"Today, class, we will be playing a game."
Upon hearing this news, everyone in first year Defence against the Dark Arts did one of three things: Jump for joy, like James Potter and Sirius Black, who loved to play games; Stare on quizzically or blankly, like most of the students who just wanted to know what it had to do with defending yourself; Or groan with disgust, like the Slytherins and one Lily Evans.
Although the tale of why James and Sirius love games is probably interesting, more so than this story, I'm going to focus on Lily.
In the whole 2 days Lily had been at Hogwarts, she had not met a single friend. Of course, that might have been due to the fact that she hadn't tried whatsoever to meet anyone, but she liked to think it was everyone else's fault. Don't get me wrong, she certainly wanted friends, she just isn't very good at the whole 'walking up to people and introducing herself' thing. While wondering what kind of game she would be playing, and whether or not it was a sport or not, she was ripped from her thoughts when the teacher voiced the name of the game.
"The name of the game is Manhunt," He said in a strict, business-like voice, though from what Lily knew of him, he was much more jovial.
Lily could hear whispers spread quickly throughout the class. Two people in particular caught her attention.
"What's Manhunt?" asked one boy by the name of Sebastian Riggs (Hufflepuff), to another boy named Arthur Weasley (Gryffindor). They were notorious for loving anything and everything to do with muggles, and would probably become some sort of ministry officials who dealt with muggle-relations or something.
"I dunno," replied Arthur, "Do you think it's a muggle game?" He looked hopefully at Sebastian.
"It's a muggle game, as a few of you already know." the teacher continued when all was silent. "So I suppose you're wondering what it has to do with my subject, right?" there was a general murmur of agreement in the class, "Well, I'm not going to tell you just yet. When we get back here, I'll see if any of you have figured it out."
"What could we possibly learn from it?" asked Sirius Black, "Is it something to do with school?"
The professor smiled at him, "No, Mr. Black, it has to do with the outside world. I believe all of you have heard of the rising dark wizard named Voldemort?"
There was a hush through the room as everyone silently confirmed that yes, they had heard of Voldemort. The professor nodded grimly, and then continued "I believe that this game will give you some insight on the magnitude of a war. That is also why I've asked Dumbledore if first years from all four houses could take part in this, because it is quite an important lesson." He saw everyone share looks with one another, and James raised his hand.
"Yes, Mr. Potter?" he asked, inclining his head toward James.
"I still don't really understand what the game has to do with Voldemort. I don't even really know how to play." James said, and the majority of the class, mostly purebloods like James, agreed that they had never been taught the game.
The professor shrugged, "I thought it would be fun, and a good learning experience, but if you would rather read from the textbook..." He needn't say more, as an uproar of "No! We'll play!" had chorused more or less simultaneously in the classroom at his suggestion.
He chuckled. "Alright, alright; we'll play the game. Everyone take a...stick from this hat," (he had just conjured a hat out of thin air) "and the person with the shortest stick is 'it'".
After everyone got a stick, it turned out a girl named Morgan Taylor was 'it'. Everyone headed outside, where the teacher explained the rules.
Lily listened to the teachers' explanation of manhunt, but only to make sure the rules weren't altered. He sounded like he was struggling to remember exactly how it was played, "So, you pick one person to be it, and they're war (he puts up the sign for peace)."
Lily frowned and raised her hand. "Yes, Miss Evans?" The teacher asked. "This is war," she put up her closed fist, "and that was peace, for those who aren't 'it' yet."
The teacher sighed and rubbed his temples, "Miss Evans, are you muggleborn?" Lily nodded. "Do you know how to play Manhunt?" Again Lily nodded. "Then can you explain the rules, please?" Lily was surprised a teacher would ask her for something like that, but nonetheless continued explaining it the right way.
"So, as the professor explained, the person who is 'it' is war (she holds up her closed fist again) and those not yet tagged by the person who's 'it' are peace (she holds up her two fingers). The 'it' person runs after the people who are peace and tries to make them war too. Once you're tagged, you have to go around trying to tag other people too. The game is over when everyone is tagged, and the winner is the last person to remain peace. It's really quite fun once you get the hang of it."
Someone put their hand up, then stopped when they realized who they were talking to, and just asked, "How do you tell whether someone's peace or war?"
Though Lily was just as taken aback with the persons antics, she replied "If someone shows you their sign, you show them yours." At this point the teacher interrupted.
"Good job, Miss Evans, but I have a slight alteration to that part of the rules." The teacher began, "If you are peace, you must show your sign to others, but once you become war, you may try to trick people into believing you're still peace. Before you tag a person, though, you must show your true sign. Thank you Miss Evans, you may continue."
Lily nodded, a little intrigued at the professors' decision to change the rules, but continued on nonetheless. "Okay, so with the teachers new rule, that means that if I were war, and you peace, you have to show me the sign, but I could say something like "Oh, finally another peace, I've been running into wars ever since the game started it seems." Then I could just walk up to you and tag you." The class laughed appraisingly at her example.
Another student called out, "Can peace get war?" Lily shook her head, "Nope, just war can tag people."
With the instructions implemented, and everyone ready, the teacher gave fifteen points to Gryffindor for Lily's help, before explaining that when the whistle blew, the game was over. The students could go anywhere around the school as long as it was inside school grounds, and he would know if anyone broke any rules. The professor considered telling the class that they would hear his whistle no matter where they were, but he had already watched the students scatter.