Miss Moony would like to dedicate this chapter to Xandria Nirvana for being the first reviewer.
Miss Moony would also like to thank siriusblackismine, Blackangel9o, female half – breed, Hotkat144, moonypadfoot, Sivaroobini Lupin-Black, running at night, Lady Lily3, silverstagbeauty, Mister Bigbucks, Demon's Moon, LadyEruaphadriel-orderofthekai, plutobaby494, Fk306 animelover, NazgulGirl, Poketheveil, reikoku, Eyes of sky and Shadow00 for reviewing.
To reikoku: Umm, sorry, but no.
------- I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good -------
Chapter 21
As it turned out, there was a total of seven Mages hidden amongst the sixth and seventh year Defence Against the Dark Arts classes, more than half of whom had been Gryffindors: Lily Evans, Silvia Jugson and Alexander Temple from Hufflepuff, and of course, Sirius and Regulus, had all turned out to be War Mages, with varying degrees of power. Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin were both Academic Mages.
James, it turned out, was not a Mage at all – a fact which surprised Harry, James, and most of their friends, especially considering that the rest of the Marauders were.
And Remus' power was slightly odd. When he had touched the globe, instead of the usual steady glow, it had fluctuated sporadically, growing first dimmer and then brighter again. And besides, Harry could remember that when Remus had tried out the globe in the future, there had been no reaction at all.
'Lupin, Sirius Black, could you please stay back after class? Pettigrew, Evans, Jugson, Temple and Regulus Black, from now on your Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons will be held on the seventh floor: I will meet you by the tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy to show you how to get into your new classroom.'
The students nodded, and then left, leaving Sirius and Remus behind, shifting anxiously from foot to foot at the back of the classroom.
Hermione finished gathering her papers, and then left. The others had already gone. Harry sighed.
'Lupin,' he said finally, 'I don't know what went wrong when we tested you, but we'll try to figure it out. I expect there was a fault in the globe's magic. I'll let you know if we find anything out. And the new class arrangements apply to the two of you, as well. Dismissed.'
Remus cast a nervous glance towards Sirius, and when he nodded, the werewolf left the room, closing the door carefully behind him.
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'What did Patterson want to speak to you about?' Peter asked when Sirius stumbled through the Gryffindor portrait hole and slouched down in an armchair by the fire.
Remus looked up in curiosity, and James scowled, still sore that he was the only Marauder with no Magecraft abilities. Sirius grinned.
'You are looking,' he said with a dramatic flair, 'at Professor Patterson's future apprentice.'
James' head snapped up, and he gaped at his best friend in a most unbecoming fashion. 'But-' he protested- 'but why?'
Sirius shrugged. 'He said it was because I'm one of his best students, and I'm also a Mage, and that it'll be less complicated teaching me and Regulus together if he's allowed to call me by my first name.'
'And,' Remus added, 'you're his favourite. You always have been.' He frowned. 'It makes sense, I suppose.'
'But we have to go through the formal rituals before it's official,' Sirius said, closing his eyes and leaning back in his chair, feeling the heat from the fire on his face.
James snorted. 'He's not likely to change his mind now, though, is he? Unless he wants to become a social leper.'
It was more a statement than a question, so none of the other three Marauders answered him, and they sat together in silence before Peter's eyes lit up, and he said, 'You know, Padfoot: Patterson won't be able to lie to you now. Not in good conscience, anyway. We'll finally be able to figure out whether or not he's a Death Eater!'
'Definitely a plus,' James agreed.
'Unless he is one, in which case Sirius is still stuck with him until the contract's over,' Remus interjected on Sirius' behalf, as the aforementioned boy was looking to be quite near to sleep.
Sirius grunted, and opened his eyes a fraction. 'He's not a Death Eater,' he protested feebly, and then let Remus drag him back up to the dormitories, and put him to bed.