Chapter Twenty

Breaking Down the Door

He, who moves not forward, goes backward

~Goethe

Excited chatter instantly broke out between the other first year Gryffindors. Sirius was as excited as James, obviously thinking of all the trouble they could get up to when they were invisible. Remus was enthralled with the magical aspects of it, the rarity of such an item. Peter was just swept up in the excitement of the other three.

"We've got to try it out!" Sirius loudly exclaimed. James and Peter nodded excitedly, but Remus seemed a little apprehensive.

"Now? It's after curfew and you two are already on thin ice. What if we get caught?" the skinny boy asked, his face paling even more as he thought about what kinds of trouble they would get into. James waved off Remus' concerns.

"We won't get caught Remus. This is an invisibility cloak. If we wear it, we will be invisible. No one will be able to see us and therefore, no one will be able to catch us," James explained. He moved to stand next to Sirius and wrapped the cloak around the other boy as well, showing that it worked on multiple people at the same time.

"But invisibility cloaks are unstable magic. You said it's been in your family for generations. Surely the spell has started to fail. We could easily be under that cloak when it's invisibility wears off and then we'd most certainly be caught, and most certainly treated absolutely terribly. Being caught under a cloak trying to be invisible is extremely suspicious behaviour." Remus crossed his arms as if to say he wasn't going anywhere under that coat.

"This isn't just any invisibility cloak, Remus. It's been in my family for hundreds of years, has been passed from father to son for generations and it as just as invisible now as it was when it first came into the Potter family. Trust me. The spell will not fail. I give you my word," James crept out from under the cloak and walked over to where Remus was standing. He held out his hand in an attempt to seal his promise. Remus still looked extremely skeptical but, after several seconds, he gave in and shook James' hand.

Both James and Sirius whooped in excitement and began to dance around the room.

"Slower. The bottom is being kicked up. There's not a lot of good being invisible if our feet are showing!" Remus scolded. The four Gryffindor males had been hurrying along the deserted hallways, hidden under James' new invisibility cloak. They were out, well past curfew, testing exactly how invisible the cloak was. If they could get by without a prefect of professor noticing them, they would be able to follow the Slytherins without a problem. They didn't have a particular goal in mind, a particular destination; they were just aimlessly wandering around to see how well the invisibility cloak worked.

"Okay, slow down a little," James spoke. Sirius, following nearly directly on his friend's heels, followed the orders and slowed down to a crawling pace. Images of all the mischief the four boys would get up to once they'd successfully completed their current mission ran through James' mind. However, if they were caught on this first outing, their highly prohibited invisibility cloak likely to be confiscated, none of what he envisioned would be possible.

Suddenly, the echoing sound of approaching footsteps could be heard throughout the deserted hallway. The four boys froze in place. This, whoever was walking towards them, would be their first test of the cloak. Nerves overtook them and all four held their breaths in anticipation. Then, Mr. Filch, the school's caretaker, appeared from around the corner. Quick on his heel was his ever-present cat.

Not wanting to be found out by the sounds of their movements, the four stood absolutely still and simply waited for Mr. Filch to approach them. As she got closer, Filch's cat Mrs. Norris seemed to sense them. Her lamplight eyes locked onto their position and didn't waiver. She began to meow, getting louder the closer she got, obviously trying to alert her master to their presence. However, for his part, Filch paid them no notice. Always a stickler for rule following, James was certain that if Mr. Filch could see them, he would be relishing in handing out punishments. The fact that he wasn't even acknowledging them, boded very well. They were invisible!

James felt a slight nudge on his right and turned to see Sirius, a plotting look on his face. He made sure that he had James' attention, then turned back to Filch. The man had stopped nearly in front of the quartet and was fighting with Mrs. Norris to get her to keep moving. However, sensing the boys, the cat was refusing to budge. Sirius took the opportunity and, staring directly at Filch, began pulling faces. The other man was completely oblivious.

Stifling the laughter that threatened to explode from within, James joined his friend. Quickly, Peter joined in as well. All three of them made faces underneath the invisibility cloak and Filch was none the wiser. It was all absolutely fantastic!

Finally, it was the day. Friday. A shorter day for the first years because of their flying lessons. However, the lessons were not a weekly occurrence, leaving the first years with several Friday afternoons a month off. Sirius and James had picked this day, and forced themselves to wait several agonizing days, because it would give them the largest amount of time. Despite their many surveillance attempts, the boys did not know the Slytherin's schedule, didn't know when the few they were really interested in came and went. The more time James and Sirius had to wait and watch, the greater their chances at actually seeing something.

Also, Friday meant they had all weekend to complete any work so they wouldn't get too much further behind if they spent all evening watching the Slytherins. Remus made sure they were very aware of this benefit of waiting until Friday.

As soon as they were dismissed from their last class, the quartet legged it towards the Slytherin common room. A few feet from their target, they slipped into an empty classroom and James pulled out the cloak from his bag. He gave everyone a meaningful look, ensuring they knew the importance of what they were about to do.

"Everyone ready? Once we start, there's no backing out. We could be facing some pretty powerful, potentially very dark, hexes and jinxes," James spoke, stroking his hair at the memory of the last time they'd gone up against Warrington and his cronies.

"Yes, but we could also finally get some answers!" Sirius exclaimed before grabbing the cloak and throwing it over himself. The others followed suit and disappeared beneath the fabric. The four then carefully picked their way out into the hallway, not wanting to do anything that could get them discovered. They sat down, just to the side of the armour they'd been forced to hide behind so many times before and waited for a member of the Slytherin Quidditch team to leave the common room.

The arrival of James' invisibility cloak seemed to be a sort of lightning rod for good luck. Prior to its arrival, the boys had hit wall after wall and gotten absolutely nowhere. Now it seemed like nothing could go wrong. They had basically just sat down and adjusted the invisibility cloak to ensure it covered everything, when none other than Warrington casually walked out of the Slytherin common room. The Slytherin Quidditch captain was most definitely involved in the broom tampering. No one would have gone to the lengths that Warrington had gone to if he weren't involved in the plot in some way.

James had thought that they would at least have to wait until all classes were out for the day, figuring that Warrington and any other important people would still be in class. However, Warrington either had a free period or had simply decided not to attend his final class for the day. Whatever the reason, Warrington was not in class, but headed somewhere, quickly.

As carefully as the thrill and excitement that they may actually be getting somewhere allowed them, the four boys stood. Once again, they were lucky in that, despite the very joyful emotions they were experiencing, as they stood, they neither made significant sounds to draw attention nor had the invisibility cloak shift or reveal a single part of the four. Warrington was none the wiser of their presence only feet from him.

Warrington walked leisurely, yet quickly, through the hallways. He would often look over his shoulder, seeing if he was being followed, and made several sharp turns and took meandering routes. All of it only increased the excitement Sirius felt. The way Warrington was acting was definitely a sign that they were onto something.

Finally, Warrington disappeared into a classroom. There were several other students within, all of them Slytherin. Before Warrington arrived, they were all just milling around, waiting for something. Then, as soon as Warrington entered, a much more business-like manner overcame the room. Something was definitely about to happen.

The four had been giving Warrington a fairly wide berth to help further conceal their presence. However, sure that they had reached their final destination, the boys raced to close the gap and get into the classroom. They were mere steps from the door, from finding out what was about to happen, when the door of the classroom closed shut. James hesitantly tried to open the door, but found it locked. The few unlocking charms that the group knew likewise proved ineffective.

They'd been so close.

"Now what?" Sirius asked. Unlike the previous failures and setbacks, this one didn't feel quite as upsetting or create the same sense of dejection. In fact, he still felt like there was progress to be made and they were on the right track.

"Something is definitely happening in there!" James exclaimed, "We have to get in! If we find a professor, explain to them what's been going on, maybe we can convince them to help us. A professor could open the door, witness it all, and clear our names in one fell swoop!"

"Excellent!" Sirius agreed, before throwing the cloak off of himself and racing down the hall in search of a professor. Any professor!

Sirius had taken off much quicker than James and the others. He was gone down half of the hallway before James, Remus, and Peter even registered it. As a result, they were forced to chase after and catch up with the young Black. They found him standing behind a corner looking down the other hallway, his head hung a little low. James was momentarily curious and crept towards his friend. He looked around the corner and saw Professor McGonagall slowly walking down the hallway.

"Excellent!" he spoke to Sirius before calling out, "Professor McGonagall! I'm so glad I found you! There's a rather urgent matter I need your assistance with!" James quickly jogged around the corner and down the hall towards Professor McGonagall. She paused her own progress, waiting for James, and a tired expression briefly flitted across her face.

"Yes, Mr. Potter. How can I help you?" Peter, Remus, and, slowly, Sirius, caught up to James and Professor McGonagall. Everyone looked expectantly at James.

"Well, Professor. We think we know who is actually responsible for jinxing the brooms. And they're meeting in secret right now! Probably discussing their next move! They've locked the door, so we can't know for sure, but if you came and unlocked the door, we could show you!"

"And what proof, exactly, do you have to support these accusations?" she asked, looking down at the boys.

"It's in the locked classroom, Professor," Sirius chimed in. Peter and Remus also added their own pieces, possibly hoping they could reach critical mass and convince McGonagall to go with them.

"If you just come with us, we could prove it all to you!"

"Hurry, they may not be there for much longer!"

All the boys continued pleading, often talking over each other. Desperate. They were so close they could taste it and yet it was threatening to slip right through their fingers. They weren't about to give up now.

"Alright! Enough! Enough boys! Take me to this classroom and we'll see if what you are saying is true," Professor McGonagall finally spoke, cutting off the boys. Her tone sounded exhausted, like she'd only agreed to get them out of her hair. However, that fact either escaped James' notice or was overshadowed by the fact that she'd actually said yes. James eagerly marched back through the halls, causing Sirius and the others to jog slightly to keep pace.

When they finally reached the door behind which James was positive Warrington and the others were plotting, the boys stepped aside to allow McGonagall to open the door. She stepped up to the solid oak and pulled out her wand; after observing it for several seconds, she expertly waved her wand around. A few seconds passed and then the door opened of its own accord.

"So, everyone needs to make sure they know the playbook, have it essentially memorized by next week's practice. We need to make sure-" Warrington stopped his speech as the door opened. Everyone in the room turned to look.

"Professor McGonagall, can I help you?" Warrington asked, his tone innocent.

"Just checking in on the meeting. It is a little strange to have a door locked during a Quidditch meeting and these boys were concerned." McGonagall stated. As she spoke, she shot Sirius, James, Peter, and Remus a sceptical look. It would appear that they'd interrupted a Quidditch meeting and not some secret illicit broom-tampering meeting.

"Yes, well, with the lengths some people have been going to in order to win Quidditch matches and the cup, we thought we should take precautions. Ensure that no one could learn our strategy and tactics." As he spoke, Warrington seemed to shoot Sirius and James a meaningful look, as if he weren't only talking about Quidditch.

"That's very reasonable. As you were." McGonagall then stepped out of the room, closing the door behind her. She turned to four boys in the hallway, levelled them with a truly withering gaze, and walked off. James felt his heart drop. They'd been so close and now, they were back, not where they started, but even further behind. McGonagall would not easily trust them again and Warrington definitely knew they were looking into him.

Now, they were back at square -50.