received that tuition elsewhere. That was one of the many things that he had missed.
Suddenly a chorus of singing erupted from the Slytherin supporters. Lee Jordan's commentary of the match stopped as he strained to listen as to what was being sung. As the words came clearer, James felt his blood boil and anger rose from the pit of his stomach to engulf him whole.
'Weasley cannot save a thing,
He cannot block a single ring,
That's why Slytherins all sing;
Weasley is our King.
'Weasley was born in a bin
He always lets the Quaffle in
Weasley will make sure we win
Weasley is our King.'
James turned his attention back to the game, seeking to drown out the cruel song. His eyes found Ron Weasley, guarding the goal hoops, and as he dived to catch the Quaffle, shot by Slytherin chaser, Warrington, he missed by inches and the ball zoomed through the central hoop.
Slytherin was ten points ahead, and James could see (and tell) that Ron's self-esteem was even lower then before. He had lost confidence even before the game had started. The awful song erupted louder then before.
James groaned. "Come on Ron. You can do it. I believe in you." James whispered.
Harry was circling the pitch, searching fervently for any sign of the Snitch. He could find nothing. Malfoy flew past him, singing that dreadful song. Harry turned to the teachers stands and spotted James. His mouth was moving, as if he was speaking to him, but he knew he wasn't.
Come on Ron. You can do it. I believe in you.
Those words echoed into his consciousness. He hadn't thought them, so where had they come from? And then he realised. Somehow there was a deep connection between him and his father, and certain thoughts seemed to cross between them. He didn't know how this had come about, but Harry did not care. Instead he swerved in his broom and raced towards Ron, screaming at the top of his lungs: "Come on Ron! You can do it! We believe in you!"
And Harry did believe in it. He believed his best friend had the ability to be an excellent keeper. He just needed the encouragement.
And as he pulled back on his broom, slowing down, Harry sensed a change in Ron. His face changed from nervousness to determination. He leaned forward on his broom, ready.
"Come on Ron! You can do it! We believe in you!"
Those words changed Ron's heart. Determination to win the game filled his body. He gazed out into the pitch and saw Harry shouting those words to him, and his heart lifted, as he realised that someone did believe in him, but then he noticed the 'we' in the sentence. Someone else believed in him as well.
Casting his gaze over the field he caught sight of James Potter next to Professor McGonagall, his eyes filled with luck and hope. Looking over at the Gryffindors he saw his fellow fifth years cheering him on, and he made up his mind. Forgetting everything, he waited, leaning forward, and watching the game with absolute precision.
Slytherin were now thirty points ahead of Gryffindor, who had managed to score ten points. Even after his encouragement, James had watched intently as Ron made some spectacular dives to halt the Quaffle, but each time he failed, however his determination seemed to grow more.
As the Slytherin Chasers zoomed towards the goal again, James caught sight of Harry and Malfoy diving to the ground, a golden Snitch flying between them. Both of them were fighting to grab it.
Seconds ticked by…
…and Gryffindor was victorious, as Harry caught the struggling ball in his firm grip. James grinned, knowing full well that Ron hadn't played as abysmally as he thought he was going to. He had certainly improved after James' and Harry's initial encouragement.
As James caught his son's eye, a Bludger found its mark squarely in the back of Harry's back, and he fell forwards off his broom. Thankfully he was only five feet from the ground and James watched as Angelina helped him to his feet. He breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't want anything bad to happen to his son.
And then something drastic happened. As James watched he saw Draco Malfoy land near Harry and begin to speak to him. After only a few words, James could tell that what he said had been insulting, and this caused the Weasley twins to move forward only to be pulled back by Harry and the Chasers.
Sensing trouble James quickly pushed his way through the teachers and down onto the pitch. He pulled out his wand and ran quickly towards the impending fight, hoping to stop Harry from doing anything stupid.
"Or perhaps, you can remember what your mother's house stank like, Potter, and Weasley's pigsty reminds you of it -" Malfoy sneered.
James halted in his tracks, his anger suddenly boiling. Mother. Harry's mother. Lily. Malfoy - that Slytherin git - was insulting his loved one. No longer did he care. James bounded forward, pushing students out the way, intent on hitting the little worm himself.
He raised his wand ready to curse Malfoy to a million pieces when he noticed Harry about to hit Malfoy himself. He couldn't hurt Malfoy for fear of being sent away. Rushing forward, he grabbed Harry's arm and pushed it away from Malfoy, just before his son could hit him.
"Don't."
There was turmoil in James's eyes. No matter how much he wanted to hurt Malfoy, he knew he couldn't. Doing so would prove he was no better at keeping his anger then a normal teenager. Lily may have been insulted, but he knew she wouldn't approve of him hitting a helpless fifteen year old, even if it was a Slytherin that had insulted her.
She had at least taught him that much.
"How can you say that, dad?" Harry demanded. "He deserves it!"
"Maybe, but he will get his comeuppance someday."
Hands released James and his son made no move.
George Weasley on the other hand had made short work of Malfoy in Harry's absence and had hit the boy in the face, shattering his nose.
The rest of the Gryffindor team was not holding him back, as they were trying to stop Fred from lunging forward as well.
Then Malfoy decided to open his mouth again. "Eh, scared Potter? Scared of what daddy will do to you? I'm sure your Mudblood mother wouldn't have minded, but then she's not here now is she. A good thing to. We don't want scum like that walking this earth."
Harry did not care about the consequences. Leaping forward he hit Malfoy as hard as he could in his stomach, sending him crashing to the ground.
"Harry! NO!" James shouted, struggling to pull Harry away.
Pointing his wand he shouted 'Impedimenta!' and Harry flew backwards. James stood in front of him.
Over the whisperings of the crowd, Madam Hooch blew her whistle and shouted: "I've never seen behaviour like it - back to the castle, both of you, and straight to your Head of House's office! Go, now!"
James helped Harry to his feet and escorted Harry and George back to the castle and to McGonagall's office. His son was in it deep now.
"Bloody Umbridge and her stupid degrees!" James slammed his hand down on his office desk. "Stupid Fudge and his campaign! Bloody Malfoy and his insults. God, I hate it! Hate it! HATE IT!"
"What's got you so wound up?" Sirius asked watching as his friend went round throwing books into their respective places, not caring if they fell on the floor afterwards.
"That stupid BITCH! And her STUPID EDUCATIONAL DEGREES! UGH!"
He sank into a chair and sighed, running a hand over his face, calming himself down before he spoke. He told Sirius everything about the Quidditch match (how he had encouraged Ron somehow; how Harry had won the match; and how Malfoy had insulted Lily and the Weasley's). Once he was done he told him what had happened in McGonagall's office.
"…and then she came along. Umbridge. She claimed that she could help with the situation, even though I think Minerva handled it rather well. A weeks worth of detentions is quite a good punishment, especially with what Harry and George did. But no that wasn't enough for Umbridge. She produced another Educational Degree, proclaiming that she had authority to strip pupil's of privileges, so she is now able to have supreme authority over all punishments, sanctions and anything else that may have been ordered by other members of staff."
"So what did she do? It wasn't expulsion."
"No, thankfully," James said, "but if you're fan of Quidditch then I think expulsion would be better. She's banned Harry, George and Fred from Quidditch for life."
"Life?" Sirius asked, "She can't do that! There's no way she can stop Harry from playing Quidditch once he's left Hogwarts!"
"Apparently there is. I'm just hoping that once Fudge gets his brains in gear he will proclaim anything Umbridge has set invalid, therefore allowing Harry to play again. But I doubt that will happen."
"I'm sure things will work out in the end." Sirius explained. "We just have to be patient."
"I would expect Remus to say something like that, not you."
"Yeah well, I've changed. I'm more responsible now."
James stifled a laugh. "There is no way that you would ever be sensible!"
"Thanks for the encouragement." Sirius replied sarcastically, as if he was hurt by James' accusation.
James shook his head. "I swear I won't be able to keep my temper from exploding. If that Umbridge dares to do anything else that hurts anyone that I love, I will not be held responsible for my actions. I don't know how much more I can take of this."
Dear James,
I would like you to go to Hagrid's hut this evening. He has returned from a long journey. I have informed him of your return and he would very much like to see you. Snuffles is also welcome to join you if you wish. Hagrid has got a tale he would like to share with you. It concerns the giants and their involvement in this war.
Yours Sincerely
Albus P.W.B Dumbledore
James folded the letter up. "I'm going out to see Hagrid. You can come if you want." He threw over his shoulder to Sirius.
His friend immediately transformed. It was just before eleven-o-clock and most students would be in bed. Slipping out the castle would be easy.
With Sirius at his side in his animagus form, James made his way out the castle and towards Hagrid's hut.
TBC
Heh, heh, so James helped Ron, and Harry has a connection to his father…how you might ask…I'm not telling, not yet anyway…
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Responses:
realpyromaniac: please don't envy me for living in the UK…why do you want to live here for? I'd rather live in the states where its nice and hot most of the year…
littlewolf-moony: Once again I overlook those little mistakes. Silly me. Thank you for pointing them out! Yeah, about James rambling a lot, that's mainly because I do that and I am trying to incorporate a bit of me into the character so I can associate myself with him a bit more and understand him better. But James is still in the recovery process as well, so there are a lot of moments where he goes on about Lily. That's how my mother recovered when her dad died, so I'm basing that on situations that I've seen and heard about as well. Ahhh, you think of me as a James/Sirius person….thanks! I'll try and do well in my exams. Just started revising in lessons and the first exam is less then two weeks away….I'm not that worried. Though I'm not smart I know I'm good at the subject so that if I fail the exam my coursework is above average, as I've had the top marks in all my coursework so far so that is something that I know will help me pass the subject. My name has already been in the UK paper, though not a main one, and it is really embarrassing…I hope you liked this chapter!
Lady Taliesin: I must say I really enjoyed that first chapter…I eagerly await the next lot! Yep, I'm serious about drawing a picture of Remus and you, but it might have to take a while though with exams coming up and me trying to tie this story up for the Harry Potter 6 book and trying to incorporate it into the next book…as well as deciding whether I will drop my a-level courses to start new ones and there is also the problem that I don't own a scanner that is compatible with the Internet computer. I'll draw a picture during the summer holidays, hopefully! So don't expect anything until September. Heh, heh, soccar, maybe you should sue the team that cheated saying the the referee was showing favouritism. Ah, the reason James didn't bring Sirius along to the DA was mainly because he wanted to spend sometime with the students without him, and also Sirius would just be laying there bored, whereas in James' office he can at least look at the student's work and read the Daily Prophet…The spelling of maneuver is different from the american version. I used the UK (or the one that came up on my computer) version. Ahhh and Kacey, yeah you can use that name if you want. I don't mind. Okay, that image of James is just too nice to pass up. I might even draw a picture of that! I'm glad you like the twins and Ginny! Really hard to write about they are! I hope you liked this chapter!
Coming next week: James hears Hagrid's Tale (which is why the chapter is so long but it has been modified to fit James and Sirius into it).
Thank you,
MissBlackPotter