The Trip out of Hogwarts
January, February, and half of March passed by rather uneventfully, if one did not count the stacks of homework that the professors continued to hand out. In Charms, James learned how to enlarge objects, freeze objects, sever bonds, and even erase memories, which the students practiced on a cage of pixies. Defense Against the Dark Arts detailed the Banishing Charm, the Tongue-Tying Curse, and the Full Body-Bind Curse, while Professor McGonagall showed her class how to turn mice into teacups and rabbits into pillows.
James kept up with his assignments easily enough, but his thoughts soon turned to his fast-approaching birthday. When the morning of March 27th finally arrived, he jolted awake before the sun had completely risen to find a pile of packages lying at the foot of his four-poster. None of his roommates had woken yet, and he decided not to disturb them as he opened his gifts. First, he turned to a few presents from his parents, finding a velvet bathrobe and matching socks, not to mention a new peacock feather quill and two pound cakes to share with his friends. Next came an enchanted bookmark from Remus, a box of treacle fudge from Peter, and a book called Practical Pranks from Sirius.
Awakened by the rustling of wrapping paper, the other boys slowly sat up and rubbed their eyes. "Happy birthday, James," Sirius finally spoke up when James had put aside the last gift.
"Are those for us?" Peter interrupted before Sirius had finished speaking, pointing at the pound cakes. After answering in the affirmative, James gave out half a cake to each of his roommates, and they munched wordlessly for a few minutes while admiring the other gifts.
"I think that's a Self-Correcting Quill," Remus eventually spoke up, pointing at the peacock feather on the bed.
"That's right: my parents get them all the time," James responded. "So what does the bookmark do?"
"Once you put it in place, it won't come out," he answered. "It'll never fall out accidentally unless the owner tells it to let go."
"You can use it in my book," Sirius suggested, his mouth full of pound cake.
"Yeah, I can't wait to read it!" James agreed.
After they had finished the cakes, James offered a few handfuls of treacle fudge to the others, and none of them refused. They continued to eat the last few squares as they walked down from their dormitory and into the Gryffindor common room. Upon arriving, James saw that the area was already filled with a dozen or so assorted students chatting in the cushioned armchairs circling the room.
Suddenly, Peter let out a small moan and clutched a hand to his stomach. "Ugh . . . I think I ate too much cake." Glancing towards James and Sirius, who were otherwise preoccupied with Practical Pranks, Remus waited for a few seconds before sighing.
"I'll take him to the washroom," he finally volunteered, guiding Peter towards the portrait hole. Just as they slipped through the exit, Frank and Dill got up from their place near the fireplace, laughing and talking as they passed near James and Sirius.
"Hey, Frank! Hi, Dill!" James greeted. "What are you two doing?"
"Oh, hello," Frank answered as he and Dill stopped. "Happy birthday, James!"
"Thanks," James replied while Dill shrugged.
"We were talking about what we're going to do in Hogsmeade this weekend," he told him.
"Hogsmeade?" James repeated.
"You know, the all-wizarding village just a few kilometers from here," Dill explained. "It has all kinds of shops: Honeydukes, Zonko's Joke Shop, Tomes and Scrolls, and Dervish and Banges. There's a trip on Saturday."
"Oh yeah, I've heard of Hogsmeade," Sirius spoke up. "I think that Professor Binns mentioned it in one of his classes, but I must have fallen asleep soon after. I didn't realize it was that close to Hogwarts."
"How come I didn't hear about the trip?" James questioned.
"This is the last one of the year," Frank told him, pointing at the notice board on the wall. "They posted the visiting dates near the start of term, and we've already been once. You probably didn't notice since it was right around our first Quidditch match."
"How do you sign up to go?" James asked, and Frank and Dill exchanged a glance.
"Only third-years and above are allowed to go," Frank finally answered.
Dill nodded. "Even then, you still need a permission slip signed by a parent or guardian. No one can get past Filch if they don't have one."
Now it was James' and Sirius' turn to share a glance. Smirking in unison, they turned back towards Frank and Dill. "So how does one get to Hogsmeade?" James asked.
"Everyone queues up in the Entrance Hall," Frank answered slowly, eyeing James as his smile widened. "But you can't be thinking of sneaking along! Filch checks the students at the door and makes sure that they have their permission slips filled out."
"Let's just say that we have a way to remain hidden," Sirius interjected. "Would we be able to do it?"
"Hypothetically," Frank answered, still frowning. "At least, there's no more inspection after that. We just walk straight to Hogsmeade."
"Perfect," James and Sirius said together. At Frank's upturned eyebrow, James raised his finger to his lips.
"Don't tell anyone, okay?" he asked.
After exchanging another look, Frank and Dill simply nodded. "All right," Dill agreed. "Remember: Saturday morning, eight o'clock."
As soon as the older students had left, Sirius turned to James. "Let's keep this to ourselves," he suggested. "I have a feeling that Remus won't like what we're doing, and it's too much of a risk if we tell Peter. It'll be a small birthday celebration from me to you. We'll make sure to bring back Peter a bag of Bertie Bott's, though—and chocolate for Remus, of course."
"Sounds fair," James responded, and they followed Frank and Dill on their way out of the portrait hole.
Within a week, the time for the Hogsmeade visit had come, and James and Sirius slipped out of their dormitory long before the others awoke. Carrying only James' Invisibility Cloak and their wands, they quickly stole through the castle and donned the Cloak just before making it to the Entrance Hall, where a growing collection of students stood waiting in front of the double doors. Unfortunately, the boys could not move around the queue to fit through the doorway, so they stepped just in front of a pair of unfortunate fifth-year girls, who could never quite figure out why the air in front of them shoved them back whenever they tried to approach the Ravenclaws ahead.
"Permission forms out and ready, please," Filch wheezed as James and Sirius padded up to him, turning his weary gaze from the Ravenclaws' slips of parchment. Pausing, he narrowed his eyes at the empty space yawning in front of the two girls, and the immediate meow from Mrs. Norris voiced the suspicion of his curling lip. Leaning forward with a finger extended, he meant to prod the empty air, but Sirius suddenly stuck out his foot and stomped on Filch's toes before dashing out into the school grounds with James.
"AUGHH!" Filch screeched, grabbing his foot and hopping around. Staring at his acrobatics, the fifth-years stood in silent confusion while Mrs. Norris snuck between the legs of her owner, seeming to stare straight at James and Sirius as they ran. After yowling once more, her investigation was promptly cut off by a sour-faced Filch as he grabbed her and plopped the mangy brown tabby on his other side.
Releasing their breaths, the two escapees turned to follow the line of students winding away from the castle on a misty morning trail, which was dampened slightly from the night's light shower. Keeping to themselves, the boys walked at a slower pace than James would have liked so as to use the meandering group of Hufflepuffs in front of them as a guide. During the journey, James continued to keep an eye out for Frank and Dill in case they turned up on the road.
Unfortunately, his search did not prove useful until after they had entered Hogsmeade, a quaint little collection of thatch-roofed inns and shops scattered along several cobbled roads, which all but sung of welcome. Not a discontent face was to be seen, either among the visiting students or who James supposed were the village's permanent residents: numerous bright-eyed witches with arms bearing the day's groceries, and an equal amount of wizards with wrinkles in all the right places around their cheeks. As they continued to walk, James spotted a few streets that branched off from the center of town, leading to what he supposed were personal abodes.
"Look at this place!" Sirius whispered, poking James in the side before pointing at a nearby shop window, which displayed a variety of antique broomstick equipment. "Dill wasn't joking when he said that this place had everything!"
"But where is he?" James responded, and the question had scarcely left his lips when the answer came ambling down the street. Glancing around as if expecting someone to leap out at them, Frank and Dill paced slowly along the left side of the street, hesitant, it seemed, to enter any of the buildings. Nudging Sirius, James began to stroll in their direction until stopping at their side.
"Hello, Frank. This is God," Sirius whispered, and Frank almost jumped out of his robes as Dill laughed.
"Sirius, you barmy little git, where are you?" Frank exclaimed after having nearly fallen backwards in an attempt to spot his tormenter.
"We're right here," James answered next to him, and both he and Dill stared open-mouthed in the direction where his voice was coming from.
"Frank, you can't see them either, right?" Dill whispered from the corner of his mouth as he paled, and James and Sirius had to fight a bout of laughter.
"We're invisible," James explained. When the boys did not look any less concerned, he added, "It's my Invisibility Cloak. We used it to sneak past Filch at the castle."
"An Invisibility Cloak?" Dill exclaimed before hushing himself so that the passing students would not overhear. "Wherever did you get one of those?"
"It's my dad's old one," James answered, and Dill nodded; it looked like the only thing keeping him from reaching out to touch the Cloak was the fact that he did not know where it was.
"Well," he finally said, his usual grin returning, "I'm glad that you made it! We were wondering if you two were going to show up."
"Though exactly how, I can't say I was prepared for," Frank sniffed, his normally curly hair standing on end as he rubbed his robes down. As soon as he had finished, Dill motioned for everyone to follow.
"Come on! Frank and I will give you a tour of the place!" he invited, setting off along the dew-wet road. "Over there's The Three Broomsticks, the busiest room and board in town. Madam Rosmerta works there, and she makes the best butterbeer! It'll be a bit difficult to get into if you keep your Cloak on, but we can try Zonko's later if you'd like. It has every prank-related toy that you could dream of; I make it a point to visit whenever I'm in Hogsmeade, because my mum won't let me get half that stuff when I'm at home."
"And there's Honeydukes," Frank pointed out, indicating a colorful shop window filled with sweets, tarts, and candies. "They have the usual stuff like Chocolate Frogs and Acid Pops, but they also have some of the rarer sweets like Cockroach Clusters and Blood Popsicles. We once got Frederick to eat one on a dare, and he spat out red for the next hour."
Although tempted to stop at nearly every store, James trailed loyally after Frank and Dill as they wound through the town, giving a quick albeit thorough sweep of Hogsmeade until they reached the outer edges of the main shopping district. The paths slowly grew more and more unkempt, and James slowed to a halt when he saw nothing ahead but wild grass and a few outlying houses.
"Should we turn back, then?" he spoke up from underneath the Invisibility Cloak, thinking of Zonko's.
"Not yet," Frank replied. "I knew that you'd like this part, so I saved the best for last."
Offering no further questions, James and Sirius trotted behind their guides as their surroundings grew wilder in comparison to the neatly-furnished buildings behind them. Still, even though more rugged than the main square of Hogsmeade, the pristine countryside never appeared unsafe or even unpleasant. In fact, the rustic nature of the rolling hills looked like something out of the many picture books that James' father used to read aloud by the fireplace of Potter Cottage when James was still too young for tutors. Comforted by the sweet-smelling plants as well as by the absence of any other passersby, James and Sirius eventually pulled off the Invisibility Cloak and drank in the warmth of the sun, which had just made its appearance from behind a blanket of gray clouds to melt the dew on the ground.
"It's just up ahead now," Frank told them, turning around to face them briefly before marching up a small rise.
Following closely, James and Sirius eyed an old, wooden fence spanning the length of a wide field, cutting it off from human access. The foliage on the other side appeared much unrulier than the welcoming meadows that they had just walked through; numerous weeds were draped along the bottom of the fence, and several overgrown bushes dotted the landscape beyond. However, the most notable object on the horizon was the small, hut-like building huddled against the slight breeze. Although it resembled Hagrid's cabin in size and shape, it did not radiate the same friendliness, instead oozing an aura of eerie solitude from the boarded-up windows and doors. Even though he was too far away to see the building in detail, James thought that the paint had begun to peel away from the outside walls.
"What's that?" he asked, turning to Frank and Dill.
"That's the Shrieking Shack," Frank answered, his voice barely above a whisper as he glanced in the hut's direction. "It's supposed to be the most haunted building in Great Britain."
Staring at the shack, James did not once doubt Frank's words. Even the way that the breeze flew past the hut's broken windows created an unearthly moaning sound.
"Can we go inside?" Sirius asked from where he stood on the bottom rail of the fence.
Emitting a harsh noise in the back of his throat as if trying too hard to laugh, Frank shook his head. "Would you want to?"
"They say that a band of banshees lives in there," Dill told them. "Maybe ghouls or Red Caps, too."
Suddenly, the sound of a breaking twig made everyone jump, but James felt the tingling of his skin subside when he came face-to-face with Bertha Jorkins, who had somehow managed to hide her presence behind a tree when they had approached the fence.
"And phantoms, too," she added matter-of-factly, her nose curled upwards slightly.
"Blimey, Jorkins!" Frank exclaimed, sounding none too pleased at his second fright of the day. "You sure can move like a ghost when you want to!"
"And let's not forget the ghosts," Jorkins went on. "But not the friendly kind. I mean like the Bloody Baron. The ones that rattle their chains and cry out for vengeance at night."
"If you're trying to scare us, it isn't working," Sirius told her, grimacing.
"I'm not trying to scare you: I'm only telling the truth," Jorkins replied. "Anyone can tell you about the howling that comes from the Shrieking Shack at night. It would chill even the bravest's blood."
"Who told you that?" James questioned, raising an eyebrow. "Was it your friend Adelaide again, or was one of the ghosts trying to scare you? Or was it even Peeves?"
Shaking his head, Frank stopped him. "It's true! Even I've heard the stories."
"I'm pretty sure that I heard screams coming from the Shrieking Shack the last time we came to Hogsmeade," Dill added.
Smirking, Jorkins nodded. "You see? I still remember how it sprang up mysteriously before the start of term last year. When I left Hogwarts, there were no plans, no mention of a new building in Hogsmeade, and then BAM—there it appeared when we returned, almost as if it had jumped up from the ground in the middle of the summer."
"It's only been here for two years?" James asked, his mouth opening. "But it's practically falling apart!"
"It's just the same as it's always been," Jorkins told him. "Always broken down, always joined by the howling."
"And you came all the way here by yourself just to look at it?" Sirius interrogated. "You were going to try and break in, weren't you?"
Flummoxed, Jorkins stammered before responding. "No! I mean, of course I wouldn't . . . Well, there's nothing wrong with having a look around! Don't you want to know what's in there?" Before James had time to admit the truth in her words, she pointed at him and Sirius. "And what are you two doing here, anyway? Aren't you in your second year? Only third-years and above are allowed to visit Hogsmeade!"
Thinking fast, James shook his head. "It's our third year." Pointing at Frank and Dill, he said, "They're our roommates. Isn't that right?"
After a brief pause, the two older boys nodded. "That's right," Dill answered.
"Definitely," Frank added.
Narrowing her eyes, Jorkins studied them for a moment before huffing and crossing her arms in a pout. "Fine. I'm going to Honeydukes. You four can stay here and scare yourselves silly." Spinning around, she marched away, her feet pounding heavily against the ground.
"Should I Obliviate her?" Dill offered as soon as she thudded out of hearing range, drawing out his wand. "I could wipe her memory and make her forget that she ever saw you."
"Nah, that's all right," James answered. "It she tells on us, she tells on us. In fact, I kind of hope she does," he said, nudging Sirius. "Let the whole school wonder how we managed to sneak along!"
"If you say so," Dill relented, shrugging and pocketing his wand again.
"If word gets out about how you scared me, I'm telling Peeves to put a dead rat in your pillow," Frank threatened Sirius, and the others laughed. "Let's go back to town," Frank invited. "You've still got to see Honeydukes and Zonko's!"
Glancing back towards the Shrieking Shack, James decided that there was no chance of convincing Frank and Dill of exploring. "All right," he at last relented, and he joined the others after draping the Invisibility Cloak back over himself and Sirius.
Once they entered the main street of Hogsmeade, the boys marched straight into Honeydukes. Frank and Dill loitered around the display stands long enough for James and Sirius to decide what they wanted, and the hidden duo surrendered a few Sickles each from underneath the Invisibility Cloak in payment. In the end, all four had collected a bundle of Cauldron Cakes and Fizzing Whizzbees, as well as a few packages of Hiccough Sweets and Confused Compasses from Zonko's. When evening fell, the troupe walked back to Hogwarts with their purchases in tow, and James and Sirius finally bid farewell to the others when they pulled off the Cloak in a deserted corridor, walking up to Gryffindor Tower by themselves.
Finally reaching their dormitory, they hid the Honeydukes sweets behind their backs as Peter jumped up from where he was bent down on the floor. Hitting his head against the bottom of his four-poster, he uttered a short exclamation and startled Hardwin from his perch on the windowsill.
"Where have you been?" Peter questioned, rubbing his head. "I couldn't find you all day!"
"We were out by the Quidditch pitch with my Airwake," James lied while Peter reached back beneath his four-poster and retrieved a quill that he had dropped.
"I checked by there, and I didn't see you," Peter said, standing back up.
"Must have been when we stopped to eat," Sirius replied, stuffing a box of Ice Mice underneath his comforter. When Peter leaned over to see what he was hiding, he quickly asked, "Is Remus in the library?"
"He's in the hospital wing," Peter replied, still eyeing Sirius' mattress, and James started.
"What for?"
"He said that he was feeling off-color," Peter answered. "Are those Ice Mice in your bed?"
Sighing, Sirius pulled out a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans from behind his back and tossed it to Peter. "Don't tell anyone."
"Wasn't Remus ill last month?" James questioned as Peter stuffed a handful of the candies into his mouth.
"Now that you mention it, I think that he did go to see Madam Pomfrey," Peter agreed through a mouthful of food.
"He's probably still getting over it," Sirius guessed.
"I suppose," James said, rubbing his chin. "Do you suppose that we should bring down some chocolate to him or something?"
"Nah, it's getting late," Sirius replied. "We can wait until he comes back in the morning."
After James shrugged, he turned to Peter. "Oh, and don't tell Remus we were out this late, okay?"
"Why not?" Peter asked.
"Uh . . . I promised that I'd take him for a ride the next time I practiced."
"Oh. Can I go next time, too?" Peter inquired, perking up.
"Er, we'll see," James answered, and Peter did not ask anything more as he patted Hardwin on the head, narrowly avoiding a swift nip. Within a few minutes, the three roommates had climbed into their four-posters, and James gradually drifted off to the sounds of Hardwin's soft hooting and the whispering of the wind on the windowpane.