Previously: Marlene tries her best to console Lily, Mary, and Alice about their visit with Trelawney. While Lily and Mary are feeling better, Alice is still depressed. To cheer her up, Marlene sets her and Frank up, which ends up working. James tries to apologize to Lily by covering her dormitory with lilies for Valentine's Day.
Chapter 58: A Special Place
"This is ridiculous," muttered Peter as he and the other Marauders stumbled past the protruding tree roots that littered the floor of the Forbidden Forest. "Why can't we just take the Mandrake leaves now – it would save us a whole lot of time if you ask me."
"Because, Pete, the reason why so many people mess up their Animagus transformation is because they become impatient with the whole process, remember? We wait until Sprout's Mandrakes start reproducing again before we take one of their leaves – they have to be freshly picked, or otherwise something will go wrong," said James, gouging a deep X in the trunk of the tree that he had just passed with the tip of his wand.
Spring was fast approaching Hogwarts castle, and the snow was finally starting to melt. However, while other students looked forward to the lovely weather that it was bound to bring and discussed their plans for summer, the Marauders renewed their focus on something else entirely – their Animagus transformations.
Mr. Evans had pulled through beautifully for them. The caterpillars that he had sent them were starting to mature into adults, and James was careful to keep the moths with a full supply of honey and water. They had taken three of the chrysalises from the dirt and placed a Freezing Charm on them while permitting the others to grow and multiply – James had not expected the moths to get so big. True to his word, Mr. Evans had remained tight-lipped and shared nothing about their business with Lily. While they had certainly appreciated that her father had kept his end of the bargain, James could not help but think just how much easier his relationship with Lily would be if she knew why he had done what he had done on the platform – Lily had not been pleased with his apology attempt on Valentine's Day.
However, even though they had managed to get their hands on the most difficult ingredient in the Animagus potion, it still proved tricky – the process required the leaves of a baby Mandrake to be left in their mouths from one full moon to the next. However, the only way to ensure that the Mandrake leaves were freshly plucked from a baby was to steal a couple from the ones that Sprout always used for her second years since there was no guarantee that any leaves they bought from the Apothecary were freshly plucked from a baby. Unfortunately, Sprout's Mandrakes had already matured, and she would not bother to grow more until the end of summer.
The only other ingredient they needed – besides a strand of hair and their saliva, both of which were very easily attainable – was dew collected from a place that neither sunlight nor human feet have touched for at least seven days, which had led to their current scouting mission.
Originally, they were going to try their Animagus transformation in a hidden part of the castle, but as they got more and more involved in the process, James realized that they would need to find a place in the Forbidden Forest to keep everything. Not only was it difficult for both sunlight and moonlight (it was imperative that sunlight never contaminated their potion) to reach, but nobody ever ventured very deep into the forest to begin with, and when it came time for their transformation, they would have plenty of room and privacy.
This was not their first trip through the Forbidden Forest in search of a suitable place to work on their transformations – they had tried four other times since coming back from break, with each trip resulting in failure. However, James was determined to have this be their last – and successful – attempt. After shrugging Snape off their trail in the castle with a well-placed Knockback Jinx from Sirius, they had donned the Invisibility Cloak just as the sun was starting to set and made their way into the forest, careful to steer clear of the path that led to Aragog's nest.
"So a couple of fifth years at getting together at the Three Broomsticks week after next," said Sirius, ducking to avoid a low-hanging branch. "You should join us – I know for a fact that Dawn Vasquez will be there with her friends."
"I know what you're doing, Sirius – but I need to try to make amends with Lily," said James.
Sirius shrugged as if the answer made little difference as he added, "I'm just saying. There's not much to make amends for with Evans – it's not like you got along before you convinced her dad to send us the moths."
James sighed at that. He knew that Sirius had his best interests at heart, but Sirius had not been there during those moments he and Lily had shared over the years. They were small and fleeting, but James would not forget them – if anything, those moments just meant he needed to try harder to get on Lily's good side.
But at the same time … Sirius did have a point – wherever he had been in the past, Lily certainly was not interested in him right now. And he was a teenage boy who had needs …
Thankfully, James was spared a response because just then, he and the others stumbled into a clearing.
It was a round, flat space filled luscious grass that created a perfect contrast with the dirt that formed the rest of the forest floor. Up above, the trees were far enough apart that moonlight filtered through the leaves to cast its light upon the grass, filling a space several meters in diameter – enough moonlight for their Animagus potion. It was, for lack of a better word, beautiful.
James, however, would not let himself be distracted from the beauty of it. Instead, he hunted around the edges of the clearing until he found what he was looking for: a small hole, probably the leftovers of a fox's burrow or something, was situated under a particularly large tree. It was barely large enough to fit a kid through the entrance. James dropped to his stomach and, with a whisper of "Lumos", held his wand out in front of him to inspect the hole. The burrow stretched back maybe five feet or so, and for some miraculous reason, the grass stretched all the way back. There was no evidence that any animals had used it recently.
Slowly, James stood up and faced his friends, unable to stop the wide grin that had spread over his face.
"Guys … I think this is it."
~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ 1975 ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~
JENKINS REPLACED AS MINISTER FOR MAGIC
By Betty Braithwaite
The Minister for Magic, Ms. Eugenia Jenkins, has resigned from her post as Minister for Magic following much outcry from the general public that she has inadequately dealt with the rise of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and his Death Eaters. Following her abrupt departure, the Wizengamot held an emergency meeting yesterday afternoon to vote in Jenkins's temporary replacement. In a 32-18 vote, they placed the responsibility on the shoulders of Mr. Harold Minchum, 54, who was previously Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Mr. Minchum accepted, and he will be sworn into office in two days' time, where he will stay until May, when an official vote will be held to determine if he should stay in the post permanently.
When Ms. Jenkins, 67, first entered office, she was riding a wave of support due to her competent handling of the Squib's Rights Marches because, while unable to fulfill all the Squibs' demands, she was able to pass several new laws that were viewed as compromises between the Squibs and their supporters and the far-leaning pure-blood advocates. All in all, she was able to appease both sides, and the marches soon died down after that.
However, she was soon faced with a new problem, one that proved much more difficult to handle: When He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and his Death Eaters launched a surprise attack on the Ministry, which resulted in the deaths of fourteen innocent wizards and witches, the Jenkins Administration entered damage-control mode as they tried to sort through the mess left behind.
In an effort to stop the rise of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and his band of faithful followers, Ms. Jenkins approached the problem much like she approached the Squibs' Right Marches: She tried to compromise. In the years since the Ministry attack, Ms. Jenkins has pushed through several controversial measures that have been seen by some as detrimental to the equality of Muggle-borns. The most well-known of these measures concerns the opportunity for Muggle-borns and other half-breeds to be promoted within a group – specifically, it prohibits them from filling any supervisory roles within the community – but this is just one of many measures passed.
Unfortunately, her attempts at compromise were not enough. The disappearances and murders of prominent pro-Muggle supporters kept rising, as did the targeted attacks on several establishments viewed as pro-Muggle. These events eventually culminated in a Wizengamot hearing where Ms. Jenkins was required to detail how her actions have helped in the war against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and what she planned to do in the meantime. While the hearing was closed to the public, it clearly did not go in Ms. Jenkins's favor as she resigned immediately afterwards.
The pure-blooded Mr. Minchum, previously Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, has already created a name for himself. Viewed by many as a hard-liner who lives by the old adage of "Fighting Dragons with Dragons", his supporters argue that he has no problem stooping to another side's level to get things done. It should be noted that one of the first things he did after being named Minister for Magic was increase the number of Dementors stationed at Azkaban – whether this swift action will be followed with similar policies remains to be seen.
But the replacement of Mr. Minchum as Minister for Magic was not the only recent change at the Ministry this month. Mr. Bartemius Crouch, 45, has filled Mr. Minchum's position as Head of Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Many have compared Mr. Crouch to Mr. Minchum in terms of temperament, and it should be noted that the two have been friends for nearly fifteen years. Also, Ms. Millicent Bagnold, 58, was named as the leader of a taskforce dedicated solely to the fight against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and will be independent of any other departments in the Ministry. So far, the taskforce boasts over 200 witches and wizards handpicked from across three Ministry departments, in addition to several dozen brought in from the outside. Mr. Alastor Moody, 68, has been named as Head of the Auror Office in her stead.
Lily set her copy of the Prophet aside as she stared at her hash browns. When she finally looked up, she saw that both Marlene and Mary were patiently waiting for any news worth noting – Mary was staring up at Lily with wide, innocent eyes while Marlene had busied herself with the newest copy of Witch Weekly until Lily had finished with the paper. When she noticed that Lily had finally discarded the Prophet, Marlene tossed her magazine aside and looked at her intently.
"Well? Any news?" she asked briskly.
Beside them, both Alice and Frank – thanks to Marlene's timely intervention, the two had emerged from Valentine's Day as a couple – looked at Lily expectantly.
"Jenkins resigned – she's been replaced by somebody named Harold Minchum," said Lily, carefully watching her friends from any recognition at the name.
"That's good, isn't it?" asked Mary. "We won't get anymore of those pure-blood laws that she was always trying to pass to appease You-Know-Who?"
Frank snorted. In the weeks since Valentine's Day, Lily and the other girls had gotten to know Alice's new boy-toy. Thankfully, he had made a good first impression on all of them – even Marlene, who was notoriously hard to please, had deemed him "perfectly average but still pleasant enough" following her usual interrogation of him, which was much better than Lily's boyfriend had done when asked the same questions.
"Minchum is still cut from the same cloth, Mary – he's just not as afraid of pissing people off," said Frank as he scanned Lily's discarded copy of the paper. "I don't think he's going to be that much different from Jenkins. It's just that he has to seem likeable enough until he can get elected to the post permanently – after that, anything goes."
Lily looked down at that. It was no secret that she was the only Muggle-born of the Gryffindor fourth years, and she had always tried to keep a close eye on the comings and goings of the Ministry of Magic. Recently, Jenkins had passed several measures that negatively affected Lily's future – namely, with the ban on Muggle-borns filling any major positions of authority, Lily had been forced to kiss all hopes and dreams of becoming Head Girl goodbye. Prefect, maybe – but Head Girl? That was out unless the Ministry changed the law before her seventh year.
"I have to go," said Lily, suddenly standing up, much to everybody else's surprise. "I … er – I'll see you in Defense Against the Dark Arts class."
Despite her friend's protestations, Lily took off towards the exit. Potter was sitting close to the doors, and although he looked like he had been up all night, that did not stop him from trying to ask her to Hogsmeade. Lily ignored him – she knew that if she stayed in the Great Hall, her friends would only try to comfort her over the appointment of Minchum to Minister. While Lily was by no means close to tears over the news, she had no wish to dwell on it, so she quickly made her way up to the common room.
Only she never got there.
Soon all thoughts of Minchum and the Ministry would be pushed from her head because just as she reached the sixth floor, she noticed a small group of Slytherins lounging at the far end of the main corridor. Lily quickly tried to see if Severus was among them – which was when she caught Mulciber's eye.
Even from a distance, Lily could see his sickening grin. While Severus was not among the group, there were two others that she recognized, Avery and Rosier, along with a fifth year that she did not know – none of whom Lily was eager to be caught alone with. Mulciber tapped Avery's arm and whispered something in his ear. The other Slytherins quickly looked her way, and her heart quickened when she realized that they had started to move – right towards her.
Without any hesitation, Lily spun on her heel and walked in the other direction as quickly as she dared. As she reached the bottom of a staircase, she glanced back behind her: Mulciber was still following at a brisk pace – they had both seen her by now – but Avery, Rosier, and the fifth year had all broken away and disappeared down a side corridor. She quickly dashed up the stairs two at a time, and when she reached the top of the staircase, she checked the stairs again to ensure that Mulciber was nowhere in sight.
That was when Lily broke into a run.
Her wand was out and ready in her hand as she all but sprinted towards the Gryffindor common room – she just needed to get to the portrait, and then she was home-free …
As if they had already read her mind, the fifth year appeared in the corridor fifty yards in front of her – he was grinning as well. Lily was left with no choice but to dart into the only remaining side corridor. It was not very long, but as she raced for the other end, voices that she quickly realized belonged to Avery and Rosier echoed from the end of the corridor. Without even thinking, Lily changed direction, but after only several meters, she came skidding to a halt – Mulciber and the fifth year were waiting at the intersection she had just passed, and they were clearly enjoying themselves.
He's toying with me – Mulciber's toying with me.
She spun on her heel – expect her path was blocked yet again, this time by Avery and Rosier, both of whom had finally shown themselves.
A fear that Lily had not felt since she was thirteen seized her as she whipped her head back and forth between the intersection behind her, where Mulciber and the fifth year were waiting, and that which was ahead of her, where Avery and Rosier leered at her. She was out of options, and Mulciber knew it – there were no rooms along this corridor where she could hide, and the tapestry to her right that showed a couple of trolls dancing ballet would offer little protection.
Mulciber had her right where he wanted her.
~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ 1975 ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~
"Have any of you seen Lily?"
James jumped in surprise as Alice appeared right behind him. Professor Oggins had finally decided to have a practical day in Defense Against the Dark Arts, and as such, the desks had been pushed against the walls while the students self-segregated themselves into two groups – the Slytherins on one side, and the Gryffindors on another.
"Do I look like her keeper?" snorted Sirius, and Alice put her hands on her hips as she glared at him.
"Sirius, none of us have seen her since she left the Great Hall this morning – and it isn't like her to be late to class. I'm starting to worry."
James quickly glanced around the room. The Slytherins were busy chatting among themselves, but it seemed like several of their own were missing among them as well – chiefly, Mulciber. Oggins was sitting behind his desk, struggling to keep his eyes open as was usually the case. The other Gryffindors were already present: Marlene and Mary were both standing a couple feet behind Alice, looking just as nervous as Alice was; Remus and Peter were following James's lead by trying to determine who else was in the room; Sirius was doing his best to appear bored with the whole affair – but James also detected a faint hint of concern.
But no Lily.
And Alice was right: she was never late to class.
However, before James could say anything else, the classroom door opened. He turned, hoping to see the familiar head of copper hair, but it was not Lily – it was Mulciber, Avery, and Rosier.
And they were smiling.
"Five points from Slytherin for tardiness," mumbled Oggins from his spot in the room. "Now pair up and start practicing the Shield Charm."
The old man had not even bothered to open his eyes, but nobody thought to ask him any more questions – he was too deaf to hear them anyways. Instead, they did as they were instructed. Usually when teachers told them to pair up without any further instructions, there was a scramble for everybody to grab their best friend. The houses rarely mingled with each other.
Which was why it was such a surprise when Mulciber and a couple of his goons chose to cross the gap between the Gryffindors and Slytherins.
"Missing your girlfriend, Potter?" sneered the Slytherin as he approached their group.
The effect of Mulciber's words were immediate. The entire room went silent – Oggins's light snoring and Mary's gasp of surprise were the only sounds that could be heard. James had his wand out in a flash, pointing it directly at Mulciber's chest, but he was not the only one. Both Alice and Sirius had their own wands trained on him as well – James knew that while Sirius was no fan of Lily, his feelings towards her were nothing compared to his hatred of Mulciber – and while Marlene was not holding her wand up, ready to curse the Slytherins at a moment's notice, she still kept a tight grip on it.
"What did you do to her, Mulciber?" spat Alice, and James could tell that, just like him, she was doing her best to mask the fear.
Mulciber's smirk only deepened at that, and James pressed his wand against Mulciber's chest, his hand shaking with fury. While other Slytherins had their wands out as well, Mulciber's stayed in his pocket – he must have been confident enough that nobody would try anything when Oggins, though currently asleep at his desk, was still in the classroom. James himself was weighing the risks and benefits of cursing Mulciber in front of a teacher – the main risk being that, deaf as he was, an all-out duel between the entire class still had a fifty-fifty chance of drawing their professor from his slumber.
"You have five seconds to answer Alice's question, Mulciber – or you'll regret it," said James in a voice so cold that he himself hardly recognized it.
Mulciber only laughed at that.
"I would tell you, Potter – but I'm not actually sure where she is right now," he said, and James's blood turned to ice in his veins. "It's actually kind of sad now that I think about it. One minute, we were all enjoying our little game, but then – poof! She just disappeared."
"Don't worry too much, Mulciber – it's not like it required much skill on your part."
Everybody was so focused on the Gryffindor-Slytherin confrontation that nobody had noticed the student slip inside the classroom until she spoke. Mulciber's eyes widened, and the other Slytherins parted just enough that he could see Lily standing right behind them. James quickly assessed her, but other than a flushed face and windswept hair, she looked no different from when he had seen her exit the Great Hall earlier that morning.
"Lily – you're okay," said Alice as she breathed a sigh of relief.
"You're not supposed to be here!" said Mulciber, and his faced showed nothing but surprise.
"Au contraire," said Lily – it was her turn to smirk – "I applaud your effort to rid this school of Muggle-borns like myself, Mulciber – I really do. Hardly anybody's as … passionate as you are. But try as you may, we'll just keep – coming – back."
Here, Lily took several steps forward so that she was standing toe-to-toe with Mulciber. James lowered his wand a fraction as he watched Lily lean forward on the balls of her feet so that she could stare Mulciber right in the eyes. During their first couple of years at Hogwarts, Lily had been about the same height as the boys, but Mulciber had started his growth spurt, which meant that Lily had to stand on her toes to get in his face – which she did with much more passion than James would have preferred her to have when dealing with a person like Mulciber.
"You see, we're annoying like that," finished Lily softly.
She then turned to join her fellow Gryffindors, but before she could, Mulciber's hand – the boy seemed determined to have the last word – suddenly shot out and grabbed her wrist before yanking her closer. James once again raised his wand, a curse ready on his lips as he watched Mulciber lean so close to Lily that their noses were almost touching. Lily herself went rigid, staring up at Mulciber with wide eyes.
"Let go of me," she whispered.
By now, James could have cut the tension in the room with a butter knife. Everybody had their wands out at that point, either pointed at the pair in the center of the crowd – Lily and Mulciber – or at somebody from the opposing house. James himself was keeping his wand focused on Mulciber while under the threat of at least three other wands – Avery, Wilkes, and a girl by the name of Violetta Yaxley.
"You better watch your back, Evans," seethed Mulciber. "Otherwise, we'll see just how filthy your blood really is when I slice you open from –"
Mulciber never got a chance to finish that statement: James had lunged forward – he was not even sure what his intent was – but just as he reached his own hand out, he felt it.
There was no bang or flash of light– whatever it was, it was both silent and invisible – but right as James's hand was about to close around Lily's exposed arm, there was a burst of blistering energy. Instinctively, James jerked his arm back, but Mulciber must have gotten the worst of it because he suddenly shrieked in pain and released Lily's wrist in shock. Thankfully, James managed to remain on his feet, but Mulciber was not so lucky: he stumbled backwards before tripping over Avery's foot and landing flat on his back. Once on the floor, Mulciber cradled his hand as if it had been burned.
James rounded on his friends, fully prepared to tell them to mind their aim, but when he saw that all of them were just as confused as he was, he realized that none of them had cast the spell. He glanced around at the Slytherins, but they were wearing identical expressions of confusion.
It was not until he heard Mulciber growl, "What the bloody hell did you do to my hand?" that James realized what had happened.
Lily alone appeared entirely unaffected by whatever had just happened, but both she and Mulciber were staring at her wrist. Other than the red imprint – the weirdly shaped scar on the inside of Lily's wrist stood out more than usual against the inflammation – that Mulciber's grip had left on her pale skin, there was nothing to suggest that anything out of the ordinary had just occurred. Lily's expression was torn between wonder and uncertainty as she rubbed the spot that Mulciber had touched with her other hand. Whether it was intentional or not – James would hazard a guess that it was the latter – Lily's sudden burst of magic had temporarily repelled both James and Mulciber, catching everybody by surprise, including Lily herself.
The pause that followed was one of the longest, most tension-filled pauses that James had ever seen until –
"You filthy, little Mudblood!"
…
And that was how Professor Oggins slept through one of the biggest duels ever witnessed in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Okay, so there's a couple of things I want to clarify with this chapter:
1: Yes, that was the Room of Requirement that Lily found. I wanted her to be the one to find it because that fact comes into play in later chapters. You'll notice that I was careful to have Lily cross in front of it 3 times.
2: Mulciber acted that way because he could see that Lily still wasn't in DADA, but even though he wasn't sure exactly what happened to Lily, he wanted to mess with James and his friends.
3: I hope that Lily isn't coming across as a Mary Sue or anything like that. It's just that when one considers (and this is all info from the lovely JK Rowling herself): A) she already had control over her underage magic; B) Voldemort wanted to recruit her even though she was a Muggle-born; C) Willow wands have a reputation for advanced, non-verbal magic; D) She and James were able to defy Voldemort three times; and E) something similar happened with Harry in The Order of the Phoenix, it seems likely that even after years of study, she still sometime loses control of her magic. Thoughts?
