The rest of the week was a decidedly awkward one. Although the details were never made public, it didn't take long for the Gryffindors to learn that a group of first years led by Harry Potter's son had been the ones to lose eighty points in one afternoon. While most of their group was being shunned, it was James and Alice who got the worst of it. They were, of course, the two most well known of the bunch.

James got a very stern letter from his father and mother, which went so far as to threaten him with the loss of his broom for the foreseeable future. Victoire and Teddy were both monitoring him more carefully, constantly checking on him and asking about his every move.

It seemed the entire family was prey to their paranoia. The twins, Louis, Lucy, Dominique, and Molly all complained about them being too overbearing. But Teddy and Victoire cryptically indicated that they had a very serious reason for keeping everyone under their thumb. James privately thought that they simply were enjoying the power trip.

Philip got out of it the easiest. His parents had no idea what Quidditch was. And according to Philip, his mother had a great fear of birds which she had inherited from her own mother. It was unlikely they would ever let an owl into the house, even if it carried a message.

"You have no idea the trouble I went through to even get my Hogwarts letter," Philip had told them.

James' classes weren't getting much better. Professor Longbottom had lost his initial friendliness towards him, and while he was never unkind, James got the feeling he wouldn't be invited to dinner anytime soon. As a matter of fact, most of the teachers who had expressed an initial enthusiasm for him seemed to have it magically evaporate overnight.

There were two important exceptions. The first was Hagrid. He had even invited James to tea on Sunday afternoon, which James was very much looking forward to. The only issue was that James absolutely hated Care of Magical Creatures, which was the class Hagrid taught. What's more, he hated having Hagrid as a teacher. Hagrid was constantly coming up with dangerous and unpleasant lesson plans, leaving James to be his sole defender, even if James privately sided with the dissenters.

The second exception was Professor Slughorn. The fact that James had even gotten in trouble at all seemed both to delight him and endear James to him further. He'd even gone so far to invite James to the first of what would presumably become many "little get togethers".

But it was on Friday, so James had to politely decline.

The only downside to potions was Rebecca, who was a constant thorn in his side. Not only had she retained Slughorn's initial favor, but it had grown as she continually produced the best potions in the class.

One of her favorite pastimes was offering James assistance in a passive-aggressive and condescending way. James had a theory that she only did this because she knew it rattled him, and if he wasn't so distracted by her, he'd surely be making the better potions.

Either way, James found himself feeling rather dejected as he headed down to the entrance hall to begin his Friday night detention with Mr. Filch. He was the last to arrive, save for Filch himself. Archie looked ready to wet his pants.

"I heard he has a hook for a hand," Archie whispered.

Lucas rolled his eyes, "Don't be stupid. My sister says he's just a grouchy old man. It's his cat you've got to watch out for. A proper snitch, that one. At least that's what Olivia's told me."

James joined the group and said, "Lucas is right, Archie. Dominique's been complaining about Filch's cat for years now."

"Dominique's been doing what?" a voice said from behind him.

James turned to see his cousin grinning at him. "Nice group you've got here, Jamie. These the guys that lost us those house points?"

"We didn't mean to!" Archie protested desperately.

Dominique waved her hand dismissively, "It's all good. Nothing I haven't done before. I disappoint my mother greatly. Whatever, Victoire and Louis more than make up for my many shortcomings."

"Go away, Dominique," James said with hostility.

"As much as I would love to be anywhere else right now," Dominique said, "I've got detention, same as you. Poured an itching potion into Leo Davies drink. Ran his big mouth all the way to Professor Finnigan. It was his fault though. Shouldn't have told me he'd make a better beater. I'll show him tomorrow at tryouts. By the way, are you trying out this year, Jamie?"

"No," James said, "and don't call me Jamie."

"Why aren't you?"

"If you must know, I had my offer revoked after I got in trouble."

"That's harsh! What did you all do that was so bad in the first place?"

Before any of them could answer, a horrible wheezing noise filled the hallway as the caretaker, Argus Filch, rounded the corner. Happily winding her way through his ankles was his nightmarish looking cat Mrs. Norris. She surveyed them with her red beady eyes, giving James the sense that there was something almost human about this cat.

Much to Archie's delight, Mr. Filch did indeed have two hands. In both of them, he was holding a bucket of rags. Silently, Filch handed each of the assembled students a rag and then smiled a vicious grin, or as much of one as he could manage with so few teeth to show off.

"Right then, tonight you will be polishing all of the door handles in the castle using no magic. Your detention shall end when every single one is sparkling, and believe me, I will know if they're not."

He pointed to James, Alice, Dominique, Lucas, Philip, Jerry, and Fred, "The seven of you will each take a floor of the castle. Mrs. Norris will be watching you carefully, so stay sharp!"

Then, he nodded towards Roxanne and a terrified Archie, "You two will be on the outside with me. Get moving!"

James thought it was unfair that Roxanne and Archie got to be outside late at night when that was the very thing they'd gotten in trouble for in the first place, but he didn't much feel like arguing with Mr. Filch, so he simply nodded.

As they made their way upstairs, James turned to Dominique, "If the cat's name is Mrs. Norris, surely there must be another cat."

Dominique shook her head, "Nope, it's just her."

"But if she's Mrs. Norris, then there needs to be a Mr. Norris. Otherwise she'd be Miss. Norris or Ms. Norris. Not Mrs. Norris."

Dominique was silent for a moment, then something seemed to dawn on her and she shuddered dramatically, "Jamie, that question only opens the door for some truly disturbing possibilities."

"It's James," he grumbled.


"That was a long night," Jerry yawned, stretching his arms above his head. "I swear I'd finish polishing a bunch of doors only to turn around and discover ten that were never there in the first place."

"We've got moving stairs. I bet we've got moving rooms too," James muttered, rubbing his eyes. "That was brutal. I'll be happy if I never see Filch or his demon cat again."

"Something tells me you'll have a hard time avoiding that," Alice said.

The three of them sat in silence until Jerry threw his hands up in frustration. "Look at us! It's Saturday and we're moping at the breakfast table. You know where we should be?"

"The Quidditch Pitch watching tryouts?" James asked.

Jerry grinned, "You read my mind, Jamie!"

"Don't you start," James snapped while Alice and Jerry enjoyed a laugh at his expense. "Come on, let's go down to the pitch."

As the three of them neared the stands, James spotted Teddy sitting with Victoire. He jogged over to them, leaving Jerry and Alice to catch up.

"Victoire, what are you doing? Aren't you trying out for Quidditch?"

Victoire turned, apparently shocked to see James. Almost unconsciously, she scooted away from Teddy. "The real question is what are you doing here? You're not allowed to try out, you know."

"I just came to watch," James explained. "But you still didn't answer my question. Why aren't you trying out? You always play keeper."

"I've simply decided it's more important to cheer on your friends," Victoire smiled at Teddy.

"You don't mean Teddy, do you?" James stared at the pair. "He's a Hufflepuff, Victoire! You're supposed to root for Gryffindor."

Victoire stared at him, "I'm almost impressed with how thick headed you are."

James stared blankly.

Teddy laughed and nudged Victoire, "Come on, Vic. Give the kid a break." He turned to James, "Just focus on enjoying tryouts, yeah? We'll catch up later, James."

James frowned as Jerry and Alice breathlessly joined him.

"Next time warn us before you run off," Jerry gasped.

"Can we please sit down?" Alice said, holding her sides. "There are empty seats over there," she pointed to a section of the bleachers a little ways off.

"Yes," Victoire said gratefully, "Excellent idea, James' friend. Go sit over there."

James looked at Teddy, who nodded, "Talk later, okay?"

"What is up with those two?" James grumbled.

While Jerry nodded in agreement, Alice gave James a strange look.

"Boys," she sighed, shaking her head.