Chapter Seven: A Shark and a Snake
The rich, multicolored trees gave James an air of contentment as he and the other three walked down to the Quidditch Pitch the next morning.
Madam Hooch surveyed the four as they entered the stadium, "I expect both feet to be on the ground at all times, Mr. Potter."
"Of course, Madam Hooch," James grinned.
It was no secret that he was the best flyer in Flying Lessons. He performed stunts that would've made professional players' heads spin. Yet, he was only a first year, and was forbidden from the Quidditch Team.
The four marched up into the bleachers. James and Sirius were holding a giant banner with the Gryffindor crest on it. Peter's arms were filled with candy and other snack foods. Lupin was holding a heavy book.
"I'm not very fond of Quidditch," he explained, seeing James and Sirius's horrified looks. Yet that only seemed to make them even more astonished.
"Well, quite frankly, it's hard to understand," Lupin pressed on.
James was aghast, "It's easy to understand! There's seven players: A Seeker, Three Chasers, Two Beaters, and A Keeper. The Seeker captures the snitch. The Chasers chase the Quaffle and try to place it through the goalposts which are blocked by the opposing Keeper."
Lupin looked like he had a headache. Just as James started talking about the 317 different ways to score, the players raced out onto the field.
"Welcome to another year of Quidditch," Professor McGonagall's crisp voice filled the stadium, "This match features Gryffindor against Slytherin. Potter, Black, sit down at once!"
Sirius and James had starting booing, and were using slingshots to launch things at the Slytherin's end. Grinning, they sat back down.
"Right then. Black narrowly avoids a Bludger…"
"Black?" James questioned.
Sirius pointed to the Slytherin Seeker, "My cousin, Andromeda."
"You have another cousin?" Peter groaned.
Sirius grimaced, "Eh, she's alright. She doesn't resent my existence, like the other three. She's actually one of the only good ones left in the Black family."
"She's a good flier," Lupin noted.
"Too good," James growled, "Come on, Tonks!" he yelled, at the Gryffindor Seeker: Ted Tonks.
"Gryffindor takes possession of the Quaffle. Slytherin steals it."
"Dirty rotten thieves!" Sirius roared.
James laughed, but his joyfulness didn't last long.
With a horrible crunch, a bludger went barreling into Tonks. The Seeker fell of his broom, falling rapidly.
Sirius yelled out, Lupin dropped his book, and Peter covered his eyes.
James, however, jumped up, whipped out his wand, and roared, "Spongify!"
The ground where he was pointing at softened. For this reason, when Tonks hit it, he bounced several feet into the air, before landing, unharmed.
Madam Hooch was besides herself.
"Foul!" she shrieked, flying over to James.
"Foul?" Sirius roared back, "He's not even on the team!"
"The use of a wand is strictly forbidden in a Quidditch match!"
"Come off it, miss," James roared back, "I was saving the bloke's life."
Madam Hooch seemed to consider this for a moment. Finally, she said, "You're lucky I'm letting you off: the game is not disqualified. However, you four will need to leave, immediately."
"You're mad," James cried. When Madam Hooch's eyes narrowed, James put up his hands, "Fine, we'll leave. Far be it from us to save a guy's life."
The four stomped away. Before they could leave the stadium, however, James's eyes lit up. He whispered something to Sirius, who grinned.
"What're you up to?" Lupin whispered.
"Let's just stay here, and hide in the trench. We'll need binoculars, but we'll still be able to follow the game."
"No!" Lupin hissed, "Madam Hooch said…"
"She won't see us," James assured him.
"You've been in enough trouble this week," Lupin warned, "Let's just go."
"You go," James insisted, "I'm staying here to watch the end of the match."
"As am I," Sirius grinned, "Besides, Lupin, what'll you say when somebody else falls and we aren't there to save them?"
"You'll have to go to their funeral and make a speech," James tried to hide a smile, "Stand up on the podium and say how it's your fault that 'Mommy's little boy' is dead. If only you had let James and Sirius stay at the match. They could've used their clever wit to save the poor boy."
"I get it," Lupin snapped.
James and Sirius both gave him pleading looks.
"Oh very well. After all, you'll just end up ignoring me, anyway," Lupin sighed, "Peter and I can go to the library and finish our Potion's essays."
"Brilliant, you can finish ours too!" Sirius said, happily.
"I most certainly will not!"
Sirius sighed, "Fine. If you can live with the idea of ruining my educational career. You'll have to stand at my graduation and say that…"
He yelped in pain as Lupin punched him, "Testy, much?"
Lupin rolled his eyes and he and Peter left. James and Sirius slipped down into the trench between the stands and the field. Carefully balancing on one of the beams, James took out his binoculars. They were magically equipped, courtesy of the Auror Office, and could focus onto anything up to a mile away.
James handed a second pair to Sirius. The two watched the game, clamping their hands over their mouths to keep from shouting out. The match was getting ugly, fast.
"James, look at the Quaffle!" Sirius cried, sharply.
James zoomed in. One of the Gryffindor Chasers had gotten hold of the red ball. She zoomed towards the goalpost and threw it. It suddenly swerved, dropping back down into the hands of a Slytherin Chaser.
"I think that the Quaffle's been tampered with."
No sooner had he said that, then there was a chorus of gasps and boos.
James grabbed his binoculars and zoomed in. Another Bludger had wiped out the front of the Gryffindor Keeper's broom.
"That Bludger was on the other side of the pitch; there weren't any Beaters near it," James said, "Someone's hexing the balls."
He scanned the pitch. Finally, he zoomed towards the trench opposite them. A figure was crouching on one of the beams. The person was using their wand to control the balls. James focused rapidly.
"Snape!" he roared.
Several things happened at once. Upon hearing James's outburst, Snape smirked and slashed his arm. The movement caused a Bludger above to zoom towards the stands. It barreled into the beam, missing them by centimeters.
The two yelled out, jumping onto nearby beams to keep from falling. By then, the entire pitch had seen them. Madam Hooch was flying towards them, angrily.
Snape sent the Bludger at them again. It hit Sirius's beam. He fell forward, onto the field, landing on his bad arm. Gasping with pain, he didn't see the Bludger rise high into the air, ready to come at him again.
There was a streak of green as Andromeda rushed in between Sirius and the Bludger, taking the blow. A horrible crunch filled the stadium. Unconscious, she fell off of her broom, sending it spiraling to the ground. Ted Tonks zoomed forward and caught her.
"Andromeda!" Sirius roared, horrified. His shout was drowned out by a loud screeching noise. With half of it's support beams broken, the viewing tower above them was beginning to collapse. Students screamed, holding on for dear life. James grabbed Sirius, pulling him out of the way just as the tower came tumbling down.
In the midst of the confusion, Snape had managed to grab a spare broom. As the dust cleared, James saw him zoom away. Before Madam Hooch could say anything, he had grabbed Andromeda's room, jumped onto it, and raced after Snape.
Snape left the stadium and barreled towards the forest. The two weaved in and out of the trees. Every time James would come close to catching him, he would have to swerve to avoid a branch. Snape seemed to be having the same problem. He finally followed a river out into the Black Lake. He was fast, but James was an expert flyer. He quickly apprehended Snape, knocking him off of his broom and into the water.
Grinning, triumphantly, James flew gallantly back towards the pitch, where he was met with a chorus of applause. Upon landing, he found himself being hugged by the entire Gryffindor Quidditch Team. Due to Andromeda's injury, the Slytherin's had no choice but to forfeit. She was taken up to the Hospital Wing, along with Sirius, who's arm was looking atrocious.
Snape was fished out of the lake, and given a month's worth of detention and a shouting-to from Professor McGonagall and Madam Hooch.
James was so excited, that upon leaving the pitch, he crashed into Professor Slughorn.
"Sorry Professor," he gasped, gathering Slughorn's fallen supplies. He noticed a sketch on a piece of parchment and read the caption.
" 'A handcrafted rapier, crafted by Salazar Slytherin,' " he read, " 'Estimated to be at least 1,000 galleons.' "
Professor Slughorn took the paper hastily, "Ah, that's nothing. Just a bit of research. It's not as though I was planning on selling such an item if I found it."
"I didn't know that Slytherin crafted deadly weapons," James grimaced, "Makes sense though."
He flushed, remembering that Slughorn was Head of Slytherin house.
Slughorn frowned at the comment, but said, "Yes, he was said to have made some of the finest weapons in the world. Of course, they all disappeared after his death. 'Shame; they were said to be priceless."
James dropped the items he was holding and dashed off towards the castle.
He didn't stop until he had reached his destination: the library. He threw open the double doors, receiving a very irritated glance from Madam Pince, the librarian.
Ignoring the look, James rushed over to a table, where Lupin was hidden behind a large stack of books.
"Hullo," Lupin said, surprised, "How was the game?"
"Never mind that," James gasped, clutching a stitch in his side. With a swipe of his arm, he knocked Lupin's stack of books onto the floor.
"Bloody hell, mate," Lupin jumped up, outraged, "What's gotten into you?"
"Weapons," James panted.
"What are you talking about?" Lupin cried.
James didn't answer. Instead, he crossed to a bookshelf and started grabbing books heatedly. Pages ripped and wrinkled.
"James, get a grip!" Lupin exclaimed.
"Where's the biography section?" James barked, ignoring him.
"The fourth balcony," Lupin pointed, but then whitened. Madam Pince was behind them, swelling like an angry vulture, ready to attack. She was so angry, that her voice came out as a deadly whisper.
"Out. Get out. All of you."
"But Madam Pince…" Lupin started, frantically.
"OUT!"
They ran for it, not bothering to stop until they reached the Common Room.
Lupin exploded, "I hope you're happy mate; we're banned from the library until further notice! How am I supposed to do my schoolwork, now?"
"I think I just found out some valuable information on the tomb of Slytherin," James said, hastily.
Lupin looked horrified, "The tomb of Slytherin? You're still going on about that? I would've thought that you'd have put your friends before a myth."
He turned around and stomped up the dormitory stairs, slamming the door.
The pride of winning the game had left. Instead, James was filled with worry and regret. Lupin didn't talk to him for the rest of the night.
James lay awake in his four-poster. He could not stop thinking about the books in the library that could answer his fears.
Making up his mind, he jumped up and crept over towards the dormitory door.
There was a swishing noise as Lupin drew back his curtains. For a moment, hazel eyes met golden. Lupin gave James a look that was filled with pity, anger, and worry. He didn't say anything, however, and closed his curtains once more.
Grimacing, James crept downstairs. He carefully snuck down to the library. He pushed open the door and immediately felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He wasn't sure, but he felt as though the books were watching him. It was only now that James realized exactly how large the library was.
When he heard a hiss behind him, James nearly screamed. He whipped around to find that he was staring at Mrs. Norris.
She meowed and then ran away.
Calming his nerves, James crept to the balcony that Lupin had pointed to. He snuck up the spiral staircase, and began taking out books. Finally he found what he was looking for: a book with the portrait of Salazar Slytherin on it. James grinned, excitedly. He had just opened it, when a voice spoke from behind him.
"Well, well, well. Caught out of bed, eh?"
Horrified, James turned around to find Mr. Filch standing behind him. He was smirking, which wasn't a good sign, "I'll have you expelled, boy. Mark my words."
James panicked. Filch was blocking the staircase; there was no where to run.
Unless…
James spun around and leapt over the balcony railing. He landed on the top of the bookshelf. He jumped onto another, knocking the first one over. He repeated this again and again until he had reached the opposite balcony, leaving the library in chaos.
He opened the door to an antechamber and raced out into the corridor. He could hear Mr. Filch's footsteps jogging behind him.
Upon turning the corner, he heard someone cry, "James, duck!"
James dropped to the ground as a puff of purple powder engulfed Filch. Immediately, he slumped to the ground in a deep sleep.
A hand extended out to help James up. It belonged to Lupin, who was looking horrified at what he had just done.
The two didn't speak until they had reached the Common Room.
"What was that?" James asked, amazed.
"Drowsy Dust," Lupin said, "Alastor Moody gave it to me that day he was patrolling the castle."
"Why'd you come?" James asked, touched.
Lupin looked furious with himself, "Peter wanted to come too; he sniffed the powder and immediately fell unconscious."
"But why…?"
"Well, I couldn't very well let you get expelled, could I?" Lupin said.
James didn't know what to say, but Lupin understood.
"Anyway, I hope you have a good reason for acting like a loon," Lupin said.
"I needed information on Salazar Slytherin," James pressed, "Slughorn said that his weapons are priceless."
"So?" Lupin yawned, sitting down by the fireplace.
James sighed, "So, they're exactly the type of valuable possessions that might've been buried with him when he died."
Lupin looked up, "You don't think…?"
James grimaced, "I think we might've just found out why Bellatrix is trying to break into the tomb of Slytherin."