Year 1971, 1st Year:
James Jabbers:
Quote of the Day: The probability of someone watching you is proportional to the stupidity of your action.
"What are they all looking at?" Sirius said loudly as he, Peter, Remus and I entered the Gryffindor common room on a Wednesday afternoon, to find a group of first year girls crowded around the notice board.
"It's a notice for flying lessons!" I pointed out excitedly as we moved closer to the notice board. I read the title of the notice impatiently, it read:
First Years Flying Lessons – Madam Jocunda Sykes
I was looking very much forward to our first flying lessons. Even though I already knew how to fly, I wanted so much to be up in the air again on a broomstick with the familiar thrill that only flying could bring. I scanned the notice and remarked that we had our flying lessons with the Slytherins.
Peter groaned. "We're going to be with the Slytherins!" he said agitatedly.
"So?" Sirius said, failing to see Peter's obvious source of frustration.
Sirius, I noticed, was not in the least bit worried by us having to do our flying lessons with the Slytherins, and nor was I - I already knew how to fly and not even the Slytherins could put a damper on the feeling that I was going to be flying again in just a matter of days. The thing that stood out about Sirius was that he was very loud, hilarious, and also impulsive. The first couple of days he hadn't been like this. It might have been related to the Howler he'd received from his mother, and the other Gryffindors being cold towards him, and then his mother and father visiting the school and demanding him being moved to Slytherin (he told me all about it, and let's just say that I am extremely glad my parents aren't like Sirius'). But after the first couple of days, he seemed to settle in and not care about what anyone thought of him and reveal his true self. Which, I found, could be very annoying sometimes – (he still is). But I was very happy just to be at Hogwarts, and that I had found some great friends, especially Sirius, so I didn't mind his tendency to be uh… annoying.
"So, that means that they'll try something or… something," Peter said to Sirius, whom just laughed.
"The Slytherins try something? On us?" Sirius said, as if the very idea of the Slytherins trying to do something to us amused him greatly, "Even if they tried, they wouldn't succeed," Sirius said quite sure of himself. It seemed that Sirius so far, didn't care one sickle about the Slytherins.
"What makes you so sure?" Remus asked.
"Well because I'd curse them if they did," Sirius replied nonchalantly.
Remus rolled his eyes but didn't reply.
"Look, I don't know what you two are so worried about," I said to Peter and Remus, "So what, we're with the Slytherins, who, so far, don't seem all that scary, especially Snivellus," I said and Sirius snickered at Severus Snape's nickname. Ever since the trip on the Hogwarts Express Snivellus seemed to have stuck, we couldn't stop calling him that, and nor did we want to, for that matter.
Of course Snape loathed his lovely nickname, but that didn't stop us calling him it either, in fact it actually gave us some encouragement. Ever since the Hogwarts Express trip, Snivellus had absolutely loathed Sirius, Peter, Remus and I. Not that Peter and Remus had anything to do with the whole incident, I think it's more of the fact that they started to hang around us that Snivellus hates them so much. Anyway, Snivellus had been trying to curse us every chance that he got, in the corridors, at lunch time, in the courtyard, he even tried in a Potions lesson once, which resulted in Sirius pouring the contents of his own cauldron over Snape's head, which of course, in turn, resulted in Sirius getting detention and ten points from Gryffindor. Yes, detentions were now becoming a regular pastime for Sirius and I, because of all Snape's attentions, and other factors, we were now receiving at least one detention every week, if not more.
"Yeah, there's nothing to worry about, remember the last time Snape tried to curse us?" Sirius asked with a silly grin on his face, "he smelt of dung for about a week! No one would go near him!" We all laughed, remembering the time when Snape unsuccessfully tried to curse us in the library and Sirius threw some of my dung bombs at him. It resulted in Snivelly, Sirius and I getting a month long ban from the library. Not that Sirius and I cared about being banned from the library.
7 7 7
The next two days went by quite slowly in my opinion, but that's always the case, isn't it? When you're looking forward to something or want time to go fast, then it crawls along at snails pace, but when you are dreading something, then it flies by as fast as it can. And at that time, it was about snails pace. All the first years were talking about was flying and Quidditch. It turned out that the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws had their first flying lesson together a day before us - which irritated me greatly.
Davey Gudgeon, a foolhardy first year Hufflepuff, claimed that he flew from Liverpool to London in under seven hours with no stops in between (which would be highly unlikely in my opinion, for one thing, you'd have a very sore behind at the end of it, and for another, Davey doesn't strike me as the type to be good with a broomstick, he's a bit of a klutz).
As for Peter, he couldn't fly at all, as his parents hadn't seen an urgent need to teach him how to fly, so he was very nervous about the whole thing, and having flying lessons with the Slytherins only made it worse for him. Remus had never flown either so it was a new experience for both of them (I think that his parents didn't let him fly, they were probably afraid of him having an accident. From what I've heard they're really protective of him). As for Sirius, his parents probably let him fly in hope of him falling off his broom, but apparently they haven't had much luck because Sirius could fly very well, as he'd been flying since he was five. And as for me, if you've been paying any attention, you'll have noticed that I can fly extremely well also. Flying is my greatest passion, actually.
But the story that had everyone excited about our upcoming flying lessons was that of Madam Sykes, or Jocunda Sykes, the flying instructor and Quidditch referee.
In fact, Sykes was something of a celebrity at Hogwarts, yes indeed; she was the first person to fly across the Atlantic Ocean on nothing but a broomstick- an Oakshaft 79 to be precise. And I was in awe of her; I admire anyone who can fly for that long without getting frostbite or simply falling off and getting eaten by a shark in the middle of the ocean. She is even on the chocolate frog cards because of it (I have a funny feeling that Dumbledore hired her because of this. He does hold chocolate frog cards in high regard). And I am proud to say that I have her chocolate frog card. A lot of people have been waving them around ever since they'd found out that she was the flying instructor at Hogwarts.
7 7 7
The afternoon of our flying lesson had finally arrived and Sirius, Remus, Peter and I were walking down to the Quidditch pitch, the girls of Gryffindor were walking behind us. The Gryffindors were mostly nervous and excited. I, for one, was excited. I couldn't wait to start flying again and I couldn't wait to meet Madam Sykes, whom I hadn't met yet.
It was a clear, slightly breezy day and the grass was swaying gently in the breeze. I noticed that the tall trees of the Forbidden Forest were swaying slightly in the breeze opposite the pitch.
Peter was very nervous, and Remus seemed a little paler than usual. I don't understand why they were so nervous, it's only flying for Merlin's sake! I mean, it's not that hard.
"Ugh, the Slytherins are already there," Peter said nervously.
"For Merlin's sake Peter, a couple of Slytherins are nothing to be afraid of!" Sirius said, getting impatient with him, "If they've any sense they should be the ones afraid of me," he grinned. I laughed.
When we arrived at the Quidditch Pitch we saw that Madam Sykes had laid out the school broomsticks in a line already.
"Nice to see some Gryffindors join us," Madam Sykes said as Sirius, Remus, Peter and I walked onto the pitch, followed by the girls.
"Good afternoon Madam Sykes," I said excitedly as I looked up at Madam Sykes.
"Afternoon boys," Madam Sykes said, "Right, now that everyone's here stand by a broomstick," Sykes ordered. We all walked over to a broomstick and stood beside it.
I looked over at the Slytherins and noticed Snivellus looking at me with a look of purest loathing, he was standing next to two Slytherin boys, one was Thane Mayson whom was very scrawny and had a permanent clueless look on his face, the other, Simon Biddick was the complete opposite of Mayson, he was very chubby and looked like he thought he was King of Britain. I grinned at Sirius, whom noticed that Snivellus was glaring at us, and we waved at Snape, who then proceeded to look away. Just today Snape had tried to curse us on our way to Potions, but a teacher caught him before he could do anything.
"Right," Madam Sykes said as she paced back and forth, "I'm sure you'll all know by now that I am the same Jocunda Sykes that flew across the Atlantic Ocean," she stopped pacing and waited for a reaction, we all nodded enthusiastically, "Good. I won't expect you to be as experienced as I am when it comes to flying, but I want you all to have a try. Am I clear?" Madam Sykes asked.
We all nodded again. I heard a distinct gulp from Peter. I looked over at Remus who was standing on the other side of me; he still seemed pale though his nervousness was not visible.
"Alright then. On the count of three say 'Up!' to your broomstick and it should fly into your hand… 1…2…3…"
"Up!" I said to the broomstick lying on the ground beside me, instantly the broom in front of me jumped into my hand. I looked around and noticed that Sirius' had as well, but ours were one of the few that did. Peter's didn't move, and Remus' did a wobbly sort of back flip thing. I was also pleased to note that Snivellus' didn't move an inch.
"Very good Potter! Black!" Madam Sykes said as she noticed our broomsticks in our hands. "Well?" Sykes said, looking at the rest of the class, "Say 'Up' again until you get it right!" she barked. Everyone then proceeded to say 'Up'.
I looked over at Snape whom was yelling 'Up' in an angry voice at his broomstick. I nudged Sirius and we started laughing. Snivellus noticed us laughing and yelled 'Up' even louder, hoping this time to get a result. But the outcome was (to our delight) not what he had expected, the broomstick indeed did move, but it sort of did a back flip over him and whacked him upside the back of the head. Sirius and I burst out laughing even louder.
"Are you sure you can control that broomstick Snivellus?" Sirius said loudly.
Snape instantly pulled his wand out of his pocket and yelled a curse, his wand aimed at Sirius (I'm really starting to think that Snape has an obsessive compulsive disorder concerning curses). A light shot out of his wand, but Sirius ducked just in time and the curse hit the redheaded girl behind him, Lily Evans. Suddenly leeks started to sprout out of her ears, and she screamed in agony.
"Stop it this instant!" Madam Sykes barked angrily at Snape. Snivellus seemed to obey her and he dropped his arm to his side, though he was staring at us with a vicious glare. The Slytherins were now laughing loudly at Lily Evans.
"Quiet! All of you! Twenty points from Slytherin for attacking a fellow classmate! Please take Miss Evans up to the Hospital Wing," Sykes said to Alexandra, the brown haired girl standing next to Lily. They started walking back up to the castle, "Mr. Snape, detention with me tomorrow night - I am appalled at your behavior," Snivellus let out a shout of indignation at this.
"Madam Sykes! It was Potter and Black's fault! They were taunting me!" Snape said in a rage.
"I don't want to hear excuses Mr. Snape. Now everyone try and get their broomsticks up for Merlin's sake," Madam Sykes ordered.
After waiting for another five minutes for people to get their broomsticks off the ground everyone finally had their broomsticks in their hand, everyone that is, except for Peter. Peter's broomstick simply refused to budge from its position on the ground; it didn't even twitch an inch when Peter said 'Up' in a loud voice to it. At first it was funny, but by then it was just getting annoying.
"Madam Sykes, can I fly my broom now? We could all fly while you teach Peter how to mount his," I asked Madam Sykes impatiently.
"Sorry Mr. Potter, but I have to supervise you while flying and I can't do that if I'm teaching just one student,"
"But Sirius and I already know how to fly, can't you just let us have a quick go Madam?"
"Sorry, but the answer is no Mr. Potter, now if you'd stop badgering me then I can help Mr. Pettigrew and the sooner I help Mr. Pettigrew the sooner you will get to fly," Madam Sykes replied.
I grumbled. I wanted to fly, not stand around holding a broomstick all day.
Madam Sykes went back to instructing Peter, who still hadn't managed to mount his broomstick, I could tell that Madam Sykes was getting impatient, "Mr. Pettigrew, if I can fly all the way across the Atlantic with nothing but my own broomstick then surely you can mount yours! Now try again!" Madam Sykes ordered.
We all looked at Peter and his unfaithful broomstick in anticipation. "UP!" Peter said desperately, I thought for sure that this time the broomstick would finally jump into Peter's hand, but alas, it did not. It moved, yes, it definitely moved, I saw definite movement, but all it did was roll over. The class groaned with growing impatience.
Either Peter's broomstick was a very very disobedient broomstick, or Peter was just a very very hopeless flyer. I think the latter is the more probable. But then again, the school broomsticks weren't that flash. But if most of the class could get theirs into their hands then I didn't see why Peter couldn't get the broom to obey him. I mean, it wasn't that hard.
Madam Sykes sighed dramatically and murmured something about the Atlantic Ocean.
"I'm sorry Madam Sykes," Peter squeaked, "The broom won't obey me! I've tried, but it just won't! I don't think I want to fly Madam! I can't fly!" Peter said exasperatedly, I heard the Slytherins sniggering.
"For Merlin's sake Mr. Pettigrew! You will fly! I didn't fly all the way across the Atlantic just to see people like you give up after a couple of tries!" Madam Sykes said, "Now for goodness sake boy, just pick up the broom and sit on it!"
Peter picked the broom up off the ground and mounted it.
"Right, now that you've all mounted your broomsticks, when I blow my whistle you kick off from the ground, rise a few feet, then come back down by leaning forward slightly, and remember to keep your broom steady! 1…2…3…!" Madam Sykes blew her whistle and at long last I rose up in the air on my broomstick. I saw everyone else rise up in the air at the sound of Madam Sykes whistle. Although I noticed that one student, Peter, was still on the ground. He looked extremely scared and nervous and had his feet firmly planted on the ground. I looked over at the Slytherins and noticed that Snivellus' broomstick was wobbling uncontrollably.
"Come back down!" Madam Sykes called to the class. I groaned.
"I was just getting started!" I yelled to Sirius.
"Me too!" he replied, "And no need to yell James! I'm right beside you, you idiot!"
"Oh, right, sorry."
We both leant forwards and came to a smooth landing on the ground. Remus was on the other side of me and he leant forward too fast and landed on the ground with a thump.
"Ow," he said. I chuckled.
"All right there Remus?" Sirius asked, as he walked over to Remus and grinned down at him, offering him his hand.
"Yeah, just leant forward too much, that's all," Remus replied taking Sirius' hand and standing up. I noticed that Remus hadn't been the only one to fall off his broomstick upon landing, as I now saw people pulling themselves up off the ground, one of whom was Snivellus. It seemed that Snivellus was pretty hopeless with a broomstick, although not as hopeless as Peter, who still hadn't flown; his feet were firmly planted on the ground.
"Mr. Pettigrew, please fly up in the air, come back down, and then you can go back to the castle, that's all I'm asking," Madam Sykes said impatiently to Peter.
"But Madam Sykes, I can't do it, I can't, it's too hard, I've never flown before, I'll fall off. I can't do it. I can't. I can't."
"There's no such thing as 'can't' Mr. Pettigrew! Now try and fly!"
"But I can't," Peter groaned. By now the whole class had put down their broomsticks and were looking at Peter.
"You can, and you will! Now give it a try! Nothing will happen to you!" Madam Sykes insisted.
"I'll fall of! I can't! I'm no good at these things!""You aren't good because you've never tried, now try and we can all go back to the castle once you've finished."
Peter gulped. He seemed to be considering it. Then – "No, I can't do it Madam Sykes, I'm sorry, but I just can't."
Madam Sykes sighed in exasperation. "I've never met such an incompetent boy. All I'm asking is that you rise a few feet up in the air and then come back down, nothing too hard, just try it, go on," Madam Sykes insisted.
Peter didn't reply, however, he had his eyes shut tightly, his pale face shining with sweat, suddenly he kicked his feet hard off the ground and his broom started to rise. I whooped loudly, as did Sirius and Remus.
"On you Pete!" I yelled for support.
"See! I told you you could do it!" Madam Sykes yelled to Peter. Peter kept on rising, his eyes still tightly shut. "Now open your eyes boy, otherwise you'll run into something," Madam Sykes said.
Peter kept his eyes clamped shut, his broomstick was rising still.
"Come back down now," Madam Sykes yelled to Peter. But Peter, it seemed, could not get his broomstick to come down.
"Lean forward!" I yelled to Peter. Peter, being Peter, in a nervous fit, leant backwards. Suddenly Peter started to rise sharply, he screamed. Madam Sykes slapped her forehead in exasperation.
"Forward boy! Forwards! Not backwards!"
But Peter either did not hear her, or it didn't register because his broomstick was still rising swiftly and sharply, almost at a 90° angle. Peter was screaming.
"Lean forwards!"
Peter was rising forty feet – fifty feet – and even higher still, he was higher than the trees in the forbidden forest.
"LEAN FORWARDS!"
Peter finally leant forwards, and suddenly his broomstick came plummeting downwards. Straight in the direction of the forbidden forest.
"Uh oh," Remus said.
"Merlin's balls!" Sirius yelled, watching Peter plummet towards the trees in the forbidden forest, "He's going to run into a tree!" Sirius yelled, stating the obvious. Peter was getting closer and closer to the trees.
Suddenly there was a loud THUNK and all the roosting birds in the nearby trees screeched and flew off. Peter had flown straight into a tree. A loud groan came in the direction of the forest, and we all set off at a run towards the spot where Peter fell.
7 7 7
"You should have seen yourself! You looked like you were about to wet your pants or something!" That was Sirius.
It was after dinner, and Sirius, Peter, Remus and I were sitting up in our dormitory discussing the events of the day. We were all sitting on Peter's bed; Peter was laying in it, whining.
Luckily, Peter's injuries were only minor, he had only received a couple of grazes and bruises, oh, and a sprained ankle, nothing too serious, nothing was broken, but that didn't stop him from complaining about it. I've had much worse injuries.
Peter had seen Madam Pomfrey but after being patched up, and after some serious badgering on our part, Madam Pomfrey (who seemed to think a sprained ankle was nothing short of death) allowed Peter to go back to the common room, only after he had eaten some chocolate (which he accepted with pleasure), and promised to see her the next day.
Madam Sykes seemed to think a sprained ankle was nothing to be worried of, (as she had acquired many in her time, and seemed to think a sprained ankle was about as painless as a mosquito bite) and even suggested that if Peter got back on the broomstick again, she was sure that this time he would succeed. Peter, of course, was horrified at the very thought of this notion.
"Well you would have too, if you had seen trees coming at you 60 miles an hour," Peter replied.
"Peter if you lean backwards it means that you'll go faster and higher, try to remember that for next time," Sirius said grinning at the wounded Peter.
"Yeah, and forwards means that you'll come back down, not the other way round," I said.
"Perhaps we should embed it permanently on your forehead, forwards equals downwards and slower, and backwards equals faster and higher," Sirius teased.
We all laughed.
"Madam Sykes didn't seem to care much though, did she?" Remus said thoughtfully.
"She's crazy," Peter said, "Seriously, I don't think she would have cared if I had been dead, as long as I had a try at flying the bloody broomstick." We all laughed again.
"I thought she was cool," I said.
"You would James. She's just as mental about flying as you are," Remus said with a hearty grin. I pounced on top of Remus and wrestled him. Sirius then proceeded to jump on top of me, and Peter proceeded to yelp.
"That's my sore ankle! Ow! Get off my ankle! Ow! It hurts!"
We hastily went back to our sitting positions around the wounded.
"Right, sorry about that mate," I said to Peter, whom was pouting."Yeah, sorry," Remus said, "although it was James who started it," he grinned.
"I'm sorry too mate," Sirius chuckled to Peter.
"You are not," Peter said.
"Dang it, you got me there Pete. I'm not really that sorry, actually, I thought it was quite amusing," Sirius said.
"No one will ever get sympathy from you, will they Sirius?" Remus said.
"Hum. No, probably not," Sirius replied happily.
And so ended another night in our delightful dormitory.
7 7 7
Author's Notes: Well seeing as you're all nagging me for a new chapter I decided to update quicker than I would usually. Now no more nagging! Hehe. No, I don't mind, you can nag if you want, as long as you say nice things! Though I don't know when the next chapter will be out, but don't expect it too soon! Oh yes, and I changed my pen name if you're wondering, I needed a change, but it's not permanent, I couldn't find one that isn't already taken! I need a penname! Thanks all for the reviews, love ya's all!
Padfoot's Mate: Aw, thanks very much! Here, have a cookie! hands you a cookie I'm glad you loved every bit! Hope you liked this chapter!
Lavender-4-Seamus: Thanks very much! I'm glad you love it, sorry about the slow updates! Heh. I just have been busy. Thanks for the compliment, I haven't written a novel before, but I would like to one day, I think it would be cool. Thanks very very much again!
Anarane: Glad you liked the chapter! It's a change to see Remus' and Peter's friendship I think, yes he was defensive of Peter, though one of the reasons why he actually spoke up about it was because he was still narky (hehe) from the full moon.
Rondawg: Thanks. Yeah, Remus was PMSing a bit, huh? He just had a rough night and the moon's made him a bit uh, moody. Poor Remus.
Gevaudan: Glad you liked the chapter. Yes, they should have explained about things better, oh well, at least the people that had read the books knew what was going on.
Emmacrazy: Thank you! I'm glad you like it!
RayeCaouette: Thankies! I don't really know who I see as Sirius or Remus, but not Thewlis & Oldman, I don't really see Eric Bana as Sirius though. Thanks again!
Goldilocks31890: Lol, dung-fart. Hmm. Glad you liked the chapter though, Peter really doesn't narrate that much though, Sirius on the other hand never stops narrating! I can't help writing things from Sirius' POV b/c it's fun!
Mydream: Thank you! Glad you both like it!
This Parrot has ceased to be: (I still love your name btw!) Yes, it would have been good if you hadn't read the books & weren't a fan, but they should have explained things, b/c people who hadn't read the books won't know. I didn't even notice the guy reading Brief history of time, hmm. Well you should keep writing your Peter story, Peter's not written about so much in ff. Thanks for reviewing!
Janet-Lily: Glad you liked the chapter. I will try to write more, but updating more frequently? I dunno about that! Heh.
Jbanana: I agree, I hate how movies ruin your image of a certain character (Legolas, is an exception of course! And Aragorn). I hate having to explain things to people who haven't read the book, that's why I seen the movie with someone who's read the books.
Koriaena: I hope you have seen PoA by now, I hope I didn't ruin it for you! Glad you like the story!
Erica: Yeah, the movie was def. too choppy, I hope the 4th movie will be good, though it will never equal the book IMO. Glad you like the story!
Hi I'm Crazy: Glad you liked the chapter, its hard to find things for Peter to say though, b/c usually when I write a line it's more suited to MPP. Anyway, lol, I was thinking "what the hell?" when the werewolf came on. I've been used to the first 2 movies grounds that's why I was like 'what?' they should have had the grounds like in the 3rd movie in the first two & it would have been better. I wish the shrieking shack scene were a lot longer, it left A LOT out! Anyway, you already know my thoughts! Thanks for the review.
MutantJediBauer: Well thank you! Well I never would have thought of any of them for Remus or Sirius, (actors) I didn't even know who Oldman & Thewlis were until HP, well I'd seen them in other movies (Dragonheart, 5th element) but never knew their names etc. My 2nd fave is prob. OotP as well, except for the end of course. Hehe, bald monkey with fangs- that sounds about right!
Padfoot-911: That's okay! Glad to see you're still reading & reviewing! Glad you agree with me! It's always hard to write from Peter's POV, because I'm like hmm, so what would he write now? What would he be thinking? And it's hard because it's hard to find stuff to write about (his thoughts etc) concerning Peter.
Mars explorer: Glad you agree with me! Yeah, that was strange how Hagrid's hut was in a dif. place, just weird, and what was the go with that long bridge thing? I'm glad you love the story! Keep reading!