CHAPTER SIXTY
As it turns out, the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, Clara Pinwall, didn't measure up to Sirius' standards any better than Twiggy Lawson did when it came to appearance. They'd have to wait until class started before they passed judgment on her teaching skills, but James was certain that anyone who stuck their wand behind their ear (i.e. Clara Pinwall) was bound to be a failure.
As usual, they all ate until they could eat no more and went up to their favourite spots in the Gryffindor common room. Well, James, Sirius, Peter, and Jane did. During the middle of the train ride, Remus had claimed he wasn't feeling well and left them. They hadn't seen him since, but Jane assumed he was in the Hospital Wing. The three boys sat around on the chairs and couch while Jane lay on the floor, working on her scrapbook. She didn't have many pictures to add, just a few that she had taken at the Potters' that summer.
Once she was done fitting the pictures in place, Jane flipped through the book. She smiled at all the pictures, and she reread all the school newspaper clippings that she had kept as mementoes of her Gryffindor Quidditch games. There was even a clipping in there from when a model of the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch she had made in her art class last October had been voted best in the class. She smiled, remembering all the effort she had put into that project; it currently resided in her room back home, with its tiny players zooming around the pitch. Admittedly, she had needed the teacher's help to get the charms just right, but she was still proud all the same.
Jane went up to bed before the boys, wanting to be well rested for Monday morning. Once she was upstairs, James looked around to make sure the common room was empty, and it was (save for a fifth year boy who had fallen asleep at a table surrounded by his summer work that he had been trying to finish before classes tomorrow). James pulled out the book he had been reading on the train and flipped to somewhere near the back. He sat it on the floor, and all three of them huddled around it.
"According to the book, this is the last step we have before we're able to transform completely into our Animagus form," James said.
"Good, I'm tired of transforming into a dog-man," Sirius said.
"At least you don't have a rat tail," Peter complained.
"Can we get back to what I was saying, or are you two going to complain all day?" James asked in an impatient tone.
"Actually," Sirius replied, staring at the page James had flipped to, "I would like to express my disappointment about this being yet another potion."
Peter groaned, and James rolled his eyes.
"Guys, I need remind you that we are doing this to help Remus, not for your entertainment," James said.
"Yeah, but I don't much like the thought of drinking crushed goat liver and the…blood of a Boggart? How did anyone even get that?" Peter asked, looking at the ingredients for their last potion.
"How are we supposed to get it is the better question," Sirius said.
"Relax, I'm sure old Sluggy will have everything we need. He has this far," James said.
"Yeah, and last time we were in his personal stores, we almost got caught," Peter said.
"Come on, guys, we're so close," James said. "Don't tell me you're gonna back out now."
"Sirius Black doesn't back out of anything that he starts," Sirius said. "How long is this potion going to take?"
"If it goes like it's supposed to? Six months."
"Six months?" Sirius and Peter exclaimed.
"If we start on it now, we might get done before the Easter holidays," James said, talking over them.
"And what about the Christmas holidays? Who's looking after it then?" Sirius asked.
"One of us will have to stick around," Peter offered.
"You mean me," Sirius said.
"Well, you never go home on Christmas anyway," Peter said.
"No, but I go to James', and having nothing to do for weeks but babysit a potion isn't exactly something I look forward to," Sirius said.
"We're all staying," James said finally.
"And what are you and Peter supposed to tell your mums? 'Sorry, can't come home; I'm too busy trying to become an unregistered Animagus,'" Sirius said.
"Shush!" James said, looking around.
"There's no one down here," Peter pointed out.
"Still, we can't just go blurting it out," James said. "If anybody finds out, we could get into really big trouble."
"We've been working on this for almost a year, mate. I think we know how to keep this a secret by now," Sirius said.
James sighed.
"Fine, at dinner tomorrow, I'm going to go get this stuff from Slughorn's office, and we'll start that night," he said.
"What are you guys looking at?"
The boys immediately shut the book and turned to see Jane looking at them curiously.
"Nothing," they all said simultaneously.
Jane picked up her bag that she had left on the ground beside the couch, and slung it over her shoulder.
"Fine, don't tell me," she said, turning to go back up to her dorm.
James sighed in relief as Jane disappeared.
"I kind of feel bad about not telling Jane," Peter said.
"We know," Sirius said. "You've only said it every week since we found out."
"Look, I want to tell her just as much as you do, but that's up to Remus, not us," James said.
Sirius rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, yeah, poor Janie," he said sarcastically. "I think we have more important things to attend to."
"Exactly," James said. "Now, tomorrow, we're gonna need—"
"That's not what I was talking about," Sirius said.
James just looked at him.
"Well, I was just thinking that since we all kind of know what our Animagus forms are gonna be, I was gonna propose, since Remus has a cool nickname like Moony, that we invest in finding ourselves code names as well," Sirius said.
"Since when was Moony a cool code name?" James asked.
"You're just jealous that you didn't think of it first," Sirius said.
"Guys, what are we gonna tell Jane when we stay at school for Christmas?" Peter asked.
James sighed and shrugged.
"I dunno; we'll have to think of something."