Chapter 111: Nearing Graduation
It was nearly three in the morning and the Marauders were still up in their dormitory doing their last minute studying. They had been good with Charms and the necessary wand work, but not the type being taught in school.
"Jeez.. Why would anyone need a Cheering Charm?? Can't they just test us or Irritation Charm or something??" James complained. He wanted to cast it on Sirius but decided it was a bad idea. Sirius did not need a Cheering Charm to be cheery.
"Less than twenty-four hours to go and we'll be like free birds." Sirius was bouncing in joy despite that they were supposed to be cramming their last bit of textbooks.
"That's because we had practiced the charms needed for our pranks, memorizing them as we played, not those unnecessary charms Flitwick taught. Other than Alahomora!! Sheesh!! It's Alohomora!!" Remus shook his head, muttering to himself. Charms had never been the Marauders' best subject. They were so used to reading incantations off the parchments and not in the memory of their heads
"Accio." Peter tried to summon his quill over from the table, preparing himself for the practical from the most basic Charms. "Lumos." A blue flame shot out from his wand tip. "Phew."
"What's the incantation for Protean Charm??" Sirius asked suddenly. The other three guys shot him a puzzled look and confirmed that they must had missed out something and immediately browsed through their big Charms textbook.
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Their final exam, Charms, was about to take place today. Most students, at least those who were rather okay with Charms, were in a much happier mood they had in the last month. The girls were already down for breakfast bright and early, all prepared for their Charms theory paper and practical.
"Thankfully the last paper isn't Potions or something." Lily said happily.
"Luckily it's all our strong subject." Stefanie added.
"Don't be too overconfident though." Joey was keeping their little ego at check still. "You never know until it's over."
"But I think it's another thing for the guys." Samantha was eyeing something, or more likely some people, entering the Great Hall for breakfast. The other girls turned around to see the Marauders, probably for first time in seven years, were carrying parchments, notes, and textbooks into the Great Hall for breakfast. That obviously earned many curious stares.
"Morning guys." The girls greeted as the Marauders nearly walked past them like zombies.
"What happened??" Lily asked in shock. The guys looked like they were seriously lack of sleep.
"We traveled back time to do some additional revision for two hours." James said, not sounding anywhere remotely awake.
"Via the time-turner, of course." Remus added quickly the moment Samantha and Joey shot them a blur look. They had brought Peter along who was too worried to question about Remus' supernatural ability. James had decided to ease his memory the moment they finished their Charms paper.
"Isn't this the stack of notes I gave you last week??" Stefanie asked Remus, flipping through the two-feet-high parchment on the table.
"I'm counting on it for my last-minute revision." Remus told her. James and Sirius had asked so many questions regarding Charms that I never remembered hearing in my last seven years.
"Like what??" Lily asked in amusement.
"Did we ever learn the Anti-Gravity Charm??" James asked.
"Yeah. Last year." Lily replied.
"Then what's the difference between the Charm and the Potion??" Sirius asked.
"The Potion was created before the Charm. Potion was meant for people and living creatures. The Charm is more for non-living objects. And it lasts longer than the Potion. Besides it's difficult to use the Charm on too many people or objects at the same time." Stefanie told the guys.
"Jeez. Which part was it in the textbook??" Sirius flipped though his Charms textbook.
"There." Stefanie turned to somewhere in near the back of the book and flipped several pages forward.
"Trust us to spend half an hour hunting for the answer and gave up in the end." Remus was sort of laughing at the guys' action the night before.
"It's time for the N.E.W.T. Theory of Charms Paper." Professor McGonagall announced from the front of the Hall. The students automatically left the Great Hall, though some seventh-years got out rather unwillingly.
"Sheesh!! That was so fast." Sirius was muttering to himself, flipping through parts of his text hoping to remember some important looking details as he reached out for another slice of toast. Peter was muttering already, pausing once in awhile to look at his textbook while he munched the last bit of his toast.
"Forget it." James folded his notes into half and shoved it into his book bag. "Just do what I know."
"That's the style I like about you." Lily gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek. "Good luck."
"Aren't I always lucky??" James grinned.
The doors for the Great Hall re-opened and the seventh-years re-entered the hall and went for the respective seats according to their houses. With the usual pre-examination speech and procedure, the paper commenced and silence filled the hall for the next two hours.
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The seventh-years from all four houses finished their lunch and then they trooped off into the small chamber beside the Great Hall, where they were to wait until called forwards in their alphabetical order. Those left behind muttered incantations and practiced wand movements, occasionally poking each other in the back or face by mistake.
Sirius and Stefanie's names were called first along with some other seventh-years from other houses.
"Good luck!!" The group of Gryffindor told the first two who left the chamber. Students who had already been tested did not return afterwards, for obvious reasons, so the rest had no idea how the twins had done.
Ten minutes later, Professor called Lily, along with three other students from other houses who surnames started with 'E' and 'F'.
"See ya later." Lily gave James' hand a squeeze and left the room with the usual 'good luck' wishes.
Joey went in ten minutes after Lily, looking slightly nervous about meeting the examiner. Remus was called twenty minutes after Joey.
"That was fast." Remus muttered inaudibly. The Gryffindors who heard him laughed a little and he disappeared off the room.
"Why are we always after them??" Samantha commented. She was fully prepared for her practical.
"We're awfully glad that we're given the privilege to do some extra practicing, ya know." James joked. The three stopped their conversation as he and Peter continued practicing some last minute wand movements, occasionally asking Samantha for advice and answers. Samantha was going through what she had studied through her mind and not concentrating on what was happening around her.
After what felt like ages, Professor Flitwick finally emerged.
"Pettigrew, Peter – Phillips, Samantha – Potter, James and -" Professor Flitwick listed the three names from Gryffindor and one from another house.
"Finally." James muttered. The four were one of the last few to leave the chamber towards the Great Hall. Professor Flitwick pointed James towards what looked like the very oldest and baldest examiner who was sitting behind a small table in a far corner.
The Professor consulting his notes and peering over his pince-nez at James after he had managed to answer every single question he had asked.
"That's all, you may go now." The examiner said.
"Thank you and good day." James said in triumph as he practically marched out of the exam hall. Finally!! It went better than I thought.
"How did it go??" Lily, who was sitting along with the rest of the Gryffindors, went up towards him the moment he walked out of the Great Hall.
"Great." James was in high spirits. "How's yours??" He looked around his group of friends before he laid his eyes on Peter. Better erase Wormtail's memory now. He muttered 'obliviate' with his finger pointing at Peter, who gave a jerk and puzzled look before regaining his composition when Sirius started shoving him forward in excitement.
"Quite alright though." Lily smiled. "Aren't you glad the N.E.W.T.s are finally over??"
"This worth quite a celebration." Sirius was euphoric. "Let's throw a party in the common room."
"The rest of the students are in the midst of their studying in case you've forgotten our N.E.W.T.s happened to be few weeks ahead of theirs." Stefanie reminded.
"Who cares?? Let's get the whole Gryffindor into the celebration mood." Sirius suggested.
"I'm with Sirius for this." James gave his best friend a pat on his back.
"Guys are just guys. Well, since it's gonna be that happening, no way are we going to miss that." Stefanie smiled at the three other girls.
"Sounds great. If the Ravenclaws aren't having anything particular, I'll be there." Samantha told them.
"Cool, it's about time to start the preparation." James initiated. The group headed towards the kitchens to get some foodstuffs for their mini party in the common room.
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"Chhheeeeerrrs!!" The seventh-years raised their goblets into mid-air and shouted. They had decided to skip dinner in the Great Hall with the rest of the students and carried all the food and beverages up to the Gryffindor common room. Scooby had even offered an extra delivery service if they ever needed more food and they were immensely grateful for his kind gesture.
"Butterbeers from the Three Broomsticks rules a great time." Sirius said. The group gulped down their small goblet of Butterbeers before starting to feast on their dinner, which consisted of nearly everything.
"Wings??" James took a honey-grazed barbequed chicken wing and asked Lily.
"Sure." She smiled gratefully and took the wing.
"There you go." Remus and Stefanie were sharing one chicken wing; with Stefanie biting off bits and pieces so she would not 'dirty her dainty hands' as the way Remus described it.
"Awww.." Samantha said, hinting to Yann. Samantha's boyfriend from Ravenclaw had been invited to join them at their celebration since the Ravenclaws were not having any special post-exam-cum-pre-graduation party.
"Well, there you go." Yann joked and fed Samantha his chicken wings. "See what kind of examples you guys had been feeding her with." Samantha gave a little pout but ended up laughing over it in the end.
"It must be the girls' thing." James said almost immediately, and at the same time ducking from Lily's attempt of bones throwing. The group just laughed at the couple strange sense of humor.
"Play all you want but spare the food." Sirius reminded the duo. "For your information, I still wanna eat a proper dinner."
"Since when does anyone ever bother if Sirius eat a proper dinner??" Peter joked. The rest laughed at Sirius' wild attempt gave the saddest puppy look ever.
"Let's not water our dinner with too much saliva." James said, as he scooped some beef lasagna onto his plate. The rest helped themselves to the scrumptious meal of large variety of various cuisine.
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"Stef, are you sure you wanna be with me??" Remus asked Stefanie. The two were walking hand-in-hand in the evening by the Hogwart's lake. Giant's tentacles could be seen from afar, the sun was nearly setting and a dull looking half-moon was up in the sky.
"Definitely. I don't want to be with anyone else besides you. After so many years, you still have doubts??" Stefanie said in such a sincere tone that Remus would never have any uncertainties.
"But remember what Belle said ages ago, about us not being able together??" Remus reminded her.
"I know. That's why the more we should be together now. Who knows what's the future holds for us."
"But as a – you know, werewolf – I can't possibly get any decent job, how am I supposed to take care of you??"
"You know that the fact you're a werewolf never bothered me at all?? Moreover you got bitten because of me." Stefanie looked at him in the same grateful manner as she had always given everytime they talked about that topic.
"I don't know. Perhaps sometimes I just felt so inadequate." Remus looked down on the ground.
"Don't be. We might not have a lot of time to be together, so the more we should cherish the hours we're together." Stefanie leaned against Remus' muscular chest and closed her eyes.
"I always cherish the times we spend together. I promise no matter what happened, I'll never forget you."
"That's good enough." Stefanie whispered in contentment.
"So what career path are you going to take after we graduate??" Remus asked. They had seldom talked about the future because it always felt so far and unpredictable.
"What about you??" Stefanie replied with a question.
"As much as I wanted to be an Auror, I know that's not possible, given my condition. The Ministry would never allow me." Remus thought for a moment. "The alternative is to become a teacher in Hogwarts. Dumbledore had accepted me for who I am."
"I prefer the second option. If you really teach here, I'll stay here with you and do the same."
"Perhaps we can ask Dumbledore about it." Remus considered. "I won't put my hopes high especially since there are no vacancies for teachers at this moment."
"Whatever the path you choose, I'll follow as far as my feet take me to." Stefanie promised. An understanding silence filled the air as they stood in front of the now darkened lake, both deep in their own thoughts.
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"I think it's nearly ready." James commented, peering into the boiling cauldron. The Marauders had spent about a week brewing several different concoctions, storing them in large vials. They had visited the library doing some research on some strange topics. To start off, no one would visit the library after his or her exams, least expecting the Marauders. Madam Pince had been surprised to catch them doing some serious reading on a weekday afternoon when half the Hogwarts seventh-years were away at Hogsmeade having the time of their lives.
"Okay, these are the incantations for the Charms we need." Remus unrolled a long parchment, which looked at least ten-feet long. "I've arranged them to be said in this order, one after another."
"So we leave the Charm work to you." James said earnestly. "You're the brains of these works."
"Okay, we've got all the potions we need." Peter was jotting down notes and instructions from books and parchments.
"These are made from the world's finest quality and materials." James was unwrapping a large frame that was even larger than all four guys. They had bought all the raw materials from various shops in Hogsmeade having them delivered straight to their dormitory without passing the Great Hall owl mail. And after that, they spent half a day constructing and putting everything together.
"Cool."
"Very exquisite." Remus touched the gold frame with unique engravings on it.
"The paper and paints and brushes are of the highest quality wizards ever know." James had purchased the equipments since he knew where to find them.
"Let's get started." Sirius said excitedly. "I can't wait to see the end-product."
"The set is ready." Peter was shifting the furniture away magically, leaving a part of their dormitory wall emptied. "You can take your position now."
"We need to mix the potions and say the incantations on these stuffs first." Remus was telling them. He used his wand and muttered many complicated charms and mixed many different concoctions. Obviously Remus knew what he was doing.
"How is it going??" Sirius asked curiously.
"Padfoot, give Moony some peace. When he's ready, he will say." James stood in front of the mirror combing along side by side with Sirius.
"All these trouble for just one hour." Sirius muttered as he styled his hair and straightened all the creases on his Hogwarts robes.
"Aha. Nice and shiny." James muttered a charm to polish his Head Boy badge until it nearly glistened in the sunlight that shown from the window.
"Wormtail, are you done??" Sirius poked his head into their shared bathroom to see if Peter was ready. He was applying some pimple concealer and spraying some hairspray on his hair to keep it in place.
"Prongs, don't even attempt to borrow that." Sirius pointed at Peter's hairspray. The last time James had tried on any form of hair styling product, be it magical or muggle, the results were disastrous. The only thing he could use on his hair without looking too absurd was simple hair gel.
"It's ready." Remus looked up finally after fifteen minutes of mixing and chanting. "Woah!! You guys prepared without me." He quickly got to the front of the mirror and combed his already neat hair and straightened his clean and ironed Hogwarts uniform.
"I think we look good." Sirius commented. The four guys stood in front of the half-length mirror in the bathroom, looking at themselves.
"The most gorgeous young men I ever seen in my life as a mirror." The half-length mirror said.
"Thanks, mirror." The guys replied, with a last look at their perfect appearance, they headed towards the position and posed. Remus said the incantation and immediately the action started.