Chapter 3

Classes

James was awoken by a pillow to the face.

Somewhere above him Sirius, who was holding the pillow down, said, "Get up mate! Don't want to be late to your first day of classes, do you?"

James tried to say "get off me" but it surely must have come out as a garble because Sirius just laughed and replied, "What was that? Can't hear you! You seem to have something in your mouth -- OOF!"

Sirius tumbled off the bed, having just been kicked in the stomach.

The boys made their way down to breakfast, making sure to use some of the shortcuts that they had discovered the night before (mainly to prove that they remembered that they knew where they were and where they led). They were just sitting down at the Gryffindor table when Professor McGonagall moved toward them handing out course schedules.

"We've got Charms first," Remus said, his eyes sliding down the page.

"Charms?" Sirius replied around a mouthful of toast. "Sounds easy."

It was easy. The Charms teacher, a tiny little man by the name of Professor Flitwick, had set them to practice the light charm. Within fifteen minutes both James and Sirius had mastered the charm, had helped Remus and Peter master it as well, and were working on the despelling charm. At the end of the double period (after having spent nearly three quarters of an hour in boredom) they were told by a beaming Professor Flitwick that it would not be necessary for the four of them to complete the homework that was given to the rest of the class.

Professor McGonagall was not so lenient. Even though James and Sirius had managed to transfigure their matches into needles, she still gave them the regular amount of homework (although, that might have been because they had started poking each other in sensitive areas with their needles while the other wasn't looking).

After lunch was the most boring class in the history of magic, which -- coincidentally -- was the History of Magic. The class was taught by a ghost, and although that sounds very exciting, he had a voice that Muggle-borns compared to a dull vacuum cleaner, and after about ten minutes of this more than half the class was asleep.

Following History of Magic was Herbology, and though it wasn't exactly thrilling, it did have fanged plant-life that nipped your fingers if you weren't paying close enough attention.

And that was just the first day!

Tuesday added two more classes to their course load, both of which, James found, came surprisingly easy to him. Even Potions was a breeze, which, he had to admit, had never been his forte (he remembered all too well the incident in his childhood when he had "helped" his mother stir up a potion by exploding her cauldron which had been full of a concoction that turned his skin blue, but that's for another story).

After that came Defense Against the Dark Arts which was all about curses and mummies and things of a -- usually -- sinister nature. The class was taught by a young woman straight out of the teaching academy called Professor Summers, whom James and Sirius made fun of at first but took to soon after she put Sirius in a full body bind to get him to shut up.

Then, on Fridays, there was flying lessons which, you can imagine, was great fun for the four friends, except for Peter who was terrified of heights. And of course Astrology which was similar to History of Magic in its tendency to put everyone to sleep. Not that it was boring, but more because it took place at midnight.

But while James and Sirius found ease in their classes, another member of their group appeared to be having enormous difficulty. And it wasn't Peter.

Remus seemed to be getting paler and paler as the days slipped by, as though he was losing sleep over the spells he hadn't learned. James had awoken many a night to hear the poor boy muttering to himself. And although James could never hear discernible words, they sounded like instructions. Stranger still, Remus did perfectly well on all his homework, often attaining full marks, but by the end of their second week at Hogwarts he appeared to be close to a nervous breakdown.

That Saturday morning, while James and Sirius were threatening Remus that they were going to test the rumor that a giant squid lived in the lake by throwing him in it if he didn't cheer up soon, Professor Dumbledore himself approached them wearing an oddly blank expression.

"Good morning boys," he greeted, nodding to them before turning to Remus in particular. "Mr. Lupin, if you'd be so kind, I need a word with you in my office."

Remus swallowed hard and followed Dumbledore out of the Great Hall, looking weaker than ever.

"What was that all about?" James wondered aloud.

"Dunno," Sirius replied, turning back to his bacon. "Maybe Dumbledore's going to talk some sense into him. Tell him he's a right smart bloke and to bloody well get a grip on himself."

"Maybe Dumbledore heard what you said about throwing him in the lake," Peter said, his eyes wide. "Maybe he thought you were being serious."

James laughed but Sirius looked puzzled. "We weren't being serious?"

Remus didn't show up again all day. And to make matters more disconcerting, a fourth year girl showed them a newspaper article at dinner that certainly got their attention.

"LORD" VOLDEMORT LASHES OUT

Simple politics erupted unexpectedly to violent

war today in an event that surely will not be

the last of its kind. The wizard calling

himself Voldemort, widely known speaker against

Muggles and the so-called "impurity" of

Muggle-born witches and wizards, broke into

the home of a well known Muggle-born wizard

and brutally murdered him. Sadly a suspicious

neighbor came to investigate and upon finding

his friend dead, Voldemort allegedly turned

his wand on him as well. Ministry of Magic

officials say that in both cases the

Unforgivable Avada Kedavra curse was used,

causing unblockable and instantaneous death.

Witnesses say that Lord Voldemort was

accompanied by a number of cloaked persons who

have been deemed "Death Eaters" by their

master. After extensive questioning, Ministry

officials say that witnesses were unable to

identify any of these individuals due to

large masks and thick black cloaks that were

worn when the crime was committed, presumably

to conceal their identity. The public is

strongly encouraged to be wary of anyone who

sports this "Death Eater" attire. Furthermore,

the Daily Prophet urges its readers to keep a

special close eye on our friends of Muggle

descent. Thank you and be safe.

In consideration of the victims families,

their identities will not be disclosed.

Sirius looked at James. "Maybe that's what happened to Remus," he whispered. "Maybe his mother was..." he lowered his voice even further. "...killed."

James frowned. "No," he said slowly, thinking hard. "Remus has been acting strange all week. If she died today it would have come as a shock, right? Unless there's something ELSE that's wrong with him."

"Come on," Sirius said, still speaking softly for some reason. "Let's go upstairs. Maybe Dumbledore sent him back to the common room or something." But when they reached Gryffindor tower one look told them he wasn't there and after an inspection of their dormitory it was apparent that Remus hadn't been in it since the four of them left together that morning for breakfast.

They spent the rest of the evening by the fire in the common room discussing various theories on what had happened to their fourth companion. However, all around them the talk was about Voldemort.

Near Sirius's shoulder they heard Cady Stanton say in a voice that was not like her own, "My mother's met him. She's in the Department of Muggle Affairs at the ministry. She said that once they had a row in the middle of the office because he wanted her to cancel her speech on why we shouldn't use magic against Muggles. Who's to say this... Voldemort--" a shiver ran through her already quavering voice. "is going to limit himself to killing only Muggle-borns. What about those who want to speak up for Muggles? For all I know my mum could be next on... You-Know-Who's list..."

James and Sirius exchanged dark looks. They sat in silence for a little bit longer, and after a while Sirius got up and began to console Cady. James remained still, staring at the fire for a long time until Sirius shook him out of his stupor. They were the only ones left in the common room. Peter was snoring in his armchair. Remus hadn't come in.

An apprehensive feeling settling over them, the three boys went up to bed.

James didn't have a very restful night. He spent the first few hours merely dozing, every now and then pinching himself awake and glancing across the room at Remus's bed, as though he expected to see its owner there. When he finally got to sleep he had disjointed dreams that were more flashes of scenes than anything, ending with an image of a baby boy who looked just like him when he was a child except that his eyes were green...

There was a despondent air among the remaining friends the next morning at breakfast that ended quite abruptly when Remus plopped down next to Sirius looking haggard (but less pale than when they had last seen him) and acting as though the past twenty four hours had never occurred.

For a moment no one said anything; the three just stared at Remus as though a stranger had just sat down with them. And if Remus himself noticed the silence he ignored it and simply pulled a plate of toast towards him and began to eat feverishly.

The others waited until after he had gotten through the second piece before they all burst out at once.

"Where have you been?

"What was yesterday all about?"

"Are you going to bloody stop pouting now?"

Remus actually choked in surprise on a bite of his third slice of toast as they suddenly exploded with questions and had to receive a few good wallops on the back from Sirius before he could speak again.

"Slow down," he said with a cough. "One at a time."

To which of course the other three merely bombarded him with inquiries again, each wanting their own answered first.

"Right!" Sirius nearly shouted, slapping his hand on the table loudly. "Just tell us where you were all bloody day yesterday."

"Oh... uh," Remus said slowly, a blush creeping into his cheeks. "My - my mother got really sick, and, uh, they wanted me to come home and see her... just in case... just in case..."

James and Peter nodded sympathetically, but Sirius was wearing a quizzical expression.

"How'd you get there and back so quickly?" He asked with an air of suspicion.

"Floo powder," Remus replied simply, shrugging casually.

There was a collective "ahhh" sound from the other three boys and there was a pause while Remus wolfed down three more pieces of toast.

Sirius lifted an eyebrow, suddenly disenchanted with his own breakfast. "Hungry?"

A nod was his only reply.

"Wait," James said suddenly, turning back to Remus. "So why were you acting weird all week then? We all thought you were losing it over classes."

The pink tinge that had started to fade from Remus's cheeks came back in full force. "Oh... well, Dad had been writing to me saying that Mum wasn't feeling well and then that she was getting worse. I guess I was just really worried about her."

Sirius narrowed his eyes at the other boy. "I don't remember you getting any post this past week."

Remus blushed more furiously than ever but was spared from having to answer by the sound of whooshing feathers, a soft flump, and then coughing and sputtering noises from James.

They turned back to look at James and found his face dripping in porridge and a parcel sitting in his cereal bowl.

"YEAH, THANKS JARETH!" He yelled angrily at his retreating owl. He grabbed the robe of an onlooker who had laughed at him and used it to clean his face off before turning to the package.

James looked it over and found a small note in his father's print folded neatly under the bow of the string. He tore it off and read:

James,

I would prefer if you kept the content of this package

a secret limited to yourself (and maybe a few friends).

Your mother and I would feel more comfortable if we

knew that this was at your disposal during these dark

times. I pray that you never need this for its

intended purpose, though I suspect you will find

other uses for it. Stay safe and try not to get into

too much trouble.

Love Dad

Ps: A little mischief isn't that bad, but don't tell

your mother I said that.

James looked at Sirius, who had - naturally - been reading over his shoulder, his eyes wide with excitement. "If this is what I think it is..." He murmured, feeling the package thoroughly.

"What? What do you think it is?" Sirius asked, starting to get antsy over James's awed reaction.

"What did he mean by 'dark times,'" Remus inquired on James's other side.

"You know," Sirius began distractedly, taking the parcel from James and giving it a feel. "The nutter that killed all those people yesterday."

A pause, then, "What are you talking about?"

Both James and Sirius stopped in their preoccupation with James's present and stared at Remus in surprise.

"You mean you didn't hear? You didn't pick up a newspaper or turn on a radio once yesterday?"

Remus reddened. "Well, I was a little busy with other things..."

But the other two had already launched into a hurried explanation of what they had read the day before in the newspaper and everything else they heard about the incident.

"So, do you know what's in the package?" Remus said at the end of it, his eyes wide after receiving the news.

"Well," James replied slowly, his eyes running over the plain brown paper packaging. "I have a hunch. But if it is what I think it is I can understand why he would want me to keep it a bit of a secret." He licked his lips before saying, "Come on, lets go upstairs and open it."

The four of them abandoned their breakfasts (Remus not without taking another piece of toast from the stack) and tried not to rush too quickly to their dormitory.

When they arrived and were all inside with the door shut and locked, James ripped the paper apart feverishly, and out fell something silvery that seemed to pool on the ground.

"Yessssssssss," James breathed, taking it off the floor and holding it up for his friends to see.

An Invisibility Cloak.