Previously: The first years practice the Disarming Spell in DADA, and Alice's dislike of Professor Banks deepens. James and Sirius continue to prank Lily. On the train ride home, Lily and Snape are coming up with new spells, and they have one to try: "Langlock". Over Christmas, Petunia makes sure that Lily knows that she's not normal while Severus gives her a necklace, which Lily is a little confused by. Alice, Marlene, and Sirius all hang out at James's parents' house while the adults attend the annual New Year's Eve Ball.
Chapter 15: Into the Forest
"Remind me again how we ended up here," said Remus as he forced his way through a particularly thick shrub.
"Because we volunteered – now hush, Remus, I want to be able to hear," said Sirius from behind him.
Rather than follow Remus's footsteps to get past the troublesome bush, Sirius opted to take a different route. With a running jump to power him forward, Sirius leaped up to catch a low-hanging branch and, pumping his legs to give himself some momentum, Sirius then swung forward and let go, landing just beyond the bush.
The four of them had decided to visit Hagrid before school started up again, but when they had arrived at his log cabin, all the Marauders had been surprised to find that rather than enjoying the weather from inside, Hagrid was preparing a cart full of what looked like gigantic, over-sized pillows. When asked what he was doing with them, Hagrid had simply given a vague, "Just some presents for some friends of mine who live in the forest." Peter had suggested that they visit some other time, but then Sirius had the brilliant idea to volunteer to go with, and when Remus gave him an incredulous look, Sirius had simply shrugged and pointed out that they might learn a couple of useful things about the forest.
"How much longer until we're there?" asked James from beside Hagrid. Due to Hagrid's enormous size, James was forced into something halfway between power walking and jogging, and he could feel his legs start to protest the hike through the forest.
"Not tha' much longer," said Hagrid. He eyed the huffing Marauders who were struggling to keep up with him before adding, "Yer know tha' yer all didn' have ter come with me, righ'?"
"We know," said Sirius in between breaths, "But when else – do – we – get – grrr!"
His cloak had caught on a stray branch that proved to be rather difficult to untangle from, and only after Sirius give his cloak a vicious tug did the branch yield. However, the force sent Sirius stumbling backwards. His heel knocked a tree root, and James watched with amusement as his best friend landed flat on his bottom. Sirius struggled to get back on his feet, brushing off snow from his clothes and hair. When he realized that the effort had messed up his hair, Sirius attempted to flatten it out. Only when he was satisfied did Sirius finish his comment.
"When else will we get permission to enter the Forbidden Forest?"
"I think that's the point of the Forbidden Forest, Sirius," Peter pointed out. He had taken the less-adventurous option and simply sat in the cart that Hagrid pulled, but the giant of a man did not seem to mind. "There's plenty of things in the forest that are dangerous."
"Danger?" scoffed Sirius. "I live for danger, Pete."
Peter went pink, and James quickly cut off what would have otherwise been an argument by asking Hagrid, "So who exactly are these friends of yours, Hagrid? I'm just curious as to why they live … here."
Hagrid gave him a surprised look and said, "Where else would they live?"
"Uh … maybe the castle?" said Sirius from behind them.
"Nah, nobody would like them 'n the castle – 'm not sure if them all would fi' in Hogwarts anyways," said Hagrid, shaking his head. "No, they're better off livin' 'n the fores' where they don' have ter worry 'bout other people."
James shot a confused look at Sirius, who just shrugged. He glanced back at the pile of pillows on the cart, and it was only then that he realized that all of the pillows were shaped in irregular ways, ways that no human would use. At first, James had expected to find some house in the woods where other Hagrid-sized people lived, but now, looking at the gigantic pillows, he was not so sure who exactly Hagrid's "friends" were – or what they were.
"Umm … Hagrid? Who exactly are we giving the pillows to?" asked James.
He had not realized how thick the trees around them had gotten, nor how dark it was. Hagrid had still kept them on the path, though path was a generous term. It was just a route where the trees were far enough apart for them to pass through. On either side of the path, the trees were so thick and packed together that James doubted any of the Marauders would be able to get through the gaps without touching at least one trunk. Hagrid probably would not be able to fit at all.
"I'm givin' 'em to Aragog 'n his family," said Hagrid proudly.
"And is Aragog … y'know – like us?" prodded James.
"If yer wan' ter ask if Aragog will like the pillows as much as anyone else – if he didn' wan' them, I wouldn' be givin' them ter him."
That did not answer James's question at all. Behind him, Sirius and Remus had identical looks of confusion while Peter's eyes nervously darted around to the trees as if worried that something would suddenly jump out from the dark and attack them. However, before James could ask Hagrid to clarify what he meant, his question was cut off by an odd clicking noise that started off as a lone hum from the trees but soon was joined by others until they were surrounded on all sides by a chorus of click-click-click-click.
Even if Hagrid had not said, "We're here," James knew without a doubt that they had arrived at their destination – though what exactly it was, James had no clue.
His mother had often told James stories about the dangerous creatures she had come across in her travels before settling down in the Ministry, but those were all stories. Mrs. Potter did not spend that much time describing the sounds all the different creatures made when she found them, and James remained unable to pinpoint what kind of creature waited just beyond the trees. His friends were in the same boat as he was – Sirius and Remus kept one hand on their wands, searching for the source of the noise while Peter discreetly slid over to Hagrid's side.
"Who is there?"
The voice that spoke was deep, far deeper than any human's voice. It came from the base of an ancient, snarled oak tree that stood on the base of a small overhang, its roots twisting and knotting together as they reached for the ground below them. Something large shifted from within, and the steps James heard were similar to what he expected a giant's footsteps to sound like: enormous, heavy, and loud. This time, Peter was not the only Marauder to scoot closer to Hagrid, who did not look concerned in the least.
"When you said you live for danger, Sirius, you wouldn't happen to have been talking about this kind of danger – would you?" whispered James as he kept his eyes trained on the pit at the base of the tree.
"I was thinking more like the McGonagall kind of danger," murmured Sirius, and James noticed that Sirius's knuckles were turning white around his wand.
"It's me, Aragog – it's Hagrid," said Hagrid, his voice far more joyful than the situation called for. "I brought yer all some presents. I know tha' the holidays finished a couple days ago 'n all, but I wasn' able to get them ter ye on Christmas. But I go' them all now."
A leg suddenly appeared from the ditch, a massive brown leg that was the size of a flagpole and as wide as a cake platter. It was covered in wiry hairs, and the end of the leg finished several wicked sharp claws. And then another leg appeared, identical to the first leg. Then there was another leg. And another one.
James stumbled backwards in shock as a colossal spider emerged from within the depths of the cavern with Sirius following suit. Remus starred bug-eyed at the creature, his mouth hanging open slightly, and beside him, there was more white in Peter's eyes than there was pupil and iris combined.
His mother had told him stories of acromantulas before, but nothing could have prepared James for this sight. The spider, which was more or less the size of Hagrid's hut, loomed over them, clicking pincers the size of broadswords to match the cacophony that only grew the longer they stood there. The thick hairs that had been visible on the first leg that James saw covered its entire body, and in the middle of the immense body was a mouth big enough to eat James's leg whole. The spider's eyes glistened in the little gleams of moonlight that managed to penetrate through the leaf canopy above them – there were no whites in the eyes, only a cloudy grey.
"Hagrid?" said the spider in its slow, deep voice, and James watched as the pincers clicked together with every syllable. "You say you brought us gifts? Food?"
Shivers ran up James's spine at the word "food", and he found that he had never regretted a decision as much as he did at that moment.
Hagrid chuckled at Aragog's words, and James heard Sirius mutter, "I don't think he's joking, Hagrid."
"No, nothin' like that, Aragog – I reckon you can get plenty of yer own food already. No, I got you somethin' else. It ain' much, but I though' yer could use somethin' to brighten up yer home."
Hagrid stepped back to reveal the pillows. Unfortunately for Peter, he had also been standing behind Hagrid, and he gave a small squeak of fear before scurrying out of the way so that it would not seem like Hagrid was gesturing to Peter. Even though Aragog had no pupils, James thought the spider's gaze followed Peter despite the fact that Hagrid was clearly indicating that Aragog's presents were the pillows.
"That's who the pillows were for?" muttered Sirius, incredulity written plainly across his features. "He's barking mad."
James wholeheartedly agreed with Sirius – who in their right mind would give gigantic, man-eating spiders pillows as a present? – but Hagrid did not hear them.
"I'll jus' leave 'em here for yer," said Hagrid as if it was the most natural thing ever to give acromantulas pillows. "I've go' some other things to do in the forest week after next, so I'll probably get the cart sometime then. C'mon, yer four. We've go' ter get yer back to the castle."
Hagrid motioned for the four of them to follow, and after their legs started working again, they all scurried after Hagrid, eager to get away from the acromantula colony. Though Hagrid did not bother to look around to see if any of the spiders followed them, James could not help but glance back every couple of steps to double-check that there were no creepy-crawlies on their tail, and it was only when the trees were noticeable thinner and the glow of the Hogwarts castle was visible just beyond the horizon that James relaxed.
"Next time Hagrid wants to take us to visit one of his pets, you're saying no," hissed James as they exited the forest.
"I know, I know – that just wasn't what I had in mind initially," Sirius whispered back. "You don't have to tell me twice."
~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ 1971 ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~
Lily did not expect to get that much homework after break – but she did anyways.
All the teachers seemed to have save the heavy workload until after break, and while Lily would not have liked doing homework on Christmas, she was not any happier now. From the looks on her friends' faces as Professor McGonagall assigned them two feet on the application of the transformation formula to warm-blooded animals, they were just as lost and confused as she was. It did not get better either: Banks set them on practicing the stronger versions of the Smokescreen Spell, and Sprout gave them an essay on the uses of the Severing Charm on magical plants.
"I hope Flitwick doesn't give us much," moaned Alice as they found seats in the Charms classroom. "Do you think he's going to give us a lot?"
Marlene curiously poked a Christmas tree ornament in front of her as if expecting it to do something before admitting, "I don't know. It's a little out of season for these, isn't it?"
Lily glanced around at the other tables. Each chair had a small object in front of it. A fair amount were Christmas ornaments, but Lily noticed that other objects dotted the tables too: a Hogwarts goblet, a candle holder, and an old alarm clock were among the assorted items that littered the classroom. There seemed to be nothing that linked the items at first, but after a little while, Lily realized that everything had at least some glass in it.
"They're all breakable," she observed quietly, "Maybe we're –"
At that moment, Professor Flitwick tottered into the room and greeted everybody cheerfully as he made his way to the usual stack of books that allowed him to see over his desk. Lily politely stopped her sentence and turned her attention to Flitwick, who was smiling down at everybody. It took a couple more seconds for everybody to cease their chatter and pay close attention to Flitwick.
"Welcome back, everybody," he squeaked. "I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas break. Today we're going to start practicing Mending Charms, which you studied before the break. Now in front of you is an object. When I say begin, I want you break it. Remember that you want a nice flick of your wand when you do this spell – move it around in a downward triangle to start with. Everybody get their wands and practice with me – reparo."
"Reparo," chanted the class.
"Excellent!" beamed Flitwick. "Let's see you practice on broken objects now."
The next minute was full of smashing and cracking sounds as everybody dutifully broke the objects in front of them. Lily destroyed her Christmas bulb quickly, using her copy of The Standard Book of Spells: Grade One to break it. That technique was copied by most of the class, though Potter and Black were much more enthusiastic than they should have been when they smashed their lightbulbs. Soon enough, the classroom was full of chants of "Reparo," and turning pages.
Charms class had always been one of Lily's best classes, and thankfully she had already read Miranda Goshawk's chapter concerning the spell. She knew that the pattern of the wave was not as important as the caster's intentions. Thankfully, Flitwick had not set them on retuning a containers contents since she knew that was much harder than a simple repair.
In between tries, Alice continued with the conversation they had been having before entering the classroom.
"… but since you have to be at least seventeen to attend, I obviously couldn't attend with my parents," she explained patiently to Mary. "Reparo! Anyways, it's quite common for families who know each other to watch each other's kids during the party. Reparo – why is this spell not working."
Alice grumbled and tried to poke her shatter mirror again, but other than a slight quiver, the pieces made no attempt to fly back together.
"It's the way you're moving your wand – it's supposed to be a soft flick, remember? Not a jab," said Lily. "Here, watch – reparo."
Lily gently flicked her wand in the direction of an inverted triangle. At once, the pieces obediently flew back together until the mirror was once again whole, looking as if it had never been broken in the first place. With a triumphant smile, Lily turned back to Alice, who gazed at her mirror with envy.
"What were you saying about the New Year's Eve Ball, Alice?" piped up Mary, but since Alice was too busy trying to copy Lily's success, Marlene, with her previously smashed Christmas bulb now repaired, took over the story.
"It's very common for families to lean on each other for babysitting. I know that Mum wanted me to go to the Marchbanks house, but I convinced her to let me spend time with Alice instead, so my siblings and I spent the night at Fleamont and Euphemia Potter's house –"
"Potter? Did you say Potter?" interrupted Lily with a frown.
Whenever she had imagined Potter's family, she had always thought of older versions of him: mischievous, thrill-seeking, and holding as much disregard for the rules as Potter himself held. She had always thought that Potter had been – and still was – spoiled and admired no matter what rules he broke and how many duels he started. She had never really considered that the people who raised him could be entirely different people who held their own positions within the Wizarding World.
"I never realized his family was the kind to go to those events," said Lily, casting a sideways glance at Potter, who, along with Black, was devising new and more creative ways to break their lightbulbs after they repaired them. "He certainly doesn't seem like the type to go to those events."
Marlene looked surprised.
"Of course they go to those events," she said, raising a delicate eyebrow at Lily. "The Potters are a very old and very, very wealthy family whose history stretches back to the beginning of the Middle Ages. Granted, they've never been particularly prominent, but they still exert a lot of influence in their own right. Everybody knows that the only reason they weren't included in the list of 'true' pure-blood families in the Pure-Blood Directory was because Potter's also a common Muggle surname."
"Henry Potter didn't help their case either when that book was written," pointed out Alice, but then she added quickly, "Though they didn't really mind their exclusion anyways."
"Anyways," said Marlene pointedly to keep them from straying off topic, "They're right up there with the Malfoys and Blacks when it comes to money and influence, so of course they attend all the fancy events and fundraisers – when James himself comes of age, he'll probably be doing the exact same thing."
Lily eyed Potter as Marlene talked, who was now taking turns with Black to jump on their lightbulbs. When he was satisfied that the poor lightbulb had been reduced to nothing but powder and a twisted filament, he flicked his wand, and the dust once again reformed. Laughing with Black as if it was the most amusing thing in the world, Potter went on to repeat the cycle, this time breaking the lightbulb by placing it under the table leg and pressing down on it.
The thought of shoving Potter into some dress robes and letting him loose in a fancy party that was no doubt filled with plenty of prank opportunities brought a small smile to Lily's lips.
Marlene, who had not noticed Lily's grin, continued uninterrupted.
"Of course, there are other families who are always invited as well: Malfoy, Crouch, Fudge, Greengrass … basically anybody with money or power."
"But if it's mainly pure-bloods, are there any half-bloods or Muggle-borns?" asked Mary. She had apparently given up on the Mending Charm, leaving a half-repaired goblet.
Marlene paused to think.
"Well … I know that there are a couple of half-bloods who attend like Harriet Morison – she's the Head of Magical Law Enforcement, though she's getting old and is probably going to retire soon. I'm not sure – oh! Frederick Ford. He's the Senior Advisor to the Minister, and Gregory Slavish, Chief Executive of the National Quidditch League. There are probably a couple others I've forgotten."
"Any Muggle-borns?" asked Lily cautiously, an uneasy feeling welling up inside her. It seemed like every time she felt that she had finally found her place in the world, something new would fly in and shake it up.
"No," admitted Marlene, "Victoria Gobsworth used to attend before she, y'know, disappeared. Other than that, I haven't heard of any others."
"I can't wait until I'm allowed to go," said Alice. "I mean, you should see some of those dresses, Lily. They're absolutely gorgeous. You just wait – we could all go shopping together, and it'll be so much fun …"
Lily smiled rather forcefully, unable to bring herself to remind Alice that she probably would not be allowed to attend seeing as she had no great vaults filled with money, no magical heritage, and the most notable achievement of hers was successfully mending her ornament.
